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 05, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Chiniot, Chagai ore steel mill project picked for Saudi investment
• The country`s first-ever local iron-ore steel mill to be established in Chiniot tops the list of four potential projects selected by the government from across the country for investment by Saudi Arabia.
• It may be recalled that Pakistan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for economic cooperation in mineral resources.
• The MoU was part of the several $20billion agreements and MoUs signed on Feb 17, 2019 for different sectors, including power production, establishment of refinery, petrochemical plant, promotion of sports and technical assistance in standardisation sector, at a ceremony held at Prime Minister House on the occasion of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman`s visit.
• Officials said that the four projects were picked out of a pile of proposals submitted by the provincial, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and GilgitBaltistan governments at a high-level meeting held last month in Islamabad.
2. India`s `irrational` actions to unsettle region, warns NSC
• The National Security Committee (NSC) on August 4, 2019 warned the world that India`s irrational actions could destabilise the region and vowed to firmly respond to any act of Indian aggression.
• `The recent Indian measures will increase the levels of violence and turn this area into a flashpoint and a destabilising factor in the midst of two strategically capable neighbouring countries,` a statement issued after the meeting said while noting that India through its military buildup in held Kashmir and `brutal use [of force] against an unarmed population` was `adding fuel to fire`.
• `Pakistan condemns Indian actions in this regard which would have adverse implications for regional and international peace,` the NSC said.
• The top security body`s meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan was held to review the situation along the Line of Control in the aftermath of firing of cluster bombs by Indian forces on civilian population in Azad Kashmir, as well as the developments in held Kashmir where over 28,000 additionalIndian troops have been deployed, tourists evacuated, rationing of essential items has been ordered and Amarnath Yatra, a Hindu pilgrimage, cancelled.
3. M-4`s Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal section to open after Eid
• The Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal section of Pindi Bhattian-Multan motorway (M-4) will be opened for traffic after Eidul Azha in the current month, the same day when Multan-Sukkur (M-5) will be inaugurated for which arrangements were under way for tentative date of Aug 14.
• Federal Minister for Communication and Portal Services Murad Saeed has already announced that M-5 will be inaugurated in August.
• After the opening of Abdul Hakeem-Khanewal section, the motorists who wanted to go to Sukkur from Islamabad while travelling on Islamabad-Lahore motorway M-2 will be able to use M-4 from Pindi Bhattian to Multan (286 kilometers) and then to take Multan-Sukkur M-5 (392km) without leaving motorway at any place.
4. LIEDA gets power distribution licence
• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued the license of a power distribution company to the Lasbela Industrial Estate Development Authority (LIEDA).
• LIEDA officials told that the authority had applied for the license many years ago and finally Nepra had accepted the application and issued the license.
• The new power distribution company will be second in Balochistan to get the license after the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO). Owned by the federal government, QESCO is responsible for power
5. AKU among top 100 varsities in clinical medicine
• The Aga Khan University (AKU) has been ranked among the world`s top 100 universities for clinical medicine and among the top 200 for public health in the latest Shanghai Ranking`s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, released by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, according to a statement released by AKU on August 4, 2019.
• It stated that AKU was the only university in Pakistan teaching clinical medicine and public health that is ranked among the top 500 universities in the world. In clinical medicine, it jumped from the 151-200 group to the 76-100 group in 2018. The university was ranked in the 151-200 group in public health. `This international ranking is recognition of AKU as a role model for health and education in the developing world,` said AKU president Firoz Rasul.
• Shanghai Ranking Consultancy is an independent organisation dedicated to research in higher education intelligence and consultancy. The ranking draws from Web of Science bibliometric data, In Cites, and reviews performance in five categories publications, citations, top journal presence, international collaboration in publications and awards.
August 05, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Polish climber scales Gasherbrum-II
• Polish climber Dennis Urubko has scaled the 8,032-meter Gasherbrum-II peak through a new route without using the bottled oxygen.
• According the official page of Urubko, 46, after successful summit, he had arrived at the base camp on Sunday.
• Originally from the Soviet Union, then a Kazakhstan citizen after the dissolution of the USSR, Urubko is now a dual Polish Russian national.
• In 2001, he climbed the peak for the first time, while in 2011 he pulled off the historic first winter ascent of Gasherbrum-II with Italy`s Simone Moro and America`s Cory Richards. On July 18 this year, he scaled the peal( again without supplementary oxygen, but through normal route to acclimatise for his actual project.
7. Egypt displays restoration of Tutankhamun gilded coffin
• Egypt displayed on August 4, 2019 the gilded coffin of Tutankhamun, under restoration for the first time since the boy king`s tomb was discovered in 1922.
• The restoration process began in mid-July after the three-tiered coffin was transferred to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo from the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, southern Egypt.
• The golden coffin of the boy king will be displayed along with other Tutankhamun artefacts towards the end of next year when Egypt`s new mega-museum is opened to the public. The restoration is expected to take around eight months.
8. Khmer Rouge `brother number two` Nuon Chea dies
• Khmer Rouge `brother number two` Nuon Chea died on Sunday aged 93, a spokesman for the Cambodia tribunal where he was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity said.
• The cause of his death was not given but he had been in hospital since early last month.
• Nuon Chea`s wife Ly Kim Seng said as she left hospital on August 4, 2019 thatshe was by his side until the `lastbreath`, and that his body would be taken to Pallin province for the funeral.
• The reign of terror led by `Brother Number 1` Pol Pot left some two million Cambodians dead from overwork, starvation and mass executions from 1975 to 1979.
9. Sudan generals, protesters sign deal for civilian rule
• Sudan`s ruling generals and protest leaders signed a hard-won constitutional declaration on August 4, 2019, paving the way for a transition to civilian rule after more than seven months of demonstrations and violence.
• Under the agreement, signed at a ceremony in the capital Khartoum, a joint civilian-military ruling body will oversee the formation of a civilian government and parliament to govern for a three-year transition period.
• The declaration was the result of fraught negotiations between the leaders of mass protests, which erupted last December against the three-decade rule of president Omar al-Bashir, and the generals who ousted him in April. It builds on a July 17 power-sharing deal between the two sides.
10. Frenchman zips across English Channel by `flyboard`
• A French daredevil who spent years developing a jet-powered hover board zoomed across the English Channel on Sunday, fulfilling his quest after pulling off a tricky refuelling manoeuvre that cut short his first attempt 10 days ago.
• Franky Zapata blasted off on his `Flyboard` from Sangatte on the northern coast of France at 8:17am for the 35-kilometre trip to St Margaret`s Bay in Dover.
• Escorted by three helicopters, he soared across the water in the early morning light and landed 22 minutes later in the picturesque bay, to the applause of dozens of onlookers and journalists.
