Day by Day Current Affairs (Jan 21, 2018)

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January 21, 2018 (Day by Day Current Affairs)

US, Afghanistan, India gang up against Pakistan at UNSC
- The United States, Afghanistan and India ganged up against Pakistan at a meeting of the UN Security Council, with US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan claiming that Washington could not work with Islamabad if it `continued to give sanctuary to terrorist organisations`
- Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi forcefully countered the charges levelled at Pakistan and said that Afghanistan and its partners, especially the US, needed to address `the challenges inside Afghanistan rather than shif t the onus for ending the conflict onto others`
UN sanctions monitoring team due next week
- The United Nations Security Council`s sanctions monitoring team will visit Islamabad on a two-day trip for an assessment of Pakistan`s compliance with the world body`s sanctions regime
- `The monitoring team of the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee will be here on Jan 25 and 26`
- The visit is taking place amid increasing pressure on Pakistan from the United States and India with respect to the alleged inade-quate implementation of the sanctions on Hafiz Saeed and entities linked to him
Public varsities barred from issuing affiliation to law colleges
- Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on January 20, 2018 restrained all public universities from awarding affiliation to law colleges till further orders, and constituted commissions for each province to inspect standard of the institutions and education imparted by them
- The CJP was hearing a petition of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) about standard of legal education in the country and establishment of inferior private law colleges. Justice Ijazul Ahsan joined him on the twojudge bench at the Lahore registry
PAF pilot who downed Israeli jet in 1974
- Retired Air Commodore Sattar Alvi, a celebrated fighter pilot of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and veteran of the 1973 ArabIsrael war. In 1974, he shot down an Israeli Mirage aircraft while flying a Syrian Air Force MiG-21, becoming the only pilot in history to have committed the rare feat
- On this act of gallantry, Mr Alvi was awarded aSitara-i-Jurat by the government of Pakistan, and Wisaam Faris and Wisaam Shujaat by the government of Syria
- Mr Alvi presented the flying coverall (suit) of the deceased Israeli pilot (Capt Lutz) to the PAF Museum on the occasion
Proposed changes to KP prosecution law finally gets cabinet`s nod
- The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet has finally approved the muchdelayed amendments to the KP prosecution law, which binds the police to seek the opinion of prosecutors before the registration of FIRs besides sharing their case diary with them
- The proposed amendments, which the cabinet approved in a meeting lately and are likely to be tabled in the provincial assembly for approval for enforcement, were cleared by the law department in June 2016 but remained in limbo due to the police department`s strong reservations about some of them
- They were first drafted in light of the decision of the cabinet`s 46th meeting in order to properly combat militancy
ADB to help develop economic corridors
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assist Pakistan to realise the potential of economic corridor development with a view to boost industrial productivity, exports and job creation and thereby contribute to sustained, increased and equitable economic growth
- The technical assistance is part of the Pakistan Economic Corridors Programme (PECP) financed by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and jointly delivered by ADB and DFID to promote regional trade and connectivity.
- Funding for the technical assistance will be provided by British government
India opens ports for used steel imports
- India has increased the number of ports that can handle imports of non-prime steel to a total of six, with the addition of three new ports, the ministry of commerce and industry said
- A ministry notification dated Jan 18 and made public on Jan 20 implies all types of steel can be imported through the new ports. The minis-try is set to encourage foreign purchases of nonprime category steel
Turkey launches operation against Kurdish militia in Syria
- Turkey on January 20, 2019 launched a new air and ground operation to oust Kurdish militia from a northern Syrian enclave, defying US warnings that the action risked destabilising the area
- Turkey had in recent days sent dozens of military vehicles to the border area and readied pro-Ankara Syria rebels in preparation for the operation against the People`s Protection Units (YPG) militia which Turkey deems to be a terror organisation
- President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly vowed that Turkey would root out `nests of terror` in Syria, despite warnings that the operation could be militarily tough and complicate relations with Washington and Moscow
US govt shutdown continues as Congress struggles to end stalemate
- The US federal government shut down on January 20, 2018 after the Trump administration and Democrats locked horn over a proposal that could keep or evict hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to America as children
- This is the first shutdown to have happened while one party, the Republicans, controls both Congress and the White House
- The Republicans want funding for border security including a wall onthe border with Mexico and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending
- The Democrats are demanding protection from deportation for more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children
India edge Pakistan to retain Blind World Cup title
- Sunil Ramesh slammed a superb 93 as India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan by two wickets in a thrilling final to retain the Blind Cricket World Cup title on January 20, 2018
- Batting first, Pakistan amassed 308-8 in the stipulated 40 overs with useful contributions from Badar Munir (57), Riasat Khan (48) and captain Nisar Ali (47)
- Ramesh then led the run chase as India overhauled the target with eight balls to spare to retain the trophy that they won in 2014 after beating the same opponents in Cape Town