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December 20, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. UN confirms attack on its vehicle in Kashmir
• The United Nations has confirmed that a vehicle of the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) was damaged after it was hit by an `unidentified object` near Rawalakot on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.
• `At this stage, yes, I believe that the details we have are, in fact, that there was no one hurt, but there has been a vehicle damaged in an incident,` said the UN secretary general`s deputy spokesman Farhan Haq while responding to a question at a Friday afternoon briefing in New York. `And the Mission is currently investigating the incident, and that is what I have for you for now,` he added.
2. New border crossing point with Iran opened
• Minister for Defence Production Zubaida Jalal opened another official border crossing point with Iran here on December 19, 2020.
• After Taftan, Gwadar Ramdhan is the second international border crossing point between Iran and Pakistan. Taftan has been facing tremendous pressure as it is used for trade and by thousands of pilgrims every year.
• Taftan border crossing point is being used for more than 70 years
3. President Alvi to inaugurate Global Al-Farabi Forum today
• President Dr. Arif Alvi will inaugurate on December 21, 2020 an international conference titled Global Al- Farabi Forum at the COMSTECH Secretariat in Islamabad.
• The two-day conference (21-22 December) is being organised jointly by COMSTECH (the OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation) and the Government of Kazakhstan in celebration of the 1150th anniversary of Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, the great Muslim philosopher and scientist who hailed from the lands now included in Kazakhstan.
4. Capt (R) Zahid Saeed new FPSC chairman
• The federal government has appointed Captain (Retd) Zahid Saeed as new Chairman Federal Public Service Commission, says a notification issued by the Establishment Division December 19, 2020.
• Captain (Retd) Zahid Saeed is a retired grade-22 officer and had served on several senior positions including federal secretary Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, secretary petroleum, Punjab secretary Local Government and Community Development Department, secretary education Punjab and chief executive of Punjab Rural Support Programme. The post of Chairman FPSC was lying vacant for the last week due to the death of former Chairman FPSC Maroof Afzal
5. Foreign Minister concludes two-day visit to UAE
• Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi concluded two-day official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wherein he met the UAE leadership and discussed bilateral as well as regional matters.
• During the visit, the Foreign Minister called on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai and Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister of the UAE, said a Foreign Office press release December 19, 2020
6. India`s coronavirus cases pass 10 million
• India surged past 10 million coronavirus cases on December 19, 2020, official data showed, the second highest in the world although new infection rates appear to have fallen sharply in recent weeks.
• The number of cases increased by just over 25,000 in 24 hours, according to the health ministry, while the total number of deaths from the virus in India now stands at 145,136.
7. Five rockets fired at US air base in Afghanistan
• A major US air base north of Kabul was targeted in a dawn rocket attack on December 19, 2020 but there were no casualties or damage to the airfield, officials said.
• Five rockets were fired at Bagram Airfield at 6am, said Parwan province spokeswoman Waheeda Shahkar, adding that police had defused another seven rockets mounted on a vehicle used in the attack. A NATO official also confirmed the assault
8. World’s largest floating iceberg loses 70-square-mile chunk
• The massive free-floating iceberg that is dangerously approaching South Georgia island appears to have lost a large chunk along its path.
• A NASA satellite capture an image of iceberg A68a, which shows its northernmost section is missing. Scientists theorize the 70 square mile chunk was clipped off when the frozen structure hit the continental shelf outside of the island, ‘spawning a new berg’.
9. High-fidelity quantum teleportation achieved for first time
• A viable quantum internet — a network in which information stored in qubits is shared over long distances through entanglement — would transform the fields of data storage, precision sensing and computing, ushering in a new era of communication.
• This month, scientists at Fermilab, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory, and their partners took a significant step in the direction of realizing a quantum internet.
10. Mohammad Wasim named as chief selector, Saleem Yousuf to head cricket committee
• Mohammad Wasim has been appointed as the Chairman of the Pakistan men`s national selection committee, whereas Saleem Yousuf has been confirmed as the Chair of the National Cricket Committee by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a press release issued here on December 19, 2020. Both have been appointed till the ICC Men`s Cricket World Cup 2023.
• `The appointments were approved by the PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani following the final round of online interviews, which were held on Thursday and Friday,` the press release said
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