[Current Affairs] September 30,2020 Top Pakistan Current Affairs for FPSC Test Preparation

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Today’s top Pakistan current affairs September 30,2020 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

  • IT plays key role in uplifting less developed areas: PM. Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Information Technology plays a key role in uplifting the less developed people and areas through connectivity.
  • President Appoints Vice Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi New CNS. Vice Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi has been appointed as Chief of the Naval Staff and promoted to the rank of admiral on Wednesday.
  • Naval Chief Pays Farewell Visit On Army Chief. Naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi also paid a farewell visit on General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
  • OGRA Increases LPG Prices By Rs Three. Oil and Gas regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Wednesday increased prices of LPG by Rs three after which the residential cylinder increased by Rs 34 and commercial cylinder by Rs 130.
  • Petrol Prices To Remain Same For Next 15 Days. The government has decided to keep petrol prices same as of September, however, the prices of high-speed diesel have been decreased by Rs 2.40.
  • NZ Cricket Team Confirms Pakistan’s Tour. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has announced the schedule for T20I, Test series against Pakistan.
  • Babri Masjid demolition case: All accused given clean chit by Indian court

Spotlight by The NewsRun

1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN

  • Pakistan reported 747 new cases and 5 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 32,031 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on September 30 at 7:48am).

2. A fresh start for Pak-Afghan relations

What’s going on? Pakistan and Afghanistan are kicking-off new stage of bilateral relations.

The details: Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, is in Pakistan for a three-day official visit. He met Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa. While speaking at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Abdullah said Afghanistan appreciates Pakistan’s help in the Afghan peace process, and called for a new era of bilateral relations.

Tell me more: Abdullah wants a fresh start, not the old “stale rhetoric” and “shadowy conspiracy theories.” Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of backing Taliban insurgents in order to limit India’s influence in Afghanistan. At the same time, Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of letting anti-Pakistan militants plan attacks from Afghan territory. Cross-border attacks continue to take place on both sides. In the past, Abdullah himself accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban and its allies. However, he’s singing a different tune now.

The context: Pakistan reportedly helped facilitate two phases of the Afghan peace process.

  • Phase 1, US-Taliban peace talks: Pakistan played a key role in setting up direct negotiations between the US and Afghan Taliban. In October 2001, the United States (US) launched airstrikes in Afghanistan after the Taliban, who were ruling Afghanistan at the time, refused to hand over Al Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind, Osama Bin Laden. The US and an international coalition also pushed the Taliban out of power. Nearly two decades later, the US and Taliban struck a deal, in which the US and NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops if the Taliban pledged to prevent Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups from using Afghan territory to launch future attacks.
  • Phase 2, intra-Afghan dialogue: The US-Taliban peace deal was supposed to set the stage for negotiations between the Afghan govt and Taliban, who have been feuding with each other for years. The Taliban were refusing to meet Afghan govt officials directly, calling them “American Puppets.” Pakistan helped set up the Afghan-govt and Taliban talks as well. Negotiators from the Taliban and Afghan govt have been meeting in Doha since September 12 to discuss an end to decades of conflict in Afghanistan.

The bottom line: Pakistan and Afghanistan have a history of not trusting each other. Now, they want to become better friends.

3. Meesha Shafi and eight others charged in a smear campaign case

In November 2018, actor-singer Ali Zafar filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cyber crime wing, claiming that several social media accounts were posting threats and defamatory material against him. Yesterday, the FIA’s special court registered a First Information Report (FIR) against singer Meesha Shafi, and eight others, for their involvement in an alleged smear campaign against Zafar. The FIR was issued for a non-cognizable offence, which means a police officer can’t arrest anyone without a warrant. All of the accused have been charged under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act. The FIR also claims that Shafi didn’t produce any witness to support her sexual harassment allegations against Zafar.

  • Sexual harassment allegations: Back in April 2018, Shafi accused Zafar of sexual harassment. On Twitter, she posted that Zafar sexually harassed her on more than one occasion. Zafar responded in his own Twitter post, and denied her allegations.
  • Case backstory: Zafar filed a defamation case against Shafi in June 2019, in which he accused her of making false allegations to gain monetary benefits and popularity. In response, Shafi filed a defamation suit against Zafar for making false allegations about her on social media. However, a Lahore sessions court said Shafi can’t do that until there’s a verdict in Zafar’s defamation case against her.

4. What is Pakistan’s top export destination?

The US was Pakistan’s top export destination last month in August, even though proceeds fell by around 6% compared to the same time frame last year. The United Kingdom (UK) came in as Pakistan’s second biggest buyer in August. However, Pakistan imported the most merchandise from China in August. The US has a track record of being a top buyer of Pakistani goods. An article from July 2019 even reported that the US “maintained its position as the top export destination of Pakistani products.”

  • Economics 101: Exports and imports make up international trade. Exports are goods or services produced in one country, and sold to buyers in another country. Imports are goods or services bought in one country, but produced in another country. If the value of a country’s imports are more than the value of its exports, that means the country has a trade deficit (i.e. negative balance of trade).

MARKET RECAP

The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 41,204.36 after rising +1.14% as of September 29, 2020.

Read More: [Quiz] GK & Pakistan Current Affairs Quiz 28 September 2020

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