Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs/News (May 04, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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May 04, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. President to represent Pakistan at virtual Summit of NAM

• President Dr Arif Alvi will represent Pakistan at the virtual Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) being held on May 4, 2020 (today).
• In a press release issued on Sunday, Foreign Office Spokesperson said the Special Online Summit of the Heads of State and Government of NAM Member States has been convened at the initiative of the President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in his capacity as current Chair of the Movement.
• The statement further said the Summit will conclude with a political declaration of the movement “Uniting Against COVID-19” as well as identified measures for enhanced coordination among NAM Member States in their common fight against COVID-19. President Aliyev’s efforts aim at bringing the Movement, at the highest decision-making level, for assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on Member States and identifying needs and steps for possible remedies and follow-up measures.

2. Punjab govt ratifies army land allotment to civilian officials

• The Punjab government has ratified the allotment of up to 25 acres of state land, which was meant for the families of the martyred soldiers and war veterans under the Army Welfare Scheme (AWS), to 47 civilian government officials.
• The allotments had been made without legal sanction on the orders of former President Gen Pervez Musharraf in contravention of the merit and law, two persons in CM Secretariat confirmed on condition of anonymity.
• According to the sources in the Punjab CM Secretariat, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had cancelled the allotment, which had been ordered by the former military dictator during January 2004 and May 2008 in alleged violation of the Colonisation of Government Land (Punjab) Act 1912 and the allotment policy framed in 1962 under it for the AWS.

3. Pakistan food exports increase 1.43pc during first 9 months of current FY

• The exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 7.97 percent during first three quarters of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The seafood exports during July-March (2019-20) were recorded at $317.307 million against the exports of $293.895 million in July-March (2018-19), showing growth of around 8 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of statistics (PBS).
• In terms of quantity, Pakistan exported 133,226 metric tonnes seafood during the period under review against the exports of 129,704 metric tonnes last year, showing increase of 2.72 percent. However on year-on-year basis, the fish exports from the country declined by 15.74 percent by going down from $45.895 million during March 2019 to $38.669 million in March 2020.
• On month-on-month basis, the seafood exports however, increased by 51.67 percent in March 2020 when compared to the exports of $25.495 million in February 2020, the PBS data revealed.

4. PIA to commence direct flights to US from 12th

• Following permission granted by the United States Department of Transportation, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will start operating 12 chartered flights to evacuate its citizens stranded in America from May 12.
• PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said it will be the first time the PIA would be operating direct flight to the US since 9/11.
• After the terror attack, the US authorities had refused permission for direct flights due to security reasons, the spokesman said

5. Wearing masks a must at fruit, vegetable wholesale markets

• The Sindh government has made it mandatory for everyone to wear masks before entering the wholesale fruit and vegetable markets in the province.
• A handout issued on Sunday quoted Sindh Agriculture Minister Muhammad Ismail Rahoo as saying that the provincial government had taken cognisance of the violations of the standard operating procedures prescribed for doing businesses during the lockdown at the fruit and vegetable markets in Sindh.
• The agriculture minister said the provincial government could consider the option of completely shutting down the fruit and vegetable markets in case the violations of the lockdown SOPs did not stop there.

6. Indian colonel, major, soldiers killed in Kashmir attack

• Five security personnel and four freedom fighters were killed in two gunbattles in the Indian-Occupied Kashmir, officials said on May 3, 2020.
• Four army personnel, including a major and colonel, a counterinsurgency policeman and two freedom fighters died after a firefight in the Changimul village near the Line of Control, said army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia.
• They entered a home to ‘to evacuate the civilians’ but came under a ‘heavy fire’ from the freedom fighters inside the building, Kalia said. It was unclear why the men had entered the house, with a police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, telling AFP they had ‘walked into an ambush’

7. World Press Freedom Day observed

• The World Press Freedom was observed in Pakistan and other countries.
• The journalists’ bodies took out rallies to mark the Press Freedom Day. They waved black flags on their respective press clubs to record their protest against the discrimination with the journalists.
8. Pompeo links virus to Wuhan lab as Europe eases lockdown
• US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on May 3, 2020 said `enormous evidence` showed the new coronavirus originated in a lab in China, further fuelling tensions with Beijing over its handling of the outbreak.
• Pompeo`s comments came as Europe and parts of the United States prepared to cautiously lift virus lockdowns as signs emerge that the deadly pandemic is ebbing and governments look to restart their battered economies.
• US President Donald Trump, increasingly critical of China`s management of the first outbreak in the city of Wuhan in December, last week claimed to have proof it started in a Chinese laboratory.

9. North and South Korea exchange gunfire at border

• North Korean troops fired multiple gunshots towards the South in the demilitarised zone dividing the peninsula on Sunday, prompting South Korean forces to fire back, Seoul said.
• The rare exchange of gunfire came a day after North Korean state media reported that leader Kim Jong Un had made his first public appearance in nearly three weeks following an absence that triggered intense speculation about his health and fears about the stability of the isolated nation.
• A South Korean guard post was hit by several shots from the North, the joint chiefs of staff (JCS) in Seoul said in a statement, adding no casualties were reported in the South.

10. Revered Algerian singer and Berber idol Idir dies at 70

• The Algerian singer Idir, a leading cultural ambassador for of his native Kabylie and its Berber language, died in Paris on May 2, 2020 aged 70, his family announced.
• Idir, who suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, was hospitalised on Friday.
• `We regret to announce the death of our father (of us all), Idir,` a message posted on his official Facebook account said.
• Algeria`s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune called him `an icon of Algerian art`, saying on Twitter, `With his passing, Algeria has lost one of its monuments.` Idir, whose real name was Hamid Cheriet, was born on October 25, 1949, in Ait Lahcene, near the Kabylie capital of Tizi Ouzou in northern Algeria.
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