Today’s top Pakistan current affairs January 20, 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
- PM Imran Khan to inaugurate uplift projects in South Waziristan today. Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit South Waziristan today where he will inaugurate uplift projects including distribution of cheques under Kamyab Jawan Program
- Joe Biden Takes Oath As 46th President Of United States Today. Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday in a ceremony protected by 25,000 troops and face masks to ward off two potentially lethal enemies — an unrelenting virus and a frenzied mob.
- Head of physiology dept at Karachi varsity dies of coronavirus. Another doctor and professor, Dr Saleh Soomro, on Tuesday lost his life to COVID-19 in Karachi, becoming the latest medic to fall victim to the deadly infection
- Zimbabwe’s foreign minister dies after contracting COVID-19. Zimbabwe’s foreign minister, Sibusiso Moyo, has died after contracting COVID-19, presidential spokesman George Charamba said on Wednesday.
- Pakistan successfully test-fires Shaheen-III ballistic missile. Pakistan on Wednesday successfully test-fired Shaheen-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile, having a range of 2,750 kilometers
- Mobile broadband services launched in South Waziristan: PTA. In pursuance of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement for the launch of 3G and 4G services in Waziristan, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued directives to the Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) to immediately start mobile broadband services in the district.
- India promoting anti-Pakistan agenda: DG ISPR. Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar has said that India is involved in promoting anti-Pakistan agenda in six domains, which include abetting terrorism, targeting economy, using diplomacy, fomenting chaos, Kashmir and social issues.
- Soldier martyred in exchange of fire with Indian forces. A 35-year-old Pakistani soldier, Sepoy Fazal Elahi, embraced martyrdom on Wednesday night when Indian forces initiated unprovoked firing in Khuiratta Sector along the Line of Control (LoC), to which Pakistan responded befittingly, inflicting heavy losses to the Indian side.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,772 new cases and 48 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 39,604 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on January 20 at 7:55am).
- Pakistan approves second vaccine for emergency use: Yesterday, Pakistan’s Drug Regulatory Authority approved the Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. A few days ago, Pakistan also approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19
vaccine for emergency use. Pakistan’s health ministry said they’re talking to other vaccine makers. However, Pakistan reportedly hasn’t placed an order to obtain any vaccine yet.
2. WhatsApp leak about the 2019 Balakot airstrike
What’s going on? There was reportedly a controversial text exchange between Indian TV anchor, Arnab Goswami, and former CEO of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) ratings agency, Partho Dasgupta.
Wait…what? Goswami and Dasgupta were supposedly chatting on WhatsApp three days before the February 26th Indian airstrike in Pakistan. Based on what they talked about, it sounded like Goswami knew about the airstrike in advance. He reportedly wrote: “something big will happen,” and “on Pakistan the govt is confident of striking in a way that people will be elated.”
The details: Even though Goswami didn’t spell it out, he suggested the airstrike would amplify support for Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, who was in the middle of his re-election campaign. Also, by writing “the govt is confident…” he implied that the Indian govt expected the airstrike to drum up support for Modi. Reminder: Goswami is the editor in chief/co-owner of Indian Republic TV, and known to be a big Modi supporter. Dasgupta reportedly said the attack on Pakistan would give Modi a “sweeping majority” in the general election (P.S. Modi and his Hindu nationalist party won in a landslide victory).
Tell me more: Mumbai police came across the WhatsApp chat transcript during an investigation into manipulated TV ratings. The police submitted the chat transcripts to a court as evidence. Republic TV issued a statement on Goswami’s behalf, accusing the Pakistani govt of conspiring against his station.
The context: On February 14, 2019, a suicide bombing in Pulwama (i.e. India-controlled Kashmir) killed 40 Indian soldiers. Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. India also accused Pakistan of helping the bombers, but Pakistan said ‘not true.’ Later on, Modi’s govt launched an airstrike in Pakistan’s town of Balakot, claiming it struck a terrorist training camp. However, Pakistan said the bombs actually fell in an empty forest. Then, Pakistani forces flew jets into Indian airspace, shot down an Indian fighter jet, and captured its pilot, (P.S. the one who thought his tea was fantastic). Pakistan released the pilot after other countries like the US and China said, ‘can the two nuclear-armed nations please calm down before things get out of hand.’
The bottom line: PM Imran Khan is saying ‘told ya so.’ He already accused Modi of using the Balakot airstrike for electoral gains two years ago. At the same time, India’s opposition Congress Party wants to know who leaked state secrets to a journalist. Congress Party lawmaker, Shashi Tharoor, said the Modi govt should conduct “a serious inquiry.” However, Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, is convinced there won’t be any inquiry, since Modi himself was probably behind the leak.
3. Anti-govt protest in Islamabad
The political opposition alliance (i.e. Pakistan Democratic Movement) held a rally outside the Election Commission of Pakistan yesterday. Minister for Interior, Sheikh Rashid, mocked the rally, claiming they didn’t get enough people to show up. According to Rashid, no more than 3,000 people attended. He suggested the govt isn’t worried about the opposition alliance anymore, especially after the low turnout at their rally in Islamabad.
- Backstory: During the latest anti- govt protest, members of the opposition alliance criticized delays in a foreign funding case involving the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The case is about PTI allegedly taking funds from suspicious, prohibited or illegal sources. This case has dragged on for more than six years, without any confirmed proof or final judgement. During the Islamabad rally, participating opposition members repeated their accusations against PM Khan’s PTI govt, calling it “inefficient, incompetent, and selected,” (P.S. when they say selected, they mean put in place by the ‘establishment’ via a rigged election).
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