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May 02, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. UNSC lists JeM chief as global terrorist
• The Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on May 1, 2019 designated Jaish-eMohammad (JeM) leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist after China did not any further object to a fresh move by France, the United Kingdom and the United States to get him listed.
• A statement issued by the UN from New York headquarters said: `Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi was listed on 1 May 2019 pursuant to paragraphs 2 and 4 of resolution 2368 (2017) as being associated with Al-Qaida for terrorist activities`.
• The declaration came following a major diplomatic compromise between China and the initiators of the listing proposal under which the movers dropped all references to Kashmiri uprising in the India-held valley, Pulwama incident and Pakistani institutions, especially those linking Kashmiri freedom struggle to terrorism.
• After the designation, Azhar will be subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
• India had been seeking JeM leader`s listing as a terrorist since 2008 and more specifically after 2016. Prior to the latest proposal moved on April 29, 2019, there had been four attempts by India all of which had been blocked by China on technical grounds.
2. Three soldiers martyred in attack from across Afghan border
• Three soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred and seven others suffered injuries in the Alwara Mandai area of North Waziristan tribal district late on May 1, 2019 night when a group of between 60 and 70 terrorists from across the Afghan border attacked the troops undertaking the border fencing.
• A number of attackers were killed and wounded in the counter-attack while several others fled as the Pakistan Army repulsed the ambush, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
• The ISPR said the Pakistani security forces were solidifying border security through fencing and construction of forts some 65 kilometres west of Miramshah to deny liberty of action to the terrorists when the attack was carried out from across the Afghan border.
• Lance Naik Ali, Lance Naik Nazeer and Sepoy Imdadullah were martyred, while seven other soldiers got wounded in the exchange of fire. They were later shifted to Peshawar for medical treatment.
3. Pak-Turk education foundation declared banned outfit
• The government has declared Pak-Turk International CAG Education a proscribed organisation, bringing the total number of banned outfits to 71.
• This is the fifth addition to the list made by the present government and the first after retired Brig Ejaz Ahmad Shah assumed the office of interior minister.
• A notification to this effect had been issued the day Ejaz Shah assumed new responsibility on April18.
• The first addition to the list by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government had been made on Dec 13, 2018, when Yemen based Al-Rahmah Welfare Trust Organisation was outlawed.
• Balwaristan National Front (Abdul Hameed Khan Group) was the first organisation to have been proscribed in 2019, with the issuance of a formal notification on Feb 26.
• The decision to ban Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) and Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) was taken at a meeting of the National Security Committee, headed by the prime minister and comprising key cabinet members and military leaders, on Feb 21, but a notification by the interior ministry to that effect was issued on March 5.
4. Pakistan proposes CAREC single-visa to exploit tourism potential
• Pakistan on May 1, 2019 sought introduction of a single tourist visa for all member states of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Programme as well as a unified marketing strategy for efficient and cost-effective development and promotion of interlinked tourist attractions and facilities in the bloc.
• Speaking at the CAREC Forum on Sustainable Tourism Development, Prime Minister`s adviser on Institutional and Governance Reforms Dr Ishrat Husain noted that all of the 11 member states had their own interests but also shared similar attractions which should be linked together`.
• Participants are still flowing in for the May 1-5 annual meeting of the ADB board of governors that marks the first time a Pacific developing member country will host to provide an opportunity to discuss development issues facing Asia and Pacific. This year`s theme of the event is `prosperity through unity`.
May 2, 2019: International Current Affairs
5. US, Taliban open new round of talks in Doha
• American and Taliban officials resumed talks in Qatar on May 1, 2019 aimed at ending a 17-year war in Afghanistan, while the Afghan government hosted a rare assembly in Kabul to ensure its interests are upheld in any peace deal.
• The Taliban issued a statement saying the US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, had met the Taliban`s political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is leading the militants` delegation.
• `Views were exchanged about key aspects for a peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue,` Taliban`s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
• The talks are part of President Donald Trump`s efforts to end America`s longest war. Since October, the US and Taliban officials have held several rounds of talks aimed at ensuring a safe departure for US troops in return for a Taliban guarantee that Afghanistan will not be used by militants to threaten the rest of the world.
6. US, China hold new round of tariff war negotiations
• American and Chinese trade negotiators met on May 1, 2019 for talks on their bruising tariff war after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US side might be moving toward a decision on whether to make a deal with Beijing.
• May 1, 2019`s atmosphere appeared amicable. Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, along with China`s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, smiled for photos and shook hands after their one-day meeting.
• But they said nothing to reporters and no details were announced after the talks at a Chinese government guest house. Both governments have said they were making progress. That has helped to calm jittery financial markets.
• In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said the discussions `remain focused toward making substantial progress on important structural issues` and the talks would continue next week in Washington.
7. Kuwait opens massive causeway to free trade zone
• Kuwait on May 1, 2019 inaugurated one of the world`s longest causeways, linking the oil-rich Gulf state`s capital to an uninhabited border region set to become a major free trade hub.
• The 36-kilometre (22-mile) bridge connects Kuwait City to the northern desert area of Subbiya, where Kuwait aims to create the `Silk City` project linking the Gulf to central Asia and Europe.
• The `Jaber` bridge, named after late ruler Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, spans 36 kilometres (22 miles), three-quarters of it over water.
• It cuts the driving time between Kuwait City and Subbiya, close to both Iraq and Iran, from 90 minutes to less than half an hour.
• Investment in the Silk City project is expected to top $100 billion, and a 5,000-megawatt power plant has already been built in Subbiya.
• The $3.6 billion causeway, designed by Paris based engineering and consulting group Systra, took five years to build.
8. Assange jailed for 50 weeks
• WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced on May 1, 2019 to 50 weeks in jail for breaching a British court order seven years ago, when he took refuge in Ecuador`s London embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden.
• The Australian whistleblower, who was arrested on April 11 after Ecuador gave him up, will serve the nearly one-year sentence while fighting a separate attempt to transfer him to the United States.
• The 47-year-old activist, his shaggy beard neatly trimmed, raised his fist to supporters in the public gallery at London`s Southwark Crown Court as he was taken down to the cells. They shouted `Shame on you!` towards the court.
• WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Kristinn Hrafnsson called the sentence an `outrage` at a press conference outside and said that focus would now shift to preventing Mr Assange`s extradition to the US.
• `It will be a question of life and death, he warned.
9. Maoists kill 15 Indian elite commandos
• A bomb attack by suspected Maoist rebels killed 15 Indian elite commandos and their driver on May 1, 2019, police said, in the latest incident of election-time violence in a decades-long insurgency.
• Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the 1960s in several areas of India in clashes between security forces and guerrillas first inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong.
• In the latest incident, `Maoists attacked a team of commandos travelling in a private vehicle to inspect an earlier attack. So far 16 men have died,` an official at police headquarters in the western state of Maharashtra said.
• The attack, the deadliest carried out by the Maoists since 2017, happened in the densely forested Gadchiroli region of Maharashtra, deep in the Indian interior.
10. Thailand`s king appoints his consort as queen
• Thailand`s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who will have his official coronation, has appointed his consort as the country`s queen.
• An announcement on May 1, 2019 in the Royal Gazette said Suthida Vajiralongkorn Na Ayudhya is legally married to the 66-year-old king, and is now Queen Suthida.
• Although she has been in the public eye for about three years, there has been little official information released about her and the news was a surprise to many Thais. She is reported to be 40 years old and to have previously worked as a flight attendant for Thai Airways International. The two reportedly met on a flight.
• Suthida joined the palace guard in 2013 and became commander of the king`s security unit, currently holding a general`s rank.
• The new queen also has several top royal decorations.
