Day by Day Current Affairs (August 26, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 August 26, 2018; National Current Affairs

1. At least 51 MPs have barely completed matriculation: Fafen

• As many as 51 incoming lawmakers in all provincial assemblies have barely completed their secondary school certifications while 27 had not even finished matriculation, a report compiled by the Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) stated. At least 68 of the lawmakers in all provincial assemblies had pending court cases, it stated.
• In Punjab, as many as 25 members of the Punjab Assembly had just passed their matriculation, while 19 had even left it unfinished. Two MPAs were found to be illiterate. Nearly 32 per cent of incoming legislators hold a Bachelors’ degree while 12 per cent of them are law graduates. As many as 43 legislators hold a Master’s degree.
• In Sindh, at least 10 lawmakers have finished their matriculation while five are under-matric. Nearly 28 per cent of the legislators hold a Bachelors’ degree while 18 per cent of them hold a Masters’ degree. The Sindh Assembly also has 22 legislators with a law degree, nine specialising in engineering and eight with degrees in medicine while one legislator holds a post-graduate degree.
• In Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, as many as 12 legislators in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) have finished their matriculation while two have not finished their secondary school certification. Nearly 30 per cent of legislators hold a Bachelor’s and 18 per cent Master’s degrees.
• The KP Assembly also has 16 legislators with a law degree, two engineers and four with degrees in medicine and dentistry or related fields while one legislator holds a post-graduate degree.
• In Balochistan, Whereas, in Balochistan as many as four lawmakers are matriculate while one did not finish his SSC education. The provincial assembly has just one legislator who was illiterate. Nearly 37 per cent of the incoming legislators hold a Bachelor’s and 17 per cent have a Master’s degree. Balochistan Assembly also has four legislators with a law degree, three engineers and a medical doctor while one legislator is a graduate of a religious seminary.
  

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August 26, 2018; International Current Affairs

2. Afghanistan`s top security official steps down

• Afghanistan`s national security adviser, one of the most influential aides to President Ashraf Ghani, resigned on August 25, 2018.
• Hanif Atmar`s resignation was accepted by Mr Ghani.
• The former security adviser was considering running against Mr Ghani in the 2019 vote.
• Mr Atmar, 49, has been considered the second-mostpowerful official in Afghanistan since he became national security adviser after Mr Ghani was sworn in as presidentinlate 2014.
• He was also minister of interior under former president Hamid Karzai before being sacked in 2010 after the Taliban insurgents attacked a `peace jirga` that was an early attempt at ending the now-17-year-old war with the Taliban.

3. US cuts over $200m in aid to Palestinians

• The United States said that it had cancelled more than $200 million in aid for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, leading their ambassador to accuse President Donald Trump`s administration of being `anti-peace.
• The decision, made `at the direction of the president,` came after a review of aid programmes to the Palestinian territories.
• The funding previously allocated for programmes in the West Bank and Gaza will `now address high-priority projects elsewhere.
• In January, the United States had already made drastic cuts to its contribution to the UNagency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA.

4. Iran, Russia resume talks to build new nuclear plant

• Iran’s Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian has said the country has restarted negotiations with Russia to build a new nuclear power plant capable of generating up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity.
• Talks are underway to construct a new 3,000-megawatt nuclear power plant to increase electricity generation capacity to 4,000 megawatts from the current 1,000.
• In November 2014, Tehran and Moscow struck a deal to build eight more nuclear power plants in Iran.
• Russia has already built a power plant in Bushehr in southern Iran. The agreement for the Bushehr nuclear power plant was finalized in 1995, but the project was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial issues.
• The 1,000-megawatt plant, which is operating under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reached its maximum power generation capacity in August 2012. In September 2013, Iran officially took over from Russia the first unit of its first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant for two years.
  

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August 26, 2018; Science / Technology Current Affairs

5. Two new bird-like dinosaurs discovered

• Chinese and American researchers have discovered two new species of dinosaur in an expedition to China’s Xinjiang, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology.
• The two new species named “Xiyunykus pengi” and “Bannykus wulatensis” are bird-like dinosaurs known as alvarezsaurs that share many characteristics with birds.
• Bodies of alvarezsaurs are slender, with bird-like skull and many small teeth instead of usual large, sharp teeth

6. Nasa spacecraft approaches asteroid

• Two years after launching from Florida, a Nasa spacecraft is closing in on an ancient asteroid, Bennu, for a sample of space dust that could reveal clues to the start of life in the solar system.
• The spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, has even snapped its first, blurry pic of the cosmic body, which is about the size of a small mountain, about 500 yards (meters) in diameter.
• The spacecraft is designed to circle Bennu, and reach out with a robotic arm to “high-five” its surface, then return the sample it collects to Earth in 2023.
• The first images of Bennu were taken on August 17 at a distance of 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers) from the $800 million spacecraft.
  

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August 26, 2018; Sports Current Affairs

7. Quetta girl wins 1st Karate medal in Asian Games

• Quetta’s Nargis has become the first Pakistani to win a medal in Karate at the Asian Games.
• She outplayed Nepal’s Rita Karki 3-1 to claim bronze in the +68kg event in Indonesia on August 25, 2018.
• Hailing from Quetta’s persecuted Hazara community, the 19-year-old is following in the footsteps of Kulsoom Hazara who won the South Asian Championships earlier

8. Combined Koreas crew wins historic medal at Asian Games

• Two countries. One significant medal. A combined Koreas crew earned a historic bronze medal at the Asian Games on August 25, 2018 by finishing third in the women`s 200-metre dragon boat final behind China and games hosts Indonesia.
• It was the first time a combined team from North Korea and South Korea has won a medal at a major multi-sport international event.
• And it was awarded to Korea the name given to the combined teams the countries entered in rowing, canoeing and women`s basketball and not to North or South Korea.
• A group of athletes from North Korea and South Korea paraded into the opening ceremony last weekend behind the `unification` flag which features the outline of the peninsula in blue on a white background.
• It took another seven days for any of the combined teams to get on the medals podium, by which time South Korea had 23 gold medals to sit in third spot and North Korea had nine gold medals and were in sixth position overall.
• The joint crew featured seven South Koreans and five North Koreans and finished in 56.851 seconds at the Jakabaring Rowing and Canoeing Regatta Course in the co-host city of Palembang.
• The combined Koreas basketball team is a gold-medal chance and has progressed to the quarter-Enals of the women`s tournament.

9. PM nominates Asad, Ehsan in PCB BoG

• The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan — who is also the Patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board — has nominated Ehsan Mani and Asad Ali Khan as members of PCB Board of Governors (BoG), in a notification issued by the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC).
• Soon after the resignation by former PCB Chairman Najam Sethi, PM Imran had nominated Ehsan Mani — who is a former International Cricket Council (ICC) President — as his pick for the new PCB chairman.
• According to the constitution of PCB, the patron must nominate two names for representation on the BoG in case the chairman resigns. Khan’s second choice in this regard is Asad Ali Khan — who is currently a board member on, both, Punjab and Pakistan Veteran Cricket Association.
• The Election Commissioner for the Pakistan Cricket Board Justice (retd) Syed Afzal Haider has already taken charge as interim chairman of the board after Sethi’s resignation.

10. ICC World Cup trophy to tour Pakistan in October

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) on August 25, 2018 announced the beginning of 2019 Cricket World Cup trophy tour.
• The cricket world cup will take place in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14, 2019.
• The trophy will tour Pakistan from October 3 to October 13.
• It’ll be in Lahore from October 3 to October 5, in Islamabad from October 6 to October 8 and in Karachi from October 9 to October 13.
• According to a statement issued by the ICC, the trophy will start its journey from the ICC headquarters in Dubai on Monday, August 27