WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2019 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS. “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS
October 01, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Manmohan being asked to attend Kartarpur event
• The Pakistan government is inviting former Indian prime minister and veteran Congress leader Dr Manmohan Singh to the inauguration of Kartarpur Corridor in November instead of an (Indian) government leader.
• `It has been decided after consultations that we will invite former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh to the opening of the very important Kartarpur corridor,` said Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Q ureshi in a video statement.
• The foreign minister said a formal invitation letter was being sent to Mr Singh. He said Mr Singh was being invited as a representative of the Sikh community.
• The corridor, an initiative of the Pakistan government, is being constructed to commemorate the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak in November. The corridor would provide Indian Sikhs visa free access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan.
2. Diplomatic Squad reordered
• Prime Minister Imran Khan September 30, 2019 replaced Dr Maleeha Lodhi with Ambassador Munir Akram as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York.
• “Ambassador Munir Akram has been appointed as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York, in place of Dr Maleeha Lodhi,” a foreign ministry statement said.
• “Muhammad Aejaz, Additional Secretary at MoFA, has been appointed as Ambassador of Pakistan to Hungary. Syed Sajjad Haider, presently serving as Charge d’ Affaires of Pakistan to Pyongyang, has been posted as Ambassador of Pakistan to Kuwait,” the statement said.
• Khalil Ahmad Hashmi, presently serving as Director General UN at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has been appointed as Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN in Geneva.
• Imran Ahmad Siddiqui, presently serving as Consul General of Pakistan Toronto, has been posted as High Commissioner of Pakistan for Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ahsan KK Wagan, presently serving as Charge d’ Affaires in Niamey, Niger, has been appointed as Ambassador of Pakistan to Muscat, Oman.
• Major General Muhammad Saad Khattak (r) has been appointed as the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Sri Lanka.
• Abdul Hamid has been appointed as Pakistan’s Consul General in Toronto. Abrar Hussain Hashmi has been appointed as Pakistan’s Consul General in Houston
3. 18 airlines told not to use plastic cutlery on flights to Pakistan
• The Aviation Division has directed 18 international airlines to stop use of plastic cutlery in flights to Pakistan.
• The airlines are also directed to ensure that the cutlery is packed in paper rather than in plastic or polythene bags.
• The information was shared by Aviation Division senior joint secretary Amjad Sattar Khokhar with Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on September 30, 2019.
• Both were present at the committee room of Parliament House where a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change was scheduled at 11am.
October 1, 2019: International Current Affairs
4. Abdullah claims victory over Ghani in Afghan vote well ahead of results
• Afghanistan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory on September 30, 2019 over incumbent Ashraf Ghani in the weekend`s presidential election, far ahead of the release of any official results.
• The move is likely to stir political tensions across Afghanistan and brings to mind the election Abdullah and his top rival Ghani bitterly contested in 2014 that sparked a constitutional crisis and prompted us intervention.
5. ICC slaps war crimes charges on militant who terrorised Timbuktu
• The International Criminal Court on September 30, 2019 confirmed war crimes and crimes against humanity charges against a Malian militant accused of demolishing Timbuktu`s fabled shrines and unleashing a reign of terror.
• Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud, 40, was accused of these crimes as well as being responsible for rapes and sexual slavery after fundamentalists exploited a Tuareg uprising in 2012 to take over cities in Mali`s volatile north.
• Al Hassan is the second Islamist extremist to face trial at the ICC for the destruction of the Timbuktu shrines, following a 2016 landmark ruling at the world`s only permanent war crimes court. The first one got a nine year prison term.
6. Houthis unilaterally release hundreds of detainees
• The Houthi group in control of Yemen`s capital released hundreds of prisoners on September 30, 2019 in a unilateral move, which the United Nations hoped would help revive a stalled peace process after months of failed efforts to push through a prisoner swap.
• Dozens of men in clean, new, white clothing walked out of the central prison in the capital Sanaa and lined up outside, supervised by men in military uniforms.
• `Our initiative proves our credibility in implementing the Sweden agreement and we call on the other party to take a comparable step,` the head of the Houthis` prisoner affairs committee, Abdul Qader al-Murtada, told reporters assembled for the release.
• The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the release, said 290 Yemeni nationals were transferred from the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa to their homes.
7. Oil prices dip as S. Arabia eyes non-military solution to Iran crisis
• Oil prices fell more than one per cent on September 30, 2019 after Saudi Arabia`s de facto leader said war with Iran would destroy the world economy and hinted instead at a non-military solution.
• Washington, Riyadh, Berlin, London and Paris blame Iran for attacks that damaged the Saudi oil sector on Sept 14 and forced the world`s largest crude exporter to sharply reduce production.
• Stock markets were mostly higher as traders tracked the latest twists and turn regarding the US-China trade war. The dollar was mixed against main rivals.
• `In terms of geopolitical concerns, common sense is prevailing for now in Saudi Arabia,` noted analyst Naeem Aslam at traders Think Markets, in reference to the comments by Saudi Arabia`s crown prince in an interview with CBS show 60 minutes broad castover the weekend.
• Mohammed bin Salman said war would be catastrophic for global growth.
8. Man finds 1,000-year-old coins worth $60K
• A metal detector enthusiast in England has stumbled upon a treasure trove of silver coins believed to be 1,000 years old and worth about $60,000.
• Fifty-year-old Don Crawley, a native of Suffolk, found the 99 coins, which include pennies and half pennies, after making his first visit to a farmer’s land.
9. SpaceX to launch new heavy-lift rocket into orbit in 6 months
• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said that the private space company’s next-generation heavy-lift rocket Starship is expected to be launched into orbit in six months.
• Musk spoke in front of a 50-meter, 200-ton Starship prototype at the SpaceX launch facility in Texas Saturday night, revealing more details about the spacecraft designed for full “rapid reusability,” according to the SpaceX website.
• SpaceX has already completed two, low-altitude “hop” flights with the Starhopper, a stub-top, prototype cylinder with one of the Raptor engines to be used in Starship. In the coming one or two months, Starship Mk1 will have its first test flight to a sub-orbital altitude of about 65,000 feet (19,812 meters), and then Starship Mk2 will have a similar test, according to Musk.
• Starship Mk3 or Mk5, covered with full sheets of stainless steel and welded with a single weld, might be an orbital launch with the full Super Heavy booster in the coming six months, according to Musk.
October 1, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Babar`s century helps Pakistan draw first blood
• A superlative century from new Pakistan vice-captain Babar Azam marked the historic return of One-day International cricket to Karachi on September 30, 2019 as the hosts completed a resounding 67-run victory over Sri Lanka in game two of the rain-marred series at the National Stadium.
• After Friday`s opening fixture of the Inverex presents Brighto Cup three-match ODI series was washed out without a ball being bowled, Sri Lanka`s new-look side saw Pakistan ride on Babar`s supremely confident 115, which was his 11th hundred from just 73 one-dayers the third quickest to that number of centuries after the South African duo of Quinton de Kock (65 matches) and the recentlyretired Hashim Amla (66) to reach 305-6.
• Sri Lanka`s response, particularly at the start of the innings, was as feeble as it could be given the depleted makeup of their team following the withdrawals of 10 senior players from the tour. When it seemed the match would be over even before the midpoint of the chase when the top five wickets went down in the space of 10 runs in 38 deliveries with inspired Usman Khan Shinwari tal(ing a five-for as Sri Lanl(a were eventually all out for 238.
