Today’s top Pakistan current affairs October 21,2020 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 is likely to be removed from the FATF grey list in the first quarter of 2021: sources. A plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is ongoing in Paris to decide the fate of Pakistan pertaining to its exclusion from the forum’s grey list,
- Blast leaves three dead, 15 injured in Karachi’s Gulshan Iqbal. A loud explosion on Wednesday morning caused the collapse of a portion of a building in Gulshan Iqbal leaving three persons dead and at least 15 injured
- Hafeez Shaikh apprises the IMF conference of steps taken to restore the Pakistani economy. Finance advisor Abdul Hafeez Shaikh attended on Wednesday, amongst other finance heads of developing countries, a video conference held by Managing Director International Monetary Fund
- Army chief visits LoC, instructs troops to respond befittingly to any Indian aggression. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited forward areas at Chamb Sector along Line of Control (LoC) where he was briefed about the latest situation after the ceasefire violations by Indian troops, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday.
- 11 Afghan women killed in stampede near Pakistan consulate. At least 11 women were killed Wednesday in a stampede in an Afghan football stadium where thousands had gathered to apply for visas at a nearby Pakistan consulate, officials said.
- Air pollution killed over 400,000 newborns in 2019: global study. Air pollution killed 476,000 newborns in 2019, with the biggest hotspots in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new global study which said that nearly two-thirds of the deaths came from noxious fumes from cooking fuels.
- Shahid Afridi forgot his 20th wedding anniversary. Pakistan’s cricket star Shahid Afridi and wife Nadia are celebrating their marriage anniversary today (Wednesday). The couple has been together for the past 20 years.
- Zimbabwe here to win every match against Pakistan, says Chigumbura. Zimbabwe’s veteran all-rounder Elton Chigumbura has reiterated that the team is looking to win every match on their tour of Pakistan.
- Moeen Ali identifies two Pakistan players as future stars. England’s veteran all-rounder Moeen Ali believes that young batsman Haider Ali and right-arm pacer Naseem Shah are the two players from the current Pakistan squad to have a big future ahead.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 660 new cases and 19 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 26,211 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on October 21 at 3:54pm).
2. Sindh police request leave after controversial arrest
What’s going on? Following the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader, retired Captain Muhammad Safdar, a group of Senior Sindh police officials applied for leave since they’re reportedly in shock over the First Information Report (FIR) registered against Safdar. According to the leave applications, high ranking police officials were ridiculed and mishandled. Officials requesting leave also claimed that all ranks of the Sindh police are feeling demoralized.
The context: Early Monday morning, PML-N VP, Maryam Nawaz, tweeted that police broke the door of their hotel room in Karachi and arrested her husband, Safdar. Safdar was arrested a day after raising anti-govt slogans at Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s (i.e. Quaid-i-Azam’s) mausoleum. Safdar apparently jumped inside the perimeter of Jinnah’s resting place and chanted slogans. According to the The Quaid-e-Azam Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, that is not okay. An FIR was registered against Nawaz, Safdar and 200 others for allegedly violating the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum. Safdar was released on bail hours after his arrest.
The details: After Safdar’s arrest, a journalist reportedly shared a voice message by PML-N leader and former Sindh governor, Muhammad Zubair. In the message, Zubair alleged that the Inspector General (IG) of police was kidnapped and forced to register the FIR.
Tell me more: During a media briefing, Sindh Chief Minister (CM), Murad Ali Shah, said Waqas Ahmed (i.e. the guy who filed an FIR against Safdar), was working with PTI lawmakers. Ahmed alleged that he tried to intervene and stop Safdar from sloganeering inside the mausoleum, but Safdar didn’t listen and started threatening him. According to CM Shah, Ahmed gave the police false info, because he wasn’t even at the mausoleum during that time. CM Shah went on to claim that PTI lawmakers unlawfully pressured the police into lodging a case against Safdar.
Looking ahead: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led Sindh govt said they didn’t have anything to do with Safdar’s arrest. PPP Chairperson, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and CM Shah visited the Sindh IG to talk things over. Sindh’s IG appreciated their gesture and decided to defer his leave, while ordering his officers to do the same.
The bottom line: A ministerial committee will investigate Safdar’s arrest. Allegations surrounding the arrest are still unclear and unconfirmed.
3. Update on the Hafeez Center fire
A few days ago, a massive fire broke out at Lahore’s Hafeez Center, which blazed on for around 15 hours. The police and district administration sealed the plaza, declaring it “dangerous for business or other use.” The four story building is a well-known market for computer accessories and mobile phones. The fire destroyed several shops. Shopkeepers are reportedly confronting losses worth millions of rupees. A lot of these shopkeepers don’t have insurance either. So far, authorities think a short circuit caused the fire, but an investigation is underway. There was apparently not enough fire-fighting equipment in the building (e.g. sprinklers) that could have helped stop the fire. Punjab Health Minister, Yasmin Rashid, visited the site and assured protesting shopkeepers that the govt would compensate them.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 40,956.58 after rising 616.41 points (+1.53%) as of October 20, 2020.
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