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May 27, 2018

1. Next election to be held on July 25

• President Mamnoon Hussain on May 27, 2018 set July 25 as the date for general elections in the country.
• The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had sent a summary to the president on May 21, proposing holding of 2018 general elections on any date between July 25 and 27. The president had signed the summary approving July 25 as the polling date.
• Under Section 57 (1) of the Elections Act, 2017, the president announces the date for elections in consultation with the ECP and the commission is required to announce the schedule for polls within seven days of the announcement of election date.
• The ECP said a tentative schedule for polls was ready and was most likely to be announced on Monday after formal approval by the commission.
• According to the tentative schedule obtained by Dawn, returning officers will invite nominations papers through public notice and June 4is to be set as the last date for filing of nomination papers.

2. Fata’s Manzoor Afridi chosen as KP caretaker CM

• Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and Opposition Leader in the KP Assembly Lutfur Rehman have agreed to nominate Manzoor Afridi as caretaker chief minister of the province.
• The decision was taken after consultations between Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and Opposition Leader Lutfur Rahman on May 26, 2018.
• The 42-year-old Manzoor Afridi belongs to Tehsil Bara of Khyber Agency. He is brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) newly-elected Senator Ayub Afridi and also the first cousin of Javed Afridi, chairman of cricket team Peshawar Zalmi.
• His grandfather Haji Aka Khail Shah Afridi served in Pakistan Army while his another cousin Mirza Mohammad Afridi is also a senator from FATA.
• He would be the first chief minister from FATA after merger of tribal areas into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

3. KP Assembly may validate Fata bill today

• All political parties are hopeful that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly during its extraordinary session on May 27, 2018 a day before its dissolution on the completion of its five-year term will manage to validate the bill already passed by the two houses of parliament seeking merger of Fata with the province with the required two-thirds majority.
• However, according to some legal and constitutional experts, the failure of the provincial legislators to do so can bring the legislation under legal scrutiny and it can even be challenged before a court of law since the Constitution issilent on the period required for the president to wait for the nod from the provincial assembly prior to giving his assent.
• The provincial government had reportedly sent a summary to the governor on May 25, 2018 soon after the passage of the constitution amendment bill from the Senate for summoning a session of the assembly at 2pm on May 27, 2018. The session has been convened only to give its approval to the historic bill that would erase the colonial-era division between tribal areas and the province.
• After the provincial assembly`s approval the landmark bill will bring the tribal borderlands, comprising seven agencies and six Frontier Regions, to the mainstream and they will be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Tribal people will get representation in the KP Assembly through the amendment.
• Tabling the Constitution (Amendment) Bill in the KP Assembly is a constitutional requirement. As per Article 239(4) of the Constitution, the president cannot assent a constitutional amendment bill which affects geographical boundaries of a province without approval by the assembly of that province.

4. Brain behind ‘Imran Series’ passes away

• Renowned Urdu spy-fiction novelist Mazhar Kaleem MA was laid to rest here at a local cemetery on May 26, 2018. He passed away after a prolonged illness, family sources confirmed.
• He was born in Multan in 1942 and held a Masters degree in Urdu literature besides an LLB.
• Mazhar Kaleem rose to popularity across the country due to his Urdu spy-fiction novel popularly known as ‘Imran Series’.
• Although, the Imran Series was originally a creation of Ibn-e-Safi, another well known Urdu fiction writer, Mazhar Kaleem took this genre to new heights and wrote over 600 novels. He introduced many new characters in the series which attracted Urdu readers from across the world.
• Family sources claimed that the number of books written by Mazhar Kaleem was beyond 5,000. Imran series is comprised of one of the Urdu’s best selling spy novels, the series basically revolved around Ali Imran, a comical secret agent who controls the Secret Service. The first book of the series, Khaufnaak Imarat, was published in October 1955.

5. WB allocates $728m for climate-resilient development

• The World Bank is committing $728 million through four projects to put Pakistan on the path of climate resilient development which would benefit millions of its citizens.
• These projects will protect the environment and improve the quality of life in cities while being engines of growth and promoting sustainable water management through efficient irrigation, robust weather forecasting and improved disaster preparedness. International Development Association, concessional financing arm of the World Bank, is funding all four projects.
• “The projects offer wide ranging support to address climate vulnerability and variability by strengthening institutions and systems and investing in priority infrastructure in rural and urban areas,” said Illango Patchamuthu, World Bank Country Director for Pakistan. “Millions of Pakistanis will benefit from improved irrigation, weather services, and resilience to natural disasters. At the same time, Punjab’s cities will benefit from investments to improve infrastructure and local services while protecting its environment.”
• The $188 million Hydro met and Disaster Risk Management Services Project will help Pakistan deliver more reliable and timely weather forecasting and disaster risk management services. Total cost of the project is around $210 million in which World Bank would finance $188 million. Pakistan suffered $18 billion losses between 2005 and 2014 (US$10.5 billion from the 2010 floods alone) due to the adverse impact of climate change. The project, which would be completed in five years, will help increase preparation for and resilience to natural disasters and climate change, as well as improve water management for agriculture. It would strengthen Pakistan’s public sector delivery of reliable and timely hydro-meteorological and disaster risk management services.

6. China, Burkina Faso establish ties following Taiwan snub

• China and Burkina Faso signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations on Saturday, days after the west African nation cut ties with Taiwan in yet another victory for Beijing in its campaign to isolate the island. A communique on establishing relations was signed in Beijing by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart Alpha Barry.
• Burkina Faso broke off ties with Taiwan on May 24, 2018, becoming the second country to do so within a month and leaving the democratically ruled island with only 18 diplomatic allies around the world.
• The move had been widely expected after Burkina Faso defected from Taiwan, which has steadily lost ground in a decades-long diplomatic tug-ofwar with China in developing countries. Taiwan can now claim only one ally in Africa, Swaziland.

7. Malaysia renegotiating terms of `One Belt, One Road` rail project

• Malaysia is haggling over the terms of a $14 billion rail deal with its Chinese partners and can reduce its ballooning national debts by $50bn by doing away with mega projects, its prime minister said in an interview published on May 26, 2018.
• Mahathir Mohamad, the 92-year-old who triumphed over scandal-plagued Najib Razak in elections earlier this month, has made it a priority to cut the national debt and pledged to review major projects agreed by the previous government.
• Work on the 55bn ringgit ($13.82bn) East Coast Rail Link the largest such project in the country and a major part of Beijing`s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) infrastructure push started last year.
• The project was planned to stretch 688 kilometres (430 miles) connecting the South China Sea at the Thai border in the east with the strategic shipping routes of the Straits of Malacca in the west.

8. Leaders meet to salvage Trump-Kim summit

• North and South Korea’s leaders held surprise talks on May 26, 2018 to get a historic summit between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump back on track after a head-spinning series of twists and turns.
• The meeting is the latest remarkable diplomatic chapter in a roller coaster of developments on the Korean peninsula.
• Trump had rattled the region on Thursday by cancelling his meeting with Kim which had been due to take place in Singapore on June 12 citing “open hostility” from Pyongyang. But within 24 hours he reversed course saying it could still go ahead after productive talks were held with North Korean officials.
• South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Kim Saturday in an effort to ensure the landmark meeting between Trump and the North Korean leader goes ahead.

9. Ireland overturns abortion ban in landslide vote

• Ireland voted by a landslide to ditch its strict abortion laws in a landmark referendum hailed by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on May 26, 2018 as a “quiet revolution”, triggering scenes of jubilation in Dublin.
• Final results showed more than 66 percent of voters in what has been a traditionally staunchly Catholic country backed repealing the constitutional ban on terminations. Hugging, celebrating, singing and cheering wildly, thousands crammed into the courtyard of Dublin Castle, where the official result was declared.

10. Japanese team arrives to summit K2

• Japanese climber Akira Oyabe and his expedition have arrived in Pakistan after spending the last two years planning and preparing to summit K2, the second highest peak in the world.
• Mr Oyabe has faced the 8,611 metre peak twice before.
• He was forced to turn back at 7,900m due to strong winds in 2009, and was unable to summit the mountain again in 2013 due to heavy snowf all.
• Other than Mr Oyabe and one other team member, no one on the expedition has climbed an 8,000m plus peak before.
• Takashi Higashiyama, the youngest member of the team, attempted to climb K2 five years ago but was forced to abandon his ascent after an avalanche blew away camp three, killing two climbers from New Zealand.