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May 03, 2020: National / International Current Affairs
1. Pakistan sees record deaths in a day
• Pakistan witnessed record number of deaths from the coronavirus with nearly half of them being reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, as the tally of countrywide confirmed cases surged past 18,700 on May 2, 2020.
• Almost half of the 1,297 new cases were reported from Sindh, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza announced during an afternoon press briefing amid the controversy over fewer number of daily tests being conducted in Punjab for the past several days.
• According to the Ministry of National Health Services website, Punjab conducted 16,156 tests while Sindh conducted 22,179 tests in the last one week.
• After a gap of few days, Punjab finally increased the number of tests, taking the countrywide tally of daily tests to 9,164.
2. PM launches relief scheme for those who lost jobs
• Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 2, 2020 formally launched a cash assistance programme for those who have become jobless due to the Covid19 pandemic and prolonged lockdown in the country and vowed that the amount collected under the Corona Relief Fund would be spent in a transparent manner and its audit details would be presented before the nation.
• Speaking at the live telecast of the ceremony held at the PM Office to launch a web portal for registration of jobless people for getting Rs12,000 under Ehsaas Cash Programme, the PM said the government had decided to completely open the construction and other small and medium industries to save people from losing their jobs.
• `I thank all those who have deposited money in the PM Corona Relief Fund. I assure you that this amount will be spent in a transparent manner. You will be told where this amount has been spent. I am myself monitoring it and will provide complete audit details,` the prime minister said.
3. Pakistan borrowed $6.73 billion in nine months of current fiscal year
• The government is continuously borrowing from external sources to repay previous loans and maintain foreign exchange reserves, as Pakistan had borrowed $6.73 billion in nine months (July to March) of the current fiscal year.
• The government had borrowed 52 percent of the annual budgeted amount in nine months of the year 2019-20. In current fiscal year, the government had planned to borrow $12.958 billion from external sources. In nine months of the last fiscal year, Pakistan had borrowed $8.167 billion.
• The break-up of $6.73 billion showed that Pakistan had received $2.198 billion in the form of program/budgetary support aid from Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Korea and U.K. to restructure Pakistan’s economy. Meanwhile, the country had received $1.799 billion (27 percent) as foreign commercial borrowing to repay maturing international Sukuk and other foreign commercial loans. Similarly, the government had borrowed $1.185 billion (18 percent) to finance its development projects for improving the socio-economic development of the country and remaining $1.487 billion (22 percent) for commodity financing.
4. Senator Rehman Malik’s book “Coronavirus-Threat to National Security” launched
• A book “Coronavirus- Threat to National Security” authored by former interior minister, and Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior Senator Rehman Malik was launched on May 2, 2020 by former Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf.
• Due to the prevailing situation of coronavirus, when social distancing and isolation are being observed to control this deadly pandemic, the book was launched in a simple but highly impressive ceremony through a video link. Many renowned journalists attended the ceremony.
• Senator Rehman Malik, the author, in his opening remarks said that the novel COVID-19 had brought miseries and confusions as the whole world had been shocked with the disease. He said that in the beginning, the world took it lightly and treated it like a normal virus and the experts and the concerned international authorities had not warned of its multiplying growth potential
5. Minimum Fitrana fixed at Rs90 per head
• The minimum amount of Sadqa–e-Fitr to be paid this year has been fixed at Rs90 per head by Dar-ul-Afta of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), said PUC Chairman Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi in a statement issued here on May 2, 2020.
• According to Ashrafi, as per the market price of 2.25 kilograms of flour, the amount for Fitrana is calculated as Rs90 per head.
• “The faithful who want to pay Fitrana equal to the price of barley, dates and raisin should pay Rs260, Rs1,100 and Rs1,900 per head respectively,” he added. Darul Afta Ulema have asked the people to pay Fitrana much before Eid to mitigate the sufferings of the deserving people who were facing economic crunch due to COVID-19 lockdown.
6. Kazakh president fires predecessor`s daughter as senate speaker
• Kazakhstan`s president on May 2, 2020 dismissed the eldest daughter of his veteran predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev as senate speaker, triggering fresh speculation over a power struggle in the energy-rich Central Asian state.
• The 56-year-old Dariga Nazarbayeva`s post had posidoned her as second in line to the head of state.
• President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is Nazarbayev`s hand-picked successor, `terminated the powers` of Nazarbayeva, his office said in a statement.
7. North Korean leader reappears in public after three weeks
• North Korea`s Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks, state media reported on May 2, 2020, following intense speculation that the leader of the nuclear-armed nation was seriously ill or possibly dead.
• State television showed Kim walking, smiling broadly and smoking a cigarette at what the North said was the opening of a fertiliser factory on Friday in Sunchon, north of Pyongyang.
• Rumours about Kim`s health have been swirling since his conspicuous no-show at April 15 celebrations for the birthday of his grandfather, the North`s founder the most important day in the country`s political calendar
8. Spain eases lockdown as Russia sees surge in virus cases
• Spaniards took to the streets tojog, cycle and roller skate for the first time following 48 days of confinement on May 2, 2020 as some European nations cautiously eased virus lockdowns while Russia reported a sudden surge in its infections.
• As governments weigh how to lift virus restrictions to restart economies against the risk of new outbreaks, US authorities brought some hope by approving an experimental drug for emergency use on coronavirus patient s.
• The decision is the latest step in a global push to find treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus, which has left half of humanity under some form of lockdown and pushed the world economy towards its worst downturn since the Great Depression in the 1930s
9. First giant panda born in Netherlands
• Wu Wen, a giant panda loaned to a Dutch zoo by China, has given birth in a first for the Netherlands, Ouwehands animal park announced on May 2, 2020.
• Mating took place in January and the cub, which belongs to Beijing just like the mother and father Xing Ya, was born on May1.
• `The mother and her cub are staying in the maternity den and are doing well,` the zoo in the central city of Rhenen said in a statement said.
• `This cub was born and conceived naturally,` said Ouwehands owner Marcel Boekhoorn.
10. World Beach Games moved from 2021 to 2023
• The 2021 World Beach Games have been moved to 2023 so that nations have time to prepare their athletes for the rescheduled Olympics in 2021, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) said.
• The Olympic Games, originally scheduled to start in July this year in Tokyo, have been postponed to July 23-Aug 8, 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic
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