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April 11, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Govt again bans export of anti-malaria medicine
• Four days after withdrawing a ban on the export of all anti-malaria drugs, the ministry of commerce has again imposed the ban on the medicines to stockpile them in case of their possible use to treat Covid-19 patients.
• The ban that has been imposed with immediate effect will remain in place until further decision of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19, according to SRO297 of 2020 issued here by commerce ministry on April 10, 2020.
• The demand for export of anti malaria drugs especially hydroxyl chloroquine gained importance after US President Donald Trump claimed that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved the use of `very powerful` drug Chloroquine to treat Covid19.
2. Babar made chairman of Federal Land Commission
• The former secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Babar Yaqoob Fateh Muhammad, has been appointed chairman of the Federal Land Commission.
• According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), Mr Muhammad would enjoy the status of a federal minister.
• Known as the architect of the last five-year strategic plan of the ECP, Mr Muhammad was serving as the federal secretary of the Cabinet Division.
3. Trade with Afghanistan resumes partially
• Trade with Afghanistan via the Torkham border partially resumed on April 10, 2020 as trucks loaded with goods imported under the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement were allowed to cross over to the neighbouring country.
• Customs officials at the border crossing said as many as 34 containers were sent to Afghanistan after necessary customs clearance.
• Some of the vehicles, they said were loaded with food items.
• Stringent security arrangements were made for goods clearance as the border was partially reopened for trade activities after remaining closed since March 16
4. CJP takes first suo motu over ‘coronavirus control measures’
• Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed on April 10, 2020 took his first suo motu notice of the government’s measures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
• A five-member bench of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice and comprising Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed will conduct the hearing of the case on April 13.
• This is the first suo motu notice taken by Justice Gulzar Ahmed as the country’s top judge. In this connection, the apex court issued notices to the attorney general and additional attorney general of Pakistan as well as AGs of all four provinces and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
5. Pakistan likely to receive $1.4b from IMF in April
• Pakistan is likely to receive $1.4 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) within current month (April) as Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI).
• The IMF’s Executive Board is scheduled to meet on April 16, to consider Pakistan’s request for $1.4 billion loan under the RFI. Pakistan had requested IMF for additional $1.4 billion through RFI -which provides rapid and low-access financial assistance to member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need, without the need to have a full-fledged program in place.
• “We are hopeful that IMF board will approve the additional financing for Pakistan,” said an official of the ministry of finance. He further said that the country would receive the loan within current month if executive board approved it. He clarified that second review report under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with a request for the release of the third tranche under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility was not on the board’s agenda.
6. Global death toll from coronavirus tops 100,000
• More than 100,000 people have died worldwide from the coronavirus, with nearly 70 per cent of all fatalities in Europe, according to a tally compiled from official sources on April 10, 2020.
• A total of 100,661 people have been killed, including 70,245 in Europe, since the virus first emerged in China in December.
• Italy has the highest number of deaths with 18,849, followed by the United States with 17,925 and 15,843 in Spain.
• US officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as there was evidence that the number of new infections was flattening in New York state, the epicenter of the US outbreak.
7. EU to help welfare bodies mitigate Covid-19 impact
• The European Union has decided to support and strengthen the capacities and engagement of civil society organisations in Pakistan with the purpose of mobilising communities towards mitigating social and economic effects of the Covid-19 outbreak.
• An EU delegation in Pakistan is seeking proposals for projects amounting to 6,650,000 euros by civil society organisations for alleviating the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 on communities.
• The EU believes that the coronavirus outbreak will have socio-economic impact in Pakistan, including economic damage caused by the crisis, weakening the coherence of communities and challenges and tensions in the fabric of society as a whole, as well as the stability of governance structures being put to the test as a consequence of the outbreak.
8. WHO denies ignoring early warning by Taiwan
• The World Health Organisation on April 10, 2020 denied having brushed off a Taiwanese warning on human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus soon after the outbreak in China late last year.
• The US has accused the body of `putting politics first` by ignoring Taiwan`s warning in late December, and thus helping Beijing conceal the pandemic`s gravity.
• President Donald Trump has threatened to withhold funding for the WHO, which is at the forefront of fighting the pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide since emerging in the Chinese city of Wuhan.
9. In ominous sign, Yemen reports first virus case
• Yemen reported its first case of coronavirus on April 10, 2020 in a southern government-controlled province, raising fears of an outbreak in the war-torn country as air strikes blamed on the Saudi-led coalition tested a unilateral truce.
• The announcement came on the second day of the two week ceasefire declared by the military coalition supporting the government in what it said was a move to help fight the pandemic.
• `The first confirmed case of coronavirus has been reported in Hadramawt province,` Yemen`s supreme national emergency committee for Covid-19 said on Twitter.
10. Saudi Arabia, Russia work oil cut deal at G20 talks
• Top oil nations were finalising a deal at G20 talks on April 10, 2020 for big output cuts to lift prices slammed by the coronavirus crisis with Russia and Saudi Arabia taking a lion`s share and signs the United States might take unprecedented moves to help.
• Riyadh, Moscow and its allies, which make up the informal OPEC+ group, had forged a pact to curb crude production by the equivalent of 10pc of global supplies in marathon talks on Thursday and said they wanted otherstocutafurther5pc.
• But efforts to conclude the OPEC+ deal hit the buffers when Mexico refused to sign upinfull.
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