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March 08, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Saudis assure of help in resolving Pak-India disputes
• Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir on March 7, 2019 reassured Pakistan of the kingdom`s support for peaceful settlement of disputes with India.
• The junior Saudi foreign minister extended the assurance to Pakistan during his meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa.
• Mr Jubeir conveyed `sincere wishes of the Saudi crown prince to the leadership and people of Pakistan, expressed deep appreciation for Pakistan`s restraint in the existing charged environment`. He assured Mr Qureshi `of the kingdom`s support to seek peaceful settlement of all outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India`.
• Prime Minister Khan thanked the Saudi leadership for their support.
2. China commits $1bn for 20 social sector projects
• A 13-member expert group from China has shortlisted around 20 projects for implementation within a year in all the four provinces and special areas Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan to be funded with Chinese grant under socioeconomic cooperation.
• The Chinese government has agreed to provide up to $1 billion grant for socioeconomic development and poverty reduction projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the request of government.
• The socioeconomic development and poverty reduction initiatives were earlier part of the CPEC long-term plan.
• The expert group, led by Du Zhenli, has been in Pakistan since Feb 26 to explore possible areas of grant assistance and held a wrap-up session at the Planning Commission on Thursday. The two sides agreed to select 20-23 projects in the first phase which could be implemented in the first year.
3. Jang Media Group wins WAN-IFRA Award
• Jang Media Group bagged the first prize at WAN-IFRA Middle Eastern Digital Media Awards 2019 for its campaign ‘The News Women Power 50’ in the category of Best Marketing Campaign for News Brand on March 7, 2019.
• Publications from various countries sent their entries in around 10 categories for their work in the print, publishing and digital industry. Jang Media Group has been winning WAN-IFRA awards for consecutive three years now. Previously, Jang Media Group won Asia Media Award, South Asian Digital Media Award or Print Innovation Award. The Middle Eastern Digital Media Award ceremony was held Wednesday at Dubai Knowledge Park.
4. Women work more than men: study
• Women work more than men and it’s a worldwide trend. A study carried out by Statista has proved that the women in all seven regions of the world work more than men. However, most of work done by women is unpaid in all the regions.
• As per the survey of Statista — an online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal, South Asia is the second largest region in the world where a majority of the women’s work is unpaid for most of the time.
• The survey shows the South Asian women do 7.8 hour unpaid work daily.
5. Deal allows Pakistan to use F-16s as `deterrence against India`
• The United States, while providing F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad, not only acknowledged the aircraft`s `deterrence value` to Pakistan in a future conflict with India but also noted that it could prevent a nuclear clash between the two neighbours.
• Both points are specifically mentioned in a message the then US ambassador in Islamabad Anne Patterson sent to the State Department on April 24, 2008.
• `An enhanced F-16 programme also has deterrence value by giving Pakistan time and space to employ a conventional, rather than nuclear, reaction in the event of a future conflict with India,` she wrote.
• The quote is from a 20-paragraph communique that Ambassador Patterson sent to Washington in April 2008 and was disclosed by WikiLeaks.
• The package she was referring to included 500 AIM-120-C5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs),which India claims Pakistan used against the Indian Air Force in last week`s combats over Kashmir.
March 8, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. N. Korea`s rocket site `operational` again
• New activity has been detected at a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles plant, South Korean media said on March 7, 2019, as US President Donald Trump said he would be very disappointed if Pyongyang rebuilt a rocket site.
• Movement of cargo vehicles was spotted recently around a factory at Sanumdong in Pyongyang, which produced North Korea`s first intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the United States, South Korea`s JoongAng Ilbo and Donga Ilbo newspapers reported, citing lawmakers briefed by the National Intelligence Service.
• Spy chief Suh Hoon told the lawmakers he viewed the activity as missile-related, the JoongAng Ilbo said. It quoted Suh as saying North Korea continued to run its uranium enrichment facility at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex after the first summit between Trump and its leader, Kim Jong Un, in June in Singapore.
7. EU states block move to blacklist S. Arabia over terror financing
• The 28 member states of the European Union all backed a decision on March 7, 2019 to reject a proposal from the EU executive to add Saudi Arabia to a blacklist of countries suspected of being lax on terrorist financing and money laundering.
• The decision comes after pressure from Riyadh and other listed jurisdictions not to be blacklisted.
• EU states said in a statement the unanimous decision was taken because the European Commission`s proposed list was not established in a transparent process that encouraged countries to take action while also respected their right to be heard.
• The decision will force the European Commission to prepare a new list.
8. Scientists solve weighty matter of Milky Way mass
• Astronomers said on March 7, 2019 they had accurately calculated the mass of the Milky Way for the first time, using new data sets that include the weight of dark matter.
• In a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency’s Gaia observation craft, a team of experts calculated our galaxy to be around 1.5 trillion solar masses.
• Previous estimates put the mass of the Milky Way ranging between 500 billion and 3 trillion times the mass of the Sun.
• The uncertainty stemmed mainly from differing methods used to measure dark matter — which doesn’t absorb or reflect any light and is thought to make up nearly 90 percent of matter in the Universe.
• “We just can’t detect dark matter directly,” said Laura Watkins, from the Germany-based European Southern Observatory. “That’s what leads to the present uncertainty in the Milky Way’s mass — you can’t measure accurately what you can’t see.” To get around this, the team measured the velocity of globular clusters — dense groupings of stars that orbit the galaxy at enormous distances.
9. Turkey seeks its own interests purchasing S-400
• Turkey pursues its own interest in purchasing Russian missile defense system S-400, Vice President Fuat Oktay said on March 7, 2019.
• “Turkey does what is necessary for its own interests regarding the S-400 missile defense system, it takes own decision and choice,” Oktay told Anadolu Agency’s Editor’s Desk. Oktay stated that Turkey will not renege on buying the Russian S-400 as it signed a contract.
• “In any case [about purchasing of S-400 defense system from Russia], we would do what it requires, especially if we signed a deal,” he said, adding, Turkey does not adopt an obstinate stance on it. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara finalized an agreement on purchasing Russia’s S-400 missile defense system.
• “We concluded the S-400 issue, signed a deal with the Russians, and will start co-production,” said Erdogan, speaking in a televised interview.
• “Later, we may work with S-500s,” the next generation system, he said.
10. Turkish Airlines offering passenger digital media perk
• Turkish Airlines passengers will now have free digital access to over 7,000 media titles from more than 120 countries, thanks to a collaboration with a digital newsstand firm.
• Passengers flying with Turkish Airlines will have unlimited access to Press Reader’s entire catalogue for 48 hours, said a statement by the national flag carrier on March 7, 2019.
• The media titles will be offered in more than 60 languages to enable readers to easily access content that matches their needs and interests.
