WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 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

February 26, 2019: National Current Affairs

1. Dr Alvi confers Hilal-i-Imtiaz (M) upon Qatar navy commander

• President Dr Arif Alvi conferred Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) upon Commander Qatar Emiri Naval Forces Staff Major Gen (Sea) Abdullah Bin Hassan Al-Sulaiti in a special investiture ceremony held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad on February 25, 2019
• The President also appreciated Qatar’s decision to extend visa-on-arrival facility for Pakistanis and its approval for employment of 100,000 workers from Pakistan. The President appreciated regular participation of Qatar Emiri Naval Forces in Pakistan Navy exercises “AMAN”.
• The Commander Qatar Emiri Naval Forces thanked the President and government of Pakistan on being awarded with Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) and hoped that cooperation between Navies of the two countries will continue to expand in future.

2. Afghan refugees allowed to open bank accounts

Months after the controversy over a proposal to grant citizenship to Afghan refugees, Prime Minister Imran Khan on February 25, 2019 directed relevant authorities to allow the registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan to open and maintain bank accounts in the country.
• While millions of Afghan refugees have been living in Pakistan for decades, they have been allowed to open bank accounts for the first time.
• The move came months after Prime Minister Imran Khan`s statement about granting Pakistani citizenship to the children of Afghan refugee shad stirred a controversy. As the opposition parties protested against it, he had to provide an explanation that the government would consult all political parties on it before taking a final decision.
• Pakistan is one of the largest refugee-hosting states in the world, by giving shelter to over 3.5 million Afghans who had fled Afghanistan since Soviet invasion in 1979. Still there are said to be around 2.4 million of Afghan refugees living in the country after repatriation of a large number of refugees in different times and phases under UN arrangement.

3. Singapore offers help in building 5m low-cost houses

• Singapore on February 25, 2019 showed interest and offered Pakistan its expertise for building 5 million low cost houses in the next five years.
• The offer was placed by Mr Shamsher Zaman Singapore`s ambassador to Jordan, vice chairman of South Asia Business Group, and chairman of Middle East Business Group who was leading a 22-member trade and investment delegation.
• Addressing business leaders at the Federation House, he noted that business atmosphere in Pakistan has improved a lot. He stressed the delegates would like to focus on infrastructure sector, information technology and also provide services in port management.
• Singapore can be a centre for financing, services and expertise for Pakistan and the companies there are excited by the PTI government`s commitment to economic reform and increased stability in the country.

4. Pak-Iran global science conference begins on Feb 27

• A global science conference being organised at Karachi University (KU) would bring together leading health and medical sciences` experts and help raise the status of Islamic world scientists through capacity-building and creation of network for the common benefit of humanity.
• This was stated by Prof Iqbal Choudhary heading KU`s International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at a press conference held on the campus to brief journalists on the 5th Science and Technology Exchange Programme (STEP) International Conference.
• Focused on `Health challenges of communicable diseases and non-com-musicale diseases` this year, the four day event is jointly organised by Pakistan and Iran and will open at the ICCBS on Feb 27.
• `Scientists from 40 countries, including Iran, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Finland, Jordan, the US, Singapore and Sweden, are expected to participate in the event. The Mustafa (PBUH) Science and Technology Foundation (MSTF) of Iran is playing a major role in organising the event in Karachi, said Prof Iqbal. The event would provide a scientific platform for scholars, institutions, and industries for an interactive exchange on knowledge sharing and technology transfer, he said.

---

February 26, 2019: International Current Affairs

5. Work begins in earnest to end Afghan conflict: Khalilzad

• US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met the Taliban`s top political leader in Doha on February 25, 2019, in what is believed to be the highest level engagement between the US and the Taliban since the months-long peace push began.
• Mr Khalilzad tweeted that he and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Islamist movement, had held a `working lunch` ahead of a fresh round of talks with the militant group as the US seeks a way out of its longest war.
• The arrival in Qatar late on February 24, 2019 of Mullah Baradar, seen as close to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, has helped fuel speculation of a breakthrough.
• Marathon talks last month saw the two sides walk away with a `draft framework` that included a Taliban vow to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for international terrorist groups.
• There was no accord on a US withdrawal or a ceasefire, however, issues which have derailed attempts at peace talks in the past, while the government in Kabul has voiced increasingly loud fears it was being sidelined from the talks. `

6. Afghanistan launches new export route to India through Iran

• Afghanistan began exports to India through an Iranian port on February 25, 2019, official said, as the landlocked, war-torn nation turns to overseas markets to improve its economy.
• Officials said 23 trucks carrying 57 tonnes of dried fruits, textiles, carpets and mineral products were dispatched from western Afghan city of Zaranj to Iran`s Chabahar port. The consignment will be shipped to the Indian city of Mumbai.
• At the inauguration of the new export route, President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan was slowly improving its exports in a bid to reduce its trade deficit.
• Chabahar port is the result of healthy cooperation between India, Iran and Afghanistan this will ensure economic growth.
• The Iranian port provides easy access to the sea to Afghanistan and India has helped developed this route to allow both countries to engage in trade bypassing Pakistan.

7. ICJ rules against UK in Chagos islands case

• Britain should quickly give up control of the Chagos archipelago, the Indian Ocean islands that house the secretive US airbase at Diego Garcia but are claimed by Mauritius, the International Court of Justice said on February 25, 2019.
• Judges in The Hague said in a legal `advisory opinion` on a decades-old dispute that Britain had illegally split the islands from Mauritius at independence in the 1960s, after which thousands of islanders were deported.
• The court`s view is not binding but it carries a heavy symbolic importance as it was specially tasked by the United Nations General Assembly to give its view on the row between London and Port Louis over the fate of the island chain.
• It also comes as a stunning blow to London in a case that goes to the heart of historic issues of decolonisation and current questions about Britain`s place in the world as it prepares to leave the European Union.

8. UAE to send its first astronaut into space in September

• The first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates will blast off into space on Sept 25 on a trip to the International Space Station, authorities announced on February 25, 2019.
• Either military pilot Hazza al-Mansoori or engineer Sultan al-Neyadi will be the first Emirati in space, part of an ambitious space programme for this Gulf Arab nation home to the world`s tallest building and the busiest airport for international travel.
• But the two men, selected from over 4,000 applicants, say they aren`t worried after the recent failure of another Russian rocket carrying astronauts to the space station.

9. Green Book upsets favourites, wins best picture Oscar

• The segregation era road-trip drama Green Book was crowned best picture at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019, delighting those who see the film as a feel-good throwback but disappointing others who ridicule it as an outdated inversion of 1989 winner Driving Miss Daisy.
• In a year when Hollywood could have made history by bestowing its top award on Netflix (Roma) or Marvel (Black Panther) for the first time, the motion picture academy instead threw its fullest support behind a traditional inter-racial buddy tale that proved as popular as it was divisive.
• But Peter Farrelly`s Green Book weathered criticism that it was retrograde and inauthentic to triumph over more acclaimed films and bigger box-office successes.
• It was an unexpected finale to a brisk, host-less ceremony that was awash in historic wins for diversity, including Spike Lee`s first competitive Oscar. More women and more individual black nominees won than ever before.

---

February 26, 2019: Sports Current Affairs

10. India snooker event put off over Pakistan visa row

• An Indian snooker tournament has been indefinitely postponed in a row over visas for Pakistani athletes following a suicide bomb attack New Delhi has blamed on Pakistan.
• The 10 Reds Asian Tour event, scheduled to be held in Bangalore next month, looks likely to be cancelled after organisers said they could not guarantee Pakistani competitors would be allowed into the country.
• It follows the International Olympic Committee (IOC)`s suspension of talks with India on holding major sports events last week after New Delhi refused to issue visas to two Pakistani shooters to take part in a World Cup event.
• Tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals have risen following a Feb 14 suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Indian paramilitaries were killed.