Day by Day Current Affairs (May 29, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS.  “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

 May 29, 2018

1. Govt, opposition pick ex-CJP Nasir as caretaker PM

• Amid fears that the government and the opposition may not reach a consensus on the name of caretaker prime minister, the two sides on May 28, 2018 agreed on the name of former chief justice of Pakistan Nasirul Mulk as caretaker prime minister to supervise the upcoming general elections.
• The agreement on the name of Nasirul Mulk was announced at a joint press conference addressed by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq at the Parliament House.
• The term of the present government is expiring on May 31, after which the caretaker set-up will be put in place to run state affairs and hold general elections on July 25.

2. Nasir Mahmood Khosa, Former bureaucrat to head Punjab`s interim govt

• While the name of former bureaucrat Nasir Mahmood Khosa proposed by the opposition was agreed upon by Punjab Chief Minister for the caretaker chief minister of the province on May 28, 2018.
• PTI chairman Imran Khan in a surprise move rejected the previously decided Manzoor Afridi`s nomination for the caretaker CM of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Talks between the government and the opposition continued in Sindh where some names have come up for the office of caretaker CM.
• However, in Balochistan the matter is likely to be referred to a committee after the two sides failed to reach a consensus on any name.
• The name of Nasir Mahmood Khosa, former federal finance secretary who has also served as the chief secretary of Punjab and Balochistan, was proposed by the PTI and finalised by CM Sharif and Leader of the Opposition Mahmoodur Rasheed in a meeting at the PML-N`s Model Town office.

3. President signs Fata Interim Governance Regulation, 2018

• Pakistan’s northern borderlands people have been rid of the century-old draconian law, Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), as President Mamnoon Hussain signed the new set of rules for the region – Fata Interim Governance Regulation, 2018.
• The ‘FATA Interim Governance Regulation, 2018’ is a set of interim rules that apply to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) until it merges with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa “within a timeframe of two years”.
• However, the president will have the jurisdiction over Fata and the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas until he signs Constitution (Thirty-First) Amendment Bill, 2018, which proposes abolishment of Article 247 of the Constitution. As per Article 247, the executive authority of the federation shall extend to Fata and Pata.
• However, as soon as the president signs Constitution (Thirty-First) Amendment Bill, 2018, the control of Fata Interim Governance Regulation, 2018 would be handed over to the KP government.
• The bill was passed by KP Assembly on Sunday in its final phase. The bill was passed with two-thirds majority, after it was already approved from the upper and lower chambers of the Parliament. As many as 92 lawmakers in the KP Assembly voted in favour, while seven MPAs used their votes against the bill.

4. First-ever woman advocate general appointed

• Additional Advocate General (AAG) Asma Hamid has been appointed as first-ever woman advocate general of Punjab (AGP)
• Shakilur Rehman Khan tendered his resignation as the principal law officer the other day owing to expiry of the provincial government`s constitutional term on May 31.
• Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved a summary to this effect on May 28, 2018 evening. Shakilur Rehman Khan, son of retired Justice Khalilur Rehman Khan and appointed as AGP on March 7, 2016, served for two years.
• Ms Hamid is a daughter of former Punjab governor Shahid Hamid and niece of former federal law minister Zahid Hamid. She was appointed as assistant advocate general in January 2014 and later elevated to AAG on Feb 18, 2015.
• In 2016, she was briefly given look-after charge of the principal law officer after the then AGP Naveed Rasool Mirza had resigned due to health issues.
• Ms Hamid holds an LLB degree from University of Punjab and an LLM in Constitutional Law from Harvard Law School, US. Her law career includes litigation on behalf of top law firms of Pakistan as well as individual engagement for drafting legislation for the government of Sindh`s heritage protection laws. She is also well-versed in contractual and commercial law.
• Her thesis at Harvard focused on the process of judicial appointments in Pakistan.

5. Pakistan to export six light armoured vehicles to Bahrain

• The defence production sector of Pakistan has signed a deal to export locally manufactured light armoured vehicles called `Interceptor` to Bahrain.
• Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) a defence industrial complex which manufactures and rebuilds tanks and armoured personnel carriers for the military will be making six Interceptors for the Bahrain National Guards.
• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between HIT`s chief Lt Gen Muhammad Naeem Ashraf and Lt Gen Mohammed Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the brother of Bahrain`s King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa.

6. IMF endorses Islamic rules for financial assessment

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a plan to incorporate Islamic finance into its financial sector assessments of select countries starting from January 1, 2019.
• The Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulation (CPIFR), endorsed this week by the IMF executive board, provides a set of principles for `the regulation and supervision of the Islamic banking industry and are designed to take into consideration the specificities of Islamic banks, the IMF announced.
• The IMF noted that the Islamic finance has over $2 trillion of assets globally and is offered in over 60 countries, including Pakistan and the industry has become systemically important in 13 jurisdictions across the globe, it added.
• The core principles approved by the IMF executive board were prepared by the Malaysia-based Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) with the participation of the secretariat of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS). The Basel committee, established by the central bank governors of the Group of Ten countries in 1974, frames guidelines and standards for the banking sector.

7. PM inaugurates capacity building project for Fata youth

• Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi inaugurated a project for the capacity building of youth in Fata under Prime Minister’s Youth Programme in collaboration with the United Nation’s Office of Counter Terrorism (UNOCT).
• Fata Development Authority will implement the project in coordination with Pakistan Army.
• Under the project, vocational training and psycho-social support will be given to 100 terror-affected youth in Fata, both male and female under the age of 35, in order to provide them access to sustainable livelihood, and thereby gaining resilience against terrorist propaganda and its recruitment. Unemployed and disabled youth will be given priority.
• Some 20 per cent of the training seats are reserved for female candidates from FR Kohat & FR Peshawar, whereas 10 per cent seats are reserved for disabled persons.
• Male candidates will be trained in trades like Mobile Repair, Auto CAD, Computer Operator, Industrial Electrician, Quantity Survey, and Civil Survey; whereas trades for female candidates include Tailoring, Embroidery, and Knitting.

8. EU to observe Zimbabwe polls first time in 16 years

• The European Union will deploy observers to Zimbabwe`s general election expected in July, the first time in 16 years the bloc will monitor polls in the southern African country.
• The EU and Zimbabwe`s government signed a memorandum on May 28, 2018 outlining guidelines for election monitors. Zimbabwe formally invited the EU in March to send an election observation mission.
• The elections will be the first since long-time ruler Robert Mugabe was removed from power last November following a brief military take over.
• Mugabe`s successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 75, will be squaring off against Nelson Chamisa, 40, of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
• The memorandum sets out the rights and obligations of the EU observers.
• The head of the last European Union observer mission, Pierre Schori, was thrown out of Zimbabwe in 2002 on the eve of presidential elections that were condemned as flawed.

9. India orders closure of Vedanta plant

• Indian authorities on May 28, 2018 ordered the permanent closure of a controversial copper plant, which was at the centre of deadly protests last week with 13 people killed by police fire.
• The violence erupted when thousands marched in southern Tamil Nadu state last week, demanding the closure of the factory owned by British-based mining giant Vedanta Resources over fears that it was polluting the environment.
• In an order May 28, 2018, the state government said it supported concerns raised by its pollution regulator about the Sterlite Copper factory located outside Tuticorin city, and ordered it be shut permanently.
• It also instructed the company to cease all activities at the plant until a decision had been made on its pending application to renew its operational license.
• Last week Tamil Nadu’s high court also ruled against a request to double the factory’s annual production of 400,000 metric tonnes.

10. Anti-FARC conservative wins in Colombia, faces leftist in runoff

• Conservative candidate Ivan Duque won the first round of Colombia’s presidential election but fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff next month.
• The 41-year-old senator will face former guerrilla Gustavo Petro on June 17, the first leftist candidate to contest a runoff in Colombia.
• Duque won 39.2 percent of the votes, compared to Petro’s 25 percent, in the May 27, 2018 poll which showed deep divisions over a peace deal with former rebel movement FARC.
• It was the first presidential election in half a century free of the threat of the FARC, however Duque has campaigned strongly on a pledge to rewrite a peace agreement with the group.