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September 02, 2019 Current Affairs
1. Kulbhushan being given consular access today
• Pakistan has announced that it will provide consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian serving naval commander sentenced on charges of espionage and terrorism, on September 2, 2019 (today) in line with the Vienna Convention and the July 17 verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
• The announcement was made by Foreign Office spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal through his official social media account on Twitter on Sunday.
• `Consular access for Indian spy Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, a serving Indian naval officer and RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) operative, is being provided on Monday (September 2, 2019), in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, ICJ judgement and the laws of Pakistan,` tweets the FO spokesman.
• `Commander JadhavremainsinPakistan`s custody for espionage, terrorism and sabotage,` Mr Faisal said in another tweet.
2. Govt considering new policy for promotion of PSP officers
• The government is considering introducing a new policy for promotion of Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officers which is being opposed by senior serving and retired officers.
• These officers are of the view that PSP officers in Punjab and Sindh were already polarised towards PML-N and PPP, respectively. The proposed policy will seriously damage the reputation of the PTI government in PSP ranks, they added. Earlier, the government constituted a committee, comprising all federal secretaries, to make a new policy and standard operating procedure for the promotion of the PSP officers from grade-18 to grade-21, a senior officer on condition of anonymity told Dawn.
• A meeting of all 30 secretaries held at Establishment Division on Aug 28 recommended that the old promotion policy should be changed.
• The new promotion policy is likely to be submitted to Prime Minister Office for approval next week, he said, adding the proposed policy was also discussed with retired and serving police officers of PSP group who raised concerns about it.
3. 1st Pakistani gets 5-year working visa for China
• A Pakistani businessman, along with three other foreigners, has been issued first-class working visa valid for five years by the administration of the city of Yiwu, located in the central part of east China’s Zhejiang province.
• Muhammad Arif and three nationals of Afghanistan, Jordan and Iraq are the first batch which received the first-class work permit by the Exit-Entry Administration of Bureau of Yiwu Municipal Public Security Bureau under the new policies.
• The issuance of the permit for five years is the first time after the implementation of the new policies. Prior to this policy, the businessmen were issued visa for only one year. Muhammad Arif told APP that he and his family are settled in Yiwu and import various goods from Pakistan. He said the local government had promised to issue the five-year permit to 200 businessmen, and he was part of the first batch which was issued the permit.
• Yiwu is the world’s largest consumer good purchasing center having an area of 4.7 million square meters, accommodates 70,000 booths and sells 1.7 million kinds of goods.
• Over 400,000 overseas businessmen come to Yiwu each year, and over 13,000 overseas businessmen from more than 100 countries and regions reside in Yiwu
4. European Parliament takes up IHK situation today
• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi September 1, 2019 said the European Parliament during its meeting on the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) on September 2, 2019 (today) would hopefully raise its voice for the oppressed Kashmiris, who had been facing curfew and other restrictions for the past one month at the hands of Indian occupation forces.
• He said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to face embarrassment in his attempts to prevent the Kashmir issue from being highlighted internationally.
• Related: Pakistan to engage 35 world leaders at UNGA on IHK situation
• “The European Parliament is expected to deliberate on the Modi government’s illegal actions in the IHK and raise voice against the human rights violations in the disputed territory.
5. First Sikh heritage art exhibition starts today
• Pakistan’s first ever Sikh Heritage Art Exhibition will take place on September 2, 2019 (today) at Governor’s House here.
• Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar along with Sikh pilgrims from the US, the UK and Canada will inaugurate the exhibition.
• The very first Art Exhibition of Sikh Heritage will be held in the Darbar Hall of Governor’s House. A large number of art pieces related to Sikh heritage will be exhibited.
September 2, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Iran unveils new reconnaissance and attack drone
• Iran on September 1, 2019 unveiled a jet-propelled drone it said is capable of finding and attacking targets far from the country’s borders with precision.
• Dubbed the “Kian”, the unmanned aerial vehicle was designed, produced and tested by experts of the air defence force within about a year, said the head of the force, Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard.
• The drone comes in two models capable of “surveillance and reconnaissance missions and continuous flight for precision missions”, state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
• “This drone can undertake any drone missions we entrust it with… it can fly more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) and find its target with precision,” he said. The newly launched UAV can carry different munitions and can climb to an altitude of 5,000 metres (15,000 feet), according to state television.
• “This unmanned aircraft is capable of hitting targets far from the country’s borders and undertaking air defence from the enemy’s territory,” said Sabahifard.
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7. Over 100 killed in air strike on Houthi-run jail in Yemen
• More than 100 people are believed to have been killed in an air strike by the Saudi-led military coalition on a detention centre in Yemen, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on September 1, 2019.
• The coalition said it targeted a facility run by the Houthi rebels that `stores drones and missiles`, but the rebels said the attack had levelled a building they used as a prison.
• The ICRC rushed to the scene in the city of Dhamar with medical teams and hundreds of body bags.
• `The location that was hit has been visited by ICRC before,` Franz Rauchenstein, its head of delegation for Yemen, said from Dhamar. `It`s a college building that has been empty and has been used as a detention facility for a while.` `What is most disturbing is that (the attack was) on a prison.
8. Southern Africa threatens to quit wildlife trade monitor
• Southern African nations are threatening to quit the global wildlife trade regulator after it refused to relax restrictions on trade in ivory and rhino horn and imposed a near total ban on zoos taking African elephants captured in the wild.
• Ties soured during this week`s meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Geneva after numerous proposals from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc were rejected.
• Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe home to the world`s largest elephant population asked for the right to sell ivory acquired through natural deaths, confiscations and culling. The demand was rejected by a majority of 101 votes.
• The CITES treaty, created more than four decades ago, regulates trade in some 36,000 species of plants and animals and provides mechanisms to help crack down on illegal trade and sanction countries that break the rules.
9. Germany seeks Poland`s forgiveness 80 years after start of WWII
• German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday asked Poland`s forgiveness for history`s bloodiest conflict during a ceremony in the Polish city of Wielun, where the first World War II bombs fell 80 years ago.
• `I bow before the victims of the attack on Wielun. I bow before the Polish victims of German tyranny.
• And I ask your forgiveness, Steinmeier said in both German and Polish.
• Poland suffered some of the worst horrors of World War II: nearly six million Poles died in the conflict that killed more than 50 million people overall.
• That figure includes the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, half of them Polish.
10. Lankan court bans protests against Muslim sect
• A Sri Lankan court on September 1, 2019 banned two ultra-nationalist Buddhist organisations from demonstrating against a Muslim holy day, the first on the island since the deadly Easter Sunday suicide bombings.
• Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekera said Colombo Magistrate`s court issued restraining orders against the two groups led by Buddhist monks who planned to disrupt a gathering in Colombo of Dawoodi Bohra.
• An estimated 25,000 adherents from around the world have beenmeeting in Colombo since Saturday for a 10-day religious event culminating with Ashura.
• Gunasekera said police had information that two nationalist groups were planning to disrupt the event in the capital, where police and troops have stepped up security.
