November 2018

Day by Day Current Affairs (November 04, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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Written by CSS Times
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

 November 04, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. Pakistan, China sign 15 accords of cooperation

• Pakistan and China on November 3, 2018 signed 15 various agreements and documents to further deepen the bilateral cooperation in multiple spheres, including economy, agriculture, law enforcement and technology, but there was no announcement of any relief package.
• The documents were signed during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China at a ceremony held at Great Hall of China where the prime ministers of the two countries also held bilateral meeting.
• The documents signed encompassed the fields of economy, science and technology, agriculture, poverty reduction, innovation and drug trafficking besides establishing joint research centre on earth sciences and working group on social and livelihood affairs.
• After the talks between the two prime ministers, a senior Chinese diplomat told reporters that China will provide Pakistan with economic aid but more talks will take place to fix the details.

2. Six ministers inducted in third expansion to A JK cabinet

• Going back on his words, Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider on November 3, 2018 made third expansion in his cabinet by inducting six more ministers, raising its strength to 26 more than 50pc of the total membership of AJK Legislative Assembly.
• With the fresh inductions fourth since the inception of the PML-N government on July 31, 2016, all except three of the 31 directly elected ruling party lawmakers have become flag-holders.
• Those who were administered oath by President Sardar Masood Khan on November 3, 2018 were Sardar Farooq Ahmed Tahir, Chaudhry Mohammad Ismail, Raja Mohammad Siddique Khan, Dr Mustafa Bashir Abbasi, Mohammad Ahmed Raza Qadri and Chaudhry Shahzad Mehmood.
• It is believed that the notification about the portfolios would be issued after Prime Minister Haider`s departure to UK and Europe on Sunday in what would be reminiscent of the practice adopted at the time of previous expansion on April 14.

3. Asim Zaheer appointed Vice Chief of Air Staff

• The government on November 3, 2018 appointed Air Marshal Aasim Zaheer as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force.
• Air Marshal Aasim Zaheer was commissioned in GD (P) Branch of Pakistan Air Force in November 1984.
• He is a qualified flying Instructor. During his outstanding career, he has commanded a Fighter Squadron, an Operational Air Base and PAF Academy, Risalpur.
• In his staff appointments he has served as Deputy Director Operations (F-16) and Chief Project Director (CPD) Falcon. He has also served as air attaché to France.
• Presently he is serving at Air Headquarters as Deputy Chief of Air Staff (Administration). He is a graduate of Combat Commanders’ School, National Defence University and General Staff College, Germany.
• He holds a Master’s degree in War Studies. He is a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military)

4. Longest single trans-provincial trail in Pakistan inaugurated

• The Margalla Ridge Trail, the longest single trans-provincial trail in the country, was inaugurated on November 3, 2018.
• The 44-kilometre trail begins at Shah Allah Ditta in Islamabad and stretches to Summa, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was once used by pedestrians but is not frequented anymore. However, the trail has been revamped by various departments in the capital alongside the KP tourism department.
• Around 15km of the trail sits within the capital`s territory, Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz told Dawn.
• The remainder passes through the Abbotabad and Haripur districts.
• It takes two to three days to get from one end to the other, and there are six villages on the way including Talhar in Islamabad and Lora in KP.

5. Around 10 banks block international payments on debit and credit cards

• As concerns about a breach of credit and debit card data spread in the banking circles, around 10 banks have blocked all international transactions on their cards.
• Sources said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has been informed by several commercial banks that they have blocked international payments on debit and credit cards as a precautionary measure after cyber attacks on their clients` accounts.
• Data of over 8,000 account holders of about 10 Pakistani banks was sold in a market of hackers.
• A large Pakistani bank sent messages to its clients that online mobile banking services would be terminated for a temporary period from Nov 3 onwards on `technical grounds`.

November 4, 2018: International Current Affairs

6. Ukraine`s Orthodox church gets independence from Russia church

• Ukraine`s President Petro Poroshenko and the Istanbul-based Orthodox patriarch on November 3, 2018 signed an accord that paves the way for the recognition of an independent Ukrainian church, a plan that has infuriated Moscow.
• Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had on October 11 agreed to recognise the independence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate, a move that was welcomed with jubilation by Kiev but condemned as `catastrophic` in Moscow.
• The Ukrainian branch of Orthodoxy has been under Moscow`s control for the last 300 years but this month the leading authority in Orthodox Christianity granted it the right to independence. The decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople drew cheers from Kiev, fury from Moscow, and marked the culmination of more than two decades of work by Kiev`s Patriarch.

7. New Caledonia votes on independence from France

• The French Pacific islands of New Caledonia vote on November 3, 2018 on whether to become an independent nation, in a closely watched test of support for France in one of its many territories scattered around the globe.
• Some 18,000 kilometres from the French mainland, New Caledonia is home to a quarter of the world`s known supplies of nickel a vital electronics component and is a strategic foothold for France in the Pacific.
• Some 175,000 people are eligible to vote in the remote islands fringed by spectacular beaches, with opinion polls predicting a large majority in favour of staying French.
• But there are fears the referendum could inflame tensions between indigenous Kanak people, who tend to favour independence, and the white population, which boiled over into deadly violence in the 1980s.
• The quasi-civil war claimed more than 70 lives.
• It led to the 1998 Noumea Accord which paved the way for the steady devolution of powers as well as Sunday`s referendum.

8. First UN aid trucks reach remote refugee camp in Syria

• A United Nations aid convoy on November 3, 2018 reached the Rukban refugee camp in Syria where thousands of people are stranded in the desert, close to the border with Jordan.
• The United Nations said it was delivering food, sanitation and hygiene supplies, nutrition and health assistance to 50,000 people in Rukban, an area under rebel control, in an operation expected to take three to four days.
• The Syrian Arab Red Crescent is also taking part in the convoy, which will also involve an emergency vaccination campaign for 10,000 children against measles, polio and other diseases, a UN statement said.

9. Myanmar by-elections a test for Suu Kyi`s ruling party

• Voters in several parts of Myanmar went to the polls on November 3, 2018 in 13 by-elections seen as a test of support for leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her ruling party.
• Suu Kyi`s National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, putting an end to decades of rule by the military and its proxies, though the army retains considerable power under a constitution it implemented.
• Suu Kyi`s appeal with the country`s Buddhist majority has not suffered much from a crisis involving 700,000 members of the Muslim Rohingya minority who fled a brutal army counterinsurgency campaign in the country`s west. Still, economic development has been lagging.
• The 13 parliamentary seats at stake represent a tiny reaction of the 1,171 national, regional and state assembly seats nationwide, and by-elections rarely drum up the same level of enthusiasm as a general election. The next general election is in 2020.

10. Iran starts producing local fighter jet for its air force

• Iran has started production of the locally designed Kowsar fighter plane for use in its air force, as tensions mount with the United States after the reimposition of US sanctions on Tehran.
• The United States said it will temporarily allow eight importers to keep buying Iranian oil whenitre-imposes sanctions to try to force Iran to curb its nuclear, missile and regional activities.
• Iran says the Kowsar is `100-per-cent indigenously made` and able to carry various weapons and is to be used for short aerial support missions. However, some military experts believe the fighter jets a carbon copy of an F-5 first produced in the United States in the 1960s.

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