Today’s top Pakistan current affairs April 02, 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
- COVID-19 Spread: UK Puts Pakistan To ‘Red List’. The United Kingdom (UK) has added more countries including Pakistan and Bangladesh to its red list from April 9 – 2021 in order to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants internationally.
- No Trade With India Until Resolution of Kashmir Conflict: PM Imran. Prime Minister Imran Khan has categorically rejected normalization of trade ties with India and said that it could not happen unless the special constitutional status of the Kashmiris is restored
- Indian forces martyr three Kashmiri youth in IIOJK. The Indian forces in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred three Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Friday.
- Sugar price soars to Rs115/kg in Rawalpindi. Sugar has disappeared from most of the markets in Rawalpindi after the government has initiated action against the sugar satta mafia
- Pakistani folk singer Shaukat Ali passes away. Pakistani folk singer Shaukat Ali has passed away at 74.
- At least 51 killed as Taiwan train derails in tunnel. At least 51 people were killed in Taiwan on Friday when a packed train collided with a vehicle on the tracks and then derailed inside a tunnel, in the island’s worst railway accident in decades.
- Gold price jumps Rs3,100 in Pakistan in two days. The price of gold rose by Rs3,100 in Pakistan over the last two days, according to rates shared by the All Sindh Saraf Jewelers Association. A tola is now selling for Rs106,000.
- Rupee weakens against US dollar. The Pakistani rupee weakened by 25 paisas against the United States (US) dollar in the interbank currency market on Friday.
- Pakistan Beat South Africa After Nail Biting Encounter in First ODI. A century by Babar Azam set up a three-wicket, last-ball win for Pakistan in the first one-day international against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour recap: Pakistan reported 4,974 cases and 98 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 50,055 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on April 1 at 7:31am).
- Several children in Punjab contract UK variant: Thousands of teenagers and minors in Punjab have contracted the UK-variant of COVID-19 during the first three months of 2021. This variant, first identified in the UK, is more contagious than other variants. Around 8,520 children under 18 in Punjab got the virus during the first three months of this year. The number of infected children in Lahore has significantly increased compared to the same time last year. Most children had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. However, some were severely ill and had to be hospitalized.
- How’s the vaccine rollout going? So far, 800,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Pakistan, a country with a population of 220 million people. Pakistan’s vaccination rate is reportedly one of the lowest among countries where vaccination campaigns have started. The number of vaccines in the country is expected to cross 2.5 million this month.
- Pakistan’s in-house COVID-19 vaccine: Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Dr. Noshin Hamid, told the National Assembly that Pakistan will develop its own COVID-19 vaccine soon. We had to check the article numerous times to make sure it wasn’t an April Fools joke.
2. TikTok is back
What’s going on? Yesterday, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) lifted its proposed ban on TikTok, after govt officials said the Chinese video-sharing app is working with them on monitoring “immoral content.” The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said it was in talks with TikTok, and the company will appoint someone to moderate content properly.
The details: The govt’s definition of immoral content is “nudity, blasphemy, and obscenities.” The PHC told the PTA to make sure immoral content isn’t uploaded on the app. The PTA said it asked TikTok to block whoever is making these mistakes repeatedly.
Something to know: It sounds like Federal Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, was not on board with the TikTok ban. He expressed concerns about decisions that could affect Pakistan’s economic future. Basically, he wants to encourage international companies to invest in Pakistan, not scare them off.
The context: On March 10, the PHC ordered TikToK to be blocked due to obscene content. Last year in October, the PTA blocked TikTok for similar reasons, but unblocked it after 10 days when the company said it would moderate content in Pakistan.
The bottom line: From banned, to unbanned, to banned, to unbanned again. It’s hard to keep track of TikTok’s current status in Pakistan.
3. Trade with India isn’t happening after all
At first, we heard that Pakistan was resuming trade with India. This announcement came after Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, and Indian PM, Narendra Modi, exchanged letters, which called for peaceful relations between both countries. Inflation is high in Pakistan. Importing sugar and cotton from India could have helped tone down rising domestic prices on these basic commodities. Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) gave the green light for sugar and cotton imports from India. However, a govt cabinet committee deferred the ECC’s decision and said, ‘wait, what about Kashmir?’
- Now what? According to Human Rights Minister, Shireen Mazari, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan can’t totally normalize relations with India until it reverses its “illegal actions” in Kashmir. The decision to import cotton and sugar from India is on the back burner. Meaning, still on the table, but postponed.
- Backstory: Pakistan suspended trade with India after August 5, 2019, when India’s govt revoked Article 370, a constitutional provision that gave India-administered Kashmir some level of autonomy from the rest of India. India is reportedly trying to integrate the Muslim-majority region with the rest of the country. India’s move caused an uproar in Pakistan. Both countries claim Kashmir in full, but only control parts of it. According to Pakistan, India’s move violated United Nations Security Council resolutions on the Kashmir dispute.
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