Day by Day Current Affairs (August 14, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 August 14, 2018

1. 326 legislators take oath in coutnry’s 15th National Assembly

• Setting the stage for a second democratic transition a day before the country`s 71st Independence Day, 326 newly elected members of the 15th National Assembly took the oath amid an unusual calm during its inaugural session on August 13, 2018.
• The oath-taking ceremony took place in a very cordial atmosphere as several opposition members were seen exchanging pleasantries with the legislators belonging to thePakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the party poised to form its government.
• Among those who took the oath as MNAs, there are seven party heads, six former provincial chief ministers, three former speakers, one former president (Mr Zardari) and one former Prime Minister (Raja Pervez Ashraf).
• The former chief ministers who were administered the oath as MNAs were Mr Shahbaz, Pervez Khattak, Aftab Shabaan Mirani, Mr Mengal, Amir Haider Hoti and Ali Mohammad Mehr.
• The three former speakers who took the oath on Monday were Dr Fehmida Mirza and Syed FakharImam besides Mr Sadiq himself.
• The NA has a total of 342 seats including 272 general seats, 60 seats reserved for women and 10 reserved for minorities. As polls in Rawalpindi (NA-60) had been postponed following the disqualification of PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi and elections in Faisalabad (NA-103) had been put off after the death of a candidate, the elections were held in 270 NA constituencies on July 25.

2. New MPAs in Sindh, KP, Balochistan take oath

• Newly elected members of the provincial assemblies of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were sworn in on August 13, 2018.
• The oath to 160 out of the total 168 members of the Sindh Assembly was administered by Agha Siraj Khan Durrani, the outgoing speaker. Mr Durrani, who has also been nominated by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) asits candidate for the post of speaker of the new assembly, administered the oath to the members in Urdu, Sindhi and English.
• In Peshawar, the newly elected members of the KP Assembly took the oath amid a token protest by the joint opposition against alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections.
• In Quetta, outgoing speaker Rahila Hameed Khan Durrani administered the oath to 58 new legislators of the 65-member Balochistan Assembly. After taking the oath, the members of fered prayers for the martyrs of the Mastung massacre as well as the lawyers who were martyred in the Aug 8, 2016, terrorist attack.

3. China, Pakistan discuss anti-terror cooperation

• Top Chinese paramilitary force commander on Monday discussed proposals for increasing Pak-China counterterrorism cooperation with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
• The proposals were discussed during a meeting of Commander of Chinese People’s Armed Police Force General Wang Ning with Gen Bajwa.
• Chinese People’s Armed Police Force is a paramilitary police force, which is responsible for counterterrorism operations in restive areas such as western Xinjiang region. The 1.5 million-strong paramilitary police force is also responsible for border defence.

4. First Kalash MPA vows to fight for rights of minorities

• A Kalash man from Chitral district on August 13, 2018 formally became the first member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly from his fast shrinking religious minority, which claims to be the descendants of Greek invader Alexander the Great.
• Wazirzada represents Kalash, the country`s smallest ethnoreligious community that lives in the remote mountains of Hindu Kush range. He is now representing different religious minorities of the province in the assembly.The Kalash people, according to the legend, are of the remnants of the Alexander the Great, whose army invaded Hindu Kush region around 2000 years ago, while another theory describes them indigenous people.

5. Pakistan stands by Turkey amid US sanctions

• Pakistan August 13, 2018 expressed solidarity with Turkey amid tension with the United States and sanctions by Washington.
• Turkey’s economy has been under the threat of sanctions from the United States after President Donald Trump tweeted earlier this year that this would be a probable course of action if an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, was not freed from jail. Turkey has held the evangelist since 2016 and has alleged that he was involved in a failed coup attempt that year.
• Trump appeared to follow through on his threat when he announced a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium originating from Turkey.
• The White House later tried to clarify Trump’s tweet, saying in a statement that he “authorized the preparation of documents to raise tariffs” on metals imports from Turkey.
• Turkish President Recep Erdogan yesterday attacked the United States, alleging that the use of sanctions by Washington was a ‘stab in the back against Turkey.’

6. 4th NJHP unit begins operation

• The fourth and last unit of the NeelumJhelum Hydropower Project (NJHP) was synchronised with national grid on August 13, 2018 after it started generating over 200 megawatts on a trial basis.
• During the project`s trial run, the unit will be tested on various loads ranging up to 242MW.
• With successful commissioning of its all four units, the NJHP is expected to attain its installed generation capacity of 969MW in a couple of days.
• Three units at the projecthave alreadybeen generating 726MW of electricity on trial basis; thus far, they have contributed around 900 million electricity units to the national grid.

7. Iran offers discount oil to Asia

• Iran is selling oil and gas at a discount to Asian customers as it prepares for the return of US sanctions
• Discount is part of the nature of the global markets being offered by all oil exporters
• The state-run National Iranian Oil Company was reducing official prices for September sales to Asia to their lowest level in 14 years, compared with Saudi crude

8. Nadal downs Tsitsipas to win Toronto Masters

• Rafael Nadal held off a late surge from birthday boy Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim the 80th title of his career with victory at the Toronto Masters on August 12, 2018.
• Nadal overcame a second set fightback from Greek youngster Tsitsipas to claim a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory in just under 1hr 45mins. The win gave the 32-year-old Spaniard a record-extending 33rd trophy at the elite Masters level as well as his 80th title.

9. Halep beats Stephens to take Montreal crown

• World number one Simona Halep held her nerve in a rollercoaster duel with Sloane Stephens to win the WTA Montreal crown for the second time.
• In a gruelling 2hr 41min battle, French Open champion Halep prevailed 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 6-4 over Stephens in a repeat of the duo’s meeting in the final of Roland Garros earlier this year.
• The victory was Halep’s 18th career title and her second in Montreal following her success in 2016. The 26-year-old sealed the win with an ace on her fourth match point, capping an enthralling duel marked by several momentum swings

10. 200-million-year-old Pterosaur `built for flying`

• Scientists on August 13, 2018 unveiled a previously unknown species of giant pterosaur, the first creatures with a backbone to fly under their own power.
• Neither dino nor bird, pterosaurs more commonly known as pterodactyls emerged during the late Triassic period more than 200 million years ago and lorded over primeval skies until a massive space rock slammed into Earth, wiping out landdwelling dinosaurs and most other forms of life more than 65 billion years ago .
• The newly discovered member of the family, identified through remains found in northeastern Utah, had a wing-span of 1.5 metres and 112 teeth, including fang-like spikes sticking out near the snout.