Today’s top Pakistan current affairs October 23,2020 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
- FATF: Pakistan defeats Indian malice, escapes blacklist as watchdog acknowledges progress. With Indian exposed malice failing to have Pakistan rendered blacklisted on Friday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has kept the country on the grey list appreciating the reforms it carried out
- Raoof Hasan appointed as SAPM on Information. Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed Raoof Hasan as his Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting,
- Gold prices fall in domestic market, edge up globally. The per tola gold price witnessed a minimal decline of Rs100 to Rs115,500 in the domestic market on Friday
- ‘India’s nefarious designs to push Pakistan into FATF blacklist will fail’. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Friday that India’s nefarious designs to push Pakistan into the blacklist of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will fail because World has recognized Pakistan’s measures against terror financing and money laundering
- Rupee hits five-month high against dollar. Pakistani Rupee gained 45 paisas against the US Dollar on Friday, closing the session at a five-month high of Rs161.37 in the interbank market
- ‘Iconic tram service to be launched in Karachi soon’. Administrator Karachi Iftikhar Ali Shalwani said on Friday that Turkey had offered to launch tram service in the port city and the administration is working over a plan to relaunch the iconic service in the metropolis
- World Bank approves $304 million for PRIDE programme. The World Bank has approved $304 million in financing for Punjab Resource Improvement and Digital Effectiveness Programme (PRIDE).
- BRT To Resume Services In Peshawar From Tomorrow. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar will resume its operation from tomorrow (Saturday) in the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) after a gap of one month.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 736 cases and 13 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 27,050 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on October 23 at 7:24am).
2. IBA cancels notable economist’s lecture after threats from extremists
What’s going on? Atif Mian is a Professor of Economics, Public Policy and Finance at Princeton University. He is also the Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He was featured in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) list of “Top 25 Brightest Young Economists.” On October 19, Mian tweeted that he’s excited about chatting with students at the International Business Administration (IBA) in Karachi on November 5 – this was going to be via Zoom. In response, IBA tweeted ‘looking forward to it.’ All was well and good, until Mian’s virtual talk suddenly got cancelled.
The details: On October 22, Mian tweeted that his Zoom economics seminar at IBA has been cancelled, because the university administration was facing threats from extremists.
Tell me more: In 2018, Mian was appointed to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Economic Advisory Council. However, religio-political parties kicked up a storm about his Ahmadi faith. The govt ended up withdrawing his nomination.
The context: In 1974, during the term of former PM and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, parliament introduced a constitutional amendment that declared Ahmadis ‘non-Muslim.’ In 1984, during the military govt of former President and Army Chief, Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, amendments in Pakistan’s penal code prohibited Ahmadis from “indirectly or directly posing as Muslim.” From then on, Ahmadis couldn’t declare their faith publicly, build mosques, or recite the Muslim call to prayer.
Some religious history: In 1889, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad founded the Ahmadi community, a religious group that identifies as Muslim. Members of the community reportedly believe that Ahmad wanted to create a revivalist movement within Islam, based on the messages and spirit of Islam that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) introduced.
The bottom line: This isn’t the first time Mian has been shut down in Pakistan. Ahmadis in the country often face widespread discrimination and persecution.
3. Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer tells her story
28-year-old Nisha Rao is reportedly Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer. She is currently based in Karachi, but originally from Lahore. After completing her matriculation exam, she fled to Karachi to escape her family. During her first month and a half in Karachi, she lived at her friend’s teacher’s house and started begging to make some money since the teacher was also poor. Rao ended up attending Karachi University and graduated with a degree in International Relations. She went on to get her law degree from Sindh Muslim Law College in 2018. Rao continued to beg while studying law, and used that money to pay her way through law college. Now, she fights cases involving other transgender people, and has handled more than 50 cases so far.
4. A new cloud kitchen in Pakistan
Have you heard of Hotpod yet? It’s a Karachi-based cloud kitchen startup, and reportedly the first of its kind in Pakistan. Cloud kitchens are commercial facilities built to produce food meant for delivery. Either one restaurant can run multiple brands under one roof, or different food owners can share the kitchen. In Hotpod’s case, the startup will set up shared kitchen spaces, and help food entrepreneurs expand their reach via hyperlocal food delivery (e.g. aggregators, call centers, online ordering platforms). To start, Hotpod is launching from three kitchens in Karachi, and plans to expand to 50+ shared cloud kitchens across Pakistan in the next three years.
5. An unexpected current-account surplus
Pakistan’s current account balance showed a surplus for the third month in a row. However, even though September experienced a current account surplus of $73 million, it was still lower than the $211 million surplus in August. The lower surplus in September is due to an increase in imports (e.g. sugar, wheat, industrial raw material), which caused a wider trade deficit. Economists actually predicted a deficit instead of a surplus in September, since Pakistan still has higher imports than exports. However, according to the central bank, the rise in remittances (i.e. payments) from overseas Pakistanis, plus a month-on-month increase in exports, likely drove the current account surplus last month.
- Backstory: The total surplus for the first quarter of the current fiscal year is $792 million, compared to the $1,492 million (i.e. $1,492,000,000) deficit during the same time last year. This is the first quarterly surplus in more than five years.
- Here’s a quick refresher on what exactly a ‘current account surplus’ and ‘trade deficit’ mean: A country’s current account balance has a ‘surplus’ when it has more exports than imports. Trade balance, or the difference between a country’s imports and exports, has the biggest impact on a country’s current account balance. If the value of a country’s imports is greater than the value of its exports, that indicates a trade deficit. If the value of a country’s exports is greater than the value of its imports, that’s a trade surplus.
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