Today’s top Pakistan current affairs February 10, 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
- OGRA Hikes Gas Prices For SSGC Consumers. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Wednesday approved hike up to 2 percent in gas prices for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) consumers.
- Turkey Announces Moon Mission. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed a 10-year space program on Tuesday. It includes ambitious plans such as sending Turkish astronauts to the moon.
- Government Employees Protest For Salary Hike Intensified in Islamabad. Islamabad Police on Wednesday fired tear gas at protesting government employees when they were heading towards the Parliament House located on the Constitution Avenue.
- Magnitude 7.7 earthquake generates tsunami in South Pacific. A 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific on Thursday, generating a tsunami that threatened island nations in the region.
- ‘5G services to be launched in Pakistan in December 2022’. Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haque said that 5G services will be launched in Pakistan in December 2022.
- Pakistan strongly condemns drone attacks on Saudi airport. Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned Houthi militants’ drone attacks on Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia
- Multinational Maritime Exercise Aman-2021 To Begin In Karachi From Tomorrow. The seventh edition of the multinational maritime exercise Aman-2021 is commencing in Karachi and in the Pakistani waters from Thursday.
- T20 Series Between Pakistan and South Africa Begins Tomorrow. The Twenty20 International (T20I) series between Pakistan and South Africa is all set to begin on Thursday (tomorrow) as the Green Shirts are determined to down the Proteas in the shortest format after sweeping them in Tests.
- Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali make progress in ICC Test rankings. Star fast-bowler Hasan Ali and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan are amongst the Pakistan players who have improved their positions in the recently announced ICC Test rankings.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,072 new cases and 62 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 31,713 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on February 10 at 8:51am).
- Pakistan approves another vaccine: Pakistan recently approved Russia’s Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. This is the third vaccine Pakistan has approved for emergency use, following China’s SinoPharm and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The Russian vaccine is administered in two shots, three weeks apart.
2. Pakistan seeking debt relief from China
Did you see this coming? Pakistan plans to ask China for some debt relief. China has financed power projects in Pakistan over the past eight years. However, Pakistan is expected to pay back these loans, which is why it hopes China will ease debt repayment terms. This debt is linked to a dozen power projects. The power plants were supposed to help Pakistan solve its electricity shortages. However, the rising cost of these power plants is making Pakistan nervous.
The details: China is building power plants in Pakistan under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). CPEC is a collection of projects that connect China to the Gwadar Port in Pakistan. China has invested a whopping $60 billion in CPEC.
The context: CPEC is a part of China’s overarching Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive trade and infrastructure project that is supposed to stretch from East Asia to Europe. The project involves partnering with countries around the world to build things like shipping lanes, railroads, airport, energy pipelines, and highways. However, this isn’t charity work. Host countries are using loans from China to build new infrastructure. BRI supporters claim China is trying to strengthen global economic ties and invest in emerging markets. On the other hand, some analysts believe China is using the BRI to expand its power and influence.
Something to know: Some countries participating in China’s BRI are complaining about rising levels of debt, since infrastructure upgrades require a lot of funding.
The bottom line: The key question is, can Pakistan afford these Chinese-backed power plants, because they’re not donations after all?
3. Provincial law minister resigns over leaked video
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Law Minister, Sultan Muhammad Khan, resigned over his alleged appearance in a video from 2018. According to Dawn, the leaked video shows some parliamentarians with stacks of cash before the 2018 Senate elections. The blurry video shows clips of people either sitting near or counting a pile of brick-shaped objects wrapped in paper. While commenting on the video, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said it shows “the shameful way politicians buy and sell votes in the Senate.” Planning Minister Asad Umar claimed the people in the video are KP provincial assembly members “taking money to sell their vote.” Some unanswered questions: Who recorded the video, who leaked the video, and why did it suddenly emerge nearly three years later?
- In related news: PM Khan’s PTI govt is pushing for an open ballot system in this year’s Senate election. This is a method in which people vote openly, and not in secret. While the govt thinks an open ballot system will prevent horse trading, opposition parties want to keep the secret ballot system. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto, accused the govt of “violating the sanctity of the secret ballot.”
- Now what? KP’s Chief Minister posted a photo on Twitter, which he claims is Khan’s hand-written resignation. In the letter, Khan wrote: “I feel it’s my duty and obligation to withdraw from the cabinet and offer my resignation…I am also confident that InshAllah justice will be done and I will be able to clear my name.”
- Backstory: In a very literal sense, horse trading is the buying and selling of horses. However, in politics, “horse trading” refers to political vote trading (i.e. giving money or some kind of bribe to get votes). In 2018, PTI expelled 20 of its members in the KP provincial assembly. They were found guilty of accepting PKR 50 million each to vote for certain candidates during the Senate elections.
4. Feeling out of this world
You might have noticed #ArabsToMars trending in Pakistan. Pakistanis are congratulating the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for its latest accomplishment in space. The Emirates Mars mission, named the Hope Probe, entered Mars’ orbit at 7:42pm Tuesday UAE time. The probe also sent a signal back to Earth. The UAE is reportedly the first Arab country to reach Mars. The Hope Probe will spend one “Martian year” (i.e. 687 Earth days) studying and collecting data on the red planet’s atmosphere.
5. A free higher education for students with disabilities
On Monday, President Arif Alvi said the Higher Education Committee (HEC) is working on a new policy for disabled students pursuing higher education programs. The new HEC policy is meant to provide a free postgraduate education for students with disabilities and special needs. We don’t have a lot of details on the HEC’s policy yet, and when it will be finalized. However, it sounds like the HEC is trying to work on disability inclusion in the education system.
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