Today’s top Pakistan current affairs November 19,2020 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
- TLP Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi Passes Away. Renowned religious scholar and founder of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan Khadim Hussain Rizvi has passed away on Thursday at the age of 54.
- Pakistan Strongly Condemns Extra-Judicial Killing of Kashmiris. Pakistan has strongly condemned the extra-judicial killing of four more innocent Kashmiri youth in a fake encounter near Jammu by the Indian occupation forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
- Two Soldiers Martyred During Exchange Of Fire With Terrorists In S Waziristan. Two soldiers embraced martyrdom and one other was wounded in exchange of fire with the terrorists near Pash Ziarat area of South Waziristan.
- Indian troops martyr four Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir. Indian occupied forces in their fresh act of state terrorism on Thursday martyred four Kashmiri youth in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IoK).
- ‘Parwaaz’ to create jobs in Pakistan with the private sector. The government of Pakistan and World Economic Forum have partnered to launch Parwaaz, a national accelerator that looks to close the skill gap and create employment opportunities in the country.
- KCR will take a year to fully restore: Sheikh Rasheed. Karachi Circular Railway will take a year to fully restore while steps are being taken for it, Federal railways minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Thursday
- Punjab health dept recommends closure of all educational institutions from next week. Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department on Thursday recommended early and extended winter vacations across the province from November 23 due to a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases
- Gold price reaches Rs112,700 per tola in domestic market. The price of gold remained stable on Thursday and traded at Rs112,700 per tola in the domestic market
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 2,547 new cases and 18 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 36,899 in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on November 19 at 7:36am).
- Due to rising COVID-19 cases in Pakistan, the Federal Ministry of Education sent proposals to provinces, asking them to close primary schools from November 24 to January 21, 2021. The ministry also suggested closing middle schools from December 2. No final decision has been made yet, but there might be a confirmation on November 23.
- There’s still no word on whether indoor dining in restaurants will be banned yet, but the National Coordination Committee (NCC) is thinking about it.
2. Obama’s memoir reveals more details on Bin-Laden raid
The details: Specifically the 2011 night-time helicopter raid that killed Al Qaeda leader, Bin-Laden. According to Dawn, Obama wrote that he didn’t want to miss a chance to take out Bin-Laden in Abbottabad, knowing that he would be “violating the territory of a putative ally…”
Tell me more: According to Dawn’s overview of the memoir, Obama called Pakistan’s president at the time, Asif Ali Zardari, after the raid. Obama reportedly wrote that he expected the call to be more difficult. However, Zardari apparently showed “genuine emotion,” and talked about how extremists with reported ties to Al Qaeda killed his wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Obama apparently also quoted Zardari saying, “Whatever the fallout, it’s very good news.”
There’s still more: Obama’s military chief, Mike Mullen, also called Pakistan’s army chief at the time, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. According to Dawn’s report about the memoir, Kayani asked the U.S. to announce the raid and its target asap so his people could start managing the public’s reaction.
The context: On May 2, 2011, a U.S. Navy Seal team flew from Afghanistan to Pakistan, barged into Bin-Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, and killed him. Bin-Laden was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. According to Dawn’s report about the memoir, Obama wrote that he didn’t want to involve Pakistan in the raid, because he believed certain elements in the country maintained links with the Taliban, and maybe even Al Qaeda.
The bottom line: It sounds like Obama had an inkling that Pakistani authorities would be upset and consider the Bin-Laden raid a violation of its sovereignty. However, Obama was pleasantly surprised to see that Zardari took it well, and Kayani was cordial enough, while worried about the public blowback. It sounds like Pakistan didn’t know what was going to happen in Abbottabad, and the U.S. didn’t tell Pakistan about its lead on Bin-Laden.
3. Indian flight makes emergency landing in Karachi
An Indian plane made an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi since a passenger was having health issues. The aircraft of private airline, GoAir, was on its way to New Delhi from Riyadh. The ill passenger, 30-year-old Muhammad Noushad, was pronounced dead after doctors reached the airport. Noushad reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away before the plane landed.
- Backstory: Pakistan banned flights into and out of India from its airspace after an episode of aerial combat between Pakistani and Indian fighter jets in February 2019. At the time, tension was already soaring between both countries. India carried out an air strike in Pakistani territory (i.e. Balakot), claiming it was targeting a terrorist training camp. India’s strike was in response to a suicide bombing in Indian-controlled Kashmir (i.e. Pulwama) that killed 40 Indian soldiers. A Pakistan-based militant group reportedly claimed responsibility for the Pulwama attack. Pakistan reopened its airspace for all civilian air traffic in July 2019, nearly five months later.
4. UAE bans visitors from 12 countries, including Pakistan
The UAE will temporarily stop issuing visit visas to 12 countries. Pakistan is in the mix as well. However, the visit visa suspension doesn’t apply to visas that have already been issued. Also, people with iqamas (i.e. residence permits), transit, and work visas can still enter the UAE. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, said UAE authorities most likely made this decision due to COVID-19. The infection rate in Pakistan has been rising since last month. Back in June, when there was a COVID-19 surge in Pakistan, a UAE airline (i.e. Emirates) temporarily suspende
5. England cricket team returning to Pakistan
The England cricket team plans to visit Pakistan for the first time in 16 years. The team will play a short T20 series in October 2021 (i.e. two T20 Internationals). The matches are scheduled for October 14-15 in Karachi. The England team’s scheduled tour in Pakistan is another indication that international cricket is slowly returning to the country after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team’s bus in 2009. After the bus attack, Pakistan mostly used Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi as home venues. Since September 2019, Pakistan has also hosted Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,514.67 after dropping 138.00 points (-0.34%) as of November 18, 2020.
[dkpdf-button]