WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS.  “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

December 19, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. British Airways to resume flights after 10 years

• The British Airways has announced that it will be resuming flights to Pakistan from next June after a 10-year break and operating three flights a week between Islamabad and London`s Heathrow airport.
• `It`s exciting to be flying between Islamabad and Heathrow from next year, which we believe will be particularly popular with the British Pakistani community who want to visit, or be visited by their relatives, British Airways Head of Sales for Asia Pacific and the Middle East Robert Williams said at a press conference here on December 18, 2018.
• The first flight from Heathrow will reach Islamabad on June 2 next year. The airline has, however, started ticket sales for now.
• The return fares start from £499 for World Traveller, £773 for World Traveller Plus and £1,799 for Club World.
• The airline said it would be operating this route with its recently acquired Boeing-787 Dreamliner jets.
• The British Airways had stopped its flights to Pakistan in Sept 2008 after the Marriott Hotel bombing citing security concerns. The airline was at that time operating six flights a week to Islamabad. It had on that occasion said that it would reconsider its decision only when the country was safe to fly to.
• The British Airways is the first European carrier to return to Pakistan since many airlines stopped flying to Islamabad after 9/11 and the terrorism that later hit the country.
• The British Airways first started operating the London-Islamabad route in 1976.

2. Pakistan among worst performers on gender equality: WEF

• Pakistan is the second worst country in the world in terms of gender parity, ranking 148 out of 149 countries in the `Global Gender Gap Index 2018` report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on December 18, 2018.
• According to the report, four Muslim countries Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Pakistan are the four worst-performers in the world where the number of women holding managerial positions is the lowest.
• Categorised as the lowest ranked country in South Asia, Pakistan closed 55 per cent of its overall gender gap as compared to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which were the top ranked countries in the region, having closed just over 72pc and nearly 68pc of their overall gender gap, respectively.
• The Geneva-based organisation`s annual report tracked disparities between the genders in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
• Pakistan`s scorecard showed that in terms of economic participation and opportunity, it ranked 146th, while in health and survival, its rank was 145.
• In terms of political empowerment, the country was positioned at 97. Pakistan`s population was growing at the rate of 1.93pc per annum, the report pointed out.
• Pakistan made some good progress this year in wage equality as well as on the educational attainment sub-index.

3. Punjab replaces vehicle registration book with smart card

• The era of carrying inconvenient registration books of motor vehicles with you comes to an end in Punjab as the excise department replaces the document with a smart card containing 11 security features.
• Chief Minister Usman Buzdar formally launched the latest technology-laced card at the excise offices in Shadman Lahore on December 18, 2018.
• The smart card will have detailed data of the vehicles and the owners stored in its chip, that could be provided to the seeker with just a click.
• A similar card would be launched in the federal capital within a month against payment of Rs1,500 and of Rs695 in Sindh. However, in Punjab an improved version of the card having multifarious features would be issued for just Rs520 within 48 hours by paying the fee in any district of the province.
• The facility would be extended to all the districts shortly.
• Earlier, the excise department would charge Rs300 for a motorcycle registration book and Rs500 for a car`s.
• The smart card contains QR code, micro text, fillip-image and other features as per recommendations of the Punjab Safe City Authority.

4. Buledi to represent Balochistan in the 8th meeting of the JCC

• Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani will not attend the 8th meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee to be held in China on Dec 20.
• He has nominated Information Minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi to represent Balochistan government at the meeting.
• The Balochistan chief minister was not part of Pakistan`s delegation which left for China on December 17, 2018, led by Federal Minister for Planning and Development Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar.
• The Balochistan government had announced a few days ago that the chief minister would decide about attending the conference in China in the light of agenda and decisions of the Planning and Development Working Group relating to Balochistan`s development projects in the China-Pakis t an Economic Corridor (CPE C).
• Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeez-ur-Rehman, Balochistan Information Minister Zahoor Bule di, Chairman of Gwadar Port Authority Dostain Jamaldini, Secretary of P&D Muhammad Ali Kakar, Chairman of P&D`s CPEC Unit Hafeez Jamali and senior government officials of the Balochistan government will attend the meeting

5. Comedian Ali Ejaz passes away

• Renowned film, television, radio and stage actor Ali Ejaz passed away on December 18, 2018. He was 77.
• He suffered a heart attack four days ago and was rushed to a private hospital where he breathed his last in the morning. Ali Ejaz had suffered a paralysis attack some 11 years ago.
• Ali Ejaz was born in 1941 in Qila Gujjar Singh, Lahore. Popular comedian Munawwar Zareef was his school fellow.
• Known for his versatility in acting, Ali Ejaz started his showbiz career with theatre in the 1960s.
• Pakistan Television was his second home where he acted in a number of plays and trained a generation of artistes. He was awarded Pride of Performance in 1993.
• His first film was Insaniyat. He acted in over 100 films and his pairing with actress Anjuman and comedian Nannha (Rafi Khawar) was very popular in the 1980s. His TV plays Khawaja and Sons, Sona Aur Chandi and Lakhon Mein Teen (with Qavi Khan and Athar Shah Khan Jedi) became household names.
• Among his popular films were Dada Ustad, Bhaiyan Di Jori, Yamla Jutt, Bad Nalo Badnam Bura, Ishq Mera Naam, Sohra Tay Jawai, Sala Sahib, Laila Majnoon, Athra Putar and Sajjan Dushman and Dubai Chalo.
• TV serial Khawja and Sons and film Dubai Chalo are regarded as his best.

December 19, 2018: International Current Affairs

6. Russia, Iran and Turkey agree on Syria constitutional body

• The foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey said on December 18, 2018 that a new Syrian Constitutional Committee should convene early next year, kicking off a viable political peace process.
• In a joint statement read out by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the trio met UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, they said that the work of the new body `should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement`. UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura said after talks with Russia, Iran, and Turkey that `there is an extra mile to go` in the `marathon effort` to ensure a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee for Syria.

7. Belgian Prime Minister resigns

• Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel announced his resignation on December 18, 2018, less than two weeks after his main coalition partner quit in a row over migration, leaving him leading a minority government.
• `I have taken the decision to submit my resignation and it is my intention to go to see the king immediately,` Michel told lawmakers after a debate in parliament, where he faced a possible no-confidence motion

8. Trump orders creation of `space command`

• US President Donald Trump has ordered the creation of `space command`, a new organisational structure within the Pentagon that will have overall control of military space operations.
• The command will be separate from Trump`s goal to build an entirely new branch of the military called `Space Force`, which has not received approval from Congress.
• Space Command would integrate space capabilities across all branches of the military.
• SpaceCom, as it will inevitably come to be known, will be the Pentagon`s 11th combatant command.

9. Russia still using social media against US: report

• Russia`s sweeping political disinformation campaign on US social media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage black voters and `blur the lines between reality and fiction` to help elect Donald Trump in 2016, according to reports released by the Senate intelligence committee (partly published in Tuesday`s issue).
• And the campaign didn`t end with Trump`s ascent to the White House. Troll farms are still working to stoke racial and political passions in America at a time of high political discord.
• The two studies are the most comprehensive picture yet of the Russian interference campaigns on American social media. They add to the portrait investigators have been building since 2017 on Russia`s influence though Trump has equivocated on whether the interference actually happened.
• Facebook, Google and Twitter declined to comment on the specifics of the reports.

10. Russia slashes military flights to Syria

• Russia has cut its military flights in Syria from more than 100 per day to fewer than four a week, in another sign the country`s conflict is winding down.
• Russia launched air strikes in Syria in support of long term ally President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015.
• Russian support helped Assad`s forces reclaim swathes of territory once in the hands of opposition fighters and Islamic extremists.