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July 16, 2019
1. Pak Army hands over Verification system to Balochistan police
• Pakistan Army July 15, 2019 donated Smart Verification and Alert System (SVAS) to Balochistan Police to beef up security of the province.
• Commander Southern Command Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa formally handed over the Smart verification system to the Inspector General (IG) Police of Balochistan Mohsin Hassan Butt during a ceremony held at Headquarters Southern Command, said a press release issued here.
• The SVAS system will enable Balochistan Police to facilitate the identity of individuals passing through existing check posts in the province.
• In addition Pakistan Army has also provided sniffing dogs to effectively detect explosives and narcotics hidden in vehicles in order to decrease smuggling activities in the areas.
2. Service charges for pre-paid mobile cards withdrawn
• In compliance with the Supreme Court`s orders, cellular companies have stopped deducting service charges for their prepaid cards.
• Now around 50 per cent of the amount which was deducted in the past would be included in the balance and the customers will receive a top-up of Rs88.9, instead of Rs76.94, on a scratch card of Rs100.
• Last year, then chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar had taken suo motu notice on public complaints that an unreasonable and high amount of tax/other charges were being deducted from the topping up balance through `easy load` and calling cards, besides taxing the calls.
3. E-court system launched in Quetta
• The e-court system was formally launched here on July 15, 2019.
• On the opening day, a three-member bench of the Supreme Coun headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Asif Saeed Khosa heard five constitutional petitions and cases through video link. The other members of the bench were Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed and Justice Umar Atta Bandial.
• Hearing through e-court system will continue till July 18.
4. 13 projects worth Rs335bn approved
• The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on July 15, 2019 approved 13 development projects worth Rs335.61 billion, including revision of the cost of Dasu hydropower project.
• The approval was given during an ECNEC meeting chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Hafeez Sheikh.
• The meeting approved the foreign exchange component (FEC) of Rs189.793bn which constitutes 56.55 per cent of the total amount.
• At the outset, the ECNEC approved `Dasu hydropower project (stage 1) revision of cost for land acquisition and built up of property`, subject to opinion of the Ministry of Law on the revision of cost of land and built up property. The Law Division is directed to give its opinion in a week`s time to save the project from further delay.
• The Ecnec also approved the project at revised cost of Rs90.831bn with FEC of Rs79.584bn for the evacuation of power from 2,160 MW Dasu HPP stage 1, Dasu to Islamabad via Mansehra. The Ecnec also approved two power projects 1,223 MW(Gross) combined cycle Power Plant Balloki, District Kasur and 1,230 MW (Gross) Combined Cycle power plant at Haveli Bahadur Shah, District Jhang (second revised PC1).
5. PM launches second phase of registration for housing scheme
• Prime Minister Imran Khan on July 15, 2019 opened the second phase of registration for the Naya Pakistan Housing Programme, which would provide affordable housing units to low-income families.
• The objective of the countrywide registration process by the Pakistan Housing and Development Authority through this scheme is to collect data regarding the demand for housing units across the country and launch projects accordingly.
• The prime minister also launched a web portal (www.nphp.nadra.gov.pk) where the applicants could register themselves, without needing to visit any office.
July 16, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Over 2bn people lack access to safe food: UN
• More than two billion people lack access to healthy food, putting them at risk of health problems and many of them live in North America or Europe, the United Nations said on July 15, 2019, urging governments to `look beyond hunger`.
• More than a quarter of the world`s population now struggles to eat `safe, nutritious and suf ficient food`, according to the UN`s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report.
• That includes about 8 percent of people in Europe and North America, according to the annual study, which for the first time includes people af fected by `moderate food insecurity` as well as outright hunger.
• `We need to look beyond hunger,` said Cindy Holleman, senior economist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the report`s editor.
7. India aborts moon mission one hour before launch
• Indian space chiefs pressed to quickly set a new date to launch a landmark moon mission after aborting one liftoff on July 15, 2019 just 56 minutes ahead of schedule, media reports said.
• A committee of experts was looking into the causes of the technical hitch that put back the bid to become just the fourth nation -after Russia, the United States and China -to land a spacecraft on the Moon.
• The Chandrayaan-2 -or Moon Chariot 2 -rocket, a key part of India`s ambitious space programme, could still blast off on July 29 or 30, media reports said. If that is not possible the launch would have to wait until September or beyond.
8. Space flights to take off with new UAE law
• The UAE’s soon-to-be-approved space law will aim to welcome space tourism companies to invest and operate in the country, a top UAE official has said. Local and foreign investors will be protected under the law, as it will give them “security and the right environment” to make their investments.
• “Space tourism is coming and it’s a trend worldwide. Our law is an advance for that. We will have a document that legalises and also regulates space flights. It’s not there yet, but it’s coming. It has put the right regulation for these kinds of activities. The law is addressing space tourism,” the director-general of the UAE Space Agency, Dr Mohammed AlAhbabi, told Khaleej Times.
• He was speaking on the sidelines of the agency’s fifth anniversary celebrations. In the past few years, there has been a major boost in the number of private space companies. Many of these entities offer governments a launcher to send their satellites to orbit.
9. Robots to install telescopes to peer into cosmos from moon
• As the United States races to put humans back on the moon for the first time in 50 years, a NASA-funded lab in Colorado aims to send robots there to deploy telescopes that will look far into our galaxy, remotely operated by orbiting astronauts.
• The radio telescopes, to be planted on the far side of the moon, are among a plethora of projects underway by the US space agency, private companies and other nations that will transform the moonscape in the coming decade.
• Sometime in the coming decade, Burns’ team will send a rover aboard a lunar lander spacecraft to the far side of the moon. The rover will rumble across the craggy and rough surface – featuring a mountain taller than any on earth – to set up a network of radio telescopes with little help from humans.
July 16, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Junaid Chatha represents Pakistan in int’l sports seminar
• A seminar titled “What’s Goal” was held in Dusseldorf, Germany on the topics ‘Innovation in Sports and E-Sports’, which was participated by Junaid Chatha from Pakistan.
• The one-day seminar was conducted to improve quality of international sports using latest technologies and modern management techniques. Sports gurus and professionals from across the world.
• Chatha informed the participants about the structure of sports and betterment opportunities in the country. He also shared his thoughts with sports club delegations, who came from all over the world. He also shed light on the need of enhancing the exchange programs of sports professionals.
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