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
May 03, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. Government opens construction work on Mohmand dam
• Prime Minister Imran Khan performed on May 2, 2019 groundbreaking of the Mohmand dam project, which would generate 800 megawatts electricity and store over 1.2 million acre feet of water, and on the occasion pledged to take steps for development of backward areas across the country, especially the tribal areas.
• All the parties to the National Finance Commission had agreed that they would allow the government to set aside three per cent from the divisible pool for the development of the tribal areas.
• Upon completion the Mohmand dam will bring about 17,000 acres of barren land under cultivation.
• The dam is being constructed on Swat river, at the commence of the Mohmand and Charsadda districts and the reservoir area extends upstream to Mohmand, Bajaur and other northern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Its reservoir will supply 13.32 million cubic metres of water to Peshawar city
2. Pakistan has taken steps to eliminate terrorism: US
• The United States has acknowledged that recently both civil and military leaders in Pakistan have taken steps to eliminate terrorism.
• A senior US official told reporters that Washington did not want to get involved in Pakistan`s internal politics but it did expect the country`s civil and military leaders t ocorrect the situation.
• `We support the civilian government. We support the nascent democratic system there,` the official said.
• `We support the fact that Prime Mister Imran Khan says right things and appears to be trying to make some changes within Pakistan,` he added. `But only time will tell if he is successful in doing that.
• The official noted that Pakistan`s military was also supporting these changes.
3. Committees formed to survey building violations
• The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has constituted three committees to survey violations in different buildings.
• The CDA claimed that violations in various types of buildings remained a major issue and in the past no serious effort was made to eradicate these violations.
• `Authority has decided to carry out a detailed survey to ascertain building violations, including government accommodations and office buildings,` said a statement issued by the civic agency on May 2, 2019.
4. Balochistan govt approves special security division for Quetta
• The Balochistan cabinet on May 2, 2019 approved a plan to establish a special division of police force for Quetta to ensure security and protection of people.
• Under the new special security division, over 1,300 vacancies of ranks of Senior Superintendent of police (SSP) to constables would be created and they would be trained on modern lines. The meeting, presided over by Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, was informed that the security division would have the latest communication system as well as modern weapons and other equipment.
• The cabinet also decided to declare Quetta, Gwadar and Lasbela districts A area and Levies force of all these districts would be merged into the police department.
5. Arif Nizami re-elected CPNE president
• Senior journalist Arif Nizami was re-elected president of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) on May 2, 2019.
• Imtinan Shahid was elected senior vice president and Dr Jabbar Khatak secretary general.
6. Accord signed with IDB for two grants
• The government on May 2, 2019 signed two agreements with Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to secure grants for operationalisation of Exim Bank of Pakistan and boosting agricultural production through using efficient irrigation system in Balochistan.
• IDB President Dr Bandar Hajjar and Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh signed the agreements.
• An oil credit facility of $551 million had already been signed with the bank last week.
• The IDB president informed the finance adviser that the bank would extend all possible cooperation in the areas of project financing of Pakistan and resolved early financing for Jamshoro Coal-fired Power Plant.
May 3, 2019: International Current Affairs
7. Cyprus justice minister resigns over serial killings
• Cyprus`s justice minister resigned on May 2, 2019 amid public uproar at how police handled disappearances of foreign women, victims of a suspected serial killer whose actions went undetected for almost three years.
• Four women have been found murdered in the past three weeks, their bodies dumped in three locations west of the capital Nicosia. Investigations are under way into three other disappearances, including two girls aged six and eight.
• A 35-year-old career army officer is in custody and police say he has confessed to seven killings in total after having connected with the women on an online dating site.
• `I informed the president of the republic that I am resigning for reasons of political sensitivity,` Justice Minister Ionas Nicolaou told reporters after meeting President Nicos Anastasiades.
8. Afghans call for ceasefire as peace summit wraps up
• Afghan officials called for a ceasefire on May 2, 2019 as a huge peace summit wound down in Kabul after thousands of delegates spent days discussing possible conditions for a peace deal with the Taliban.
• This week`s `loya jirga` or grand assembly, saw more than 3,000 religious and tribal leaders, politicians and representatives from across the country gather under tight security to discuss the possibility of peace.
• The Taliban, who were not at the talks, are this week separately meeting in Doha with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in a bid to make a deal with Washington that could see the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.
9. US military releases civilian casualty figures for 2018
• United States military actions killed about 120 civilians and injured 65 others in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia last year, the Pentagon said in a report on May 2, 2019, though the figures were f ar lower than those reported by watchdog groups.
• The annual report, mandated by Congress, showed a significant drop from nearly 800 civilians killed in 2017, in part because the pace of operations had slowed against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
• During operations in Afghanistan in 2018, 76 civilians were killed, with 42 killed in total in Iraq and Syria, and two civilians killed during a strike in Somalia, according to the nearly 20-page report, which tracks air and ground military operations.
• The Pentagon assessed that no civilians were killed in Libya or Yemen, the report said. Still, the civilian casualties in the report were far lower than those reported by watchdog groups.
May 3, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
10. Ambreen Masih, siblings bag gold medals
• Ambreen Masih added another feather to her cap by winning the gold medal in -63kg category in the ongoing National Judo Championship at Pakistan Sports Complex on May 2, 2019.
• Ambreen, who represents Wapda, beat Army`s Huma Farooq to bag the honour. Punjab`s Maria Karamat and Fazelat Bibi of Pakistan Navyshared the bronze medal.
• Earlier, Ambreen`s sister Umara Ashig won gold in the -48kg category and their brother Owais Ashiq clinched the gold medal in the -60kg event. In the -52kg category, Wapda`s Maryam Jabar won gold while, in the -70 kg event, Army`s Asma Rani emerged as the champion.
