WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2021 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
January 29, 2022: National / International Current Affairs
1. Opposition red-faced as Senate adopts key SBP bill
• The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government narrowly managed to get the crucial State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill passed from the opposition-controlled Senate on January 28, 2022 a development that has raised many eyebrows.
• With the numbers in the upper house on their side, the opposition`s strength of 57 members excluding Ishaq Dar out of 100 failed to prevent the passage of the controversial bill, which finally passed with a one-vote majority.
• However, in an unusual move, the joint opposition submitted a dissenting note on the SBP bill to the Senate secretary during Friday`s proceedings, terming the draft law a document of `financial surrender`. `This is a document that brings Pakistan`s national security and assets under severe strain and scrutiny of international financial imperialists,` the opposition maintained
2. Senate passes National Metrology Institute bill
• Senate on January 28, 2022 passed the National Metrology Institute of Pakistan Bill, pending since 1997.
• The bill was passed by National Assembly on Jan 13, the Ministry of Science and Technology said.
• Three days ago, while reviewing the contents of the bill, the Senate Standing Committee on Science and Technology pointed out certain typographical errors, otherwise there was consensus in principle that this bill was overdue.
• During the meeting, the committee chairman, Senator Afnanullah Khan, had said: `It was a pity that it had been pending for a quarter century
3. Twin blasts in Sui claim lives of three Levies men, Senator`s cousin
• Just a couple of days after the Kech attack that claimed the lives of 10 soldiers, three Levies Force personnel along with a Bugti clan elder were martyred and eight others injured in twin bomb blasts on his agricultural land in the Sui area of Dera Bugti on January 28, 2022.
• Security officials said improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in a tube-well room on his agricultural land in the Tali Mat area of Sui Tehsil were detonated by remote control, while another remote-controlled bomb found in the same area was defused by the personnel of Frontier Constabulary.
• No one claimed the responsibility of the explosions till late hours of the evening
4. Argentina, IMF ink $44bn debt deal after year-long talks
• Argentina has struck a deal for a $44.5 billion standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the government said on January 28, 2022, a major breakthrough in tense and lengthy talks to restructure loans the country cannot repay.
• The South American country has been locked in talks for over a year with the IMF over a new programme to revamp debt outstanding from a failed $57bn loan deal from 2018, the fund`s largest ever. It faced a $700 million payment due on Friday.
• `With this agreement, we can order the present and build a future, President Alberto Fernandez said in an address to the nation from his residence in the capital Buenos Aires, adding the agreement would not limit Argentina`s economic plans or spending
5. North Korea tests `tactical guided missiles`
• North Korea test fired two different weapons systems this week, state media said on January 28, 2022, while highlighting Kim Jong Un`s inspection of an `important` munitions factory.
• Pyongyang has conducted six weapons tests in January, including firing hypersonic missiles, doubling down on Kim`s call to build `military muscle` with one of the most intense single-month barrages on record while ignoring US offers of talks.
• The official Korean Central News Agency said the Tuesday test involved long-range cruise missiles that hit a `target island 1,800 km away` in the Sea of Japan.
• Thursday`s launch of `tactical guided missiles` meanwhile, was to test `the explosive power of the conventional warhead,` KCNA said.