Tag: MCQs for PMS

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November 05, 2019: National Current Affairs

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1. $1.2bn penalty waived as Karkey dispute resolved

• Prime Minister Imran Khan has revealed that Pakistan and Turkey have resolved the dispute involving Karkey a Turkish ship-mounted power plant saving the former from$1.2bnpenaltyimposed on it by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
• In a message on Twitter, PM Khan said the dispute was resolved with the help of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
• `PTI government with the help of President Erdogan, has amicably resolved the Karkey dispute and saved Pakistan from $1.2 billion penalty imposed by the ICSID,` read the tweet.
• In another such message, Mr Khan said: `I want to congratulate the government team for doing an excellent job in achieving this.
• It has been learnt that $1.2 billion was the total amount of penalty against Pakistan, but after the waiver Pakistan has to pay nothing in the case

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2. PM launches ambitious scholarship scheme for talented youth

• Prime Minister Imran Khan said on November 4, 2019 that the `Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship` programme would drive the country`s poor and talented youth to achieve excellence.
• The prime minister lauded the efforts of his special assistant and Ehsaas programme chairperson Dr Sania Nishtar for introducing the initiative, under which a total of 200,000 scholarships (50,000 per year) are to be awarded to needy students over the next four years. He elaborated that due to unemployment, the talented and intelligent youth of the country were developing intolerance and a tendency toward negative practices; however, this scholarship programme would help deserving students divert their energies toward positivity.

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3. Policy talks begin with IMF

• Pakistan and the visiting staff mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on November 4, 2019 started policy level talks for disbursement of second tranche of about $453 million early next month under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (E FF) finalise d in May this year.
• A senior government official told Dawn that Secretary Finance Naveed Kamran Baloch and Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Dr Reza Baqir began the policy discussions with the fund led by its Mission Chief to Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez-Rigo. Prime Minister`s Adviser on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is expected to join the negotiations on Wednesday (November 6) for the concluding round, he added.
• Sources said the venue of the negotiations was moved out of the Ministry of Finance to a local hotel where the members of mission were staying due to a precautionary advisory to the staff mission. Both sides were unable to meet the media, saying the press would be contacted at the conclusion of the talks.

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4. Industrial, Economic Zones to be established in GB under CPEC

• Industrial and Economics Zones would be established in Gilgit-Baltistan under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project to uplift the area and bring it at par with developed parts of the country. Due to tax exemptions, the zones would be more beneficial for the whole country especially locals.
• Work on the Babusar top tunnel would be started during next financial year, adding the federal government was determined to remove the 72 years deprivation of the local people.
• Despite financial crunch, the Gilgit Baltistan had been provided development funds. Commenting on new water reservoirs, he expressed the hope that Diamer-Bhasha Dam would bring prosperity in the area. Besides, the government has allocated Rs 400 million for construction of 250-bed hospital in Skardu to provide best health facilities to local people. 50-bed cardiac hospital Phase-I was under construction at Gilgit Baltistan with the cost of Rs1.5 billion. While, Rs 300 million have been allocated in the current Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for completion of the cardiac hospital.

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5. Punjab lifts ban on flour supply to KP

• The Punjab government has lifted ban on the supply of flour to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
• A decision to the effect was taken by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar at a meeting, attended by food ministers and secretaries of both provinces, on November 4, 2019. Mr Buzdar said that Punjab would fulfill flour needs of the KP and that the decision to restore the flour supply has been as a goodwill gesture for the people of the KP province.
• The flour supply to the KP would regularly be monitored and chief minister also ordered the establishment of a joint committee of the two provinces to monitor the steps taken.

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6. US rocket launched to bring NASA cargo to Int’l Space Station

• US rocket was launched on Saturday from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, carrying cargo with the space agency’s resupply mission for the International Space Station (ISS).
• The Antares rocket built by Northrop Grumman lifted off at 9:59 a.m. EDT, carrying the Cygnus cargo spacecraft to the ISS.
• The spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket about nine minutes after the blastoff, flying on its way to the space station, according to NASA’s live broadcast. The spacecraft is expected to dock with the space station early Monday morning, according to NASA.
• The spacecraft carried about 8,200 pounds (3,719 kg) of supplies and scientific experiments to the station.

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7. First UK deep coal mine in decades to go ahead

• Plans for the UK’s first deep coal mine in decades will go ahead after the government decided not to intervene.
• West Cumbria Mining said the new mine – near the site of the former Haig Colliery in Whitehaven which shut in 1986 – would create 500 jobs.
• Cumbria county councillors gave it the go-ahead in March, but this sparked a number of objections, including a call for government scrutiny.
• The Woodhouse Colliery would extract coking coal from the seabed off St Bees, with a processing plant on the former Marchon site at Kells.

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8. AI recognition tech drones to help find missing people

• Police Scotland has unveiled a new aerial drone system to help in searches for missing and vulnerable people.
• The remotely-piloted aircraft system (RPAS) can see things we can’t to try to work out where people are.
• It uses advanced cameras and neural computer networks to spot someone it is looking for – from “a speck” up to 150 metres away.
• Its recognition software is compact enough to be run on a phone, with the technology learning as it goes.

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9. Boeing successfully tests Starliner space capsule abort system

• Boeing`s Starliner crew capsule successfully performed an emergency abort test on November 4, 2019, meeting a key requirement before it can take US astronauts to the International Space Station as early as next year.
• The test took place in the New Mexico desert at the White Sands Missile Range and lasted around 95 seconds.
• The Starliner was set on a small launch pad with four engines to simulate an emergency in which the capsule attached to the top of a rocket would need to quickly separate to bring the astronauts safely back to Earth.
• Its four engines ignited and blasted the Starliner at full speed to the sky. After 20 seconds its parachutes deployed and the spacecraft gently drifted to the ground, landing on the desert floor cushioned by large air bags.

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10. Djokovic sends warning to rivals with Paris Masters title

• World number one Novak Djokovic saw off Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-4 to win a record-extending fifth Paris Masters title on Sunday in a warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP Finals.
• The Serbian f aced only one break point in another impressive display to claim a 34th career Masters title against world number 28 Shapovalov, who was playing his first final at that level.
• `It was his first Masters final so in a way experience prevailed. But I played very solidly today. Maybe he lost his focus a bit.

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Check our daily updated ‘s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes

November 2019:

[catlist name=”November 2019″]

October 2019:

[catlist name=”October 2019″]

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November 04, 2019: National Current Affairs

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1. Pakistan rejects maps showing AJK, GB as parts of India

• Pakistan on November 3, 2019 rejected as incorrect and legally untenable the political maps of India issued by the country`s home ministry displaying the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region and seeking to depict parts of Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir within the territorial jurisdiction of India.
• According to a Foreign Office statement, the maps issued by the Indian home ministry on Nov 2 were incorrect, legally untenable, void and in complete violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions.
• Pakistan rejects these political maps, which are incompatible with the United Nations maps, the Foreign Office spokesman said.

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November 03, 2019: National Current Affairs

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1. Munir Akram takes over as Pak ambassador to UN

• Munir Akram, an expert at multilateral diplomacy, November 1, 2019 took over as Pakistan’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations.
• Ambassador Akram flew in from Islamabad earlier in the day. He replaces Maleeha Lodhi, who upon the completion of her tenure on Thursday left New York for home.
• A well-known figure in diplomatic circles, Akram has served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN previously as well, holding the office for six years between 2002 and 2008, after serving as the envoy to the world body’s European offices in Geneva for seven years

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2. Govt to introduce ‘auto-disable syringes’ next year

• The Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the federal government had planned to introduce auto-disable syringes next year to prevent the spread of diseases through the repeated use of syringes.
• In an interview with a private news channel, he said the Ministry of Health would make it mandatory to use auto-disable (AD) syringes at all government hospitals and private health centers to avoid further complications for citizens as re-use of an insulin pen needle could increase bacterial growth on the needle and could cause HIV infection to citizens.
• “By the end of the first quarter of next year, we hope to completely remove disposable syringes from the private sector hospitals and replace them with auto-lock syringes,” he said, adding, “We have had comprehensive talks with the stakeholders, including manufacturers and importers on the subject.”

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3. Balochistan Assembly urged to pass child marriage bill

• A month-long campaign to create awareness about the detrimental effects of child marriage was launched on November 2, 2019 by the representatives of Health and Rural Development, Child Rights Movement and Balochistan Women Unit Works amid criticism of provincial government`s attitude towards the anti-child marriage bill in Balochistan Assembly.
• `All the stakeholders have agreed upon all the clauses of the bill except for the decision on the age; as a result, the bill is pending in the province alassembly,` said the representatives at a joint press conference.
• `According to international law, 18 years is considered appropriate for marriage but in Balochistan we are still following the 1929 Act regarding child marriages,` they said.

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4. US sees gaps in Pakistan`s fight against terror funding

• Pakistan implements international standards to combat money laundering and terror financing and has also criminalised such acts, `but implementation remains uneven`, claims the US State Department`s report on terrorism.
• The Congress-mandated report, rep-resents official US assessment of the state of global terrorism during last year and includes country reviews.
• It notes that Pakistan being a member of the Asia/Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering a regional body affiliated with the international watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has made serious efforts to meet the standards set by the global watchdogs.
• However, the government failed to significantly limit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) from `raising money, recruiting, and training in Pakistan and allowed candidates overtly affiliated with LeT front organisations to contest the July general elections`, the report says.

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5. Thailand reopens cave where boys` soccer team was trapped for weeks

• Thailand has opened the famous Tham Laung cave to the public, after the removal of equipment that was used in last year`s dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped underground for weeks.
• Hundreds of people flocked on Saturday to see the cave where the of Wild Boar Academy soccer team was rescued from in July 2018. The visitors created so much traffic that authorities had to allow up to around 30 people to enter at a time.
• Duangporn Sookawong, 75, who came all the way from the southern Songkhla province, said she believed that the rescue was a miracle and the boys were lucky that they were able to survive despite being stuck in the dark, complex network of caves for almost three weeks.

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6. Modi claims victory in siege of held Kashmir

• India has eliminated a big reason behind sowing of seeds of terrorism and separatism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Bangkok on November 2, 2019.
• Press Trust of India said the claim was made to a crowd of the Indian diaspora and was reference to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian constitution.
• The clause accorded autonomy to the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan disputes the `Instrument of Accession` that formed the basis of the Article 370, which had enabled India to lay claim to the region also disputed by China.
• Mr Modi said his government was working to fulfil aims that seemed impossible. `You are aware that India has decided to eliminate a big reason behind sowing of seeds of terrorism and separatism,` he said.

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7. German city declares `Nazi emergency`

• The eastern German city of Dresden has declared a `Nazi emergency` as officials warned of a rise in far-right support and violence.
• The city is the birthplace of the Islamophobic Pegida movement, which holds weekly rallies here, while the anti-immigration Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) party won 28 per cent in September regional elections.
• Dresden`s city council on Wednesday backed a resolution against far-right extremism with the title `Nazinotstand?`, or `Nazi emergency?`. It was brought by Max Aschenbach, a local councillor for left-leaning satirical party Die Partei, who told the DPA news agency that `this city has a Nazi problem`.
• The resolution said the city was `worried that anti-democratic, anti pluralist, discriminatory and farright positions which include violence` were on the rise in Dresden

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8. Iran unveils new anti-American murals on walls of former US embassy

• Iran on November 2, 2019 unveiled new anti-American murals on the walls of the former US embassy as Tehran prepares to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the storming of what it labels the “den of spies”.
• The accusatory message of the paintings was one of a violent US that is thirsty for war and bent on tightening its grip on the world, yet weakening despite its military might.
• The new murals — mainly painted in white, red and blue, the colours of the US flag — were unveiled by Major General Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, at the former mission turned museum.
• One of them showed a crumbling Statue of Liberty, its right torch-bearing arm having broken off.

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9. Yemen govt, separatists to sign power-sharing deal

• Yemen’s internationally recognised government will sign an agreement with southern separatists on Tuesday aimed at ending a conflict simmering within the country’s long-running civil war, Yemeni and Saudi officials said.
• The power-sharing deal would see the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) handed a number of ministries, and the government return to the main southern city of Aden, according to officials and Saudi media reports on November 2, 2019.
• Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Iryani tweeted that an official signing ceremony for the “Riyadh Agreement” would take place in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in the presence of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

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10. South Africa outclass ragged England to win third World Cup

• South Africa laid the groundwork with traditional Springbok rugby and finished off an out-gunned England side with two superbly-taken late tries to win the World Cup for the third time courtesy of a convincing 32-12 victory on November 2, 2019.
• Wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe crossed in the last 15 minutes for South Africa`s first ever tries in a World Cup final but six penalties from the boot of Handre Pollard had already put the Springboks firmly in charge.
• Superb game management, set piece dominance, brutal defence and almost flawless place-kicking had been enough to see off an England side that had dismantled the double defending champions All Blacks in the semi-final last week.

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Check our daily updated ‘s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes

November 2019:

[catlist name=”November 2019″]

October 2019:

[catlist name=”October 2019″]

WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY  DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2019 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS.  “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

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November 02, 2019: National Current Affairs

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1. Pakistan to take up projects for Chinese funding in JCC talks

• Pakistan will take up new projects for Chinese financing and investment to expand the $46 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) when officials of the two countries meet here on Nov 6 as part of the Joint Cooperation Committee`s (JCC) annual consultations.
• Minister for Planning and Development Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar said that Pakistan for the first time would formally engage with Chinese authorities during the JCC meetings to start negotiations on $9bn Main Railway Line (ML-1) and D.I. Khan to Zhob Motorway project of the CPEC`s western route.
• The road project was now the only missing link in the Islamabad to Quetta motorway network which would be completed in about three years, Mr Bakhtyar said

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2. First-ever winter contingency plan ready

• The Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has made the first-ever winter contingency plan as the province faces a range of natural hazards in the winter season.
• The natural hazards mentioned in the plan include flashfloods, seismic activity along the mountainous north and west, landslides, and prolonged spells of droughts in the arid zones of the province.
• Secretary of the relief and rehabilitation and settlement department Mohammad Abid Majeed told Dawn that natural disasters caused massive losses to people`s life and livelihoods, which retarded economic growth.
• `Under this contingency plan, the department would make efforts to minimise the losses likely to be caused by the natural disasters,` he said

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3. SBP launches National Payment Systems Strategy

• State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Reza Baqir launched the National Payment Systems Strategy (NPSS) in an event held November 1, 2019 at its headquarters in Karachi.
• President of the World Bank, David Robert Malpass was the chief guest at the event that was attended by key stakeholders including regulators, government entities, banks, telcos, Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), Payment System Operators (PSOs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and other Fintechs.

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4. Saudi Arabia agrees to increase Pakistan’s labour quota

• Saudi Arabia has agreed to a request by Pakistan for an increased share of the labor force in the multi-billion dollar New Taif City development.
• The Saudi labor minister told that Pakistani manpower will play a big part in the project, and that his leadership also asked for this.
• Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have formed working groups to develop procedures for this transfer of manpower.

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5. Situation in held Kashmir unsustainable, says Merkel

• The conditions in which the people of occupied Kashmir are living are unsustainable and must be improved, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters accompanying her on a trip to New Delhi where she held talks with India`s prime minister.
• She said she would raise the matter with Narendra Modi later on November 1, 2019 evening, adding that while she was aware of India`s position regarding the former state, she wanted to hear Modi`s plans for restoring calm to the disputed region.
• `The situation for the people there is currently not sustainable and must improve,` Merkel said.
• The region has been convulsed by protests against New Delhi`s decision to revoke the mainly Muslim area`s political autonomy

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6. ILO stops using funds from tobacco firms for charitable causes

• The UN labour organisation has agreed not to renew controversial funding from tobacco companies for charitable programmes, but has left the door open to cooperating with the industry on future projects.
• The International Labour Organisation`s (ILO) governing body finally reached a compromise on the issue of the UN agency`s ties to the tobacco industry, in a bid to end years of acrimonious debate on the issue.
• The ILO has long been under fire for partnerships with several of the world`s biggest tobacco companies on charitable programmes in a range of countries, which expired last year.

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7. Turkey begins joint patrol with Russia in northern Syria

• Turkey started joint patrols with Russia in northern Syria on November 1, 2019 to verify whether Kurdish forces have withdrawn from a key border zone in compliance with a deal reached between Ankara and Moscow.
• The patrols follow an agreement they signed in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week which gave Kurdish forces 150 hours to withdraw from a band of territory along Syria`s border with Turkey, in a process that Russia said was now complete.
• The patrols add to the complicated mix of forces operating along the frontier, including US troops who patrolled an eastern section on Thursday for the first time since US President Donald Trump said last month his country`s troops were withdrawing.

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8. N Korea test-fires new multiple rocket launcher

• North Korea confirmed November 1, 2019 it conducted its third test-firing of a new “super-large” multiple rocket launcher that it says expands its ability to destroy enemy targets in surprise attacks.
• The latest launches extended a months long streak of weapons displays by the North, which continues to use a standstill in nuclear negotiations to advance its military capabilities while pressuring Washington for concessions.
• Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency described the tests a day after the South Korean and Japanese militaries said they detected two projectiles launched from an area near the North Korean capital traveling more than 321 kilometers (200 miles) cross-country before landing in waters off the North’s eastern coast.

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9. China rolls out ‘one of the world’s largest’ 5G networks

• China’s mobile operators have made 5G services available to consumers, as the country seeks to become a global technology leader.
• State-owned carriers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom unveiled their 5G data plans on October 31, 2019.
• It comes as Beijing and Washington have been embroiled in a power struggle over trade and technology.
• South Korea, the US and the UK have all rolled out their next generation 5G networks this year.
• 5G is the fifth-generation of mobile internet connectivity. It promises much faster data download and upload speeds, wider coverage and more stable connections.

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10. Spain offers to host climate summit in Madrid

• Just a day after the President of Chile said his country could no longer hold the world’s annual climate conference, Spain has offered to host it in Madrid.
• The critical meeting, called COP25, was due to take place in Santiago for two weeks from 3 December. Chilean President Sebastián Piñera said his government needed “to prioritise re-establishing public order” after serious anti-government protests.
• Spain’s offer will be considered by the UN’s climate body next week. The Spanish government said it considered multilateral action on climate change to be a priority for the UN. The annual Conference of the Parties (COP) is usually an important moment for taking stock of where the world stands on climate change.
• Costa Rica, the other frontrunner, withdrew because of the costs involved in hosting.

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Check our daily updated ‘s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes

November 2019:

[catlist name=”November 2019″]

October 2019:

[catlist name=”October 2019″]