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June 17, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Faiz made ISI chief in military shake-up
• In a surprise reshuffle, the Pakistan Army on June 16, 2019 announced that LtGen Faiz Hameed had been appointed the director general of premier spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
• Gen Hameed replaces Lt Gen Asim Munir, who had been posted as the spymaster in October. Gen Munir`s eight-month stint as the ISI chief was probably one of the shortest among those who had served this office. Gen Hameed was on his promotion as lieutenant general in April appointed as Adjutant General at the General Headquarters (GHQ). He previously served in the ISI as the head of internal security and is believed to be a close confidant of Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.
• Military spokesman Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor had at a press conference on July 10, 2018 profusely praised Gen Hameed for his role in fighting terrorism.
• `People have started naming Gen Faiz. They probably don`t even know his role. You can`t even think of the role played by his department in the fight against terrorism. Even if what you are speculating is true, it is not even 5 per cent of what that institution and Gen Faiz`s department are doing. All these terrorist incidents that I tell you have been averted are because of Gen Faiz`s department,` Gen Ghafoor had on that occasion said in reference to some allegations by PML-N.
2. ADB distances itself from govt`s budget support claim
• In a rare rebuff, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on June 16, 2019 distanced itself from a Pakistan government announcement about provision of $3.4 billion budgetary support by the Manila-based lending agency.
• On June 15, 2019, two senior members of the government had announced that the ADB would provide $3.4bn budgetary support to Pakistan to help the latter implement its economic reforms and stabilisation.
• The announcement was first made by Planning and Development Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar at a news conference and then reconfirmed by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
• Dr Shaikh had said the ADB would provide $3.4bn in budgetary support to Pakistan after he had a meeting with Werner Liepach, the ADB director general.
3. Half of women in Punjab jails held for drug offences
• More than half of the women in Punjab prisons are locked up for drugs offences while the second highest number comprises of those charged or convicted in murder cases.
• Out of total 881 women, at least 549 are reported to be under trial prisoners while 311 are convicted. Another 21 women are identified as condemned prisoners.
• According to Punjab prisons department, most of the women prisoners are locked up in Lahore’s central jail, Rawalpindi central jail, and Faisalabad district jail. More than 100 women are locked up in the Multan Women Jail.
• Police officers who interrogated women for drug selling were of the view that many of the suspects picked up the menace because of their partners. They say many women started selling drugs along with their partners after they got addicted.
4. World Father’s Day Observes
• Pakistan observed World Fathers Day on June 16, 2019 with renewal of the pledge to love fathers to highest extent befitting the supreme status of this relation, which is also enshrined in the teachings of Islam.
• Sons and daughters conveyed good wishes to their fathers coupled with pray for long lives of the fathers to keep the children intact with the blessing of this supreme relation side by side the mother. Whereas those unfortunate, who have lost this relation, prayed for the rest of the souls of their fathers in eternal peace.
5. WB approves $280m grant for 10 air monitoring stations
• Adviser to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said World Bank (WB) approved a grant of US $280 million for establishing 10 more air quality monitoring stations in Lahore.
• The financial assistance would be provided to the Environment Protection Department (EPD) Punjab for not only new air monitoring stations rather for the department’s upgradation and resource development.
• The World Bank will finance US$200 million out of the total cost where the rest of US$80 million will be given by the provincial government.
• Around five stationary and five mobile out of order air monitoring stations have been made functional to restore air monitoring in Lahore.
6. Pakistan calls for addressing root causes of terror: CICA summit
• Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr. Sania Nishtar attended the 5th Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in Tajikistan wherein she highlighted suppression of legitimate struggle by Kashmiri people and Pakistan’s efforts for peace in the region.
• Dr Sania Nishtar who represented Pakistan at the summit as special envoy of the prime minister, shared Pakistan’s perspective on evolving global and regional trends, noting that CICA had the potential to help advance effective solutions to challenges in areas of peace, security and development.
• Held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on June 16, 2019, the summit was chaired by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and attended by heads of state and government as well as ministers from CICA region.
7. 7.2m poor households issued Insaf Health Card
• Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said that the government had issued Insaf Health Cards (IHC) to as many as 7.2 million poor people, living below the poverty line.
• Each family would get free treatment facilities up to Rs720,000 under the medical insurance cards. She stated that the government was committed to the uplift of health and education sectors in the country.
• Punjab government in its budget had allocated Rs45 billion only for the development of health sector
June 17, 2019: International Current Affairs
8. Guatemala to elect president amid tensions over violence, migration
• Guatemalans on June 16, 2019 will vote for a new president, who will face the challenge of curbing drug gang violence that has convulsed the country and helped spur illegal immigration to the United States, fueling tensions with President Donald Trump.
• Nineteen candidates will compete in the election, which is expected to yield no outright winner, forcing the top two vote getters to face off in a second round on Aug. 11.
• Former first lady Sandra Torres, of the center-left UNE party, has led the race to succeed President Jimmy Morales, a conservative former television host whose term has been blighted by accusations of corruption made by U.N.-backed investigators.
9. Twitter removes Iran backed accounts
• Twitter has removed almost 4,800 accounts it claimed were being used by Iran to spread misinformation.
• The accounts were deleted alongside others from several different groups as Twitter tries to tackle interference. It revealed the deletions in an update to its transparency report that aims to expose the “spread of misinformation by insidious actors”.
• Also removed were accounts used for Russian, Catalonian and Venezuelan propaganda.
• The 4,800 accounts were not a unified block, said Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of site integrity in a blog detailing its actions.
June 17, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Sharma keeps India unbeaten against Pakistan
• India extended their unbeaten record against Pakistan in World Cups to seven matches, with Rohit Sharma’s second century of the tournament setting up an 89-run (DLS) win at Old Trafford.
• With the threat of rain looming and on a pitch that had spent time under covers in the lead up to the match, Pakistan put India in. However, the decision backfired as India posted 336/5, and then turned the screws to take four wickets for 12 runs in triggering a fatal middle-order collapse.
• India’s new opening combination of Rohit and KL Rahul were close to some mix-ups on the field, but with Pakistan’s fielding letting them down again, they eased to a free-flowing stand of 136 at a good rate. With Virat Kohli joining the party and becoming the quickest player to get to 11,000 ODI runs, India were set for a tall total.
