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March 30, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. PM orders opening of all highways for goods supply
• Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 29, 2020 ordered removing all hurdles in the way of transportation of goods and opening all national highways to ensure smooth and adequate supply of food items from farms/ factories to markets amid `panic buying` due to deadly coronavirus scare.
• He reiterated his commitment to providing ration at the doorsteps of the poor and daily wage earners who are said to be the worst-affected segments of population during the country wide lockdown enforced to prevent the spread of Covid-19 through a force of young volunteers he is going to formally form on Monday (today).
• Mr Khan issued the directives while presiding over a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s (PTI) core committee at the Prime Minister House.
2. Punjab allows opening of cattle markets
• To maintain meat supply chain during the ongoing lockdown in the province, the Punjab government has allowed functioning of all cattle markets, including the one at Shahpur Kanjran in Lahore.
• Since the government in its notification for imposing lockdown on the province had not included the cattle markets among the essential service providers or departments, the deputy commissioners in all the districts of the province had disallowed the cattle markets, that led to shortage of meat in Punjab.
• `It impacted Lahore`s Shahpur Kanjran cattle market that was opened on Wednesday after a special permission.
3. Wapda secures `B-‘ with stable outlook
• The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has secured international credit rating of `B-` with a stable outlook from international rating agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor`s (S&P) -a pre-requisite for green euro bond issuance that is a core point of the policy for foreign currency component of both Diamer Basha and Mohmand dam projects.
• This was revealed in a letter written by the WAPDA chairman to the federal water resources secretary on Friday.
• Wapda had initiated the process to raise a portion of the requisite foreign currency financing from international market through issuance of green eurobond with a debut benchmark size of $500 million. The authority engaged three major credit rating agencies -Fitch, S&P and Moody`s. JP Morgan and HBL provided financial advisory services for the process on pro-bono basis and meetings with these agencies were conducted on Feb 19 and 20 at WAPDA House in Lahore.
4. Ordinance to control infectious ailments
• The Punjab government has promulgated the Punjab Infectious Diseases (Prevention and Control) Ordinance 2020, allowing civil administration and health department to implement government measures to control an epidemic under the cover of law.
• Under the ordinance, fines and imprisonment can be imposed on persons failing to comply with any government direction, without any reasonable excuse, that may range for a term not exceeding two months or a fine not exceeding Rs50,000 or both. However, on the repeat offence, the person, upon conviction, may be punished with an imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding Rs100,000 or both.
• And if such offence is committed by a body corporate, the fine for a first offence shall not be less than Rs50,000 and not exceeding Rs200,000; and for a repeat offence not be less than Rs100,000 and not exceed Rs300,000.
5. Spain sees record virus deaths as world hunkers down for long haul
• Spain broke another national record of daily coronavirus deaths on March 29, 2020 as more than 40 per cent of the world`s population was asked to stay home in hopes of halting the deadly march of a disease that has claimed more than 32,000 lives worldwide.
• A deluge of patients are overwhelming hospitals in Europe and the United States, now the focal points of a pandemic that is upending the global economy in unprecedented ways.
• Thomas Schaefer, the finance minister of Germany`s Hesse state, committed suicide, apparently after becoming `deeply worried` over how to cope with the economic fallout from the coronavirus, state premier Volker Bouffier said. A visibly shaken Bouffier recalled that Schaefer, who was Hesse`s finance chief for 10 years, had been working `day and night `to help companies and workers deal with the economic impact of the pandemic
6. Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles over Riyadh, border town
• Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and a city on the Yemen border, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital amid efforts to combat coronavirus, state media said on March 29, 2020.
• Multiple explosions shook Riyadh late on Saturday in the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Houthi rebels offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating twin strikes on Saudi oil installations.
• The Iran-aligned insurgent s claimed responsibility around 15 hours after the attacks, with a rebel spokesman calling it `the largest operation of its kind` as the Riyadh-led military intervention in Yemen enters its sixth year
7. Modi apologises to nation for 21-day lockdown
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologised to the public on March 29, 2020 for imposing a three-week national lockdown, calling it harsh but needed to win the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
• `I apologise for taking these harsh steps that have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people,` Modi said in his monthly address, broadcast by state radio. `I know some of you will be angry with me. But these tough measures were needed to win this battle.
• The unprecedented lockdown order, which came into effect on Wednesday to keep India`s 1.3 billion people at home for all but essential trips to places like markets or pharmacies, is meant to prevent the spread of the virus from surging and overwhelming India`s already strained health care system.
8. US-led forces pull out of third Iraqi base in a month
• The US-led coalition in Iraq withdrew on Sunday from a military base in the country`s north that nearly launched Washington into an open war with neighbouring Iran.
• The K1 Air Base is the third site coalition forces have left this month, in line with US plans to consolidate its troops in two locations in Iraq.
• A rocket attack on the base in late December killed one American contractor and lead to a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups. The attacks culminated in the US-directed killing of top Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani and a senior Iraqi militia leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
9. Canadian PM`s wife recovers from Covid-19
• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau`s wife said that she has recovered from being ill from Covid-19 disease caused by the new coronavirus.
• I am feeling so much better, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau said in a statement on social media. SOPHIE Trudeau She said she received the clearance from her doctor and Ottawa Public Health.
• Trudeau`s office announced on March 12 that she had tested positive for the coronavirus after she fell ill upon returning from a trip to London.
10. N. Korea fires two ballistic missiles into sea
• North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the ocean off its east coast on Sunday, the latest in an unprecedented flurry of launches that South Korea decried as `inappropriate` amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
• Two `short-range projectiles` were launched from the coastal Wonsan area, and flew 230km at a maximum altitude of 30km, South Korea`s Joint Chiefs of Staff reported.
• `In a situation where the entire world is experiencing difficulties due to Covid-19, this kind of military act by North Korea is very inappropriate and we call for an immediate halt,` South Korea`s JCS said in a statement, according to Yonhap news agency.
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