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February 14, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Aman 2019 concludes with hope for strategic cooperation
• The sixth multinational Aman Exercise reached its conclusion on February 13, 2019 with the Pakistan Navy`s newly commissioned replenishment tanker PNS Moawin taking centre stage as it hosted dignitaries, including President Arif Alvi and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, for witnessing the international fleet review.
• It was like a scene from a war movie with ships, frigates, boats, special forces elements and a big support ship in the sea, all present and ready for action. The refuelling demonstration began with two frigates PNS Aslat and PNS Saif which were moving side by side with PNS Moawin. The two receiving ships had hoses sent their way from Moawin through which fuel was supposed to be transferred to them.
• It was also pointed out that PNS Moawin built with the cooperation of Turkey is Pakistan Navy`s largest indigenously built ship that was commissioned in October 2018. PNS Aslat has also been built at the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Limited with the cooperation from China.
2. Four cops martyred in D.I. Khan attack
• Four constables were martyred while a station house officer (SHO) and two passers-by injured when a police party came under attack on the Indus Highway within the jurisdiction of Parova police station on February 13, 2019.
• The police party led by Parova SHO Tahir Nawaz was patrolling Mahra Town when they were intercepted by assailants on a motorcycle and a double-cabin pickup. The attackers opened fire, leaving five of the personnel and two passers-by seriously injured.
• They escaped after the attack.
• The injured were rushed to the district headquarters hospital of Dera Ismail Khan, where four constables succumbed to their wounds.
• The deceased were identified as Constables Muhammad Asif, Javed (driver), Mirbaz and Sarfaraz. The injured included SHO Tahir Nawaz and passers-by Ghulam Yaseen and Abdul Hameed.
3. Five schemes worth Rs6.5bn approved
• The Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP) has approved five schemes of various sectors with an estimated cost of Rs6.52 billion.
• These schemes were approved in the 16th meeting of the PDWP of the current fiscal year 2018-19, presided over by P&D chairman Habibur Rehman Gilani.
• P&D Secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, all members of thePlanning & Development Board, provincial secretaries concerned and other senior representatives of the departments also attended the meeting.
• The approved development schemes were Teachers` Training Program (Revised) at a cost of Rs550.343 million, Third Party Evaluation of Literacy Interventions (Revised PC-II) at a cost of Rs26.795 million, Punjab Energy Efficiency and Conservation Program (Revised) at a cost of Rs1.2 billion, Storm Water Drainage System forHaji Camp to River Ravi via Laxmi Chowk, McLeoad Road, Nabha Road, Chuburji and Shamnagar, Lahore (Revised) at a cost of Rs3.2 billion and Establishment of Citizen Facilitation and Service Centers (E-Khidmat Markaz) (Revised) at a cost of Rs1.5 billion.
• TASK FORCE: Meanwhile, on the special directions of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, the Punjab government has constituted the Task Force on Price Control.
4. Chairmen of 11 NA standing committees elected
• Chairmen of 11 standing committees of the National Assembly were elected on February 13, 2019 by members of the committees.
• The chairmanship of six committees was clinched by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf while the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz got chairmanship of three committees and Pakistan Peoples Party two committees.
• PTI`s Mujahid Ali was elected chairman of the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs; Munazza Hasan, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Climate Change; Faizullah, chairman of the Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs; Amjad Ali Khan, chairman of the Committee on Defence; Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar, the head of the Standing Committee on Government Assurances; and Rana Mohammad Qasim, the chairman of Rules of Procedure and Privileges.
• PML-N`s Rao Mohammad Ajmal Khan was elected the chairman of Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research; Rana Shamim Ahmed Khan the chairman of the Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan and Sheikh Fayyazuddin, the chairman of Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.
• PPP`s Syed Naveed Qamar became the chairman of the Standing Committee on Commerce and Textile and Syed Mustafa Mahmud the chairman of the Standing Committee on Privatisation.
5. Arif Usmani appointed NBP president
• Arif Usmani has been appointed as the president National Bank of Pakistan after the Ministry of Finance issued a notification in this regard on February 13, 2019.
• The federal cabinet approved Usmani`s name for the position in November last year but the notification from the finance ministry was held up after he sought the delay in order to wrap up his affairs at the previous organisation, according to an official of the finance ministry.
• The government also requires some time after the cabinet`s approval to get appropriate certification from the State Bank of Pakistan.
• Usmani had requested a delay in the notification to ensure clearance of dues and release of service at the Mashreq Bank Dubai, where he was working as the head of risk management since November, 2017, the official added.
6. Online tax collection launched in Balochistan
• Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has said that financial resources of the province will be enhanced from the current Rs15 billion to Rs40bn per annum in the next few years through good governance and making tax collecting machinery more effective.
• Speaking at a ceremony to launch the online tax collection system of the Excise and Taxation Department on February 13, 2019, the chief minister said that steps were being taken to increase the performance of tax collecting institutions.
• Founder of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party Syed Saeed Ahmed Hashmi, Adviser to the CM on Excise and Taxation Malik Naeem Bazai, provincial ministers and other officials concerned were present on the occasion.
• Jam Kamal congratulated the Excise and Taxation Department for launching the online tax collecting system successfully.
February 14, 2019: International Current Affairs
7. Taliban announce 14-member team for talks with US
• The Afghan Taliban announced on February 13, 2019 a 14-member team to meet American negotiators this month in Doha, including five former Guantanamo Bay inmates and a high-profile militant behind bars in Afghanistan.
• United States special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has undertaken extensive peace talks with the Taliban about ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, with another round expected in late February.
• The expanded negotiating team unveiled by the insurgents includes Anas Haqqani, who was captured in 2014 and whose older brother is deputy Taliban leader and head of the Haqqani network.
8. Former Afghan president Mojaddedi dies
• An Afghan mujahideen commander who fought the Soviets and rose to become the country`s first president after the Red Army retreated has died aged 93.
• Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, who commanded a mujahideen faction during the decade-long insurgency against the Soviet occupiers, passed away late on February 11, 2019 in a Kabul hospital after a long illness.
• Mojaddedi`s death comes three days before the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.
• The Red Army crossed the Amu Darya river into Soviet Uzbekistan on February 15, 1989 havingsuffered15,000 losses.
• After the withdrawal, Afghanistan`s communist regime collapsed in 1992 and Mojaddedi, who led the Afghan National Liberation Front, was chosen as interim president. He served just two months under a powersharing deal struck by mujahideen leaders. These factions later turned on each other and Afghanistan plunged into civil war.
9. UNESCO registers Saudi heritage society as INGO on heritage
• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has registered the Saudi Heritage Preservation Society (SHPS) ‘We are our Heritage’ as an international non-governmental organization on heritage.
• The SHPS becomes the 2nd Saudi non-governmental organization registered in the UNESCO and the 1st GCC and Arab organization in the field of heritage.
• The SHPS seeks to cooperate with the international organizations on designing and launching joint programs in the fields of culture and heritage.
• The society seeks to be an effective and influential player in the preservation of the Saudi heritage and awareness of its importance and national value in accordance with the Kingdom Vision 2030.
• The UNESCO accreditation is an important step that enhances the role of the society in achieving effective participation in the strategic partnerships with the international organizations.
February 14, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. PSL season 4 trophy unveiled in Dubai
• The HBL Pakistan Super League trophy was unveiled at a crowded press conference at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, the venue where the tournament would commence on February 14, 2019 with a glittering opening ceremony followed by the opening fixture between defending champions Islamabad United and Lahore Qalandars.
• Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ehsan Mani, HBL`s chief marketing officer Naveed Asghar and professionals director commercial for Middle East and Africa Arsalan Saif representing Swarovski were joined by captains of six franchises at the trophy launch ceremony.
