Today’s top Pakistan current affairs November 17,2020 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
- Cabinet Approves Ending Import Duty On Medicines Used In Treatment Of Coronavirus. Federal cabinet on Tuesday approved to end import duty on medicines related to treatment of global pandemic coronavirus.
- Pakistan Decides Advance Booking Of Coronavirus Vaccine. Pakistan has decided an advance booking of vaccine for the global pandemic coronavirus while Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the measure.
- FO Rejects Media Reports Regarding Pressure On Pakistan To Recognize Israel. Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri has rejected media reports as fabrication regarding pressure on Pakistan to recognize Israel.
- No winter vacations in educational institutions this year: Saeed Ghani. Provincial Education Minister Saeed Ghani on Tuesday said that there will be no winter vacations in educational institutions this year in the Sindh province
- Govt to introduce electronic voting system in Pakistan, announces PM Khan. Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Tuesday announced to introduce electronic voting system to ensure fair and transparent polls in the country.
- Balochistan decides three-month closure of educational institutions. Balochistan government has decided closure of educational institutions from December 1 and three-month closure in cold areas of the province
- Gold rates fall in domestic market. The per tola gold price on Tuesday once again registered a decline in the domestic market after some gain a day before
- Karachi Kings Outclass Qalandars To Lift PSL Trophy. Karachi Kings dominated with the bat and ball as they defeated Lahore Qalandars by five wickets on Tuesday to lift the trophy of the fifth edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 2,050 new cases and 33 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 29,378 in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on November 16 at 8:34am).
- Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan announced new restrictions on public events. He urged people to step up and comply with COVID-19 prevention guidelines. He said his ruling party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will cancel its rallies across the country. He also said wedding events can only be held in open areas, and will be restricted to 300 people. Plus, everyone at a wedding has to wear a mask. Overall, he didn’t propose a sweeping nationwide shutdown. Restaurants and factories will remain open, but they have been told to follow safety guidelines, and ensure social distancing. There’s no final decision on schools yet.
- Sindh’s Chief Minister, Murad Ali Shah, has COVID-19. So far, he has a mild fever, and is isolating himself.
- There’s a potential new vaccine everyone is talking about. Early data reportedly shows that Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is 94.5% effective. The drugmaker, Moderna, is the second company to report preliminary results. Now, Moderna and Pfizer are leading the global race to come up with a COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna and Pfizer are both requesting emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. However, it will still be a while until a vaccine is widely available to the public.
2. Govt convinces TLP to end anti-France protest
What’s going on? More than 1,000 protestors from the hardline religious political party, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), blocked a major highway in Islamabad (i.e. the Faizabad interchange), on Monday. They were protesting against published caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in France. They also lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron due to his controversial comments about Islam. On Sunday, several TLP workers violently clashed with police who were stopping them from entering Islamabad. There were reportedly injuries on both sides.
The details: Security personnel were deployed to guard government buildings in Islamabad. Residents in Islamabad and Rawalpindi had to deal with disrupted traffic and blocked cell service. Schools and shops around Faizabad were also closed. There were concerns that protestors would get violent and charge the French embassy. Here were the protestors’ demands:
- Recall Pakistan’s ambassador from France (P.S. even though Pakistan doesn’t have an ambassador in France at the moment).
- Tell the French ambassador in Pakistan, Marc Barety, to leave asap.
Tell me more: On PM Khan’s orders, Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri, led the negotiation process. TLP’s protest started on Sunday and lasted until Monday night. TLP Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi hasn’t officially announced the end of the protest, but he’s expected to.
The context: Last month, after the beheading of French history teacher, Samuel Paty, President Macron said “Samuel Paty was killed because Islamists want our future and because they know that with quiet heroes like him, they will never have it.” Paty was killed after showing caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) 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: TLP claimed that the govt accepted all of its demands. According to the agreement TLP described, the govt will touch base with Parliament regarding French Ambassador Barety’s expulsion, and will not appoint an ambassador in France. Plus, the govt will apparently release arrested TLP workers as well, and not register cases against TLP leaders or workers. Even though the govt hasn’t officially or openly confirmed the agreement, the interior ministry did issue a notification to immediately release whoever was arrested over the past two days.
3. Award for capturing prime rape suspect
Remember Kashmore’s Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI), Mohammad Bux Buriro? Him and his family hatched a plan to capture a prime suspect in a rape case, and recover a five-year-old girl who was being held hostage. The plan looked like something out of a crime/detective show. In a ceremony, the Sindh inspector general of police announced a cash reward of PKR 2 million for ASI Buriro and his family for helping nab the suspect.
- Backstory: The arrested prime suspect, Rafiq Malik, reportedly confessed that he raped the woman and her minor daughter. After the woman met Malak in Kashmore, Sindh to follow up on a job prospect, she claimed that he raped her, and then gave her to another man who also raped her. The woman also said Malak held her daughter hostage, and would only let her child go in exchange for another woman.
- The trap: In order to lure the suspect into a trap, ASI Buriro asked his wife to talk to the suspect on the phone. Later, his daughter, along with the young girl’s mother, waited in a park where Malak was supposed to meet them. The police were also waiting there, and caught Malak when he arrived. He led the police to a cattle pen where he was keeping the young girl.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,504.75 after dropping 64.60 points (-0.16%) as of November 16, 2020.
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