Day by Day Current Affairs (July 17, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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July 17, 2018

1. Commodore Adnan made Rear Admiral

• Pakistan Navy’s Commodore Adnan Khaliq has been promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral. Consequent upon his promotion, he will take over as Commandant Pakistan Navy Engineering College PNS JAUHAR.
• Commodore Adnan Khaliq has been promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral with immediate effect.
• Rear Admiral Adnan Khaliq was commissioned in Marines Engineering branch of Pakistan Navy in 1985. His distinguished appointments include Director Engineering Support COASTAL, Director (ME) Frigate Programme, Deputy Commandant Pakistan Navy Engineering College, Commanding Officer Fleet Maintenance Group, Chief Inspector Naval Stores, Project Director Pakistan Navy Monitoring & Inspection Team and Managing Director Pakistan Navy Dockyard. Consequent upon his promotion Rear Admiral Adnan Khaliq will take over as Commandant Pakistan Navy Engineering College PNS JAUHAR.–Staff Reporter
• He is a graduate of Pakistan Navy War College and National Defence University, Islamabad. In recognition of his meritorious services, he was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Military). He is also a recipient of Sitara-e-Basalat.

2. Waste-to-energy power plant approved

• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved the grant of power generation licence to Lahore Xingzhong Renewable Energy Company Limited for setting up 40 MW municipal waste based power plant in Punjab.
• The company will set up Pakistan’s first waste-to-energy plant with 40-megawatt production capacity in Lakhodair, Lahore district. It will deploy a state-of-the-art incineration-type generation facility and the most suitable waste-to-energy technology.
• The project will deploy state of the art incineration type generation facility and the most suitable waste to energy technology. It is relevant to highlight that the project will reduce 2000 tonnes/day of the city’s municipal solid waste to generate electricity to address the municipality’s waste and energy needs of the country.
• In this regard, Nepra has already announced a Competitive Upfront Tariff of US cents 10.007/kWh for waste to energy projects based on 25 years operational period, with overall capacity cap of 250 MW wherein share of each province and Federal Territory have been kept at 50 MW each.
• As per the detail five major cities of the country are producing 35000 tonnes of waste daily and if it was not properly disposed off, it is going to destroy the agriculture land, water resources and environment.
• In Karachi, the daily waste production is 150300 tonnes, Lahore 10000 tonnes, Islamabad 6000 tonnes, Peshawar 3000 tonnes and Quetta 1000 tonnes.

3. Pakistan, Iran vow to improve military ties

• Pakistan and Iran on July 16, 2018 pledged to further deepen their military cooperation.
• This was the upshot of Iranian Chief of General Staff Maj Gen Mohammad Bagheri`s visit to Pakistan.
• The top Iranian commander`s three-day trip is being attached great importance because bilateral military exchanges between Pakistan and Iran have been very rare due to their mutual mistrust that kept them divided till recently.
• Gen Bagheri visited caretaker Foreign Minister Abdullah Hussain Haroon at the foreign ministry and then went to the General Headquarters (GHQ) for a meeting with army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.
• Reciprocating Gen Bajwa`s offer, the visiting Iranian commander `pledged to keep working for better relations between the two brotherly countries` said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
• Gen Bajwa is believed to be the architect of improvement in Pakistan-Iran ties particularly the military relations. Last year he had made an unprecedented visit to Iran setting the stage for improved cooperation.
• Later, Chief of the General Staff Lt Gen Bilal Akbar visited the country in June.

4. BHC set to get country`s first woman chief justice

• Justice Syeda Tahira Safdar of the Balochistan High Court is likely to become the chief justice of the BHC in September and she will be the first woman chief justice of any high court in the country. Justice Safdar may be elevated to the position after the retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice Mohammad Noor Meskanzai on Aug 31.
• Justice Safdar, who was born on Oct 5, 1957 in Quetta, is the daughter of renowned lawyer Syed Imtiaz Hussain Baqri Hanafi.
• She made history when she became the first woman civil judge in Balochistan in 1982. Currently, she is the senior judge and upon her expected elevation will become the first woman chief justice of any high court in the country. Justice Safdar is a member of the three-judge special court which is conducting the trial of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf for committing treason by proclaiming state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007. The special court was constituted under Section 4 of the Criminal Law Amendment (Special Court) Act, 1976.
• Justice Safdar was successful in the competitive examination held by the Balochistan Public Service Commission.
• Subsequently, she was promoted to the position of senior civil judge on June 29, 1987, additional district and sessions judge on Feb 27, 1991, and district and sessions judge on March 1, 1996.
• While working as chairperson, Justice Safdar was elevated to the position of additional judge of the high court on Sept 7, 2009 and confirmed as BHC judge on May 11, 2011.

5. National Disaster Risk Management Fund launched

• The government on July 16, 2018 formally launched a $205 million National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF) to improve preparedness of institutions and strengthen infrastructure to mitigate risks arising out of natural disasters and minimise loss to public life and property.
• The initial financing of NDRMF is through a $200mloanof the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to the federal government and two grants worth $3.4mfrom Australia and $1.5m from Switzerland. The ADB plans to enhance its funding beyond $1 billion over the next decade.
• The government has made these funds available to the NDRMF as a grant to finance through onward grants to eligible implementing partners both from public and private sectors.
• The fund was formally launched here by caretaker Minister for Finance Dr Shamshad Akhtar who termed the NDRMF a first concrete step towards making Pakistan resilient against natural disasters and climate change impacts.

6. Trump, Putin tout reset in ties at historic summit

• Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin vowed a fresh start to troubled relations between the world`s greatest nuclear powers at their first summit on July 16, 2018, as the American leader rejected a chance to condemn Moscow`s alleged manipulation of US elections.
• The US and Russian leaders came out of their meeting in Helsinki expressing a desire to cooperate on global challenges, after talks on an array of issues from Syria, Ukraine and China to trade tariffs and the size of their nuclear arsenals.
• Standing alongside Putin at a joint news conference, Trump said he had `spent a great deal of time talking about` election meddling, without going into detail or explicitly condemning any interference, after 12 Russian agents were indicted in the United States.
• Rather, when pressed about the verdict of his own intelligence chiefs, Trump stressed that Putin had delivered a `powerful` denial of any Russian vote meddling and said the US investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller had been a `disaster` for the United States.
• Trump again denied any collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin, while Putin insisted: `The Russian state has never interfered and is not planning to interfere in the USA`s internal affairs.` The US leader, bent on forging a personal bond with the Kremlin chief despite the election allegations, went into the summit blaming the `stupidity` of his predecessors for plunging ties to their present low.

7. Egypt parliament okays bill to monitor social media

• The Egyptian parliament on July 16, 2018 approved in a final reading a bill that would allow authorities to monitor social media users with the aim of combatting “fake news”, the legislature said.
• The bill was backed by two thirds of parliament’s 596 members and it will now be sent to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to be ratified. Under the new law, people whose social media accounts have more than 5,000 followers could be placed under the supervision of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulations.
• This would encompass websites, blogs and personal accounts.
• The council would be authorised to suspend or block any personal account which “publishes or broadcasts fake news or anything (information) inciting violating the law, violence or hatred”.
• The government newspaper Al-Ahram published on its portal details of the bill, including an amended article concerning the detention of journalists and a new one the import of satellite transmitters.
• Article 29 had previously stated that journalists could be jailed pending trial if they were found guilty of inciting violence or hatred or discrimination through their writings.

8. Ex-Spanish king accused of money laundering

• Spain’s former king Juan Carlos is once again in the spotlight after his former mistress claimed he was involved in money laundering, sparking calls for an investigation.
• The scandal broke after two Spanish websites published recordings attributed to Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein in which she alleges Juan Carlos tried to hide money transfers and used her name to buy property in Monaco and Morocco.
• The German aristocrat, who is based in Monte Carlo, also said he told her he had moved money into the account of a cousin, Alvaro d’Orleans Bourbon, in Switzerland.
• In the recordings, which were released online last week, she claims he also pocketed money from a high-speed train contract with Saudi Arabia, saying he wanted money to divorce his wife Sofia and marry her.

9. EU protects firms as it fights US bid to isolate Iran

• EU countries on July 16, 2018 gave European firms legal cover to operate in Iran despite the US pullout from the nuclear deal, after a report that the Trump administration has rejected calls by Brussels for an exemption from sanctions.
• The bloc’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the 28 countries were doing all they could to save the deal but conceded President Donald Trump’s administration could still wreck it.
• US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington now plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran next month.
• The “blocking statute” forbids EU firms from complying with US sanctions, allowing them to recover damages from such penalties and nullifying any foreign court rulings against them.
• The EU vowed to fight to preserve the Iran nuclear deal after the US withdrawal, one of many points of US-European contention.
• The blocking statute is due to enter force on August 6, when the first set of US sanctions are due. The second set is due November 4, just before US legislative elections.
• The move came as the Financial Times reported that the Trump administration has rejected an EU call for an exemption from US sanctions on companies operating in Iran.

10. Zaman-inspired Pakistan dominate Zimbabwe

• An elated Fakhar Zaman cracked a career-best 117 as Pakistan dominated with both bat and ball to win the second of five one-day internationals against Zimbabwe by nine wickets on Monday.
• Zaman’s hundred was his second in ODI’s after his barnstorming 114 in last year’s Champions Trophy final against India. The win was also set up by Pakistan’s seam attack, who bowled Zimbabwe out for 194. Usman Khan took four wickets and Hasan Ali chipped in with three for 32 to bowl the hosts out, Pakistan’s top order batsmen then capping a commanding performance.