Today’s top Pakistan current affairs April 28, 2021 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
- Complete Ban Imposed On Travelers From India: Fawad Chaudhry. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain says the government will have to take further strict measures if there is no let-up in Covid situation, and preparations in this regard are being made.
- Daily Vaccinations Crossed Over one Lakh In A Day For The First Time Yesterday: Asad Umar. Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has urged the citizens aged 40 years and above to register for Covid vaccination by sending their CNICs to 1166.
- Earthquake jolts parts of Balochistan. An earthquake shook multiple cities in Balochistan Wednesday evening.
- Drug regulatory approves ICU-ventilators made in Pakistan. Reveling the much-awaited technological breakthrough to have come to pass on Wednesday as Pakistan-made ventilators have been approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), the federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry congratulated Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) for the feather in its cap
- Pakistan sees record 201 COVID deaths in single day. Pakistan has reported 201 more COVID deaths, the highest number in a single day since the pandemic break out in the country, in the last 24 hours,
- Pakistan to prepare CanSino vaccine locally from next month: sources. Pakistan will prepare a Chinese coronavirus vaccine locally from the next month
- Gold prices fall in domestic market. Gold rates dropped by Rs600 to Rs104,100 per tola in the domestic market on Wednesday
- Dollar jumps to Rs155 in Pakistan again. The US dollar is now selling for Rs155 in the open market but experts say it would be staying in this range. It has increased by Rs1.40 over the last week.
- Mohammad Rizwan moves into top 10 of ICC T20I rankings. In-form Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has made his maiden entry into the top 10 of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20I Players Rankings.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 5,292 new cases and 201 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 49,101 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on April 28 at 3:23 am).
- US to share AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries: The US will release 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to other countries. So far, Europe and other parts of the world have been using the vaccine. However, the vaccine hasn’t been authorized for use in the US yet, and the US govt has been sitting on a massive stockpile of doses. The vaccine will have to go through safety reviews before being released to other countries. Around 10 million doses are ready to ship after regulatory clearances, and remaining doses are expected to be distributed throughout May and June. The US govt didn’t specify which countries will get the vaccine, so we’re not sure if Pakistan is on the list yet.
- In case you missed this: The govt has opened vaccine registration for people who are 40+ years old. Also, people who are 50+ can use walk-in vaccination facilities.
2. All exams cancelled
What’s going on? In what looks like a 180-degree turn, Federal Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, announced that no exams will take place in Pakistan until June 15. This announcement came a few days after he said the Cambridge O and A level exams will happen for sure. The Cambridge Assessment International Education program issues O and A levels. The A levels were scheduled to begin on April 26, and O levels were scheduled for May 4.
The details: During a press conference, Mahmood said the O and A level exams will now take place in October-November, for no extra fee. Exams could be delayed more depending on the COVID-19 situation. Some exams still started on Monday, April 26.
Tell me more: Mahmood said this decision was made to address the health concerns of students and parents. If you’re wondering why the govt didn’t decide to cancel exams earlier, Mahmood said it’s because there was a drastic increase in cases between now and when the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said it would be fine to hold exams.
The context: Initially, when students asked to receive school-assessed grades as an alternative to taking in-person Cambridge exams, the govt and courts said ‘nope.’ Students who filed a petition don’t think it’s fair for them to take in-person exams during a pandemic, especially while COVID-19 cases are increasing. According to the students, they didn’t have physical classes for most of the academic year, and didn’t get a chance to complete the syllabus either. Plus, they believe in-person exams will put their lives and the lives of their family members at risk, since packed exam halls could be a hotbed for the virus.
The bottom line: For the past few months, students, parents and activists have been calling on the govt to cancel in-person Cambridge exams due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country. There’s still no clear explanation for why the govt won’t agree to school-assessed grades as an alternative, especially since Cambridge International also presented this as an option.
3. Provincial govt supports Facebook monetization
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provincial assembly passed a resolution to turn on Facebook monetization in Pakistan. The point is to help people find other avenues to earn revenue. There are reportedly 50 million Facebook users in Pakistan. With the monetization feature turned on, many people producing quality content on Facebook can use the social media platform to earn money. Apparently, Facebook monetization isn’t “on” in Pakistan right now. The KP assembly pointed out that users in other countries are taking full advantage of this tool. Now, the KP assembly is calling on the federal govt to make Facebook monetization happen.
4. Sitting minister violates COVID-19 guidelines
KP’s Finance and Health Minister, Taimur Khan Jhagra, is facing a First Information Report (FIR) after a picture showed him sitting, unmasked, with a group of people at a restaurant. Many people with him weren’t wearing masks, and they were also sitting close to each other (i.e. no social distancing). Later on, Jhagra tried to tell his side of the story. In a tweet, Jhagra said he was invited to a private iftar and was told there would be a few close friends. He apparently wasn’t sure about the actual headcount until he showed up, and wasn’t aware of the location either.
- Now what? Local authorities filed an FIR against Jhagra and the Peshawar restaurant’s owner/manager for violating the govt’s COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs). Authorities sealed the restaurant as well. SOPs include wearing face masks in public and practicing social distancing. Plus, the govt banned indoor and outdoor dining in major cities, including Peshawar, due to the rising number of virus cases.
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