Today’s top Pakistan current affairs March 17, 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
- ECC Approves Import Of 300,000 Metric Tons Of Wheat. The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet has approved import of 300,000 metric tons of wheat to avoid any shortage of the commodity in the country.
- Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu Appointed As PAF Chief. The Government has appointed Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu as the new chief of Pakistan Air Force.
- PM Khan to distribute 1,500 houses, flats among daily-wagers Thursday. Prime Minister Imran Khan will distribute 1,500 houses and flats among labourers and daily-wagers in Islamabad on Thursday.
- Kuwait’s FM To Visit Pakistan Tomorrow. Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah, will arrive in Pakistan on Thursday on a two-day visit on the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Foreign Office..
- Security Forces Kill Terrorist in Kanju: ISPR. One terrorist was killed while another was arrested during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Swat on Wednesday, said Inter-Services Public Relations.
- Another 0.5 million doses of Chinese vaccine arrive in Pakistan. A special plane arrived at Islamabad’s Nur Khan airbase from China on Wednesday carrying half a million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
- Lahore Metro Bus Service to Add 64 New Buses to its Fleet. In a recent development, VEDA Transit Solutions and a group of local banks with Bank of Punjab being key-adviser and arranger, signed an agreement of Rs. 2.6 billion to bring in 64 new buses for the Lahore Metro Bus Service.
- Rupee gains almost Rs1 against dollar in a day, hits over one-year high. The Pakistani rupee hit over a one-year high against the United States (US) dollar in the inter-bank currency market on Wednesday
- Gold prices witness steep decline in local market. The per tola gold price on Wednesday registered a decrease of Rs800 to Rs106,400 in the domestic market
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- 24-hour count: Pakistan reported 2,351 new cases and 61 deaths in 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 38,799 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on March 17 at 7:39am).
- Pakistan’s president gets vaccinated: President Arif Alvi and his wife got their Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine shot in Islamabad. Pakistan opened vaccine registration to people over 60 a few days ago. Health authorities are still prioritizing people over 80, but will work their way down to other people in the 60+ age group. President Alvi is reportedly 71 years old. He said he called “1166” to register for the vaccine, and got the shot when it was his turn. Here’s a photo of him getting the vaccine shot. He claimed the govt has set up an “easy and efficient vaccination system.” Other reports claim Pakistan’s vaccine roll out has been pretty slow. As of March 10, 2021, more than 300,000 people over the age of 60 have registered for the vaccine.
- Which vaccines are available in Pakistan? Pakistan has mostly depended on vaccine donations from China and the global COVAX initiative that distributes vaccines to lower income countries. So far, China’s Sinopharm vaccine is the only available option in Pakistan. Pakistan is scheduled to receive 14.6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX initiative sometime this month.
2. Opposition alliance postpones March 26 protest
What’s going on? The political opposition alliance (i.e. the Pakistan Democratic Movement) postponed its long march, which was planned for March 26. Apparently, not everyone in the opposition alliance is on board with the idea of mass resignations. The mass resignations are somehow tied to the anti-govt long march.
The details: Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, is also the opposition alliance’s president. During a press conference, Rehman said nine opposition parties in the alliance group agreed on a proposal to submit their resignations. However, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has had “reservations” about the idea since 2020. PPP wasn’t sure about its lawmakers resigning from both the National Assembly and provincial assemblies.
The context: Last year in December, Rehman claimed that all opposition lawmakers in the provincial and national assemblies will submit their resignations. The resignations are supposed to be a pressure tactic so the govt will announce new general elections. Members of the opposition alliance allege that a rigged election brought the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) govt into power.
The bottom line: Members of the federal govt want to believe there’s a growing rift within the opposition alliance. However, PPP presented a different point of view. PPP believes the opposition gained some political momentum after recent by-elections and the Senate election. It wants to stay in both assemblies to push back against the govt.
3. Prime Minister aims to automate tax collection
On Tuesday, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said there needs to be an automated track and trace system to reduce tax evasion. He didn’t go into detail about the features or mechanisms of this system. He claimed that tax evasion is a big problem in many industrial sectors, such as sugar, cement, fertilizer, and tobacco. He accused the sugar industry of not paying taxes worth PKR 400 billion for the past five years. He also accused a majority of the tobacco industry of dodging tax payments. PM Khan tied tax evasion to inflation, saying it results in higher prices for commodities. He believes the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is always “sabotaged” when it tries to implement a track and trace tax system.
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