WORLD IN FOCUS(National)

NATIONAL

Oct. 16: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) was recognised as the “7th most effective regulator” by the World Economic Forum in its ‘Global Competitiveness Report-2019’.

Oct. 16: Pakistan and Egypt agreed to work out measures for capturing untapped economic potential and promoting bilateral trade.

Oct. 16: With 20.3 percent of its population undernourished, Pakistan ranked 94th on the Global Hunger Index 2019, eight spots ahead of neighbour and arch-rival India which ranked 102 out of a total of 117 qualifying countries with a score of 30.3.

Oct. 16: Renowned author and expert in international affairs Dr Moeed Yusuf assumed the charge as Strategic Policy Planning Cell (SPPC) chairman under the National Security Division (NSD).

Oct. 17: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal established the Anti-Money laundering/Combating Financing of Terrorism Cell at the NAB Headquarters. The Cell will be headed by Director General Operations NAB Headquarters Zahir Shah.

Oct. 17: Top cueist M. Asif won the 3rd Jubilee Insurance Ranking Snooker Championship 2019, defeating M. Sajjad in the final.

Oct. 17: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the first phase of “Kamyab Jawan Programme”.

Highlights

1. The Kamyab Jawan Program is a unique and ambitious program aimed at providing soft loans and creating job opportunities for the youth of the country.
2. Under the scheme, the youth – people aged between 21 and 45 years – coming up with innovative and practicable business ideas can avail merit-based loans amounting to Rs100 billion.
3. 25 percent of total loans would be given to the young females for establishing their own small businesses.
4. An online portal has also been launched through which a person can apply for loan from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,00,000 on easy return back policy.
5. Loans will be without interest and will be distributed on priority basis in 45 under privileged districts of Pakistan.

Oct. 18: Japanese Ambassador Kuninori Matsuda announced that Japan will hire skilled people from Pakistan and offer them working visas to counter growing decrease in its population.

Oct. 18: The FATF strongly urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2020 and until then the country will remain on the ‘grey list’.

Oct. 18: Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Babar bin Atta tendered his resignation.

Jalila Haider

Jalila Haider, a Hazara woman from Pakistan, has been named among the 100 women of 2019 list compiled by United Kingdom-based news outlet British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Ms. Jalila Haider is a human right attorney and founder of We the Humans – Pakistan, a non-profit organization which works to lift local communities by strengthening opportunities for vulnerable women and children. She specializes in defending women’s rights and provides free counseling and legal services to poverty-affected women. She is the first female lawyer from the Hazara community of Balochistan and, in 2018, had gone on a hunger strike to demand protection for it. in 2015, Haider was selected as one of ‘News Women Power 50’ list of Pakistan’s most influential and powerful women. In 2014, she was selected as an Atlantic Council Emerging Leaders of Pakistan Fellow and was a member of the first batch of Pakistan Social Entrepreneurs by Rajeev Circle Fellows in 2015. She was also a 2016 Swedish Institute Young Connectors of the Future Fellow.

Oct. 18: Buddhist rituals were performed for the first time in two millennia at the ancient Bhamala Monastery and Stupa, when Korean Buddhist monks prayed for peace in South Asia, the birthplace of Buddhism, and the world.

Oct. 18: The newly-confirmed six judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) took oath of their offices. The judges included Justice Anwarul Haq Pannun, Justice Farooq Haider, Justice Muhammad Waheed Khan, Justice Rasaal Hasan Syed, Justice Asim Hafeez and Justice Sadiq Mahmud Khurram.

Oct. 19: A bilateral exercise Sea Thunder-IV 2019 between Pakistan Navy Special Service Group and Indonesian Navy Special Operation Force (SOF) concluded.

Oct. 20: President Dr Arif Alvi promulgated an ordinance to dissolve the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), paving the way for establishment of a new organisation namely Pakistan Medial Commission (PMC).

Oct. 21: Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan took oath as Judge of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice (CJ) Asif Saeed Khan administered the oath of office to him.

Oct. 21: The Sindh Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution against the federal government’s decision of issuing an NOC to a power generation concern for developing a 25-megawatt hydropower project on the Chashma-Jhelum (CJ) Link Canal.

About CJ Link Canal

CJ-Link Canal off takes from Chashma Barrage on its left bank and conveys water to River Jhelum to meet the requirement of the canals off-taking at Trimmu Headworks on river Chenab near Jhang. The link is an unlined earthen channel.  WAPDA acquired about 10,800 acres of land for its construction and 1130 acres for shelter belt plantation. The work on the Canal was started in 1967 and completed in 1971. The 22,000 cusecs capacity CJ link, which also feeds Greater Thal Canal, gets water from the Indus to take water flows to agricultural lands which were to be fed primarily from Mangla Dam, built on Jhelum River. Punjab gets its allocated share of water from the Indus through CJ Link Canal during Kharif when Sindh needs to meet its farmers’ demands for early Kharif sowing.

Salient Features

Length: 64 miles

Bed Width: 380 ft

Design Discharge: 21,700 cusecs

Structures: 36

Commencement Date: 11th Jan. 1967

Completion Date: 31st March 1971

Oct. 22: The federal cabinet approved eight laws through ordinances, including the NAB (Amendment) Ordinance, and right to second appeal under the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) to fast-track disposal of cases.

Oct. 22: Chief Justice of Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered for the establishment of special courts for the disabled persons in all district headquarters of Sindh.

Oct. 23: The Election Commission of Pakistan notified Aisha Bibi of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Baseerat Khan of the Balochistan Awami Party as MPAs-elect on two seats reserved in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly for women from the merged tribal districts.

Oct. 24: A special bench of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) acquitted six officials of the Punjab Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), who were accused in the brutal murder of four people, including a woman and a minor, in Sahiwal.

Oct. 24: The government de-notified the prosecution team in Pervez Musharraf treason trial.

Oct. 24: In the highest-ever upward shift in a year shown by a country, Pakistan climbed 28 places and rose to the rank of 108 in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business index and landed in the club of world’s top 10 business climate improvers.

Oct. 24: Pakistan and India signed the landmark Kartarpur Corridor agreement, allowing Sikh pilgrims visa-free access to Darbar Sahib.

Oct. 24: Federal government appointed Dr Kazim Niaz, a senior officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, the chief secretary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

                                Pakistan-Iran Relations

Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Iran on 18 November as part of an ongoing mutual trust building process. During his visit, the two sides discussed prospects of expansion of defence cooperation, border security, counterterrorism cooperation, promotion of border trade exchange and convergence among Muslim countries.

Although there is no territorial or political dispute between the two countries, relations during the recent years have been under considerable strain because of terrorist groups using the two countries’ – mostly Pakistan’s – border regions to launch attacks on the other side. Since assumption of office, Prime Minister Imran Khan has assigned due importance to renewal of friendly relations with Iran. Khan visited Iran twice during this year. Last April while addressing a joint news conference alongside President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, he emphasised the need for having trust in each other. A joint rapid reaction force for the border areas was established in addition to an upgraded security mechanism for heightened border surveillance. The two sides also resolved to enhance bilateral trade by setting up barter markets and maintaining barter accounts.

Pakistan’s warming up to Iran without jeopardizing its special relationship with Saudi Arabia is also paying off on the diplomatic front. While in the US for last September’s UN General Assembly session, Imran Khan told reporters President Donald Trump had asked him to help defuse tensions with Iran, and that he had immediately spoke with President Rouhani. He also disclosed that during his stopover in Riyadh, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had asked him to talk to the Iranian president. Later in October, he went on a peace mission first to Iran where President Rouhnai went on to emphasise that “any goodwill gesture (from the US and the Saudi kingdom) will be responded with goodwill gesture and good words”. Two days later, the prime minister headed to Saudi kingdom. Although as usual Saudi leaders made no public statement,

Oct. 24: Iqra Khalid, a woman from Rahim Yar Khan, was elected second time as a member of the Canadian parliament.

Oct. 25: The Lahore High Court approved former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s bail plea in Chaudhry Sugar Mills case on medical grounds.

Oct. 25: Former women’s captain Sana Mir was bestowed with the 2019 Asia Society Game Changer award for her impact in Pakistan’s women cricket.

Oct. 26: Renowned poet and Naat Khwan Ejaz Rehmani passed away at the age of 83.

Oct. 27: The entire Pakistani nation observed black day in support of the people of India-held Kashmir.

Oct. 27: Pakistan denied Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi permission to fly through its airspace due to “ongoing grave human rights violations” in India-held Kashmir.

Oct. 28: Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of Baba Guru Nanak International University at Nankana Sahib.

Oct. 28: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $75 million loan for a project in the education sector of Sindh.

Oct. 29: The Islamabad High Court granted post-arrest bail to ailing Nawaz Sharif by suspending his sentence in the Al-Azizia reference.

Oct. 30: Leading PPP senator from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khanzada Khan, resigned from his Senate membership.

Oct. 30: The government issued a Rs 50 commemorative coin to mark 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikh religion.

Oct. 30: Pakistan completed a clean sweep of Bangladesh in their women’s T20 International series.

Oct. 30: The Supreme Court issued a 59-page judgment on the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 decreeing the term ‘terrorism’ ‘too wide’ and recommended parliament to consider substituting the present definition of terrorism with a more succinct definition, bringing it in line with the international perspective of that offence and focusing on violent activities aimed at achieving political, ideological or religious objectives.

Oct. 31: Pakistan cricket umpire Ahsan Raza equalled world record of most T20 International matches.

Oct. 31: As many as 73 passengers were killed, with 90 percent of them burnt alive, and over 40 injured when three coaches of Rawalpindi-bound Tezgam Express caught fire near Liaquatpur.

Oct. 31: Syed Qalbe Hassan of the Independent group was elected as the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for the year 2019-20.

Oct. 31: World Bank Group President David R. Malpass said the reforms carried out by Pakistan for ease of doing business would help create jobs, attract investment and generate more tax revenue.

Nov. 02: Balochistan High Court (BHC) Chief Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail announced restoration of Judicial Magistrate and Qazi Courts in Nag tehsil.

Nov. 03: Participating in the first T20 against Australia, world’s tallest cricketer Mohammad Irfan became the oldest fast bowler to play for Pakistan since Imran Khan.

Nov. 03: Pakistan 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.

Nov. 04: The government released commemorative postage stamps to mark the 550th anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism.

Nov. 04: Pakistan agreed with China for allowing utilisation of Chinese currency RMB for execution of all new projects of energy sector under multi-billion dollars CPEC.

Nov. 04: The Lahore High Court (LHC) granted bail to PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) case.

China’s Economic Slowdown

China’s economy is slowing. After decades of double-digit expansion, the country’s GDP is now growing at around 6 percent — the fastest of any major economy but still the lowest level for China in three decades. Several factors — some structural, some political — contribute to the deceleration. Industrial output increased 4.7 percent compared with the previous October, but that is 0.7 percentage point below expectations and 1.1 percentage points below September’s performance. Factory activity shrank for the sixth consecutive month, new export orders decreased for the 17th consecutive month and the value of delivered industrial exports shrank 3.8 percent, the third straight month of decline. Especially worrisome for Chinese decision-makers is weakness in the domestic market. Corporate and household financing reached 618.9 billion yuan ($88.2 billion) in October, the lowest level in more than three years. Growth in the services sector continues to slow, and retail sales expanded 7.2 percent, the same level as a 16-year low hit in April. Analysts are especially alarmed by slumping auto sales, typically considered a bellwether of domestic performance. Retail car sales, which have been marked by double-digit growth, fell 6.6 percent in September from the previous year. Chinese policymakers have two other economic concerns. The first is inflation. The consumer price index increased 3.8 percent in October, driven by skyrocketing pork prices, which rose 101.3 percent. China’s pork farmers are being ravaged by African swine flu. The government says the herd has been reduced by 41 percent, or almost 200 million pigs, which will cut output by 25 percent. Rising prices have spread to chicken and beef. Rising prices at the same time of economic slowdown is an invitation to unrest. A second danger is the financial sector. An economic downturn will punish small companies and the financial institutions that have been lending to them. Analysts are increasingly concerned that those banks will not have sufficient reserves if those companies default.

World’s Loudest Bird

Bellbird of the Amazon, a white-plumed suitor weighing no more than half a pound was declared the world´s loudest bird. The noise this tiny creature creates reaches peak levels of 113 decibels — above the human pain threshold and equivalent to a loud rock concert or a turbo-prop plane 200 feet (60 meters) away achieving takeoff power. The feat is all the more impressive given the species’ diminutive size: they’re about as big as doves, and the males are distinguished by a fleshy black wattle adorned with white specks that falls from the beak. Scientists used high-quality sound recorders and high-speed video to slow the action enough to study how the bird uses its anatomy to achieve such high levels of noise.

Nov. 04: Pakistan and Turkey resolved the dispute involving Karkey — a Turkish ship-mounted power plant — saving the former from $1.2bn penalty imposed on it by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Nov. 04: Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the ‘Ehsaas Undergraduate Scholarship’ programme.

Nov. 04: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) suspended the presidential order of ‘controversial’ appointment of two members of the ECP.

Nov. 05: Pakistan and China agreed to set a new direction of the CPEC for future cooperation in high economic impact areas by largely shifting away from infrastructure projects, except the $9 billion Mainline-1 projects.

Nov. 05: The federal cabinet approved National Electric Vehicles (EV) policy under which a target has been set to convert 30 per cent of fourand tri-wheelers in the country into electric vehicles.

Nov. 05: Munir Akram, Pakistan’s new permanent representative to the United Nations, presented his credentials to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Nov. 06: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency appointed Pakistani actress Mahira Khan a UNHCR national goodwill ambassador.

Nov. 06: Three Pakistani writers, Bapsi Sidhwa, Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid, were included in BBC’s list of 100 novels that shaped the world.

Nov. 06: The Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) accorded approval for issuance of letters of support (LOS) for 11 wind power projects having combine power generation capacity 558MWs.

Nov. 06: Ikram Sehgal resigned as director and chairman from the K-Electric board.

Nov. 06: Accountability Court, Islamabad permitted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to auction the properties belonging to former finance minister Ishaq Dar.

Nov. 07: The National Assembly passed 11 presidential ordinances within half an hour.

Nov. 07: The IMF concluded the first quarterly review on a successful note and asked the Government of Pakistan to definitely achieve the revenue target, keep a cap on issuing new guarantees and put into effective implementation the circular debt reduction strategy.

Nov. 08: Prime Minister Imran Khan approved an unprecedented relief package of Rs6 billion to provide consumers five essential items on discounted rates at Utility Stores Corporation outlets throughout the country.

World’s Loudest Bird

Bellbird of the Amazon, a white-plumed suitor weighing no more than half a pound was declared the world´s loudest bird. The noise this tiny creature creates reaches peak levels of 113 decibels — above the human pain threshold and equivalent to a loud rock concert or a turbo-prop plane 200 feet (60 meters) away achieving takeoff power. The feat is all the more impressive given the species’ diminutive size: they’re about as big as doves, and the males are distinguished by a fleshy black wattle adorned with white specks that falls from the beak. Scientists used high-quality sound recorders and high-speed video to slow the action enough to study how the bird uses its anatomy to achieve such high levels of noise.

Nov. 08: Australia beat Pakistan in the third Twenty20 International and ensured a 2-0 triumph in the rain-affected series.

Nov. 08: Peshawar-Karachi Motorway (Sukkur-Multan Section) was inaugurated.

Nov. 08: Pakistan successfully maintained its emerging market status in the semi-annual index review for the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) equity indexes.

Nov. 09: Muhammad Asif became the first Pakistani player to clinch two World Snooker titles.

Nov. 09: Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor, which would allow thousands of Sikhs in India to visit their second holiest site without visa each day, and said time was ripe to end hatred between Pakistan and India that had been nurtured over the past seven decades.

Nov. 09: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza reappointed Dr Rana Safdar the polio coordinator for National Emergency Operation Centre (EOC).

Nov. 09: Two Pakistani representatives – Tariq Pervez and Waseem Khatri – were elected to the executive committee of the World English Scrabble Players Association; the regulatory body of scrabble worldwide.

Nov. 11: The government unveiled its fiscal stimulus plan for providing additional incentive on housing and exporters loans besides providing cash refunds in order to kick-start sluggish economic activities.

Nov. 11: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar approved a summary of Higher Education Department for setting up Thal University in Bhakkar.

Nov. 12: The Accountability Court of Islamabad rejected an application seeking treatment of former president Asif Ali Zardari by private doctors of his choice.

Nov. 12: Over 10,000 Sikh pilgrims from around the world gathered at Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib to celebrate the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.

Nov. 12: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government appointed MPA Ghazan Jamal from Orakzai tribal district as chief minister’s focal person on the newly-merged districts’ annual development programme and accelerated implementation programme (AIP).

Nov. 13: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called off the party’s 13-day sit-in in Islamabad.

Nov. 13: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) increased minimum support price for wheat by Rs50 to Rs1,350.

Nov. 13: Renowned fiction writer Muhammad Hamid Siraj passed away. He was 61.

Nov. 14: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) nominated Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh for the post of the Lahore High Court chief justice.

Nov. 14: Around 100 PML-N lawmakers resigned from standing committees of the Punjab Assembly in protest against not making Hamza Shahbaz chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Nov. 14: The provincial government has declared Rawalpindi as a metropolitan city and changed the status of Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) to the metropolitan corporation.

Nov. 14: Pakistan was elected as head of the annual meeting of the UN convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

About CCW

The CCW represents an important arms control framework that envisages prohibitions and restrictions on certain conventional weapons that can cause unnecessary suffering to combatants or affect civilians indiscriminately.”

The convention and its five protocols strike a prudent balance between humanitarian concerns and legitimate military utility of certain categories of conventional weapons, the statement said and added that the states parties meet annually to review the implementation of the convention, as well as to explore the possibility of developing additional protocols on new weapon systems of concern.

Nov. 15: The 24-member Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) elected Pakistan’s Board Member Nauman Bashir Bhatti of Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Co-chair for one year (2020).