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January 30, 2019: National Current Affairs

1. Pakistan, Russia agree to coordinate efforts for Afghan peace

• Pakistan and Russia on January 29, 2019 agreed to continue coordinating their positions on efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
• The understanding was reached during Russian Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Zamir Kabulov`s meetings with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.
• Mr Kabulov was in Islamabad for consultations on regional political situation and the Afghan peace process.
• Pakistan has renewed efforts for facilitating the peace process in Afghanistan. The United States and Taliban last week held six-day-long negotiations after which both sides claimed significant progress although some issues still remain to be resolved.

2. Pakistan`s score on graft perception index up by one point

• Pakistan has made a slight improvement in the `Corruption Perceptions Index 2018`releasedbytheTransparency International on January 29, 2019 with a score of 33 though its overall ranleing among 180 countries has remained unchanged.
• The country with a score of 32 on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean) had ranked 117 out of 180 countries last year.
• The index, which is published annually by the Transparency International, ranks countries by perceived levels of corruption as determined by assessments and opinion surveys.
• Pakistan`s ranking had showed considerable improvement during the five-year term of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government as it jumped 10 positions from 127 to 117. But the ranking has failed to improve since 2016.

3. 37 MPAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries

• Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has, at last, appointed 37 members of the Punjab Assembly as parliamentary secretaries.
• According to a notification issued by the law department on January 29, 2019, not a single woman MPA had been chosen on the posts whose main purpose was to answer the lawmakers` queries in the House in the absence of the relevant minister

4. ECC okays Rs200bn Sukuk bond for retiring circular debt

• Encouraged by attractive bids, the government on January 29, 2019 allowed additional wheat exports of 500,000 tonnes and gave a go-ahead to raise Rs200 billion funds from Islamic banks for partial cash settlement of the circular debt now well above Rs1.415 trillion.
• The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet presided over by Finance Minister Asad Umar.
• It rejected approval to the budget of National Telecommunication Corporation due to unsatisfactory explanations to various questions.
• The ECC allowed the export of 500,000 tonnes of wheat over and above 500,000 tonnes export approved on Nov 20, 2018 on the basis of bids already received in view of good prices to save about one-month time required for fresh bidding. It was explained that the bidding process completed on Jan 11 received `competitive rates (highest at Rs32,759 per tonne) over and above the purchase price of Rs32,500 per tonne`.
• The bond will have a 10-year maturity at a rental return of a base rate plus a margin of 100 basis points and Takaful cost. The base rate will be defined as six-month Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor) asking side prevailing on the base rate setting date, subject to a floor and cap.

5. Govt increases size of pictorial warning on cigarettes to 60pc

• While the Islamabad High Court waits to hear a case regarding the enlarged pictorial health warning on cigarette packaging, the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on January 29, 2019 issued a notification increasing the size of the warning from 50 to 60pc, on either side of the pack.
• The ministry has also decided to change the image on the packaging, and has directed all tobacco companies to introduce new packaging in the market from June 1.
• In January 2015, the government had issued a statutory regulatory order (SRO increasing the size of the pictorial health warning from 40 to 85pc and replacing the image on cigarette packs within five months.
• The NHS minister at the time, Saira Afzal Tarar, was even awarded by the World Health Organisation for the decision, which the government could not implement for another nearly four years.
• Soon after the then-NHS minister`s announcement a delegation from the tobacco industry, led by a high commissioner, had met with then-finance minister Ishaq Dar, and they decided that the matter would be reconsidered by an interministerial committee.

6. Chinese researchers excavate prehistoric site near Taxila

• Researchers from three universities in China have in collaboration with the Punjab Department of Archaeology excavated a prehistoric site located about 18km northwest of Taxila and made major discoveries including pottery, terracotta, stone and iron objects.
• The site which belongs to the Harappa and Indus Valley civilisations and dates back to 2500 BC was excavated and explored by three archaeological teams including six researchers from the Hebei University Shijiazhuang, six researchers from Nanjing University and two researchers from Hubei University Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology who were led by Professor Tang Zihua of the Geological Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing.
• The teams excavated the site over three months.

7. Lawmaker Arshad Lodhi dies

• A seven-time MPA, Arshad Khan Lodhi, passed away in Lahore January 29, 2019. He was 81.
• Arshad first became an MPA following the 1972 elections and later won six more times.
• He lost the 2008 general elections, but returned to the Punjab Assembly in 2013.
• Arshad was born on Oct 1, 1937 in Jalandhar, India. He graduated from the Government College, Lahore in 1959 and obtained an LLB degree in 1966 from the University of Karachi.
• He was a practicing lawyer and an agriculturist.

January 30, 2019: International Current Affairs

8. US drops out of top 20 performers in global corruption index

• The United States slid four points lower on a global corruption index last year, dropping out of the top 20 countries for the first time since 2011, watchdog Transparency International said in a report that cited growing threats to democracy worldwide.
• The group said its latest report on business leaders` perceptions of corruption put the United States at 71, down from 75, on a scale of 0-100.
• That sounds a `wake-up call` about the need to tackle connicts of interest, undue influence of the private sector and widening gaps between rich and poor, said Zoe Reiter, the watchdog`s acting representative to the United States.
• `This is a red flag because it`s really part of a pattern that we`ve seen since the 2008 global financial crisis of a loss of trust … in our public institutions,` she said. `People don`t see us as having adequate mechanisms in place to fight corruption and ensure the accountability of our elected officials.

9. Google, Facebook, Twitter must do more against fake news: EU

• Google,Facebook, Twitter and Mozilla must do more to combat fake news as Europeans head towards an election or the companies will face the threat of regulatory action, the European Commission said on January 29, 2019.
• Companies and trade bodies representing the advertising industry signed up to a voluntary code of conduct in October to ward off more heavy-handed legislation. Critics say not enough has been done since they signed up.
• The European Union`s executive said signatories to the code of practice had taken steps to remove fake accounts and limit sites promoting fake news but said more was needed.
• `Now they should make sure these tools are available to everyone across the EU, monitor their efficiency, and continuously adapt to new means used by those spreading disinformation. There is no time to waste,` EU Commissioner for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip said.
• European Parliament will hold elections in May while Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine all go to the polls in coming months.

January 30, 2019: Sports Current Affairs

10. First ever blind women international T20 in Pakistan

• Nepal beat Pakistan in blind women international T20 in Pakistan
• The visiting Nepal cricket team took a victorious start to the five-match international T20 series with a thumping ten-ticket win over hosts Pakistan at the Kinnaird College ground Lahore on January 29, 2019.
• With this match history was created as it was the first ever blind women international T20 in Pakistan.
• The home side put into bat by the visiting side was bowled out with a paltry 53 runs in 11.3 overs as most of their players failed to rise to the occasion and fell cheaply.
• Kiran was the top scorer for Pakistan with nine runs and Nimra remained unbeaten on six runs as the eight home players threw away their precious wickets in mix ups while taking single runs. Sinita and Bhagwati claimed a wicket apiece from the touring side.
• Nepal reached their target in just five overs without any loss, setting a high pace of runs with boundaries and singles. Player of the matchh, Binita, and Mankesi remained unbeaten on 28 and 19 runs respectively.