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February 04, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Adab Festival ends with tribute to culture, literature
• The celebration of the rich and diverse Pakistani culture and literature at the three-day Adab Festival culminated with a closing ceremony against the beautiful backdrop of Governor House on February 3, 2019 evening.
• Peter Alan Oborne, British broadcaster and former chief political commentator of The Daily Telegraph who was the keynote speaker at the event, amped up the crowd by sharing his excitement at beingback in Karachi and also taking part in the Adab Festival.
• He shared there were indeed many reasons to hope for Pakistan, and Pakistanis should be very proud of their journey.
• Recalling his first trip to Karachi 10 years ago, Mr Oborne said that the city was virtually in a state of civil war. `Karachi used to be one of the most dangerous cities on the planet and the change is amazing,` he said. Over time things have vastly improved and it has become easier for foreigners to visit and live here, according to him.
2. Cabinet approves proposed law to regulate charities
• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has approved a proposed law to regulate affairs of charities and collection of charitable funds in the province.
• The proposed law has made re-registration of the already registered charity organisations mandatory. The cabinet approved KP Charities Act, 2018 in its meeting.
• The bill defines charity as `any association of persons established for a charitable purpose and includes organisations registered under Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies (registration and control) Ordinance 1961, Societies Registration Act 1860, Companies Act 2017, public private trust and organisation registered under any law for time being in force.
• Section 12 of the bill says that every charity shall get itself registered with the registering authority no later than such date as government may, by notification determine. It says that unless charities are registered under this Act, they would not be allowed to collect funds. Section 3 of the bill provides for setting up a charitable commission, which will consist of three to five members including its chairperson.
3. Religious scholar Qari Ahmad Mian passes away
• Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan (Noorani) Group Central Vice President Qari Ahmad Mian passed away on February 3, 2019.
• He was 64. Qari Ahmad Mian was the son of renowned religious scholar Maulana Hamid Ali Khan. He did BSC from the Government Emerson College Bosan Road and took part in Nizam-e-Mustafa Movement in 1977.
4. World Cancer Day today (February 4, 2019)
• Events, walks and other activities have been organised in the capital to mark World Cancer Day today (February 4, 2019).
• Some 148,000 cases of cancer are reported in Pakistan every year.
• Moreover, over 100,000 cancer-related deaths 48,000 men and 52,000 women and a prevalence of 350,000 living cancer patients were reported in the past five years.
• Cancer is the second most common cause of human deaths. (12.6pc) after cardiovascular diseases (15.1pc), road traffic accidents (9.7pc) and respiratory ailments (7.1pc).
February 4, 2019: International Current Affairs
5. Taliban to meet anti-govt leaders in Moscow
• The Taliban said on February 3, 2019 they would send a delegation to Russia for a rare meeting with Afghan opposition leaders, just days after peace talks with the United States that excluded the Kabul government.
• The two-day sit-down in Moscow, starting on February 5, 2019, will be attended by some of President Ashraf Ghani`s chief political rivals, but none of the government envoys tasked with Taliban negotiations.
• Ghani has appealed to the insurgents to talk after being frozen out of six days of discussions between the Taliban and the United States in Doha last month that sealed the outlines of a peace deal.
• Instead the Taliban, who refuse to recognise Ghani`s government, will sit down in Moscow with some of the president`s main opponents to discuss the country`s future stirring frustrations in Kabul.
6. Gang-weary Salvadorans vote for president
• Polls opened on Sunday in El Salvador`s presidential elections amid heavy security as voters look for change in a country beset by gang violence and widespread poverty.
• Nayib Bukele, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador, is the frontrunner in a race that could upend the nearly 30-year grip of the country`s two largest pardes on Salvadoran politics.
• Gang-violence and insecurity was high on voters` minds. El Salvador is among the world`s most violent countries with a murder rate of 51 per 100,000 citizens. `It`s honestly scary to go out alone in the street, you never know what can happen you,` first-time voter Gabriela Solorzano said at a polling station in the north of the capital, her brother holding her hand.
• `So I think whoever wins this election should care about us young people, give us more security as there is so much violence,` said Solorzano,19.
7. Israel begins construction of border barrier with Gaza Strip
• Israel said on February 3, 2019 that work to strengthen its border with the Gaza Strip had entered a new phase, with construction starting on a massive new barrier along the frontier.
• `Over the weekend we began building the aboveground barrier along the Gaza border,` Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told journalists before the weekly cabinet meeting.
• The barrier, set to stand six metres off the ground, `will prevent terrorists from Gaza from penetrating into our territory on the ground`, he said in Hebrew.
• Netanyahu gave no further details but a defence ministry statement said that work on the structure began on Thursday.
• It is set to follow the 65-kilometre course of an underground barrier also under construction meant to neutralise the threat of cross-border tunnels built by Gaza militants.
8. Indian Punjab Minister proposes exchange of Pak dolphins with Indian crocs
• Indian Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu has said he will soon write to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan with a proposal to exchange gharials (crocodiles) at Chhatbir zoo in Chandigarh with Indus River dolphins of the neighbouring country.
• This comes a day after Indian Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh gave nod to declare the endangered Indus River dolphin, found only in the Beas River in the country, as the state aquatic animal. “We have gharials and Pakistan has Indus River dolphins in abundance. They don’t have gharials and we have very few dolphins in the Beas River. We can give them gharials in exchange of dolphins,” Sidhu said.
• Sidhu was at Harike Wetlands near Taran Taran to celebrate World Wetland Day on Saturday. As per a survey conducted in December last year, Beas River has only eight to 10 dolphins.
February 4, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
9. SA end Pakistan`s record run of T20 series wins
• Babar Azam hit a majestic 90 but Pakistan`s world-record run of 11 straight Twenty20 series victories came to an end as South Africa won by seven runs at the Wanderers on February 3, 2019.
• South Africa took a winning 2-0 lead in the three match series and saw Pakistan slip to defeat in a bilateral T20 series for the first time in three years.
• Pakistan had not lost a T20 series since they were eliminated from the World T20 in India in March 2016.
• Pakistan were on track to overhaul South Africa`s 188 for three until Babar was out off the first ball of the 17th over. It started a collapse in which six wickets fell for 34 runs in four overs.
• The contrast between the two innings was stark. South Africa started slowly but stand-in captain David Miller plundered an unbeaten 65 off 29 balls as the hosts scored 127 runs off the last ten overs, including 29 off the final over bowled by Usman Shinwari.
• Pakistan scored rapidly at the start of their innings, with Babar hitting the first three balls off Beuran Hendricks for four. It was 70 for one at the end of the six over power play 26 runs ahead of South Africa`s total at the same stage.
10. Pakistan women score consolation T20 win
• Pakistan completed a face-saving 12-run win over the West Indies by 12 runs in the third and final women`s Twenty20 International at the South end Club Karachi on February 3, 2019.
• But the visitors won the series 2-1 and both the sides will now travel to Dubai where they will play three ODIs on Feb 7, 9 and 11.
• This was Pakistan`s second victory over the ICC Women`s World T20 2016 champions in 12 matches after their only other win had come in Guyana in September 2011.
• Befittingly, the victory came on the day when SanaMir became the sixth player overall and first Asian to complete a century of T20Is.
