Day by Day Current Affairs (October 19, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 October 19, 2018: National Current Affairs

1. Fata dists to get 3pc share from NFC Award

• The erstwhile Federally Administrated Tribal Areas will get three percent share under the National Finance Commission Award, the federal cabinet decided October 18, 2018.
• Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said the share of the provinces will be reduced to facilitate the FATA people.
• The petroleum minister said the cabinet has decided to renegotiate the agreements of the two Liquefied Natural Gas terminals installed by the PML-N government with the parties concerned due to high return on equity.
• The return on equity in the agreement signed with Engro Company was 44 percent, which is double to the market rate, implying some under-hand deal. He said the return rate in the other terminal is 22 percent.
• The LNG terminal agreements and LNG import deal with Qatar have brought the economy under stress.

2. PM calls Mahathir, expresses desire to work closely

• Prime Minister Imran Khan on October 18, 2018 phoned his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad and expressed his desire to learn from each other`s experiences in different fields.
• The prime minister invited Mr Mahathir to visit Pakistan and Mr Mahathir reciprocally invited Mr Khan to his country that the latter accepted.
• Mr Khan highlighted the need for high-level exchanges between the two countries as well as collaboration at operational level to benefit from each other`s expertise.

3. NHS minister elected to GAVI board

• National Health Services (NHS) Minister Aamer Kiani has been elected to the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), giving Pakistan representation on the board of the world`s largest funding agency in the health sector.
• Mr Kiani was elected to the GAVI board in an election during the 65th World Health Organisation regional committee meeting in Khartoum, Sudan. `GAVI spends billions of dollars in as many as 70 countries across the globe, and there are only six countries on its board.
• The powerful board not only decides which vaccines should be given to countries but it also makes decisions about the induction of new vaccines in its programme. Moreover, it decides how much money should be allocated for each country.

4. ECP issues notifications of 22 by-poll winners

• The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on October 18, 2018 issued notifications of 22 candidates who had won the Oct 14 by elections held on 35 seats of national and provincial assemblies.
• The notifications of the remaining 13 successful candidates had been withheld as they had so far not submitted the details of election expenses as required under the law.
• The by-elections had been held on11 national and 24 provincial assembly seats. Most of the seats had been vacated by those elected on more than one seat in the July 25 general elections, including Prime Minister Imran Khan who had won elections from all the five National Assembly constituencies he had contested.
• The by-elections were held on eight NA seats f rom Punjab and one each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Islamabad. Similarly, polling was held in 11 constituencies of the Punjab Assembly, nine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and two each in Sindh and Balochistan.
• However, the ECP issued the victory notifications of seven NA candidates, eight Punjab Assembly candidates, three KP Assembly candidates and two candidates each of the Sindh and Balochistan assemblies.

5. Jinnah Hospital begins treatment of stage-IV oral cancer

• Offering services that are rarely available in the public sector health facilities, the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) of the Jinnah Hospital Lahore/Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMC) has started treatment of patients suffering from stage-IV oral cancer.
• The largest teaching hospital of the city started offering the services following studies showing an alarming surge in the death rate among oral cancer patients as compare to those suffering from other cancers, including the cervical.
• The hospital`s OMFS department also offers management of patients with stage IV oral cancer, needing extensive treatment, including reconstruction of the affected body parts after removal of diseased tissues, in collaboration with the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department of the facility.
• Though five other government hospitals in the province have units to treat cancer patients, those suffering from stage-IV oral cancers are being provide maxillofacial surgery services at only two other public sector facilities in Punjab -Mayo Hospital and Inmol. Because of lack of such facilities in the public sector hospitals, the poor patients suffering from the disease have to opt for costly private treatment.
• Dr Gulraiz Zulfiqar who was among the founding practitioners of the Jinnah Hospital`s OMFS department established back in April 2013, is currently heading it as an assistant professor.

6. SECP chairman resigns

• Chairman Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Shaukat Hussain tendered his resignation on October 18, 2018.
• The SECP notified that the Ministry of Finance has already forwarded a summary to the prime minister for the appointment of the new chairman. Currently there are only three commissioners at the SECP, whereas two commissioners are yet to be appointed the ministry.
• Uncertainties, lack of coordination and the absence of top management in regulatory bodies -Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) have already started affecting routine work in these organisations.

7. Punjab govt ends subsidy on metro bus fares

• Around 331,000 passengers travelling by metro buses in Lahore, Rawalpindi and Multan everyday will have to pay more in terms of fares as the PTI government has decided to end subsidy being given to them to rationalise fares.
• This was announced by the provincial Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht on October 18, 2018.
• “Government is providing Rs12 billion annually on Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi metro bus projects. Lahore Metro Bus Service from now onwards, being run from Shahdara to Gajjumata, would be charged on stop-to-stop basis,” Bakht said. The minister also claimed these rationalisation cuts in fares would not burden the masses.
• With 27 kilometer-long route, Lahore Metro Bus Service was launched at the cost of Rs30 billion. It has been causing approximately Rs5 million daily loss to the government in the form of subsidy as a uniform fare of Rs20 per passenger was fixed for the entire rout. The service was inaugurated on 11 February, 2013 and stretched from Gajjumata to Shahadra. The service was inaugurated by then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif along with then Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozda.

October 19, 2018: International Current Affairs

8. Afghan police chief, governor killed in Taliban assault

• Gen Abdul Razeg, one of Afghanistan`s most powerful security officials, was killed on October 18, 2018 when a bodyguard opened fire following a meeting in the governor`s compound in the southern province of Kandahar.
• Gen Scott Miller, the top US commander in Afghanistan who had been at the meeting with Razeq only moments earlier, was not injured in the attack. But the local commander of the NDS intelligence service and the Kandahar provincial governor Zalmay Wesa were also killed.
• The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they had targeted both Miller and Razeg, the police chief of Kandahar who had a fearsome reputation as a ruthless opponent of the insurgents in their southern Afghan heartlands.
• The attack was a devastating blow to the Afghan government ahead of parliamentary elections on Saturday, which the Taliban have vowed to disrupt. The attack underlined how precarious the situation remains in Afghanistan even after Taliban and US officials had opened preliminary contacts aimed at establishing the basis for future peace talks.

9. Bhutan elects new party headed by a surgeon to form government

• Bhutan`s voters on October 18, 2018 gave an overwhelming victory to a new party headed by a surgeon in only the third democratic election held by the Himalayan kingdom, according to provisional results.
• The result means the country of 800,000 people, wedged between giant neighbours China and India, will have chosen a different party to rule at each election since the absolute monarchy was ended in 2008.
• The centre-left Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa (DNT), which was only formed in 2013, won 30 of the national assembly`s 47 seats, according to the results which are to be officially confirmed. Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) secured the other17seatsin the runoff contest limited to the two parties who led a first round of voting in September, with the former ruling party ending up in third place.
• DNT leader Lotay Tshering, a 50-year-old urology surgeon who trained in Bangladesh and Australia, vowed to work for `nation building` in the country which is battling high foreign debt, mainly owed to India, as well as youth employment, rural poverty and criminal gangs.

10. ‘World’s largest book sale’ comes to Middle East

• A gargantuan touring book sale that touts itself as the world’s largest is making its first stop in the Middle East, filling a huge hangar in Dubai with stacks of three million discounted books, open around the clock.
• The Big Bad Wolf Book Sale, launched in Kuala Lumpur in 2009, has since regularly toured Asian cities including Jakarta, Manila, Cebu, Colombo, Bangkok and Taipei. Organisers hope to attract as many as 300,000 visitors during 11 days in Dubai.
• Founder Andrew Yap said he expects the sheer number of books will lure in punters. “In a mature market like Dubai, this will give variety to readers,” he told Reuters.