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 October 18, 2018: National Current Affairs

 1. Zainab`s killer hanged in Kot Lakhpat jail

• Imran Ali, convicted of rape and murder of seven-year-old Zainab in Kasur, was taken to the gallows just before dawn on October 17, 2018 and was hanged in the presence of a magistrate, a doctor and the victim`s father in Kot Lakhpat jail.
• Imran was hanged at 5.30am. Black warrants for his execution were issued by an anti-terrorism court on October 12, 2018. The brother of the convict and his two friends along with an ambulance had already arrived at the jail to receive the body.
• After the execution, they took his body to his native city, Kasur, for burial.
• In his last wish, Imran advised his brothers and other relatives never to commit such a mistake in their life to avoid embarrassment. `I am ashamed of what I did and seek forgiveness and mercy of Allah, reads the last wish of the convicted murderer handed over to his family before execution.
• He also appealed to the law enforcement agencies not to disturb his f amily af ter his execution as he had got punishment for his sin.
• Zainab was kidnapped on Jan 4, 2018 on her way to her aunt`s house in Kasur where she used to go to learn the Holy Quran.

2. Two senators disqualified over dual nationality

• The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz suffered a political blow on October 17, 2018 when the Supreme Court disqualified two of its members in the 104-member Senate for having dual nationality.
• `For reasons to be recorded later, we hold and declare that both Haroon Akhtar and Saadia Abbasi were dual nationals on the date when they filed their nomination papers for the Senate elections,` Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar observed while dictating the order.Both the members were disqualified under Article 63(1)(c) of the Constitution. It says that a person will be disqualified from being elected or chosen member of parliamentif he ceases to be a citizen of Pakistan or acquires the citizenship of a foreign state.
• Haroon Akhtar holds Canadian nationality while Saadia Abbasi, sister of former Prime Minister Shahid Khagan Abbasi, has US citizenship.

3. Pakistan yet to implement GSP Plus conventions, says EU envoy

• A European Union (EU) Commission on Trade delegation is arriving in Pakistan on October 18, 2018 to directly check all stakeholders` compliance with the EU conditions on Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), collecting basic data vital for continuation of the duty-free expons facility to Pakistan.
• This was stated by European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Jean-Francois Cautain in an interview.
• Since Jan 1, 2014, Pakistan has been benefitting from tariff preferences (mostly zero duties on two-thirds of all product categories) under the GSP Plus arrangement. In order to maintain the facility, Pakistan has to continue ratification of and effectively implement 27 core international conventions on human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.
• `Pakistan is yet to implement all the 27 international conventions it has had ratified and signed. The implementation is necessary for the continuation of the great facility. So far, the glass is half full and half empty,` Mr Cautain said.

4. 70 army officers from Balochistan commissioned

• Some 70 army officers from Balochistan, who passed out recently from the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, were awarded ranks at a ceremony held at the Sibi Scouts Headquarters on October 17, 2018.
• President of the Jamhoori Watan Party Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, President of the Balochistan chapter of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind, parents of the commissioned officers and tribal elders were among those who attended the event.
• Maj Gen Anjum, Sardar Rind and former caretaker prime minister Mir Hazar Khan Khosa pinned the badges of ranks on the commissioned officers’ uniform.

5. Pakistan slips to 107th on GCI

• Pakistan slipped by one position in the Global Competitiveness Index 2018 released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 17, 2018 as compared to last year, ranking 107 out of 140 countries, with a score of 4.0.
• With an overall ranking of 107 out of 140 countries, Pakistan was at 109 for institutions; 93 for infrastructure;127 for ICT adoption;103 for macroeconomic stability; 109 for health; 125 for skills; 122 for product market; 121 for labour market; 89 for financial system; 31 for market size; 56 for business dynamism; and 75 for innovation capacity. In 2017, Pakistan ranked 106 out of 135 countries.
• GDP per capita stands at $1,541.1; 10-year average annual GDP growth at 3.6 per cent; five-year average FDI inward flow as percentage of GDP at 0.7 per cent.
• In the area of the freedom of press, the country`s score was worst with ranking of 112. The judicial independence which is considered 1-7 as the best, Pakistan ranked 70, while in budget transparency the score was 77.
• In respect of terrorism incidence, Pakistan was further close towards the bottom. In the area of train efficiency, where the best index is 1-7, Pakistan was placed at 52, whereas in airport connectivity, the country was place d at 41.
• The United States tops the 2018 rankings, confirming its status of most competitive economy in the world, according to the WEF. Overall, the United States scored an average of 85.6 points when the nearly 100 indicators were measured on a scale of 0 to 100.

October 18, 2018: International Current Affairs

6. New report says growing population likely to outstrip developmental gains

• The growing population is likely to outstrip developmental gains and continue to adversely affect the economy, environment, health, education and quality of the lives of all citizens, a report released on October 17, 2018 said.
• According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Pakistan is the fifth most populous country in the world, with 208 million people and an annual population growth rate of 2.4pc.
• The new report, released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and titled The Power of Choice: Reproductive Rights and the Dernographic Transition, said that the global trend towards smaller families is a reflection of people making reproductive choices to have as few or as many children as they want, and when they want. Once people lack choice, it can have along-term impact on fertility rates.
• Family size is closely linked with reproductive rights, which, in turn, are tied to many other rights, including the right to health care, education and jobs. Where people can exercise their rights, they tend to thrive.
• Where these rights are stifled, people often fail to achieve their full potential, impeding economic and social progress.
• `Choice can change the world, UNFPA Executive Director Dr Natalia Kanem wrote in the report`s foreword. `It can rapidly improve the well-being of women and girls, transform families, and accelerate global development.

7. Norway apologises to mistreated war-time `German girls`

• NORWAY`S government on October 17, 2018 officially apologised to Norwegian women targeted for reprisals by authorities for having intimate relations with German soldiers during the country`s war-time occupation.
• Between 30,000 to 50,000 Norwegians, labelled `German girls`, had intimate relations with occupying troops during World War II, according to conservative estimates from Norway`s Centre for Holocaust and Minorities Studies.
• Many of these women were subject to reprisals by officials after the 1945 liberation from Nazi occupation, including illegal arrests and detentions, job dismissals and even being stripped of their nationality.

8. Burns wins Booker Prize with Troubles tale Milkman

• Anna Burns won the prestigious Man Booker Prize for fiction late Tuesday for Milkman, a vibrant, violent story about men, women, conflict and power set during Northern Ireland`s years of Catholic Protestant violence.
• Burns is the first writer from Northern Ireland to win the 50,000-pound prize, which is open to English language authors from around the world. She received her trophy from Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, during a black-tie ceremony at London`s medieval Guildhall.
• The 56-year-old Belfastborn novelist said she was `stunned` to have won.

9. UN approves resolution enabling Palestinians to chair group

• The UN General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution on October 17, 2018 that will enable the Palestinians to chair the major group of developing countries at the United Nations in 2019, ignoring objections from the United States and Israel.
• Egypt, the current chair of the so-called Group of 77, told the assembly before the vote that because the Palestinians are from a non-member observer state at the UN, a resolution is required to give it `the rights and capacity required` to head the 135-nation group that includes China.
• During last month`s meeting of world leaders at the 193-member General Assembly, members of the G77 formalised their decision to give Palestinians the chair, in a boost to President Mahmoud Abbas` push for statehood and full UN membership.
• US deputy ambassador Jonathan Cohen urged the assembly on October 17, 2018 to vote `no` on the resolution saying: `We cannot support efforts by the Palestinians to enhance their status outside of direct negotiations.

10. Rohingya girls being sold into forced labour: UN

• Desperate Rohingya families living in camps in Bangladesh are selling girls into forced labour to raise money, the United Nations` migration agency said on October 17, 2018.
• The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said it had identified 99 cases of human trafficking since September last year. It cautioned that the actual number was likely to be far greater.
• `The stories we commonly hear are of vulnerable people being approached by traffickers with false promises of work and a better life,` IOM spokeswoman Dina Parmer said.
• A Bangladeshi charity, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), has started a campaign to is raise awareness among refugees about the dangers of trafficking.