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 September 17, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. COAS Bajwa starts three-day China visit

• Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa arrived in Beijing on September 16, 2018 on a three-day official visit.
• During his stay in China, the Army Chief would interact with Chinese leaders, including his counterpart.
• Last week, the Chinese ambassador to Pakistan had called on the army chief to discuss matters of mutual interest and regional security, following a controversial report in a London-based newspaper quoting Adviser to PM Abdul Razzak Dawood seeking one year halt to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects to review its ramifications for Pakistani industrialists.
• The ambassador had appreciated the conduct of the successful visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Islamabad and support for CPEC in Pakistan.
• The army chief during the meeting had reiterated that security for CPEC would never be compromised

2. Governor House draws large crowd on opening day

• A large number of families from Lahore and its outskirts thronged the Governor House on September 16, 2018 as the government opened the building to the public.
• The public was allowed entry from the gate on Kashmir Road after checking the national identity card of the head of the family.
• Provincial ministers Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Fayyazul Hassan Chohan received people there. The public is allowed to visit the zoo, lake and other areas except the main building housing offices.
• The ministers spent time with people, who also took selfies with the officials.
  Governor House employees were present to serve and guide the people.

3. President Alvi`s maiden address to parliament today (September 17, 2018)

• President Dr Arif Alvi will make his maiden address to a joint sitting of parliament on September 17, 2018 (today).
• The government had earlier convened the joint sitting on Sept 13 and regular sessions of the National Assembly andthe Senate on Sept14,butcancelledita day before at the PML-N`s request and to avoid possible criticism of the move as it was coinciding with the funeral of former first lady Begum Kulsoom Nawaz.
• The regular sessions of both the houses of parliament will now be held separately on September 18, 2018 in which Finance Minister Asad Umar is expected to present the mini-budget for the remaining 10 months of the current financial year.
• Under Article 56(3) of the Constitution, the president is required to address a joint sitting of parliament at the beginning of the parliamentary year. It states: `At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the National Assembly and at the commencement of the first session of each year, the President shall address both Houses assembled together.
• Dr Arif Alvi was elected 13th president of the country on Sept 4

4. 36.6MW power project completed in Swat

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has claimed to have achieved another target in the energy sector by successfully completing Daral Khwar hydropower project having generation capacity of 36.6MW. The power project has been completed by the province on its own.
• Daral Khwar hydropower project had been connected to national grid after starting of power generation.
• The power project will earn Rs1.2 billion annually for the provincial exchequer.

September 17, 2018: International Current Affairs

5. Leaders of Ethiopia, Eritrea sign accord in Saudi Arabia

• Leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a `peace agreement` on September 16, 2018 during a summit in Saudi Arabia, yet another sign of warming ties between two nations that have face decades of war and unease.
• Terms of the agreement signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki weren`t immediately clear. Saudi authorities did not respond to specific questions about the accord, which earlier had been described as being a further endorsement of a historic deal reached between the two nations in July.
• The peace deal resulted in restoration of normal relations between the countries, on the basis of the close bonds of geography, history and culture between the two nations and their peoples.
• The kingdom of Saudi Arabia praised the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea for exercising leadership and courage to restore the brotherly relations between the two countries, thus forming the foundation for a new phase that will bring significant developments in the relations between the two nations in all fields.

6. Bhutan`s PM defeated in first round of polls

• Bhutan`s prime minister conceded defeat on September 16, 2018, after the ruling party was knocked out in the first round of the small Himalayan nation`s third-ever election.
• Harvard educated Tshering Tobgay was seeking a second term in the poll but fell short of two rival parties, who will contest a runoff on Oct 18.
• Election officials said Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT), which won Bhutan`s first-ever election when the kingdom transitioned to democracyin2008, attracted nearly 93,000 votes, narrowly beating Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT).
• More than 291,000 people cast their vote in Saturday`s poll for a 66 per cent turnout of registered voters, said an election official.

7. UN`s Yemen envoy arrives in Sanaa; 32 rebels killed in Hodeida

• Fresh clashes and air strikes have killed 32 rebels around Yemen`s Red Sea city of Hodeida, hospital sources said on September 16, 2018, as the UN envoy kept up peace efforts in Sanaa.
• A military source said the Saudi led coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government against Shia Houthi rebels carried out an air raid on a radio station tower in the port city of Hodeida.
• Three people died in September 16, 2018`s raid, he said, while Houthi-run Al-Masirah television said four people were killed three security guards and a station employee.
  A total of 32 insurgents have been killed and 14 otherswounded in clashes and air strikes since Saturday.

8. Earth’s next door neighbour could be home to water

• A nearby exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of a star just 4.2 light-years from Earth may be home to a vast ocean, boosting its chances of supporting life.
• Since its discovery, questions about the conditions at the surface of Proximab have been swirling; the planet’s mass is just about 1.3 times that of Earth’s, and the red dwarf star it circles is similar in age to our sun. Studies over the last few years, however, have both bolstered hopes of its habitability and shot them down.
• Now, a new study has once again raised the possibility that Proxima b could support life, suggesting that under the right conditions, the exoplanet could sustain liquid water.
• ‘The major message from our simulations is that there’s a decent chance that the planet would be habitable,’ Anthony Del Genio, a planetary scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

9. Archaeologists discover ancient sphinx in Egypt

• Egypt says archaeologists have discovered a statue of a lion`s body and a human head in the southern city of Aswan.
• The Antiquities Ministry said on September 16, 2018 the sphinx made of sandstone was found in the Temple of Kom Ombo during work to protect the site from groundwater.
  The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt for some 300 years from around 320 BC to about 30 BC.

September 17, 2018: Sports Current Affairs

10. Pakistan open campaign with crushing victory over Hong Kong

• Former champions Pakistan thrashed an inexperienced Hong Kong side by eight wickets in a one-sided match to open their Asia Cup campaign in style on September 16, 2018.
• Pakistan`s bowling attack was too hot to handle for Hong Kong at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium as the left-arm speedster Usman Khan Shinwari finished with 3-19 and Hasan All took 2-19, while leg-spinner Shadab Khan manage d 2-31 to bowl Hong Kong out for 116 in 37.1 overs.
• Pakistan then completed the chase comfortably for the loss of opener Fakhar Zaman (24) and Babar Azam (33), while Imam-ul-Haq finished on 50 not out after just 23.4 overs.
• It proved another cakewalk for Pakistan, like their two previous victories against Hong Kong, by 173 runs in the 2004 Asia Cup in Colombo and by 155 in Karachi four years later.