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December 17, 2022: National Current Affairs MCQs
1. Ministry reluctant to put Raja`s name on ECL: NAB
• The National Accountability Bureau says it has informed the Supreme Court that the interior ministry is reluctant to put the name of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on the exit control list (ECL) despite the court`s directives in the rental power projects (RPPs) case.
• `We have informed the Supreme Court about noncooperation of the interior ministry in the case,` NAB`s spokesman Zafar Iqbal told on December 16, 2022.
• Similarly, NAB recently sent a reminder to the interior ministry asking it to put the name of the prime minister and former finance minister Shaukat Tarin on the ECL in the Rs22 billion RPP scam case. Otherwise, it warned, the ministry would be responsible if they escaped abroad
2. Pak-Afghan meeting today amid unease at Chaman
• A day after armed clashes between Pakistan and Afghan forces claimed one life, the situation at the Chaman border remained calm with routine trade activities continuing unabated.
• Pakistan also summoned the Afghan chargé d’affaires to protest over the “unprovoked” shelling that left 15 people wounded.
• Amid the relative calm, the tension was palpable as forces on both sides of the border remained alert, with heavy weapons drawn.
• Quetta Corps Commander Lt-Gen Asif Ghafoor visited Chaman and reviewed the situation at the border in a meeting with the authorities
3. Bill limiting scope of foreign investment law to Reko Dig okayed
• The Senate on December 16, 2022 passed a bill to amend the Foreign Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act to limit its scope in Balochistan to the Reko Diq project.
• The development comes on the heels of an assurance that Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar gave earlier this week that the law would be Reko Dig-specific. He had also said then that the law would be suitably amended at a later stage after both houses of parliament had passed the bill.
• Section 1(2) of the original bill, bulldozed through the two houses of parliament on Dec 12 amid protest by members from the ruling coalition, said it `will extend to whole of Pakistan`
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4. Cabinet approves underground mass transit system for Lahore
• The Punjab cabinet on December 16, 2022 accorded approval to the underground mass transit system for Lahore and to incorporating underground blue and purple line mass transit projects in the Annual Development Programme.
• Presiding over the sixth cabinet meeting at his office, Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his cabinet colleagues offered special prayers for the martyrs of the Army Public School Peshawar attack on their eighth anniversary and paid rich tributes to their sacrifice.
• Approval was also accorded to a 50 per cent decrease in the unit rates of ownership rights for landless farmers in Cholistan. These farmers and agriculture in general will greatly benefit from this step of the Punjab government. Approval was also granted to exempt ambassadors and consulates from value-added tax collection
5. CAD shrinks to $3.1bn in July-November
• The current account deficit (CAD) narrowed by 57 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last fiscal year.
• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday that the CAD shrank to $0.28 billion in November from $0.57bn in October, a decline of 51.5pc. Cumulatively, CAD contracted by more than half to $3.lbn during July November against $7.2bn in the same period last year.
• The SBP said the decline was mainly due to a fall in imports by $4.8bn (16pc), while exports broadly remained unchanged.
• In fact, CAD declined to a 19-month low of $276m in November, while it fell by 86pc compared to $1.929bn during the same month last year
