Day by Day Current Affairs (July 10, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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July 10, 2018

1. Pakistan launches two satellites from China

• Pakistan on July 9, 2018 launched the two indigenously-built satellites from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Centre to meet its imagery requirements in land mapping and natural disaster management.
• The Foreign Office confirmed that the satellites — Pakistan Remote Sensing Satellite-1 (PRSS-1) and Pakistan Technology Evaluation Satellite-1A (PakTES-1A) — were launched through Long March-2C rocket, at 0857 hours (PST), from a satellite centre located in Northwest China.
• The 1,200 kg PRSS-1 and the 285 kg PakTES-1A satellites would operate at an altitude of 640 km and 610 km, respectively, and would also enable the country in agriculture classification and assessment, urban and rural planning and water resource management.
• The satellites would help Pakistan end its reliance on commercial satellites for environmental monitoring particularly to address the challenges of floods, drought and water shortage. The satellites will also help assess the situation of forestation, rainfall and storage of rain water.
• The PakTES-1A, indigenously designed and developed by SUPARCO’s engineers, is equipped with an optical payload, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). It has a design life of three years.

2. First-ever mechanical heart transplant performed in Pakistan

• Pakistan’s first-ever mechanical heart transplant was successfully performed at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) on July 9, 2018 when a 62-year old Nafeesa Begum implanted with a device in her heart.
• Renowned Cardiologist Dr Pervaiz Chaudhry, who headed the team of doctors that performed the surgery, said heart of Nafeesa was functioning only 15 per cent prior to the surgery but after implanting Left Ventricle Assistant Device (LVAD), the heart would work normally.
• The operation lasted for three hours and the patient is stable and would be shifted to ICU soon.
• Failure of the left ventricle causes difficulty in breathing and the heart gets weaker or in common words it is termed as ‘ big heart’. The device called LVAD is implanted for assisting cardiac circulation.
• The device can work for one to seven year and after implantation and the patient can live a normal life. The mechanical heart transplant is performed at biggest hospitals abroad and now the Pakistanis will not have to go anywhere else as the similar treatment is available at the NICVD.

3. Population explosion – a real threat to Pakistan

• Pakistan being one of the high-fertility countries with a large proportion of young adults and children had a population of 33 million in 1950 and its rank was 14th in the world but today, its population has reached around 210 million making Pakistan 6th most populous country of the world, after China, India, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, and surpassed Japan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, South Korea, Russia etc.
• In terms of land area Pakistan is 34th and shares 0.6% of the world area and in terms of Human Development Index, it has 147th position in the world. Out of these countries, Pakistan has the highest population growth rate at around 1.90%. Each family in Pakistan on average has 3.1 children.
• Pakistan is facing a formidable challenge of tackling the issues of economic development and poverty reduction.
• There are numerous threats to Pakistan including military threat from neighbouring enemy country like India, the economic threat through rising international debt liabilities, drug addiction, ideological threats, provincialism, sectarianism, terrorism, corruption, political instability, disturbed political conditions, heightened security concerns, unstable law and order situation, soaring oil, food and other commodity prices etc., but the real threat to peace and development of Pakistan is the growing problem of “Pakistan Explosion” along with its serious and grave consequences, said Professor of Community Medicine Dr. Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry while talking to ‘The News’ in connection with World Population Day, which is observed every year on July 11 around the globe.

4. Diamer-Basha, Mohmand dams secretariat set up

• Following the Supreme Court’s last week historic judgment for expediting work on construction of two dams, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) has established a secretariat in Islamabad for the Implementation Committee of Diamer-Basha and Mohmand dams (ICDBMD), as work on the two major dams is going to start this financial year.
• Chairman Wapda Lt Gen (R) Muzammil Hussain will serve as the committee chairman, while Joint Secretary Ministry of Water Resources Syed Mehar Ali Shah would be its Secretary, said the Wapda spokesperson.
• Diamer-Basha Dam Project has a gross water storage capacity of 8.1 MAF and power generation capacity of 4,500 MW. Likewise, Mohmand Dam Hydropower Project will store 1.2 MAF water and generate 800MW electricity.
• The 1410 MW- Tarbela 5th Extension, the 2160 MW-Stage II of Dasu, the 7100 MW-Bunji and the Stage II of multipurpose Kurram Tangi Dam are among the ready-for-construction projects.

5. Erdogan assumes expanded powers in Turkey’s new era

• President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 9, 2018 took on greater powers than any Turkish leader for decades as he was sworn in for a second presidential term, under a new system denounced by opponents as a one man regime.
• Erdogan, who has transformed Turkey in 15 years of rule, described the change as a “new beginning” in the country’s history and vowed to be the president of all 81 million Turks.
• He took his oath in parliament for a new five-year term after his June election victory, followed by a ceremony at the presidential palace attended by dozens of world leaders marking the transition to the new executive presidency system.

6. Ethiopia, Eritrea declare war ‘has come to an end’

• Ethiopia and Eritrea are no longer at war, the neighbours said in a joint statement July 9, 2018 after a series of historic meetings in Asmara to end decades of acrimony and conflict.
• Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 41, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, 71, had inked a “Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship” on the second day of the state visit.
• The statement declared that the “state of war that existed between the two countries has come to an end. A new era of peace and friendship has been ushered (in). oth countries will work to promote close cooperation in political, economic, social, cultural and security areas.
• The declaration echoed comments made by Abiy at a dinner hosted by Isaias late Sunday, where he said diplomatic, trade, transport and communications ties would be re-established and borders re-opened.
• United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed the dizzying peace process as “a very important symbol of hope not only for the two countries, not only for Africa but for the whole world.”

7. Chitral wins Shandur polo contest

• The three-day Shandur polo festival ended at the world`s highest polo ground here on July 9, 2018 with the local team winning the contest.
• More than 30,000 people, both from Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan and other parts of the country, visited the place, which is 12,304 feet above sea level.
• The Chitral team won the contest by scoring 10 goals against GB`s five.

8. Samsung opens world`s largest phone factory in India

• Samsung Electronics has formally opened a new factory in India, which the South Korean tech group says is the world`s biggest mobile phone manufacturing plant, part of its plans to expand production in the world`s fastest growing major mobile phone market.
• The factory in Noida, on the outskirts of New Delhi, will allow Samsung to make phones at a lower cost due to its scale at a time when other phone maleing hubs such as China are getting more expensive, analysts tracking the sector.
• The factory, inaugurated jointly on July 9, 2018 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, will also help Samsung to compete more effectively with rivals such as China`s Xiaomi, which became India`s biggest smartphone brand by shipments earlier this year.

9. Nigel wins, Wasim 11th in King`s Cup

• Nigel Richards of New Zealand won the 33rd King`s Cup International Tournament in Bangkok on July 9, 2018.
• Widely regarded as the greatest scrabble players of all times Richards was in imperious form, winning 23 of the 29 matches.
• Former world champion Panupol Sujjayakorn of Thailand was a distant second with 20 wins in 29 matches.
• Pakistan`s Waseem Khatri finished 11th at one of the toughest scrabble tournaments in the world. Khatri won 18 matches out of 29 and maintained a wonderful average score of 450 points per match, the fif th highest of all players. Some 84 players from all over the world took part in the event.

10. First quolls born in Australian wild in half a century

• The first eastern quolls in 50 years have been born in the wild on the Australian mainland, with the rice grain-sized pups offering hope to a species of marsupial devastated by foxes.
• Eastern quolls – a furry carnivore that grows to about the size of a domestic cat – disappeared from the mainland in the 1960s but clung on in the island state of Tasmania.
• Twenty of them were returned to their native environment in the Booderee National Park, south of Sydney, in March to see if they could survive and thrive. It is the first time in Australia that a carnivore extinct on the mainland has been re-introduced to the wild and followed a 15-year project to bring feral predators in the area under control.