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January 24, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Pakistan falls three spots on corruption perception index
• Pakistan ranked 120 out of 180 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2019 released by Transparency International on January 23, 2020, slipping three spots from the previous year`s place despite increased anti-corruption efforts.
• Last year, Pakistan ranked 117 out of 180 nations.
• On a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (veryclean), Pakistan was assigned a score of 32 a point lower than its score of 33 on the 2018 index and well below the global average of 43.
• The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, drawing on 13 expert assessments and surveys of business executives.
2. CPEC initiative Pakistan`s sovereign right, US told
• Pakistan has told the United States that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative or selection of any other economic partner from around the world is its sovereign right.
• The ministries of planning and foreign affairs on January 23, 2020 issued guarded reactions to reported comments by US diplomat Ambassador Alice Wells at a think tank in Islamabad earlier this week about CPEC pitfalls to Pakistan`s economy like debt burden.
• On Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy had warned the US against meddling in Pakistan China relationship and CPEC. `Pakistan being a sovereign state exercises the right to choose economic partners from around the globe on a mutually beneficial basis,` said the planning and development ministry in a rejoinder. It asserted that the CPEC project was `a well thought out initiative involving mega development projects for the economic and social development of Pakistan`.
3. Ballistic missile with 290km range test-fired
• Pakistan on January 23, 2020 conducted a successful training launch of surface-to-surface ballistic missile Ghaznavi, capable of delivering multiple types of warheads up to a range of 290 kilometres.
• The missile launch was part of a field training exercise of Army Strategic Forces Command aimed at rehearsing operational readiness procedures during day and night, an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release said.
4. Two new ministers join Balochistan cabinet
• Two more ministers were inducted into the Balochistan cabinet on January 23, 2020.
• Governor retired Justice Amanullah Yasinzai administrated the oath to parliamentary leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf in the Balochistan Assembly Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind and Metha Khan Kakar at a simple but impressive ceremony held in Governor House.
• Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan also attended the oath-taking ceremony. Mr Rind was elected a member of provincial assembly from PB-17 Kachhi.
• Metha Khan Kakar, who was working as adviser to the chief minister on livestock, has been promoted as full minister in the cabinet
5. Six districts get new DCs as 12 officers reshuffled
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on January 23, 2020 notified transfer and posting of 12 officers, including six deputy commissioners (DCs).
• According to a notification issued by the establishment department, Kohat DC Matiullah Khan has been directed to report to the establishment department while principal staff officer (PSO) to chief secretary Abdur Rehman was transferred and posted DC in Kohat.
• It said that Abbottabad DC Amir Afaq had been directed to report to the establishment department, as PSO to chief minister Mughees Sanaullah was posted DC Abbottabad.
• Bannu DC Attaur Rehman has been directed to report to the establishment department while deputy secretary at the Chief Minister Secretariat Mohammad Zubair Khan Niazi was posted in his place as DC.
• The DCs of Battagram, Lakki Marwat and North Wazrisitan have also been directed to report to the establishment department while Altaf Hussain has been posted DC Battagram, Abdual Haseeb DC Lakki Marwat and Sahibzada Najeebullah DC North Waziristan.
6. Govt unveils eight-day Kashmir Day campaign
• The government on January 23, 2020 unveiled a detailed programme for Kashmir Day observance and emphasised that it was `effectively` promoting the freedom struggle in occupied valley.
• The programme was announced at a press conference by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office. He was on that occasion accompanied by Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan and Senator Faisal Javed.
7. India rejects Trump`s Kashmir offer
• India on January 23, 2020 rejected US President Donald Trump`s offer to help resolve the Kashmir dispute, saying the matter had to be addressed between New Delhi and Islamabad.
• `There is no role for any third party in the Kashmir issue, Indian ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
• He was quoted by The Hindu as making the comments in response to a question on Trump`s remarks ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Davos.
8. Muslim leaders make `groundbreaking` visit to Auschwitz
• A high-level delegation of Muslim religious leaders visited Auschwitz on January 23, 2020 along with a Jewish group in what organisers called `the most senior Islamic leadership delegation` to visit the site of a Nazi German death camp.
• The interfaith visit came four days before the 75th anniversary of the Jan 27, 1945, liberation of the camp by Soviet forces, and as world leaders gathered in Jerusalem on Thursday to commemorate the Holocaust.
• The visit was led by the secretary general of the Muslim World League, Mohammad bin Abdulkarim Al Issa, and the CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), David Harris.
9. US imposes new visa rules to discourage `birth tourism`
• The Trump administration on January 23, 2020 published new visa rules aimed at restricting birth tourism, in which women travel to the United States to give birth so their children can have US citizenship.
• Applicants will be denied tourist visas if they are determined by consular officers to be coming to the US primarily to give birth, according to the rules in the Federal Register.
• It is a bigger hurdle to overcome, proving they are travelling to the US because they have a medical need and not just because they want to give birth here. Those with medical needs will be treated like other foreigners coming to the US for medical treatment and must prove they have the money to pay for it including transportation and living expenses
10. UN court orders Myanmar to prevent genocide of Rohingya
• The UN`s highest court ordered Myanmar on January 23, 2020 to do everything in its power to prevent the alleged genocide of Rohingya Muslims, as international justice stepped into the crisis for the first time.
• The International Court of Justice rejected arguments made by Myanmar`s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in The Hague in December and set out urgent steps for the majority Buddhist nation to end the violence.
• The mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia had asked the court to impose emergency measures following a 2017 military crackdown by Myanmar that sent around 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh.
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