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 October 04, 2018: National Current Affairs

 1. US, Pakistan agree to stay engaged despite Afghan issue

• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton in Washington in an attempt to revive relations between the two countries, despite tensions involving
• `Useful, engaging and forward-looking,` said Mr Qureshi while commenting on his meeting with Mr Pompeo at a US think-tank on October 3,
• In his address at the US Institute of Peace, he also underlined the steps that the Trump administration had taken against Pakistan, which, he said, did not help improve
• `Cutting of [military] training, not giving precision equipment used against terrorists, in my view, will not help,` he
• `The blame game will not be productive; blaming and shaming is very easy, where will it get us?` he asked while referring to US allegations that Pakistan was allowing Afghan terrorists to use its territory for launching attacks into
• `Look at the statements issued in last one year; have they helped? They have
• We have to adopt a dif ferent approach,` he
• Mr Qureshi said the gap that prevented the US and Pakistan from building their relationship had to be bridged.

2. Talks with S. Arabia on $8bn Gwadar refinery in final stages

• Saudi Arabia on October 3, 2018 agreed in principle to set up a major refinery at Gwadar and showed serious commitment to make investments in other areas of energy
• The two sides had agreed to set up an oil refinery at Gwadar and a summary would be moved to the federal cabinet on October 4, 2018 (today) for approval to sign a memorandum of understanding (
• The Saudi minister for energy was expected to visit Islamabad later this month for signing of the MoU. He said the visiting Saudi delegation was offered to participate in the $2bn North-South Gas Pipeline and bid for the upcoming 10 petroleum exploration blocks to be of fered for auction
• The federal Minister for Petroleum said Saudi Arabia enjoyed great respect in Pakistan and both countries had strong bilateral brotherly relations that would scale new heights under the present government. The proposed 500,000 barrels per day refinery is estimated to be completed with an investment of about $8-
• Current Federal Minister for Petroleum: Ghulam Sarwar Khan

3. Japan to give $2.7m for Afghan refugees

• The government of Japan has pledged a contribution of $2.7 million to support Afghan refugees and host communities in
• Japan`s Ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai and UNHCR`s Country Representative in Pakistan Ruvendrini Menikdiwela signed the agreement with Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Saleem Khan in attendance at a ceremony held on October 3, 2018.

4. Yasinzai appointed Balochistan Governor

• President Arif Alvi appointed retired justice Amanullah Khan Yasinzai as governor of Balochistan on October 3, 2018 upon the advice of Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to a Cabinet Division
• Several names were under consideration for the slot after the resignation of Mohammad Khan Achakzai, who served as Balochistan governor for five
• Prime Minister Khan approved the name of Justice
• Justice Yasinzai was born in
• After completing his basic education in Quetta, he went to Lahore and obtained his law degree from the Punjab
• He entered the legal profession in 1981. He joined the Pakistan Peoples’ Party after entering politics during the early
• Mr Yasinzai was appointed additional judge of the Balochistan High Court in 1997.He was appointed chief justice of the court in 2005 and served in this capacity till
• Justice Yasinzai was among those judges who took the oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) in 2007 after then president Pervez Musharraf had imposed emergency on Nov 3 that year.

October 4, 2018: International Current Affairs

5. Top UN court asks US to ease Iran sanctions

• The UN`s top court ordered the United States on October 3, 2018 to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran in a stunning rebuke to US President Donald
• Tehran hailed its victory after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that sanctions re-imposed after Trump pulled out of a nuclear deal put Iranian lives at
• The US said the case was `meritless` and only involved a few sanctions, although the decision is still likely to rile the US
• It remains unclear whether the judgment will be anything more than symbolic because both Washington and Tehran have ignored ICJ decisions in the
• The judges at the court in The Hague ruled unanimously that the sanctions on some goods breached a 1955 `Treaty of Amity` between Iran and the US that predates Iran`s Islamic
• They said Washington `shall remove by means of its choosing any impediments arising from the measures announced on May 8 to the free exportation to Iran of medicines and medical devices, food and agricultural commodities` as well as airplane parts and services, chief judge Abdulgawi Ahmed Yusuf said.

6. ICJ to resume Jadhav case hearing in February

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will resume hearing of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav`s case in February next
• According to a press release issued by the court, `the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, will hold public hearings in the Jadhav case (India vs Pakistan) from Monday 18 to Thursday 21 February 2019, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the
• As per the schedule issued by the ICJ, India will present its arguments on Feb 18 and Pakistan on Feb
• In the second round, India will present arguments on Feb 20 and Pakistan on Feb
• The ICJ had asked Pakistan in May last year to stay the execution of Jadhav, who is convicted of spying and involvement in acts of terrorism in
• Judges at the ICJ ruled in a unanimous and binding decision that Kulbhushan Sudhir Yadav (Jadhav) must not be executed by Islamabad until the court had time to pass a final judgement in the case.

7. Saudi Arabia not to last without US support, says Trump

• US President Donald Trump has claimed that Saudi Arabia and its king would not last `for two weeks` without US military
• The US leader expressed these views at a rally in Mississippi while reiterating his desire for US allies to reimburse the costs of American military presence in their
• `We protect Saudi Arabia. Would you say they`re rich? And I love the king, King Salman. But I said `King we`re protecting you, you might not be there for two weeks without us you have to pay for your military said Trump, earning wild cheers from the
• `For years you watched as your leaders apologised for America. Now you have a president who is standing up for America,` he said as the cheers grew
• Trump didn`t elaborate on when he had made the comments to the Saudi monarch but the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported that the president and King Salman last talked by phone on September 29, 2018, when they discussed `efforts to maintain supplies to ensure the stability of the oil market and ensure the growth of the global economy`.

8. Trio wins chemistry Nobel for harnessing evolution, developing proteins

• US scientists Frances Arnold and George Smith and British researcher Gregory Winter won the Nobel Chemistry Prize on October 3, 2018 for applying the principles of evolution to develop proteins used in everything from new biofuels to the world`s best-selling
• Ms Arnold, just the fifth woman to clinch chemistry`s most prestigious honour since Marie Curie was honoured in 1911, won one half of the nine million Swedish kronor (about $1.01 million) award, while Mr Smith and Mr Winter shared the
• `The 2018 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry have taken control of evolution and used it for purposes that bring the greatest benefit to humankind,` the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences
• Life on Earth exists because over the past 3.7 billion years organisms have adapted to their environment, with evolution solv-ing complex chemical problems: fish can for example swim in polar oceans because they have antifreeze proteins in their
• The trio used the principles of evolution genetic change and selection to develop proteins now used in a range of fields, in what is known as directed evolution.`They have applied the principles of Darwin in test tubes.

9. Einstein’s ‘God letter’ to go on sale for $1m

• A handwritten letter from Albert Einstein about his thoughts on God, religion and his search for meaning is to go on sale in New York, valued at up to $1.5
• Written a year before the legendary physicist died in 1955, his name synonymous with genius, Einstein writes in German from Princeton, New Jersey to German philosopher Eric
• “The word God is for me nothing but the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of venerable but still rather primitive legends,” writes the physicist, best known for his theory of relativity. “No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can (for me) change anything about this

October 4, 2018: Sports Current Affairs

10. World Cup 2019 trophy reaches Lahore

• The 2019 Cricket World Cup trophy reached Lahore on October 3, 2018 as part of its world
• On its arrival in the city, the Garrard-made trophy was held up by cricketer Mohammad Irfan and paraded on a bus from the Gaddafi Stadium to Mall Road, Badshahi mosque, and Shahi Qila (Lahore
• On October 4, the trophy will continue its tour of Lahore and will be taken to the Government College University (GCU), Wagah Border, and Shaukat Khanum
• The trophy, whose replicas are given to the winners of ICC’s 50-over world cups, will next be taken to Islamabad, where it will again go on display for two days. The final stop of the trophy’s tour will be in Karachi, where fans will be able to see it on October 7 and 8.