Day by Day Current Affairs (June 04, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 June 4, 2018

1. Attacks from Afghan side repulsed, six terrorists killed

• Security forces on June 3, 2018 repulsed armed attacks from across the Afghan border and killed six terrorists and injured several others in the Qamar Din Qarez area of Balochistan and the Bajaur area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• `Six terrorists were killed while four Pakistani security personnel and a PAF soldier injured in the gun battle,` the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that terrorists from Afghanistan had launched `fire raids and physical attack` on Pakistani posts and those working on fencing the border in Qamar Din Qarez and Bajaur areas.
• Seven infiltration attempts were made in Bajaur over the past 24 hours which were foiled by Pakistani security forces.
• The ISPR said that taking advantage of ungoverned spaces and facilitation inside Afghanistan, terrorists were resorting to such attacks to prevent fencing and construction of border posts.

2. NA passed 205 bills during its five-year tenure

• Despite political controversies during the past five years, the 14th National Assembly of the country took up an unprecedented legislative agenda by approving 205 bills as compared to 134 and 51 bills passed by 13th and 12th assemblies during their five-year terms, respectively.
• As many as 182 government and 23 private members` bills sailed through the house, says a report issued by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), a coalition of 30 domestic NGOs working for election oversight and reforms and on other issues related to governance and democracy.
• According to the report, during 56 sessions comprising 495 sittings the house approved several important laws, including five constitutional amendments that provided for setting up of military courts for an initial period of two years and their subsequent extension for another two years, reallocation of National Assembly seats among the federating units on the basis of the results of the latest census, electoral reforms and merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• The Elections Act, 2017, which reformed and consolidated the erstwhile eight separate election laws of the country, also saw light of the day during the term of the 14th assembly.
• Other important government legislations included reforms in the criminal justice system providing for compensation of litigation costs, institutionalisation of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, witness protection and expeditious disposal of law suits. The house also legislated for the right to information, whistleblowers` protection, climate change and institutional reforms.
• In addition to the legislation, the report says, house adopted 209 resolutions, making recommendations to the government on the issues concerning foreign affairs, economy, internal security, education, health, etc.

3. Indian shelling ends brief ceasefire

• Ending a days-old agreement to honour a ceasefire, Indian forces on June 3, 2018 resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling on Sialkot border villages along the Working Boundary and killed a woman besides injuring 25 other people.
• Four children and eight women were among the injured. The sectors which came under attack by Indian shelling were Phookaliyaan-Bajwat, Chaprar, Charwah, Harpal, Bajra Garhi and Sucheetgarh.
• The locals were asleep in their homes when the Indian BSF resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling on their villages. The shelling created panic and harassment among the people.

4. Renowned Pashto poet, writer Prof Dawar Khan Daud dies

• Noted Pashto writer and research scholar Prof Dawar Khan Daud breathed his last at Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar on June 3, 2018.
• He was born in February 1940 at Arbab Landi area in the outskirts of the provincial metropolis and remained involved with teaching, academic research and literary activities.
• He had penned down several books and research thesis on Pashto folklore, Rahman Baba, Khushal Khan, and Hamza Baba in Pashto, Urdu and English. He used to contribute articles on various topics to Pashto and Urdu newspapers and literary magazines for over several decades. After retirement from the teaching service, he remained affiliated with Pakhto Adabi Board till his death.
• He was recipient of many literary awards including the coveted President’s Pride of Performance for his tremendous contributions in the field of literature. Prof Dawar Khan Daud was acclaimed as an authority on Pashto folklore and had mastery over several genres of Pashto literature.
• His important works include ‘Pashto Tapa’, Rahman Baba Juand, ‘Taleem Auo Shairy’, ‘Hamza Baba aik Mutala’, Pashto folklore ke Arr’ and a few others.

5. Trade activities resume on Pak-Iran border

• After reopening of the trade gate at Zero Point of the border, trade activities on Pak-Iran border in Taftan area of Chagai district formally resumed on June 3, 2018.
• According to Radio Pakistan, the gate had been closed for over five months due to unknown reasons by the Iranian side.
• Local officials in Taftan confirmed the reopening of mutual trade gate and said export of Pakistani commodities would be commenced soon.

6. Syria’s Assad to meet Kim in North Korea

• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he plans to visit North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang’s state, potentially becoming the first head of state to meet Kim inside the isolated country.
• “I am going to visit the DPRK and meet… Kim Jong Un,” Assad said, the North’s state-run KCNA news agency reported, using the abbreviated version of the country’s official name.
• The announcement came as anticipation mounts for a historic nuclear summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump in Singapore on June 12, following a whirlwind round of diplomacy.

7. Nearly half of Afghan children out of school: UN

• Nearly half of Afghanistan’s children are not attending school because of worsening security, poverty and sex discrimination, according to a new UN report June 3, 2018.
• The number of children deprived of schooling is at its highest rate since 2002 – the year after the US-led ouster of the repressive Taliban regime, which had banned girls from the classroom.
• Girls remain more likely to miss out on a formal education, making up 60 percent of the 3.7 million children aged between seven and 17 not at school.
• The figure rose as high as 85 percent in some of the worst-affected provinces, reflecting pervasive gender-based discrimination in parts of the deeply conservative Muslim country.
• Child marriages and a shortage of female teachers were additional factors keeping girls away from the classroom. The report by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also estimated that up to 300,000 children are at risk of dropping out before the end of the year.

8. England Level Test Series against Pakistan

• England won their first Test match since September as they thrashed Pakistan by an innings and 55 runs in the second Test at Headingley on June 3, 2018.
• Victory, completed in less than three days of play, saw England level the two-match series at 1-1 after Pakistan won the first Test.
• It was also England`s first victory in a Test match since they beat the West Indies at Lord`s in September last year, with the side having endured a winless run of six defeats in eight Tests coming into this fixture.
• The victory halfway through the third day was as comprehensive as Pakistan`s triumph had been at Lord`s, with England looking a completely different team from the one who had subsided to a nine wicket defeat.

9. Rare Tintin drawings sold for $425,000 at auction

• Two rarely-seen drawings of Tintin from the comic book album “The Red Sea Sharks” sold for $422,000 (364,000 euros) in Dallas, Texas.
• A pencil-on-paper 35.2×50 cm (13.8 x 19.6 inch) design and a 30.7×47.7 cm India ink copy, drawn by the Belgian cartoonist known as Herge in 1957, however fell short of the estimated price of between $720,000 to $960,000.
• Heritage Auctions’ spokesman Eric Bradley told AFP that the set had been bought by a Brussels-based collector who “wished not to be identified at this time”.
• Herge, whose real name was Georges Remi was himself from Brussels, a city which also plays home to Tintin and often forms the initial backdrop to his adventures.

10. Researchers develop AI for screening diabetic retinopathy

• A research team with Hunan University has successfully developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can swiftly detect diabetic retinopathy.
• The algorithm enables doctors to find signs of diabetic retinopathy from pictures with the help of a supercomputer center.
• “After analyzing more than 80,000 retinal images, we found that the AI algorithm had a 91 percent accuracy rate of detecting diabetic retinopathy, which is on par with an ophthalmologist,” said Xi Ziwei, a member of the research team.
• “AI detection takes only one thirtieth of the time used by an ophthalmologist, enabling it to screen more cases and reduce human error,” Xi said, adding that ophthalmologists are in short supply in China, particularly at the community level.
• Early detection of diabetic retinopathy improves outcomes in a disease that is a major cause of vision loss.