Today’s top Pakistan current affairs October 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
- Six Wounded In Bomb Blast In Karachi. At least six people were injured when a bomb exploded in a passenger bus in Sheerin Jinnah Colony in the metropolis on Tuesday.
- Negligence in providing relief to masses not to be tolerated warns PM Imran. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday warned that no laxity or negligence will be tolerated in providing relief to masses,
- FM Qureshi Telephones Azerbaijan Counterpart. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Pakistan believes in the restoration of territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh.
- Two Terrorists Killed in North Waziristan Operation: ISPR. At least two terrorists belonging to Aleem Khan Khushhali group were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
- SAPM Sania Nishtar Tests Positive For COVID-19. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
- First Commercial Passenger Flight From UAE Lands in Israel. The first-ever passenger flight from the United Arab Emirates to Israel has landed near Tel Aviv, a month after the countries signed an agreement normalizing ties.
- Gold prices fall in the domestic market. The per tola gold price witnessed a decline of Rs450 to Rs115,700 in the domestic market on Tuesday,
- Punjab govt sets fare for Orange Line Metro Train. The Punjab Transport Department has notified fare for Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) that will start chugging from October 25. passengers will have to pay Rs40 for one-way train trip.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 619 new cases and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 27,091 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on October 20 at 7:10 am).
- Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan warned that the second wave of COVID-19 might be around the corner due to higher levels of pollution in winter. According to PM Khan, several cities (e.g. Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Gujranwala) experience smog in October and November, when it starts to get colder. PM Khan thinks stagnant pollution in the atmosphere will cause diseases to spread.
2. Opposition party leader arrested
What’s going on? Early Monday morning, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) VP, Maryam Nawaz, tweeted that police arrested her husband and fellow PML-N leader, retired Captain Muhammad Safdar. Nawaz said the police broke the room door of their hotel in Karachi and barged in while she was sleeping. Safdar was arrested a day after raising anti-govt slogans at Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s (i.e. Quaid-i-Azam’s) mausoleum. Safdar was reportedly chanting “vote ko izzat do” (i.e. honor the vote).
The details: A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Nawaz, Safdar and 200 others for allegedly violating the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum. The complainant, Waqas Ahmed, claimed he tried to stop Safdar at the site, but Safdar allegedly threatened him and damaged govt properly. Ahmed doesn’t think it’s okay to sloganeer inside the mausoleum complex either. Some Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) members agreed that Safdar’s behavior in the mausoleum was inappropriate, but condemned the way he was arrested.
The context: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of 11 opposition parties, spearheaded an anti-govt rally in Gujranwala on Friday, and Karachi on Sunday. PML-N, PPP, and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) are leading the movement. Opposition parties came together to protest against PM Khan and challenge the army’s alleged interference in politics. Opposition party leaders often accuse the army of rigging the 2018 election that brought PM Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party into power.
Looking ahead: Safdar has been charged under The Quid-e-Azam Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance. Basically, people can’t stage demonstrations or participate in political activity inside the mausoleum. This ordinance comes with a potential jail term, or fine, or both. Safdar was released on bail hours after his arrest.
The bottom line: The PPP-led Sindh govt said they didn’t have anything to do with Safdar’s arrest. Nawaz said ‘I know you didn’t’ and accused the federal govt of trying to create divisions within the opposition alliance.
3. TikTok is back in Pakistan
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) un-banned the Chinese video-sharing app, TikTok. However, PTA said TikTok has to actively moderate content in accordance with Pakistan’s laws and societal norms, otherwise, the next ban will be permanent. According to PTA, TikTok’s senior management said it would block users who repeatedly upload unlawful content.
- Backstory: Nearly more than a week ago, PTA banned TikTok due to numerous complaints about immoral/indecent content. PM Khan also accused TikTok of promoting obscenity and vulgarity. In response, TikTok said it would work harder to moderate content and even offered to invest in Pakistan if PTA lifts the ban.
4. Lady health workers stage prolonged sit-in
Hundreds of lady health workers (LHWs) have been staging a sit-in protest for the past six days. They traveled from across the country to gather in Islamabad and marched towards Parliament on Monday. Protestors are demanding higher monthly salaries due to rising inflation, and improved employment structures. Some protestors left the sit-in. Others are still trying to put pressure on authorities. Around 500+ women, even some with children, have been sitting on the road, in the dark, without water or meals. They don’t have access to sanitation facilities either. Local restaurants were allegedly ordered to not give them food. Some people claimed that govt officials are intentionally making the sit-in more inconvenient so protestors leave.
- Backstory: There are reportedly 100,000 lady health workers in Pakistan. A lot of women at this sit-in reportedly administer polio vaccines to reluctant, and sometimes abusive, citizens. Some were also on the frontlines of Pakistan’s COVID-19 response. According to National Program Health Employees Federation President, Rukhsana Anwar, most of the LHWs are paid between PKR 20,000-22,000, except for LHWs in Sindh, who get PKR 20,000 PLUS an additional COVID-19 allowance of PKR 17,000.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,340.17 after rising 176.15 points (+0.44%) as of October 19, 2020.
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