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 November 10, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. Taliban attend Moscow meeting, refuse to negotiate with Kabul

• A Taliban delegation on November 9, 2018 attended an international diplomatic conference in Russia for the first time, in a move that underscored Moscow`s keenness to play a role in the Afghan peace process, but the Kabul government sent no official representative.
• Instead, members of Afghanistan`s High Peace Council, a body which oversees peace efforts but does not represent the government, attended the event, where they repeated President Ashraf Ghani`s offer of peace talks without preconditions.
• Western officials and Mr Ghani`s government view the Moscow meeting with some suspicion, seeing it as an attempt by Russia to push its way into a process that they say must be led by Afghanistan.
• No such agreement has been reached so far.

2. Govt shares `wealth fund` plan with IMF mission

• The visiting International Monetary Fund (IMF) team was informed on November 9, 2018 that the government intended to create a `wealth fund` to turn loss-making public sector enterprises into profitmaking entities before their sell-off.
• The plan was shared with the IMF delegation by officials of the finance ministry, State Bank and Federal Board of Revenue during a fresh round of technical level talks focusing on privatisation programme of the government, which is striving to receive around $12 billion loan from the international lender.
• The officials briefed the IMF delegation on the recent government decision to offer profit-making public sector enterprises to private investors. The visiting team was informed that the government had decided not to offer Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Railways, Utility Stores Corporation, National Highway Authority and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for sell-off. The government officials observed that all other entities were commercial units except for the CAA which was also a regulatory body in the aviation sector.

3. In a first, evening court begins hearing family cases

• Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Anwarul Haq on November 9, 2018 inaugurated the country`s first evening court in Lahore to deal with family and minors` custody cases with a view to keeping children of separated parents away from traditional environment of courts.
• The purpose of establishing the evening court was to facilitate litigants within the available resources. If creation of new courts was difficult, the existing courts could be utilised to meet the growing litigation by making them function in double shifts.
• Performance of other entities such as hospitals and schools could also be increased by utilising them in double shifts. The functioning of the evening court would benefit schoolchildren and working parents.

4. Meezan Bank gets Best Banking Award for 2018

• Meezan Bank Limited on November 9, 2018 won the 3rd Pakistan Banking Awards in the category of the Best Bank for 2018, while Habib Bank Ltd and Bank Alfalah fetched two awards in two different categories.
• The 3rd Pakistan Banking Awards ceremony was organised by the Dawn Media Group, Institute of Bankers Pakistan (IBP) and A.F. Ferguson.
• The jury decided to choose Dubai Islamic Bank as the Best Emerging Bank in Pakistan for 2018.
• HBL and Bank Alfalah received two awards in two different categories. In the category of best bank for small/medium businesses, Bank Alfalah was awarded the best bank.

5. Talks being held in Beijing to finalise `cooperation modalities`

• Pakistan and China began formal talks in Beijing on November 9, 2018 for finalisation of modalities on economic cooperation.
• A delegation led by Finance Secretary Arif Ahmed Khan and State Bank of Pakistan Governor Tariq Bajwa is negotiating with its Chinese counterparts details of the assistance package.
• Talks are a follow-up to Prime Minister Imran Khan`s visit to China during which the two sides signed 15 agreements and Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation in economy, trade and other sectors.

6. Mardan DC transferred a day after posting

• Mohammad Tayyab Abdullah, newly-posted deputy commissioner, was transferred by the Establishment Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa within 24 hours of his posting as DC Mardan.
• According to the first notification issued on November 8 by the establishment department, a copy of which is available with this correspondent, the competent authority is pleased to transfer Mohammad Tayyab Abdullah (PMS BS-18), deputy secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Department, and posted him as deputy commissioner, Mardan, by relieving ADC Mardan of the additional charge, in his own pay and scale, with immediate effect.
• The second notification issued by the said department on November 9, the very next day, stated that Mohammad Abid Khan ( PAS BS-19) was posted as deputy commissioner, Mardan, in place of Mohammad Tayyab Abdullah who had yet to take charge of his post in the district.

November 10, 2018: International Current Affairs

7. War on terror left half a million dead in 17 years, says report

• War-related violence has killed 65,000 people in Pakistan in the last 17 years, including 23,000 civilians, 9,000 security personnel and 90 American contractors, says a report released on November 8, 2018. The rest of the casualties were anti-government fighters.
• The report by the Brown University`s Costs of War Project notes that since 2001, when the United States launched its war on terror, about 507,000 people have been killed in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. The report also warns that there has been a 22 per cent increase in war deaths in the past two years.
• As many as 370,000 of these people have died due to direct war violence, including armed forces on all sides of the conflicts, contractors, civilians, journalists, and humanitarian workers.
• Fatalities in Afghanistan, as of October 2018, stood at about 147,000 people, including Afghan security forces, civilians and opposition fighters. A total of 6,334 American soldiers and contractors, as well as more than 1,100 allied troops, have also been killed in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2018.
• Between 268,000 and 295,000 deaths have occurred in Iraq, where the US-led military intervened on began in 2003.
• The report notes that 200,000 civilians have been killed in direct violence by all parties to these conflicts, including more than 6,800 US soldiers.

8. Trump signs order limiting migrant asylum at US-Mexico border

• President Donald Trump on November 9, 2018 signed a proclamation that effectively will suspend the granting of asylum to migrants who cross the US border with Mexico illegally for up to 90 days.
• The order, which goes into effect on November 9, 2018, means that migrants will have to present themselves at US ports of entry to qualify for asylum. Immigrant advocates say the administration has deliberately slowed the processing of migrants at official ports, forcing them to wait for days or weeks to request protection.
• Trump`s order will be in effect for 90 days or until the United States reaches an agreement with Mexico allowing it to turn back asylum-seekers who had travelled through Mexico, whichever comes first.
• US and Mexican diplomats have held talks over the issue this year, but there has been little indication Mexico would agree to such a pact.

9. Lankan president dissolves parliament, calls polls on Jan 5

• Sri Lanka President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the nation`s parliament on November 9, 2018, in a move that will likely worsen an already deep political crisis.
• The president later called snap polls on Jan 5.
• The dissolution comes after an intense power struggle in the past two weeks which followed Sirisena`s sudden sacking of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the appointment of former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, a pro-China strongman, in his place.
• Following the sacking, the president suspended parliament in a move which Wickremesinghe said was intended to prevent the ousted prime minister from contesting the decision in the legislature.
• Later Sirisena agreed to reconvene parliament on Nov. 14, but that will now not happen.
• Wickremesinghe has refused to vacate the official prime minister`s residence, saying he is the prime minister and had a parliamentary majority.

November 10, 2018: Sports Current Affairs

10. Pakistan beat NZ, square ODI series

• Pakistan beat New Zealand by six wickets in the second day night international in Abu Dhabi, levelling the three match series 1-1 on November 9, 2018.
• Paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi took a career best 4-38 to keep New Zealand down to 209-9 in their 50 overs before Fakhar Zaman (88) and Babar Azam (46) helped Pakistan reach the target in 40.3 overs.
• New Zealand won the first match by 47 runs, also in Abu Dhabi. The third and final match is in Dubai on November 11, 2018.