WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2019 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
August 17, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. UNSC Kashmir moot gives lie to Indian claim
• For the first time since 1965, the UN Security Council (UNSC) held a meeting exclusively on occupied Jammu and Kashmir on August 16, 2019, nullifying India`s claim that this was an internal matter.
• Although the council did not agree on a statement, China`s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun summed up the discussions, expressing serious concern over the situation.
• `The UNSC members are concerned about the human rights situation there and they (want) the parties concerned to refrain from taking any unilateral action that might further aggravate the tension there since the situation is already very tense and very dangerous,` he said.
• The factor that motivated the world body to re-focus on Kashmir after more than 50 years was highlighted by Russian envoy to UN Dmitry Polyanskiy.
• Ambassador Zhang also underlined this factor in his remarks to the media, warning that India`s move to amend Kashmir`s constitutional status was `causing tensions in the region, China is deeply concerned and opposes any unilateral decisions`.
• The Chinese envoy pointed out that `India`s action has also challenged China`s sovereign interests and violated bilateral agreement`.
2. Quetta mosque blast kills four, injures 25
• A bomb blast inside a mosque just before August 16, 2019 prayers killed four people, including the prayer leader, and left 25 others injured in the Kuchlak area on the outskirts of the provincial capital.
• The explosion was carried out with the help of a time device, which was planted under the wooden chair of the prayer leader, when he started delivering the August 16, 2019 sermon, said police and bomb disposal squad officials.
• While police said they were investigating the case and gathering details about the victims, locals said the prayer leader Hafiz Hamdullah, who lost his life in the blast, was a younger brother of Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah.
• No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast in the Al-Haj mosque situated on the Quetta-Chaman highway.
3. Dr Faisal Masood passes away
• Eminent physician Prof Dr Faisal Masood died of a cardiac arrest at his Akbar Chowk home on August 16, 2019 evening. He was 65.
• He was serving as the Director General Human Organ Transplant Authority Punjab. Earlier, he remained the vice chancellor of the King Edward Medical University.
• He was appointed by the then government head of Dengue Expert Advisory Group to draw up treatment protocols and guidelines for its management.
4. Nagi Mohsin is no more
• Syed Nagi Mohsin, the former national badminton champion and senior vice-president of the Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) passed away on August 16, 2019.
• Nagi was also PBF secretary and vice-president of Badminton Asia and Development Badminton Asia For South East Asia. He retired from Railways as head of its audit and accounts department.
August 17, 2019: International Current Affairs
5. Trump wants India-Pakistan talks on Kashmir
• US President Donald Trump talked by phone on August 16, 2019 to Prime Minister Imran Khan and urged that Pakistan engage with India to defuse tensions in the nashpoint region of Jammu and Kashmir, the White House quoted the US leader as saying.
• The president conveyed the importance of India and Pakistan reducing tensions through bilateral dialogue regarding the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said PM Khan had called the US president and apprised him of the `delicate situation` precipitated by India`s `unilateral action` because of which `regional peace has been threatened`.
• Prime Minister had informed Mr Trump about the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting and urged him to `play a constructive role in conveying to India to act responsibly and not to escalate the situation`. President Trump assured Mr Khan that he would engage with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue.
6. OIC asks India to immediately lift Kashmir curfew
• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has asked India to immediately lift the 12-day curfew in occupied Kashmir that has paralysed life across the valley.
• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi revealed the OIC decision in a video message. `It is another diplomatic achievement for Pakistan that the OIC has demanded that India immediately lift curfew from occupied Kashmir,` he said.
• Mr Qureshi said he had engaged OIC members in the recent past and participated in a meeting of the organisation in Jeddah and discussed the issue with them.
7. Dutch princess dies after cancer battle
• Princess Christina, youngest sister of Beatrix who ruled the Netherlands till her abdication in 2013, died on August 16, 2019 aged 72 after suffering from bone cancer, the royal family announced.
• Born nearly blind in 1947, Maria Christina, princess of Orange-Nassau, was the fourth daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard.
• `Christina had a striking personality and a big heart,` said King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and princess Beatrix.
8. Google workers call for pledge not to work with US agencies
• Hundreds of Google employees are calling on the company to pledge it won`t work with US Customs and Border Protection or Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It`s the latest in a year full of political and social pushback from the tech giant`s workforce.
• A group of employees called Googlers for Human Rights posted a public petition urging the company not to bid on a cloud computing contract for CBP, the federal agency that oversees law enforcement for the country`s borders. Bids for the contract were due on Aug 1.
• It is not clear if Google expressed interest. The company did not return a request for comment.
9. Greenland trashes Trump`s offer to buy island
• Greenland on August 16, 2019 dismissed the notion that it might be up for sale after reports said that US President Donald Trump had privately discussed with his advisers the idea of buying the world`s biggest island.
• `We are open for business, but we`re not for sale,` Greenland`s Foreign Minister Ane Lone Bagger said.
• Trump is due to visit Copenhagen in September and the Arctic will be on the agenda during meetings with the prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory.
10. Ex-Indian cricketer commits suicide
• Former Indian cricketer V.B. Chandrasekhar has died in what investigators suspect was suicide prompted by worries about debt, police said on August 16, 2019.
• Chandrasekhar, 57, was found in his bedroom by his family in Chennai on August 15, 2019 evening, police investigator Senthil Murugan said.
• According to our preliminary investigation, he has been under a financial stress. The autopsy report is awaited,` Murugan said.
• Opening batsman Chandrasekhar represented India in seven One day Internationals from 1988 to 1990 and helped Tamil Nadu state win the 1987 Ranji Trophy.
