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December 30, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. Bahawalpur hosts first-ever meeting of Punjab cabinet

• The Punjab cabinet in its first meeting in south Punjab on December 29, 2018 took major decisions such as approving water and labour policies, increasing teaching and general cadre doctors` pay package, levying user charges in teaching hospitals and lifting ban on the recruitment of the disabled against their three per cent quota across the province.
• It also okayed subsidy on export of sugar during the meeting which has been hailed as a historic occasion.
• Chief Minister Usman Buzdar chaired the 46-member sixth cabinet meeting having ministers, advisers and special assistants besides chief secretary, administrative secretaries and other officials in attendance at the Islamia University Old Campus conference hall. The entire government machinery, said the chief minister, was in Bahawalpur to remove a sense of deprivation among the people of south Punjab.
• Never in the past 70 years did any Punjab cabinet meeting take place outside Lahore.
• The next cabinet meeting is expected to be held in Sargodha which will be followed by another in Multan.

2. Inauguration ceremony of Mohmand dam postponed

• The government has shelved the inauguration ceremony of the much-awaited Mohmand dam project, which was scheduled for Jan 2.
• The inauguration of the dam project which was to be conducted by Prime Minister Imran Khan along with Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar as chief guests had been postponed. The ceremony has been postponed and no new date has yet to be finalized.
• The construction of the Rs309 billion Mohmand dam is said to be imperative to resolve the problems of water scarcity and electricity shortfall in the country.
• A sum of Rs2bn has been allocated for the project in the Public Sector Development Programme 2018-19.

3. Govt to pay additional Rs166.8b as interest payment

• The government would have to pay additional Rs166.86 billion on interest payment on foreign loans during ongoing fiscal year mainly due to the sharp depreciation in local currency and increase in interest rate.
• The ministry of finance has upward revised the interest payment on foreign loans to Rs1.79 trillion for the year 2018-19 after the massive depreciation in currency against the US dollar. Initially, at the time of budget for current fiscal year, the government had earmarked Rs1.62 trillion for interest payment for the current fiscal year. However, the government would have to pay additional Rs166.86 billion on interest payment only due to rupee depreciation.
• The officials of ministry of finance informed that government had set Rs1.62 trillion for interest payment when dollar was at around Rs115 in April this year. Now, the amount of interest payment had gone to Rs1.79 trillion when a dollar is trading at Rs140. “Not only interest payment, but the size of public loan will also increase due to the rupee depreciation,” said an official. Cumulatively, the rupee has dropped 33 percent, or around Rs35, on closing basis in the one year, he added.

4. First phase of fencing Torkham border completes

• Pakistan Army has installed fence wire at Torkham border and prevented the entry of terrorists and smugglers into the land of Pakistan. For the first time it has been decided to monitor the Pak Afghan border through drones.
• The officials said that the installation of fence at Pak Afghan border was started on 27th April, 2017, from Big Ben Check Post, which is still going on as the total length of fence would be 1403 kilometres. In the first phase Torkham border has been made safe by installing 539 KM long fence on it.
• The purpose of putting in wire on the border is to prevent all ways of illegal transit to Pakistan. In the second phase 379 kilometres and in the third leg 485 KM long fence would be established. The process would be completed within two years.
• The setting up of the fence is being carried out under the supervision of Khyber Rifles, whose 147 personnel sacrificed their lives for the protection of motherland.
• some 700 border check posts and forts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are being fortified and all the posts would be linked with one another, whereas modern equipments and gadgets are being utilised for day and night monitoring of the border

5. Nuclear scientist Dr Masud dies

• Dr Masud Ahmad, an illustrious scientist of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), died on December 29, 2018. He was 74 and left behind three daughters and a widow.
• Dr Masud remained Member Science in the PAEC from 2001 till 2006 and also served as member, Chairman Advisory Council till 2016. He was well rated in the area of Theoretical Physics.
• He held great respect and admiration for his work in the service of the country. In recognition of his significant contribution in Pakistan’s nuclear programme, he was conferred upon Hilal-e-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance by the government

December 30, 2018: International Current Affairs

6. Russia widens ban on Ukrainian imports

• Russia expanded a ban on imported goods from Ukraine on December 29, 2018, saying it would halt some $500 million worth of annual imports of mainly industrial products in retaliation for economic sanctions by Kiev.
• Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to prepare a list of measures against Ukraine after Kiev announced economic sanctions on a list of Russian companies and business figures.
• Relations between Ukraine and Russia went into free fall after Moscow`s 2014 annexation of Crimea and the subsequent outbreak of a pro-Russian insurgency in the eastern Donbass region.
• Since then, Russia has banned imports of beer, vodka, juice, wallpaper and confectionery from Ukraine.

7. Russia, Turkey to coordinate on Syria after US pullout

• Russia and Turkey on December 29, 2018 agreed to coordinate ground operations in Syria after the shock announcement of a US military withdrawal.
• President Donald Trump`s move has already hastened a shift in alliances with Syrian troops deployed on Friday in support of Kurdish forces around a strategic northern city. The Kurds, under threat from Ankara, had been supported by US forces.
• The Syrian deployment pleased ally Russia but upset Turkey ahead of Saturday`s talks in Moscow.

8. Pentagon not yet asked to pull out troops from Afghanistan

• The White House said on December 29, 2018 that President Donald Trump had not yet ordered the Pentagon to pull out troops from Afghanistan, contradicting reports last week that he is withdrawing half of the 14,000 US troops deployed there.
• Garrett Marquis, a White House and US National Security Council spokesman, said in an email to Bloomberg news agency that the question of withdrawal remained undecided.
• `The president has not made a determination to drawdown US military presence in Afghanistan,` he wrote. `And he has not directed the Department of Defence to begin the process of withdrawing US personnel from Afghanistan.
• Last week, US officials told journalists that Mr Trump had made up his mind to withdraw 7,000 troops from Afghanistan by the summer. `That decision has been made. There will be a significant withdrawal.

9. Kremlin confirms info on Syrian army taking control of Manbij

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brushed off the report on Manbij passing under the Syrian government’s control as a “psychological operation”, saying that “there is nothing definite yet”.
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said December 29, 2018 the information that the Syrian government’s forces had taken control of the city of Manbij was true.
• The Syrian Arab Army announced its troops had entered the northern city of Manbij after a request by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to take control of the town ahead of Turkey’s looming offensive in the area.

December 30, 2018: Sports Current Affairs

10. Shahbaz resigns as PHF secretary

• Olympian Shahbaz Senior December 29, 2018 tendered his resignation from the post of Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary tendered to PHF President Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar.
• Shahbaz Senior who was looking highly emotional and somewhat dejected, confirmed he had sent his resignation to PHF president. He said the government didn’t have any time for national game hockey and it makes no sense of clinging on to federation, when government, IPC Minister and Prime Minster don’t have time or funds to revive hockey.
• “I along with Brig Khokhar had worked tirelessly for last four years and trust me I would have long tendered my resignation had Brig Khokhar was not the president.”