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January 21, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Duty-free wheat import by private party allowed
• Amid a political debate over the wheat and flour crisis, the government on January 20, 2020 allowed duty-free import of 300,000 tonnes of wheat to ease an enormous price hike.
• The decision was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet presided over by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. The meet-ing also allowed the power division to issue Rs200 billion worth of Islamic Sukul( bonds to finance a part of circular debt now estimated at Rs1.72 trillion.
• The national food security and research ministry told the ECC meeting that about 4.2 million tonnes of wheat stocks were still available in the system. The quantity is enough for two months of domestic consumption 2.1m tonnes per month while fresh crop would also start coming to the market by the middle of March. The flour price ranged between Rs800 and Rs1,200 per 20kg. It witnessed an increaseofuptoRs20perkg against the ofEcial rate of Rs1,350-1,400 per 40kg.
2. KP reports first polio case of 2020
• Ahead of a national immunisation campaign in February, the first case of polio in the year 2020 has been reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
• The victim is a 12-month old boy, a resident of Lakki Marwat district`s Serae Naurang tehsil of Union Council Bakhmal Ahmadzai.
• `Samples were collected on January 3 as the child`s lower limbs were paralysed.
• The socioeconomic status of child`s family has been declared poor,` an official of the polio programme said, requesting anonymity.
3. US hails progress made to meet FATF requirements
• Senior US diplomat Alice Wells on January 20, 2020 praised the progress made by Pakistan towards improving its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes as part of efforts to meet requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global illicit financing watchdog.
• `It is heartening to see that Pakistan government has made significant progress on these matters and that too in a short time, Ambassador Wells said during a meeting with Interior Minister retired Brig Ijaz Ahmed Shah, according to readout of the meeting issued by the interior ministry.
4. Imran to hold meeting with Trump in Davos
• US President Donald Trump plans to meet leaders of Pakistan, Iraq, Switzerland and European Union during his visit to Davos this week, the White House said on January 20, 2020.
• The meeting with President Barham Saleh will be the first between Trump and Iraqi officials since tensions erupted over the killing of a top Iranian general and a senior pro-Iranian Iraqi commander in a US airstrike in Baghdad earlier this month.
• After calls in Iraq for the expulsion of thousands of US troops stationed there, Trump responded by threatening sanctions aimed at wrecking the country`s economy.
5. Human-to-human transmission confirmed behind China coronavirus
• A SARS-like virus that has spread across China and reached three other Asian nations is contagious between humans, a government expert said on January 20, 2020, fuelling fears of a major outbreak as millions travel for the Lunar New Year holiday.
• The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
6. Norway party quits govt after return of suspected IS member
• Norway`s populist Progress Party said on January 20, 2020 it was leaving the right-wing coalition government over the repatriation of a suspected member of the militant Islamic State group and her two children last week.
• `We don`t compromise with people who have voluntarily joined terror organisations.
• That was the last straw,` party leader Siv Jensen told reporters in Oslo.
7. BJP picks new president as challenges mount
• India’s Hindu nationalist ruling party on January 20, 2020 elevated a veteran lawmaker and long-time associate of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to become its president ahead of a string of state elections.
• Jagat Prakash Nadda, who rose through the ranks after cutting his teeth as a student leader in the 1970s, will become the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), replacing Amit Shah, currently India’s Home Minister. Nadda was elected unopposed, the party said.
• Led by Modi and Shah, the BJP returned to power, winning in a general election in 2019 by a landslide majority, but the party has failed to keep its hold on a number of key Indian states amid growing criticism over some of its recent moves.
8. Iran says it will quit NPT if EU takes case to UN
• Iran said on January 20, 2020 it could quit the global nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if European countries refer it to the UN Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in its confrontation with the West.
• The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic programme.
• The fate of the 2015 pact has been in doubt since US President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it and re imposed sanctions. Iran has responded by scaling back its commitments, although it says it wants the pact to survive
9. Tourism festival launched in China’s Sichuan
• A tourism festival kicks off on Saturday in ancient towns in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
• The festival will last until March 15. During the festival, nearly 300 tourism and cultural themed activities will be held, and 10 tourist routes will be launched featuring ancient town characteristics.
10. Paul Walker’s vehicles brings $2.33m at Arizona auction
• US-Twenty-one vehicles owned by the late actor Paul Walker, who starred in the popular “Fast and Furious” movie franchise, sold for a combined $2.33 million during spirited bidding at an annual car auction in Arizona.
• The collection assembled by Walker posted strong results at the week-long Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, with an Alpine White 1995 BMW M3 Lightweight fetching the top single price of $385,000 in the final day of sales on Saturday. It was one of five such BMW lightweights, of which 126 were produced, sold at the auction.
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