Today’s top Pakistan current affairs March 09, 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
- Indian Forces Martyr Kashmiri Youth in IoK. In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian troops in their fresh act of state terrorism martyred one Kashmiri youth in Sopore town of Baramulla district.
- Decision Regarding Schools Will Be Made Today: Mahmood. Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood has said that the decision regarding closure of schools will be made tomorrow amid rising Coronavirus cases in the last one week.
- Lahore to Host Remainder PSL-6 Fixtures: PCB. Lahore has been given responsibility for the remainder of the fixtures of following an abrupt stoppage of 6th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) after seven COVID-19 cases were reported, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday.
- Uzbekistan FM To Arrive In Pakistan Today. Foreign Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Abdulaziz Kamilov is arriving in Pakistan today (Tuesday) on a two-day visit.
- Electricity Prices Increased By 89 Paisas. Federal government has increased prices of electricity by 89 paisas while National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has issued notification regarding the hike.
- BISE Lahore announces schedule for intermediate examinations. The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Punjab on Tuesday has released the schedule for the annual examinations
- Three killed, 10 injured in firing outside Gujranwala housing society. Three people were killed and 10 injured during a clash between landowners and security guards of the Royal Palm City, a private housing society in Gujranwala, on Tuesday.
- KP govt, Chinese company sign accord for Balakot hydropower project. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has signed an agreement with a Chinese company for the construction of a 300 megawatts Balakot Hydro Power Project.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 1,353 cases and 54 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 31,786 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on March 9 at 7:40am).
- Authorities review plans to lift restrictions: After easing COVID-19 related restrictions last month, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) is thinking, ‘oh crap, wait a sec.’ It decided to review a recent decision to reopen schools due to a rising number of COVID-19 cases. Last month, Federal Minister for Education, Shafqat Mahmood, said schools in major cities can resume regular classes starting on March 1. Even though Mahmood claimed there was a declining trend of COVID-19 cases, authorities are starting to realize the pandemic isn’t over yet. Also, the NCOC might postpone the reopening of cinemas, indoor weddings, and indoor dining, which were scheduled to start operating on March 15.
2. Opposition alliance nominates Senate Chairman
What’s going on? There’s a new election everyone is talking about, and that’s the Senate Chairman election. This election will be held on March 12 via a secret ballot. The votes will be confidential, just like the main Senate election.
The details: The opposition alliance (i.e. Pakistan Democratic Movement), nominated former Prime Minister (PM), Yousaf Raza Gilani, for the Senate Chairman position. Gilani was also the opposition alliance’s joint candidate for the Senate seat from Islamabad. He defeated the govt-backed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.
Tell me more: PM Imran Khan accused the opposition alliance of paying lawmakers to win the Islamabad Senate seat, which his ruling PTI party lost. PM Khan went on to claim that 15 or 16 lawmakers from his party “sold their vote” to the opposition candidate. Now that the Senate Chairman election is around the corner, PM Khan alleged that PTI senators are already being offered money to vote for the opposition’s candidate.
The context: Here’s an overly simplified version of how Pakistan’s Senate works. The Senate is the upper house of parliament. There used to be 104 lawmakers in the Senate. Now there are 100 after the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Each Senator serves a six year term. All of them are not elected at the same time. Half are elected at one time, and the other half three years later. Half of the Senate members retire after three years, and new Senators are elected to replace them. Members of the National Assembly and provincial assemblies vote for Senate members.
Reminder: This year, 48 Senate seats were in the running. However, polling was only done for 37 seats since the remaining 11 had unopposed candidates. On March 3, PTI gained the most new seats – 18 seats, plus five unopposed seats. Even though PTI became the single largest party in the Senate, opposition parties combined still have a slight majority with 53 seats out of 100, while PTI and its allies have 47 seats.
Looking ahead: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are a major part of the opposition alliance. Since the opposition alliance nominated PPP member Gilani for Senate Chairman, PML-N or JUI-F members might want a candidate from their own party represented in other key Senate positions, like Deputy Chairman and Opposition Leader.
The bottom line: In order to maintain their unity, members of the opposition alliance will need to compromise on who they want to nominate for some top Senate positions.
3. Police attacked in Islamabad and Rawalpindi
On Sunday night, unidentified motorcyclists fired at police officials in Islamabad. One policeman was shot dead, and two others were injured. The three police officials were conducting a routine patrol when they signalled two men riding a motorcycle to stop. However instead of stopping, the bike riders opened fire. In a separate attack, unidentified assailants reportedly shot and killed another police official in Rawalpindi. The official was traveling with his family in a vehicle at the time. It’s still unclear who was involved in these shooting incidents, and whether they are tied to any militant group.
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