Today’s top Pakistan current affairs August 20,2020 with download link available in pdf. These are the latest breaking news about Pakistan which will be helpful for aspirants in test preparation of current affairs, Pakistan affairs, General knowledge for NTS, PPSC, CSS, FPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, BPSC, AJKPSC, OTS, PTS, and other Govt Jobs, exams & MDCAT, ECAT Entry test preparation.
One Liner
- Muharram moon sighted; Youm-i-Ashur on August 30: RHC. The chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) has announced that the crescent has sighted in Pakistan to mark the commencement of Muharram-ul-Haram from Friday (tomorrow)
- PM Imran launches Sehat Sahulat Programme for entire KP population
- FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrives in China to hold strategic dialogue
- PM Khan approves Roshan Digital Account project for overseas Pakistanis
- Veteran Baloch leader Senator Hasil Bizenjo passes away at 62 in Karachi
- No evidence shots fired at Maryam’s car: IG Punjab
- Woman martyred in Indian firing from across LoC: ISPR
- UAE could get F-35 jets in side agreement to Israel peace deal, sources say
- Pakistan records Rs14,500 fall in gold price within two weeks
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 513 new cases and 8 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 22,859 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on August 20 at 9:39am).
2. No Palestinian state, no deal
What’s going on? Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan took a stance on the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and said Pakistan will not recognize Israel until there is a Palestinian state acceptable to the Palestinians. During an interview with Dunya News, PM Khan said Pakistan would not normalize ties with Israel like the UAE recently did.
The details: As a part of the deal with UAE, also called “Abraham Accord,” Israel committed to halting further annexation of Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank. However, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he only agreed to a “delay” in annexation, not a straight up cancellation. PM Khan believes the Palestinians have faced “every kind of injustice.” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, stated that peace and stability in the Middle East is a priority, but Pakistan is also committed to the rights of Palestinians.
The context: On August 13, the UAE became the first Gulf Arab Country, and third in the Middle East after Egypt and Jordan, to establish diplomatic ties with Israel via a US-brokered deal. Israel and the UAE have maintained covert relations with each other for a while. In 2018, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sports became the first Israeli to visit Abu Dhabi on an official state visit. Both countries have also shared intelligence and conducted direct/indirect flights.
The bottom line: Pakistan is on team-Palestinians.
3. Music video in mosque sparks outrage
Conservative segments of the public in Pakistan threw a fit after singer, Bilal Saeed, and actress, Saba Qamar, shot a music video for Qubool at Wazir Khan mosque in Lahore. There was an uproar over Qamar supposedly twirling (i.e. dancing) in the video, which some people considered inappropriate since she was in a mosque. However, she said this was just a circular movement to click stills for a poster.
- The case: Advocate Sardar Farhat Manzoor filed a petition against both artists and the music video’s production team for “violating the sanctity” of Wazir Khan mosque and “hurting the religious sentiments of the public.” Manzoor also included the Punjab Auqaf and Religious Affairs Dept in his petition for allowing the shoot. Lahore police registered a case against the accused individuals based on Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which pertains to “injuring or defiling a place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class.”
- Fueling the fire: Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief and right-wing Islamic cleric, Khadim Rizvi, isn’t letting this go. In a video, Rizvi can be heard stirring up his followers, stating that the people responsible for the music video shoot should be brought to justice.
- In related news: The Punjab Auqaf and Religious Affairs Dept banned the shooting of films/dramas in mosques and shrines following the Wazir Khan mosque fiasco.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,154.11 after dropping 29.90 points as of August 19, 2020.
