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March 02, 2019: National Current Affairs

1. Pakistan sends captured Indian pilot back home in bid to defuse tension

• The Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot who had been in Pakistan`s custody for about three days crossed over to his homeland at the Wagah border late on March 1, 2019 evening, a move aimed at de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India.
• The Punjab Rangers handed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman over to the Indian Border Security Force as anxiously awaiting India media was keen to talk to him.
• A senior official of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and Pakistan`s Foreign Office Director India Desk (Foreign Af fairs) Faaria Bugti accompanied the Indian pilot at the Wagah border crossing during his handing over to the Indian authorities.
• An Indian official told the media that the pilot needed a medical check-up as his ejection from his plane might have caused severe stress to his body. In reply toa question, he said: `IAF pilot Abhinandan was smiling when he crossed the border. He is happy to be back and we are happy to have him back.

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2. FM to skip OIC meet in protest against India`s participation

• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on March 1, 2019 told a joint parliament session that he would not attend the foreign ministers` meet at the 46th session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) after a resolution was passed in this regard to protest over participation of the Indian minister for external affairs in the event as a guest of honour.
• Mr Qureshi, however, said some officials of the Foreign Office would participate in the two-day event being held in Abu Dhabi to oppose any attempt at the OIC to give the observer`s status to India.
• The resolution noted with deep disapprobation that India an aggressor against Pakistan as well as the Kashmiri people was invited as a guest of honour to the OIC meeting even after its recent attack on the founding OIC member. It demanded, `Pakistan abstain [from attending the conference] as [an] occupier has been invited as guest of honour and demands that Pakistan abstain completely from the said meeting under protest. protest over participation of the Indian minister for external affairs in the event as a guest of honour.

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3. One killed, three injured by Indian shelling in AJK

• Talks and hopes of de-escalation notwithstanding, there was no let-up in `ruthless shelling` by Indian troops from across the restive Line of Control (LoC) as a teenager was killed and three people were injured in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on March 2, 2019.
• The casualties occurred in Kotli district where the LoC was calm since morning, but it became `hot` in the afternoon after Indian troops resorted to heavy mortar and artil1ery shelling, they said.
• According to residents, the last time Nakyal bazaar was hit by Indian shelling was in 2002, a year before the truce agreement between the rival troops.

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4. Pakistan to lodge complaint with UN against India over eco-terrorism

• Pakistan plans to lodge a complaint against India at the United Nations, accusing it of `eco-terrorism` over air strikes that damaged pine trees and brought the nuclear-armed nations to blows.
• Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on March 1, 2019 said that recent air strikes inside Pakistan by India had caused massive damage to the government`s Billion Tree Tsunami nature reserve.
• `Causing harm to the environment and damaging trees and birds comes under eco-terrorism.
• Pakistan under Prime Minister Imran Khan`s government takes its trees very seriously,` the advisor on climate change said.
• International and local journalists also visited the damaged site and they have confirmed that the payload dropped by Indian Air Force had damaged several trees in the areas and killed wildlife.

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5. Fakhar Imam elected chairman of Kashmir body

• Veteran politician Syed Fakhar Imam of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has been elected chairman of the Special Committee on Kashmir in a poll held during a meeting of the committee on March 1, 2019.
• Mr Imam`s name was proposed by Sheikh Rohale Asghar of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and seconded by Mohammad Amjad Farooq Khan Khosa of the PTI.
• The members unanimously elected Mr Imam as the chairman of the special committee on Kashmir.
• The chairman of the special Kashmir committee enjoys the status of a federal minister

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6. Amendments to Balochistan factories bill approved

• The provincial cabinet on March 1, 2019 approved amendments to the Balochistan Factories Bill 2017 to protect the rights and jobs of workers and making the owners bound to pay compensation to the labourers in case of any incident.
• The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, also adopted Balochistan Shops and Establishment Bill 2019, through which private schools, hospitals and security agencies would be brought under labour laws.
• Provincial ministers Mir Asadullah Baloch and Mir Naseebullah Marri, while giving briefing the media after cabinet meeting, said that the cabinet has approved Balochistan Industrial Establishment Bill 2019 to protect the interests of the employees working in industrial and trade sector. They also confirmed that cabinet also approve d amendment s in the PC-1 of construction of a 100tonne cold storage in Khaligabad area of Kalat district.
• The chief minister on the occasion directed authorities to remove the ambiguities in projects of communication and agriculture departments.

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March 2, 2019: International Current Affairs

7. Saudi Arabia strips Osama bin Laden`s son of citizenship

• Saudi Arabia has stripped citizenship from Hamza bin Laden, the son of slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the official gazette.
• Hamza, designated by the United States as an `emerging` Al Qaeda leader, had his citizenship stripped on February 22 by royal decree, the kingdom`s Umm al-Qura newspaper said on March 1, 2019, quoting the ministry.
• It did not give a reason for the decision.
• The US State Department said on Thursday it was offering a reward ofup to $1 million for information leading `to the identification or location in any country` of Hamza, calling him a key Al Qaeda leader.
• Hamza, believed to be about 30 years old, was at his father`s side in Afghanistan before the September 11 attacks and reportedly spent time with him in Pakistan after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, according to the Brookings Institution.

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8. Scientists see evidence of underground lake system on Mars

• Scientists say images of craters taken by European and American space probes show there likely once was a planet wide system of underground lakes on Mars.
• Data collected by NASA and ESA probes orbiting the red planet provide the first geological evidence for an ancient Martian groundwater system, according to a study by researchers in Italy and the Netherlands published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
• Francesco Salese, one of the scientists involved, said in an email on Friday that the findings confirm earlier models and smallerscale studies, and that the underground lakes may have been connected to each other. The notion of water on Mars has long fascinated scientists because of the possibility that the planet may have once harboured similar conditions to those that allowed life to develop on Earth. Patches of ice previously spotted on Mars provide tantalising hints of a watery past for the arid world.

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March 2, 2019: Sports Current Affairs

9. Australia break world record to win men`s team pursuit gold

• Australia smashed their own world record to win the men`s team pursuit gold at the track cycling world championships ahead of Olympic champions and title holders Britain on February 28, 2019.
• The Australians led from the start and the quartet of Leigh Howard, Samuel Welsford, Kelland O`Brien and Alex Porter set a time of 3:48.012 to eclipse the previous world mark of 3:49.804 achieved at their home 2018 Commonwealth Games.
• Denmark took the bronze after beating Canada.
• Britain`s three-time Olympic gold medallist Ed Clancy and team mates Charlie Tanfield, Ethan Hayter and Kian Emadi were blown away by the speed of the Australians, with the two countries likely to vie for gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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10. PSL 2019: Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi Won their matchs

• Two-time HBL Pakistan Super League runners-up Quetta Gladiators returned to winning ways at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 1, 2019 by securing a six-wicket victory over Multan Sultans.
• Liam Dawson starred with a blistering knock as Peshawar Zalmi pulled off a sensational last ball victory over defending champions Islamabad United here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 1, 2019 to consolidate their position in the HBL Pakistan Super League.
• Zalmi, the champions in 2017, were reeling at 84-5 when they lost big hitting Kieron Pollard midway through the 12th over in pursuit of a tough target of 177. But Dawson, on his 29th birthday, and captain Darren Sammy engineered a remarkable turnaround as they added 89 in quick time to leave Zalmi needing 14 from the last over.