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June 27, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Policeman, three bombers killed in Loralai attack
• Security forces foiled a terror attack in Loralai, as two suicide bombers were shot dead while another bomber being chased by law enforcers blew himself up on June 26, 2019.
• The incident left a policeman martyred and five others, including a woman and two police constables, wounded.
• The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack on Loralai Police Lines on its website.
• Security officials said three suicide bombers wearing explosive-laden vests attempted to cross the Police Lines gate, which at the time of the attack was closed.
• They opened fire on police personnel deployed there and in an ensuing exchange of fire one of the suicide bombers was killed, while his two accomplices managed to enter the premises.
2. PA approves budget in 20-minute session amid thin Opp attendance
• Punjab budget 201920 was passed on June 26, 2019 as the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf members approved the Punjab Finance Bill 2019 in the provincial assembly session which lasted for just 20 minutes.
• The PTI government had presented its Rs2.30 trillion budget on June 14, raising its current expenditure by a modest three per cent to Rs1.3tn for the next financial year.
• It increased development allocations by 47pc to Rs350 billion, and announced to have a cash surplus of Rs232.9bn to meet a federal requirement to keep national fiscal deficit down at 7.2pc, making substantial changes in agriculture income tax and property tax regimes to mobilise additional revenues.
• Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi invited Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht to introduce the bill, and had it passed briskly.
3. Rahat receives honorary Oxford degree
• Singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was awarded an honorary degree by the Oxford University on June 26, 2019.
• The degree was also awarded to seven other personalities for their invaluable services in different fields. Mr Khan`s honorary degree was a doctorate of music.
• The singer was recognised by the university as a `Pakistani singer, primarily of Qawwali`, and has been accredited for more than 50 albums, over one billion views online, more than 50 title tracks of television serials and over 100 film songs in both Hollywood and Bollywood.
4. Ghani arrives to intensify peace efforts
• Less than a week after Pakistan hosted dozens of Afghan politicians to discuss ways to end an 18-year-long war in its neighbouring country, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani along with his ministers, advisers and a business delegation will arrive here at Islamabad on June 27, 2019 on the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
• President Ghani will also travel to Lahore during the two-day visit, which is his third tour to Pakistan since 2014, as efforts have intensified to reach a political settlement and end decades of war in Afghanistan.
June 27, 2019: International Current Affairs
5. India bags UN Security Council non-permanent member`s seat
• Absence of another candidate from the Asia-Pacific Group for a two-year tenure of a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council has enabled India to bag the group`s unanimous endorsement.
• India`s candidature for the Security Council`s non-permanent seat was endorsed by the 55-member Asia-Pacific Group on June 25, 2019.
• India`s Permanent Representative at the UN is Amb Syed Akbaruddin
• The voting for the seat will take place in the UN General Assembly next year.
• Pakistan is part of the group.
6. India names new RAW and IB chiefs
• The Modi government on June 26, 2019 appointed a new head of the external espionage agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
• Samant Goel, an officer from the national police cadre, IPS, as is the national security adviser Ajit Doval, played a key role in India`s air attack on Balakot.
• In parallel development, the government has appointed senior IPS officer Arvind Kumar as the director of the Intelligence Bureau.
• He is said to be as an expert on the troubled disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The appointments to the top posts in the external and domestic intelligence agencies were made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chairman of this committee.
7. Iran tells UN it cannot save nuclear deal `alone`
• Iran told the UN Security Council on June 26, 2019 that it cannot `alone` save the nuclear deal, turning up pressure on the Europeans, Russia and China as it moved toward a possible breach of its commitments to limit its nuclear activities.
• `Iran has done a lot and much more than its fair share to preserve the nuclear deal,` Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi told a council meeting.
• `Iran alone cannot, shall not and will not take all of the burdens anymore to preserve the JCPOA,` he said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action as the deal is formally known.
• Iran has said that as of June 27, it will have more than the 300 kilos (660 pounds) of enriched uranium that it was allowed to have under the deal, the result of 12 years of tough diplomatic negotiations.
8. Jerusalem`s Tomb of the Kings to reopen to public
• The Tomb of the Kings, a 2,000-year-old archaeological gem in the heart of Jerusalem owned by France, is to reopen to the public for the first time since 2010.
• The elaborate Roman-era tomb with stone shelves that once held sarcophagi, considered among the largest in the region, will be opened on June 27, 2019.
• Visits will be limited to 15 people in 45-minute stretches, the ticket order page said, noting the need for `proper dress` at the Tomb of the Kings, which is a funeral site.
• The graves themselves will remain closed to the public for conservation and safety reasons. The vast site, located in east Jerusalem some 700 metres (yards) nonh of the Old City, is hidden behind a wall with a metal gate marked by a French flag.
9. Opioid use more widespread than previously thought: UN report
• Adverse health consequences of opioids are far more severe and widespread than previously thought, with some 35 million people globally estimated to suffer from drug use disorders, said the United Nations in a global report released on June 26, 2019.
• The report World Drug Report 2019 released by the UN Office for Drugs and Crime in commemoration of World Drug Abuse Day (June 26), says in 2017, some 53.4 million people worldwide had used opioids an umbrella term for drugs ranging from opium and derivatives such as heroin to synthetics like fentanyl and tramadol in the previous year, 56 per cent higher than the estimate for 2016. Among those people, 29.2 million had used opiates such as heroin and opium, 50 per cent higher than the 2016 estimate of 19.4 million.
• The Near and Middle East and South-West Asia is the sub-region with the highest annual prevalence of opiate use, at 1.6 per cent of the population. However, in terms of numbers of users, 35 per cent of the global opioid users and almost half of all opiate users worldwide reside in South Asia.
June 27, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Pakistan keep hopes alive as gritty Babar leads comeback
• Pakistan brought sunshine to a gloomy Birmingham day for their ecstatic supporters to maintain their ambitions of reaching another World Cup semi-final.
• History tells us that Pakistan on a roll are a team to be feared, and this team, written off and abysmal at the start of this World Cup, is beginning to rock and roll when you need to dance to a winning tune.
• England and Sri Lanka still need to lose a game but, if they do, Pakistan can qualify by beating Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
• Pakistan`s run chase against New Zealand had echoes of their semi-final clash in the 1999 World Cup. In a must win game, in a qualification battle thrown wide open by England`s consecutive defeats to Sri Lanka and Australia, Pakistan were set 238 to keep their hopes alive.
