February 2019

Day by Day Current Affairs (February 06, 2019) | MCQs for CSS, PMS

Current Affairs MCQs 2019 Daily Updates
Written by Shahzad F. Malik
WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS.  “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

February 06, 2019: National Current Affairs

1. 36 NA standing committees formed

• After a delay of around four months, the National Assembly Tuesday formed 36 standing committees.
• The newly-formed committees include Rules and Procedure, House and Library, Government Assurance, Cabinet Secretariat, Climate Change, Commerce and Textiles, Communication, Defence, Defence Production, Energy, Federal Education and Professional Training, Finance, Foreign Affairs, Housing and Works, Human Rights, Industries, Information and Broadcasting, Information Technology, Interior, Inter Provincial Coordination, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit and Baltistan, Maritime Affairs, Narcotics Control, Food Security and Research, Health, Overseas Pakistanis, Parliamentary Affairs, Planning Development and Reform, Postal Service, Privatisation, Railways, Religious Affairs, Science and Technology, States and Frontier Regions, Statistics, and Standing Committee on Water Resources.
• With average 20 members in each, the committees include 339 members from ruling PTI, while the number of PML-N stands at around 180. PPPP has been given 103 seats, while the rest of the associates belong to other parties including independent. As per rules, the committees have to be constituted within 30 days after the election of leader of the house. The deadline expired on September 18.

2. FBR starts receiving live transactions of sales

• The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started receiving live transactions of sales of finished articles of textile and leather.
• The eligible persons integrating or having already integrated their systems with the FBR can now avail of reduced rate of 6 per cent on their sales as announced by the federal government.
• The federal government had notified effective from 1st July 2018, a reduced rate of 6% for finished articles of textile and leather for those registered persons who are online with FBR’s computerized system. This system was made operational by issuing SRO 1360(I)/2018, dated 12.11.2018. As many as 75 registered persons are now integrated with FBR and declaring sales of their 2574 outlets through this system.

February 6, 2019: International Current Affairs

3. Former anti-Islam Dutch lawmaker becomes a Muslim

• A former Dutch MP and right-hand man of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has revealed he has converted to Islam, news reports said on February 5, 2019.
• For years Joram van Klaveren fought a relentless campaign in the Lower House against Islam in the Netherlands as a lawmaker for Wilders` Freedom Party (PVV).
• At the time, the `hardliner pleaded for banning the burqa and minarets, saying `we don`t want any Islam, or at least as little as possible in the Netherlands` `, the daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad (AD) said.
• But the 40-year-old Van Klaveren said he had changed his mind halfway through writing an anti-Islam book, which he on February 5, 2019 told the NRC daily `became a refutation of objections non-Muslims have` against the religion.
• `If everything I wrote up to that point is true, and I believe that, then I am a de facto Muslim,` he told the NRC.
• Van Klaveren converted to Islamon October 26 last year, the NRC added in the interview piece ahead of the release of Van Klaveren`s book titled Apostate: From Christianity to Islam in the Time of Secular Terror.

4. Taliban demand new constitution in rare Moscow talks

• An extraordinary meeting between the Taliban and some high-ranking Afghan politicians, excluding Kabul government`s representatives, was held in Moscow on February 5, 2019 in which the former demanded a new constitution for Afghanistan and promised an `inclusive Islamic system` to govern the war-torn country.
• In the meeting, rivals of President Ashraf Ghani called for an interim government in Afghanistan.
• The unprecedented gathering saw the Taliban outline their vision for Afghanistan, including rules around women and the adoption of an Islamic constitution, in televised talks before heavyweights, including former president Hamid Karzai.
• The Taliban led prayers and dined with the leaders, some sworn enemies, before sitting down for their most significant engagement with the Afghan politicians in recent memory.
• The roundtable, which saw women defend their rights before the Taliban, comes a week after the insurgents held talks with United States negotiators in Doha about ending the 17-year war.

5. Uzbekistan ready to host Afghan peace talks

• Uzbekistan has once again expressed its readiness to host any direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement.
• Uzbek Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov made the proposal during his meeting with Tadamichi Yamamoto, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s special representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in Tashkent.
• Kamilov said Uzbekistan “is ready to create all necessary conditions to organise direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement in its territory at any stage of the peace process.”

6. Russia plans new missile systems

• Russia will race to develop two new land based missile launch systems before 2021 to respond to Washington`s planned exit from a landmark nuclear arms control pact.
• President Vladimir Putin said at the weekend that Russia had suspended the Cold War-era Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which bans both nations from stationing short and intermediate-range land-based missiles in Europe.
• Moscow and Washington accuse each other of violating the treaty and Putin said Russia had acted after the United States announced it was withdrawing from the pact.
• Current Russian Defence Minister: Sergei Sholgu

7. US Senate votes against Trump`s withdrawal plan

• US Senators voted across party lines on February 4, 2019 evening to approve an amendment that rejects President Donald Trump`s plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan and Syria.
• The resolution, adopted by a 70-26 vote, stresses that the United States `faces continuing threats from terrorist groups operating in Syria and Afghanistan and that`s why a precipitous withdrawal of US forces from either country could put at risk hard-won gains and US national security`.
• There are 53 Republicans in the 100-seat Senate, but the resolution was easily adopted because 46 of them voted for the amendment, sending a clear message that they are ready to vote against a Republican president too if they disagree with him on a particular issue.
• Twenty-three Democrats and an independent senator also voted for the resolution.
• The amendment, opposed by only three of the 53 Senate Republicans, will eventually be incorporated into a broader security bill on the Middle East.

8. Egypt debates motion to extend presidential term limits

• Egypt’s parliament advanced a proposal on February 5, 2019 to amend the constitution in a way that could allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in office well beyond the end of his current term in 2022.
• El-Sissi led the 2013 military overthrow of an elected but divisive Islamist president and was elected the following year. He has presided over an unprecedented crackdown on dissent, and was re-elected last year after all potentially serious challengers were jailed or pressured to exit the race. A constitutional amendment to extend el-Sissi’s rule would add to concerns that the country is slipping back into authoritarianism eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s nearly three-decade rule.
• Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al said two thirds of the 596-seat legislature endorsed the proposed amendments. It’s unclear when the assembly which is packed with el-Sissi supporters will take a final vote, and a national referendum would need to be held to amend the constitution. A draft of the proposed amendments, obtained by The Associated Press, shows concerted efforts by the pro-government “Supporting Egypt” coalition to consolidate el-Sissi’s power.

9. Mars sensor gets its protective ‘hat’

• The US space agency’s (Nasa) InSight mission has reached a new milestone in its quest to understand the interior of the Red Planet.
• The probe has spent the weeks since its landing in November positioning a seismometer instrument on the surface.
• Happy with the set-up, scientists have now instructed InSight to put a protective cover over the equipment.
• The dome will shield the instrument from wind disturbance and swings in temperature.

10. 1,200 yrs old Bible found in Southeastern Turkey

• A Bible thought to be 1,200 years old was found in a police operation in southeastern Diyarbakir province of Turkey.
• An anti-smuggling team has seized the Bible, said to be only 34 pages long, with gold lettering on leather, in the city of Kayapinar, said the southeastern Diyarbakir governorship in a statement.
• The team seized the Bible while three suspects were attempting to sell it, the statement added. Six suspects were arrested over the incident, according to the governorship. No further details of the ancient Bible were provided

Day by Day Current Affairs (February 06, 2019) | MCQs for CSS, PMS

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Shahzad F. Malik

Shahzad Faisal Malik is the administrator of CSSTimes.pk and is responsible for managing the content, design, and overall direction of the blog. He has a strong background in Competitive Exams and is passionate and sharing information with others.
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