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May 26, 2018

1. Fata merger bill sails through Senate

• The Fata merger bill sailed through the Senate on May 25, 2018 amid strong opposition from the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F).
• The bill moved by Law Minister Mahmood Bashir Virk after suspension of rules was passed with a majority of 71 against five votes.
• The PkMAP senator claimed that the National Security Committee (NSC) had issued a directive for parliament to expedite the passage of the Fata merger bill.

2. MoU signed for capacity building of lawmakers

• Parliament`s Sustainable Development Goals Secretariat and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on May 25, 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for training and capacity building of lawmakers.
• National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and SDPI Executive Director Abid Sulehri signed the MoU.
• The speaker said parliament would continue playing its role in the capacity building of lawmakers and staff.

3. Pakistan to buy 30 gunship helicopters from Turkey

• Ankara and Islamabad have signed a deal for the sale of 30 Turkish attack helicopters, according to an election manifesto the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party announced.
• In a November 2017 interview with the Anadolu Agency, Pakistani Minister for Defence Production Rana Tanveer Hussain said his country planned to procure 30 attack helicopters and four naval ships from Turkey.
• Pakistan was interested in the T129 ATAK helicopter, developed by the Turkish Aerospace Industries and the Italy-based Agusta Westland.
• The gunship helicopter was added to the inventory of the Turkish Armed Forces in 2014. On March 23, T129 ATAK helicopters from Turkey participated in a fly-past ceremony in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

4. Govt gives Torghar forests back to local tribes

• The provincial government has given the ownership rights of Torghar district`s forests back to the local tribes.
• All forests in Torghar district are yet again the property of the local people.
• In 2011, the government had changed the status of Torghar from a tribal area to a settled district before taking the control of all forests by declaring them own property.
• A committee formed by the chief minister had recommended the return of the forests to the people of Torghar and that the provincial cabinet had approved it for implementation.

5. Pakistan, China agree on terms of FTA Phase II

• Pakistan and China have agreed on the terms of Phase II of the China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement, it has been learnt reliably.
• According to official documents, the agreed liberalisation level of 90 percent, tariff lines and trade value have been slashed to 75 percent of tariff lines for both countries and some new terms have also been added to the agreement.
• The CPFTA was signed in November 2006 and became operational in July 2007. The agreement has to be implemented in two stages. It was agreed that by the end of the phase 2, the two sides would liberalise 90 percent of tariff lines and the trade value.
• The remaining 10 percent were left for the protection of local industry and agricultural produce.
• Phase 1 was completed in 2012 and the negotiation for the Phase 2, lingered on for almost six years as Pakistan was requesting unilateral market access to Chinese market but Beijing was refusing it arguing there was no such provision in the agreement.

6. From Kargil to the Coup Book launched

• Opinion regarding whether Nawaz Sharif was aware of the Kargil episode was split during the launch of a book on the conflict on May 25, 2018.
• From Kargil to the Coup by journalist Nasim Zehra was launched at the Islamabad Club with a large number of diplomats, politicians, retired army officials and bureaucrats participating in the event, which was moderated by columnist Mosharraf Zaidi.
• Retired Maj Gen Ejaz Awan said the Lahore Declaration a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan af ter the conclusion of a historic summit which was attended by the then Indian prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in Lahore was signed on Feb 22, 1999 but some f acts show that then prime minister Nawaz Sharif was already aware of the Kargil incident.

7. Gen Durrani summoned to GHQ over book controversy

• The military high command has summoned former ISI chief Lt-Gen (r) Asad Durrani to General Headquarters on Monday to explain his position on the controversial book he has co-authored with RAW ex-chief.
• In a tweet yester night, ISPR chief Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said Durrani will be questioned on views attributed to him in book ‘Spy Chronicles’, which apparently was a violation of the military code of conduct.
• This development came after the senators on May 25, 2018 took an exception to the book while the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif also called for convening a National Security Council (NSC) meeting and formation of a commission over the revelations made in the book.
• Speaking outside the accountability court, Nawaz made this demand while apparently drawing a parallel between his own recent statement on the Mumbai attack case and sensitive nature of the content in the book: ‘The Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace’, penned by Durrani and RAW ex-chief A S Dulat which was released on Wednesday.

8. Ireland votes in historic abortion referendum

• People in Ireland on May 25, 2018 voted in a landmark referendum on whether the traditionally Catholic country should liberalise some of the strictest abortion laws in Europe.
• A bitter campaign has dominated public debate in Ireland over recent months as nearly 3.5 million voters are asked whether they want to overturn a constitutional ban on abortion.
• The pro-choice campaign had an early lead in opinion polls but lost some of its advantage in recent weeks and experts have predicted the result could be exceptionally close, with many voters still undecided.

9. Australia builds world’s longest cat-proof fence to save wildlife

• A conservation agency has constructed what is believed to be the world’s longest cat-proof fence in central Australia to save native wildlife and vegetation ravaged by the feline predators.
• Australia has the highest extinction rate in the world, while declining populations are affected by habitat loss as well as introduced creatures such as cats, foxes and rabbits going feral and killing native species across the vast continent.
• The Australian Wildlife Conservancy this month finished building and electrifying the 44-kilometre (27-mile) long fence to create a predator-free area of almost 9,400 hectares (23,200 acres) some 350 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs. “Australia does not have an effective strategy for controlling cats,” AWC chief Attius Fleming told AFP.
• The project will be extended in 2020 to cover a larger area of around 100,000 hectares, Fleming added.

10. Federal cabinet approves economic zone in Gwadar

• The cabinet under Chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approved establishment of federal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Gwadar and directed the authorities concerned to identify land for procurement in the range of 10,000 to 50,000 acres, The News has learnt.
• The federal government has decided in principle to get maximum land out of total earmarked 100,000 acres for the purpose of establishment of SEZ at port city of Gwadar. The land has become a hot potato keeping in view development plan for Gwadar under the context of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
• The Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) has been assigned to identify land availability in the area and then efforts will be made to acquire maximum land for federal SEZ. The government is working on different models that the sense of ownership should be given to those inherent lands at Gwadar from old generations.