Day by Day Current Affairs (August 21, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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August 21, 2018

1. Buzdar sworn in as Punjab CM

• Newly elected Chief Minister Sardar Usman Ahmad Khan Buzdar on August 20, 2018 took oath of his office at a simple ceremony at the Governor`s House.
• Acting Governor Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi administered the oath.
• The Punjab government has notified the chief minister`s appointment and separately notified that the caretaker chief minister and cabinet members ceased to hold their offices.

2. Protest lodged with Netherlands over blasphemous caricatures

• Pakistan on August 20, 2018 lodged strong protest with the Netherlands over its decision to hold a competition of blasphemous caricatures.
• The announcement about the event was made by Leader of the Dutch Freedom Party and parliamentarian, Geert Wilders.
• The Charged Affaires of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was summoned to the Foreign Office to lodge the protest. According to an official statement, the FO conveyed its deep concern at the deliberate and malicious attempt to defame Islam.
• The federal cabinet at its meeting also strongly condemned the `abominable and reprehensible plan`.
• Pakistan`s Permanent Representatives to the United Nations in New York and Geneva were also directed to take up the matter with the UN secretary general, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other UN related bodies and procedures, the statement added.

3. Shahzad Akbar made PM`s special assistant on accountability

• Prime Minister Imran Khan on August 20, 2018 appointed NAB`s former deputy prosecutor general Mirza Shahzad Akbar as his special assistant on accountability.
• Mr Akbar served the National Accountability Bureau during the government of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf.
• A notification issued by the cabinet division said: `In terms of rule 4(6) of the Rules of Business, 1973, read with serial number 1A of Schedule-VA of the said rules, the prime minister has been pleased to appoint, with immediate effect, Mirza Shahzad Akbar as special assistant to the prime minister on accountability, with the status of Minister of State.
• Recently, Mr Akbar had also filed a petition against a US diplomat over a fatal road accident.

4. Shaukat Yousafzai made govt`s spokesperson

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on August 20, 2018 appointed former lawmaker Shaukat Yousafzai as the provincial government`s spokesperson.
• A notification issued here said the chief minister had appointed Shaukat Yousafzai, former MPA, as the spokesperson of the provincial government with immediate effect.
• Mr Yousafzai was elected MPA from PK-23, Shangla; however, the Election Commission of Pakistan ordered re-election in the constituency due to low women turnout in the last month`s elections.

5. Sethi quits as PCB chairman, Mani set to take charge

• Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi on August 20, 2018 tendered his resignation and sent it to the Board`s patron-in-chief, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who immediately announced the name of ex-ICC president Ihsan Mani as Sethi`s successor.
• Sethi was elected for a three-year term last year (2017-2020) and two years of his term are still remaining.

6. US rejects Turkey’s offer to release pastor

• President Donald Trump’s administration has rejected Turkey’s offer to condition the release of an American pastor on clearing a top Turkish bank of billions of dollars in US fines.
• Washington and Ankara are locked in a bitter feud over the nearly two-year jailing of Andrew Brunson over disputed terror charges, which has triggered a trade row and sent the lira into a tailspin.
• In exchange for Brunson’s release, and that of other US citizens as well as three Turkish nationals working for the US government, Turkey asked Washington to drop a probe into Halkbank, which is facing possible fines for helping Iran evade US sanctions. But the US said that discussions regarding the fines and other areas of dispute between the two countries were off the table until Brunson was released.

7. Israel, US call on Europe to pressure Iran

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump’s national security adviser met in Jerusalem August 20, 2018 and called on European nations to do more to pressure Iran.
• John Bolton arrived in Israel on August 19, 2018 for three days of talks expected to focus mainly on Iran and its presence in Syria.
• Netanyahu strongly urged Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal between Israel’s main enemy Iran and world powers, and the US president did so in May, resulting in the reimposition of sanctions.
• Israel and the United States have been closely aligned on their approach to Iran since Trump took office.

8. Pakistan thrash Thailand 10-0 in Asiad hockey

• Atiq Arshad’s hat-trick helped Pakistan hammer Thailand 10-0 to take a victorious start in the Asian Games hockey competition on August 20, 2018 at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Sports Complex, Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Record eight time champions Pakistan were off to a flying start at the Asian Games with the thrashing of little known Thailand with a volley of goals.
• Meanwhile, Pakistan outlasted Mongolia by 3-0 in the volleyball event. Pakistan won the match by 25-16, 25-16, 25-18. For Pakistan, Fahad Raza, M Asif, Shiraz Khan and Nasir played superbly. In kabaddi event, Iran defeated Pakistan by 36-20.

9. Under-fire Apple removes 25,000 apps in China

• Apple said August 20, 2018 it had removed many gambling-related apps from its Chinese app store as the US giant comes under scrutiny amid trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
• Apple removed 25,000 apps suspected of facilitating gambling and illegal lotteries, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, emphasising there was still work to be done.
• he app store clearance did little to abate the criticism from CCTV.

10. Avnery, Israeli peace activist who met Arafat, dies

• Israeli journalist and peace activist Uri Avnery, who pushed for the creation of a Palestinian state and stoked controversy by meeting Yasser Arafat, has died aged 94 on August 20, 2018.
• Seen by many as the backbone of Israel’s peace movement, Avnery never lost hope an agreement could be reached with the Palestinians. But before becoming a prominent peace activist, he was a soldier and even part of a right-wing militia.
• In 1950, he founded an independent weekly magazine, Haolam Hazeh, which he edited for 40 years.
• In July 1982, he caused a firestorm by becoming one of the first Israelis to meet Palestinian leader Arafat in Beirut, then under siege by the Israeli army.