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August 01, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Govt appoints Tauseef H. Farooqi as new NEPRA chairman
• The federal government has appointed Tauseef H. Farooqi as new chairman of NEPRA.
• “In exercise of power conferred under section 3 of Regulation of Generation Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act 1997, the federal government is pleased to appoint Tauseef H. Farooqi as chairman National Electric Power Regulatory Authority(NEPRA) for a period as provided under section 3(5) of Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power regulatory act 1997 with immediate effect and till further order,” said a notification by the establishment division.
• The new chairman is likely to join his office from August 5, 2019. The appointment of Tauseef H. Farooqi as a chairman NEPRA was approved by the federal cabinet in its meeting held on July 16, 2019.
• The post of NEPRA chairman was lying vacant since 20th November 2018. Chairman NEPRA, Tariq Sadozi, who had joined as a chairman on 21 November, 2014, has completed four years term on 20th November 2018. The selection process for the chairman NEPRA was started in from December.
2. CM Buzdar opens Mobile Health Unit
• Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar inaugurated the mobile health unit donated by the Imperial College London at Services Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS) July 31, 2019.
• The CM announced upgrading the hospital emergency department and issued directives to overcome the staff.
• The emergencies department of hospitals will be improved on priority and hospitals will be transformed as healing centers and shortages found anywhere will be removed.
3. GCU sets up business incubation centre
• The Government College University Lahore has established a Business Incubation Centre (BIC) with a cost of Rs16.42 million to promote self employment among youth.
• GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr H assan Amir Shah inaugurated the centre that will provide basic infrastructure and allied facilities for researchers and young entrepreneurs who are interested in developing early stage business ventures.
• Out of the total cost, Rs10.91 million were funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) over the period of two years.
4. Polythene bags will be banned in capital from Aug 14
• Polythene bags will completely be banned Islamabad from Aug 14
• Independence Day will be marked as : `Plastic Bags Se Azadi`.
• Current Minister of State for Climate Change is: Zartaj Gul
• `It is alarming that 55 billion plastic bags are being used annually in the country. That amounts to consumption of 275 bags, per person per year. Plastic bags not only affect the environment, but also clause flooding in cities.
5. Directorate General-Anti Benami Initiative established
• The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has been assigned the administration and implementation of the new stream of financial crime investigation and enforcement under Benami Transaction (Prohibition), Act, 2017.
• The FBR has issued office order of establishment of Directorate General-Anti Benami Initiative. Benami Transactions, entailing the phenomenon of Benami moveable and immoveable properties, bank accounts, luxury vehicles, off shore investments and stocks and shares is one of the biggest economic and financial threats, currently camouflaging the rampant corruption in our society, deadly confronting Pakistan’s taxation system and practically compromising the economic viability of the country.
• Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act, 2017 provides detailed description and powers & functions of various authorities
August 1, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Sri Lanka gives free visa to boost tourism after bomb blasts
• Sri Lanka announced July 31, 2019 it will give a one-month free visa on arrival to visitors from nearly 50 countries in its latest effort to revive the island nation’s lucrative tourism industry that was badly hit by the Easter bomb attacks that killed 263 people.
• Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said tourists or those visiting for business purposes could get their free visa on arrival or applying online. The measure will be effective for six months, starting from Thursday.
• Because of the measure, the government may lose about 4.3 billion rupees ($24 million) in revenue it could have earned from charging visas.
• Sri Lanka charges $35 for a one-month tourist visa, or $20 for nationals from South Asia.
7. North Korea fires two ballistic missiles
• Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles on July 31m 2019, days after a similar launch that the nuclear-armed North described as a warning to the South over planned joint military drills with the United States.
• The two devices were fired from the Wonsan area on the east coast at dawn and flew around 250 kilometres into the sea, said South Korea`s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• The North is banned from ballistic missile launches under UN Security Council resolutions but it was the second such firing in less than a week, despite a meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump last month.
8. Israel approves homes for Palestinians, settlers
• Israel has given rare approval to Palestinian homes in the part of the occupied West Bank it fully controls while also backing a large settlement expansion before a visit by the White House`s Jared Kushner.
• An Israeli official confirmed the approval by the country`s security cabinet the previous day with US President Donald Trump`s son-in-law and senior adviser expected to visit this week.
• The approval is for 700 Palestinian homes and 6,000 for Israeli settlers.
• It was not immediately clear if all of the homes will be new construction or if some already exist and are receiving retroactive approval.
• The plan for Palestinians, though relatively small and far outweighed by the number of settlement homes, could allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to argue he is making efforts in favour of Kushner`s long awaited peace plan.
9. US lawmakers in Ghana, mark 400 years since first slave shipment
• US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi condemned the `grave evil` of slavery in a speech to Ghana`s parliament on July 31, 2019 marking 400 years since the first shipment of enslaved Africans to America.
• Pelosi was leading a delegation including members of the Congressional Black Caucus to the West African country, four centuries after the first slave ship arrived in Jamestown, Virginia from the continent. The legislators visited the `Door of No Return` at a slave fort on the coast from where people were dispatched in chains to the New World.
August 1, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Record-maker Nash passes away
• Malcolm Nash, the Glamorgan bowler who entered cricket folklore when Garfield Sobers struck him for six sixes in an over, has died at the age of 74.
• Nash`s name was forever linked with that of Sobers after the West Indies star went on the attack during a County Championship match between Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire at Swansea in 1968.
• It was the first time any batsman had hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket.
• The first five balls were dispatched cleanly by the West Indian and the sixth was carried over the ropes by a fielder.
• Nash, a left-armer, took 993 first-class wickets in a 17-year career between 1966 and 1983, while also scoring 7,129 runs and holding 148 catches.
