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August 26, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. PM sets up body to help meet FATF targets
• Prime Minister Imran Khan has set up a high-powered 12-member National Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Coordination Committee to ensure execution of all FATF-related tasks till Dec 1.
• Led by Minister for Economic Affairs Division Hammad Azhar, the committee comprises federal secretaries of finance, foreign affairs and interior besides heads of all the institutions and regulators concerned with money laundering and terror financing. They include the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), director general of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), member (customs) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and DG of the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). The committee also has three senior officials from the military`s General Headquarters (GHQ).
• `The committee is mandated to steer the national ef fort on FATF,` said a notification issued by the Prime Minister Office.
• Before the establishment of the committee, the federal finance minister or the PM`s adviser on finance, as the case may be, and the secretary of finance used to lead all activities relating to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) to meet targets set by the FATF and its regional affiliate Asia-Pacific Group (AGP) under a comprehensive action plan to move out of the grey list of the global watchdog on financial crimes.
2. Buzdar bans transfers, postings in Punjab
• The Punjab chief minister on August 25, 2019 banned all kinds of transfers and postings in the province with immediate effect due to what insiders said the ever-increasing political pressure for seeking such favours.
• “Those who had managed transfers and postings of government officials at the outset were now seeking more favours. And the ban has been imposed to tackle them,” a source in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat said.
• According to a letter signed by Usman Buzdar’s principal secretary on Sunday and a copy of which was obtained by Dawn, the ban would continue till further orders.
• The top priority assignment order said that in case of any posting or transfer, which is required to be made on extreme hardship/compassionate or administrative grounds, prior approval would be sought from the chief minister through summary containing details of the tenure of the officer and vacancy position, etc.
3. Late comedian Munawar Zarif`s son passes away in Morocco
• Son of late legendary actor and comedian Munawar Zareef -Faisal Munawar Zareef -died of cardiac arrest in Morocco. He was 44.
• Faisal, the only son of Munawar Zareef, was born in 1975. He did his first movie Puttar Munawar Zareef Da in 1993 in which Reema Khan played the female lead. It was directed by Altaf Hussain.
• In 1994, Faisal did another film, Puttar Jeeray Blade Da. In 1995, he also acted in an Urdu-Punjabi flick, Khotay Sikay. However, all the three movies could not click at the box office.
• After successive failures in the film industry, a disappointed Faisal Zareef migrated to England and then got married in Morocco. He is survived by three sons and his Moroccan wife.
4. Peace activist B.M. Kutty passes away
• Veteran peace activist Biyyathil Mohyuddin Kutty, better known as B.M. Kutty, passed away in the wee hours of August 25, 2019. He was 89.
• He suffered from protracted illness and paralysis. He is survived by a son and two daughters.
• Born at Tirur in India`s Kerala state in 1930, he belonged to a family of agriculturists. During his student days, he joined the Kerala Students Federation and attended Mohammedan College in Chennai, where he studied science for four years.
• Soon after independence, he came to Pakistan for a brief visit but never went back. He found a country where he thought there was enough space for him to tread the difficult path of left politics.
• He was jailed during the dictatorships of Gen Ayub and Gen Zia as well as during the country`s first democratically elected government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
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5. KP opens its Nathiagali rest houses to public
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has opened four of its Nathiagali-located rest houses, including the Governor House and Chief Minister House, to the general public for bookings and accommodation.
• `These colonial symbols which cost crores annually to the taxpayer in maintenance, are now going to make money for the government, Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted on August 25, 2019 along with a drone-cam video of the palatial Governor House at Nathiagali.
• Other rest houses that have been opened to the public include Police House and Karnak House. Bookings to these rest houses can be made on the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa website.
• Details provided at the website show that accommodation at Governor House starts at Rs40,000, Chief Minister House at Rs24,000, Karnak House at Rs18,000 and Police House at Rs12,000. However, Speaker House, which the government had earlier announced that it would also be open to the public, is missing from the list.
August 26, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Macao chooses Beijing-backed man as leader
• An elite pro-Beijing panel on Sunday chose a new leader for the Chinese casino gambling hub Macao.
• Ho Iat-seng was picked to be the next chief executive of the former Portuguese colony in a selection process with no other candidates.
• Ho, a pro-establishment businessman and politician, will become the city`s third leader since China took control of Macao in 1999 after more than four centuries of Portuguese rule.
• Ho will replace the city`s current leader, Chui Sai-on, whose term expires in December.
• Macao and nearby Hong Kong are former European colonies that were handed back to Beijing, becoming Chinese special administrative regions that retain considerable control over their own affairs under a formula known as `one country, two systems.` Residents of the two cities can elect some politicians, but the top leader is handpicked by members of an elite committee who fall in line with the wishes of China`s communist leaders.
7. Trump backs Johnson, sends mixed signals on China at G7
• US President Donald Trump on August 25, 2019 backed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as the `right man` for Brexit and sent mixed signals about his trade war with China at a G7 summit dominated by worries about the global economy.
• Johnson and Trump were on obviously friendly terms as they sat down for a working breakfast in the southern French resort of Biarritz where Group of Seven leaders are gathering this weekend.
• `He`s going to be a fantastic prime minister,` Trump said in their first meeting since Johnson took of fice last month. Asked what his advice was for Brexit, Trump replied: `He needs no advice. He`s the right man for the job. I`ve been saying that for a long time. In the lead-up to the talks, Johnson had appeared at pains to distance himself from Trump after facing accusations in the past of being too cosy with the American leader.
8. Iran`s foreign minister makes surprise visit to G7 summit
• Iran`s foreign minister flew in for side talks at the G7 summit on August 25, 2019 as host France ramped up efforts to ease tensions between Tehran and Washington, a dramatic diplomatic move that the White House said had surprised President Donald Trump.
• European leaders have struggled to tamp down the brewing confrontation between Iran and the United States since Trump pulled Washington out of Iran`s internationally-brokered 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on the Iranian economy.
• Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew to the southwestern French town of Biarritz where the Group of Seven leaders are meeting, delaying a planned trip to Asia.
• If his trip yields any advances to ease the Iran crisis, it would represent a huge coup for French President Emmanuel Macron, although the move is not without risks.
• `Zarif came to Paris on Friday with Iranian propositions which obviously must be refined,` a French presidency official said.
9. Nearly 900 Mexican performers set world record for folk dance
• Guadalajara to set a Guinness record for the world`s biggest folk dance.
• Searing heat failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the 882 men and women, who turned up on August 24, 2019 in traditional costumes featuring vivid embroidery and bright colours to break the previous record, also set in Guadalajara in 2011 with 457 participants.
• `This new record shows that our traditions are continuing to spread among young people,` Xavier Orendain, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Guadalajara and the event`s organiser, told reporters.
• Dancers were required to perform a cho-reographed routine for at least five minutes without interruption in order to qualify for the record, said Guinness judge Carlos Tapia.
August 26, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Hurkacz lifts first ATP trophy
• Poland`s Hubert Hurkacz outdueled top seed Benoit Paire to earn his first ATP title with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win in the Winston Salem Open final on August 25, 2019.
• Hurkacz, 22, steadied himself through a roller coaster affair, which included a brief rain delay af ter the second set, and came out on top after two hours and nine minutes.
• Hurkacz became the first Polish winner of a tour-level event since Wojtek Fibak at WCT Chicago in 1982.
• Hurkacz`s sparkling week included wins against four consecutive seeded opponents.
Check August 2019’s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes
