WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS. “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS
April 27, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Prime Minister proposed five-point action plan for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
• Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 26, 2019 proposed a five-point action plan for improving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) outcomes as he called for removing barriers to sustainable growth and making development people-oriented.
• In his speech at the inaugural session of the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing, Mr Khan said: `As the Belt and Road Initiative takes a further concrete shape, I suggest we direct our efforts and focus on the peoples of our countries, and towards addressing impediments on their way to sustainable growth` PM Khan is among the 37 heads of state and government participating in the second edition of the Belt and Road Forum, which is a platform for BRI partners to come together for reviewing their cooperation under the programme and charting the roadmap for future. As many as 122 states and 49 international organisations are part of Chinese BRL The PTI government is still reeling from a controversy erupted over a recent statement of Mr Khan in which he erroneously mentioned Japan and Germany as neighbours. But, a PTI minister had explained to the National Assembly that Mr Khan`s statement was a `slip of the tongue` and he had intended to mean France and Germany.
• Mr Khan`s five-point action plan includes joint efforts for mitigating climate change, establishing a BRI tourism corridor for promoting people-to-people contacts and inter-cultural understanding, setting up an office of anti-corruption cooperation, creating a poverty alleviation fund, and further liberalising trade and investment flows by encouraging private sector and businesses to collaborate in projects.
2. Polio drive suspended across country after spike in attacks
• Amid serious security threats and increasing attacks on polio workers in different parts of the country, the federal government has suspended the anti-polio campaign `for an indefinite period`.
• And for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the government has also suspended the post-campaign evaluation Lot Quality Assurance Sampling (LQAS).
• The National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for polio, Islamabad, issued a red alert to all the provinces on Friday, directing them to stop the anti-polio campaign all over the country to protect 270,000 polio field staff from attacks.
• The nationwide campaign was launched in all districts of the country on April 22 and Friday was the last catch-up day.
• The status of unvaccinated children in such a large number may create embarrassment for Pakistan as the Technical Advisory Group under the GPEI is scheduled to visit the country in coming weeks
3. Pakistan, China to revive cooperation for investment promotion
• Pakistan and China agreed on April 26, 2019 to revive cooperation between the Chinese Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) and the Board of Investment (BoI) to ensure investment promotion in prioritised sectors of information technology, textiles and agro-based products.
• BoI Chairman Haroon Sharif, who is in Beijing as part of prime minister`s delegation to participate in the second Belt and Road Forum, met Liu Dianxun, Director-General of Investment Promotion Agency of the Chinese ministry of commerce, and discussed the revival of a memorandum of understanding signed between BoI and CIPA in the past.
• Both sides agreed to revive the cooperation.
• Mr Sharif informed CIPA Chief Dianxun that Bol would encourageChinese investors for investment as Pakistan was planning to develop new special economic zones in addition to already notified seven special economic zones.
4. Pakistan didn`t seek cancellation of projects, says World Bank
• The World Bank released a statement on April 26, 2019, giving its view on a report `Kabul links trilateral transit trade to Wagah border opening`.
• The World Bank`s country director claimed that the government of Pakistan had not requested the Bank to drop the two projects as was mentioned in the story. Both projects were prepared at the request of Pakistan`s Economic Affairs Division (EAD) and subsequently approved by the executive directors of the World Bank in May and June of 2018. Both are financed by the World Bank`s concessional financing arm, the International Development Association.
• The official was commenting on the news report saying Islamabad had dropped Khyber Pass Economic Corridor and Hydromet and Disaster Management Project for insufficient economic and financial viability. The country director claimed that he had been assured by the EAD secretary and other senior officials that `no such decision had been taken`.
5. Journalist Nusrat Nasrullah dies
• Distinguished journalist and columnist Nusrat Nasrullah passed away on April 26, 2019. He was 72.
• Renowned Dawn columnist and cricket commentator Omar Kureishi was his maternal uncle, and the celebrated London-based English novelist, Hanif Kureishi, is his cousin.
• Mr Nasrullah did his master`s in English literature from the University of Karachi. After passing out from the university, he joined journalism and worked for The Leader as a reporter. He wrote on social and cultural issues. From there he switched to Morning News in the 1980s and wrote prolifically for the paper.
April 27, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Trump to pull US out of UN arms treaty
• President Donald Trump on April 26, 2019 announced at the National Rifle Association`s annual meeting that the United States will drop out of an international arms treaty signed in 2013 by then-President Barack Obama but opposed by the NRA and other conservative groups.
• Trump told members of the gun lobby that he intends to revoke the status of the United States as a signatory of the Arms Trade Treaty, which was never ratified by the US Senate. `We`re taking our signature back,` Trump said to thousands of cheering attendees, many wearing red hats emblazoned with the Republican president`s `Make America Great Again` slogan.
• The NRA has long opposed the treaty which regulates the $70 billion business in conventional arms and seeks to keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers.
• The lobbying group argues it would undermine domestic gun rights, a view the Obama administration rejected.
7. Prince William visits mosques attacked by gunman in Christchurch
• Extremist ideology must be defeated, Britain`s Prince William said during a visit to a New Zealand mosque on April 26, 2019 where dozens were killed in a mass shooting last month after earlier meeting survivors of the massacre.
• William, the Duke of Cambridge, spoke at Al Noor mosque in the South Island city of Christchurch, one of two mosques where 50 people were killed by a lone gunman during Friday prayers on March 15. Forty-three people were killed at Al Noor mosque.
• William made the two-day visit to New Zealand on behalf of his 93-year-old grand-mother Queen Elizabeth, New Zealand`s head of state, following a request by Ardern
8. Turkey orders detention of 210 military personnel over links to Gulen
• Istanbul prosecutors ordered the detention of 210 military personnel over suspected links to the network blamed by Ankara for orchestrating a failed 2016 military coup, the Istanbul chief prosecutor`s office said on April 26, 2019.
• It said the suspects from the air, marine and land forces, as well as the gendarmerie and coast guard, included five colonels, seven lieutenant colonels, 14 majors, and 33 captains.
• They were suspected of being supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is accused by Turkish authorities of masterminding the failed putsch three years ago. Gulen has denied any role.
• More than 77,000 people have been jailed pending trial since the coup and widespread arrests are still routine. Authorities have suspended or sacked 150,000 civil servants and military personnel.
9. Peace on Korean peninsula depends on US attitude: Kim
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin that peace and security on the Korean peninsula depend entirely on the future US attitude, North Korean state media KCNA said on April 26, 2019.
• Kim`s remarks were seen as keeping pressure on the United States to be more flexible in accepting Pyongyang`s demands to ease sanctions, compared to the US stance during his unsuccessful second summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi in February.
• The North Korean leader said at the time he would wait until the end of the year for the United States to become more flexible.
• `The situation on the Korean peninsula and the region is now at a standstill and has reached a critical point where it may return to its original state as the US took a unilateral attitude in bad faith at the recent second DPRK-US summit talks,` KCNA reported Mr Kim as saying, using North Korea`s official name, the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea.
April 27, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Mahnoor, Murad clinch National Badminton Titles
• Murad Ali and Mahoor Shahzad won the men and women singles titles after defeating their respective rivals in the All-Pakistan National Ranking Badminton Championships at the PSB Coaching Centre, Peshawar on April 26, 2019
• NBP`s Murad played well against his relatively weaker rival Mohammad Ali Larosh of SNGPL and won the decider 21-13, 21-18.
• Murad, who also represented Pakistan at last year`s Asian Games in Indonesia and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, dominated the proceedings right from the start and marched to a facile victory.
• Meanwhile, promising Mahoor of Wapda outplayed SNGPL`s Ghazala Siddique 21-4, 21-9 in the women’s decider.
