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November 05, 2018: National Current Affairs
1. Imran, Xi call for timely completion of CPEC projects
• During the maiden four day visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to China, Pakistan and China have signed 15 memoranda of understanding (MOU) to enhance bilateral ties in different fields, including defence, trade, counterterrorism, regional security, health, agriculture, climate change, poverty alleviation, investment, space cooperation and culture.
• Although the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf led government was expecting Saudi Arabia-like monetary assistance to over-come prevailing economic crisis, a joint statement issued on November 4, 2018 regarding the prime minister`s visit did not mention any `immediate relief` from China.
• It has also not been mentioned whether China has decided to resume funding for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor related infrastructure projects, which was stopped in Nov 2017 when a meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) was told by the Chinese side that the funding would remain suspended till `new guideline` from Beijing.
• As a result, work on three main CEPC related road projects had come to a halt.
• After receiving a $6 billion bailout package from Saudi Arabia last month, Prime Minister Khan was also eyeing Chinese investment in different fields. However, the joint statement said nothing on it.
• During his visit to China, Prime Minister Khan called on Chinese President Xi Jinping and held talks with Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People`s Congress Li Zhanshu and Vice President Wang Qishan on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
2. `Biggest-ever` fraud detected in National Savings schemes
• A major fraud has been detected in the National Savings a public sector organisation of Rs3.6 trillion in which insiders have reportedly siphoned off around Rs200 million, breaching trust of more than seven million small-to-medium individual savers.
• The fraud came to light on maturity of 10-year saving certificates of individuals at a Lahore branch where officials had diverted more than Rs110 million to bank accounts of their own and their family members and were in the process of withdrawing another Rs100m or so.
• This is perhaps the biggest ever fraud in the institution. Not more than three cases of fraud had been reported in the organisation over the past 15-16 years.
• CDNS Director General Dr Arshad Mahmood confirmed that a group of people, including an official of the CDNS, were found involved in the fraud by operating accounts in an organised manner to divert funds.
3. Fakhre Alam claims flying around the world solo
• Singer and activist Fakhre Alam claimed on November 4, 2018 that he has become the first Pakistani to circumnavigate the globe solo.
• In a message on Twitter, the 42-year-old singer said he wanted to give the good news to all Pakistanis that his Mission Parwaaz had been accomplished. `Pakistan aap sab ko khushkabree deina chaata houn .
• Alam began his journey on a single-engine aircraft (Pilatus PC 12NG) from the Clearwater airport in Florida, the United States, on Oct 10. He landed at various airports in 22 countries, including Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Russia, for refuelling, supplies, rest and plane maintenance.
• After circumnavigating the entire world, he completed his journey on Sunday (Nov 4) and reached the same airport from where he began it.
• In another tweet, Alam said: `The flag is up, it`s done, Pakistan congrats we have our first successful circumnavigation of the globe in any mode of transportation.
4. Kashmiri leader Sardar Ibrahim passes away
• Veteran Kashmiri leader and chief of Jammu Kashmir Peoples Party (JKPP) Sardar Khalid Ibrahim died of brain hemorrhage on November 4, 2018, plunging his family and friends into gloom. He was 71.
• Mr Ibrahim`s spouse is a close relative of former president Gen Ayub Khan. One of his sisters in law Naureen Ibrahim is a PTI MNA on reserved seats for women.
• A 5-time AJK Legislative Assembly member, Mr Ibrahim was born on Nov 5, 1947, in Kot Mattay Khan on the outskirts of Rawalakot to Ms Zaibun-Nisa and Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan, the founding president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
November 5, 2018: International Current Affairs
5. Israel raids office of Jerusalem`s Palestinian governor
• Israeli forces raided the offices of the Palestinian governor of Jerusalem on November 4, 2018, authorities said, after reports of an investigation related to a land sale.
• Israeli authorities confirmed the raid in Al-Ram, just on the other side of Israel`s separation wall from Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, but provided few details.
• It came after Israel`s detention of the Palestinian governor, Adnan Ghelth, on October 20. He was released two days later.
• The Palestinian Authority`s (PA) Jerusalem affairs minister, Adnan al-Husseini, said that Israeli forces confiscated documents and material during the raid.
• The same building houses his ministry and the governor`s office, both of which he said were raided in the first such Israeli action. Palestinian government spokesman Yusuf Mahmud said it was a `dangerous escalation of the occupation and a flagrant violation of all international laws and agreements`.
6. Khartoum accepts South Sudan`s mediation
• Sudan has for the first time accepted mediation by South Sudan`s leader in peace talks over the restive Sudanese border regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
• Sudan had previously accused its southern neighbour of stoking unrest in the two regions, where rebels kept up a fight against Khartoum`s rule even after most of the territory they fought for decades became independent South Sudan in 2011.
• Sudan`s government has announced unilateral ceasefires in both regions as well as in Sudan`s troubled western region of Darfur since 2015 and fighting has subsided
7. Battles rock Yemen`s port city as UN speaks of `living hell for children`
• Intensified fighting shook a key rebel held port city on Yemen`s Red Sea coast on November 4, 2018, leaving dozens dead as the United Nations warned that children in the war-torn country face `a livinghell`.
• The bloodshed comes despite growing international pressure to end a years-long conflict that has killed thousands and pushed the impoverished Arabian Peninsula nation to the brink of famine.
• Fifty-three Houthi rebels have been killed and dozens wounded in battles and air strikes over the past 24 hours in Hodeida, according to medical sources in the port city, which is a key gateway for humanitarian aid.
• Military officials said Saudi-led coalition warplanes carried out dozens of air strikes early Sunday to support pro-government forces in fighting that appear to be approaching the city`s main university.
• Houthi media reported air strikes in Hodeida on Sunday but did not give a fighter casualty toll.
8. Qatar brings energy boss into cabinet in surprise reshuffle
• Qatar, one of the world`s biggest energy suppliers, surprisingly announced on November 4, 2018 it had drafted the head of the country`s state-run oil and gas company into the cabinet.
• Saad al-Kaabi, the president and chief executive officer of Qatar Petroleum, was made a minister of state for energy affairs in the first comprehensive reshuffle since the start of a Gulf diplomatic crisis which has seen Doha isolated by neighbouring former allies.
• It was not immediately clear what the new role meant for long-serving minister of energy and industry, Mohammed Salah al-Sada, also the current president of OPEC.
• Qatar is the world`s top liquefied natural gas exporter.
• Kaabi has been a high-profile figure during the regional political stand-off and recently announced Qatar would boost natural gas production.
• His appointment was among a slew of significant switches announced by ruler Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in an unexpected reshuffle of top government positions.
9. Suu Kyi`s party slapped down in by-election
• The party of Myanmar`s embattled head of state Aung San Suu Kyi said on November 4, 2018 they were defeated in six constituencies in a national by-election, showing uneven support for her government after a string of controversies.
• Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) swept to power in 2015 in a landslide victory, ending decades of military rule.
• But her tenure has been full of stumbles, most notably with ethnic groups involved in peace talks with the military which has been marred by skirmishes and ongoing civil war in states like Kachin and Shan.
• The dissatisfaction came through in the results of Saturday`s by-election, in which 13 seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament and regional assemblies were up for grabs.
November 5, 2018: Sports Current Affairs
10. Azam leads Pakistan to another T20 whitewash
• Babar Azam became the quickest batsman to reach 1,000 Twenty20 runs as Pakistan whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 with a comfortable 47-run win in the third and final match in Dubai on November 4, 2018.
• The 24-year-old ranked number one in Twenty20s hit a punishing 58-ball 79, with seven boundaries and two sixes, while Mohammad Hafeez hit a 34-ball 53 not out, with two sixes and four boundaries, to lift Pakistan to 166-3.
• This was Pakistan`s second series whitewash after romping past Australia 3-0. Kane Williamson top-scored for New Zealand with a 38-ball 60, with eight boundaries and two sixes, while opener Glenn Phillips made 26.
• Babar Azam, when on 48, completed 1,000 runs in Twenty20 internationals in just 26 innings, bettering India`s Virat Kohli`s record of reaching the mark in 27 innings.
