Today’s top Pakistan current affairs November 16,2020 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
- World should not be complacent after COVID-19 vaccine news: WHO. The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed Moderna reporting on Monday that its experimental vaccine showed 94.5% efficacy but said that “many questions” remained and it was no time for complacency.
- Gilgit-Baltistan schools to remain closed till Nov 23. As a part of precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus, the Gilgit-Baltistan government has decided to keep all the educational institutes closed from November 17 to 23 across the province
- Pakistan rubbishes India’s response to dossier on state-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan on Monday categorically rejecting India’s response to the irrefutable evidence provided by Islamabad about its state-sponsored terrorism.
- Talks between govt, Faizabad protesters successful. The government on Monday held successful negotiations with Faizabad Interchange protesters in Islamabad, according to religious affairs ministry spokesperson
- Pakistan provides proof to UNSC permanent members on Indian terrorism. Pakistan has provided proof to envoys of the UN’s Security Council permanent members on Indian involvement in fanning terrorism inside its territory, the Foreign Office said Monday.
- Cold wave grips Karachi, temperature may drop to 9°C this week. The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has predicted a fall in temperature in Karachi this week under the influence of the westerly winds which entered the city on Monday.
- Gold prices edge up in domestic market. The per tola gold price witnessed an increase of Rs100 to Rs112,600 in the domestic market on Monday
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 2,128 new cases and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 29,511 in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on November 16 at 8:34am).
- Pakistan registered over 2,000 COVID-19 cases for three days straight.
- According to Science and Tech Minister, Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan is exporting $100 million worth of COVID-19 products. He also claimed that scientists, engineers and technicians have helped make Pakistan more self-sufficient in manufacturing COVID-19 related material. Chaudhry is hopeful that Pakistan will meet its own ventilator needs, while exporting the equipment as well. He made this announcement during the launch ceremony of a new ventilator model.
2. Allegations of India sponsoring attacks in Pakistan
What’s going on? For the longest time, Pakistani officials have accused India of sponsoring violent groups that launch attacks in the country. India has always denied these allegations. In fact, India accuses Pakistan of supporting militants who launch attacks in India and fight in India-controlled Kashmir. However, Pakistan claims to have proof now.
For real? During a joint news conference in Islamabad on Saturday, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and military spokesman, Major General Babar Iftikhar, alleged that Indian intelligence agents were operating out of Afghanistan to plan attacks in Pakistan. Qureshi said Pakistan will present a dossier of evidence to the United Nations (UN) and other international bodies, showing that India is also involved with militant organizations on Pakistani soil. Some of this proof allegedly reveals that India sponsored banned militant organizations like the Pakistan Taliban and Baloch insurgent groups.
Tell me more: Qureshi and Iftikhar also claimed that India is using Baloch insurgent groups to target economic initiatives in Pakistan. For example, Baloch insurgent groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on Chinese interests. China is currently undertaking a $65 billion infrastructure project in Balochistan as a part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However Baloch insurgents are against China’s presence in Balochistan’s Gwadar area, because they think China’s development work will end up stripping, plundering and exploiting the province’s natural resources (P.S. Baloch insurgents and separatists want Balochistan to be independent from Pakistan).
The context: The Qureshi-Iftikhar news conference took place a day after another cross-border shelling incident between Pakistan and India. At least 10 civilians and five security personnel were killed in a cross-border attack along the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday. The LoC is a highly militarized de facto border that separates the Pakistani and Indian portions of Kashmir. Pakistan’s military said shelling from India’s side killed four civilians and one soldier. Indian officials said shelling from Pakistan’s side killed six civilians, three soldiers and a border guard.
The bottom line: Pakistan’s accusations against India have reportedly become more specific and detailed, which is why Pakistani officials think the evidence is “irrefutable.” For example, during the Saturday news conference, Qureshi and Iftikhar presented video clips, audio clips and other documents that allegedly show Indian intelligence handlers communicating with terrorists in Pakistan.
3. Election 2020 in Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is electing representatives to its legislative assembly. Politicians from major political parties actively campaigned to win legislative seats in the region. According to Geo, GB has 24 constituencies. Each win in a constituency means a seat won in the assembly. Some concerns that are top-of-mind for GB voters include: poor infrastructure, a lack of clean drinking water, inadequate healthcare, limited educational facilities, electricity load-shedding, and unemployment. Polling for the GB election is done. According to unofficial results, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is in the lead followed by some independent candidates and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
- This was a smooth, drama-free election! Obviously kidding. PPP leader and Senator, Sherry Rahman, is worried about transparency. She claimed that some members of the Free and Fair Election Network, who were supposed to monitor the election, were removed from polling stations. Rahman also alleged that some people who came to vote found out their votes were already cast via postal ballots. PPP Chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz VP, Maryam Nawaz, accused the PTI govt of “pre-poll rigging.” Information Minister, Shibli Faraz, rejected pre-poll rigging allegations against PTI and said ‘this is what a loser sounds like.’
- Wait a minute …. is GB still an autonomous region that Pakistan administers, or an official province now? Pakistan has been taking steps to give GB a more official status. GB still doesn’t have representation in Pakistan’s parliament. There are plans to eventually make GB a full-fledged province of Pakistan. At the same time, India believes GB is a part of Jammu and Kashmir (i.e. India-controlled Kashmir). Basically, Pakistan is working on making the disputed territory a province.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,569.35 after rising 4.79 points (+0.01%) as of November 13, 2020.
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