Today’s top Pakistan current affairs November 20,2020 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
- Pakistan Rejects Indian PM’s Baseless Allegations. Pakistan on Friday rejected as “groundless” the allegations levelled against Pakistan by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a desperate attempt to divert the international attention from its state-terrorism in the IIOJK and state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan.
- Funeral Prayers of Khadim Hussain Rizvi To Be Offered Tomorrow. Khadim Hussain Rizivi, chief of religeo-political party Tehreek-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), who passed away yesterday will be laid to rest tomorrow (Saturday).
- KCR fare reduced to Rs30, notification issued. The fare for Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) train service has been reduced to Rs.30 from 50, ARY News reported on Friday.
- ECC Approves $150mn Grant for Purchase of COVID19 Vaccine. Economic Coordination Committee has approved, in principle, a technical supplementary grant of 150 million dollars for purchase of COVID-19 vaccine.
- PM Khan Says Peace in Afghanistan Would be Achieved Through Political Dialogue. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that his visit to Kabul yesterday was another step towards conveying Pakistan’s commitment to peace in Afghanistan.
- Pakistan Donates 50,000 Sets of PPEs to Afghanistan. Pakistan has donated fifty thousand sets of personal protection equipment to Afghanistan to deal with coronavirus pandemic.
- Weather To Remain Dry and Cold Across Plain Areas Of The Country. It is likely that weather will remain dry and cold across the country while mountain areas will be in grip of intense cold today.
- ICC postpones 2022 Women’s T20 World Cup till 2023. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that the Women’s T20 World Cup 2022 has been delayed till 2023.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 2,738 cases and 36 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 42,909 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on November 20 at 7:29am).
2. Leader of hardline religious group dies in Lahore
What’s going on? TLP chief, Khadim Hussain Rizvi died in Lahore. He supposedly came back to life, but was pronounced dead again. He was 54-years-old.
The details: According to a TLP spokesperson, Rizvi was having breathing issues and running a fever since Wednesday. Rizvi was at his madrassah (i.e. Islamic religious school) when he started feeling worse on Thursday evening. Even after he was pronounced dead at a hospital, there were rumors that he was breathing again. However, paramedic staff double-checked and said he was dead. Rizvi’s son also confirmed his death.
Who was Rizvi? TLP is a hardline religious political party. TLP leader, Rizvi, was known to be a “firebrand cleric” and far-right preacher. He was a fierce supporter of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. He had been wheelchair-bound since 2006 following an accident (P.S. word on the street is that his driver fell asleep while driving). A few days earlier, thousands of his followers and party workers blocked a major highway in Islamabad to protest against published caricatures of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in France.
Rizvi had a history of organizing protests:
- January 2016, he organized a rally in Lahore to demand the release of Mumtaz Qadri. Qadri was a police bodyguard on death-row for killing Punjab governor, Salman Taseer, over his criticism of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws. Rizvi organized a protest march and sit-in after the govt hanged Qadri.
- October 2017, Rizvi led a 20-day sit-in at Islamabad’s Faizabad interchange to protest against modifications to the Khatm-i-Nabuwwat oath (i.e. the finality of Prophet Muhammad PBUH). This is a declaration public office holders are required to make. In the amended form, the words “I solemnly swear” were replaced with “I believe.” Rizvi and his party found this unacceptable, and the govt eventually restored the original wording.
- November 2018, Rizvi launched disruptive protests against the acquittal of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who was sentenced to death for allegedly committing blasphemy.
Public response: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan immediately tweeted a condolence message to Rizvi’s family. Minister for Religious Affairs, Noorul Haq Qadri, said “Pakistan has lost a respected religious scholar and true admirer of the Holy Prophet.” To put this very gently, some people in Pakistan’s twittersphere aren’t necessarily grieving. Rizvi’s critics claim he spread hatred and incited mob violence. While some people think he was a “true Muslim,” others have described him as a “trouble-maker” and “menace.”
The bottom line: As of this minute, Rizvi’s cause of death is unclear. Some people are speculating he had COVID-19, but there’s no confirmation yet. It could have also been a heart attack. As for the public response to his death, there are mixed reactions of sadness and, umm, reminders that he wasn’t the most pleasant person.
3. Latest findings in the 2016 PIA crash
Remember thePIA ATR42 aircraft (i.e. a turboprop plane) that crashed into a mountain near Havelian in December 2016? The plane crash killed all 47 people on board, including Pakistani singer-turned-preacher, Junaid Jamshed. There’s a new update on the incident. A final investigation into the crash revealed that three technical faults caused the crash. There was apparently a fracture in one of the engine’s power turbine blades, a broken pin, and pre-existing contamination inside the propeller valve. The plane reportedly had a routine daily inspection before the flight from Chitral to Islamabad that day. The plane also went through regular maintenance in October, two months before the crash. It’s unclear how the technical issues didn’t come up during these checks.
