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September 28, 2019: National Current Affairs
1. PM pours his heart out, warns world of Kashmir `bloodbath`
• Prime Minister Imran Khan minced no words in warning the world on September 27, 2019 that Pakistan, if pushed into a war with India, will not surrender but will `fight for freedom till death`.
• In his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, the prime minister also warned the world not to push Muslims, particularly Kashmiris, to the wall because when marginalised, people get radicalised.
• `If a conventional war starts between the two countries, anything could happen. But supposing a country seven times smaller than its neighbour is faced with the choice: either you surrender, or you fight for your freedom till death?` Mr Khan said. `What will we do? I ask myself these questions. We will fight… and when a nuclear-armed country fights to the end, it will have consequences far beyond the borders.
• The prime minister, who spoke extempore for almost an hour, used a combination of reason, emotions and appeal to convey his message: India`s Aug 5 decision to annex Kashmir could have dangerous consequences for all.
2. Pakistan among top 20 reformers in doing business
• The World Bank on September 27, 2019 published a list of `Top 20` reformers in `Doing Business 2020` and included Pakistan in it, praising that the country has improved in six areas measured by doing business.
• Pakistan has made improvements in starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, paying taxes and trading across borders. These measures reflect the country`s development of an ambitious reform strategy, including establishment of national secretariat and prime minister`s reform steering committee.
• The World Bank says Pakistan has made starting a business easier by expanding procedures available through the online one-stop shop. In addition to improvements in property registration, obtaining a construction permit has become easier after the Sindh Building Control Authority and the Lahore Development Authority streamlined approval workflows and improved the operational efficiency of their one-stop shops.
3. Setback for Govt as deputy speaker Suri`s election nullified
• The election tribunal of the Balochistan High Court on September 27, 2019 ordered re-election in the NA-265 (Quetta-II) constituency after declaring the election held on July 25 last year in the constituency null and void.
• Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri was elected MNA from NA-265 (Quetta-II) on a ticket of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in the general election held in July last year.
• The election results of NA-265-Quetta-II were challenged in the election tribunal of the Balochistan High Court by Balochistan National Party-Mengal leader Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani, who also contested the poll from the same constituency as the BNP-M candidate, pleading the tribunal to declare the result of the constituency null and void as massive rigging had taken place.
• After hearing arguments of the two sides, the election tribunal had reserved its verdict on Sept 14.
4. PML-N leader Rana Afzal dies of cardiac arrest
• Former state minister and PML-N leader, Rana Muhammad Afzal Khan passed away at the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology on September 27, 2019.
• He was admitted to the institute a couple of days earlier and his condition deteriorated over time.
• Rana Afzal, son of retired Maj Fazal Muhammad Khan, was born on Feb 22, 1949 in Faisalabad. He obtained the BSc in Electrical Engineering degree in 1971 from NED Engineering College, University of Karachi and later MA in Political Science from Balochistan University, Quetta.
• He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army and served as captain from 1971 to 76.
• Afzal remained an MPA from 1997 to 99 and returned to the assembly again in the 2008 general elections. He served as the state minister for finance in the Shahid Khakan Abbasi cabinet and was considered a strong voice for PML-N. He has left behind a widow and four children
5. Anwar Bhinder passes away
• Former West Pakistan Legislative Assembly Speaker Muhammad Anwar Bhinder passed away here on September 27, 2019 at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore where he was under treatment. He was 92.His funeral prayers were held in his ancestral village Aroop, Gujranwala, and were attended by a large number of people from different walks of life. Mr Bhinder twice served as the speaker. He also remained member of the Senate for 16 years.
• Son of former MLA of Indian Assembly Muhammad Hussain Bhinder, Anwar was the father of former LHC Justice Kkhurshid Anwar Bhinder, PEMRA Punjab Chairman Naveed Anwar Bhinder, NEPRA Director Waseem Anwar Bhinder and a relative of Punjab Agriculture Minister Malik Nauman Ahmad Langrial. Qul will be held at 11am on Sunday (tomorrow) at his ancestral village in Gujranwala.
September 28, 2019: International Current Affairs
6. Saudi Arabia offers tourist visas for first time
• Saudi Arabia said on September 27, 2019 it was offering tourist visas for the first time, opening up the kingdom to holidaymakers as part of a push to diversify its economy away from oil.
• The kingdom also eased its strict dress code for foreign women, allowing them to go without the body-shrouding abaya robe that is still mandatory public wear for Saudi women, as authorities open up one of the last frontiers of global tourism.
• The push comes just under two weeks after devastading attacks on Saudi Arabia`s oil infrastructure blamed by Washington on Iran which roiled global energy markets and raised fears of a wider regional conflict.
7. Iran releases UK-flagged tanker after two months
• The British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which had been held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months, set sail on September 27, 2019 and reached international waters, the provincial maritime organisation and its owner said.
• The ship`s seizure was widely seen as a tit-for-tat move after authorities in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar detained an Iranian tanker on suspicion it was shipping oil to Syria in breach of EU sanctions. Tehran repeatedly denied the cases were related.
• `The Stena Impero started sailing from the mooring towards the Persian Gulf`s international waters as of 9am today,` Hormozgan province`s maritime organisation said on its website.
8. US urges India to ease restrictions in held Kashmir
• The United States has urged India to quickly ease restrictions imposed in occupied Kashmir as Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed the need to let the Kashmiris decide their future.
• `We hope to see rapid action the lifting of the restrictions and the release of those who have been detained,` Alice Wells, the top State Department official for South Asia, told reporters in New York.
• `It is their (Kashmiris) right to decide, whatever they want,` the prime minister said at New York`s Asia Society on Thursday night when asked if Pakistan would `free Azad Kashmir too`.
• `This is an open offer, why don`t India and Pakistan both allow them to decide their future,` he added, earning a warm applause from the audience.
September 28, 2019: Sports Current Affairs
9. Essex win country championship
• Essex won England`s County Championship for the second time in three years after holding off a spirited charge by Somerset on the final day of the season on September 26, 2019.
• After over 200 overs had been lost over the first three days of the match, second-placed Somerset needed to take 20 Essex wickets on the final day for an improbable first-ever County Championship title after making 203 in their first innings.
• Essex were cruising to a double after also winning the T20 Blast last weekend when former England captain Alistair Cook saw them beyond lunch for the loss of just one wicket.
10. Klusener named Afghanistan head coach
• Former South Africa all-rounder Lance Klusener will replace Phil Simmons as Afghanistan`s new head coach, the country`s cricket board (ACB) said on September 27, 2019.
• The Afghanistan Cricket Board said they received more than 50 applications and picked Klusener who previously served as a bowling coach with Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians and a batting coach with the South African Twenty20 team.
