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January 02, 2020: National Current Affairs
1. Cabinet rushes out draft bill on COAS extension
• The federal cabinet at an urgent meeting on January 1, 2020 approved proposed amendments to the Constitution and the Army Act in order to give a three-year extension to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
• In the wake of the Supreme Court`s order to remove ambiguity in rules on the issue of extension in the army chief`s tenure, the government also decided to introduce the amendment bill in parliament on Friday after building a consensus with the opposition on the matter.
• `According to an amendment, the maximum age limit for an army chief will be 64 years and this will be applied in case of extension in his term, but the regular age limit of COAS will be 60 years,` a cabinet member said, insisting that it would be the prime minister`s prerogative whether to give extension to the army chief in future.
2. Pakistan, India share details of prisoners, N-facilities
• A total of 366 Pakistanis are languishing in Indian jails, while 282 Indians are in the custody of Pakistani authorities, according to the prisoners` lists exchanged by the two countries on January 1, 2020.
• The two sides exchange lists of each other`s prisoners in their custody twice a year under their bilateral Consular Access Agreement signed on May 21, 2008. The lists are exchanged on Jan land July1 every year, separately mentioning the civilian prisoners and the fishermen.
• The agreement doesn`t cover those held on charges of espionage or other military-related offences.
• `The Government of Pakistan today handed over a list of 282 Indian prisoners (55 civil + 227 fishermen) in Pakistan to the High Commission of India in Islamabad.
3. 16 govt bills, 40 resolutions passed by Sindh Assembly in 2019
• The Sindh Assembly has been in session at least one-third of the last calendar year during which it considered and passed dozens of government and private pieces of legislation, making it inarguably a vibrant elected forum among its likes in the country.
• According to the rules of procedures of the provincial legislature, it has to remain in session for at least 100 days a year. The present mandate of the assembly was formed on Aug 13, 2018; thus, it has passed more than 16 out of 60 months of its legitimate life.
• During that period, official figures show, the assembly has been in session for 199 days out of 506 days, making it well ahead of the legislatures in other provinces.
• Officials said the assembly had been in session for around 135 days this calendar year alone, which makes it one out of less than three days.
4. Abu Dhabi prince due in Islamabad after countryside hunting trip
• Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will visit Islamabad on January 2, 2020 on his way back home after hunting in the countryside.
• The crown prince, according to a diplomatic source, has been in Pakistan for the past few days for houbara bustard hunting.
• The deputy commissioner of Rahim Yar Khan, Ali Shehzad, told that the crown prince was in the area along with a Dubai prince for the last five days. He said that on Wednesday the prince left the Abu Dhabi Palace in the area and moved to some other place
5. KP police chief transferred in less than a year
• The federal government on January 1, 2020 transferred Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Dr Mohammad Naeem Khan and replaced him with Sanaullah Abbasi.
• Dr Naeem was appointed the KP police chief in February last year.
• An establishment division notification said Sanaullah Abbasi, a BS-21 officer of Police Service of Pakistan and currently serving as the Gilgit-Baltistan police chief, under the Kashmir affairs and GB division, had been transferred and posted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief, in his own pay and scale.
6. P&D dept gets new secretary
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on January 1, 2020 posted Mohammad Humayun Khan, a senior officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), as secretary planning and development (P&D) department.
• According to a notification issued here, the competent authority is pleased to appoint Mohammad Humayun Khan (BS-20, PAS), currently serving as special secretary II, finance department, as secretary to P&D department against the vacant position.
7. CPFTA-II goes into operation
• The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on January 1, 2020 issued SRO 1640(I)/2019 to operationalise the second phase of China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
• The board in order to implement the agreed protocol, after thorough deliberations with the Ministry of Commerce transposed the offer list and developed the SRO.
• The China Pakistan FTA Phase-II will operationalise vide SRO 1640 (I)/2019 from Jan 1 and supersede the old SRO 659(I)/2007.
• The tariff elimination schedule/offer list shared by the commerce ministry is divided under the categories A0, A7, A15, MOP1, MOP2, C1 and C2.
8. North Korea ends test moratorium, threatens `new strategic weapon`
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has declared an end to moratoriums on nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and threatened a demonstration of a `new strategic weapon` soon.
• Analysts said the announcement, reported by state media on Wednesday, amounted to Kim putting a missile `to Donald Trump`s head` but warned that escalation by Pyongyang would probably backfire.
• Washington was swift to respond, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Kim to `take a different course` and stressing that the US wanted `peace not confrontation` with the North, while Trump played down the development.
9. Guinea-Bissau opposition chief wins presidential election
• Opposition leader Umaro Sissoco Embalo won presidential elections in the volatile West African state of Guinea-Bissau, picking up 53.55 percent of votes, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced on January 1, 2020.
• Domingos Simoes Pereira, head of the country`s historic ruling party PAIGC, was credited with 46.45 percent in Sunday`s runoff.
• Embalo declared he would be a `president of national harmony` and appealed for the country to rally behind him, but Pereira blasted the result as a fix and vowed to overturn it
10. Karachi to host PSL 2020 opener, Lahore gets decider
• For the first time, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is going to stage all the 34 matches of the fifth HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) at four different centres of the country Lahore, Karachi, Multan and Rawalpindi from Feb 20 to March 22.
• According to the schedule of the PSL 2020 announced by the PCB on January 1, 2020, Karachi`s National Stadium will stage the opening ceremony followed by the league`s first match between reigning champions Quetta Gladiators and former two-time winners Islamabad United on Feb 20 and the Gaddafi Stadium will host the final on March 22.
• The National Stadium will also play host to the qualifier between the top two sides while the Gaddafi Stadium will be the venue of the two eliminators.
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