Day by Day Current Affairs (June 29, 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 29, 2018

1. SC convicts Former Minister Daniyal Aziz of contempt of court

• Firebrand leader of the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Daniyal Aziz was convicted by the Supreme Court on Thursday of committing contempt and was sentenced to imprisonment `till the rising of the court`.
• `Taking a lenient view of the matter, we convict him under Section 5 of the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 and sentence him to imprisonment till rising of the court today,` says the 17-page order read out by Justice Mushir Alam.
• Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel had authored the report and Justice Sheilch Azmat Saeedhad headed the three-judge bench that heard the case. However, since both judges were not present, Justice Alam read out the verdict.
• The former minister for privatisation had been charged with contempt of court for his jibes against the judiciary last year, which were publishe d in Daily Dunya on Sept 9, 2017 and telecast by Neo TV on Dec 15, 2017 and by DawnNews on Dec 21, 2017.When the case was called out at around 9:55am, Mr Aziz had not yet arrived. He walked in, visibly tense, a short while later, but when the verdict was announced at around 10:26am, he relaxed.
• Though the judgement does not elaborate on the consequences of the conviction, legal observers believe that Mr Aziz stands disqualified from contesting elections for five years under Article 63(1)(g) of the Constitution.

2. Peshawar High Court gets new chief justice

• Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth took oath as the chief justice of the Peshawar High Court here on June 28, 2018.
• Provincial Governor Iqbal Zafar Jhagra administered the oath to him during a special ceremony at the Governor`s House, where caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Dost Mohammad Khan, judges, provincial ministers and lawyers were in attendance.
• Justice Seth was appointed the high court`s chief justice by the country`s president under Article 193(1) of the Constitution on the recommendation of the Judicial Commission for Appointment of Judges.
• A notification in this regard was issued by the federal law secretary on June 26. The president had elevated Justice Seth`s predecessor, Justice Yahya Afridi, to the Supreme Court.
• Born in Dera Ismail Khan on Mar 16, 1961, Justice Seth was elevated to the bench from the bar through appointment as an additional judge on Aug 2011. He was later confirmed as the high court judge.
• Justice Seth remained the PHC banking judge and company judge and a member of the service tribunal.
• He had done his BSc from Islamia College Peshawar in 1981. He did his LLB from the Khyber Law College in 1985 and got master`s degree in political science from the University of Peshawar in 1986.
• He was enrolled as a lawyer of the lower courts on Dec 18, 1985, the high court`s on Mar 22, 1990, and the Supreme Court`s on May 4, 2008.

3. Justice Yahya takes oath as SC judge

• Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on June 28, 2018 administered the oath of office to Justice Yahya Afridi as Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
• The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Supreme Court building.
• Justice Afridi, who was born on Jan 23, 1965, hails from Kohat Frontier Region. Justice Afridi was elevated to the high court as additional judge on Mar 15, 2010, and subsequently he was confirmed as permanent judge of the high court on Mar 15, 2012.
• Justice Afridi had done his LL B from Law College, Punjab University, in 1988, and did his LL.M from Jesus College, Cambridge University, UK, in 1990.
• During legal career, Justice Afridi appeared in several high profile cases. Legal circles considered a competent lawyer, who was well versed in constitutional and corporate law. He also served as assistant advocate general in his early career until 1994.
• Justice Afridi has also served as inspection judge for different districts. He also remained the chairman of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, company judge of the Abbottabad circuit bench, head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Subordinate Judiciary Service Tribunal, chairman of the Enrollment Committee of Lawyers at Abbottabad Bench and Peshawar, and administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts.

4. Pakistan, OECD agree to strengthen cooperation

• Pakistan and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will further strengthen their cooperation in various areas including tax related matters and sharing of experiences in social and economic development.
• The OECD will extend technical assistance to Pakistan in its efforts for undertaking broad based tax reforms.
• Both sides expressed satisfaction over the ongoing cooperation between Pakistan and the OECD. Pakistan signed the OECD Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in September 2016, and Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) as well as Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Accounts (MCAA) in June 2017. Pakistan has previously been participating in various OECD Global Fora meetings.
• The secretary general invited Pakistan to further enhance its engagement with the OECD by participating in its various programmes including the Initiative on Global Value Chains, inclusive growth framework, detection of foreign bribery and revenue statistics. Minster for finance & revenue discussed support to conduct an in-depth review of Pakistan’s tax policy to support its reform effort as well as technical assistance through Tax Inspectors Without Borders Programme. The secretary general asked the OECD team to immediately follow up on the request on an urgent basis.

5. Trump and Putin to hold long-awaited summit in Finland next month

• Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will hold their long-awaited first summit next month in the Finnish capital Helsinki, at what could prove a historic turning point in international relations.
• The July 16 head-to-head will follow a NATO summit in Brussels that Washington`s European partners fear will serve as another stage for the US leader to berate them and scorn the Western alliance.
• Trump has long called for warmer ties with Moscow, but the talks come as Russia`s relations with the West languish at levels not seen since the Cold War.
• The meeting will likely provoke criticism for Trump at home, where investigators are probing possible collusion between his presidential campaign team and Moscow.
• Russia`s annexation of Crimea and its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, as well as Moscow`s backing of Bashar al-Assad`s regime in the Syrian conflict will also loom large.
• Next month`s dialogue in Finland will see the two leaders discuss `the current state and prospects for development of Russian-US relations,` said the Kremlin.
• A statement from the White House said the presidents will also broach various `national security issues.` Trump earlier said he expected discussions to be wide-ranging.

6. Prince William visits flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound

• Prince William visited Jerusalem`s super-sensitive Al Aqsa mosque compound on June 28, 2018 as he wrapped up a landmark Middle East tour during which he has tiptoed through the region`s diplomatic minefield.
• His visit to Islam`s third holiest site was followed by visits to the city`s Jewish and Christian holy places.
• William wandered through the Al Aqsa compound accompanied by a large Israeli security detail and members of the Jordanian-run religious trust that administers it.
• It was the first time a member of the royal family had ever visited the compound, which houses the Al Aqsa mosque and the iconic golden-topped Dome of the Rock.
• The second-in-line to the British throne also visited the adjacent Western Wall, the holiest place at which Jews are allowed to pray, accompanied by its director general and by Britain`s chief rabbi Ephraim Mirvis.
• Since Israel occupied Arab east Jerusalem in the Six Day War of 1967, hardline Jewish activists have campaigned for the right to pray inside the mosque compound, the most inflammatory single issue of the Middle East conflict.

7. Australia bans covert foreign interference in politics

• Australia`s parliament passed sweeping national security legislation on June 28, 2018 that bans covert foreign interference in domestic politics, makes industrial espionage for a foreign power a crime and offends the nation`s most important trading partner, China.
• The two bills covering foreign interference, espionage and influence transparency have been criticised as criminalising dissent. The Senate made them law with the support of the centre-left Labor Party opposition on the last day of parliament before mid-August.
• The conservative government says the legislation, first proposed in December, is the major cause of a rift in diplomatic relations with China. But the government maintains it is not aimed at any particular country.

8. Four killed in shooting at office of US daily

• Several people were feared killed on June 28, 2018 in a shooting at the building that houses the Capital Gazette, a daily newspaper published in Annapolis, a historic city an hour east of Washington.
• A gunman shot through the glass door to the office and opened fire on multiple employees.
• There is nothing more terrifying than hearing multiple people get shot while you`re under your desk and then hear the gunman reload.
• Up to four people had been killed, according to CBS News.
• The newspaper is located in a four-story office building in Annapolis, the capital of the US state of Maryland.
• The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed.

9. China puts limit on film stars’ pay

• China’s authorities say they are capping the pay of actors as part of a move to crack down on tax evasion and “money worship” in the industry.
• Actors in Chinese films and TV programmes will have their pay capped at 40% of total production costs.
• Meanwhile, lead actors cannot be paid more than 70% of total cast pay, the government says.

10. Fresh delay in launch of Nasa’s telescope

• Nasa has said that human and technical errors had caused a fresh delay in the launch of a giant space telescope, which will now not be deployed before March 2021.
• The James Webb Space Telescope – which Nasa has long expected to replace the fabled Hubble – was initially meant to go into service this year but has faced multiple hitches. The Webb telescope will be the most powerful ever built – about 100 times more sensitive than Hubble – and is to be deployed on a mission to give astronomers an unprecedented glimpse at the first galaxies that formed in the early universe.
• Its most recent delay was announced in March, when Nasa said blast off would likely be in May 2020.