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March 18, 2022: National / International Current Affairs
1. Liver transplants at PKLI under `swap` plan
• Doctors at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) on March 17, 2022 conducted first-ever liver transplant of three patients under the `swap transplant programme`.
• An official of the institute confirmed that the operations remained successful and all the patients had been shifted to intensive care units.
• The operations were conducted under the swap transplant policy in which the identities of recipients and donors were not shared
2. GB quake triggers landslides; Skardu road blocked, one killed
• An earthquake struck Gilgit Baltistan, leaving one person dead and nine others injured, besides blocking roads and damaging houses.
• According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), several areas of Gilgit-Baltistan were shaken by the 5.2 magnitude earthquake recorded at a depth of 10k near Skardu at 6.30pm.
• An official of the Skardu district administration said the Roundu Valley was affected the most. He said one person was killed and nine others were injured when rocks fell on them near Astak village
3. Peshawar High Court orders handover of assets to tehsil govts in 10 days
• The Peshawar High Court on March 17, 2022 directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to notify within 10 days the assumption of offices by the chairmen and members of local councils and handing over of the assets of former district governments to the new tehsil ones.
• A bench consisting of Justice Musarrat Hilali and Justice Syed M Attique Shah issued the directions while disposing of a petition filed by Mardan city mayor Himayatullah Mayar for the provision of multiple relief s.
• The main prayer of the petitioner was the issuance of orders for the provincial government and Election Commission of Pakistan to administer oath to the tehsil council chairmen and members elected during the first phase of local body elections in 17 districts on Dec 19.
4. Trade with EU jumps 80pc since 2013
• Bilateral trade between Pakistan and the European Union went up by 78 per cent to 12.2 billion in 2021 from 6.9bn in 2013, mainly due to implementation of the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus scheme from January 2014.
• The commerce ministry has released an analysis, which shows that the GSP Plus scheme is a mutually beneficial arrangement leading to an increase in trade with 28-member EU states. In December 2013, the EU parliament enacted a legislation that put in place the GSP scheme for 2014-23.
• According to official data, Pakistan`s exports to the EU countries posted a growth of 86pc to 6.64bn in the calendar year 2021 from 3.31bn in 2013
5. FDI slides 33pc in February
• Foreign direct investment (FDI) fell year-on-year (YoY) by 33 per cent and declined by 17.3pc compared to preceding month of January, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed on March 17, 2022.
• According to the SBP data, FDI inflows during July-Feb 2021-22 (8MFY22) noted a positive growth of 6pc compared to the same period of last fiscal year. The second half of the current fiscal has been facing several negative impacts including the war in Ukraine and a hike in oil prices in the international markets.
• The record increase in oil prices as well as in other commodities rates has widened the trade deficit. The 6pc FDI growth is far lower than the $11.6 billion current account deficit confronting the country
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