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May 07, 2022: National / International Current Affairs
1. In first contact, Blinken invites Bilawal to US
• Top-level contacts between Pakistan and the US recommenced on May 6, 2022 as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and invited him to a food security meeting at the UN headquarters in New York on May 18.
• The two-day ministerial conference will focus on the threat to global food security, triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and will be chaired by Mr Blinken himself.
• Such encouraging statements were rare during the PTI regime and the phone call to Mr Bhutto Zardari was the first contact between the foreign ministers of the two countries in quite a while.
• On Sept 24, 2021, then-FM Shah Mehmood Qureshi met Secretary Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York
2. FIA told to crack down on defamatory social media content
• Within a few hours after PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz lodged a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) against fake and objectionable photos of her floating on social media, the federal government sprang into action and announced a crackdown on elements involved in defaming people by disseminating obscene and immoral videos and strict directives were issued by the Interior Ministry to the agency in this regard.
• Interestingly, even the PML-N leader expressed concerns that she was waiting for action over the malicious social media campaign against her. In a tweet posted on Thursday, Ms Nawaz said she had reported the matter to the authorities and was waiting for action.
• The visibly photoshopped images and videos have been shared by some prominent Twitter accounts as well as some newly created ones
3. Six-day work week, reduced timings notified
• The federal government did not restore the Saturday weekly off despite protests by employees, sticking to the six-day routine, but notified new reduced working hours.
• On the other hand, confusion over the new work schedule prevailed in the corporate sector, autonomous bodies and even banks.
• According to a notification issued by the Establishment Division, government offices will remain open from 8am to 3pm with a 30-minute break at 1pm whereas the timings on Friday will be 8am to 1pm.
• Earlier, the timings were 9am to 5pm with two weekly holidays on Saturday and Sunday.
• After assuming office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif abolished Saturday off, but kept the working hours unchanged from 9am to 5pm.
4. AJK PM rejects Indian move to redraw electoral map in IIOJK
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas has termed the delimitation commission report to redraw electoral map of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)as the fascist Indian government`s another move to further marginalize the majority Muslim population of the occupied territory.
• He urged the international community in general and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in particular to take immediate stock of the BJP led Indian government`s neo-fascism that he said was aimed at giving a `legal cover` to its anti-UNSC resolutions move of August 5, 2019 through installation of a Hindu chief minister in the Muslim majority region. `If the international community had any doubt about India`s ill intentions in the past, this report has let the cat out of the bag.
• `This has completely exposed India`s anti-Kashmiri and anti-Muslim mindset,` said the AJK premier in a brief conversation with a group of journalists before leaving for Islamabad
5. ADB okays $18bn ceiling for lending
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a ceiling of up to $18 billion in Policy-Based Lending (PBL) between 2022 and 2024 and enhanced its crisis-response instruments to support its developing member countries as they pursue a green, resilient and inclusive recovery.
• Expanded PBL commitments will support developing member countries to undertake critical policy reforms and to address gaps in their development financing requirements.
• The ADB has announced that in order to maximise development impact, it has also introduced measures to enhance PBL quality and strengthen oversight by the board of directors.
