Day by Day Current Affairs (May 22, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

Shahzad F. Malik

6 years ago

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Day by Day Current Affairs (May 22, 2018)

2bn AJK budget unveiled amid opposition`s sloganeering

Azad Jammu and Kashmir`s (AJK) record Rs108.2 billion budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year was unveiled by Finance Minister Dr Najeeb Nagi before the Legislative Assembly on May 21, 2018, amid unceasing ruckus by the opposition.
The budget proposed a staggering Rs82.7bn (76.43pc) for recurring expenditures, more than 80pc of which would go into salaries and pensions, and Rs25.5bn (23.57pc) for developmental activities, an amount which was 10pc higher than the current year.
The minister announced that the ratio of the revenue grants which AJK would receive under the NFC framework from 2018-19 had been increased from 2.27pc to 3.64pc and therefore the revenue deficit grants provided by the centre in the past had been abolished.
Under that formula, AJK would receive Rs49bn in 2018-19 as federal grants.

Project for country`s first National Centre for Cyber Security inaugurated

A project for establishing the first National Centre for Cyber Security was inaugurated on May 21, 2018 by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.
The centre is being set up at the Air University and will consist of affiliated laboratories in 10 various universities in the country. According to documents for the project, cyberspace, a fifth domain for warfare, has recently attracted the attention of many developed and developing countries.
`Reports of government websites being hacked and sensitive data being stolen by foreign groups is not new anymore,` the document says, adding that affective cyber attacks can cripple an entire nation`s infrastructure and can damage the economy.
Cyber security has been recognised as a global problem, transcending national boundaries. It is estimated, according to a working paper of this project, that cybercrime costs the global economy $400 billion annually.
`Cyber security is a rapidly growing challenge with new sophisticated zero-day attacks costing economies billions per year.

Pakistan, World Bank resume talks to settle water dispute with India

Pakistan engaged the World Bank on May 21, 2018 for arbitration in settling its water dispute with India, which opened a run-of-the-river hydroelectric scheme earlier this week for harnessing the flow of the Neelum River.
The World Bank and the four-member Pakistani delegation, which arrived in Washington on May 20, 2018 for the talks, are refusing to disclose the details of the talks on an issue which can have disastrous consequences for Pakistan, if not handled aptly.
The talks would cover four key points: the height of the dam built on the Kishanganga River, its capacity to hold water, Pakistan`s demand for setting up a court of arbitration to settle the dispute and India`s counter-demand for an international expert.
The document that would determine the outcome of Pakistan`s efforts to protect its rivers, however, is the Dec 20, 2013, decision of The Hague Court of Arbitration.

Moody`s reaffirms Pakistan`s rating, but vulnerabilities remain

Moody`s Investors Service continues to expect solid economic activity, driven by investments related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) while it reaffirmed Pakistan`s credit profile as B3 stable.
Moody`s said that Pakistan`s (B3 stable) credit profile is supported by the country`s robust growth performance and potential, a large but low-income economy, and an improved track record of reforms that started under its 2013-16 International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
Moody`s report indicates that the economy is still on track despite political upheavals in the country which has created uncertainty on the face of the country`s political and economic scenario.
Moody`s said these strengths (economic) have been accompanied by greater transparency and lower levels of inflation and inflation volatility.

Pakistan backs China, Russia efforts to save Iran N-deal

Pakistan supports China, Russia and Europe’s efforts to offer a new accord to Iran to salvage its 2015 nuclear deal, diplomatic sources said.
Pakistan had assured China, Russia and the European countries that it will back their efforts for the nuclear deal.
One official said: “As a policy we are against the United States decision to walk out of the nuclear deal with Iran. We support any effort to save this agreement. The US disappointed many countries.”
Reports said the Europe, China and Russia were discussing a new accord to offer Iran financial aid to curb its ballistic missile to save the 2015 nuclear deal.
Diplomats from these countries will meet in Vienna this week under the leadership of senior European Union diplomat Helga Schmid to discuss next steps after the May 8 decision by US President Donald Trump to pull out of a 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, reports said. Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China would participate in the meeting. The US will stay away from the meeting.

Balohchistan Assembly approves Rs308.33b budget

The Balochistan Assembly May 21, 2018 approved over Rs 308.33 billion provincial budget for the fiscal year 2018-19, including Rs 88.24 billion for developmental sector and Rs 220.8 billion for non-developmental expenditure on May 21, 2018.
The session was chaired by Speaker Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani.
The approved budget included an amount of Rs71.46 million for provincial vegetation, Rs4.38 million for stamps, Rs20 billion for pensions, Rs1.80 billion for judicial management, Rs32.72 million for legal services and legal matters, Rs15.16 million for Provincial Ombudsman, Rs29.11 million for department of prosecution, Rs18.62 billion for police department, Rs 4.45 billion for Police Constabulary, Rs8.91 billion for Levies, Rs12.78 million for Civil Defence, Rs8. 95 billion for Civil Works (including establishment charge), Rs3.82 billion for health services, Rs88.53 billion for higher education, and Rs 43.87 billion for secondary education.

1,180MW Bhikki plant starts full power generation

Quaid-e-Azam Thermal Power (Private) Limited, Harbin Electric International Company Limited and GE Power have announced the completion of combined cycle commissioning activities and the start of full-fledged commercial operations at the Bhikki Power Plant.
The facility is now adding up to 1,180 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid – the equivalent power needed to supply up to 2.4 million Pakistani homes.
The plant is owned by QATPL, HEI is the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for the project, responsible for setting up the power plant and all commissioning activities and GE has supplied two advanced HA heavy-duty gas turbines, associated equipment and technical advisory services for the facility.

US warns Iran of `strongest sanctions in history`

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 21, 2018 threatened to impose the `strongest sanctions in history` against Iran if it did not accept a sweeping series of US demands, including effectively giving up its nuclear ambitions, curtailing its ballistic missile programme and ending its `expansionist behavior`.
Two weeks after the United States pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran, Pompeo spelled out a hardline approach, potentially setting Washington and Tehran on a deeper confrontation course.
Pompeo took aim at Iran`s policy of expanding its influence in the Middle East through support for proxy armed groups in countries such as Syria and Yemen.
Iran is unlikely to accede to the US demands.

First woman CIA director sworn in

Veteran CIA officer Gina Haspel was sworn in as the agency’s first female director Monday, hailing the “heroines” who had gone before her and expressing hope she and her team would be “role models.”
The 61-year-old Haspel, a Russia specialist who spent her career in the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service, takes over from Mike Pompeo, whom Trump recently made his secretary of state.
Haspel was confirmed by the Senate last week in a 54-45 vote, despite the deep reservations of some lawmakers about her past involvement in the torture of terror suspects in the post-9/11 era.

Paraguay president opens embassy in Jerusalem

Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes inaugurated his country’s Israel embassy in Jerusalem on May 22, 2018, making it the third nation to take the deeply controversial step after the United States and Guatemala.
Cartes and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the inauguration of the new embassy in a high-tech industrial park in southwest Jerusalem. The Paraguayan leader called it a “historic event”.
Paraguay already supplies some 40 percent of beef consumed in Israel, while Cartes has Israeli bodyguards.
The South American nation of some seven million people follows in the footsteps of the United States, which broke with decades of international consensus when President Donald Trump declared Jerusalem Israel’s capital in December.

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