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September 16, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. NA passes FATF-related bill on terror financing
• The National Assembly on September 15, 2020 passed a Financial Action Task Force related bill, the Anti-Terrorism Act (amendment) Bill, 2020, while another bill was laid in the house that suggested punishment of up to two years, or up to Rs500,000 fine or both for `maligning` armed forces of the country and their personnel.
• In a related development, President Dr Arif Alvi summoned a joint sitting of parliament on Wednesday (today) apparently to get the FATF-related legislation passed that was blocked by the opposition in the Senate last month, sources said.
• However, no official notification was issued in this regard till the filing of this story
2. ‘The Criminal Law (Amendment) bill 2020’ introduced in parliament
• The PTI’s government in September 15, 2020’s National Assembly session introduced ‘The Criminal Law (Amendment) bill, 2020’, which is aimed to make intentionally ridiculing and defaming the Armed Forces as a punishable crime.
• According to the bill, moved by Amjad Ali Khan, the Insertion of ne section 500A, [Act XLV of 1850], “500A intentional ridiculing of the Armed Forces- Whosoever intentionally ridicules , brings into disrepute or defames the Armed forces or a member , therefore he shall be guilty of an offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to Rs 500,000”.
• According to the bill introduced in a supplementary agenda, “the offence will be punishable with two years imprisonment or Rs 0.5 million fine or with both,”.
3. British Airways announces direct Lahore-London flights
• The British Airways on September 15, 2020 announced it will fly direct between Lahore and London four days a week, with the first flight scheduled to take off on Oct 14.
• The British High Commission in Islamabad shared a statement with the announcement that the flights will be operated by a Boeing 787-8 from London`s Heathrow to Lahore`s Allama Iqbal International Airport.
• According to the statement, British High Commissioner to Pakistan Dr Christian Turner said: `The first-ever British Airways flights to Lahore is a sign of confidence in Pakistan, and the deepening ties between our two countries. I hope it will open up even more opportunities for business links, people-to-people ties and tourism.
4. PAF plane crashes near Attock
• A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft crashed on September 15, 2020 during a routine mission near Pindigheb area of Punjab’s district Attock, PAF said in a statement.
• The pilot remained unhurt as “he ejected safely”, the statement added. According to PAF, no loss of life or property has been reported on the ground. “A board of inquiry has been ordered to investigate the cause of the accident.”
• Earlier in March, a PAF F-16 fighter jet had crashed near Shakarparian Hill in the heart of Islamabad during rehearsal for the air show of March 23 parade. The pilot of the jet had got martyred in the incident
5. MoU signed to operate electric buses in Islamabad
• After electric buses become operational in Islamabad, it will benefit about 48,000 commuters daily besides producing eight times less air pollution, said Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Tuesday.
• He stated this after his ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to launch the electric bus service in the capital.
• In the first phase, 30 buses are being brought into service, said the minister during his briefing about the new bus service
6. Pakistan shows a broad economic recovery in fiscal year 2021: ADB
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on September 15, 2020 has noted that Pakistan is projected to experience a broad economic recovery in fiscal year 2021 (which ends June 30 2021) as the economic sentiment improves with the expected subsiding of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the resumption of structural reforms
• Broad economic recovery is projected for FY2021, with GDP growth estimated to rebound to 2 per cent, albeit lower than forecast of 2.6 per cent in ADO 2020, the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) Update noted. Pakistan’s GDP growth remained at -0.4 percent in last fiscal year FY20. This forecast assumes that the COVID-19 impact will subside by the end of 2020—the end of the second quarter of FY2021—allowing global conditions to normalize and economic sentiment to improve.
• The ADO also assumes the resumption of structural reform under an ongoing IMF Extended Fund Facility program to address macroeconomic imbalances
7. UAE, Bahrain sign accord brokered by Trump
• The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed agreements on September 15, 2020 for normalising relations with Israel, becoming the latest Arab states to break a longstanding taboo in a strategic realignment of Middle Eastern countries.
• US President Donald Trump hosted the White House ceremony, capping a dramatic month when first the UAE and then Bahrain agreed to reversed ecades of ill-will without a resolution of Israel`s decades-old dispute with the Palestinians.
• In front of a crowd of several hundred people on the White House lawn, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed accords with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Bahrain`s Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani
8. World missing all targets to save nature, warns UN
• Countries are set to miss all of the targets they set themselves a decade ago to preserve nature and save Earth`s vital biodiversity, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
• Humanity`s impact on the natural world over the last five decades has been nothing short of cataclysmic: since 1970 close to 70 percent of wild animals, birds and fish have vanished, according to a WWF assessment this month.
• Last year the UN`s panel on biodiversity, called IPBES, warned that one million species face extinction as man-made activity has already severely degraded three quarters of land on Earth
9. Navalny happy to breathe unaided, eyes Russia return
• Opposition leader Alexei Navalny said on Tuesday he was able to breathe unaided in his first public comments after his suspected poisoning in Siberia, while his aide said he planned to return to Russia once recovered.
• The 44-year-old lawyer and outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin fell severely ill on August 20 on a flight from the Siberian city of Tomsk to Moscow after a trip to support opposition candidates in local elections.
• Germany said there was `unequivocal evidence` that Russia`s most prominent opposition figure was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent but Moscow has angrily dismissed the findings, saying its doctors found no trace of poison
10. Trump dismisses climate concerns as he visits fire-ravaged western US
• President Donald Trump suggested global warming will reverse itself and dismissed climate change as a cause of the ferocious fires engulfing the west of the United States.
• As the focus of the US election campaign switched to the deadly blazes, Democratic challenger Joe Biden slammed the incumbent as a “climate arsonist” and said America would not be safe from the ravages of a warming planet unless it elects “a president who respects science.”
• Infernos across California, Oregon and Washington state have burned more than five million acres (two million hectares) this year, killed dozens of people and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes
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