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September 03, 2019 Current Affairs
September 3, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Indian diplomat meets spy Jadhav for two hours
• Despite tension with New Delhi over Kashmir issue running high, Pakistan on September 2, 2019 provided consular access to serving Indian naval commander and intelligence operative Kulbhushan Jadhav by arranging his meeting with the official in charge of India`s High Commission Gaurav Ahluwalia in line with Vienna Convention and the July 17 verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• `The consular access was provided at 1200 hours and lasted for two hours in the presence of officials of the government of Pakistan,` says an official statement issued by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the meeting held at an undisclosed location.
• `On the Indian request, there was no restriction on the language of communication,` added the statement.
• However, in order to ensure transparency and in line with standard operating procedures, and as conveyed to the Indian side in advance, `the access was recorded`, the spokesperson stated.
2. Pakistan to host Int’l Parliamentary Conference on SDGs
• Pakistan has planning to host International Parliamentary Conference on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in March 2020.
• “Pakistan will be hosting the Regional Conference on SDGs on 2nd & 3rd March, 2020,” said MNA Riaz Fatyana, Convener – Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs, according to press release issued by national assembly secretariat.
• International Parliamentary Union has agreed to join this event, he said. The invitation has been extended to all Far-East, South and Central Asian Countries. Under the guidance of the Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, the Convenor of the National Parliamentary Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Taskforce, MNA Riaz Fatiyana had already hosted a National Consultation on SDGs in April 2019.
September 3, 2019: International Current Affairs
3. China lodges WTO trade complaint against US
• China said on September 2, 2019 it had lodged a complaint against the United States with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), one day after new tariffs imposed by Washington on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods came into force.
• The world`s two biggest economies have been embroiled in a bruising year-long trade war which escalated further on Sunday when Washington moved ahead with fresh levy hikes which Beijing had promised to match.
• `The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to that.
4. UN official urges India to ensure no one is left stateless in Assam
• The UN`s top refugee official urged India to ensure no one is left stateless by the exclusion of nearly two million people from a citizenship list in Assam state.
• `Any process that could leave large numbers of people without a nationality would be an enormous blow to global efforts to eradicate statelessness,` Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said in a statement issued on Sunday in Geneva.
• He urged India to ensure no one ends up stateless, `including by ensuring adequate access to information, legal aid, and legal recourse in accordance with the highest standards of due process.
• About 31.1 million people were included on the list Assam`s government released on Saturday, omitting 1.9 million. The list known as the National Register of Citizens, or NRC is unique to Assam state, in India`s far north east bordering Bangladesh.
5. US envoy shows Afghan president draft Taliban deal
• The US ambassador leading efforts to forge a deal with the Taliban met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul on September 2, 2019 and showed him the draft of a proposed agreement with the insurgents.
• Zalmay Khalilzad has spent about a year meeting the Taliban in Doha in a series of talks aimed at ending America`s 18-year-old war in Afghanistan.
• The prospective deal centres on a US troop reduction in return for several security guarantees from the Taliban, as well as broader peace talks between the insurgents and the Afghan government and an eventual ceasefire.
6. EU Parliament body demands Modi lift Kashmir curfew
• The European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) on September 2, 2019 demanded that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi immediately lift the New Delhi-sanctioned curfew in occupied Kashmir.
• Expressing serious concern over the complete communication and media blackout in the Muslim-majority Himalayan region, the European Parliament strongly criticised India and its members condemned the behaviour of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration.
• Members of the European Parliament demanded that India start a dialogue with Pakistan right away and Modi immediately lift the curfew in Kashmir.
• The members further said the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament should issue a reactionary statement on the situation in occupied Kashmir as soon as possible
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7. China’s FAST telescope identifies 93 pulsars
• China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, has identified 93 new pulsars since October 2017, the research team announced.
• A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star, which emits two beams of electromagnetic radiation.
• Since the first time FAST reported it had found pulsars in October 2017, the telescope has already detected 132 promising pulsar candidates, 93 of them had been confirmed, the research team said.
• Zhu Wenbai, a researcher with National Astronomical Observatories, said around 3,000 pulsars have been identified by global scientists since the first one was discovered by humans in 1967.
8. Scientists gather in Portugal for world marine products
• The XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products and the XI European Congress on Marine Natural Products opened on September 1, 2019 in Peniche, west Portugal.
• The five-day meeting will have 36 oral and nearly 200 written presentations from experts and young rising researchers on biosynthesis, medicinal chemistry, biology and chemical biotechnology, discovery and development of marine-based medicines and ecology.
• “In addition to presenting successful stories, the congress will present discoveries of new compounds, which may be used in new drugs as well as in cosmetic products,” explained Rui Pedrosa, the organizer and president of the Leiria Polytechnic Institute, quoted by Portuguese Lusa News Agency.
• “When we think of the high potential of the ocean and its natural resources in marine biotechnology known as the ‘blue economy’, marine natural products are most likely one of the greatest opportunities to generate economic value and solutions to various problems, particularly in health,” he added. The meeting will be attended by more than 200 researchers from around the world. NASA satellites gather data to assist weather forecast
September 3, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
9. Quetta set to stage first-class cricket after 11 years
• The Bugti Stadium will stage first-class cricket for the first time in 11 years after the almost-forgotten Quetta venue was included on September 2, 2019 among nine centres across the country to stage 31 fixtures of the revamped Quaid-i-Azam Trophy.
• The premier event under the new structure would start from Sept 14 and will be held in two phases before culminating with the five-day final that begins from Dec 9 at the National Stadium in Karachi between the top two teams on the points` table.
• The PCB has also decided to introduce, for the first time, a system of no-toss option while leaving the visiting team to decide whether they opt for batting or bowling.
10. Shooter Khalil first Pakistani to qualify for Tokyo Olympics
• Shooter Mohammad Khalil Akhtar has become the first Pakistani to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was revealed by National Rifle Association of Pakistan (NRAP) on September 2, 2019.
• The 35-year-old shooter from Pakistan Army put up a splendid show in the World Shooting Cup in Brazil, finishing sixth in the Rapid Fire Pistol event. The event served as the qualifier for next year’s Olympics.
• “Akhtar has qualified for Olympics through the quota system. At the World Shooting Cup he edged passed World No 1, World No 4 and World No 5,” said NRAP Executive Vice President Javaid Lodhi.
