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September 18, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Cabinet approves plan to form `media courts`
• The government on September 17, 2019 approved a plan to form `media courts` for the first time in the country, apparently to seek speedy disposal of media-related cases within a particular time limit of 90 days.
• The plan was approved by the federal cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM Office.
• Briefing the media about the cabinet meeting, Special Assistant to the PM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said what she called `media tribunals` would be formed after passage of a bill by the parliament while conceding that the government had not taken all stal(eholders -including media persons, owners of media houses and media bodies into confidence on this move.
• Until now media related cases were being dealt by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Press Council of Pakistan, but now PEMRA would refer such cases to media tribunals. `Not only new cases but all pending cases will be sent to the tribunals.
2. Pakistan participates in Russian military exercise
• Russia on September 16, 2019 started a massive military exercise involving 128,000 troops and the militaries of several allies, including Pakistan, under the ambit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, according to a press statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations on September 17, 2019.
• The weeklong military exercise called TSENTR (Center) 2019 began at Donguz in Orenburg region, with the opening ceremony attended by senior military officials of all participating countries.
• The Center-2019 drills will last through Saturday in the Urals,Siberia and the Caspian Sea, according to AFP.
• They will include over 20,000 pieces of military equipment and 15 ships, the Russian defence ministry said.
3. Pakistan should build buffers to absorb shocks: IMF
• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 17, 2019 asked Pakistan to increase buffers in order to absorb unexpected internal and external shocks to the economy as it faced criticism from parliamentarians for designing a programme that caused difficulties for the people and businesses.
• The IMF has also ruled out any revision in its programme targets with Pakistan and generally appreciated the progress shown by the authorities towards stabilisation of macroeconomic indicators and their initial encouraging results.
• An eight-member IMF delegation, led by Director for Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour and accompanied by mission chief to Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo, had hectic meetings, including one with Prime Minister Imran Khan, and was encouraged by his commitments to push forward economic and institutional reforms as envisaged in the Fund programme.
September 18, 2019: International Current Affairs
4. India formally arrests former CM of held Kashmir
• A former chief minister of India occupied Jammu and Kashmir, seen as being pro India, has been formally arrested under a special law allowing him to be held for up to two years without charge.
• Farooq Abdullah, 81, has been under house arrest since early August when India stripped India-held Kashmir of its autonomy, imposed a security lockdown and detained dozens of politicians including those who back the region being part of India.
• But on Monday he was formally arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and his home turned into a `judicial lockup`, Muneer Khan, a senior police official in India-held Kashmir, told AFP.
• It is the first confirmed case of a Kashmiri politician being arrested under the PSA since India`s Aug 5 move when it sent tens of thousands of troops to Kashmir and imposed a communications blackout.
5. Trump to meet Imran, Modi for talks focusing on Kashmir
• US President Donald Trump has said that he will meet both Indian and Pakistani leaders in the next few days while claiming that `a lot of progress is being made` in defusing tensions between South Asia`s two nuclear-armed neighbours.
• I’ll see Prime Minister Modi and I will we`ll be meeting with (prime ministers of) India and Pakistan, said Mr Trump, adding: `And I think a lot of progress is being made there, a lot of progress.
• Mr Trump made these remarks on September 17, 2019 afternoon while responding to a question about a joint rally Mr Modi and he are scheduled to address in Houston, Texas, on Sept 22.
• Although the Indian community in the US is describing this rally as a `major diplomatic win` for India, President Trump`s remarks show that the US leader is still interested in playing a mediatory role between South Asia`s two traditional rivals.
6. European Parliament approves Lagarde as next ECB chief
• The European Parliament on September 17, 2019 approved outgoing IMF chief Christine Lagarde as the next boss of the European Central Bank, which last week announced massive stimulus for the sluggish eurozone despite divisions among its governors.
• Lagarde, who was absent for the vote, won backing from 394 MEPs, with 206 voting against and 49 abstaining in a secret ballot. Some criticised her not turning up.
• The parliament`s green light is just a recommendation. The final decision on her appointment is up to EU leaders in a mid-October summit. She is expected to easily clinch that confirmation as the leaders put her forward for the ECB post back in July.
• Lagarde, a former French economy minister and head of the International Monetary Fund for the past eight years, is expected to largely follow the course set by departing European Central Bank president Mario Draghi
7. Thunberg wins Amnesty`s highest human rights award
• Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future youth movement received Amnesty International`s `Ambassadors of Conscience` award on September 16, 2019 for their work highlighting the need for urgent action to avert climate disaster.
• The 16-year-old, who is taking a year out of high school, received a standing ovation from students at The George Washington University in the US capital where the ceremony was held.
• `The politics required to take on this crisis simply doesn`t exist today,` Thunberg said, standing on a step to reach the microphone.
• `That is why every single one of us must push from every possible angle to hold those responsible accountable and to make the people in power act.
8. Earth to warm more quickly, show new climate models
• Greenhouse gases thrust into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels are warming Earth`s surface more quickly than previously understood, according to new climate models set to replace those used in current UN projections, scientists said on September 17, 2019.
• By 2100, average temperatures could rise 6.5 to 7.0 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels if carbon emissions continue unabated, separate models from two leading research centres in France showed.
• That is up to two degrees higher than the equivalent scenario in the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change`s (IPCC) 2014 benchmark fifth Assessment Report.
• The new calculations also suggest the Paris Agreement goals of capping global warming at `well below` two degrees, and 1.5C if possible will be harder to reach, the scientists said.
September 18, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
9. China chooses panda as Winter Olympics mascot
• China has chosen its most iconic animal the panda to be the official mascot of the Beijing Olympics in 2022, the Winter Games organising committee announced on September 17, 2019.
• The mascot, named `Bing Dwen Dwen,` is a chubby giant panda wearing a suit of ice.
• The black and white bear has a `heart of gold and a love of all things winter sports,` tweeted the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
• For the Paralympic Winter Games, the mascot is a blushing red lantern named `Shuey Rhon Rhon.` Beijing will be the first city to host both summer and winter Games, after winning the bid in 2015, beating out underdog Almaty.
10. Scotland pair records third highest T20 stand
• Scotland recorded the third-highest stand in Twenty20 International history as George Munsey and Kyle Coetzer put on 200 in their side`s 58-run win over the Netherlands on September 16, 2019.
• The pair ran riot in Dublin with their double century partnership before Coetzer was caught out for 89.
• Munsey went on to score an unbeaten 127, while Richie Berrington hit 22 as Scotland finished on 252 for three.
• Munsey scored at a pace that put him in rarified company. He hit his maiden century off 41 balls. Three men have scored faster T20 International centuries, all off 35 balls. He hit 14 sixes.
• Only Hazratullah Zazai, who clobbered 16 for Afghanistan against Ireland in February has struck more.
• Munsey also struck 32 off one over, only Yuvraj Singh of India who hit six sixes off England`s Stuart Broad in 2007 has scored more
