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 October 02, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. IMF for more action on revenues, state-owned firms

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the government to raise more revenues and pay greater attention to outstanding structural reforms, especially regarding the state owned enterprises, to put the economy on a sound footing.
• A visiting delegation of the fund led by Harald Finger, IMF`s mission chief for Pakistan, held detailed meetings with senior officials of the Ministry of Finance and Federal Board of Revenue on October 1, 2018 as they entered the last leg of their weeklong engagements. The finance secretary and the FBR chairman led the official side. The talks will now enter the policy area where Finance Minister Asad Umar is expected to lead the government`s side.
• Informed sources said the IMF staff mission had expressed reserved on over the revenue measures of the supplementary budget. They argued that these measures were not enough to keep the fiscal deficit within the target of 5.1 per cent.
• The sources said the mission viewed that dependence on provincial cash surpluses worth Rs286 billion and some additional subsidy elements not in corporated in the revised budgetary projections could cause slippages.

2. Pakistan, US to re-engage for reviving ties today (October 1, 2018)

• The United States and Pakistan re-engage in Washington on October 2, 2018 (today) to explore options for reviving their relations that have been on a downward spiral since 2011.
• Three major issues the situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan`s strong economic and political ties with China and tensions between South Asia`s two nuclear neighbours are expected to dominate much of the talks.
• Although media reports have also included a possible prisoner exchange Dr Shakil Afridi for Aafia Siddiqui among the tops likely to be discussed, it does not seem to be a top item on the agenda of the either side.

3. Islamabad, Riyadh discuss oil supply on deferred payment

• Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on October 1, 2018 discussed ways and means for supply of more than 100,000 barrels per day (BPD) on deferred payment and more than $12 billion investment, mostly in the petroleum sector.
• Riyadh was expected to be allocated a large piece of land at Gwadar for setting up a 500,000 BPD refinery worth over $9bn besides an oil storage facility for 2-3 million tonnes as part of its plan to secure its export supplies. Pakistan promised 16 per cent return on investment in the oil refinery.
• Saudi Arabia has around 8-10m BPD of oil exports and wanted to have a storage facility outside the strategic Strait of Hormuz as a backup for secured supplies to the Eastern clientele.
• The delegation led by Ahmad Hameed Al-Ghamdi, adviser of Saudi Arabia`s ministry of energy, industry and mineral resources, had sessions at the power and petroleum divisions and would be visiting Gwadar port and Reko Dig on Tuesday.

4. Commanders review geostrategic environment

• The corps commanders conference held at the General Headquarters on October 1, 2018 reviewed geostrategic environment and security situation of the country, including progress of the ongoing stability operations under Operation Raddul Fasaad.
• According to the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the meeting presided over by Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed its determination to carry forward the stability achieved through successful counterterrorism operations towards enduring stability.
• The army chief hailed intelligence agencies and all other forces for maintenance of security during Muharram.
• The 214th conference thanked the people of Pakistan for honouring the country`s martyrs in a befitting manner on the National Defence and Martyrs Day to whom the nation owed its peace and stability

5. Rizwana elected IWCCI president

• Female entrepreneur Rizwana Asif has been elected unopposed as president of the Islamabad Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI).
• Rizwana Asif has earlier served as senior vice president of the IWCCI and her dedication won her respect among the members of the chamber of commerce and led her to the highest slot in the chamber.
• Nasira Ali has been elected as senior vice president, Neelum Nayab has been elected as vice president of the IWCCI.

October 2, 2018: International Current Affairs

6. Japan-US duo wins medicine Nobel

• Two immunologists, James Allison of the US and Tasuku Honjo of Japan, won the 2018 Nobel Medicine Prize for research into how the body`s natural defences can fight cancer, the jury said on October 1, 2018.
• Unlike more traditional forms of cancer treatment that directly target cancer cells often with severe side-effects Allison and Honjo figured out how to help the patient`s own immune system tackle the cancer more quickly.
• The award-winning discovery led to cancer treatment by targeting proteins made by some immune system cells that act as a `brake` on the body`s natural defences killing cancer cells.
• The Nobel Assembly in Stockholm said the therapy `has now revolutionised cancer treatment and has fundamentally changed the way we view how cancer can be managed`.
• In 1995, Allison was one of two scientists to identify the CTLA-4 molecule as an inhibitory receptor on T-cells, a type of white blood cell that play a central role in the body`s natural immunity to disease.

7. Iran fires missiles at Syrian jihadists after deadly attack

• Iran said on October 1, 2018 that it struck jihadists in Syria with ballistic missiles in retaliation for a deadly attack on an Iranian military parade, warning the `real punishment` was still to come.
• Last month`s assault in the Iranian city of Ahvaz killed 24 people and was claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
• The pre-dawn strike by Iran, which has vowed to boost its ballistic missile capabilities despite Western concerns, targeted the area of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria near the border with Iraq.

8. UN staff pulled out of Gaza over security concerns

• The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on October 1, 2018 it was temporarily withdrawing part of its foreign staff from the Gaza Strip following security concerns linked to job cuts in the Palestinian enclave.
• It said in a statement it had `decided to temporarily withdraw part of its international staff from Gaza following a series of worrying security incidents affecting its personnel in the strip.` Around 10 staff members crossed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 1, 2018.
• The Israeli defence ministry unit that oversees the crossing said an unspecified number of foreign employees from the agency known as UNRWA `were evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Israel`. UNRWA employees in the strip have held strikes, sit-ins and other protests since the agency announced in July it was cutting more than 250 jobs in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
• Hundreds of full-time roles have also become part-time.

9. Physics built by men – not by invitation: Cern scientist

• A senior scientist has given what has been described as a “highly offensive” presentation about the role of women in physics, the BBC has learned.
• At a workshop organised by Cern, Prof Alessandro Strumia of Pisa University said that “physics was invented and built by men, it’s not by invitation”. He said male scientists were being discriminated against because of ideology rather than merit. He was speaking at a workshop in Geneva on gender and high energy physics.
• Prof Strumia has since defended his comments, saying he was only presenting the facts.
• Cern, the European nuclear research centre, described Prof Strumia’s presentation as “highly offensive”.
• The centre, which discovered the Higgs Boson in 2012, has removed slides used in the talk from its website “in line with a code of conduct that does not tolerate personal attacks and insults”.

10. French singer Aznavour dies

• The legendary French singer Charles Aznavour who said last week he wanted to breathe his last on stage died on October 1, 2018. He was 94.
• The songwriter, who had just returned from a concert tour of Japan, passed away at his home in Alpilles in southeastern France.