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September 22, 2021: National / International Current Affairs
1. Another SAPM bites the dust
• In yet another unceremonious exit, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Power and Petroleum Tabish Gauhar on September 21, 2021 announced his decision to call it a day less than a year since joining the government after developing differences with some cabinet members and key stakeholders of the energy sector.
• He is the eighth top leader of the Ministry of Energy (MoE) during the three years of the current government to have eased out amid unending challenges in the troubled sector. The long list includes federal ministers Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Omar Ayub Khan, SAPMs Nadeem Babar, Shahzad Qasim as well as Mr Gauhar and federal secretaries Irfan Ali and Asad Hayauddin.
2. NCOC lifts additional restrictions in six districts
• As the cases of Covid-19 continue to decrease across the country, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on September 21, 2021 decided to lift additional restrictions in six districts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• However, general non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) will remain enforced across the country till Sept 30. The situation will be reviewed on Sept 28.
• The NCOC had on Sept 4 enforced restrictions in 24 districts of Punjab, KP and Islamabad. The restrictions included a ban on indoor gatherings and intercity transport and closure of educational institutions and indoor gyms. Initially, the restrictions were imposed till Sept 12, but later extended to Sept 15.
3. 1.4m Afghans to get biometric registration cards
• The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) has updated details of over half million registered Afghan refugees as part of the countrywide campaign to issue renewed Proof of Registration (PoR) cards.
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement here on Tuesday that some 1.4 million registered Afghan refugees were being verified and issued with new biometric cards through 35 sites and four mobile units.
• UNHCR Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Indrika Ratwatte visited a DRIVE Centre in Peshawar and was briefed on the process, according to the statement.
4. Internet freedom on decline in Pakistan: report
• An international freedom advocacy group and research organisation has found Pakistan among top 10 countries in the world where internet freedom has been on the decline and raised concerns over the rules proposed by the country that could further damage cyber liberty.
• In its latest report titled `Freedom on the Net 2021: The Global Drive to Control Big Tech`, the Washing ton based Freedom House came up with details of cyber freedom in different countries around the world and ranked Pakistan seventh among `abusers of internet freedom`.
5. Girls will be allowed to return to schools: Taliban
• The Taliban said on Tuesday that Afghan girls would be allowed to return to schools `as soon as possible`, after the Islamist group faced international anger over their effective exclusion of women and girls from education and work.
• The Taliban`s spokesman meanwhile announced the remaining members of Afghanistan`s all-male government, weeks after they seized Kabul in an offensive that shocked the world.
• One month after seizing power and pledging a softer version of their previous regime, critics say the Taliban have incrementally stripped away at Afghans` freedoms
6. Trudeau`s party wins polls, but fails to get majority
• Canadians returned Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to power in hotly contested elections against a rookie conservative leader, but he failed to gain an absolute majority, according to preliminary results early on September 21, 2021.
• Trudeau called the snap polls last month, hoping to parlay a smooth Covid-19 vaccine rollout among the best in the world -into a new mandate to steer the nation`s pandemic exit and pass his agenda without opposition support.
• But after a bumpy five weeks of campaigning, he appeared set for a repeat of the close 2019 general election, which resulted in the one-time golden boy of Canadian politics clinging to power yet weakened after losing his majority in parliament.
7. France wins EU backing in submarine row with US
• European ministers rallied around France on September 21, 2021 over the US and Australian decision to strip Paris of a submarine supply contract, as the dispute threatened to delay trade talks with Washington and Canberra.
• German Europe Minister Michael Roth said France`s diplomatic crisis with the US was a `wake-up call for all of us` on the importance of uniting an often divided EU on foreign and security policy.
• Europe broke its silence and backed a furious France, which has accused the United States, Australia and Britain of working behind its back to negotiate their AUKUS defence pact and replace Canberra`s multi-billion-dollar order of French submarines with a US contract
8. Sudan govt claims foiling coup bid by Bashir loyalists
• Sudan`s fragile transitional government said it foiled an attempted coup on September 21, 2021 involving military officers and civilians linked to the ousted regime of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
• Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said the coup attempt was the `latest manifestation of the national crisis`, referring to deep divisions threatening Sudan`s move towards democracy.
• In a televised speech, he said the plotters had `made extensive preparations, which were showcased in the security breakdown in cities…blocking of national roads, closure of ports and persistent instigation against the civilian government.` Information Minister Hamza Baloul said later the coup attempt had been thwarted.
9. Suu Kyi goes on trial for incitement
• Myanmar`s junta has put ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi on trial for incitement, her lawyer said on September 21, 2021, the latest in a list of charges that could see her jailed for decades.
• Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy were deposed by the military in a February coup that sparked a mass uprising and a brutal junta crackdown on dissent.
• The Nobel laureate, 76, has been under house arrest ever since, with meetings with her lawyers and court appearances her only link to the outside world
10. Tantawi, Egypt`s first ruler in post-Mubarak era, dies at 85
• Egypt`s Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, who headed the military junta that ruled after president Hosni Mubarak`s ouster in the Arab Spring protests, has died at age 85, the government said on September 21, 2021.
• After his stint as Egypt`s de facto leader, he was soon sacked by the country`s first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohamed Morsi, and spent his remaining years largely out of public view.
• A veteran of Egypt`s wars, Tantawi had long served as Mubarak`s defence minister and as chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. He became the acting head of state after an 18-day popular uprising ended Mubarak`s rule in early 2011.
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