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July 24, 2019
1. WWF launches ‘green card’ to fund environment protection
• The pursuit of better economic prospects and living standards in the past decades has resulted in thousands of Pakistanis choosing to emigrate out of Pakistan while those left in the country aspire to do the same and acquire legal citizenship of other countries. This newly issued identity card is usually referred to as a “green card” in Pakistan. The green card holds great value and is something many Pakistanis aspire for.
• WWF-Pakistan recently launched a nationwide initiative to fund environment protection in Pakistan, a membership the organization is calling the WWF Green Card. Available to purchase online, the card is a symbol for responsible Pakistanis to take part in a nationwide drive to help protect Pakistan’s environment. The Green Card comes in three different categories: Air, Water and Wildlife where the Air category focuses on reducing air pollution and planting trees, the Water category helps protect marine and freshwater ecosystems in Pakistan while the Wildlife category aims to protect animals.
• The campaign is supported by WWF’s Goodwill Ambassadors; Ali Rehman and Adnan Malik along with other celebrities including Ushna Shah and Omair Rana and many social media in fluencers.
2. Four of 10 under-five children stunted in KP: survey
• Four in every 10 children below five years of age have been found stunted and another two in 10 suffer from wasting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to National Nutrition Survey 2018.
• A statement said that Endings of the survey conducted last year were made public at a ceremony here on July 24, 2019.
• `In the newly merged districts, formerly known as Federally Administered Tribal Area, three of every 10 children have wasting,` Prof Zulfiqar A.
• Bhutta, the director of Centre for Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, told the participants.
3. Govt paid $9.1b as external debt repayment, servicing in FY2018-19
• Pakistan would not face balance of payment crisis during current fiscal year 2019-20 due to the government’s deals with international financial institutions Debt has slightly increased during first year of PTI’s govt
• Pakistan had paid $9.1 billion as external debt repayment and servicing during previous fiscal year (20-18-19).
• The government had paid $9.1 billion as external debt repayment and servicing during fiscal year 2018-19 as against $5.1 billion paid in preceding year.
4. Four universities get new VCs
• The Punjab government on July 24, 2019 appointed vice chancellors of four public sector universities.
• According to a notification, on the recommendations of the search committee constituted by the Higher Education Department, the chancellor/governor approved appointment Dr Shahid Kamal as VC Government College University, Faisalabad, Prof Dr Shabbar Atig as VC of University of Gujrat, Dr Athar Mahboob as VC of Islamia University Bahawalpur and Dr Tariq Mahmood as VC of University of Narowal.
• UoG VC Dr Atig is an engineer who is currently serving as Director of Institute of Advance Materials in Bahauddin Zakriya University, Multan.
5. ADB approves $50m additional contribution for CGIF
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $ 50 million additional capital contribution to support the guarantee operations of the Credit Guarantee Investment Facility (CGIF), a trust fund of ADB created to promote the development of deep and liquid local currency and regional bond markets in the ASEAN+3 region.
• According to ADB statement received, the CGIF was established in April 2010 with an initial capital of $700 million, including a $130 million capital contribution from ADB.
• The ADB’s additional capital contribution will support regional cooperation within ASEAN+3 and promote financial resilience by allowing corporations and infrastructure projects to gain access to local currency and regional bond markets, the statement added.
• It will also encourage cross-border issuances, especially for corporations domiciled in those ASEAN countries still developing a fully functioning bond market.
6. Khawaja Muhammad Aslam passes away at 97
• Former hockey Olympian and international athlete Khawaja Muhammad Aslam, father of another Olympian Khawaja Junaid, died on July 24, 2019 at the age of 97.
• Aslam was born in 1922. He represented Pakistan as an athlete in the 1954 Asian Games and bagged silver in the 200-metre race. Earlier, he also represented Pakistan in the Summer Olympics 1952 in Helsinki and competed in the 100-metre and 200-metre events as well as men`s 4×100 metres relay. Aslam also finished fifth in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in the 4×110 yards relay.
• Later, Aslam turned to hockey and found a place in the Pakistan team. He took part in the Asian Games 1962 and earned a gold medal.
• Khawaja Aslam had great affiliation with sports as he had also played first-class cricket.
July 24, 2019: International Current Affairs
7. Boris Johnson wins race to become UK’s next prime minister
• Brexit hard-liner Boris Johnson, one of Britain’s most famous and divisive politicians, won the race to lead the governing Conservative Party on Tuesday, and will become the next prime minister.
• Johnson resoundingly defeated rival Jeremy Hunt in the Conservative leadership contest, winning two-thirds of the votes in a ballot of about 160,000 party members across the UK. He will be installed as prime minister Wednesday in a formal handover from Theresa May.
• US President Donald Trump, who has praised Johnson in the past, tweeted his congratulations and said he will be “great.” Trump has been very critical of May’s inability to achieve a Brexit deal and has said Johnson will do a better job.
8. New British PM has Muslim ancestors: report
• The newly elected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a Muslim ancestral history and his grandparents were among the most important figures of the former Ottoman Empire, according to BBC Urdu.
• During a recent debate on television in connection with the Conservative Party elections, Mr Johnson referred to his Muslim ancestors, the report said.
• The revelation raised many questions as Mr Johnson has often come under criticism particularly on the issue of Islamophobia with previous comments comparing Muslim women in burgas to `letterboxes`.
• According to the report, Mr Johnson`s paternal great-grandfather was Ali Kemal, a journalist and liberal politician of the Ottoman Empire who worked in the region that is now Turkey.
• Born in 1867 to a mother of Circassian heritage, Mr Kemal`s journalism allowed him to travel extensively and he visited many countries.
• One of his destinations was Switzerland, where he met Winifred Brun, an Anglo-Swiss woman and the daughter of a Margaret Johnson. They married in London in 1903.
• Mr Kemal made a move into politics, perhaps foreshadowing his descendant`s similar career paths.
9. Li Peng, Chinese premier during Tiananmen crackdown, dies
• Li Peng, a former hard-line Chinese premier best known for announcing martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests that ended with a bloody crackdown by troops, has died. He was 90.
• China`s official Xinhua News Agency said Li diedon Monday of an unspecified illness. His death was not announced until July 24, 2019 evening.
• Li, a keen political infighter, spent two decades at the pinnacle of power before retiring in 2002. He left behind a legacy of prolonged and broad-based economic growth coupled with authoritarian political controls.
• While broadly disliked by the public, he oversaw China`s reemergence from post Tiananmen isolation to rising global diplomatic and economic clout, a development he celebrated in public statements that often were defiantly nationalistic.
10. Nasa Moon lander vision takes shape
• Nasa has outlined more details of its plans for a landing craft that will take humans to the lunar surface.
• The plans call for an initial version of the lander to be built for landing on the Moon by 2024; it would then be followed by an enhanced version.
• The news comes as work was completed on the Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon in 2021.
• This mission, called Artemis-1, will pave the way for the first attempt to land since 1972.
• The pre solicitation notice to industry calls for proposals on an initial lander design capable of carrying two people down to the Moon’s South Pole in 2024.
