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July 24, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Govt move to lay Jadhav-specific law in NA fails
• The opposition on July 23, 2020 through a strong protest and boycott of the proceedings prevented the government from laying a controversial ordinance aimed at allowing Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to have consular access in line with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict before the National Assembly after the two sides accused each other of succumbing to international pressure and trying to take a lead in appeasing India.
• The opposition questioned the government`s move to `facilitate` a `declared terrorist`, who was caught from Balochistan in 2016 and then convicted by a military court in April 2017 after his confession, and equated the new ordinance with the `NRO` (National Reconciliation Ordinance) issued by former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf as part of a deal with the Pakistan Peoples’ Party in 2007 to end cases against politicians.
• The term `NRO` is regularly being used both by the government and the opposition in place of words like `understanding` or `concession`.
2. Pakistan elected head of UN Economic and Social Council
• Pakistan`s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Munir Akram, was elected unanimously on July 23, 2020 as the president of the UN Economic and Social Council for a year, ending in July 2021.
• The 54-member ECOSOC is the third principal organ, along with the General Assembly and Security Council, established in 1945 under the UN Charter to promote international economic cooperation and oversee the work of all international economic organisations.
• This is the sixth time that Pakistan has been elected as ECOSOC president and the second time that Ambassador Akram has been elected to this post, having served as the body`s chief in 2005.
3. PCTB bans 100 books for being `against Two Nation Theory`
• Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB) on July 23, 2020 banned 100 textbooks it found to be `against` the two nation theory, or deemed `unethical and illegal`.
• PCTB Managing Director Rai Manzoor Nasir addressing a press conference here said these books were being taught in renowned private educational institutions.
• He said around 10,000 books were recovered from these institutes and they were also further investigating the matter.
4. $750m loan pacts signed with AIIB, World Bank
• Pakistan on July 23, 2020 signed two loan agreements with the World Bank (WB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for quick disbursement of $750 million for budget support following increased expenditures on Covid-19 crisis response.
• `The amount of $750m will be immediately disbursed to Pakistan in one tranche by the WB and the AIIB in next few days`, said an official announcement. The disbursements will strengthen foreign exchange reserves and provide liquidity for the economy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs added.
• Under the two financing agreements, the WB and AIIB are providing $500m and $250m respectively, for the Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (Rise) programme. The agreements were signed on government`s behalf by Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed while Country Director World Bank Patchamuthu Illangovan and AIIB Vice President Konstantin Limitovsriy signed agreements on behalf of their respective institutions
5. Pakistan most improved country in nuclear security: US study
• A US study has declared Pakistan the most improved country in nuclear security, although it also noted that global nuclear security has `slowed significantly` in 2020.
• Overall, Pakistan ranked 19th with 47 points, while India ranked one place below at 20th spot with 41 points. Australia topped the list with 94 out of 100.
• The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), which conducted this study, works to prevent catastrophic attacks and accidents with weapons of mass destruction.
• `Most improved, among countries with materials in 2020, is Pakistan, which improved its overall score by adopting new on-site physical protection and cyber security regulations, improving insider threat protection measures, and more,` the study noted.
6. PA passes bill allowing promotion of students to next grade
• Amid protest and boycott by the opposition, the Sindh Assembly on July 23, 2020 passed a bill that enabled the provincial government to promote students of matriculation, intermediate and technical boards without taking examinations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The Sindh Board of Technical Education and the Sindh Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Amendment) Bill, 2020, presented by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla, was passed with opposition parties the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Grand Democratic Alliance protesting against the immediate consideration of four government bills.
• The speaker carried out the business amid the protest of the opposition members who shouted slogans against the government and later boycotted the proceedings.
7. Malaysia reinstates Pakistani pilots
• Malaysia has verified that all Pakistani pilots currently employe d in the country hold valid licences and it has reinstated them with immediate effect, its aviation regulator said in a statement on July 23, 2020.
• The pilots were suspended earlier this month after authorities in Pakistan discovered that up to a third of the country`s pilots may have falsified their qualifications.
• The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said 18 Pakistani pilot licence holders in the country were verified by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Reuters In a related development, Pakistan International Airlines` Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik has sought help from the country`s ambassador to Turkey for getting authorisation from Turkish authorities to operate PIA flights to Istanbul, our reporter in Rawalpindi adds.
8. China launches its first mission to Mars
• China successfully launched an unmanned probe to Mars on July 23, 2020 in its first independent mission to another planet, in a display of its technological prowess and ambition to join an elite club of spacefaring nations.
• China`s largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5 Y-4, blasted off with the probe at 0441 GMT from Wenchang launch centre, on the southern island of Hainan.
• This year, Mars is at its closest to Earth, at a distance of about 55 million kilometres, in a window of about a month that opens once every 26 months.
• The probeis expected to reach Mars in February where it will try to land in Utopia Planitia, a plain in the northern hemisphere, and deploy a rover to explore for 90 days.
9. Virus infections soar past three million in Europe
• Europe crossed more than three million coronavirus cases on July 23, 2020 as EU lawmakers examined a massive aid package for their pandemic-ravaged economies and the UN called for a basic income for the poorest to help slow the spread.
• The continent now accounts for a fifth of the world`s total cases of more than 15 million and remains the hardest hit in terms of deaths, with 206,633 out of 627,307 worldwide.
• The European Parliament was meanwhile examining a massive recovery package hammered out at a hard-fought summit that saw fiscally disciplined nations oppose huge aid grants to coronavirus-hit countries such as Spain and Italy.
• The 750-billion-euro post-coronavirus recovery plan is tied with the EU`s long-term budget
10. German court convicts former Nazi guard
• A German court convicted a 93-yearold former SS private on July 23, 2020 of being an accessory to murder at the Stutthof concentration camp, where he served as a guard in the final months of World War II.
• He was given a two-year suspended sentence.
• Bruno Dey was convicted of 5,232 counts of accessory to murder by the Hamburg state court, news agency DPA reported. That is equal to the number of people believed to have been killed at Stutthof during his service there in 1944 and 1945. He also was convicted as an accessory to attempted murder.
• `How could you get used to the horror,` presiding judge Anne Meier-Goering asked as she announced the verdict. She said that the fact Dey was taking orders didn`t free him from guilt.
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