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April 27, 2018

1. Relief-loaded Rs5.9tr budget rolled in

• In an apparent bid to appease all ahead of the elections, the outgoing PML-N led government April 27, 2018 presented a ‘relief-loaded’ budget – with a total outlay of Rs5.9 trillion and Rs1.9 trillion deficit that would be financed through massive borrowing
• Some main points of budget
• Rs 184.4b tax relief extended
• With a massive cut, govt allocates Rs25b for healthcare
• Subsidies increased from Rs 147.6b to Rs 174.7b
• Rs 46 billion allocated for HEC in national budget
• Rs 1,100b set for military spending
• 10pc increase in pay/pension
• 50 percent raise in house rent
• Rs 90 billion for IDPs rehabilitation
• Rs4m property purchase bar on non-filers
• Revenue collection reaches 13.2pc of GDP
• Deficit Rs 1.9trillion
• GDP growth target 6.2 percent
• Inflation target 6 percent of GDP
• Centre to transfer Rs 2590b to provinces

2. Sahibzada Ahmed Khan appointed new envoy to UK

• Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has approved appointment of Sahibzada Ahmed Khan as the new Pakistan High Commissioner to the United Kingdom on April 27, 2018.
• Sahibzada Khan will replace Syed Ibne Abbas as he has completed his term. Abbas was to relinquish the charge in October last year but the government asked him to continue until a replacement was finalised. He will formally retire from the foreign ministry in December this year.
• Syed Ibne Abbas was among the top candidates for the coveted post of the Foreign Secretary last year but he and Abdul Basit were ignored in favour of Tehmina Janjua. Basit later sought early retirement after completing his term as Pakistan High Commissioner to India. He had assumed the charge of the current assignment on October 4, October, 2014. Prior to this, he served at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Islamabad, as the Additional Foreign Secretary Abbas also served as the High Commissioner for Pakistan to New Zealand 2010-2013.
• He was the Consul General of Pakistan at Los Angeles, California (US) from 2006-2010.

3. Punjab okays two uplift schemes

• The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party April 27, 2018 approved two development schemes of information tech & public buildings sectors with an estimated cost of Rs 16519 million.
• These schemes were approved in the 61st meeting of PDWP of current fiscal year 2017-18. The approved development schemes are: Punjab Police
• Integrated Command, Control & Communication (PPIC3), Centre, Lahore (revised) at the cost of Rs 16,077.00 million and construction of infrastructure of Special Protection Unit Punjab: Construction of SPU Provincial HQ, Lahore at the cost of Rs 442.000 million.

4. ECC approves package for deep conversion oil refinery

• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on April 27, 2018 approved an incentive package for setting up new state-of-the-art deep conversion oil refinery projects, anywhere in the country, including expansion of existing refineries of minimum 100,000 barrels per day capacity.
• Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi chaired a meeting of the ECC at PM Office.
• The incentive package approved April 27, 2018 includes 20 years income tax holiday, exemption from all duties, taxes, surcharges and levies on import, by the refinery project, its contactors or any other persons, of all machinery, vehicles, plant and equipment, other materials and spares and consumables for setting up, operation, maintenance and repair of refinery.

5. Freight train service connects Chinese port with Belgium

• A freight train service has been launched from a port in north China’s Hebei Province to Belgium, a further line for freight between China and Europe.
• A train carrying 41 containers of local products, such as kaoline and yeast, departed from Jingtang Port District in the city of Tangshan, marking the inauguration of the service.
• The train service will cut transport time from the usual 45 days by sea, to just 16 days.

6. Korean leaders say no to war, nuclearisation

• The leaders of North and South Korea agreed on April 28, 2018 to pursue a permanent peace treaty and the complete denuclearisation of their divided peninsula at a historic summit laden with symbolism.
• The North’s leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in embraced after signing what they called the Panmunjom Declaration, following a day that began with an emotional handshake over the Military Demarcation Line that splits their countries.
• The pair issued a statement confirming their “common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean peninsula”.
• They agreed they would seek a permanent end to the Korean War this year, 65 years after hostilities ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Moon would visit Pyongyang in “the fall”, the two leaders said, pledging to hold “regular meetings and direct telephone conversations”.

7. Xi meets Modi, hopes for `new chapter` in China-India ties

• President Xi Jinping sought to open a `new chapter` in relations between China and India as he hosted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 27, 2018 for a summit aimed at mending ties strained by a border dispute.
• Xi greeted Modi at a Hubei province museum in the city of Wuhan for what has been billed as an `informal` meeting that will continue on Saturday.
• While last year`s high-altitude standoff in the Himalayas has been resolved, the world`s most populous countries have a long history of mistrust.
• New Delhi has also raised concerns about Beijing`s Belt and Road initiative, a global trade infrastructure programme that includes a major project through Pakistan-administered Kashmir, disputed territory that New Delhi claims is illegally occupied.

8. India grants land ownership rights to refugees who fled Pakistan 70 years ago

• Refugees in India`s western state of Maharashtra have been granted and ownership rights 70 years after fleeing what is now Pakistan, when the countries were partitioned at independence.
• The move is part of a wider push to give more rights to certain refugee groups in different parts of India.
• About 3 million refugees from Sindh and Punjab provinces are believed to have fled to India, as carnage between Hindus and Muslims sparked a massive migration across a border created after the British colonial rule ended in 1947.Refugees in Maharashtra were housed in about 30 government owned `camps` or colonies across the state, with limited rights to sell or redevelop their homes.

9. India, China, Canada top US list of IP offenders

• The United States on April 27, 2018 rebuked NAFTA-partner Canada, saying the country was not doing enough to clamp down on counterfeit goods, giving it the same ranking as China and India on a list of intellectual property offenders.
• In an annual report on intellectual property rights violations by trading partners, the US Trade Representative’s office downgraded Canada to the “priority watch list,” which subjects it to a more intense level of scrutiny.
• China has been on the priority watch list for 14 years and India makes a repeat appearance, as the USTR said neither country had done enough to protect patented and trademarked products.

10. Pakistan Army win National Handball Championship

• Pakistan Army won the 28th National Handball Championship by defeating Wapda team in the final match at University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) April 27, 2018.
• In the final, Pak Army got 35 points whereas WAPDA scored 24. Higher Education Commission (HEC) snatched third position by beating Pak Railways with 40-36 points. Patron in Chief Handball Federation and vice president.

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