Day by Day Current Affairs (June 20, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2018 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS.  “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

June 20, 2018

1. Education depts withdrawn from minister Chaudhry Faisal

• Caretaker Chief Minister Dr Hasan Askari has withdrawn education departments from Chaudhry Faisal Mushtaq.
• Mr Mushtaq was given charge of the higher education, school education, special education and non-formal basic education through a notification on June 15. But the notification has been withdrawn as Dr Askari has decided to keep the education portfolio with himself.
• Mr Mushtaq will not hold the portfolio of Human Rights & Minority Affairs, Population Welfare Department, Social Welfare Department and Baitul Maal, says a notification issued on Tuesday.
• According to the notification of the Services & General Administration Department (Cabinet Wing), Provincial Minister for Industry, Trade & Investment and Mines & Mineral Development Anjum Nisar was given additional charge of Zakat & Ushr Department.
• Minister for Energy, Local Government & Urban Development and Irrigation Departments Zafar Mehmood has been given the additional charge of Disaster Management; Minister for Information Ahmad Waqas Riaz has been delegated the additional charge of Forests, Wildlife & Fisheries Department. Home Minister Shaukat Mehmood has been assigned additional charge of Sports and Public Prosecution departments.

2. Second unit of plant in AJK resumes power generation on trial basis

• The second unit of the 969MW Neelum Jhelum Hydropower Plant (NJHP) resumed power generating operation on a trial basis on June 19, 2018 after engineers rectified some technical faults in it.
• Earlier, this unit (Unit No 4) was put into operation in April, injecting more than 1.3 million units of electricity to the national grid during the test run. However, during various tests ahead of commercial operation, the unit developed some technical issues.
• As per contractual requirement, this unit will be initially on a three-day and thereafter on a 30-day reliability run test period and will continuously generate power to its maximum capacity for the system.
• The NJHP`s first unit, which was put on a 30-day reliability period on May 18, had successfully completed the tests.
• During this period, the unit continuously provided electricity to its maximum capacity of 242.25MW to the national grid, injecting more than 200 million units of electricity to the system.

3. Pakistan, Tajikistan agree to boost annual trade to $500m

• Pakistan and Tajikistan on June 19, 2018 agreed to further strengthen their relations by adopting measures to take bilateral trade to $500 million per annum, immediate revival of air links and early implementation of the CASA1000 (Central Asia South Asia) electricity project.
• The two sides reached the agreement during talks between President Mamnoon Hussain and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon at the state guest house.
• President Hussain, who was in Dushanbe on a four-day official visit on the invitation of President Rahmon, held a one-on-one meeting and delegation level talks with his Tajik counterpart.
• During the talks, the two sides agreed to give new impetus to their ties through enhanced cooperation in diverse areas, including trade, energy, connectivity, defence, health, education and culture.

4. KP Caretaker ministers get portfolios

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Dost Mohammad allotted portfolios to his 10-member strong cabinet on June 19, 2018.
• A notification issued from the administration department said that the portfolios were given by the caretaker CM in exercise of powers conferred under sub rule 4 of the rule 3 of the KP Rules of Business 1985.
• Abdur Rauf Khattak was given the ministry of finance, planning and development, local government, housing and inter-provincial coordination
• Anwarul Haq, agriculture, livestock and fisheries, cooperative, irrigation and food
• Sanaullah, industries and mines
• Muqadasullah, revenue, excise, taxation and labour.
• Fazl Elahi, energy and power and public health engineering departments
• Sarah Safadar, elementary and secondary education, higher education and religious affairs ministries
• Mohammad Rashid Khan, forestry, environment and wildlife and sports departments
• Retired Justice Asadullah Khan Chamkani law ministry.
• Zafar Iqbal Bangash was given the charge of information minister and Akbar Jan Marwat, health minister.

5. US to pull out of UN rights council

• The United States will announce it is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council, which it accuses of bias against Israel, UN officials said on June 19, 2018.
• Haley has repeatedly threatened to quit the Geneva-based body, established in 2006 to promote and protect human rights worldwide. UN officials privately confirmed they were expecting the US decision to quit the rights body.
• Human Rights Watch criticised the move, warning that Washington`s absence at the top UN body would put the onus on other governments to address the world`s most serious rights problems.US criticism stems from the fact that Israel is the only country with a dedicated agenda item, known as Item 7, at the rights council, meaning its conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories is discussed at each of the body`s three annual sessions.

6. Kim visits Beijing to brief Xi on summit with Trump

• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un briefed Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 19, 2018 about his historic summit with US President Donald Trump, a visit that underscores Beijing`s efforts to remain at the centre of fast-moving nuclear diplomacy.
• Xi urged the US and North Korea to implement the agreements reached at the June 12 summit in Singapore, while Kim thanked Xi for his role in the diplomatic efforts.
• Kim`s third trip to China since March comes as Beijing tries to strengthen its role as a mediator between the US and the North, where it claims compelling security and economic interests.
• The North`s leader, who is believed to have landed in the Chinese capital on June 19, 2018 morning, was greeted with a military honour guard at the ornate Great Hall of the People, as the Cold War-era allies repair ties that worsened when Pyongyang tested nuclear weapons and Beijing backed UN sanctions. Kim `felt thanks for and highly praised China`s promotion of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and its important role in protecting the peninsula`s peace and stability.

7. England broke their own ODI world record by smashing 481-6

• England posted the highest total ever scored in a men’s one-day international of 481 for six as they thrashed Australia by 242 runs at Trent Bridge on June 19, 2018 to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in a five-match series.
• England posted a new record ODI score following their 444 for three against Pakistan at Nottinghamshire’s headquarters in 2016. This was Australia’s heaviest defeat at this level, in terms of runs, surpassing a 206-run loss to New Zealand in Adelaide in 1986.
• By contrast, England were able to enjoy their biggest victory in the format as they topped their previous ODI best — 210-run success against New Zealand at Edgbaston in 2015. The 62 boundaries England struck in their innings was also a new record at this level, surpassing the 59 managed by Sri Lanka against the Netherlands, a non-Test nation, in Amstelveen, 12 years ago.

8. Yemen government forces enter Hodeida airport

• UAE-backed Yemeni government forces fought their way into Hodeida airport on June 19, 2018, pressing an offensive that has seen some of the most intense fighting of a three-year war against Shiite Huthi rebels.
• The United Arab Emirates, which has US-trained troops fighting alongside the Yemeni army, said the alliance had entered the airport in Hodeida — a Red Sea port city that is a key aid hub and the entry point for three-quarters of Yemen’s imports.
• With the participation and support of the Emirati armed forces, the joint Yemeni resistance (army) entered Hodeida airport. Troops had entered the rebel base at the disused airport on the southern edge of the city. Military sources also reported 33 Huthis and 19 soldiers killed in Tuesday’s battle, bringing the death toll in Hodeida this week to 216 fighters. No civilian casualties have yet been confirmed.
• The battle for Hodeida has sparked fears of a new escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, which is already teetering on the brink of famine. The United Nations has warned any attack on Hodeida port could cripple shipments of desperately needed aid to the 8.4 million Yemenis facing imminent starvation.

9. Modi’s BJP pulls out of Held Kashmir govt

• India’s ruling party withdrew June 19, 2018 from an alliance government in the disputed Kashmir region in what analysts described as an attempt to appear tough on militancy before a general election.
• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said it was pulling out of the governing coalition in Jammu and Kashmir state because of worsening “terrorism and violence”.
• The Hindu nationalist party had ruled in the restive state since March 2015 when it struck an unlikely alliance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a local political outfit which has advocated more autonomy for Kashmir.
• The state’s chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who hails from the PDP, tendered her resignation after the alliance lost the majority to rule.

10. Record 68.5 million people displaced worldwide: UN

• A record 68.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to war, violence and persecution, notably in places like Myanmar and Syria, the UN said on June 19, 2018.
• By the end of 2017, the number was nearly three million higher than the previous year and showed a 50-percent increase from the 42.7 million uprooted from their homes a decade ago, according to a report by the UN refugee agency.
• The current figure is equivalent to the entire population of Thailand, and the number of people forcibly displaced equates to one in every 110 persons worldwide, it said.
• But around 70 percent of that number are people from just 10 countries, If there were solutions to conflicts in those 10 countries, or in some of them at least, that huge figure, instead of rising every year, could start going down.
• The report showed that 16.2 million people were freshly displaced last year, and included those forced to flee for the first time as well as those who had been previously displaced.
• This equates to some 44,500 people being pushed out of their homes every day – or one person every two seconds, UNHCR said.
• Despite the focus on migrant numbers arriving in Europe and the United States, a full 85 percent of refugees are living in low- and middle-income countries like Lebanon, Pakistan and Uganda, Grandi said.
• Turkey was hosting by far the largest number of refugees, with 3.5 million registered there by the end of 2017, most of them Syrians.