Day by Day Current Affairs (July 05, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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July 5, 2018

1. SC moves for new dams construction

• The Supreme Court on July 4, 2018 ordered relevant authorities to immediately initiate work on Diamer Bhasha Dam and Mohmand Dam, and constituted an execution committee headed by Wapda chairman.
• A four-member bench comprising Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Muneeb Akhtar was hearing a suo moto case related to the construction of Kalabagh Dam.
• Earlier, consensus emerged between different stakeholders that the aforementioned two dams should be constructed immediately instead of Kalabagh Dam, which is much politicised due to the reservations of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The court directed finance ministry to open a dedicated bank account in the name of Supreme Court registrar to receive funds and contributions from general public, both in local and foreign currency.
• Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar became the first donor himself by donating one million rupees, and he urged all Pakistani citizens to contribute in this national cause.
• In its short order, the court restrained the government institutions from questioning the source of income of those who will submit contributions. It also maintained that funds collected from the people would not be used for any other purpose.

2. China, Pakistan conduct joint border patrol in Khunjerab

• Chinese and Pakistani frontier defence forces conducted joint patrol at a mountainous region in Khunjerab in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region last week.
• They were respectively assigned to a frontier defence company in Khunjerab under the PLA Xinjiang Military Command (MC) and the border police of the Pakistani Khunjerab Security Force (KSF), a leading China’s defence journal‘ China Military’ reported on July 4, 2018.
• The Chinese and Pakistan frontier defence forces discussed Chinese-Pakistan border situation during the joint border patrol. The troops from both Chinese and Pakistani frontier defence forces saluted each other prior to the patrol and also engaged in a friendly competition of arm wrestling during the short break.

3. Centre, KP agree to rehabilitation of tribal areas

• Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Justice (r) Dost Muhammad Khan and caretaker Federal Minister for Information, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Syed Ali Zafar on July 4, 2018 agreed to the overall rehabilitation and reconstruction of newly merged districts of erstwhile FATA into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• They also agreed to install an efficient governance structure, giving quick relief to the people of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and more importantly bringing them into the national stream.
• The Minister briefed the Chief Minister on the quick measures, transfer of resources from the Federal government to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, legal irritants, Constitutional position, proposed exemption of FATA from Federal and provincial taxes and collective responsibility for the infrastructure development in the newly merged districts.
• The Federal government would be recommended certain incentives, relief and expeditious transfer of resources for the overall recovery plan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the newly merged districts.

4. Uruguayan to head UN observers in Pakistan, India

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Major General Jose Eladio Alcain of Uruguay as head of mission and chief military observer for the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP).
• Alcain will succeed Major General Per Gustaf Lodin of Sweden, who will complete his two-year assignment in July 2018.
• Alcain has had a distinguished career with the Uruguayan Army since 1977. Most recently, he held the position of Director of the National Health Service of the Armed Forces (2015-2018).
• Prior to this, he served as Third Mechanized Cavalry Brigade Commander and as Director of the Architecture and Engineering Section of the National Health Service of the Armed Forces (2012-2013). He also worked as instructor at the Uruguayan Peacekeeping Training Centre (2000-2017) and the Uruguayan War College (2003-2018).

5. Pakistan’s only half population registered as voters: ECP

• In a shocking revelation, the Election Commission of Pakistan has found that only half of the country’s population is registered as voters.
• While there are understandably several reasons for the distressingly low number of voters ranging from their awareness, low motivation and logistical issues, it calls for serious attention from the political management to address this alienation.
• According to an analysis of the final electoral rolls issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the lowest percentage of voters in Pakistan in terms of its population i.e., 20 percent, while the Jhelum district of Punjab has the highest as 77 percent of its population as registered voters.
• Separately in Balochistan, district has the lowest percentage of voters i.e., 24 percent, FR Bannu in FATA 29 percent, Tharparkar in Sindh 35 percent and Rajanpur in Punjab i.e., 44 percent. In order words, Rajanpur has better percentage of registered voters than Islamabad and Balochistan.
• Similarly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Haripur has the highest percentage of voters i.e., 66 percent, Orakzai Agency in FATA also 66 percent, Awaran in Balochistan and Karachi Central in Sindh have 63 percent voters each.
• Among provinces, Punjab is on top on the list is with 55 percent of its population as registered voters, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and FATA 50 each, Sindh 47 while Islamabad has 38 percent of its population as voters. Balochistan is at the bottom with 35 percent of its population as registered voters.

6. IS leader Baghdadi’s son killed in Syria

• The Islamic State group says the son of its leader has been killed fighting Syrian government forces.
• The news of death of the young son of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared on the group’s social media accounts.
• It included a picture of a young boy carrying a rifle and identified him as Huthaifa al-Badri. The statement, dated this month, said he was an elite fighter, known as an “inghimasi,” who was killed while fighting Syrian and Russia troops at a power station in Homs province.

7. Amjad Khan restored as Nespak MD

• Amjad A Khan has started functioning as Nespak MD in the light of a decision announced by the Lahore High Court. Earlier, he was removed from his position in April 2017 by the Ministry of Energy during his tenure which was to expire in August 2019.
• Amjad challenged his removal in the court and as a result his writ petition was accepted.
• A foreign qualified Civil Engineer from University of Sheffield, England, Amjad A. Khan possesses extensive experience in the fields of project management, contract administration, corporate management and project monitoring and control.
• During his service with Nespak, he worked on many projects of national importance such as Tarbela Units 9 and 10, Kala Bagh Dam project, Mangla Power House Units 9 and 10, the projects of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and other important projects in the field of hydro and thermal power engineering.

8. US drone kills Afghan-based TTP commander

• Officials in Afghanistan confirmed July 4, 2018 an American drone strike has killed a key militant commander wanted in neighbouring Pakistan for terrorism.
• Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told VOA the attack occurred July 3, 2018 in the volatile Kunar province next to the border with Pakistan. He would not immediately identify the slain militant linked to the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.
• Local media reported missiles fired from an unmanned aircraft, known as a drone, struck a compound where fugitive TTP members were attending a meeting. Omar Rehman, known as Ustad Fateh, who is said to be the TTP’s operational commander, reportedly was among those killed.
• The United States unrelentingly continues its counterterrorism efforts against IS-K, Al-Qaeda, and other regional and international terrorist groups.

9. Seattle bans plastic straws

• Seattle has become the first major US city to ban plastic straws and utensils in its eateries, a victory for environmentalists that will be tough to replicate elsewhere in the United States.
• After targeting plastic bags, environmentalists have set their sights on plastic drinking straws as a public enemy, highlighting the gap between their brief moment of utility and the enduring impact they have on marine creatures, which often ingest discarded plastic.
• A video of a turtle visibly in pain and bleeding with a plastic straw stuck in its nose went viral in 2015.
• With 725,00 residents, Seattle, which sits off Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, is the largest US city so far to have banned plastic straws, a move hitherto only a few coastal resorts – such as Malibu last month – have dared to take.

10. Chinese scientists develop power generating windows

• Chinese scientists developed a window material with thin, see-through solar cells that could turn window into miniature electricity generators.
• The window-compatible material reported in a study published in the journal Joule could potentially double the energy efficiency of an average household.
• Building-integrated photovoltaics are a great example of a market where silicon photovoltaics, despite their cheapness and performance, are not the most appropriate due to their dull appearance and heaviness