Today’s top Pakistan current affairs November 12,2020 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
- Lahore’s additional sessions judge dies of coronavirus. Additional Sessions Judge Lahore Azfar Sultan Syed died of coronavirus on Thursday
- Pakistan summons Indian diplomatic over ceasefire violations. Foreign Office on Thursday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) yesterday.
- Kashmore man confesses to rape of mother, young daughter. A man identified as Rafiq Malak has confessed to raping a woman and her underage daughter in Kashmore, police said Thursday.
- NDMA chairman tests positive for COVID-19. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lieutenant General Mohammad Afzal has tested positive for the coronavirus
- Pindi Bhatian:Bus Tractor-Trolley Collision Claims 10 Lives. As many as 10 people were killed and several others got injured in a horrific collision between a passenger bus and a tractor-trolley in Pindi Bhatian on Thursday.
- British HC Inaugurates Robot-Operated Covid-19 Testing Lab in Islamabad. In its effort to fight and respond to Covid-19 and increase domestic testing capacity for Covid-19 diagnosis, Future Trust in partnership with technology from Opencell UK has launched Future Labs.
- Gold price falls for fourth straight day in domestic market. The per tola gold price registered a decline on the fourth consecutive day in the domestic market on Thursday
- PCB appoints Younis Khan as national team’s batting coach. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed legendary batsman Younis Khan as the batting coach of the national team till the ICC T20 World Cup 2022.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 1,808 new cases and 34 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 36,686 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on November 12 at 7:30am).
- Daily COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled since mid-October.
- The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) made suggestions to control the rising number of COVID-19 cases. These recommendations include limiting large public gatherings and ramping up restrictions in high-risk areas.
- As of November 20, The NCOC said weddings will have to be outdoor events, with up to 500 guests.
- The NCOC noticed a decrease in COVID-19 prevention guidelines in mosques.
- The govt issued an order that would require half of the staff members in public and private sector offices to work from home.
- The govt will expand “smart lockdowns” (i.e. targeted lockdowns) in urban centers. In case you need a reminder, smart lockdowns impose restrictions in specific areas that have a cluster of virus cases.
2. Pakistan condemns attack in Jeddah
What’s going on? There was an explosion at a cemetery in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The blast took place during an international World War I (WWI) commemoration ceremony.
The details: Representatives and foreign diplomats from several countries attended the event, which was held at a non-Muslim cemetery. At least three people were wounded in the blast, including a Greek national, a United Kingdom (UK) national, and a Saudi security officer.
Tell me more: So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the explosion. The embassies of France, Greece, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S., which were all associated with the ceremony, condemned the attack. They plan to support Saudi authorities with an investigation that is underway.
The context: Even though the motive behind this attack is unclear, it happened while French President Emmanuel Macron has been getting intense backlash from Muslims around the world. However, President Macron wasn’t at the event. A few weeks ago, he defended the right to publish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and said France would not “give up” the caricatures. He made this statement during a memorial service for history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded in a Paris suburb on October 16. Paty was killed after showing the same caricatures to his students during a discussion about the limits of free speech. The suspected assailant was an 18-year-old Russian national of Chechen origin.
The bottom line: Pakistan is amongst some of the countries that condemned the attack. A foreign office spokesperson said the govt and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.
3. U.S. embassy in Islamabad apologizes for political retweet
The U.S. embassy in Islamabad is trying to do some damage control. The embassy’s Twitter account retweeted a post by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, Ahsan Iqbal. He retweeted a screenshot of a Washington Post headline, titled “Trump’s defeat is a blow for the world’s demagogues and dictators.” In his retweet, Iqbal wrote, “We have one in Pakistan too. He will be shown the way out soon,” which sounds like a derogatory reference to Prime Minister Imran Khan. Govt officials said ‘this is unacceptable’ and told the embassy to respect diplomatic protocol.
- The apology: Later on, the embassy claimed its Twitter account was accessed the night before without authorization. The embassy clarified that it doesn’t endorse “the posting or retweeting of political messages,” and apologized for the confusion. However, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari doesn’t think the embassy’s response is good enough.
4. When COVID-19 isn’t the only reason you need a face mask
Excess smog covered Lahore yesterday. Officials issued warnings about throat infections, coughing, respiratory disease and eye related problems. Doctors urged people to stay home. The air quality in Lahore reportedly plummeted to hazardous levels. At one point, the Air Quality Index (AQI) rose to 750 in the city’s poorer areas (i.e. the higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution). Same story in Abbottabad, where pollution reportedly increased to very unhealthy levels. People need to wear face masks to protect themselves from both pollution and COVID-19.
- Backstory: Pollution indexes in Pakistan increase during winter. That’s when farmers burn stubble in fields. Cars are reportedly the top pollutants in Lahore, but there are also other sources of pollution, including steel manufacturing furnaces and brick kilns. The pollution situation in Lahore is expected to get worse in the next few weeks as more people burn garbage, and farmers continue to burn off stubble in their fields. As for Abbottabad, prolonged construction work on the main Karakoram Highway road is causing more traffic jams, which are releasing excess smoke.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 41,197.32 after rising 44.27 points (+0.11%) as of November 11, 2020.
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