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September 23, 2018: National Current Affairs
1. Ready for war but want to move towards peace: ISPR
- The Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, has declared that Pakistan, a nuclear power, is ready for war.
- Reacting to a statement of Indian army chief Gen Bipin Rawat on September 22, 2018, Maj Gen Ghafoor said that Pakistan`s desire for peace must not be misconstrued as its weakness.
- `A war is launched when someone is not ready for it. We are ready for war, but want to move towards peace,` he declared.
- The chief of the ISPR, the media wing of Pakistan Army, termed the Indian army chief`s statement inappropriate.
- According to the Times of India, the Indian army chief said India `needs to take stern action to avenge the barbarism that the terrorists and Pakistan Army have been carrying out`. `Yes, it`s time to give it back to them in the same coin, not resorting to similar kind of barbarism. But I think the other side must also feel the same pain,` the Indian army chief was quoted as saying
2. Seven soldiers martyred in North Waziristan ambush
- Seven personnel of Pakistan Army, including an officer, were martyred when a group of soldiers were ambushed by militants in North Waziristan. In return fire, the surviving soldiers in the group killed nine attackers.
- The exchange of fire between the soldiers and militants took place in the Soor Daag area of Datakhel tehsil near the Afghan border. They said that the soldiers came under attack from a compound when an intelligence-based operation in the area was under way.
- The soldiers launched the operation in the Gharlamai and Spera Kunar Algad areas of North Waziristan.
- A group of militants who were reported to have infiltrated from across the border was involved in the attack. They were hiding in the compound.
- The security personnel took the bodies of the militants into custody and ef forts are being made for their identification.
3. Govt prepares proposals for WTO reforms
- After much prodding into the matter, the government has finally initiated in-house consultations for proposals to reform the multilateral trade systems and making the Geneva-based World Trade Organisation (WTO) more relevant and adaptive to a changing world.
- Pakistan`s permanent mission to WTO has proposed to the Commerce Division to conduct consultations with relevant stakeholders on the proposed measures to voice its views on possible changes in order to leverage Pakistan`s requirements.
- The call for reforms within and outside WTO was initiated by the United States and supported by developed countries to primarily counter the policies of China, which they believe are hurting their interests.
- It is likely that in the long run, the possible changes hurt the interests of other developing and least developed countries.
- The issue of WTO reforms was recently raised formally in the concluded meeting of the WTO Heads of Delegation on July 24.
4. Naval chief attends 23rd ISS-2018 in US
- Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi visited USA to attend 23rd International Sea power Symposium-2018 (ISS) held from September 18 to September 21 at US Naval War College Newport.
- The event involved panel discussions on issues related to common maritime challenges and opportunities to enhance international maritime security cooperation.
- During ISS, bilateral meetings between Chief of the Naval Staff and senior International Naval dignitaries including Naval Chiefs of Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, PLA (N) and Turkey were also held to discuss matters of mutual interest.
5. Mumtaz Ali Shah new Sindh chief secretary
- The federal government has appointed senior bureaucrat Mumtaz Ali Shah a grade-22 office as Sindh chief secretary, the Establishment Division has issued the notification in this regard.
- Earlier, the federal government had approved a panel of three senior officers including Syed Mumtaz Shah, Tahir Hussain and Syed Sohail Altaf on September 7th. All three officers belong to Pakistan Administrative Service.
- A senior officer said that the Sindh Government had strongly recommended the name of Syed Mumtaz Shah as Sindh chief secretary. Syed Mumtaz Shah was previously working as Federal Secretary Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Division.
September 23, 2018: International Current Affairs
6. China cancels trade talks with US as new tariffs loom
- China has scrapped trade talks with the United States days before President Donald Trump is set to escalate the commercial battle with a new round of tariffs.
- Chinese officials canceled the planned negotiations after Trump announced he would impose new levies of up to 10 per cent on another $200 billion in Chinese imports.
- Beijing vowed to strike back, slapping duties of up to 10pc on an additional $60bn in American products.
- Beijing had prepared to send Vice Premier Liu He, the country`s top-ranking economic official, to Washington next week, along with a mid-level delegation to prepare for his visit, the Wall Street Journal reported.
7. Hong Kong opens high-speed rail link with mainland China
- Hong Kong on September 22, 2018 opened a new high-speed rail link to inland China that will vastly decrease travel times but also raises concerns about Beijing`s creeping innuence over the semi-autonomous Chinese region.
- Costing upward of $10 billion and taking more than eight years to build, the system aims to transport more than 80,000 passengers daily between the Asian financial centre of 7 million people and the neighbouring manufacturing hub of Guangdong province.
- The train travels the 26kilometres through Hong Kong to Shenzhen across the border in China in just 14 minutes, down from about one hour currently.
- The through-train to Guangdong`s capital Guangzhou will take just over half an hour, about 90 minutes faster than current service.
- Once across the border, passengers can link up with Chinese sprawling nationwide high-speed rail network serving more than 44 destinations, including Shanghai, Beijing and the western city of Xi`an.
8. Canada hosts first meeting of women foreign ministers
- Women foreign ministers from around the world kicked off a first-of-its-kind meeting on September 22, 2018, bringing together more than half of the world`s top women diplomats in Montreal.
- Women are `key to finding solutions to the political, economic and social challenges facing our societies`, Canada`s top diplomat Chrystia Freeland said on Saturday at the opening of the two-day summit.
- The meeting will centre on four topics: women in politics and positions of leadership; strengthening democracy; promoting peace and security and eliminating gender-based violence.
- Freeland is co-chairing the meeting with EU foreign affairs representative Federica Mogherini. At the opening session, both expressed hope that this meeting will mark the beginning of a tradition of cooperation between women ministers.
September 23, 2018: Sports Current Affairs
9. Cool-headed Malik thwarts Afghanistan in last-over finish
- Experienced batsman Shoaib Malik hit a six and a boundary to pull off a sensational last over three wicket win for Pakistan against a spirited Afghanistan in a pulsating Asia Cup Super Four clash in Abu Dhabi on September 21, 2018.
- Malik pulled the second ball of the final over by paceman Aftab Alam over the deep square leg boundary and then whacked the next to deep leg for a boundary as Pakistan pulled off a nerve-wracking win in 49.3 overs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
- Pakistan, cashing a stiff 258 run target.
10. Jadeja, Sharma star as India decimate Bangladesh
- Spinner Ravindra Jadeja took four wickets and skipper Rohit Sharma smashed a successive half century to help India rout Bangladesh by seven wickets in their Asia Cup Super Four match in Dubai on September 21, 2018.
- Jadeja finished with four for 29 to wreck Bangladesh to 173 all out in 49.1 overs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.