Inspector Customs-Preventive Officer-Appraising Valuation Officer-TMO-Useful Information

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FEDERAL BOARD OF REVENUE
Pakistan Affairs Important MCQs for
CSS-2014
1. Mahmud of Ghazni waged war
against rebellious India in :
Let's Make A New Pakistan 2014
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A. 900 B. 1001
C. 1100 D. None of these
2. Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Ghuri
defeated Pirthviraj in the year 1192 in
the field of:
A. Panipat B. Nagpur
C. Tarori D. None of these
3. Qutb-ud-Din Aibak was succeeded
on Delhi throne by:
A. Aram Shah
B. Iltumish
C. Razia Sultana D. None of these
4. The downfall of Muslim rule in India
started with the demise of:
A. Akbar B. Aurangzeb
C. Bahadur Shah Zafar
D. None of these
7. Pakistan's Constitution should

incorporate the essential principles of
Islam, which are as good and relevant
in our day, as were 1300 years ago.
But Pakistan should not be a
theocratic state ruled by priests. This
statement was given by:
A. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
B. Allama Iqbal
C. Quaid-e-Azam
D. None of these
8. Who was appointed first President
of Muslim League?
A. Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk
B. Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk
C. Nawab Saleem Ullah
D. None of these
9. Who divided Bengal into East and
West Bengal in July 1905?
A. Lord Curzon B. Lord Minto
C. Lord Morely
D. None of these
10. Dyarchy was first introduced in the
Act of:
A. 1909 B. 1919
5. The Holy Quran was first translated

into Persian by:
A. Shah Ismail Shaheed
B. Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi
C. Shah Waliullah
D. None of these
11. The resolution of non-cooperation

with British Government was passed in
the meeting of All India National
Congress in 1920, which was held at:
A. Madras B. Bombay
C. Nagpur D. None of these
6. Anjuman-e-Islamia Punjab was

founded for the renaissance of Islam in
the year:
A. 1849 B. 1859
12. The Simon Commission arrived in

India on:
A. 3rd February, 1927
B. 3rd February, 1928
C. 3rd February, 1929
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D. None of these
13. The British Prime Minister Ramsay
Mcdonald announced the Communal
Award in 1932 at the end of:
A. First Round Table Conference
B. Second Round Table Conference
C. Third Round Table Conference
D. None of these
14. All India Muslim League observed
the Direct Action Day on:
A. August 6, 1944
B. August 6, 1945
C. August 6, 1946
D. None of these
15. Objectives Resolution was passed
by the Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan on:
A. March 12, 1947
B. March 12, 1948
C. March 12, 1949
D. None of these
16. With regard the division of power
between Federation and Provinces, the
Constitution of Pakistan (1962) was
provided with:
A. Single list of subjects
B. Two lists of subjects
C. Three lists of subjects
D. None of these
17. The Government of Pakistan
established the Indus River System
Authority in the year:
A. 1960 B. 1970
18. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of
1960 Pakistan has the right to use
exclusively the water of:

A. Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab
B. Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum
C. Chenab, Jhelum and Indus
D. None of these
19. At present, Pakistan has vast
natural resources and items of mineral
as many as:
A. 14 items B. 15 items
C. 16 items D. None of these
20. The height of Pakistan's highest
mountain Pak-Godwin Austin is as high
as:
A. 26, 250 ft B. 27, 250 ft
C. 28, 250 ft D. None of these
21. Who rejected the verdicts of jurists
that idol worshippers are liable to be
murdered?
A. Mahmud Ghaznavi
B. Shams-ud-Din Iltumish
C. Jalal-ud-Din Feroz
D. None of these
22. Who constructed five canals to
remove scarcity of water?
A. Alauddin Khiliji
B. Ghyas-ud-Din Tughluq
C. Feroz Shah Tughluq
D. Akbar
23. Who laid the foundation of Agra
city?
A. Sikandar Lodhi B. Babur
C.Shah Jahan
D. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
24. Who wrote "Humanyun Nama"?
A. Shahabuddin
B. Gulbadan Begum
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C. Humayun
D. Qudrat Ullah Shahab
25. Who accepted Akbar's "Din-eIllahi"?
A. Todar Mal B. Ma'an Singh
C. Birbal D. None of these
26. Which office held supreme judicial
authority during Mughal rule?
A. King B. Qazi-ul-Qazat
C. Saddar-us-Sadur
D. None of these
27. Who supported Muslim
participation in politics?
A. Wiqar-ul-Mulk
B. Mohsin-ul-Mulk
C. Maulana Zafar Ali khan
D. Allama Iqbal
28. Who is the author of "Hunter Par
Hunter"?
A. Depuy Nazir Ahmed
B. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
C. Maulana Zafar Ali khan
D. None of these
29. Who drafted "Wardha Scheme"
under the guidance of Gandhi?
A. Abul Kalam Azad
B. Nehru
C. Dr Zakir hussain
D. None of these
30. How many Muslim seats were
secured by All India Muslim League in
1945-46 election of provincial
assemblies?
A. 396 B. 425
31. Who presided over the session of

Constituent Assmbly of Pakistan on 10
August 1947?
A. Quaid-e-Azam
B. Liauqat ali khan
C. Ch. Khaliq-uz-Zaman
D. Sir Agha Khan
32. Who rejected the theory of
composite nationalism advanced by
the Indian National Congress?
A. Mualana Maudoodi
B. Allam Mashriqi
C. Hussain Ahmed Madni
D. Quaid-e-Azam
33. Who was convicted in Rawalpindi
Conspiray Case?
A. Shorash Kashmiri
B. Habib Jalib
C. Faiz ahmed Faiz
D. None of these
34. In which Constitution of Pakistan,
the ministers were neither members of
the parlimant nor answerable to
parliament?
A. 1956 B. 1962
35. From which country Pakistan
purchased Gwadar?
A. Kuwait B. Iran
C. Muscat D.None of these
36. Which provincial Chief Minister
was dismissed on the issue of One
Unit?
A. Chief Minister NWFP
B. Chief Minister Sindh
C. Chief Minister Punjab
D. Chief Minister Balochistan
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37. Which Radio Station already

existed at the time of creation of
Pakistan?
A. Peshawar B. Karachi
C. Quetta D. None of these
38. Under Yahya's LFO, what option
National Assembly had if it couldn't
frame the constitution within 120
days?
A. Dissolved automatically
B. President will dissolve it
C. Extension in time frame
D. None of these
39. What percentage of total polled
votes in East Pakistan was secured by
Awami League in 1970 elections?
A. 54 % B. 60 %
C. 75 % D. None of these
40. When was the state of Swat
included in Pakistan?
A. 4th April 1969
B. 28th July 1969
C. 29th June 1970
D. None of these
41. Name the saint who first came in
Lahore:
A. Ali Makhdum Hujwari
B. Shaikh Ismail
C. Data Gunj Baksh
D. None of these
42. Ghiyas-ud-Din Balban declared
himself King of Delhi Sultanate in the
year:
A. 1166 B. 1266
43. Who founded Daulatabad and

shifted the capital of Delhi Sultanate?
A. Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq
B. Muhammad Tughluq
C. Feroze Shah Tughluq
D. None of these
44. Who set up the chain of justice to
redress the grievances of oppressed
people?
A. Zaheer-ud-Din Babur
B. Shahab-ud-Din Shah Jahan
C. Aurangzeb Alamgir
D. None of these
45. Who was known in history as
Mujaddid Alf Thani, the reformer of
Second Millennium?
A. Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi
B. Shah Waliullah
C. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
D. None of these
46. Who called the Spiritual Guide as
shopkeepers?
A. Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi
B. Shah Waliullah
C. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
D. None of these
47. When Nadvat-ul-Ulema came into
being?
A. 1873 B. 1883
48. Who led Simla Deputation in 1906?
A. Sir Agha Khan
B. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
C. Nawab Muhsin ul Mulk
D. None of these
49. When Nehru Committee was
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constituted to propose the future
constitution of India?
A. Feb 1927 B. Feb 1928
C. Feb 1929 D. None of these
50. When the Congress Ministries
resigned from their offices?
A. Nov 1927 B. Feb 1928
C. Feb 1929 D. None of these
51. When Simla Conference was
concluded with failure?
A. June 14, 1945 B. July 14, 1945
C. Aug 14, 1945
D. None of these
52. When Abu A'la Maududi was

awarded death punishment by Military
Court on Qadiani issue?
A. March 1953 B. April 1953
C. May 1953 D. None of these
53. Muhammad Ali Bogra, the then
Prime Minister of Pakistan, presented
his constitutional formula to the
constituent assembly on
A. September 7, 1953
B. October 7, 1953
C. November 7, 1953
D. None of these
54. When was the 17th Amendment
bill ratified by the president, after
getting passed by both Houses of
Majlis-e-Shura?
A. December 29, 2003
B. December 30, 2003
C. December 31, 2003
D. None of these
55. When was the local government
system under the Devolution of Power
Plan, 2001, inaugurated?

A. August 4, 2001
B. August 14, 2001
C. August 24, 2001
D. None of these
56. When was gas (natural) discovered
at Sui Balochistan?
A. 1950 B. 1952
57. The Suleman Mountain, one of the
western series, is as high as_______.
A. 1100 ft B. 2200 ft
C. 3300 ft D.None of these
58. Who initiated the cult of Shivaji
against the Muslims of India?
A. Bal Ganga Dher Tilak
B. Bennerji
C. Pandit Madan Mohan
D. None of these
59. Who first thought of the possibility
of a Muslim republic embracing the
present central Asian states in
northwest of subcontinent?
A. Abdul Halim Sharer
B. Syed Jamal ud Din Afghani
C. Ch. Rehmat Ali
D. None of these
60. Who negotiated with Cabinet
Mission (1946) on behalf of Indian
National Congress?
A. Gandhi B. Nehru
C. A.K.Azad D. None of these
61. Who recalled Muhammad Bin
Qasim from Sindh?
A. Caliph Walid
B. Caliph Sulaiman
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C. Caliph Abdul Aziz
D. None of these
62. What was the real name of Shah
Waliullah?
A. Qutabuddin Ahmad Faruqi
B. Qutabuddin Ahmad Siddiqui
C. Qutabuddin Ahmad Syed
D. None of these
63. Who was formal teacher of Syed
Ahmad Barelvi?
A. Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi
B. Shah Waliullah
C. Shah Abdul Aziz
D. None of these
64. Who for the first time translated
the Holy Quran in to Urdu language?
A. Shah Waliullah and Shah Abdul
Aziz
B. Shah Abdul Qadir and Shah
Rafiuddin
C. Syed Ahmad Barelvi and Shah
Ismail Dehlavi
D. None of these
65. Faraizi Movement was primarily a
religious movement. What change
Dudhu Mian brought in the
movement?
A. Transferred it into a guerrilla
movement
B. Transferred it into a political
movement
C. Transferred it into a cultural
movement
D. None of these
66. Which of the following was/were
the drawback(s) of the Government of
India Act 1858?
A. Control of the Secretary of State for

India and his Council was bureaucratic
in nature
B. Expense of the Secretary of State
for India and his Council became a
burden on Indias revenues.
C. Both of these
D. None of these
67. By how many member(s) the
Executive Council of the Governor
General was enlarged under the Indian
Councils Act of 1861?
A. One member
B. Two members
C. Four members D. None of these
68. As per the Government of India Act
1858, the transfer of the control of the
Government of India from the East
India Company and assumption by the
Crown was to be announced by
Queen's Proclamation which was
accordingly read in a Darbar. Where
was this Darbar held?
A. Calcutta B. Delhi
C. Allahabad
D. None of these
69. Where, during the War of
Independence, was Sir Syed Ahmad
Khan working/posted?
A. Delhi B. Bijnaur
C. Aligarh D. None of these
70. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan established
a Translation Society (later, renamed
as 'Scientific Society') in 1864. In
which town was it founded?
A. Bijnaur B. Aligarh
C. Ghazipur D. None of these
71. In 1867, some prominent Hindus of
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Banares launched a movement for the
replacement of Urdu written in
Nasta'leeq by Hindi written in Deva
Nagiri script as the Court language. In
which province(s) was this movement
started?
A. Bengal Province
B. Central Provinces
C. North-western Provinces
D. None of these
72. What was the designation of Sir
Syed Ahmad Khan in M.A.O School at
Aligarh?
A. Secretary, Managing
Committee
B. President Managing Committee
C. Patron Managing Committee
D. None of these
73. Which organization is considered
the first Muslim political body
constituted to represent the Muslims
of the subcontinent as a whole?
A. Anjuman-e-Mussalmanan-eHind
B. Central National Mohammadan
Association
C. Urdu Defence Association
D. None of these
74. Mention the important
announcement(s) that was/were made
by the Governor General Lord
Hardinge in his Darbar at Delhi in
1911?
A. Annulment of the partition
B. Transfer of capital from Calcutta to
Delhi
C. Both of these D. None of these
75. Which Muslim leader left the
politics after the cancellation of the

partition of Bengal?
A. Nawab Salimullah Khan
B. Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk
C. Nawab Hamidullah Khan
D. None of these
76. First Session of the All India Muslim
League was held on 29-30 December
1907. Where was it held?
A. Lahore B. Aligarh
C. Karachi D. None of these
77. Few individuals significantly alter
the course of history. Fewer still modify
the map of the world. Hardly anyone
can be credited with creating a nationstate. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all
three. Who made these remarks
about Quaid-e-Azam?
A. Stanley Wolpert
B. Ian Stephens
C. Lawrence Ziring
D. None of these
78. The All India Muslim League
observed 'Day of Deliverance' after
the resignation of the All-India
Congress ministries. On what date was
it observed?
A. 22 October, 1938
B. 22 December, 1938
C. 22 October, 1939
D. None of these
79. Who was the first leader of
opposition in the first National
Assembly constituted under the 1962
Constitution of Pakistan?
A. Sardar Bahadur Khan
B. Khan A. Sabur
C. Mumtaz Daultana
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D. None of these
80. In which year Pakistan became
Republic?
A. 1947 B. 1956
81. Who was the governor of Sindh
after Muhammad bin Qasim?
A. Zaid Bin Marwan
B. Yazid Bin Muhallab
C. Abdullah Bin Haris
D. None of these
82. Who was the Mughal emperor who
accepted the British pension firstly?
A. Alamgir-II B. Shah Alam-II
C. Akbar-II
D. None of these
83. Ahmad Shah Abdali launched his
early invasion against:
A. Mughals
B. Marhattas
C. Sikhs D. None of these
was started?
A. 1864 B. 1877
88. Anjuman-i-Himayat e Islam was
started in:
A. 1849 B. 1884
89. The Constitution of All India
Muslim League was written by:
A. Mohsinul Mulk
B. Muhammad Ali Jauhar
C. Nawab Salimullah of Dacca
D. None of these
90. The first session of Muhammadan
Educational Conference was held in
Bengal:
A. 1886 B. 1899
84. The British fought Plassey war

against:
A. Haider Ali
B. Tipu Sultan
C. Sirajuddula D. None of these
91. The London branch of Muslim

League was started by:
A. Syed Amir Ali
B. Sir Wazir Hassan
C. Hasan Bilgrami
D. None of these
85. Dars-i-Nizami was named after:

A. Nizamuddin Auliya
B. Nizamul Mulk
C. Mullah Nizamuddin
D. None of these
92. Hamdard was edited by:

A. Moulana Shoukat Ali
B. Moulana Muhammad Ali Johar
C. Moulana Zafar Ali Khan
D. None of these
86. Before 1857, how many

universities on Western pattern were
established in India?
A. 16 B. 13
93. Shudhi movement was started

by:
A. Jawahrlal Nehru
B. Tilak C. Gandhi
D. None of these
87. When the MAO College at Aligarh
94. Majlis-i-Ahrar was formed in:
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
A. 1928
C. 1931
B. 1929
D.None of these
95. In Kashmir the ceasefire between

Pakistan and India was signed on:
A. 27th July 1948
B. 27th July 1949
C. 27th July 1950
D. None of these
96. Islamabad was declared capital of
Pakistan in:
A. 1959 B. 1960
97. Majority of Southern Pakistan
population lived along the:
A. River Indus
B. River Ravi
C. River Jhelum D. None of these
98. The Aryans arrived in South Asia
in:
PAKISTAN AFFAIRS
27 Oct, 1947: India launched a fullscale attack on Kashmir.
The Killer Result CSS 2013
Sunday, December 01, 2013
1 Jan, 1948: India took Kashmir
dispute to UN Security Council.
1 Apr, 1948: India cut off water
supply to Pakistan from two of its
headworks, causing a dispute over
water.
13 Aug, 1948: UN Security Council
called for ceasefire in Kashmir and
withdrawal of all Pakistani and Indian
forces
11 Sept, 1948: Quaid-e-Azam
A. 3000BC -3500BC
B. 4000BC- 4500BC
C. 4500BC-5000BC
D. None of these
99. The most ancient civilization is:
A. Harappa B. Moenjodaro
C.Mehargarh
D.None of these
100. The author of The Case of
Pakistan is:
A. Rafiq Afzal
B. S. M. Ikram
C. I. H. Qureshi
D. None of these
For MCQs
Pakistan's National Anthem was
first released on Radio Pakistan
on August 13, 1954
Written CSS 2015 Special
Thursday, January 01, 2015
Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away.

12 Mar, 1949: Objectives Resolution
was passed.
1951: First Census of Pakistan was
conducted.
12 Feb, 1951: Chaudhry Rehmat Ali,
founder of Pakistan National
Movement, passed away.
16 Oct, 1951: Nawabzada Liaquat Ali
Khan was assassinated at Company
Bagh (now Liaquat Bagh) Rawalpindi.
17 Oct, 1951: Khawaja Nazimuddin
became second Prime Minister of
Pakistan and Malik Ghulam
Muhammad became the Governor
General.
17 Apr, 1953: Khawaja Nazimuddin
was dismissed by Governor General
Malik Ghulam Muhammad;
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Muhammad Ali Bogra became the
Prime Minister of Pakistan.
1954: Malik Ghulam Muhammad
dissolved the Constituent Assembly
and declared a state of emergency.
11 Aug, 1955: Chaudhary
Muhammad Ali was appointed Prime
Minister of Pakistan
15 Oct, 1955: Iskander Mirza became
the Governor General of Pakistan after
Malik Ghulam Muhammad.
1955: PIA was founded.
23 Mar 1956: First Constitution of
Pakistan was promulgated whereby
Pakistan was declared as Islamic
Republic and Iskander Mirza became
the first President of Pakistan after
implementation of this constitution.
12 Sept 1956: Hussain Shaheed
Suhrawardy became the Prime
Minister replacing Chaudhary
Muhammad Ali.
11 July 1957: Sir Agha Khan died in
Geneva.
Oct 1957: H.S. Suhrawardy resigned
from the premiership and Ismail
Ibrahim Chundrigar was appointed as
the new PM.
16 Dec, 1957: Malik Feroz Khan Noon
replaced I.I. Chundrigar as Prime
Minister.
7 Oct, 1958: First Martial Law was
imposed by Iskander Mirza and 1956
Constitution was abrogated. General
Muhammad Ayub Khan became the
Chief Martial Law Administrator. After
three weeks, General Ayub Khan
ousted Iskander Mirza and declared
himself as the President of Pakistan
and also gave himself the rank of Field
Marshal.
23 Mar, 1960: Foundation stone of
Minar-e-Pakistan was laid down.

1960: Indus Waters Treaty was signed
with India.
1961: Second census was held across
Pakistan.
Mar, 1962: 1962 Constitution was
announced by President Ayub Khan.
Jan, 1965: General Ayub Khan was
elected as the President of Pakistan
under the Constitution of 1962.
Sept, 1965: Second Pakistan-India
War, which lasted for 17 days, was
fought.
1966: Tashkent Declaration was
signed between President Ayub Khan
and Indian Premier Lal Bahadur
Shastri.
25 Mar, 1969: Gen. Ayub Khan
handed over power to Gen.
Muhammad Yahya Khan who imposed
second martial law.
5 Oct, 1970: General elections were
postponed up to January 1971.
1971: Two Indian agents in the guise
of Kashmiri mujahideen hijacked an
Indian plane, Ganga, to Lahore.
2 Mar, 1971: Sheikh Mujib launched
Civil Disobedience Movement.
Oct, 1971: KANUPP started operation
in Karachi.
22 Nov, 1971: India launched attack
on East Pakistan.
16 Dec, 1971: Bangladesh was
separated from Pakistan at the end of
3rd Indo-Pak War.
20 Dec, 1971: Yahya Khan resigned
and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto took over as
CMLA and President of Pakistan after
December 1970 Elections.
1972: The PPP regime announced
land reforms.
2 July, 1972: Simla Agreement was
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
signed.
1972: Third census in Pakistan was
conducted.
13 Aug, 1973: Bhutto became the
Prime Minister while Fazal Elahi
Chaudhary became the President of
Pakistan.
14 Aug, 1973: 1973 constitution was
promulgated.
20 Dec, 1973: Bhutto laid the
foundations of Pakistan Steel Mill at
Pipri near Karachi.
22 Feb, 1974: Pakistan recognised
Bangladesh in OIC Summit held at
Lahore.
1 July, 1974: Several new
corporations were created out of
Pakistan Industrial Development
Corporation (PIDC), including PMDC,
State Cement Corporation.
1976: Qadianis were declared nonMuslims.
31 July, 1976: Kahuta Engineering
Research Laboratories (KRL) was
founded by Dr A.Q. Khan.
5 July, 1977: Third martial law was
imposed by Gen Zia-ul-Haq. He
postponed the announced elections of
15th October 1977.
7 Aug, 1977: First Pakistani, namely
Ashraf Aman, summited the K2.
16 Sept, 1978: General Zia-ul-Haq
took over as the President after Fazal
Elahi's tenure was over.
Jan, 1979: Pakistan National Shipping
Corporation was founded.
4 Apr, 1979: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was
hanged.
1981: Fourth census in Pakistan was
held.
6 Feb, 1981: Movement for
restoration of Democracy was
launched.
23 Mar, 1981: Provisional constitution
was enforced after 1973 Constitution
was suspended under Zia's Martial
Law.
1 May, 1981: Kahuta Research
Laboratories was renamed as Khan
Research Laboratories (KRL).
Dec, 1984: Presidential referendum
was held and General Zia-ul-Haq
became the President of Pakistan.
Feb, 1985: General elections were
held on non-party basis.
20 Mar, 1985: General Zia-ul-Haq
nominated Muhammad Khan Junejo as
the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
14 Nov, 1985: 8th Amendment in the
1973 Constitution was passed by the
Senate.
Dec, 1985: Martial Law was lifted and
political parties were banned.
Aug, 1986: Karakoram Highway was
opened for public.
17 Aug, 1988: Zia-ul-Haq died in a
plane crash near Bahawalpur. Ghulam
Ishaq Khan, Chairman Senate,
assumed the office of the President of
Pakistan.
Nov, 1988: Pakistan Peoples Party
won elections. Benazir Bhutto became
the Prime Minister.
16 July, 1990: Pakistan's first satellite
Badr-1 was launched from China.
6 Aug, 1990: Ghulam Ishaq Khan
dismissed Benazir Bhutto accusing her
of corruption. Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi
became the caretaker PM.
24-27 Oct, 1990: Elections for
provincial and national assemblies
were held.
1 Nov, 1990: Nawaz Sharif became
the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
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25 Mar, 1992: Pakistan won its first
cricket world cup beating England.
19 Apr, 1993: Nawaz Sharif was
dismissed by President Ghulam Ishaq
Khan and National Assembly was
dissolved once again. Mr Balakh Sher
Mizari was appointed caretaker PM.
26 May, 1993: Supreme Court
reinstated Nawaz Sharif as the Prime
Minister.
8 July, 1993 President Ghulam
Ishaq Khan and Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif both resigned dissolving
National and Provincial Assemblies.
Moin Qureshi was appointed as a
caretaker PM and Ghulam Ishaq Khan
as the caretaker President.
19 Oct, 1993: Benazir Bhutto once
again gained power after winning
elections.
13 Nov, 1993: Sardar Farooq Ahmad
Khan Laghari was elected President.
5 Nov, 1996: Benazir government
was dismissed by President Farooq
Laghari.
6 Nov, 1996: Malik Meraj Khalid was
appointed as caretaker PM.
Feb, 1997: Elections were held.
17 Feb, 1997: Nawaz Sharif was reelected as Prime Minister after Muslim
League won with an overwhelming
majority.
28 Oct, 1997: Government of
Pakistan submitted its instrument of
ratification to the Chemical Weapons
Convention (CWC).
1997: Thirteenth and Fourteenth
amendments were passed.
1 Jan, 1998: Rafiq Tarar became the
new President of Pakistan.
1998: Fifth census was held.
28 May, 1998: Five nuclear
explosions were conducted at

Chaghai, Balochistan.
30 May, 1998: Sixth nuclear
explosion was conducted.
6 May, 1999: Kargil operation was
started by Mujahideen in Kashmir.
12 Oct, 1999: Army took control of
Government under Gen. Pervez
Musharraf. Nawaz Sharif, along with
his colleagues, was arrested.
National Security Council was
formed on Oct. 17, 1999.
Commonwealth's membership of
Pakistan was suspended on Oct. 18,
1999.
Supreme Court of Pakistan
declared interest unlawful on Dec. 23,
1999.
12 May, 2000: Supreme Court
unanimously decided to validate the
Oct. 12, 1999 military takeover.
14 -17 Nov, 2000: World's first and
the largest Defence Exhibition Ideas
2000 held at Expo Centre in Karachi.
9 Dec, 2000: Nawaz Sharif, along
with his family, was exiled to Saudi
Arabia.
29 Mar, 2001: Chashma Nuclear
Power Plant was inaugurated.
20 June 2001: President Rafiq Tarar
resigned and Pervez Musharraf
became the President.
Dec 10, 2001: Pakistan launched
BADR-2.
2001-2: Govt. of Pakistan declared
2001 as Quaid-e-Azam Year and 2002
as Iqbal year.
Dec 2003: The parliament approved
the 17th Constitutional Amendment,
which ratified most of the powers
Musharraf sought.
18 Oct 2007: Benazir Bhutto returned
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Pakistan on October 18, 2007 after an
eight year exile in Dubai and London.
3 Nov 2007: General Pervez
Musharraf proclaimed a state of
emergency and sacked the Chief
Justice of Pakistan, Justice Iftikhar
Muhammad Chaudhary along with
other 14 judges of the Supreme Court.
28 Nov 2007: General Pervez
Musharraf retired from the Army and
the following day, he was sworn in for
a second presidential term.
27 Dec 2007: Benazir Bhutto was
assassinated when she was leaving an
election rally in Rawalpindi.
18 Feb 2008: General elections were
held in Pakistan.
18 Aug 2008: President Pervez
Musharraf announced his resignation.
9 Sept 2008: Asif Ali Zardari became
the president of Pakistan
19 April 2010: President Asif Ali
Zardari signed historic 18th
amendment.
01 May 2011: US Special Forces
killed Al-Qaida's Chief Osama bin
Laden in a shootout at Abbottabad in
an operation named Geronimo.
19 July 2011: Hina Rabbani Khar took
oath as 26th minister for foreign
affairs.
20 Oct, 2011: Muammar Gaddafi
died from wounds he suffered in an
attack by rebels.
11 Dec, 2011: The United States
evacuated the Shamsi Airbase.
8 April 2012: An avalanche smashed
into a Pakistan Army camp burying at
least 135 soldiers and civilians near
Siachen glacier.
19 June 2012: The Supreme Court of
Pakistan disqualified Prime Minister
Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani citing the

earlier conviction on 26 April 2012.
22 June 2012: Raja Pervez Ashraf
was elected as the country's new
prime minister.
9 Oct, 2012: Gunmen have shot and
wounded a 14-year-old Pakistani girl,
Malala.
For Further Details consult All In One
Book 5
World's Top 10 Stories
When the Titans Clash, The Bullish
Surge, Adieu the Bravehearted,
Paid in the Same Coin?, Call of the
Conscience, The African Ogre ,
The Race Schism, Winning the
Battle, Losing the War, The Gavel
Strikes, Changing Winds,
Politics is not a game, but a Serious
Business
Monday, September 01, 2014
1. When the Titans Clash
On July 17, a Malaysian airliner MH 17,
a scheduled international passenger
flight carrying 295 people from
Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed
in rebel-held east Ukraine. Ukraine's
government and pro-Russian
insurgents traded blame for the
disaster.
2. The Bullish Surge
On July 17, the KSE-100 index crossed
the coveted 30,000 points mark the
highest ever in the bourse's history.
The KSE has produced return of 117pc
in two years and six months, since the
index first began its.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
months.
3. Adieu the Bravehearted!
7. The Race Schism
On July 23, the single-engine plane of
17-year-old American-Pakistani pilot
Haris Suleman, who was attempting a
world record of travelling around the
world in 30 days to raise money for
the education of underprivileged
children in Pakistan, crashed in the
sea.
4. Paid in the Same Coin?
On August 09, Michael Brown, an

African American, was shot dead by
Darren Wilson, a police officer, in
Ferguson, Missouri, USA. The shooting,
termed unjust by the US as well as
world media, sparked widespread riots
in Ferguson.
8. Winning the Battle, Losing the
War
On Aug 05, a high ranked American

military official, Maj. Gen. Harold J.
Greene, was killed by a man dressed
as an Afghan soldier. He is the highestranked American officer killed in
combat in America's post-9/11 wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Israelis for the very first time in

history admitted that Hamas has now
hardened into a formidable foe. Using
tunnels, mines, booby traps and
snipers, Hamas fighters have inflicted
record casualties on Israeli troops.
5. Call of the Conscience
9. The Gavel Strikes
On Aug 05, Britain's Senior Foreign

Office Minister and Minister for Faith
and Communities Baroness Sayeeda
shocked Prime Minister David
Cameron by tendering her resignation
from the cabinet in protest at morally
indefensible UK government policy on
Israel's aggression on Gaza.
The judicial commission investigating

the June 17 Model Town incident has
held the government responsible for it
and said police acted on government
orders which led to the bloodshed. It
also said the police were totally
responsible for it.
10. Changing Winds
6. The African Ogre

On Aug 08, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) announced that
the West Africa's Ebola epidemic,
which has killed nearly 1,000 people in
Liberia and Nigeria, constitutes an
international health emergency and
the virus could continue spreading for
On August 27, Saudi and Iranian

officials held rare talks when Iranian
Deputy Foreign Minister Amir
Abdollahian met Saudi Arabia's foreign
minister. These were the first highlevel bilateral talks between the
countries since Iranian President
Hassan Rohani's
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Back to Square One, Peace is Still
Elusive, Spilling the Beans?,
Nature's Wrath or Sheer
Ineptness?, Better Late Than
Never!, A Wake-up Call, It's A Big
No!, Historic Yet Insignificant,
Imposed Reconciliation, A Neverending War,
Pakistan Affairs Special
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Back to Square One!
On Aug 18, New Delhi called off the
Aug 25 meeting of foreign secretaries
of the two countries because of
Pakistani high commissioner's
consultative session with a Hurriyat
leader.
Peace is Still Elusive
On Aug 26, Israel and the Palestinians
agreed to an Egyptian-brokered plan
to end the fighting in Gaza after 50
days of combat in which more than
2,100 Palestinians, most of them
civilians, 64 Israeli soldiers and five
civilians in Israel were killed.
Spilling the Beans?
On Sep 01, the President of PTI,
Makhdoom Hashmi, alleged Imran
Khan of going against the core
committee decision to not to march on
the PM House. He said that the
country has been brought to the verge
of martial law.
Nature's Wrath or Sheer
Ineptness?
On Sep 07, hundreds of thousands of
people were marooned, their houses
submerged and livestock washed

away as the river Chenab in 'super
flood' hit 600 villages in Gujranwala
and Sialkot regions.
Better Late Than Never!
On Sep 13, Maulana Asmatullah
Muawiya, head of the Tehreek-i-Taliban
Punjab, said that his group had
decided to abandon its armed struggle
in Pakistan and instead would focus on
peaceful struggle for the
implementation of Shariah.
A Wake-up Call
On Sep 16, two late-arriving politicians
Senator Rehman Malik and an MNA
Dr Ramesh Vankwani were forced to
get off a PIA aircraft by angry
passengers because they had caused
a long flight delay.
It's A Big No!
On Sep 18, the people of Scotland
voted in a referendum crucial for the
existence of the United Kingdom. The
Scots gave a big NO 55.3 percent
against 44.7 percent for YES and
gave their verdict to stay in the UK.
Historic Yet Insignificant
On Sep 19, the longest joint session of
the parliament began on 2nd
September was prorogued. The
parliamentary resolution reiterated its
'unequivocal, unwavering and
unqualified resolve' to uphold the
supremacy of the Constitution, the
democratic system, sanctity of state
institutions, the rule of law and the
sovereignty of parliament.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Imposed Reconciliation
On Sep 21, Afghanistan's presidential
rivals, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah
Abdullah, signed a power-sharing deal
according to which the former will be
the President of Afghanistan whereas
the latter will nominate his choice for
the new post of chief executive.
A Never-ending War
On Sep 23, the US military began
airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.
Fighters, bombers and Tomahawk Land
Attack Missiles are being used in the
attack. The airstrikes focused on the
ISIS stronghold of Raqqa.
THE JOURNEY STARTS WITH A
BANG!, THINGS FALL APART,
DEMOCRACY: LA AFGHANISTAN,
HAPLESSLY YOURS, MY LORD!,
NOBEL FOR THE NOBLE, A
CRIPPLING DISHONOUR,
SYMBOLIC YET SIGNIFICANT,
ROUTED OR VINDICATED?, OUR
NATIONAL SHAME, THE SOCIAL
MEDIA REVOLUTION
CSS Interview Special
Saturday, November 01, 2014
THE JOURNEY STARTS WITH A
BANG!
On Sep 22, Alibaba Group Holding
Ltd's initial public offering now ranks
the world's biggest in history at $25
billion, after the e-commerce giant and
some of its shareholders sold
additional shares.
THINGS FALL APART
On Sep 23, the US and its Arab allies

bombed Syria for the first time, killing
scores of Islamic State (IS) fighters
and opening a new front against
militants by joining Syria's three-yearold civil war.
DEMOCRACY: LA AFGHANISTAN
On Sep 29, Afghanistan inaugurated
its first new president in a decade,
swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani
Ahmadzai to head a power-sharing
government. Mr Abdullah Abdullah
took over as country's CEO.
HAPLESSLY YOURS, MY LORD!
On Sep 30, Afghanistan and the US
signed a bilateral security agreement
to allow American troops to stay in the
country after the end of the year
2014, fulfilling a campaign promise by
new President Ashraf Ghani.
NOBEL FOR THE NOBLE
On Oct 10, education activist Malala
Yousufzai and Indian campaigner
against child trafficking and labour
Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel
Peace Prize. Malala, aged 17, is now
the youngest Nobel Prize winner.
A CRIPPLING DISHONOUR
On Oct 12, the World Health
Organisation (WHO) held Pakistan
responsible for nearly 80 per cent of
polio cases reported globally. Earlier
on Oct 3, Pakistan broke its own 13year-old record of polio cases with this
year's count to 202.
SYMBOLIC YET SIGNIFICANT
On Oct 13, Britain's Parliament voted
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
274-12 to give diplomatic recognition
to Palestine. The symbolic non-binding
vote is an indication of the British
government's shift since the recent
conflict in Gaza.
ROUTED OR VINDICATED?
On Oct 16, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi,
who deserted PTI during sit-in, lost
election to Amir Dogar, an
independent candidate who had the
support of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, in
NA-149.
Mr Dogar bagged 52,321 votes against
Mr Hashmi's 38,393.
OUR NATIONAL SHAME
On Oct 19, in an extremely shameful
incident, the head office of the
country's leading charity organisation
headed by renowned and widely
respected philanthropist Abdul Sattar
Edhi was robbed. The robbers took
away about Rs30 million worth of gold
and cash.
THE SOCIAL MEDIA REVOLUTION
On October 21, senior officials in Hong
Kong held talks live on television with
protesters clad in T-shirts displaying
the slogan Freedom Now. The
encounter was the first between the
two sides since pro-democracy unrest
broke out in Hong Kong nearly a
month ago.
World Top 10
POWER OF THE DRAGON,

EXPLORING NEW VISTAS, THE
GRITTY DUO, BREAKING THE
SILENCE, A STATE OF THINGS TO
COME , HARDLY AN OASIS, THE
FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE , THE
POPPY BLOOM REDUX, KNOWING
THE UNKNOWN , TALENT MEETS
POWER
Economy Special
Monday, December 01, 2014
1. POWER OF THE DRAGON
On Oct 17, the United Kingdom
became the first foreign country to
issue offshore renminbi bonds, with a
smoothly executed offering that
reflected the Chinese currency's
growing global appeal and London's
efforts to become the world's trading
hub.
2. EXPLORING NEW VISTAS
On Oct 21, Pakistan and Russia held
the second Round of Bilateral Strategic
Dialogue whereby both countries
agreed to take concrete steps for
injecting substance in the bilateral
relationship.
3. THE GRITTY DUO
On Oct 30, Younis Khan became the
first batsman in 90 years to hit three
hundreds in consecutive innings
against Australia while on Nov 02, the
skipper Misbah-ul-Haq broke the Test
record for the fastest fifty and
equalled that of the quickest century.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
4. BREAKING THE SILENCE
8. THE POPPY BLOOM REDUX
On Oct 30, Sweden officially

recognised the state of Palestine, less
than a month after country's new
prime minister, Stefan Lfven,
announced in his inaugural address to
parliament that his country would
become the first EU member in
western Europe to recognise a
Palestinian state.
On Nov 12, a United Nations report

revealed that opium poppy cultivation
in Afghanistan reached a record high
in 2014 with 224,000 hectares
(553,500 acres) of land under
cultivation. The production increased
by seven per cent over last year.
5. A STATE OF THINGS TO COME
On Nov 12, the European Space

Agency's Rosetta spacecraft and
Philae lander made history by
successfully making it to the surface
of Comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko. Rosetta, reached its
destination after a journey of 6.4
billion km that took 10 years, five
months and four days.
The US President, Barack Obama,

unveiled executive action that will
make millions of undocumented
migrants eligible to live and work in
the US. The reforms will also shield
from deportation almost five million
people currently living in the country
illegally.
9. KNOWING THE UNKNOWN
10. TALENT MEETS POWER

6. HARDLY AN OASIS
On Nov 08, China announced to
contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk
Road infrastructure fund to boost
connectivity across Asia. It is the latest
Chinese project to spread the largesse
of its own economic growth.
On Nov 13, Rohit Sharma created

history by smashing the highest
individual ODI score with a
breathtaking knock of 264 as India
thrashed Sri Lanka by 153 runs in the
fourth cricket ODI.
World Top 10
7. THE FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE

On Nov 08, the Balochistan
government sent a report to the
federal government and lawenforcement agencies about growing
footprint in Pakistan of the Islamic
State (IS) group, also referred to as
'Daesh'.
Meliorating the Ties, Pride of

Pakistan , Simply the Geniuses, 63
Not out FOREVER!, Whither
Democracy?, Opening New Vistas,
The King Reigns Supreme, Our
Darkest Hour, Capital Punishment
Redux, Back To Square One?
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Meliorating the Ties
Nov 19: Chief of the Army Staff (COAS)
General Raheel Sharif went on an
official visit to the US. During the visit,
he was conferred on US Legion of
Merit Medal for brave leadership,
sagacity, vision, efforts for peace and
stability in the region.
Pride of Pakistan
Nov 21: Raniya Hosain, a 15-year-old
Pakistani student, was declared winner
in the Commonwealth Essay
Competition. Her essay about
Pakistans contribution to the
Commonwealth outsmarted 10,000
entries from more than 500 schools in
44 Commonwealth nations.
Simply the Geniuses
Nov 23: While the scientists around
the globe are in search of efficient
enzymes that can simplify the process
of starch hydrolysis for glucose and
maltose production, four scientists
from the University of the Punjab
discovered a novel thermo-acidophilic
enzyme.
63 Not out FOREVER!
Nov 27: Australian batsman Phillip
Hughes died from an injury to his
head, two days after being struck by a
bouncer during a domestic first class
match.
Whither Democracy?
Dec 2: Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiuting and Chu Yiu-ming, the original
founders of Hong Kongs
prodemocracy Occupy Movement
announced they would surrender by
turning themselves in to police and

urged protesters on the streets to
retreat.
Opening New Vistas
Dec 3: A 900-kilometre railway linking
Central Asia to the trade routes of the
Persian Gulf through Turkmenistan,
Kazakhstan and Iran was launched.
The route permits train service from
Kazakhstans city of Uzen through
Turkmenistan to Irans Gorgan.
The King Reigns Supreme
Dec 14: Amir Khan won a 12-round
bout over former champion Devon
Alexander in a welterweight matchup.
Our Darkest Hour
Dec 16: In the deadliest terror attack
in the Pakistans history, 131
schoolchildren and 10 other people
were killed when heavily armed
militants stormed Army Public School
in Peshawar. The prime minister
announced a three-day national
mourning to express solidarity with the
families of those who lost their loved
ones in the barbaric attack.
Capital Punishment Redux
Dec 17: At the Multi-Party Conference
in Peshawar, convened in the
aftermath of the savage Taliban attack
on the Army Public School, Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a
moratorium on executions in the
country, allowing capital punishment
for those sentenced to death in
terrorism cases.
Back To Square One?
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Dec 24: Pakistans political leadership
agreed to set up special military
courts to try hardened terrorists. The
courts, which will be operative for two
years, will require a constitutional
amendment before they could start
functioning.
was indicted.
World Top 10 Stories
Parliament is Supreme, Sir!

On Apr 14, the Senate approved
historic amendments to the rules to
bind the prime minister to attend a
session of the upper house at least
once a week.
Aftermath, Purely Irrational!
On April 19, senior anchorperson and
eminent journalist Hamid Mir was
seriously injured when some unknown
gunmen opened fire at his vehicle on
Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi.
Groundbreaking Discovery, Bumpy

Roads Ahead, Equality before Law,
Lions Conquer the Cricket World,
Parliament is Supreme, Sir!,
Aftermath, Purely Irrational, Enter
the New World, How Dare You
Unite?, Tiny Nations Dreams Big,
Asia Pivot Policy
From Sands to Skies
Thursday, May 01, 2014
Lions Conquer the Cricket World

On Apr 6, Sri Lanka lifted their maiden
World Twenty20 title following their
six-wicket victory against former
champions India.
Groundbreaking Discovery
On Mar 17, experts at the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics
announced detecting the waves of
gravity that rippled through space
right after the Big Bang; a landmark
discovery for understanding how the
universe was born.
Enter the New World

On Apr 23, Pakistan successfully
auctioned Third Generation (3G)
spectrum licenses and one of 4G,
among four successful bidders/cellular
mobile operators, earning Rs.111
billion for the national exchequer.
Bumpy Roads Ahead

On Mar 26, government negotiators
held first face-to-face talks with
Taliban leaders. The meeting was held
at the residence of retired Subedar of
Frontier Corps, identified only as Jamil.
How Dare You Unite?

On April 24, Israel suspended USsponsored peace talks with the
Palestinians in response to President
Mahmoud Abbas's unexpected unity
pact with the rival Islamist Hamas
group.
Equality before Law

On Mar 31, the high treason trial of
retired General Pervez Musharraf
brought a historical moment when the
former dictator appeared in court and
Tiny Nations Dreams Big

On April 25, the tiny Pacific nation of
the Marshall Islands filed against the
United States and the world's eight
other nuclear-armed nations with an
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
unprecedented lawsuit demanding
that they meet their obligations
toward disarmament.
Asia Pivot Policy
On April 26, US President Barack
Obama reached Malaysia hoping to
energise aloof ties with the country. He
is the first US president to visit
Malaysia since 1966.
World Top 10 Stories
Whose Faith, Whose Girls?, United
We Stand, Divided We Fall, The
Wrath of Nature, Another Plus for
Pakistan, India Modi-fied, At the
End of Their Tether, Denouncing
the US Hegemony, Under the
Boots Again, Still the Securest
Area?, Easy SIMs, No More
Stupid!,
Nawaz Modi and the Future
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Whose Faith, Whose Girls?
On the night of 1415 April 2014,
approximately 276 female students
were kidnapped from the Government
Secondary School in the town of
Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. The
kidnappings were claimed by Boko
Haram.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
On April 23, President Mahmood
Abbass Palestine Liberation
Organisation (PLO) and Gaza-based
group Hamas agreed to a unity pact.
The move envisions a unity
government within five weeks and
national elections six months later.
The Wrath of Nature

On May 2, a double landslide first
buried an entire village and then made
it a mass grave of more than 2500
people including hundreds of rescuers
in the Argo district of Afghanistans
Badakhshan province.
Another Plus for Pakistan
On May 05, two Pakistani students,
Shahzaib Ali and Muhammad Faaiz
Taufiq, were granted Cambridge 800th
Anniversary Scholarships for
undergraduate studies at the
University of Cambridge. They will be
provided full funding, covering fees
and means-tested maintenance.
India Modi-fied
On May 16, The BJP, led by Narendra
Modi, won the Lok Sabha elections,
with 282 seats on its own. BJP-led
National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
got 336 seats in the lower house of
Indias Parliament.
At the End of Their Tether
On May 21, responding to recent
insurgent attacks on security forces,
Pakistan Army pounded militant
hideouts near the Afghan border with
warplanes and helicopters killing 60
hard-core terrorists. The airstrikes
mainly targeted Mir Ali region of North
Waziristan.
Denouncing the US Hegemony
On May 22, Russia and China vetoed a
United Nations Security Council
resolution referring the Syrian crisis to
the International Criminal Court for
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
investigation of possible war crimes.
Pakistan.
Under the Boots Again

On May 22, Thailand's military took
control of the government and
suspended the constitution. The
cabinet has been told to report to the
military, TV broadcasting remains
suspended and political gatherings
have been banned.
New Realities, New Partners

On May 21, China signed a landmark
deal to buy Russian natural gas worth
about $400 billion, giving a boost to
diplomatically isolated President
Vladimir Putin and expanding
Moscows ties with Asia.
Still the Securest Area?

On May 23, frustrated at not having
their complaints heeded, a large
contingent of Sikhs, brandishing
traditional daggers and shouting
slogans, descended upon Parliament
House to protest the desecration of
their holy book in Sindh.
Easy SIMs, No More Stupid!
On May 24, CEOs of Ufone, Mobilink,
Zong, Warid and Telenor and Chairman
NADRA, Imtiaz Tajwar, signed an
agreement that prohibits issuing any
SIM after July 31, 2014 without
verifying applicants identities from
NADRA biometric database.
The Man with a Vision - Chaudhry
Muhammad Sarwar
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
Law Makes Its Course
On May 20, the Lahore High Court
issued notices to over two dozen
politicians and their family members,
a property tycoon and a rights activist
for submitting replies in petition to
bring their foreign assets back to
Breaking New Grounds

On May 26, Pakistani premier attended
the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra
Modi a BJP hardliner who was
sworn in as Indias 15th prime
minister. Mr Sharif also held a one-onone meeting with Mr Modi the next
day.
Bhai in the Dock
On June 03, Altaf Hussain, the
supremo of Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM), was arrested by the
British police on suspicion of money
laundering. However, he was later
released without filing of any charges.
Army Reigns Supreme
On June 8, Egypt's ex-army chief,
Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, was officially sworn
in morning as Egypt's fifth head of
state since 2011, nearly a year after
he ousted his predecessor Mohamed
Morsi.
Back to Square One!
On June 10, an Al Qaeda splinter
group, Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant (ISIL), seized control of Iraqs
big northern city Mosul. Later, they
seized the Iraqi city of Tikrit the very
next day.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Terror Returns
On June 08, ten militants attacked
Karachi Airport killing at least 23
people. Seven terrorists were killed by
the security forces while three blew
themselves up. Fortunately, no plane
was damaged in the attack.
Tensions Mounting
On June 14, Russia cut off gas to
Ukraine in a dispute over unpaid bills
that could disrupt supplies to the rest
of Europe and set back hopes for
peace in the former Soviet republic.
More Power to Your Elbow!
On June 15, Pakistan Army launched a
comprehensive operation Zarb-e-Azb
against local and foreign militants in
North Waziristan. This is the third fullscale military operation launched in
north western belt since 2009.
Ugly Show of Power
On June 17, nine people, including two
women, were killed after clashes
between supporters of PAT chief Dr
Tahir-ul-Qadri and Punjab police.
Clashes started when police started
removing barriers from the road
outside Dr Qadris residence.
A Vicious Step!, Climate Pangs ,

Headway in Islamic Finance, Surge
of the Rightwing , Things Fall
Apart, A Pure Feat, Gaza Bleeds
Again , Something is Fishy,
Another Feather in CMs Cap, The
Real Joga Bonito!,
Gaza - Holocaust Version 2014
Friday, August 01, 2014
A Vicious Step!
On June 20, Sindh sealed its borders to
stop the influx of internally displaced
persons (IDPs) after the military
operation in North Waziristan.
Climate Pangs
On June 23, it was revealed that May
2014 was so hot that it set a new
record for the planet, marking the
warmest May over land and water
since record-keeping began in 1880.
Headway in Islamic Finance
On June 25, Britain became the first
Western country to sell an Islamic
bond, attracting 2.3 billion pounds,
more than 10 times the amount it was
looking to sell.
Surge of the Rightwing
On June 27, European Union leaders
picked former Luxembourg Prime
Minister Jean Claude Juncker to
become the blocs new chief
executive.
Things Fall Apart
On June 29, ISIS militants fighting in
Iraq and Syria announced the
establishment of a caliphate and its
chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the
caliph and leader for Muslims
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
everywhere.
A Pure Feat
On July 02, Pakistans first-ever
highest altitude meteorological
climate station was installed at the K2
Base Camp the Boltoro in the
Karakorum that has started giving the
real time data.
Gaza Bleeds Again
On July 06, the Israel military carried
out 10 air strikes on Gaza in response
to persistent rocket fire into southern
Israel as hopes faded of a renewed
truce with its Islamist foe Hamas.
Something is Fishy
On July 11, former PM Yousuf Raza
Gillani revealed that during his
government an understanding was
reached with the establishment that
President Musharraf would be given an
honourable exit, if he resigned.
Another Feather in CMs Cap
On July 13, Chief Minister Punjab Mian
Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the signalfree Azadi Chowk flyover that was
completed in a record period of 165
days.
The Real Joga Bonito!
On July 13, Substitute Goetzes
stunning extra-time winner helped
Germany grab their fourth World Cup
crown after a 1-0 victory over
Argentina at the Maracana Stadium,
Rio de Janeiro.
Science Facts
1. For humans, the normal pulse is

70 heartbeats per minute.
Elephants have a slower pulse of
27 and for a canary it is 1000!
The Killer Result CSS 2013
Sunday, December 01, 2013
2. The blood vessels in human body
would reach about 60,000 miles if laid
end to end.
3. Half of body's red blood cells are
replaced every seven days.
4. A common bacterium, E. Coli,
found in the intestine, helps us digest
green vegetables and beans.
These same bacteria also make
vitamin K, which causes blood to clot.
5. It takes food seven seconds to go
from the mouth to the stomach via the
esophagus.
6. A human's small intestine is 6
meters long.
7. The human body is 75% water.
8. The strongest bone in your body
is the femur (thighbone), and it's
hollow!
9. Tongue has 3,000 taste buds.
10. The Sun is over 300,000 times
larger than the earth.
11. Halley's Comet was last seen in
the inner Solar System in 1986, it will
be visible again from Earth sometime
in 2061.
12. Venus is the hottest planet in our
solar system with a surface
temperature of over 450 degrees
Celsius.
13. Saturn isn't the only ringed
planet, other gas giants such as
Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have
rings; they are just less obvious.
14. In 2006, astronomers changed
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the definition of a planet. This means
that Pluto is now referred to as a dwarf
planet.
15. Because of lower gravity, a
person who weighs 200 pounds on
earth would only weigh 76 pounds on
the surface of Mars.
16. The only planet that rotates on
its side like a barrel is Uranus. The
only planet that spins backwards
relative to the others is Venus.
17. The first manmade object sent
into space was in 1957 when the
Russian satellite named Sputnik was
launched.
18. It is because of the Suns and
Moons gravity that we have high &
low tides.
19. Hydrogen is the first element on
the periodic table. It has an atomic
number of 1.
It is highly flammable and is the
most common element found in our
universe.
20. Around 1% of the sun's mass is
oxygen.
21. Helium is lighter than the air
around us so it floats, that's why it is
perfect for the balloons.
22. Carbon comes in a number of
different forms (allotropes), these
include diamond, graphite and impure
forms such as coal.
23. Under normal conditions, oil and
water do not mix.
24. Things invisible to the human
eye can often be seen under UV light,
which comes in handy for both
scientists and detectives.
25. Chemical reactions occur all the
time, including through everyday
activities such as cooking.
26. Above 4C, water expands when

heated and contracts when cooled.
But between 4C and 0C it does the
opposite, contracting when heated
and
expanding when cooled.
Stronger hydrogen and oxygen bonds
are formed as the water crystallizes
into ice. By the time it's frozen, it
takes up around 9% more space.
27. The highest temperature ever
recorded in Antarctica is 14.6C
(59F), recorded on January 5, 1974.
28. The most rainfall ever recorded
in one year is 25.4 metres (1000
inches) in Cherrapunji, India.
29. The highest snowfall ever
recorded in a one-year period was
31.1 metres (1224 inches) in Mount
Rainier, Washington State, United
States, between
February 19, 1971
and February 18, 1972.
30. The Earth experiences millions of
lightning storms every year; they are
incredible discharges of electricity
from the atmosphere that can reach
temperatures close to 54,000F
(30,000C) and speeds of 60,000 m/s
(130,000 mph).
31. The word 'nuclear' is related to
the nucleus of an atom, it is often
used to describe the energy produced
when a nucleus is split (fission) or
joined with another (fusion).
32. The nucleus is positively charged
and found at the central core of an
atom.
33. Nuclear power provides around
14% of the world's electricity.
34. While many nuclear weapons
have been used in testing, only 2 have
been used as part of warfare. In
August 1945, near the end of World
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War 2, the United States used atomic
bombs on the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to
the death of approximately 200000
people.
35. Enriched uranium is a crucial
element of both nuclear weapons and
nuclear power production.
36. Energy from food is usually
measured in joules or calories.
37. Light from the Earth takes just
1.255 seconds to reach the Moon.
38. Sound travels at a speed of
around 767 miles per hour (1,230
kilometres per hour).
39. A magnifying glass uses the
properties of a convex shaped lens to
magnify an image, making it easier to
see.
40. 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics was
won by Albert Einstein for his work in
the field of theoretical physics.
41. Most types of energy are either a
form of kinetic energy or potential
energy.
42. Energy can be transformed from
one form to another. In lightning,
electric potential energy transforms
into light, heat and sound energy.
43. The law of conservation of
energy states that energy can only be
transformed, it can't be created or
destroyed.
44. Food contains chemical energy
which is used by living organisms such
as animals to grow and reproduce.
45. Plants use energy from sunlight
during an important process called
photosynthesis.
46. During chemical reactions,
chemical energy is often transformed
into light or heat.
47. The Higgs Boson or Higgs

particle, an elemen tary particle,
was initially theorised in 1964.
48. On 4 July 2012, it was
announced that a previously unknown
particle with a mass between 125 and
127 GeV/c2 (134.2 and 136.3 amu)
had been detected
49. The Higgs boson is named after
Peter Higgs, one of six physicists who,
in 1964, proposed the mechanism that
suggested the existence of such a
particle.
50. In 1967, Steven Weinberg and Dr
Abdus Salam independently showed
how a Higgs mechanism could be used
to break the electroweak symmetry of
Sheldon Glashow's unified model for
the weak and electromagnetic
interactions, forming what became the
Standard Model of particle physics.
90 very cool Facts About the Human
Body
The human body is an incredibly
complex and intricate system, one
that still baffles doctors and
researchers on a regular basis
despite thousands of years of
medical knowledge.
Honour Becomes'em
Thursday, November 01, 2012
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As a result, it shouldn't be any surprise

that even body parts and functions we
deal with every day have bizarre or
unexpected facts and explanations
behind them. From sneezes to
fingernail growth, here are 100 weird,
wacky, and interesting facts about the
human body.
1. Nerve impulses to and from the
brain travel as fast as 170 miles per
hour.
2. The brain operates on the same
amount of power as 10-watt light bulb.
3. The human brain cell can hold five
times as much information as the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
4. Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen
that enters your bloodstream.
5. The brain is much more active at
night than during the day.
6. Scientists say the higher your IQ
the more you dream.
7. Neurons continue to grow
throughout human life.
8. Information travels at different
speeds within different types of
neurons.
9. The brain itself cannot feel pain.

10. Eighty per cent of the brain is
water.
11. Facial hair grows faster than any
other hair on the body.
12. Every day the average person
loses 60-100 strands of hair.
13. Women's hair is about half the
diameter of men's hair.
14. One human hair can support 3.5
ounces.
15. The fastest growing nail is on the
middle finger.
16. There are as many hairs per
square inch on your body as a
chimpanzee.
17. Blondes have more hair.
Fingernails grow nearly four times
faster than toenails.
18. The lifespan of a human hair is 3
to 7 years on average.
19. You must lose over 50% of your
scalp hairs before it is apparent to
anyone.
20. Human hair is virtually
indestructible.
21. The largest internal organ is the
small intes-tine.
22. The human heart creates enough
pressure to squirt blood 30 feet.
23. The acid in your stomach is
strong enough to dissolve razorblades.
24. The human body is estimated to
have 60,000 miles of blood vessels.
25. You get a new stomach lining
every three to four days.
26. The surface area of a human
lung is equal to a tennis court.
27. Women's hearts beat faster than
men's.
28. Scientists have counted over 500
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different liver functions.
29. The aorta is nearly the diameter
of a garden hose.
30. Your left lung is smaller than
your right lung to make room for your
heart.
31. You could remove a large part of
your internal organs and survive.
32. The adrenal glands change size
throughout life.
33. Sneezes regularly exceed 100
mph.
34. Coughs clock in at about 60
mph.
35. Women blink twice as many
times as men do.
36. A full bladder is roughly the size
of a soft ball.
37. Approximately 75% of human
waste is made of water.
38. Feet have 500,000 sweat glands
and can produce more than a pint of
sweat a day.
39. During your lifetime, you will
produce enough saliva to fill two
swimming pools.
40. The average person expels
flatulence 14 times each day.
41. Earwax production is necessary
for good ear health.
42. The largest cell in the human
body is the female egg and the
smallest is the male sperm.
43. The three things pregnant
women dream most of during their
first trimester are frogs, worms and
potted plants.
44. Your teeth start growing six
months before you are born.
45. Babies are always born with blue
eyes.
46. Babies are, pound for pound,
stronger than an ox.

47. One out of every 2,000 new born
infants has a tooth when they are
born.
48. A fetus acquires fingerprints at
the age of three months.
49. Every human spent about half an
hour as a single cell.
50. After eating too much, your
hearing is less sharp.
51. About one-third of the human
race has 20-20 vision.
52. If saliva cannot dissolve
something, you cannot taste it.
53. Women are born better smellers
than men and remain better smellers
over life.
54. Your nose can remember 50,000
different scents.
55. Even small noises cause the
pupils of the eyes to dilate.
56. Everyone has a unique smell,
except for identical twins.
57. The ashes of a cremated person
average about nine pounds.
58. Nails and hair do not continue to
grow after we die.
59. By the age of 60, most people
will have lost about half their taste
buds.
60. Your eyes are always the same
size from birth but your nose and ears
never stop growing.
61. By 60 years of age, 60 per cent
of men and 40 per cent of women will
snore.
62. A baby's head is one-quarter of
its total length, but by age 25 will only
be one-eighth of its total
length.
63. Humans can make do longer
without food than sleep.
64. A simple, moderately severe
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sunburn damages the blood vessels
extensively.
65. Over 90% of diseases are caused
or complicated by stress.
66. A human head remains
conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds
after it is been decapitated.
67. It takes 17 muscles to smile and
43 to frown.
68. Babies are born with 300 bones,
but by adulthood the number is
reduced to 206.
69. We are about 1 cm taller in the
morning than in the evening.
70. The strongest muscle in the
human body is the tongue.
71. The hardest bone in the human
body is the jawbone.
72. You use 200 muscles to take one
step.
73. The tooth is the only part of the
human body that can't repair itself.
74. It takes twice as long to lose new
muscle if you stop working out than it
did to gain it.
75. Bone is stronger than some
steel.
76. The feet account for one quarter
of all the human body's bones.
77. About 32 million bacteria call
every inch of your skin home.
78. Humans shed and regrow outer
skin cells about every 27 days.
79. Three hundred million cells die in
the human body every minute.
80. Humans shed about 600,000
particles of skin every hour.
81. Every day an adult body
produces 300 billion new cells.
82. Every tongue print is unique.
83. Your body has enough iron in it
to make a nail 3 inches long.
84. The most common blood type in

the world is Type O.
85. Human lips have a reddish color
because of the great concentration of
tiny capillaries just below the skin.
86. Tears and mucus contain an
enzyme (lysozyme) that breaks down
the cell wall of many bacteria.
87. Your body gives off enough heat
in 30 minutes to bring half a gallon of
water to a boil.
88. Your ears secrete more earwax
when you are afraid than when you
arent.
89. The width of your armspan
stretched out is the length of your
whole body.
90. Humans are the only animals to
produce emotional tears.
9 Countries with No Income Tax
Did you know there are countries
where people don't have to file
their income tax returns? Here's a
list of nine countries that don't
impose income tax on their
citizens:
Business
Kuwait
Kuwait has the world's sixth largest oil
reserves, accounting for 75% of
government revenue, making the
country's GDP at $173 billion.
Corporate tax is another way of
gaining revenues in Kuwait; income of
foreign companies is taxed at 15%.
Employees with Kuwaiti nationality
also contribute 7.5% of their income
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for social security liabilities, and
employers contribute 11%.
Cayman Islands
This British Overseas Territory mainly
relies on indirect taxation, and there's
no income tax or corporate tax. The
country charges up to 22% as import
duties. It is a thriving offshore financial
centre with over 93,000 registered
companies in 2008. Tourism accounts
for about 70% of the country's GDP.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The gross domestic product (GDP) of
UAE is $360 billion. Instead of
deducting from personal income, the
country taxes oil companies up to 55%
in corporate taxes. There are also
other indirect taxes, such as housing
fees, municipal taxes, road tolls, and
service charges.
The Bahamas
The Bahamas relies on offshore
financing and tourism as its main
economic industries. 36% of the
Bahamas' $11.4 billion GDP is from
financial services, and more than 60%
is from tourism. Aside from no income
tax, the country also has no corporate
tax, value added tax, and capital gains
tax.
Qatar
Qatar has a GDP of $183 billion with
more than 50% accounting for oil and
gas export and revenues. In 2013,
Global Finance Magazine named Qatar
the world's richest country. The local
government here also doesn't charge
any road tax, car tax, council tax or
value added tax (VAT). Business

entities are taxed at a flat rate of 10%
corporate tax, however, and there's a
7% government tax on hotels and
restaurants.
Oman
Oman relies on its oil revenues, which
accounts for nearly 70% of the
country's total revenues. Oman
imposes a corporate tax of 12% on
local businesses and up to 30% on
foreign businesses and corporations
owned by non-GCC states.
Bermuda
Another British Overseas Territory, this
island country's economy is based on
offshore insurance and reinsurance,
and tourism. Its GDP per capita is
almost 70% higher than that of the
United States. In lieu of an income tax
system, Bermuda has consumption
taxes (VAT, service charge, and the
like), payroll taxes, real estate taxes,
and high import duties.
Bahrain
Bahrain relies on petroleum from its
shared oilfield with Saudi Arabia,
accounting for 70% of the country's
budget revenue, 60% of export, and
11% of GDP. Their second-biggest
export after oil is aluminium.
Employees contribute 6% of their
monthly earnings to social security,
while employers cover 9%.
Brunei Darussalam
Brunei is the only Southeast Asian
country with no income tax. Brunei's
industries mainly rely on petroleum,
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natural gas, construction, and
agriculture. Even though there isn't
any income tax, Brunei citizens are
required to pay a social security trust
fund at 5% of their salaries, and an
additional 3.5% that goes to their
pension funds. There's also a 12% real
property tax in the country's capital,
Bandar Seri Begawan, and a corporate
tax of 20% for local and non-local
companies.
3. On Aug 18, India called off the

upcoming meeting of foreign
secretaries of both countries because
of Pakistani high commissioner's
meeting with a Hurriyat leader ______.
MCQs
4. Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa is

the present Director General of ______.
National & International MCQs

(Aug-Sept 2014)
MCQs - National
1. On ______, PTI Chairman Imran Khan
ordered his supporters to launch a
Civil Disobedience Movement against
the government.
A. August 16 B. August 17
C. August 18 D. August 19
A. Syed Ali Gilani
B. Yasin Malik
C. Shabir Shah
D. Azhar Bhat
A. ISI
B. IB
C. ISPR
D. MI
5. On Aug 20, Khwaja Shahad Ahmed

took over as Chairman of ______.
A. PPSC
B. AJKPSC
C. BPSC
D. SPSC
2. The incumbent Director General of

Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
(PBC) is ______.
6. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Public

Service Commission (AJKPSC)
comprises a chairman and ______
members.
A. Saira Afzal
B. Salman Iqbal
A. 7
B. 9
C. Pervez Rashid
Pervez
D. Samina
C. 11
D. 13
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7. The Earthquake Memorial Bridge on
the banks of the River Jhelum was
funded by______.
A. August 18 B. August 22
C. August 24 D. August 27
A. World Bank
B. Asian Development Bank
C. Japan Bank of International
Cooperation (JBIC)
11. On Aug 23, ______ registered a

treason case against Pakistan's High
Commissioner, Mr Abdul Basit.
A. Nepal
B. Sri Lanka
C. Afghanistan
D. India
D. Pak China Investment Company
8. PTI's parliamentary leader in the

National Assembly, before they
submitted resignations, was ______.
A. Imran Khan
B. Javed Hashmi
12. On Aug 26, a financing agreement

of $588.4 million signed with the
World Bank, related to development of
______.
C. Murad Saeed
A. Tarbela De-silting Project
D. Shah Mehmood Qureshi
B. Attabad Lake
C. Dasu Hydropower Project
9. The incumbent Chairman of Port

Qasim Authority (PQA) is ______.
D. Manda Dam
A. Agha Jan Akhtar
C. Mir Afsar Din Talpur
13. The VC of Islamia University

Peshawar, Prof Ajmal Khan, was
kidnapped by Taliban militants in
______.
D. Rear Admiral Syed Afzal
A. 2010
B. 2011
C. 2012
D. 2013
B. Saeed Ahmed Khan
10. Pakistan Navy inducted a second

batch of Alouette Helicopters into its
Fleet Air Arm on ______.
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14. The current Speaker of Balochistan
Assembly is ______.
A. Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali
18. The headquarters of Pakistan

Television Corporation is located in
______.
B. Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal

A. Karachi
B. Lahore
C. Quetta
D. Islamabad
C. Kiramatullah Chaghar Matti

D. Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo
15. European Union lifted the

temporary cargo ban imposed on
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
cargo shipments to Europe on ______.
19. Justice Qazi Faaiz Essa, who was

appointed as judge in the Supreme
Court on Sep 01, was previously
serving as the chief justice of _____
High Court.
A. Aug 24
B. Aug 25
A. Sindh
C. Aug 26
D. Aug 28
C. Peshawar D. Islamabad
B. Balochistan
16. On Aug 29, PIA became the ______

airline in South Asia to acquire the
approval of the Air Navigation Order
(ANO) 145 and 147.
20. On Sep 01, the ______ approved

$47.95 for Pakistan under the
Enhanced Nutrition for Mothers and
Children project.
A. First
B. Second
A. UN
B. World Bank
C. Third
D. Seventh
C. IMF
D. ADB
17. The headquarters of Pakistan

Television (PTV) was attacked by a
mob of PTI and PAT protesters on
_______.
21. International Vulture Awareness

Day is celebrated on ______.
A. Sep 04
B. Sep 06
A. Aug 29
B. Aug 30
C. Sep 08
D. Sep 10
C. Aug 31
D. Sep 01
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22. International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is
headquartered at ______.
D. Ghulam Haider Jamali
A. Geneva, Switzerland
26. The Pakistan Ex-Servicemen

Association is headed by ______.
B. Gland, Switzerland
A. Fasih Bukhari
B. Ahmed Tasnim
C. Rome, Italy
C. Aslam Baig
D. Hameed Gul
D. Milan, Italy
23. On Sep 11, the Balochistan Rural

Support Programme (BRSP) launched
a water management programme in
district ______ with the assistance of
the Federal Republic of Germany.
A. Zhob
C. Awaran
B. Qila Abdullah
International
1. On Aug 19, ______ of Pakistan was
appointed on the panel of advisers to
the Commission on Missing Persons
and War Crimes set up by the Sri
Lankan government ______.
D. Quetta
A. Ahmer Bilal Soofi
B. Adil Gilani
24. International Day of Democracy is

observed annually on ______.
C. Asma Jahangir
A. Sep 06
B. Sep 08
D. Ch Aitzaz Ahsan
C. Sep 12
D. Sep 14
A. Fayyaz Leghari
2. According to the ranking compiled

by China's Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, the US has ______
universities in the list of world's top
500 universities.
B. Iqbal Mehmood
A. 66
C. Ghulam Qadir Thebo
C. 146
25. The incumbent IGP Sindh is ______.
B. 87
D. 158
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C. 1981
D. 1984
3. The top spot in the annual

Academic Ranking of World
Universities was retained by ______
University.
7. The current Prime Minister of Turkey

is ______.
A. Stanford B. Cambridge
A. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
C. California D. Harvard
B. Ahmet Davutoglu
C. Abdullah Gl
4. India's former premier Manmohan

Singh had been the Finaice Minister of
the country during ______.
D. Blent Arn
A. 1985-90
8. The headquarters of Facebook is

located in ______.
B. 1991-96
C. 1997-2002
D. 2002-05
A. California
C. Chicago
5. On Aug 21, the Indian government

blocked the release of a controversial
film, ______, based on the
assassination of former premier Indira
Gandhi.
B. New Jersey
D. New York
A. Veeran Naal Sardari
9. Navi Pillay, the longest serving

United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, is replaced by Prince
Zeid bin Ra'ad who belongs to ______.
B. Kirpaan: The Sword of Honour
A. Jordan
C. Kaum De Heere
C. Saudi Arabia
B. Egypt
D. Iraq
D. Fateh
6. Indira Gandhi launched Operation

Blue Star against Sikhs in ______.
10. Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad is the

Muslim United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights.
A. First
A. 1978
B. 1980
B. Second
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C. Third
D. Fourth
15. The headquarters of the United

Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is
located in ______.
11. The Pentagon is located in ______.
A. New York City
A. Virginia B. Washington DC
C. Bonn
B. Geneva
D. Berlin
C. New York D. Ohio

16. Petro Poroshenko is the president
of ______.
12. According to a report by UN
Human Rights Commission, nearly
______ Syrians have been killed since
the country fell into conflict in 2011.
A. 100,000
A. Serbia
B. Croatia
C. Luxemburg
D. Ukraine
B. 150,000
C. 200,000 D. 300,000
13. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls

presented his government's
resignation on ______.
A. Aug 25
B. Aug 28
C. Aug 29
D. Aug 31
17. Israel and Palestine concluded a

long-term ceasefire that marked the
ending of 50 days of the deadliest
violence in a decade on ______.
A. Aug 22
B. Aug 23
C. Aug 25
D. Aug 26
18. Anitkabir mausoleum is the final

resting place of ______.
14. On Aug 25, ______ won the award
for Video of the Year for her hit
single Wrecking Ball, at the 2014
MTV Video Music Awards______.
A. Maulana Rumi
B. Mustafa Kamal Ataturk
C. Osmani King Saleem
A. Demi Lovato
B. Miley Cyrus
D. lk Adatepe
C. Beyonc D. Selena Gomez
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19. Conference of Western Balkan
States was held on Aug 28 in ______,
Germany.
A. Berlin
B. Bonn
C. Essen
D. Cologne
A. India
B. Bangladesh
C. Iran
D. Pakistan
24. According to WHO, the world's

most suicide-prone country is ______.
A. Suriname B. Lithuania
20. Recep Tayyip Erdogan was sworn

in as Turkey's president on ______.
A. Aug 26
B. Aug 28
C. Aug 30
D. Sep 04
21. On Aug 29, the United States

delivered an emergency shipment of
weapons to ______.
A. Lebanon B. Syrian Rebels
C. Israel
C. Nepal
D. Guyana
25. On Sep 12, former commander of

American forces in Afghanistan, ______
was appointed coordinator of the
international effort against the Islamic
State.
A. Ray Robinson
B. John Allen
C. John Goodman D. John Kelly
D. Egypt
22. Antnio Guterres is the______, and

the present, UN High Commissioner
for Refugees.
26. The current Director-General of the

Geneva-based World Health
Organization (WHO) is ______.
A. Sweden Anders Nordstrm
A. 10th
B. 12th
B. Lee Jong-wook
C. 15th
D. 20th
C. Margaret Chan
D. Hiroshi Nakajima
23. On Sep 02, ______ unveiled a new

surface-to-air missile, Talash-3, and
two radar systems to improve its
defences.
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27. At present, the SCO observer
countries are______, Pakistan and
India.
A. 19th
B. 20th
C. 21st
D. 22nd
A. Maldives B. Iran
C. Sri Lanka D. Bangladesh
32. The world's largest shipping

company, Moller-Maersk, is a ______
business conglomerate.
28. The Shanghai Cooperation

Organization (SCO) comprises ______
members, 5 Observers, 3 Dialogue
Partners and 3 Guests.
A. Russian
B. British
C. Danish
D. Japanese
A. 6
B. 8
C. 10
D. 12
33. The Geneva Convention of 1864

for the Amelioration of the Condition
of the Wounded and Sick of Armies in
the Field was adopted by ______
nations during meeting in Geneva.
29. Erriadh village, also known as the

'Island of Dreams', is in ______.
A. 12
B. 14
A. Tunisia
C. 57
D. 63
C. Egypt
B. Maldives
D. Thailand
Sports
30. Indonesia got independence from
_____ on 17 August 1945.
A. France
B. Great Britain
C. Russia
D. Netherlands
1. On Aug 17, England defeated ______

to win the fifth Test, and clinch the
series 3-1.
A. Pakistan
C. India
31. The ______ Amendment to the US

Constitution guaranteed women the
right of suffrage.
B. Australia
D. Sri Lanka
2. On Aug 18, the Swiss ace, Roger

Federer, won his record______
championship in Cincinnati.
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A. Third
B. Fourth
C. Fifth
D. Sixth
3. On Aug 18, former diplomat

Shaharyar Khan became the ______
chairman of the PCB.
A. 28th
B. 30th
C. 34th
D. 36th
4. Shaharyar Khan previously had held

the post between December 2003 and
October ______.
A. 2004
B. 2005
C. 2006
D. 2007
5. In second edition of the Youth

Olympic Games swimming
programme, a total of ______ new
World Junior records were established.
C. Third
D. Fourth
7. On Aug 28, Wayne Rooney, was

named as captain of ______ Football
Team.
A. France
B. England
C. Argentina D. Spain
8. On Sep 07, Japan's Kei Nishikori

became the _____ Asian man to make
a Grand Slam final in the US Open.
A. First
B. Second
C. Third
D. Fourth
9. On Sep 08, ______ twins Bob and

Mike Bryan became the first doubles
pair to win 100 titles in tennis.
A. Danish
B. American
C. Canadian D. British
A. 20
B. 26
C. 29
D. 32
10. On Sep 08, Serena Williams
defeated ______ to win a third
consecutive US Open championship.
6. On Aug 26, West Indian players,

Denesh Ramdin and Darren Bravo, put
on 258 runs to make a new record for
______ wicket partnership in an ODI.
A. First
B. Second
A. Maria Sharapova
B. Li Na
C. Caroline Wozniacki
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D. Ana Ivanovic
A. 1963
B. 1965
C. 1973
D. 1978
Obituaries
1. Pakistan's first-ever world champion
in any sport, squash star Hashim
Khan, died on ______.
A. Aug 16
B. Aug 18
5. Acclaimed Indian writer Udupi

Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy,
who was famed for his novels and
poems in ______ language, died on
August 22.
C. Aug 19
D. Aug 22
A. Bangla
B. Kannada
C. Tamil
2. Former Irish prime minister, Albert
Reynolds, who helped broker the IRA
ceasefire in ______, has died.
D. Hindi
A. 1990
B. 1994
6. Dr Masood Baig, who was killed on

______ was a visiting faculty member in
University of Karachi.
C. 1996
D. 1997
A. Sep 06
B. Sep 07
C. Sep 09
D. Sep 10
3. Famous ______ actor and film

director Richard Attenborough, who
appeared in films such as Brighton
Rock, The Great Escape and Jurassic
Park, died on August 25.
7. Joan Alexandra Molinsky, a.k.a. Joan

Rivers, was an ______ actress,
comedian, writer, producer, and
television host.
A. American B. Iranian
A. American
B. British
C. Canadian D. British
C. French
4. Former Sindh Ombudsman Yusuf

Jamal, who died on Sep 07, made a
record by securing the highest marks
in the CSP examination in which he
appeared in ______.
D. Canadian
8. Parveen Saeed Haroon, the mother

of Dawn Media Group CEO Hameed
Haroon, passed away on ______.
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A. Sep 08
B. Sep 10
C. Sep 12
D. Sep 14
9. Dr S.M. Rab, the longest serving

______ of the country, passed away on
Sep 15.
A. Scientist B. Minister
C. Physician
D. Bureaucrat
World in Focus (June-July 2014)

National & International News &
MCQs
Gaza - Holocaust Version 2014
Friday, August 01, 2014
National
June 17: Eight people, two women
among them, were killed and over 100
injured when police clashed with
activists of the Pakistan Awami
Tehreek (PAT) over removal of barriers
from near Dr Tahirul Qadri's Minhajul
Quran headquarters in Model Town.
June 17: A federal anticorruption
court granted pre-arrest bail to former
Prime Minister, Syed Yousuf Raza
Gilani in 12 different cases.
June 17: After terrorist attack on
Karachi Airport, the Civil Aviation
Authority suspended porter service at
the airports.
June 17:Pakistan and Tajikistan
agreed to strengthen economic
cooperation by optimally utilising the

present and new institutional
mechanisms and intensifying private
sector interface.
June 18: Around 30,000 people fled
the military offensive against militants
in North Waziristan after the
authorities eased a curfew in parts of
the region to let civilians leave in a
sign that the campaign was likely to
intensify.
The military has deployed troops,
tanks and jets in the region for the
crackdown on Taliban and other
militants.
June 18: The National Highway
Authority (NH A) gave a go-ahead to
the construction of Karachi-Lahore
Motorway.
June 18: KP Chief Minister Pervez
Khattak inaugurated the first school of
investigation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
police in Peshawar.
June 19: Changez Khan Marri, the
eldest son of late Nawab Khair Bakhsh
Marri, became the new chieftain of the
powerful Marri tribe of Balochistan.
June 20: Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif removed Law Minister
Rana Sanaullah and his own secretary
Dr Tauqir Shah, to make it visible to
everyone that justice is being done in
the Model Town case.
June 20: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui
of the Islamabad High Court (IHC)
restrained the federal government
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from making appointments on high
profile positions that violate the
Supreme Court verdict in the Khawaja
Asif case.
for the 14th round of the Chaophraya

Dialogue. It was organized by the
Jinnah Institute (JI) and the Australia
India Institute (AII).
June 20: The Pakistan Electronic

Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra)
suspended the operating licences of
Geo Entertainment and ARY News.
The Chaophraya Dialogue is the

longest consistently running Indo-Pak
Track-II jointly administered by the
Jinnah Institute (JI) and Australia India
Institute (AII) to encourage informed
policy dialogue on Indo-Pak relations.
The process is now in its sixth year
and has so far led to 14 rounds of
dialogue.
June 20: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

formally launched the PM's Laptop
Scheme at the Convention Centre,
Islamabad.
June 20: Sindh's provincial borders
were sealed owing to influx of
internally displaced persons (IDPs) due
to recent military operation in North
Waziristan.
No more IDPs in Sindh, we have
sealed borders to some extent, the
CM Qaim Ali Shah said.
June 21: The government pushed its
second budget through the National
Assembly with ease amid some
gestures to PPP ahead of threatened
anti-government protests.
June 23: The Supreme Court of

Pakistan suspended the June 12 Sindh
High Court order that allowed
Musharraf to go abroad till it decides
government's appeal against
removing his name from the Exit
Control List.
June 23: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Assembly, through a unanimously
adopted resolution, regretted the ban
placed by other provinces on the entry
of internally displaced persons from
North Waziristan Agency into their
respective regions.
June 22: Over 100 ulema from

various schools of thought declared
Zarb-i-Azb, the military operation
being carried out against terrorists and
militants in North Waziristan Agency,
as jihad.
June 24: A woman passenger was

killed while a steward and another
passenger were injured when a PIA
flight coming from Riyadh came under
fire during landing.
June 23: Key opinion makers from

India and Pakistan, including
parliamentarians, former diplomats,
former military officers, media persons
and policy experts met in Chiang Mai
June 24: Sindh Chief Minister Syed

Qaim Ali Shah announced a Rs50
million financial assistance for the
internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
the wake of the North Waziristan
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military operation.
Investment Board.
June 24: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui

of Islamabad High Court (IHC) declared
illegal the appointment of Mohammad
Malick as managing director (MD) of
Pakistan Television (PTV).
June 25: Standing Committee of

Senate for Interior, presided over by
Senator Talha Mehmood, approved the
amendments to Pakistan protection
Ordinance (PPO).
June 24: The rural towns located

close to the provincial capital
bordering Khyber Agency and Darra
Adamkhel were divided into eight
zones following deployment of army
troops and extra contingents of police
to stop infiltration of militants from the
tribal areas.
June 25: Bahria Town announced a

relief package amounting to Rs5 billion
for the people of North Waziristan
Agency (NWA) displaced as a result of
Operation Zarb-e-Azb.

launched the construction work on
4,320 megawatts Dasu hydroelectric
power project in Kohistan.
June 25: The Central Development
Working Party (CDWP) approved eight
development projects having an
estimated cost of Rs38.5 billion,
including a foreign exchange
component of Rs20.8bn.
June 25: The United States declared
two Lashkar-e-Tayyiba leaders Nazir
Ahmad Chaudhry and Muhammad
Hussein Gill specially designated
global terrorists, an action which
increases pressure on Pakistan to take
punitive action against the group.
June 25: Balochistan's provincial
government appointed Arsalan
Iftikhar, son of former chief justice
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, as vice
chairman of the Balochistan

performed the ground-breaking
ceremony of the 4,320 mega watts
(MW) Dasu Hydro-Power Project at
Dasu.
June 25: An Army Aviation helicopter
crashed at the Multan airport,
resulting in the instant deaths of Major
Yasir and Captain Murtaza.
announced an increase in cash grant
for families displaced from North
Waziristan to Rs40,000 for Ramazan.
June 27: The International Monetary
Fund disbursed $555.9 million to
Pakistan, completing the third review
of the country's economic
performance.
June 27: President Mamnoon Hussain
signed Anti Terrorism Amendment Act
2014 which entitles a police officer of
grade-17 or an officer of equivalent
rank from the armed forces and civil
armed forces or duty magistrate to
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order to shoot.
The act has provided legal standing to
the federal government and civil
armed forces to keep in custody for 90
days those involved in terrorism,
target killing, kidnapping for ransom
and extortion.
June 27: The Sri Lankan government
cancelled the on-arrival visa facility for
Pakistan, citing security reasons.
June 30: The Senate unanimously
approved the Protection of Pakistan
Bill which gives more powers to
security forces combating terrorism in
the country.
June 30: President Mamnoon Hussain
approved the appointment of Justice
Nasirul Mulk as the new Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court.
June 30: Chief Minister Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa allocated additional
portfolio of Energy and Power to
Muhammad Atif, Minister for
Elementary and Secondary Education,
with immediate effect.
July 02: Pakistan's first-ever highest
altitude meteorological climate station
was installed at the K2 Base Camp
the Boltoro in the Karakorum that has
started giving the real time data.
July 03: Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali
of the Supreme Court was sworn in as
acting Chief Election Commissioner
(CEC) by Chief Justice Tassaduq
Hussain Jillani.
July 03: Arsalan Iftikhar, the son of

former chief justice of Supreme Court
Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry,
resigned from the office of Vice
Chairman, Balochistan Board of
Investment.
July 04: The Ministry of Education,
Training and Standards in Higher
Education will be called 'Federal
Education and Professional Training
Division.' With this, the ministry's
name would be changed for the fourth
time in three years.
July 04: Acting Advocate General of
Punjab Mustafa Ramday resigned.
July 05: Chief Justice Tassaduq
Hussain Jillani retired after serving for
over 10 years as a judge including a
rather brief tenure as chief justice of
the Supreme Court.
July 05: The Asian Development Bank
approved a loan of $197 million for the
national highway development project
of Balochistan.
Under the project the two-lane
highways 79km Zhob-Mughalkot
(N50) and 128km Qila Saifullah
Waghum (N70) will be rehabilitated.
July 06: Justice Nasirul Mulk took oath
as 22nd Chief Justice of Pakistan.
President Mamnoon Hussain
administered the oath. Justice Nasirul
Mulk will serve as Chief Justice till 16th
August next year.
July 06: The name of Punjab
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University Department of Library and
Information Sciences was changed to
Department of Information
Management.
This is the crux of are port on

education reforms in Pakistan
recently released by the International
Crisis Group.
July 07: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

government completed the
'rationalisation' of the Information
Department and abolished its publicity
wing by adjusting its 138 officials in
different departments.
July 10: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

announced a Rs15 billion transport
project to be undertaken in Karachi
under the Green Line bus service on
the pattern of the Bus Rapid Transport
System in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
July 08: The Lahore High Court

suspended reinstatement of retired Lt
Gen Arif Hasan as Pakistan Olympic
Association's president and sought
reply from the Pakistan Sports Board
(PSB).
July 10: Former Supreme Court judge

retired Justice Syed Jamshed Ali Shah
took over as interim chairman of the
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
July 08: The commissioning of multipurpose Diamer Bhasha Dam on River

Indus has been postponed by another
about 17 years as this mega project,
having strategic importance, is now
expected to be completed in the year
2037 instead of 2020.
appointed Justice (Retd) Rauf Sheikh
as Chairman Implementation Tribunal
for Newspaper Employees (ITNE).
July 09: The country is facing an
'education crisis' which, if not tackled
now, can become insurmountable.
But, given political will and resources,
a reformed education system can still
produce a tolerant citizenry accepting
religious, ethnic and cultural diversity,
and help Pakistan return to its
moderate roots.
July 10: An anti-corruption court

granted interim pre-arrest bail to
former commerce minister and central
leader of the Pakistan People Party
Makhdoom Amin Fahim.
July 10: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief
Minister Pervaiz Khattak approved
establishment of food streets Namak
Mandi and historic Gor Khatri Park.
July 11: PPP leader and former Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani revealed
that during his government an
understanding had been reached with
the establishment that then president
retired Gen Pervez Musharraf would be
given an honourable exit if he
resigned, instead of going through
impeachment proceedings.
July 11: The Supreme Court
suspended a notification which
replaced Najam Sethi with Justice Syed
Jamshed Ali Shah, a former judge of
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the apex court.
reinstated Mohammad Malick as the
managing director (MD) of Pakistan
Television (PTV) until a final decision
on his appeal against the July 7 verdict
of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
July 11: After much debate in and
outside parliament and strong
opposition by certain political parties
and human rights groups, the
Protection of Pakistan Ordinance-2014
was finally signed into law by
President Mamnoon Hussain.
The new law will remain in force for
two years and provides sweeping
powers to law enforcement agencies
and the military to deal with outlaws
and terrorists.
July 13: Pakistan's urban air
pollution is among the most severe in
the world and it engenders significant
damage to human health and the
economy, according to a newly
released report titled Cleaning
Pakistan's Air.
July 13: Chief Minister Punjab Mian
Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the signalfree Azadi Chowk flyover and an
alternative route of new Circular Road.
The project was completed in a record
period of 165 days at a cost of Rs5.35
billion. The total length of the flyover
interchange is 2.53km and it will
benefit 200,000 vehicles daily.
July 13: The Army announced

replacing Director General Sindh
Rangers Major General Rizwan Akhtar,
who was assigned the task to lead the
Karachi operation on September 05
last with Major General Bilal Akbar.
July 14: A Pakistani television
journalist, Faizullah Khan, was jailed
for four years in Afghanistan for
travelling to the country illegally to
interview the Taliban leaders.
July 15: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)
Chairman Imran Khan called for a
complete audit of results of the
general elections held in May 2013.
awarded 'privilege and honour cards'
to about 200 top taxpayers. The cards
will entitle them to avail some special
services.
July 15: The Islamabad High Court
ordered the suspension of Pervez
Rathore, acting chairman of the
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (Pemra), and Kamaluddin
Tipu, a member of the watchdog.
Appointments
June 17: Athar Minallah, the former
spokesman for former CJ Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhry, the ex-chief
justice of Pakistan, took oath as
additional judge of the Islamabad High
Court (IHC).
With his appointment, the IHC judges'
strength has now risen to four.
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June 17: The Lahore High Court chief

justice appointed Justice Ali Baqar
Najafi as one-man tribunal for holding
a judicial inquiry into the Model Town
incident.
June 17: Justice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmad
took oath as chief justice of the Lahore
High Court. Punjab Governor Chaudhry
Muhammad Sarwar administered the
oath.
June 18: The newly-appointed
Inspector General of Police,
Balochistan, Mohammad Amlesh,
assumed the charge of his office.
June 19: The federal government
appointed special secretary, Law
Division, Justice (R) Muhammad Raza
Khan as the chairman of 8th Wage
Board on the terms and conditions
admissible to a judge of a high court.
June 24: The federal government
appointed renowned legal expert and
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) central leader Chaudhry
Muhammad Ashraf Gujjar Advocate as
member of Pakistan Electronic
Regulatory Authority (Pemra).
June 28: Saifullah Chattha was
appointed chief secretary of
Balochistan. Mr Chattha will replace
Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad who
was transferred to Islamabad and
posted as federal secretary
commutations.
July 01: Mohammad Riaz replaced
Karamat Hussain Niazi as Secretary for

National Assembly. Mr Niazi was due to
retire in 2007 but continued working
on extensions which he was
repeatedly granted by the successive
speakers of the lower house of
parliament.
approved the appointment of Azam
Khan Hoti, the most senior officer of
Information Service, as Information
and Broadcast acting secretary.
July 10: Parliamentary committee
approved four names for the
appointment of Federal Shariat Court
judges. The judges nominated by the
committee are Justice (R) Dr. Fida
Muhammad, Justice (R) Riaz Ahmed,
Justice (R) Najam Hassan and Justice
(R) Zahoor Ahmed Sherwani.
Obituaries
June 19: Muttahida Qaumi Movement
MNA Tahira Asif who was critically
injured in a gun attack died.
June 19: Legendary landscape artist
Khalid Iqbal died. He was 85.
June 19: Unidentified armed men killed
Pashto singer Gul Naz inside her
house.
June 20 A judge of the Environmental
Protection Tribunal, Sakhi Sultan, was
killed in his office in Samungli road
area.
June 22: Former Senator, MNA and
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MPA from Mian Channu, Pir Shujaat
Hasnain Qureshi 71, passed away.
June 27: Prominent Pashto comedian
Murad Ali, popularly known as Gul Bali,
died.
July 13: Shahzada Mohammad Aslam
Khan Ahmedzai, former commander of
Kalat State Force passed away. He was
90.
July 14: The bureaucrat-turned-writer,
Jamil Ahmed, who was the author of
'The Wandering Falcon', passed away
at the age of 81.
Sports
June 21: Pakistan put up a mixed show
in the 5th Asian Men & Women
Throwball Championship 2014 in Kuala
Lumpur when they finished third in the
women`s competition.
Muhammad Ali was awarded Nobel

Peace Prize Certificate for the year
2013. The Nobel Peace Prize for 2013
was awarded to the Organisation for
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW), where Ali served for more
than seven years as inspector and
became the first Pakistani team leader
(chief inspector).
Prof Dr Abdul Rauf Shakoori
On July 10, Pakistan Council for
Science and Technology (PCST)
declared Punjab University School of
Biological Sciences' Prof Dr Abdul Rauf
Shakoori as number one biological
scientist in the country.
Samiullah Khan
On June 22, Former PPP MPA Samiullah
Khan was appointed political assistant
to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz
Sharif.
People in News
Asma Jahangir
Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry
On June 29, UN World Meteorological
Organisation's (WMO) Secretary
General appointed Dr Qamar-uzZaman Chaudhry, an eminent
Pakistani climate change expert, his
special envoy on Disaster Risk
Reduction and Climate Services for
Asia.
Mr Muhammad Ali
On July 01, Pakistan Ordnance
Factories General Manager
On June 25, Asma Jahangir, the former

president of the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), was
nominated to a three-member panel to
advise UN on alleged human rights
violations committed during final
stages of armed conflict in Sri Lanka.
Malala Yousafzai
On June 30, Young Pakistani education
advocate, Malala Yousafzai, won the
2014 Liberty Medal from the National
Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.
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Places in News
Lahore
On June 29, a multi-party conference
was hosted by Pakistan Awami Tehreek
(PAT) came out with a five-point
charter of demands which declared
the ruling party leaders as responsible
for the June 17 Model Town police
action that claimed 10 lives.
Karachi Water and Sewerage Board
On June 29, the Karachi Water and
Sewerage Board sent a bill on account
of provision of water and services
charges for sewerage to the sister of
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
and a great leader of Pakistan
Movement, the late Fatima Jinnah, 47
years after her death.
On June 27, three recipients of the

Victoria Cross, the United Kingdom's
highest military award, from presentday Pakistan were honoured at a
ceremony held in London this week to
commemorate the centenary of the
First World War.
International
June 17: Britain and China signed
trade deals worth more than 14
billion ($28bn), during a visit to
London by Premier Li Keqiang aimed
at resetting economic and diplomatic
ties.
June 17: Iraq's prime minister fired top
security commanders in a major
shake-up as fighting approached
Baghdad in a militant onslaught that
the UN warned risked breaking the
country up.
The bill amounts to Rs. 263,774 and

she has been directed to pay the
amount within 10 days of receipt of
the notice, or the connection of water
and sewerage can be disconnected.
June 17: An Egyptian cabinet led by

Ibrahim Mahlab was sworn in, with
most positions from the previous
military-installed government retained.
Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia Pakistan

(WMAA)
June 18: Former Turkish military chief

Kenan Evren, who came to symbolise
the military's dominance over Turkish
political life, was sentenced to life in
jail for leading a 1980 coup.
On July 10, Wafaqul Madaris Al-Arabia

Pakistan (WMAA) was given a special
award at a function in Jeddah by the
Saudi organisation, Rabita Al-Alam AlIslami for preparing maximum number
of Huffaz (those who learn Quran by
heart) in the world in a year.
London
June 19: Republican Kevin McCarthy

was selected as the new majority
leader in US House of Representatives.
June 22: UN cultural agency Unesco
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granted its prized World Heritage
status to the Grotte Chauvet, a
prehistoric cave in southern France
containing the earliest known
figurative drawings.
Delegates at Unesco's World Heritage
Committee met in Doha, Qatar.
June 23: The removal of Syria's
chemical weapons material was
completed, the Joint Mission of the
Organisation for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons and the United
Nations (OPCW-UN) announced.
June 23: A Sudanese woman Meriam
Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 26, who gave
birth in prison after being sentenced
to hang for apostasy, was freed.
June 23: May 2014 was so hot that it

set a new record for the planet,
marking the warmest May over land
and water since record-keeping began
in 1880.
June 24: A vast wetland in Botswana, a
prehistoric cave in France and an
ancient land formation in the US are
among a host of new sites that have
been added to the Unesco world
heritage list over the last few days,
pushing the total number to 1,007.
The Okavango Delta in Botswana
became the 1,000th site to be in
scribed on the UN cultural agency's
coveted list, which has been active
since 1978 and commands strict rules
for conservation from host nations.
June 23: India announced ratifying an

agreement with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to
expand oversight of its civilian nuclear
programme, in a move aimed at
unblocking a major nuclear
partnership with the United States.
June 24: Philippine President Benigno

Aquino, whose country was brutally
invaded by Japan in World War II,
supported Japanese Premier Shinzo
Abe's plan to expand the scope of his
country's armed forces.
June 23: A Pakistani flag was seen

during the World Cup Group 'H' match
between Russia and Belgium at the
Maracana Stadium.
June 24: Suspected Boko Haram

militants abducted more than 60
women and girls in the latest
kidnappings in northeast Nigeria.
June 23: A Bangladeshi court

sentenced eight Islamist, including
Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami (HuJI) outfit,
Mufti Abdul Hannan, to death for a
2001 bomb attack that killed 10
people and wounded scores more
during the country's main celebrations
for the Bengali New Year.
June 25: Britain became the first

bond, attracting 2.3 billion pound s
($3.9bn), more than 10 times the
amount it was looking to sell.
The government raised 200 million
pounds from the five-year sukuk issue,
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part of an effort to boost London's
position as a centre for Islamic
finance.
June 25: Zhang Zhijun, director of the
Taiwan Affairs Office, China's most
senior official ever to visit Taiwan, met
his counterpart to try to improve
relations after mass protests in Taipei
earlier this year.
June 25: Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel
nominated General John Campbell, an
army officer who commanded troops
in volatile eastern Afghanistan to take
over command of the US-led force in
the country.
June 26: The World Health
Organization called for drastic action
to fight the deadliest Ebola outbreak
on record, as it announced an 11nation meeting to address the growing
crisis.
June 27: Rosneft signed its second
major agreement with BP since
sanctions were imposed on the
Russian oil company's chief executive.
The five-year agreement will supply BP
with up to 12 million tonnes of refined
oil products and involves a prepayment of at least $1.5 billion
arranged by leading global financial
institutions, Rosneft said.
June 27: European Union leaders
picked former Luxembourg Prime
Minister Jean Claude Juncker to
become the bloc's new chief
executive. With the move, the EU
leaders broke a decades-old tradition
of choosing the president of the

European Commission by consensus.
Summit chairman Herman Van
Rompuy said 26 of the bloc's 28
countries voted for Juncker, with only
Britain and Hungary opposing him.
June 27: US special Mideast envoy
Martin Indyk resigned to return to a
Washington think-tank in a move
symbolising the collapse of the latest
American effort to forge an IsraeliPalestinian peace deal.
June 27: Ukraine signed a free-trade
and political cooperation agreement
with the European Union that has been
at the heart of the country's political
crisis.
Georgia and Moldova signed similar
deals, holding out the prospect of
economic integration and unfettered
access to the EU's 500 million citizens.
June 28: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah
sacked the country's deputy defence
minister, Prince Khaled bin Bandar bin
Abdul Aziz.
June 29: Islamist militants fighting in
Iraq and Syria announced the
establishment of a 'caliphate'.
In an audio recording distributed
online, the Islamic State of Iraq and Al
Sham (ISIS) declared its chief Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi the caliph and leader
for Muslims everywhere.
July 01: A watershed free-trade deal
between China and Switzerland, which
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was signed in Beijing July 2013, came
into force, the first such accord
between the Asian giant and a
mainland European economy.
Senior Swiss and Chinese officials
marked the debut of the Free Trade
Agreement (FTA) at a ceremony in the
northern city of Basel, a highly
symbolic location given its historical
status as a hub for commerce along
the River Rhine.
July 01: The European Court of Human
Rights upheld France's controversial
burqa ban, rejecting arguments that
outlawing full-face veils breaches
religious freedom.
July 01: Major General Delali Johnson
Sakyi of Ghana was appointed Chief
Military Observer and Head of Mission
for the United Nations Military
Observers Group in India and Pakistan
by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
July 01: Saudi King Abdullah appointed
Prine Khaled bin Bandar bin Abdul Aziz
as new spy chief.
July 02: NASA launched a satellite
designed to track carbon dioxide, a
leading greenhouse gas that is
responsible for global warming.
July 02: The US Navy promoted a
woman Michelle Howard as vice chief
of naval operations, the number two
job in the service with the rank of a
four-star admiral, for the first time in
its 238-year history, a milestone for
females in the American military.
July 04: Queen Elizabeth was officially

named the biggest warship Britain has
ever built.
July 04: Russia's parliament passed a
bill requiring Internet companies to
store Russians' personal data inside
the country in an apparent move to
pressure sites such as Facebook and
Twitter into handing over user data.
July 05: An Egyptian court sentenced
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed
Badie and 36 other Islamists to life in
prison, and confirmed death sentences
for 10 others, most of them on the
run.
July 06: The Israel military carried out
10 air strikes on Gaza in response to
rocket fire into southern Israel as
hopes faded of a renewed truce with
its Islamist foe Hamas.
July 07: Afghan officials released
preliminary election results showing
former finance minister Ashraf Ghani
Ahmadzai well in the lead for the
presidency but said no winner could
be declared because millions of ballots
were being audited for fraud.
July 07: Britain's finance minister
announced a $428 million deal with
India's military after arriving in the
country to seek stronger t4rade and
investment ties with new Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's government.
July 08: Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe and his Australian
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counterpart Tony Abbott signed an
economic partnership pact as well as
an agreement on military equipment
and technology transfers.
July 08: India asked a United Nations
military observer group on Kashmir to
vacate a government-provided
bungalow in New Delhi, in a
toughening stance against a mission
that Indians have long opposed.
New Delhi considers the whole of
Kashmir as an integral part of the
country and has bristled against
external involvement in the region
including the U.N. Military Observers
Group on India and Pakistan
(UNMOGIP) that was set up in 1949
after their first war.
July 08: Somalia's Islamist Shebab
rebels launched a major bomb attack
and armed assault against the
country's presidential palace,
penetrating the heavily-fortified
complex and fighting a major gun
battle with security guards.
basic German language skills from

those wishing to join their partner in
Germany from outside the European
Union, in an effort to prevent forced
marriage and promote integration.
July 10: India's new government under
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled
its maiden budget, promising a new
era of fiscal discipline, higher growth
and greater opportunities for foreign
investors.
July 11: In its maiden budget, Modi
government surprised many as the
amount equivalent of about $33
million was set aside to help build
world's tallest statue in Gujarat.
July 11: Israeli aerial bombardment of
Gaza claimed its 105th Palestinian life
as Hamas pounded central Israel with
rockets and the United States offered
to help broker a truce.
July 12: World Malala Day 2014 was
celebrated to highlight the leading role
that youth can play in enabling all
children to get an education.
July 10: Bangladesh barred official

marriages between its nationals and
Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya refugees,
whom it claims are attempting to wed
to gain citizenship.
July 12: World's top crude consumer,

the United States, is now the world's
top producer, overtaking Russia and
Saudi Arabia.
July 10: Germany cannot insist the

spouses of Turkish nationals living in
the country speak basic German when
they apply for a family reunification
visa, Europe's highest court ruled.
In the first quarter of 2014, the US

extracted more than 11 million barrels
of crude per day; more than Russia'
daily output of 10.53mbpd and Saudi
Arabia's 9.45mbpd.
Since 2007, Germany has demanded
July 12: Britain barred a Russian
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delegation from attending the
Farnborough air show because of the
Ukraine crisis.
executive committee alongside the

Big Three nations India, Australia
and England.
July 14: Beijing won a key victory in a

trade dispute with Washington, as a
WTO panel said the United States was
wrong to slap punitive duties on a host
of Chinese goods.
July 05: Petra Kvitova produced a

majestic performance to win the
Wimbledon title; ending Eugenie
Bouchard's hopes of becoming the
first Canadian to win a Grand Slam
title.
The battle covered an array of

products including paper, steel, tyres,
magnets, chemicals, kitchen fittings,
flooring and wind turbines.
July 14: The Church of England
overcame bitter divisions to vote in
favour of allowing female bishops for
the first time in its nearly 500-year
history.
Sports
June 17: Indian all-rounder Stuart
Binny grabbed a record six wickets for
just four runs as India thrashed
Bangladesh by 47 runs in a lowscoring second ODI.
June 18: Australia hired leading Test
wicket taker Muttiah Muralitharan as a
spin bowling consultant for their team.
June 28: West Indies Cricket Board
president David Cameron and Pakistan
Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi
were elected at the ICC's annual
conference in Melbourne to the body's
five-member executive committee.
The West Indies and Pakistan will have
representation on the International
Cricket Council's all-powerful
July 06: Novak Djokovic won his

second Wimbledon title and seventh
career major with a victory over Swiss
ace Roger Federer, shattering his
dream of a record eighth triumph in
Wimbledon.
July 09: Brazil's dream of winning the
World Cup on home soil was shattered
when they suffered a humiliating 7-1
loss to ruthless Germany in an
extraordinary semi-final in Belo
Horizonte.
July 12: England's Joe Root and James
Anderson rewrote the record books
with a Test record last-wicket stand of
198 runs in the first test at Trent
Bridge.
The England duo's stand surpassed
the previous tenth-wicket Test record
of 163 shared by Agar and Phil Hughes
at Trent Bridge, in 2013.
July 12: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by
82 runs in the third and final one-day
international. It was Proteas' first-ever
one-day series win on the island.
July 13: Substitute Goetze's stunning
extra-time winner helped Germany
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grab their fourth World Cup crown
after a 1-0 victory over Argentina at
the Maracana Stadium.
Germany's victory ended the 24-year
wait for a World Cup title and made
them the first side from Europe to be
crowned world champions in the
Americas.
July 13: Brazil's miserable World Cup
campaign ended to a chorus of boos
as the hosts slumped to a 3-0 defeat
against the Netherlands in the third
place playoff match.
July 14: Despite having a golden
trophy in his hand, Lionel Messi just
couldn't look up and smile. This was
the Golden Ball the award for the best
players of the World Cup.
James Allison & Tasuku Honjo

On June 19, an American and a
Japanese immunologist James P.
Allison and Tasuku Honjo were named
joint recipients of the Tang Prize,
touted as Asia's version of the Nobels,
for their contributions in the fight
against cancer.
Richard Thaler, Johnson-Sirleaf & Kiran
Mazumdar
On June 22, US economist Richard
Thaler, Liberia's president Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf and Indian
entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
received the 2014 Global Economy
Prize of the Kiel Institute for World
Economy.
Monica Gill
July 14: Colombia's young striker

James Rodriguez claimed the World
Cup's top scorer honours with six
goals.
July 14: Former world number one
Lleyton Hewitt defeated second seed
Ivo Karlovic to win the $474,000 ATP
Hall of Fame Championships.
People in News
King Juan Carlos
On June 18, a tearful King Juan Carlos
sealed his abdication of the Spanish
crown after a four-decade reign,
leaving the throne to his 46-year-old
son, Felipe VI.
On June 23, Miss India USA, Monica

Gill, won this year's Miss India
Worldwide competition, which was
held in Abu Dhabi.
Martti Ahtisaari
On June 25, former Finnish president
and Nobel laureate Martti Ahtisaari
was appointed as an advisor to an
international inquiry into alleged war
crimes in Sri Lanka. He will be one of
three international experts assisting a
team of 12 investigators in their
controversial probe, UN human rights
chief Navi Pillay said.
Jozef Wesolowski
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On June 27, a Roman Catholic Church
tribunal Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith ordered to
defrock Jozef Wesolowski, a Polish
archbishop accused of child sex abuse
in the Dominican Republic.
Ravshan Irmatov
On July 06, Uzbekistan referee
Ravshan Irmatov made football history
when he took charge of a record ninth
World Cup game, the quarter-final
between Netherlands and Costa Rica.
On July 08, British actress Emma

Watson became the new Goodwill
Ambassador for the UN's gender
equality arm, UN Women, the
organization announced. The harry
Potter alumna and recent graduate of
Brown University is the first
ambassador appointed under the
leadership of Phumzile MlamboNgcuka, the Under Secretary-General
and executive director of UN Women.
Places in News
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Amit Shah
On July 09, India's ruling BJP elevated
controversial leader Amit Shah to the
post of its new party president. Mr
Shah is a close aide from Gujrat of
Prime Minister Narendra Modiand is
being tried in the Sohrabuddin fake
encounter killing after spending some
days in jail.
On June 25, the Saudi Arabia

government completed elaborate and
comprehensive arrangements for the
holy Quran recitation at Makkah's
Mosque ahead of Ramazan. The holy
Quran, along with commentary and
translation, is available for download
in most of the world's major
languages, including Sinhalese,
Telugu, Somali and Chinese.
Dr Masuma Hasan
Kashmir
On July 13, Dr Masuma Hasan, former
Cabinet Secretary and Ambassador of
Pakistan, was named Goodwill
Ambassador of the World NGO Day
Initiative, in recognition of her
experience as Chairperson of The
Pakistan Institute of International
Affairs and her commitment to the
cause of women's empowerment as
President of the Board of Governors of
Aurat Foundation.
Emma Watson
On July 04, Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi was greeted by nearempty streets lined by security
personnel on his first official visit to
India-held Kashmir, as local leaders
enforced a strike to demand political
dialogue about the future of the
disputed region.
Schools and shops were shuttered and
normally busy roads were free of
traffic in Srinagar.
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Britain
On July 10, more than one million
public sector workers went on strike in
Britain over pay and spending cuts by
the government imposed as part of its
austerity programme.
The strike, the biggest since Prime
Minister David Cameron's coalition
government took power in 2010,
involves a wide range of workers from
teachers and civil servants to street
sweepers and park attendants.
Obituaries
June 24: Former Venezuelan president
Ramon Jose Velasquez, known for his
role in opposing dictatorship in the
South American country, died. He was
97. He was the last living former
president of Venezuela.
June 24: Felix Dennis, a flamboyant,
boastfully profligate, immensely
successful British businessman who
built a publishing empire that included
Maxim, America's most successful
young men's lifestyle magazine, died.
He was 67.
June 25: Legendary character actor Eli
Wallach died aged 98.
Wallach made a name for himself in
Hollywood with a string of villainous
and gritty roles in classics such as The
Magnificent Seven, The Good, the Bad
and the Ugly and The Godfather: Part
III.
June 28: Legendary US soul artist

Bobby Womack, who influenced and
wrote for generations of musicians,
died aged 70.
June 30: Allen Grossman, an awardwinning poet, whose work bridged the
Romantic and Modernist traditions,
claiming nobility and power for poetry
as a tool for both engaging the world
and burrowing into the self, died in
Chelsea, Mass. He was 82.
July 07: Eduard Shevardnadze, who
helped end the Cold War as the Soviet
Union's last foreign minister before
becoming president of Georgia, died at
the age of 86.
July 08: Real Madrid legend Alfredo di
Stefano, considered of the greatest
footballers ever, died aged 88. The
striker known as the Blonde Arrow is
ranked alongside Pele, Maradona and
Johan Cruyff.
July 10: India's acting legend Zohra
Sehgal passed away at 102.
July 12: Bassist Charlie Haden, who
helped change the shape of jazz more
than a half-century ago as a member
of Ornette Coleman's groundbreaking
quartet and liberated the bass from its
traditional rhythm section role, died.
He was 76.
July 14: South African Nobel Prizewinning author Nadine Gordimer, an
unwavering moralist who became one
of the most powerful voices against
the injustice of apartheid, died at the
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age of 90.
accused of rape and child abduction.
Gordimer was awarded the Nobel Prize

for Literature in 1991.
Reports said Pakistan's government

partially lifted immunity in one case so
the diplomat could be interviewed by
police; there is no legal obligation to
comply with the British request.
World in Focus (July-Aug 2014)

MCQs
Business
National
July 16: Security forces and the
Bajaur political administration agreed
to postpone a planned military
operation in border areas of Mamond
tehsil in Bajaur after tribal elders
announced formation of a grand
quami lashkar (militia) to combat
militants.
July 16: The Jamaat-i-Islami
challenged the newly-passed
Protection of Pakistan Act (PPA) 2014
as 'ultra vires' before the Supreme
Court.
July 16: The National Assembly's
Standing Committee on Law and
Justice rejected, with a 4-1 vote, a bill
seeking status of national language for
regional languages. The bill was
moved by PML-N lawmaker Marvi
Memon.
July 16: The Foreign and
Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the
United Kingdom claimed that
representatives from Pakistan were
July 17: Two suspected terrorists and

an official of an intelligence agency
were killed during an operation near
Raiwind Road to capture some
suspects.
The incident took place a couple of
kilometres from the Jati Umra
residence of Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif.
July 17: Retired Maj Shabbir Ahmed
assumed charge as head of the
National Accountability Bureau, Sindh.
He had held the same post form May
2011 to July 2012.
July 17: Pakistan lost the chance of
holding the Islamic Development
Bank's top post of executive director
for a full three-year term and will now
share its tenure with three other
countries: Afghanistan, the Maldives
and Bangladesh.
Pakistan has the majority votes among
the constituency members. It has
2.51% votes followed by Bangladesh's
1.06%, Afghanistan's 0.10% and the
Maldives 0.09%.
July 18: An election tribunal headed
by Chaudhry Abdul Hafiz, a retired
district and sessions judge,
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disqualified PML-N MNA Sultan
Mahmood Hinjra in NA-176
(Muzaffargarh).
July 18: The TAPI countries
Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan
and India signed the operational
agreement for laying down the transborder 1,735-kilometre-long pipeline,
starting from the Yolotan-Osman gas
field in Turkmenistan and ending in
India after passing through
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
July 18: A steering committee of the
Higher Education Commission for
support of IDPs from North Waziristan
announced free education along with
Rs5,000 monthly stipends to the
displaced students in all the major
public sector and some private
universities of the province.
July 21: A fact finding mission of the
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
concluded that the Rangers-led
Karachi operation launched in
September last year had failed to
achieve its targets.
reinstated Hajj Policy 2014, declaring
the decision of Lahore High Court
(LHC) against the allocation of a quota
of 15,000 pilgrims to Hajj group
organisers as null and void.
July 21: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
government launched Rs. 1 billion
Islamic Micro Finance Scheme to
provide loans to around 170,000
people for medium and small
businesses.
The scheme will be implemented
through the sole public-sector bank
operating in the province, Bank of
Khyber.
July 22: Provincial Minister for Higher
Education Mushtaq Ghani replaced
Shah Farman as minister for
information of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
government.
July 22: Islamabad High Court Chief
Justice Muhammad Anwar Khan Kasi
set aside the prime minister's order of
turning down minister's order of
turning down recommendations of the
Central Selection Board (CSB).
July 23: Senior lawyer Syed Mubarak
Raza Kazmi, son-in-law of well-known
zakir Allama Talib Johari, was shot
dead.
July 23: The single-engine plane of
Haris Suleman, who was attempting a
world record of travelling around the
world in 30 days to raise money for
the education of underprivileged
children in Pakistan, crashed in the sea
on his way from Hawaii to California.
July 23: Pakistan International Airlines
(PIA), the countrys national flag
carrier, is currently operating with just
19 airworthy planes out of a total fleet
of 34 and needs new aircraft to
survive, PIA chairman Muhammad Ali
Gardezi told the Senate Standing
Committee on Rules, Procedures and
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Privileges.
July 24: Former chief justice Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhry served a Rs20
billion defamation notice on Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan.
July 24: Pakistan is ranked at 146
the same spot as in the previous year
among the 187 countries in UN's
2013 Human Development Index
(HDI)'s annual rankings. The HDI forms
part of the Human Development
Report (HDR) 2014, a flagship study
produced annually by the United
Nations Development Programme
(UNDP).
July 25: Punjab University's
Department of Zoology and Institute of
Mountain Hazard and Environment
(IMHE) signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with Chinese
Academy of Sciences (CAS).
July 25: The Peshawar High Court
(PHC) restored the services of social
mobilisers of Population Welfare
Department across the province after
suspending the provincial
government's notification.
July 25: Britain restored an
agreement with Pakistan that provides
for the transfer of convicted criminals.
The agreement was declared null and
void by Britain following the release of
three dangerous prisoners from jails
after they were brought to Pakistan
during the previous government.
July 28: The Supreme Court observed
that litigation between two former

chairmen of the Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) Najam Sethi and Muhammad
Zaka Ashraf had caused immense
harm to the board and the game of
cricket at the domestic and
international level.
July 28: The European Union (EU)
stopped Pakistan International Airlines
from bringing cargo to the member
states owing to security concerns.
July 28: The first ever title of 'Master
Chef Pakistan', based on British TV
show was won by Ammara Noman, an
amateur cook. 'Master Chef,' a cooking
reality show originating from Britain
went global with national versions
including Master Chef US, Master Chef
Australia, Master Chef India, and now
Master Chef Pakistan, etc.
July 31: At least 23 picnickers
drowned in rough seas off Karachi
during the Eid holiday, with the
authorities blaming people for ignoring
a warning against swimming during
the monsoon season.
July 31: Defence Secretary retired Lt
Gen Asif Yasin Malik retired on
completion of his contract.
July 31: The government appointed
Habibur Rehman Khan as head of the
Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF).
Aug 01: A 19-member task force, with
Sherry Rehman, senior Pakistan
Peoples Party leader and former
ambassador to the United States, as
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its convener and MPAs and
educationists as members was formed
to accelerate progress of education
reforms being implemented in Sindh.
Aug 01: US Special Representative for
Afghanistan and Pakistan Daniel
Feldman, currently visiting Kabul,
assumed the charge of office, after his
predecessor Ambassador James
Dobbins concluded his tenure on July
31.
Aug 04: The National Assembly called
for an emergency session of the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) to take effective action against
the Israeli invasion of Gaza after the
government managed to skip an
opposition sought debate on its
controversial move to call in troops in
Islamabad without any judicial
oversight.
Aug 04: Faqir Jamshed Ahmad Gesu
Daraz, leader of the Pakistan Seraiki
Party (PSP), and his companion were
killed in a bomb blast in Kulachi.
Aug 04: The government appointed
retired Lt Gen Mohammad Alam
Khattak as the defence secretary.
Aug 04: The Supreme Court denied
retired Justice Iftikhar Muhammad
Chaudhry access to the official record
of a contempt case which he as chief
justice had initiated against PTI chief
Imran Khan.
Aug 04: New reserves of gas and
condensate were found in Sindh's
Sanghar district.
The PPL, operator of Block 2568-18
(Gambat South) in Sanghar district
with 65 per cent working interest, said
its exploration well Sharf X-1 had
found the new reserves.
Aug 04: Minister of State for
Education and Interior Baleeghur
Rehman disclosed the government is
introducing ethics as a new subject
in public-sector universities across the
country.
Aug 04: Military operation Zarb-eAzab is progressing well as towns of
Miramshah, Mirali, Boya, Degan and
area till Dattakhel have been cleared
of Taliban militants, said Inter-Services
Public Relations (ISPR).
Aug 04: Punjab Ombudsman Javed
Mahmood ordered Chairman Board of
Intermediate and Secondary Education
Sahiwal to give four marks in Urdu
Paper-A to all the students appeared in
the Intermediate part-I examination
2013 as these marks could not be
given due to technical of BISE Sahiwal.
Aug 05: Justice Shah Khawar of the

Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi
bench restrained the metro bus
project management from demolishing
two building at Rehmanabad by
issuing a status quo order.
Aug 05: Speaking at a media
roundtable at the Pentagon, the new
commander of the US and Nato forces
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in Afghanistan and US Army's Vice
Chief of Staff General John F. Campbell
said that Pakistani military offensive in
North Waziristan is a step in the right
direction and there's need for
continuing such actions.
Aug 06: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
approved the appointment of Dr
Nadeem Javed as Pakistan's chief
economist.
Dr Nadeem Javed holds a Ph.D. in
Economics from France and has an
extensive experience in economic and
finance sector.
Aug 07: Air Marshal Sohail Gul Khan
was appointed Vice Chief of the Air
Staff. Air Marshal Khan was
commissioned in the Pakistan Air Force
in 1979 in the GD (P) branch.
Aug 07: The election tribunal
declared the election of a Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf candidate to a
provincial assembly seat void for
obtaining illegal assistance of a
presiding officer in the constituency.
The runner-up, a Jamaat-i-Islami
candidate, was declared to have won
the PS-93 seat.
Aug 08: Pakistan handed over
Satyasheel Yadav, an Indian Border
Security Force soldier who had
mistakenly entered Pakistani territory,
to BSF officials as a goodwill gesture.
Aug 08: Minister for Information
Technology and Telecommunications
Anusha Rehman informed the National

Assembly that $1.2 billion earned from
the sale of 3G and 4G licences were
deposited in the exchequer.
Aug 08: Brigadier Shahid Nazir took
over as Military Secretary to President
Mamnoon Hussain.
Aug 08: A Pakistani Officer Cadet
Shaheeer Ullah Khan won distinction
at the Royal Military Academy,
Sandhurst by gaining three awards on
the basis of his outstanding
performance over a year.
He was presented with three awards
by General Sir Peter Wall, Chief of the
General Staff, at the Royal Military
Academy Sandhurst's annual 'The
Sovereign's Parade'.
Aug 09: Dawn newspaper appointed
Mr Muhammad Ali Siddiqi as the
newspaper's first internal ombudsman
to be called Dawn Readers' Editor
(DRE).
Aug 11: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)
Chairman Imran Khan named the
former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhry, former
caretaker chief minister Najam Sethi,
retired senior judge of the Supreme
Court, Khalilur Rehman Ramday, and
three senior serving officials of the
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
as having played a role in the rigging.
Aug 11: Making history, the National
Assembly put the governments top
audit official, Auditor General of
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Pakistan (AGP), in the dock, charging
him with misconduct for having
received more than Rs4.6 million in
what it called excess salary and
privileges in about three years and
demanding his removal through a
presidential reference to the Supreme
Judicial Council.
Aug 11: The Election Tribunal in
Karachi declared the election of
Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, a member of
the national assembly, void and held
that the winning candidate was not
sagacious, righteous, non-profligate,
honest and Ameen.
The runner-up, a candidate of the
Pakistan Peoples Party, was declared
to have won the NA-211, a National
Assembly seat in Naushahro Feroze.
Aug 11: Maulana Fazlur Rehman was
elected unopposed chief of the Jamiat
Ulema-i-Islam for the fourth three-year
term.
Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri
retained the post of general secretary.
Aug 11: The Supreme Court restored
Pervez Rathore as acting chairman
and Kamaluddin Tipu as member of
the Pakistan Electronic Media
Regulatory Authority (Pemra).
Aug 11: Minister for Planning,
Development and Reforms Ahsan Iqbal
announced various projects, including
a Rs10 billion Endowment Fund, for
promotion of education in the country.
Aug 11: Pakistan Vision 2025,
unveiled by Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif, gave 10-point agenda for
adding 25,000 megawatt electricity
into national grid till 2025 in order to
overcome lingering crisis in the
country.
requested the Supreme Court to
announce a commission to investigate
PTIs allegations about the rigging in
the May 2013 general elections in a
bid to resolve the prevailing political
crisis.
Aug 12: The Punjab police rounded
up dozens of office-bearers and
activists of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf in
several districts of the province during
a crackdown.
Aug 12: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek
(PAT) reached a four-point accord
under which they will jointly hold the
planned Aug 14 march.
Aug 12: Chief Minister Shahbaz
Sharif inaugurated Qainchi signal-free
junction project.
The scheme, completed within 170
days at the busiest point of Ferozepur
Road, will benefit more than 200,000
vehicles daily, saving fuel worth Rs 2
billion annually.
Aug 12: Minister of State for
Information and Technology, Anusha
Rehman and State Minister for
National Health Services Regulation
and Coordination, Saira Afzal Tarar
inaugurated the operation of Azadi
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Train at Margalla Station, Islamabad.
Aug 14: Interior Minister Chaudhry
Nisar Ali Khan finally announced the
government's decision to allow, in
principle, both the Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Awami
Tehreek (PAT) to march on the capital.
Aug 14: Pakistan Navy took over the
command of the multinational naval
counter-terrorism coalition force from
the UK Royal Navy.
The change of command of Combined
Task Force150 took place at the United
States Naval Forces Central Command
Headquarters in Bahrain and
Commodore Sajid Mahmood took over
command of CTF-150 from
Commodore Jeremy Blunden of the
Royal Navy.
Aug 14: On the 68th Independence
Day of Pakistan, the Capital
Development Authority (CDA) raised
highest flag-pole of South Asia in
Islamabad.
The National Flag measuring 60ft x
40ft at height of 215 feet is fluttering
between Islamabad Highway and
sector H-8.
Aug 15: Moving quickly to pre-empt
any possible military action against
the democratically elected
government, a four-judge bench of the
Supreme Court, headed by Chief
Justice Nasir-ul-Mulk and consisting of
Justice Jawwad S. Khawaja, Justice Asif
Saeed Khan Khosa and Justice Mushir
Alam, ordered state functionaries to
act in accordance with the principles
laid down in the case of the Sindh High

Court Bar Association, otherwise
known as July 31, 2009 verdict.
Aug 15: The Sindh High Court
declined a request of the Election
Commission of Pakistan to appoint
judicial officers as district returning
officers, returning officers and
assistant returning officers for byelections on two provincial assembly
seats.
Aug 15: The National Refinery
Limited awarded around $242.135
million of contract of installing its
different plants to a Chinese company.
Trade & Economy
July 16: The government decided to
establish dry ports at Torkham,
Chaman and Wagha border points to
facilitate trade with neighbouring
countries.
The project will be completed in 36
months, which will make Pakistan third
country in South Asia after Bangladesh
and India having dedicated land ports
for handling goods and passenger
traffics at borders.
The establishment of land ports was
part of the Strategic Trade Policy
Framework (2012-15) announced in
December 2012.
July 17: The booming Karachi stock
market saw the KSE-100 index cross
the coveted 30,000 points mark the
highest ever in the bourse's history.
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July 18: The Executive Committee of

the National Economic Council (Ecnec)
formally approved two major projects
the Gadani Power Park infrastructure
development project and Rs25.5
billion for the first phase of the Greater
Karachi Water Supply Scheme.
July 19: The State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP) left its key policy rate
unchanged at 10 per cent for the
fourth consecutive time.
The rupee has remained stable in
recent months as the country has
rebuilt its foreign exchange reserves
following the successful sale of the
$2billion Eurobond, auction of 3G and
4G spectrum licences, and injection of
cash from bilateral and multilateral
lenders.
July 22: The federal government
approved a proposal to float two
special economic zones in Sindh,
which will provide guarantees to
investors under the Special Economic
Zones Act of 2012 because under the
said law, any incentives extended to
investors cannot be withdrawn without
an act of parliament.
July 24: Planning and Development
Secretary Hassan Nawaz Tarar blamed
Pakistan's failure to meet the
Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) on low savings and financial
crisis.
Pakistan's savings were only at 13.2
per cent, almost 50 per cent less than
its neighbours such as Bangladesh, Sri

Lanka, India and Indonesia. Mr Tarar
said that the national savings of
Bangladesh are currently at 29 per
cent.
July 24: Bestway Cement Limited
(LPCL) sealed the deal for buyout of
75.86 per cent shares in Lafarge
Pakistan Cement Limited for purchase
consideration of $218 million.
Aug 11: The stock market suffered its
largest ever-one-day drop in share
prices with the KSE-100 index
witnessing a free fall of 1,309.09
points, or 4.46 per cent.
The index has lost 2,243 points, or
7.56pc, in just six trading sessions,
which started the previous week,
wiping out Rs486bn from the market
capitalisation.
Transfers and Postings
July 20: The Punjab government
appointed Hanif Khatana as the new
advocate general. Khatana has
previously served as the additional
advocate general.
July 26: Provincial Governor
Mohammad Khan Achakzai
administered the oath of acting Chief
Justice of Balochistan High Court to
Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mengal.
Aug 08: President Mamnoon Hussain,
on the advice of the prime minister,
Rizwan-ul-Haq Mehmood, a retired BS-
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22 officer of the Foreign Service of
Pakistan, as member Federal Public
Service Commission.
Aug 09: Former judge of the Lahore
High Court and Federal Shariat Court
Sheikh Farooq Ahmed was appointed
as chairman of Federal Service
Tribunal for a period of three years.
Aug 12: Punjab government
appointed Dr Nasir Javed as Special
Secretary Health, Punjab.
(WKL) from August 9.

Aug 06: Misbah-ul-Haq became the
first Pakistani and 21st player overall
to lead in Test match after 40th
birthday. He was 40 years and 70 days
old on the opening day of the first Test
match against Sri Lanka at Galle
International Stadium.
Aug 07: Top seed Muhammad Abid
(ZTBL) clinched men's singles title of
the National Ranking Tennis
Championship.
Sports
July 23: The Punjab Rugby Association
(PRA) elected Rizwan Malik and
Salman Majeed as president and
secretary of the association
respectively.
July 28: Former Pakistan captain
Salim Malik, who was banned for life
for match fixing in 2000, will have
money from frozen pension funds
released to him by the Pakistan Cricket
Board.
Aug 02: Pakistan boxer Mohammad
Waseem hit back at the judges after
losing the final of the flyweight
category to Australian Andrew
Moloney at the Commonwealth Games
in Glasgow.
Waseem lost by a unanimous decision
with the judges scoring for Moloney in
all three rounds.
Aug 06: The Pakistan and Indian
Punjab sports authorities collaborated
to launch the World Kabaddi League
Aug 11: Pakistan off-spinner Saeed

Ajmal, the world's top-ranked bowler
in one-day cricket, was reported for a
suspect action, the second such
incident in his career.
Aug 12: Former Pakistan Test legspinner Danish Kaneria lost his final
legal challenge in an English court
against a life ban imposed by the
England and Wales Cricket Board
(ECB) for spot-fixing while playing for
county side Essex.
Judge Stanley Burton, sitting in
Englands Court of Appeal, said an
application by Kaneria to appeal
against a life ban imposed by the ECB
in June 2012, was totally without
merit.
Obituaries
July 22: Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz MPA Khurram Gulfam passed
away at the Services Hospital.
July 24: Comedian Mahmood Khan,
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who entertained people for more than
three decades, breathed his last. He
was 54.
July 26: Majid Nizami, a veteran
journalist and editor-in-chief of the
Nawai Waqt Group, died. He was 86.
July 28: Shahid Sajjad, a distinguished
artist and the country's premier
sculptor, passed away. He was 77.
princely state of Swat in the West

Pakistan Assembly from 1956 to 1958.
During the martial law of Ayub Khan,
he was nominated to National
Assembly in 1962.
Aug 03: Begum Dr Ashraf Abbasi,
former deputy speaker of the National
Assembly and a close aide to PPP
founder leader Z.A. Bhutto and Benazir
Bhutto, died. She was 91.
July 28: Ashraf Liaquat Ali Khan, the

elder son of slain PM Liaquat Ali Khan
and former Sindh governor Begum
Ra'ana Liaquat, died. He was 77.
He was born in Simla, India, on
October 3, 1937.
Aug 08: Anita Ghulam Ali, one of the

country's most famous teachers who
served twice as education minister of
Sindh. She was 76.
Aug 01: Retired Brigadier Niaz

Ahmed, who played a very active role
in negotiations between General
Pervez Musharraf and Nawaz Sharif
while the latter was in exile, died at
the age of 80.
Islamabad
Aug 03: Veteran politician and the

last crown prince of the princely state
of Swat, Miangul Aurangzeb passed
away in Islamabad. He was 86.
Miangul Aurangzeb, who served as
governor of NWFP (now Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa) in 1999 and governor of
Balochistan from 1997 to 1999, was
born on May 28, 1928 in Saidu Sharif.
His father Miangul Abdul Haq Jahanzeb
was the last ruler (Wali) of the princely
Swat state. Miangul Aurangzeb joined
army in 1948 and served as aide-decamp (ADC) to the then president
Ayub Khan.
Miangul Aurangzeb represented the
Place in News
On July 21, Speakers at a

consultative seminar on 'Climate Risks
and its Impacts on Markets and
Growth: The Case of Pakistan', called
for an immediate induction of social
protection to help the country sustain
and transit towards more eco-friendly
approaches as Pakistan is ranked as
the eight most vulnerable country in
the world to climate change.
The seminar was organised at
Islamabad by Sustainable
Development Policy Institute (SDPI) as
a first test run to share reports on
climate risks and climate markets and
identifying multiple vulnerabilities to
climate change within Pakistan.
Lahore
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On Aug 07, the Pakistan Model
United Nations (PKMUN) 2014
concluded at Lahore after a day of
committee sessions. During the
sessions, the conference committees
passed their final resolutions on the
crises being addressed as delegates
reached consensus on diverse topics,
including the Iraq Crisis, Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Women's Rights
and the US in Afghanistan.
People in News
Aamir Bhatti
On July 17, Aamir Bhatti, a young
Pakistani seminarian preparing to
become a Catholic priest in Rome for
the past three years, was selected in
the Vatican cricket team.
Lord Tariq Ahmad
On July 18, Lord Tariq Ahmad of
Wimbledon was promoted to
Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State at UK's Department for
Communities and Local Government.
On July 26, Samina Baig became the

first Pakistani woman to climb all
seven highest peaks in the seven
continents in just under eight months
when she stood at the top of Mt
Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia,
with her brother, holding the Pakistani
flag high.
Deepak Perwani
On July 28, Deepak Perwani, who
recently received accolades from the
European Fashion Council, earned 6th
place in the Eirene Awards's list of top
ten designers of the world.
International
July 16: A Swedish court upheld its
detention order on Julian Assange,
reaffirming the legal basis for an
international warrant for the WikiLeaks
founder which has kept him hiding in
the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for
two years.
July 16: Syrian President Bashar alAssad was sworn-in for a new term.
Tehmina Durrani
On July 24, the French ambassador in
Pakistan gave an award to Tehmina
Durrani for her writings on social and
women development. France
announced the award for Tehmina as
she has been working actively to
highlight the issues concerning
women.
Samina Baig
July 16: A court in the Netherlands

ruled that the Dutch state was liable
for the deaths of over 300 Bosnian
Muslim men and boys in the
Srebrenica massacre, the worst
atrocity on European soil since World
War II.
Families of the victims had brought a
case to the Dutch government over
the 1995 killings, accusing Dutch UN
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peacekeepers of failing to protect the
8,000 slaughtered by ethnic Serb
troops just a few months before the
end of the Bosnian war.
July 17: A Malaysian airliner carrying
295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala
Lumpur crashed in rebel-held east
Ukraine.
Ukraine's government and pro-Russian
insurgents traded blame for the
disaster.
July 17: The World Punjabi Congress
nominated new office-bearers for its
Indian chapter. The new leaders are:
Prof Deepak Manmohan Singh
(director Punjabi Centre, Punjabi
University, Patiala), president; Dr
Vaneeta (Sahitya Award Winner, New
Delhi), vice-president; Prof Ravail
Singh (University of Delhi), general
secretary; Gurbhajan Gill (eminent
writer), secretary; and Veer Davinder
Singh Hakam Wala, in charge Press
and Publicity.
July 17: Sri Lanka appointed a highpowered three member panel of
international experts to advise the
post-war commission appointed last
year to investigate the complaints of
missing persons in Sri Lanka. The
mandate of the commission was
expanded to include an inquiry into
the war crimes allegedly committed by
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
July 17: A crater was discovered in
Russia's Siberia region. Russian
scientists believe the 60-metre-wide
crater could be the result of changing

temperatures in the region. 80 per
cent of the crater appeared to be
made up of ice and that there were no
traces of an explosion, eliminating the
possibility that a meteorite had struck
the area.
July 17: Conservative Member of the
European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad
Karim was re-appointed as chairman
of the European Parliament's powerful
Code of Conduct President Advisory
Committee.
July 17: The world is getting warmer,
as greenhouse gases reach historic
highs and Arctic sea ice melts, making
2013 one of the hottest years on
record, said the annual State of the
Climate report 2013. It is a review of
scientific data and weather events
over the past year, compiled by 425
scientists from 57 countries.
July 17: Thailand's military
government gave permission for
former Prime Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra to travel overseas for the
first time since it overthrew her
government in May.
July 17: The United States began a
joint naval exercise with South Korea
as the South Korean president, Park
Geun-hye, urged her forces to
retaliate with a strong initial
countermeasure if North Korea
provoked the country militarily.
July 17: Kyushu Electric Power
Company's Sendai plant, a nuclear
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plant in Japan, cleared an initial safety
hurdle that could make it the first
nuclear facility to restart under new
safety regulations designed after the
2011 Fukushima disaster.
July 17: The Australian government
repeated laws requiring large
companies to pay for carbon
emissions, fulfilling a key election
promise of Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The Senate voted 39 to 32 to repeal

the so-called carbon tax, after Mr
Abbott's conservative government
secured the support of several
independent senators.
July 18: Israel intensified its land
offensive in Gaza with artil1ery, tanks
and gunboats and warned it could
significantly widen an operation.
July 18: The Colombo High Court
sentenced, Sampath Chandrapushpa
Vidana Pathirana, a politician
belonging to Sri Lanka's ruling party to
20 years rigorous imprisonment on
charge of murdering a British Muslim
tourist.
July 18: US President Barack Obama
announced to have seen evidence to
suggest that Russianbacked
separatists fired the surface-to-air
missile, which brought down a
Malaysian airliner in Ukraine.
July 18: An Italian appeals court
acquitted former Premier Silvio
Berlusconi in a sex-for-hire case,
reversing a lower court conviction that

had carried a seven-year prison
sentence and a lifetime ban on holding
political office.
July 18: People around the world
celebrated Mandela Day for the first
time since the iconic South African
leader's death by doing good deed on
what would have been his 96th
birthday.
July 18: Some of the world's top AIDS
experts, bound for an international
conference in Melbourne, Australia,
were among those killed in Malaysian
Airlines MH17 crash.
July 19: Iran and six world powers
failed to meet their target date for
cutting a nuclear deal but agreed to
extend the talks until Nov 24 in a bid
to overcome stubborn differences over
the size and capacity of activities by
Tehran that could be used to make
nuclear arms.
July 19: The UN team tasked with
investigating allegations of human
rights violations and war crimes
against the Sri Lankan government
and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE), will hold hearings in New
York, Geneva and Bangkok.
July 19: Israel's operation against
Hamas saw one of its bloodiest days,
with 46 Palestinians killed in Gaza and
two Israeli soldiers dying in a clash
with militants who infiltrated the
Jewish state.
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July 21: China agreed to provide
Venezuela with a new $4 billion credit
line, with the money to be repaid by
oil shipments from OPEC member
Venezuela. The deal was inked during
a 24-hour visit to Venezuela by
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is on
a tour of Latin America.
The money will go into the Joint
Chinese-Venezuela Fund, which
focuses on infrastructure and
economic development in the South
American country.
July 21: Georgian Prime Minister
Irakly Garibashvili fired five ministers
and moved two to other ministerial
positions in the first cabinet reshuffle
since coming to power two years ago.
July 21: June 2014 was the hottest
June since record-keeping began in
1880, according to a monthly report
out by US government climate
scientists.
July 22: A scandal involving expired
meat sold by a China unit of US food
supplier OSI Group spread to Japan, as
McDonald's confirmed that the now
shut factory provided Chicken
McNuggets to its restaurants.
Shanghai authorities shut an OSI plant
a supplier to McDonald's and KFC in
China for mixing out-of-date meat with
fresh product, re-labelling expired
goods and other quality problems.
July 22: Turkish authorities arrested
scores of senior police officers on
suspicion of illegally eavesdropping on

top officials, including Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
July 22: The reform-minded governor
of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, was declared
the winner of Indonesia's presidential
election. He will now lead the world's
third-biggest democracy.
July 22: EU foreign ministers agreed
to speed up wider sanctions against
Russia and to examine tougher
measures after the downing of
Malaysian Airlines flight MH17
allegedly by pro-Moscow rebels.
At a meeting in Brussels, the EU
foreign ministers for the first time
raised the possibility of restricting
Russian access to European capital
markets, defence and energy
technology, asking the executive
European Commission to draft
proposals.
July 22: British Prime Minister David
Cameron called for a worldwide ban on
female genital mutilation (FGM) and
child marriage as he launched the first
UN-backed Girl Summit on issues
that affect millions around the globe.
Mr Cameron announced that parents
in Britain would face prosecution for
failing to prevent their daughters from
being subjected to FGM.
July 22: A US federal appeals court
ruled that the federal government may
not subsidize health insurance plans
for people in 36 states that decided
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not to set up their own marketplaces
under the law.
July 23: The United Nations launched
an international inquiry into human
rights violations and crimes that may
have been committed by Israel during
its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The UN Human Rights Council
condemned the Israeli assault which
involved disproportionate and
indiscriminate attacks, including aerial
bombing of civilian areas, collective
punishment, and the killing of more
than 650 Palestinians.
July 23: The Israelis admitted for the
first time that Hamas has now
hardened into a formidable foe.
July 23: A Somali lawmaker and
prominent singer-songwriter, Saado Ali
Warsame, was shot dead in the capital
Mogadishu by Shebab insurgents.
July 23: The Saudi cabinet decided to
allow women to contest and vote in
the municipal elections to be held next
year in a major step taken against the
background of existing political and
social norms.
July 23: Animal feed manufacturer
Dodson and Horrell launched an
investigation after Queen Elizabeth's
racehorse Estimate tested positive for
the banned substance morphine.
Buckingham Palace said that Estimate,
winner of 2013's Ascot Gold Cup and
runner-up this year, was one of the
five horses to have tested positive for

morphine, allowed in training as a pain
killer or sedative but banned on race
days.
July 24: Kurdish politician Fuad
Masum was named Iraq's new
president.
Massoum, 76, one of the founders of
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party
led by the previous president, Jalal
Talabani, accepted the position after
winning two-thirds of the votes.
July 24: China's food regulator visited
close to 600 restaurants, businesses
and food distributors as it investigates
a fast spreading food safety scare that
has dragged in a number of global
brands and hit food outlets as far
away as Japan.
July 24: The United States, India and
Japan are set to kick off week-long war
games in the Pacific, beefing up naval
ties as they warily eye an increasingly
assertive China and its military
buildup.
Known as the Malabar Exercise, the
annual event usually involves India
and the US, but Japan's Maritime SelfDefence Force (MSDF) will take part
this year, the third time since 2007.
July 24: Ukrainian Prime Minister
Arseniy Yatsenyuk announced his
resignation, opening the way for new
elections that would reflect the
country's starkly changed political
scene after the ouster of pro-Russian
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President Viktor Yanukovych in
February.
July 24: Far-right hawk Reuven Rivlin
was sworn in as Israel's 10th president
at a formal ceremony in parliament
which saw elder statesman Shimon
Peres stepping down.
July 24: Save the Children, an
international non-governmental
organisation, expressed deep concern
over the killings of children in Gaza in
the ongoing war.
In a statement issued, it said children
were bearing the brunt of the ongoing
conflict. One in five people being killed
are children and the number has
increased by over 40 per cent since
the ground offensive into Gaza began
on July 17.
July 24: An Air Algerie flight crashed
en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina
Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on
board.
July 24: The new jihadist rulers of
Iraq's northern city of Mosul
completely levelled the shrine of
Hazrat Yunus (PBUH).
July 24: The United Nations sent its
first humanitarian aid convoy into
rebel-held areas of Syria without
government consent as UN chief Ban
Ki-moon accused warring parties of
denying assistance to millions of
people in need as a tactic of war.
July 25: Kyrgyzstan's exiled former
president Kurmanbek Bakiyev was

sentenced in absentia to life in prison
and his assets confiscated for trying to
put down anti-government protests in
2010.
July 25: An American peace
ambassador, Ron McGerity, a 60year-old who had travelled 120,000
kilometres (75,000 miles) over the
past 15 years on his bike visiting 61
countries with a message of peace,
was run over and killed by a Russian
drunk driver in a hit-and-run accident.
July 26: Norway closed part of the
airspace over its second city Bergen
and tightened border checks, two days
after the country upped security
following a terror alert.
July 26: Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe struck a series of energy
deals with Mexican President Enrique
Pena Nieto at the start of a fivecountry Latin American tour.
July 26: Terrorists from the Islamic
State group that controls large parts of
Iraq have blown up a revered religious
shrine of Prophet Shees (AS) in Mosul.
July 27: The wife of Cameroon's vice
prime minister was kidnapped and at
least three people were killed in an
attack by Boko Haram militants in the
northern town of Kolofata.
July 28: World Hepatitis Day was
observed under the theme of Think
Again to raise awareness about the
disease and to consider viral hepatitis
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a silent killer. This was the 7th annual
World Hepatitis Day.
July 31: Jume Tahir, the governmentappointed imam of China's 600-yearold, and the largest mosque, Id Kah
mosque in the city of Kashgar, was
killed.
July 31: The US House of
Representatives passed a measure
that will let House Speaker John
Boehner of Ohio sue President Barack
Obama for failing to implement parts
of the Affordable Care Act without
authorisation from the Congress.
July 31: Bolivia renounced a visa
exemption agreement with Israel in
protest over its offensive in Gaza, and
declared it a terrorist state.
July 18: Lord Tariq Ahmad of
Wimbledon was promoted as
Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State at the Department for
Communities and Local Government.
His responsibilities will include
departmental business in the House of
Lords, European programmes,
transparency, productivity,
procurement and value of money.
Aug 03: A magnitude 6.3 earthquake
struck south-western China, killing at
least 367 people and leaving 1,881
injured in a remote area of Yunnan
province.
Aug 04: Organisation of Islamic
Conference (OIC) Secretary-General
Iyad Ameen Abdullah Madani admitted

that the Arab states cannot take any
practical steps to stop Israel from
attacking Gaza.
Aug 04: An overloaded ferry sank in
rough conditions in central Bangladesh
with up to 200 passengers on board, in
the latest disaster to hit the country's
rivers.
Aug 04: World leaders
commemorated the 100th anniversary
of the outbreak of World War I by
warning of lessons to be learned in the
face of today's many crises, including
Ukraine.
Aug 04: The Human Rights Watch
accused the Israeli forces of firing on
and killing civilians in the southern
Gaza town of Khuzaa.
Aug 04: Islamic State (IS) fighters
captured a strategically key
hydroelectric dam, the Mosul Dam.
This electricity-generating dam
provides electricity for the 1.7 million
residents of Mosul.
Aug 05: LinkedIn paid nearly $6
million in back wages and damages to
359 current and former employees
after a US investigation found it had
failed to compensate them
appropriately for overtime work.
Aug 05: A South African village
became the first in the world to be
powered by fuel cells. Experts and
administrators hope the new scheme
could help remote areas of the
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continent access electricity for the first
time.
Aug 05: Egypt's president
inaugurated the digging of a new
section of the Suez Canal, a $4 billion
military-led project to expand a key
corridor of world trade that he says
will be finished next year.
Aug 05: An Afghan soldier shot dead
Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene at an army
training centre, named the Marshal
Fahim National Defence University, in
Kabul. He is the highest-ranking
American officer to be killed since the
September 11, 2001 attacks.
Aug 05: Russian President Vladimir
Putin ordered his government to draft
a response to unacceptable Western
sanctions over Moscow's perceived
backing of pro-Kremlin rebels in
Ukraine's volatile east.
Aug 05: Senior Foreign Office Minister
and Minister for Faith and
Communities Baroness Sayeeda
shocked Prime Minister David
Cameron by tendering her resignation
from the cabinet in protest at morally
indefensible UK government policy on
Israel's aggression on Gaza.
Aug 07: The United States put
Harakat-ul-Mujahideen and all its
affiliates on a list of foreign terrorist
organisations and specially
designated terrorists.
Aug 07: Two Khmer Rouge leaders,
Brother Number Two Nuon Chea, and
Khieu Samphan, were jailed for life

after being found guilty of crimes
against humanity, the first sentences
against top figures of a regime
responsible for the deaths of up to two
million Cambodians.
Aug 08: More than 200 celebrities
from the worlds of sport, literature,
theatre and the arts signed an open
love letter to the people of Scotland,
urging them to vote no to
independence in the coming
referendum.
Aug 08: The main suspect in the
murder of India's Phoolan Devi was
found guilty, 13 years after the iconic
bandit queen was gunned down in
broad daylight.
Aug 08: West Africa's Ebola epidemic
constitutes an international health
emergency and the virus, which has
killed nearly 1,000 people, could
continue spreading for months, the
World Health Organisation (WHO) said.
Aug 08: Afghanistan's rival
presidential candidates agreed in
writing to work together to form a
government of national unity,
following meetings with US Secretary
of State John Kerry.
Aug 09: Tens of thousands of proPalestinian demonstrators marched
through central London, urging Britain
to take a tougher line against Israel
over its military assault on Gaza.
The Palestinian Solidarity Campaign
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said 150,000 people attended the
march, the third major demonstration
for Gaza in London in the past four
weeks.
Aug 09: An Egyptian court dissolved
the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP),
the political wing of the banned
Muslim Brotherhood.
Aug 12: The UN refugee agency
accused Sri Lanka of breaking
international law in its growing
campaign to kick out Pakistani asylum
seekers without a fair hearing.
Aug 12: Europe's final robot cargo
ship to the International Space Station
(ISS) docked with its target as
scheduled.
Aug 12: The US and Australia signed
an agreement that will allow the two
countries' militaries to train and work
better together as US Marines and
airmen deploy in and out of the
country.
Aug 12: The World Health
Organisation authorised the use of
experimental drugs to fight Ebola as
the death toll topped 1,000 and a
Spanish priest became the first
European to succumb to the latest
outbreak.
Aug 12: A Chinese zoo unveiled
newborn panda triplets billed as the
world's first known surviving trio, in
what it hailed as a miracle given the
animal's famously low reproductive
rate.
Aug 12: Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on a second visit to
Jammu and Kashmir condemned the
continuing proxy war by Pakistan.
Aug 13: Maryam Mirzakhani, an
Iranian-born mathematician, became
the first woman to win a prestigious
Fields Medal, widely viewed as the
Nobel Prize of mathematics.
Aug 14: Columbia University's
Graduate School of Journalism
announced this year's winners of the
oldest award in international
journalism, the Maria Moors Cabot
Prize, for excellence in reporting on
Latin America and the Caribbean.
Columbia said those being honoured
include Frank Bajak, chief of Andean
news for The Associated Press; Tracy
Wilkinson, Mexico bureau chief for The
Los Angeles Times; Paco Calderon,
cartoonist with El Heraldo de Mexico,
and Giannina Segnini, until recently
the editor of the investigating team of
La Nacion in Costa Rica.
A special citation is being given to
investigative journalists Tamoa
Calzadilla and Laura Weffer for work
they did at Ultimas Noticias of
Venezuela.
Aug 14: The United Nations
announced its highest level of
emergency for the humanitarian crisis
ignited by the advance of Islamic State
(IS) militants across much of Iraq's
north and west.
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Aug 14: Brazilian presidential

candidate Eduardo Campos died when
his campaign jet slammed into houses
in Santos city in bad weather, killing
all seven people on board and setting
buildings alight.
the hostages away on boats across

Lake Chad.
Aug 15: Iraqis and foreign brokers
alike breathed a sigh of relief after
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki stepped
aside.
Aug 14: The southern Indian state of

Tamil Nadu passed legislation
upholding the right of men to wear
traditional wraparound garments
known as dhotis in fancy clubs and
end what lawmakers called sartorial
despotism.
Aug 15: India's new rightwing

premier Narendra Modi announced an
end to Soviet-style economic planning
in an Independence Day speech as he
pressed ahead with overhauling
cumbersome government
policymaking.
Aug 15: The leader of Lebanese

group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrullah,
described the radical Islamist
movement that has seized territory in
Iraq and Syria as a growing monster
that could threaten Jordan, Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
Aug 15: US universities dominated

the top 20 in an annual ranking of
global educational institutions
released by a Chinese organisation,
with Harvard remaining in first place
ahead of Stanford.
Aug 15: Panama celebrated the

100th anniversary of its famous canal
with a ceremony and gala, even as it
scrambled to make up lost time by
enlarging it to maintain its
competitiveness in the 21st century.
The canal, an engineering masterwork
that transformed global commerce,
opened on August 15, 1914,
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans and saving ships the long,
dangerous trip around South America.
Aug 15: Boko Haram Islamists
kidnapped scores of people from
fishing communities in Nigeria's
extreme northeast, hauling some of
The top 20 in the 2014 Academic

Ranking of World Universities included
only four non-American institutions, all
from Europe including Cambridge in
fifth place and Oxford in joint ninth.
Aug 15: A Sri Lankan court ordered
authorities to stop deporting Pakistani
asylum seekers.
Trade & Economy
July 17: Microsoft Corp will slash up to
18,000 jobs, or 14 per cent of its
workforce this year.
Major job cuts by tech firms
Here are some of the major job cuts
announced by technology companies
in recent years:
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Hewlett-Packard
May 2014: The personal computer
maker announced to cut as many as
16,000 jobs.
Sept 2012: HP said it would lay off
29,000 employees over the next two
years.
Intel Corp
April 2014: The chipmaker had cut
1,500 jobs in Costa Rica.
Jan 2014: Announced plans to reduce
its global workforce of 107,000 by
about 5 per cent this year.
Broadcom Corp (October 2013): The

chipmaker said it would cut up to
1,150 jobs.
BlackBerry (September 2013): The
smartphone maker said it would cut
4,500 jobs, or more than a third of its
global workforce. Cisco Systems
(August 2013): Announced 4,000 job
cuts, or 5pc of its workforce.
AOL Inc (August 2013): The company
said a restructuring would lil(ely
reduce its workforce by 10pc. AOL had
5,600 employees at the end of 2012.
Sony Corp (April 2012): The Japanese
electronics and entertainment giant
announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs, or
about 6pc of its global workforce.
Google Inc.
March 2014: The search giant said it
would cut 1,200 jobs, or 10pc of the
workforce at its then Motorola Mobility
unit, on top of the 4,000 it eliminated
in August 2012.
Texas Instruments (January 2014):
The chipmaker said it would cut 1,100
jobs, or about 3pc of its global
workforce.
Zynga Inc (January 2014): The game
developer said it would shed 314 jobs,
or 15pc of its workforce, to slash costs.
Acer (November 2013): The
Taiwanese computer maker said it
would cut 7pc of its global workforce
of 8,000.
July 28: The European Commission

cleared Apple's $3 billion (2.2bn euros)
acquisition of US headphone maker
and music streaming business Beats.
Aug 09: Four Silicon Valley companies
including Apple and Google failed to
persuade a US judge to sign off on a
$324.5 million settlement to resolve a
lawsuit by tech workers, who accused
the firms of conspiring to avoid
poaching each other's employees.
Aug 15: Shares in US investment star
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway
group topped $200,000 apiece for the
first time, less than eight years after
breaking the $100,000 barrier.
Already the priciest on US markets,
Berkshire shares got even more
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expensive for investors in a 7.5 per
cent climb since the company
announced record quarterly earnings
at the start of August.
At the close of trade Berkshire A
shares were up $3,500, or 1.8pc, to
$202,850.00.
Obituaries
July 17: Heinz Zemanek, who briefly
put Austria in the vanguard of
European computing in the 1950s with
his May Breeze, the first computer
on mainland Europe to run purely on
transistors instead of vacuum tubes,
died at the age of 94.
July 31: Julio Grondona, the veteran
president of the Argentine Football
Association (AFA) and FIFA vice
president, died at the age of 82.
July 31: Ahed Zaqout, a former
Palestinian national team player, was
killed by an Israeli bomb that hit his
apartment in Gaza.
July 31: US documentary film director
Robert Drew, considered the father of
American cinema verite, died. He was
90 years old.
Aug 04: Dick Smith, Hollywood's
preeminent master of film make-up
who made a young Dustin Hoffman
look like a 121-year-old man and who
made Linda Blair's head spin in The
Exorcist, died. He was 92.
Smith, who was entirely self-taught,
devised many of the innovations that

redefined movie make-up artistry,
including new ways to create age-lined
faces and to depict blood spurting
from bullet wounds. Even his formula
for fake blood, using corn syrup and
food colouring, has become the
Hollywood standard.
He shared an Academy Award for best
make-up in 1985 with Paul LeBlanc for
Amadeus. In that film, Smith did what
he considered his finest work, creating
the skin and hair that transformed
actor F. Murray Abraham into the
aging composer Antonio Salieri, the
embittered rival of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart.
Aug 04: James Brady, the White
House press secretary who was
wounded during the 1981
assassination attempt on President
Ronald Reagan, died. Brady was 73.
Aug 09: The former Dynamo Kiev and
Soviet international mid-fielder Andrei
Bal died at the age of 56.
Aug 11: Famed Croatian goalkeeper
Vladimir Beara, who secured a 1952
Olympic silver for the former
Yugoslavia national team, died, aged
85.
Aug 12: Robin Williams, the actor
whose madcap comic style made him
one of television and film's biggest
stars, was found dead after an
apparent suicide at his home in
Northern California. He was 63.
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Aug 13: Legendary actress Lauren
Bacall, an icon of Hollywood's golden
age who lit up the silver screen in a
series of classic movies opposite her
husband Humphrey Bogart, died aged
89.
July 28: Top-seeded John Isner won

his second straight Atlanta ATP title
with a victory over unseeded Israeli
Dudi Sela.
Sports
July 28: Vincenzo Nibali became the

first Italian to win the Tour de France
since the late Marco Pantani.
July 18: Germany captain Philipp

Lahm quit international soccer at the
age of 30, five days after leading his
side to World Cup victory in Brazil.
Aug 02: Belgium's David Goffin

claimed his first ATP Tour title by
beating Dominic Thiem to win the
Kitzbuehel Cup.
July 18: Zimbabwe beat Afghanistan

by six wickets in the first of four Oneday Internationals, the latter's first
bilateral series against a Test-playing
nation.
Aug 02: Two years after winning the

inaugural Olympic title, the 31-yearold Nicola Adams also became the first
female Commonwealth Games boxing
champion.
July 20: Germany's Nico Rosberg won

his home grand prix for Mercedes to
his overall lead in the Formula One
championship to 14 points.
Aug 03: England triumphed in the

Commonwealth Games medals table
for the first time in 28 years. Pakistan
could win only four medals with three
Silver Medals and one Bronze Medal.
July 20: Caroline Wozniacki claimed

her first Tour title of the year by
strolling to a win over Roberta Vinci in
the Istanbul Cup final.
July 22: The Brazilian Football
Confederation (CBF) named Dunga,
50, to run the national team after Luis
Felipe Scolari's humiliation at the
World Cup, including a devastating 7-1
defeat by Germany.
July 27: Pablo Andujar of Spain won
his first title in more than two years,
beating Juan Monaco of Argentina in
the Swiss Open final.
Aug 04: World number one Serena

Williams beat Angelique Kerber in the
final of the Stanford Classic.
Aug 08: Didier Drogba announced his
retirement from international football
after 12 years playing for the Ivory
Coast.
Aug 11: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat
second seeded Roger Federer to cap a
scintillating march to the Rogers Cup
title. The 13th-seeded Frenchman won
his first ATP Tour title of the season
and 11th overall.
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Aug 11: Former world-record holder
Asafa Powell won a 100-metre race in
Brazil in 10.02 seconds, his fastest
mark of the year.
in Zurich.
People in News
Robert Downey Jr
Aug 14: Roger Federer became the

first man to win 300 matches at the
ATP Masters 1000 level.
Aug 14: Elmira Alembekova of Russia
kept up a national tradition when she
strode to victory in the 20km walk at
the European Athletics
Championships. Alembekova finished
in 1hr 27min 56sec.
Aug 14: Borussia Dortmund beat
Bayern Munich in the German Super
Cup to win the first domestic title of
the season.
Aug 14: Luis Suarez failed to win a
reprieve from his four-month ban for
biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini at the
World Cup, but got a green light to
resume training.
Aug 15: Yohann Diniz of France
smashed the world 50km walk record
at the European Athletics
Championships in a time of 3hr 32min
33sec.
The previous record of 3:34:14 was set
by Russia's Denis Nizhegorodov in
Cheboksary in May 2008.
Aug 15: Former world pole vault
champion Giuseppe Gibilisco
announced his retirement from
athletics after failing to qualify for the
finals of the European Championships
Robert Downey Jr, the star of Disney's

Marvel superhero film franchises Iron
Man, and The Avengers, became
Hollywood's highest paid actor for the
second consecutive year, with
estimated earnings of $75 million.
Jarrel Seah and Jennifer Tang
On Aug 04, Jarrel Seah and Jennifer
Tang, both 22, of Melbourne's Monash
University, were crowned winners of
the Microsoft Imagine Cup in Seattle
after inventing an app that uses a
selfie to detect if someone is anaemic.
Hu Shull
On July 31, a Chinese investigative
journalist, Hu Shull, whose work led to
the ouster of corrupt officials, and a
Chinese environmental lawyer are
among this year's six recipients of the
Ramon Magsaysay Awards, often
regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel
Prize.
Jacques Kallis
On July 31, South Africa's Jacques
Kallis retired from all international
cricket, as one of the game's greatest
all-rounders admitted that a swansong
at the World Cup next year was 'a
bridge too far'.
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Places in News
New Delhi
Washington D.C.
Tihar Food Court in west Delhi, a

rehabilitation effort kicked off by the
Tihar prison, was opened on an
experimental basis while awaiting
formal clearances. There is nothing
unusual, except that the most of
employees are convicted and are
serving time in South Asia's largest
prison complex.
On Aug 04, dozens of world leaders

descended on Washington for the start
of President Barack Obama's first
major US-Africa summit, focused on
trade ties but also overshadowed by
war and disease.
Some 50 countries sent high-level
delegations led by 35 presidents, nine
prime ministers, three vice presidents,
two foreign ministers and a king to the
three days of talks and ceremony in
the US capital.
World in Focus (Aug-Sep 2014)

MCQs
Maiduguri, Nigeria
National
On Aug 12, military wives in the

restive Nigerian city of Maiduguri took
to the streets, burning tyres to prevent
their husbands' deployment to fight
Boko Haram.
Aug 16: Inqilab and Azadi

marches settled down in Islamabad,
flexing their muscles in more ways
than one.
About 300 women and 500 children

gathered at the gates of a military
base in the Borno state capital,
claiming that their spouses were illequipped to take on the Islamist
militants.
Aug 16: A sessions judge ordered

Lahore police to register a murder
case against Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz
Sharif, several other PML-N leaders
and some police officials over the June
17 Model Town incident.
London
On July 22, British Prime Minister
David Cameron called for a worldwide
ban on female genital mutilation and
child marriage as he launched the first
UN-backed Girl Summit on issues
that affect millions around the globe.
Aug 16: Leaders of the PPP, PML-N

and religious minority groups launched
a campaign in Sukkur and Ghotki
districts against forced and underage
marriages and religious extremism.
Aug 17: Addressing a charged crowd
that was all set to storm the 'red
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zone', PTI Chairman Imran Khan
ordered his supporters to launch a civil
disobedience movement against the
government.
Aug 17: Pakistan Broadcasting
Corporation (PBC) Director General
Samina Pervez launched a 100-kW
digital transmitter at the Hyderabad
Broadcasting House.
Aug 18: New Delhi called off the Aug
25 meeting of foreign secretaries of
the two countries because of Pakistani
high commissioner's consultative
session with a Hurriyat leader.
Aug 19: ISPR issued a statement after
midnight that called on all
stakeholders to exercise patience,
wisdom and sagacity in the larger
national interest.
Aug 19: The government of Pakistan
awarded Ali Meer, the Khabarnak star,
the Pride of Performance award. Ali
Meer, who is an IT graduate, started
his career as creative manager at Geo
News and created over 100 political
cartoons.
Aug 20: The Supreme Court asked
Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri to
appear before it to reply to a number
of challenges filed against the sit-ins
being staged on Constitution Avenue
by their parties.
Aug 20: The army refused to mediate
between the government and the
protesting parties to defuse the
political crisis and instead asked both
sides to work for a settlement on their

own.
Aug 20: Khwaja Shahad Ahmed, the
recently-appointed chairman of the
Azad Jammu and Kashmir Public
Service Commission, and eight
members took oath of their respective
offices.
The AJKPSC comprises a chairman and
nine members.
Aug 20: A judicial tribunal in
Balochsitan, headed by a senior judge
of the Balochistan High Court, Justice
Noor Mohammad Maskanzai, assigned
the task to investigate the discovery
of 17 mutilated bodies from two mass
graves in Totak area of Khuzdar district
said in the report that security forces,
intelligence agencies and the
government were not found involved
in the case.
Aug 20: The Earthquake Memorial
Bridge connecting Naluchi and Chattar
on the banks of River Jhelum was
opened for traffic. The project, funded
by the Japan Bank of International
Cooperation (JBIC), was completed in
just over four years at a cost of Rs.1.5
billion.
Aug 21: The Sindh police set up a
fleet of 100 mobile vans equipped with
surveillance cameras to help the lawenforcement agency record crime
scenes while patrolling, snap-checking
or raiding any criminal hideout.
Aug 22: PTI parliamentary leader in
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the National Assembly, Shah
Mehmood Qureshi, submitted the
resignations of the party legislators to
the Speaker's office.
development of Dasu Hydropower

Project. Another agreement for $76.4
million financing was signed for Sindh
Agricultural Growth Project.
Aug 22: The Baloch Human Rights

Organisation (BHRO) and the banned
Baloch Student Organisation-Azad
(BSOA) rejected the Balochistan
Judicial Tribunal's report in the
discovery of mass graves in Khuzdar
area and appealed to the United
Nations to find out the truth.
Aug 26: The one-member judicial

commission investigating the June 17
Model Town incident held the
government responsible for the
tragedy. The report said the affidavits
of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and
former law minister Rana Sanaullah
contained contradictions regarding the
orders they reportedly issued to police
to disengage, and declared police
acted on government orders.
Aug 22: Pakistan Navy inducted a

second batch of Alouette Helicopters
into its Fleet Air Arm.
Aug 23: A treason case was registered
against Pakistan High Commissioner to
India, Mr Abdul Basit, and Hurriyat
leader Shabir Ahmed Shah in India on
the orders of Allahabad CGM court.
Aug 26: The battered Tehreek-iTaliban Pakistan suffered a huge blow
with the emergence of a new group of
militants, named Jamaatul Ahrar,
within it.
Aug 26: The Economic Coordination
Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet
approved a sovereign guarantee for
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to
acquire a Rs1 billion loan for Hajj
operations and allowed an increased
tariff for import of 74MW electricity
from Iran.
witnessed the signing ceremony of a
financing agreement of $588.4 million
with the World Bank relating to
Aug 27: The PTI submitted

resignations of 28 of its 30 members
of the Punjab assembly.
Aug 28: Security forces got freed Prof
Ajmal Khan, Vice Chancellor of the
Islamia University Peshawar, four
years after his abduction by the
Taliban militants.
Aug 28: The Balochistan Assembly
unanimously adopted the Balochistan
Prohibition of Private Money Lending
Bill, 2014.
The bill was tabled by Minister for
Information and Law Abdul Rahim
Ziaratwal.
Aug 28: European Union lifted the
temporary cargo ban imposed on
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
cargo shipments to Europe.
said that he had not sought the army
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chief's intervention to break the
deadlock in talks with protesting
parties.
Town incident lodged against Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief
Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 19 others.
Aug 29: The Inter-Services Public

Relations clarified that, in fact, the
government had asked Chief of Army
Staff General Raheel Sharif to
facilitate negotiations with the
protesting PTI and PAT.
Sep 01: The World Bank approved

$47.95 million to help Pakistan
improve nutrition status of its children
under the age of two years, and of
pregnant and lactating women in
targeted areas.
Aug 29: The Pakistan International

Airlines (PIA) became the first airline in
South Asia to achieve the two high
aviation standards after it acquired
approval of the Air Navigation Order
(ANO) 145 and 147.
The money is meant for the Enhanced

Nutrition for Mothers and Children
project specifically targeting women
and the relatively high proportion of
stunting that occurs during pregnancy.
It will also be used to support the
scaling up of well-proven maternal
nutrition interventions for women of
childbearing age and sharpening the
nutrition focus of antenatal visits and
provision of daily iron folic acid
supplementation during pregnancy.
Sep 01: A mob of protesters from the

PTI and PAT sit-ins stormed the
headquarters of Pakistan Television
(PTV) and forced its staff to take two of
the state broadcaster's flagship
channels PTV News and PTV World off
the air.
Sep 01: All of PTI representatives in
the Sindh Assembly filed their
resignations in the assembly
secretariat.
Sep 01: Five cases were registered
against the leaders and activists of the
PTI and the PAT on different charges,
including sedition, murder attempt
and terrorism. More than 200 activists
were arrested from the Constitution
Avenue and hospitals.
Sep 01: Police inserted section 7 of
the Anti-Terrorism Act and three more
sections of the Pakistan Penal Code
into the FIR about the June 17 Model
Sep 04: Fifty-two people, three

soldiers among them, were killed and
over 90 others injured as torrential
rain wreaked havoc in north-eastern
Punjab and Kashmir, causing a very
high flood in river Chenab. A number
of cities received over 130mm of rain.
Sep 04: A Sessions Court acquitted
former interior minister Rehman Malik
in a dual nationality case. On a
directive of the apex court, the
election commission had filed
complaints against Mr Malik and other
legislators in 2012 for filing false
declarations along with their
nomination papers for elections to
conceal their dual nationality.
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Sep 04: National Assembly Speaker

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq accepted the
resignation of estranged PTI leader
Makhdoom Javed Hashmi.
Sep 05: The PPP launched a wing to
carry out relief work during natural
disasters and emergencies. The
setting up of the party's 'social
services wing' was announced by PPP
Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
Sep 05: PPP Co-Chairman and former
President Asif Ali Zardari appointed
Sherry Rehman as a member of
Central Executive Committee of the
Party.
Sep 06: Officials in Islamabad and
Beijing announced the postponement
of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit
to Pakistan.
Sep 07: Hundreds of thousands of
people were marooned, their houses
submerged and livestock washed
away as the river Chenab in 'super
flood' hit 600 villages in Gujranwala
and Sialkot regions.
Sep 07: Girls bagged all top three
positions in the entrance test 2014 for
admissions to medical and dental
colleges of Punjab, according to results
announced by the University of Health
Sciences (UHS).
A total of 44,243 candidates appeared
in the entrance test held on August
31, out of whom 19,231 scored 60 per
cent and above marks. As many as
6,377 scored 50 to 59pc whereas

6,395 secured 40 to 49pc marks.
Sep 07: A report released by the
United Nations Children's Fund
(Unicef) revealed that one in 10 girls
globally 120 million have been
sexually abused, with violence against
children taking increasingly insidious
forms. The report, 'Hidden in Plain
Sight: Statistical Analysis of Violence
against Children', surveys 190
countries, including Pakistan, and
surveys boys and girls aged up to 19
years.
Sep 08: The Pakistan Navy foiled a
militant attack on one of its facilities in
Karachi. Two militants were killed in
the raid while four of the attackers
were captured leading to more arrests
in other parts of the country.
Sep 08: The World Wide Fund for
Nature-Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan)
observed International Vulture
Awareness Day 2014 at Lahore
College for Women University (LCWU).
WWF regards the white-backed vulture
(Gyps bengalensis) as one of its
priority species for conservation. This
specie has been listed as critically
endangered by the International Union
for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
headquartered at Gland, Switzerland.
Sep 09: At least 20 people were killed
and seven injured when the structure
of a double story mosque-cumseminary partially collapsed in the
congested Daroghawala locality.
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Sep 09: The embassy of Netherlands

and the Pakistan Baitul Maal (PBM)
signed an MoU for establishing a
vocational training centre in
Timergarah Jail in Lower Dir district of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the
empowerment of women.
Sep 11: The Balochistan Rural
Support Programme (BRSP) launched
a water management programme in
Qila Abdullah district at an estimated
cost of Rs70 million with the
assistance of the Federal Republic of
Germany.
Sep 12: A meeting of Executive
Committee of the National Economic
Council (Ecnec) approved Rs33 billion
for an emergency plan to eradicate
polio, the crippling disease.
Sep 12: The army announced the
arrest of all 10 Taliban terrorists
involved in the attack on teenage
activist Malala Yousafzai.
Sep 12: A Unicef report titled
Improving Children's Lives:
Transforming the Future,'' said that a
baby dies every three minutes in
Pakistan, with more than 350,000
children in Pakistan dying before the
age of five. Of these deaths, 20 per
cent are caused by pneumonia, even
though Pakistan was first among South
Asian countries to introduce the
pneumococcal vaccine.
The report marks 25 years since the
General Assembly of the UN adopted
the Convention on the Rights of the

Child.
Sep 13: Maulana Asmatullah
Muawiya, head of the Tehreek-i-Taliban
Punjab, said that his group had
decided to abandon its armed struggle
in Pakistan and instead would focus on
peaceful struggle for the
implementation of Shariah.
Sep 13: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
declared all the flood-affected areas as
calamity-hit and said the population of
these areas would be steered out of
the current miseries caused by flash
floods.
Sep 14: 'International Day of
Democracy' was observed in Pakistan
and across the world.
Sep 15: Pakistan Petroleum Limited
(PPL) announced discovery of
hydrocarbons from exploratory well
Adam West X-1 in Hala Block.
Sep 15: The executive board of the
National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
approved an inquiry against former
chief minister Balochistan Nawab
Aslam Raisani for accumulation of
assets beyond known sources of
income during his tenure as chief
minister Balochistan to the tune of Rs
4.4 billion (approximately) and also for
allegedly misusing his authority and
causing huge loss to the national
exchequer.
Sports
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Aug 16: National Bank of Pakistan
(NBP) outclassed Pakistan
International Airlines (PIA) in the final
of All Pakistan NBP Hockey
Tournament.
Aug 18: Pakistan's top internationals,
Rashid-ul-Ghazi and Tehsin Gheewala
won the Nishan-i-Haider Pairs Bridge
Tournament.
Aug 18: Former diplomat Shaharyar
Khan was elected chief of Pakistan
Cricket Board for a three-year term. He
is the 30th chairman of the PCB but
the only one to have a second tenure.
He previously had held the post
between December 2003 and October
2006.
Aug 23: Najam Sethi and Shakil
Sheikh, both journalists, were named
to lead two powerful committees of
the Governing Board (GB) of the
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Three committees titled Executive,
Cricket and Grassroots were formed at
the 30th meeting of the Governing
Board.
Sep 01: Three Pakistanis; president of
the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF)
Akhtar Rasool, Secretary Rana Mujahid
and a high-profile coach of Pakistani
origin Tayyab Ikram were elected to
important posts during the Asian
Hockey Federation (AHF) elections
held in Kuala Lumpur.
Sep 01: Special Olympics Pakistan
celebrated the fourth annual Eunice
Kennedy Shriver Day to pay tribute to

the founder of the Special Olympics
world body.
Sep 09: Top-ranked Pakistani off
spinner Saeed Ajmal was suspended
indefinitely from international cricket
for an illegal bowling action.
Sep 12: Muneeb Shafiq of Sindh
created three new national records in
under-12 category of the 19th National
Boys Age Group Swimming
Championship.
Sep 14: History was made in Pakistan
tennis as the three grandchildren of
former Subcontinent legend late Kh
Iftikhar Ahmad (undefeated national
champion 1947-61) represented
Pakistan in Davis Cup tie against
Thailand.
Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Samir
Iftikhar, members of Davis Cup squad
are sons of Mrs Nosheen Eithisham
(daughter) and Tayyab Iftikhar (son)
while Miss Ushna Suhail, FFC Sports
Ambassador and Ladies National
Champion, daughter of Kh Suhail
Iftikhar (son) would represent the
country in Asian games.
Obituaries
Aug 18: A renowned professor of
cardiology and Chairperson of NJ
University of Medicine and Dentistry
and Head of Medicine, Dr Bunyad
Haider, passed away.
Aug 19: Pakistan's first-ever world
champion in any sport, squash star
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Hashim Khan died in the United
States. He was 100.
Hashim Khan had won the sport's
premier title, the British Open, seven
times between 1951 and 1958.
Aug 27: Prominent poet of Balochi
language Ghulam Rasool Mulla, a.k.a.
G.R Mulla, who was known for his
nationalistic and revolutionary poetry,
passed away. He was 75.
Aug 29: Senior journalist and editor of
Weekly Quetta Times, Ghulam Tahir,
died. He was 86.
Sep 04: Leading ghazal and playback
singer Habib Wali Mohammad passed
away at the age of 93. He was best
known for his film ghazal 'Aaj Jaane Ki
Zid Na Karo' that catapulted him to
widespread recognition. Making his
appearance at a time when ghazal
singing was getting popular all over
again during the 1960s and 1970s,
Habib Wali Mohammad's singing style
held a certain kind of appeal that was
simpler and more accessible to the
listeners.
Sep 04: Veteran actor Maqsood
Hassan passed away in Karachi.
Sep 05: Former Pakistan Test umpire
Ferozeuddin Butt died. He was 72.
Sep 06: Allama Ali Akbar Kumaili, a
Shia cleric and son of former senator
and Jaffaria Alliance Pakistan chief,
Allama Abbas Kumaili, was killed in
Azizabad area of Karachi.
Sep 07: Sarshar Siddiqui, a poet

whose initial work was filled with
scepticism but later on he composed
religious verses, died aged 88.
Sep 07: Former Sindh Ombudsman
Yusuf Jamal died. He was 76.
Mr Jamal made a record by securing
the highest marks in the CSP
examination in which he appeared in
1963 after completing post-graduation
in political science from the University
of Karachi. The record remains
unbreakable till this day.
During Gen Ziaul Haq's rule, he
resigned from the government service
but later on Mairaj Khalid appointed
him as member of the Sindh Public
Service Commission after becoming
prime minister of Pakistan.
Sep 08: Former MNA Mir Inayat Ali
Talpur, died of cancer. He was 62.
Sep 10: Dr Masood Baig, a seminary
teacher and son-in-law of Jamia
Binoria Al-Almia's founding chief Mufti
Mohammed Naeem, was killed in an
attack.
Sep 10: Parveen Saeed Haroon, the
daughter of Allah Nawaz Khan and
wife of Haji Sir Abdullah Haroon's
youngest son, Saeed Haroon, passed
away. She
was 81.
Sep 12: Malik Anwar Ali Noon,
veteran politician and former MNA,
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Sep 15: Dr S.M. Rab, the longest

serving physician of the country,
passed away in Karachi. He was 85.
(FPCCI) and Philippines Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (PCCI) signed
a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) in Manila to form a business
council of both countries.
Economy
Aug 21: The Port Qasim Authority
(PQA) signed an Implementation
Agreement (IA) with a Chinese
company to allot 200 acres of land for
the development of two coal-based
power plants of 660 megawatt each.
Aug 25: The government awarded a
licence to Canada's Tallahassee
Resources Inc. for exploration of oil
and gas resources in Karak district of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Aug 27: A joint Pakistan-Germany
business platform called Pakistan
GATE (German Association Trade and
Economy) for the further development
of trade and investment projects was
launched in Berlin.
The Pakistan Embassy in Berlin and
the German Embassy in Islamabad will
serve as patrons through the
respective ambassadors, Syed Hasan
Javed and Cyrill Nunn.
Aug 28: Telenor Pakistan signed an
agreement with its emergency
response partner, the Pakistan Red
Crescent Society (PRCS), to mitigate
the impact of disasters through an
SMS-based early warning system.
Aug 28: The Federation of Pakistan
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Sep 03: According to the 'Global

Competitiveness Report' 2014-15
released by the WEF, Pakistan's
competitiveness among global
economies has slightly improved to
129 out of 144 in rankings published
yearly by the World Economic Forum
(WEF).
The country was ranked 133 out of
148 in 2013-14, 124 out of 144 in
2012-13, and 118 out of 142 in 201112.
Sep 04: Pakistan assumed charge of
the 10-member Economic Cooperation
Organisation (ECO) Chamber of
Commerce and Industry for a period of
three years.
Sep 11: The Businessmen Group for
the sixth consecutive term swept All
Pakistan Textile Mills Association's
(Aptma) annual elections for 2014-15.
Mr S.M. Tanveer would be the central
chairman, Seth Mohammad Akber
Punjab zone chairman while other
office bearers and all zonal members,
belonging to the Businessmen Group,
were declared elected unopposed for
the next term.
Sep 11: According to details of the
agreement signed by the State Bank
and the World Bank, the latter will help
the SBP design a framework for
coordinating and implementing the
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strategy.
The State Bank will pay $500,314 to
the World Bank for the preparation of
the strategy. The agreement will
expire on February 28, 2015.
Sep 12: Syed Asad Haider Mashadi of
Mian Pervaiz Aslam Group was elected
unopposed as President of the
Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (RCCI) for the year 2014-15.
Transfers & Postings
Aug 18: The Punjab government
appointed Punjab Counter-Terrorism
Department Additional IG Captain
(retired) Amin Wains as the new CCPO
Lahore. Mr Wains has replaced DIG
Chaudhry Shafique Ahmad who was
removed from the post in connection
with June 17 Model Town carnage.
approved it.
Sep 07: The Chief Justice of
Balochistan High Court, Justice
Ghulam Mustafa Mengal, appointed
the District and Sessions Judge
(Inspection) Quetta, Imtiaz Hussain,
registrar of the High Court of
Balochistan.
Sep 11: The federal government
issued the notification of the
appointment of Ghulam Haider Jamil
as the Inspector of Police Sindh.
Sep 15: The provincial government
appointed Dr Farhat Saleemi as the
vice-chancellor of the Government
College Women University, Lahore.
People & Places
ASMA SHIRAZI
Aug 22: Rear Admiral Zafar Mahmood

Abbasi and Rear Admiral Syed Arifullah
Hussaini were promoted to the rank of
Vice Admiral with immediate effect.
Sep 01: Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) Tahir Alam Khan was appointed
as the DIG Operations and was also
given the additional charge of the
inspector general of the police (IGP).
The post of DIG operations had been
lying vacant since three years.
Sep 01: Justice Qazi Faaiz Essa was
appointed as judge in the Supreme
Court. The Judicial Commission had
recommended him for posting as
judge of the apex court. The
Parliamentary Committee also
On Aug 22, Asma Shirazi, a renowned

journalist and TV anchor, was awarded
the Peter Mackler Award for
Courageous and Ethical Journalism.
HASHAM HADI KHAN
On Aug 23, the youngest member of
Pakistan scrabble contingent taking
part in the 6th Sri Lanka International
Scrabble Championship created a new
world record by scoring an eyepopping 878 points against Matheesha
De Silva of Sri Lanka.
According to the Guinness Book of
World Records, the highest score ever
recorded in a scrabble match was
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made by Toh Wei Bin of Singapore who
scored 850 against Rick Kennedy of
Scotland in 2012. No score of 800 plus
has been witnessed in an international
tournament.
MOHAMMAD AFZAL KHAN
On Aug 24, Mohammad Afzal Khan, a
former official of the Election
Commission of Pakistan (ECP) who was
directly involved in the preparations
for and execution of the general
elections of 2013, alleged that the
general elections were 'massively
rigged' and pointed the finger squarely
at former chief justice Iftikhar
Mohammad Chaudhry and retired
Justice Riaz Ahmed Kiani, the ECP
member from Punjab.
REEMA ABBASI
On Aug 31, a Pakistani journalist and
author of 'Historic Temples in Pakistan:
A Call to Conscience,' Reema Abbasi,
was honoured as the best literary
personality of the year at the Fifth
Rajiv Gandhi Excellence Awards held in
New Delhi.
MEHRAN SATTAR, IQRA KHALID &
KAINAT ZULQADAR
On Sep 12, Mehran Sattar, son of a
fruit-seller, Iqra Khalid, daughter of an
iron merchant and Kainat Zulqadar,
daughter of an expatriate, clinched
the first three positions in the
intermediate examination conducted
by BISE Multan.
LARKANA
On Aug 19, a seminar 'Provincial
policy dialogue on early marriages and
domestic violence' was held in
Larkana where speakers called for
establishing committees at district
level to ensure implementation of laws
protecting womens rights and curbing
underage marriages.
The seminar was held under the
auspices of a non-governmental
organisation, Shirkatgah.
KARACHI
On Aug 25, the three-day workshop
on 'Bio-invasion and ballast water
management' was organised by Saarc
Coastal Zone Management Centre in
collaboration with Climate Change
Division.
Experts from Sri Lanka, the Maldives,
Bangladesh and Afghanistan also
attended the event.
ISLAMABAD
On Aug 28, a public defence of a PhD
thesis titled, Role of Maritime
Strategy in National Security: A Case
Study of Gwadar was held at National
Defence University, Islamabad. Cdr (r)
Azhar Ahmad highlighted the
importance of his research and
convinced the audience about the
need of paying more attention to the
maritime sector.
LAHORE
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On Aug 28, USAID-funded
assessment and strengthening
programme organised a two-day
conference on Public Sector
Leadership in 21st Century Pakistan;
Challenges and Best Practices kicked
off at the Lahore University of
Management Sciences (LUMS).
ISLAMABAD
On Sep 15, a roundtable conference
was held at Heinrich Boll Stiftung
(HBS), Islamabad where the speakers
said that Pakistan should not look
towards any other Muslim country for
adopting a governance system as its
indigenous model is perfect. Rights
activist Tahira Abdullah mediated the
session.
The dialogue series 'Governance,
community and religion' is a joint
effort of the Centre for Research and
Security Studies (CRSS) and Heinrich
Boll Stiftung (HBS), Islamabad.
International
Aug 16: The death toll from landslides
and flooding triggered by torrential
monsoon rains in Nepal and northern
India climbed to at least 109.
Aug 16: Sri Lanka's defence minister
was directed by a court to suspend the
decision to deport those registered
with the UNHCR, granting interim
relief to asylum seekers and refugees
from Pakistan.
Aug 16: A man died after 35-people,
including several children, were found
inside a shipping container being

unloaded at a dock in eastern England.
People are believed to be from the
Indian Subcontinent.
Aug 17: According to the ranking
compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong
University in China, Harvard University
retained the top spot in the annual
Academic Ranking of World
Universities, a position it has held for
the past 12 years. Stanford University
was second, followed by, in order, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
the University of California, Berkeley;
and the University of Cambridge.
The United States had 146 universities
in the top 500, followed by Germany
with 39, Britain with 38 and China,
excluding Hong Kong, with 32.
Aug 19: Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa announced the
appointment of Ahmer Bilal Soofi of
Pakistan and Avdash Kaushal of India
to the panel of advisers to the
Commission on Missing Persons and
War Crimes set up by the Sri Lankan
government.
Aug 20: Militants belonging to the
Islamic State (IS), formerly known as
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria,
released a video showing the
beheading of an American journalist,
James Foley, kidnapped in Syria.
Aug 20: A US judge ruled that
Manmohan Singh is immune from
allegations that he supported
genocide of Sikhs during his tenure
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as head of Indian government but
does not enjoy head of state
immunity for claims arising from his
tenure as finance minister, from 1991
to 1996.
Aug 20: India removed the chief
executive of its film censorship board,
Mr Rakesh Kumar, after he was
arrested on accusations of taking
70,000 rupees as bribe to clear a
movie for screening.
Aug 21: The United States offered
new rewards for information on
leading to the location of Aziz
Haqqani, Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani,
Yahya Haqqani and Abdul Rauf Zakir;
four key leaders of the Haqqani
Network and also increased a
previously announced reward offer for
information about the group's current
leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The US Department of State's Rewards
for Justice Programme announced that
the government had authorised $5
million rewards of up to each for
information.
Aug 21: Indonesia's highest court
unanimously upheld the recent
presidential election result, paving the
way for Joko Widodo to take over as
leader of the world's third largest
democracy.
Aug 21: A giant flag in support of
Palestinians in Gaza was unfurled from
the Manhattan Bridge.
Aug 21: The Indian government
blocked the release of a controversial

film, Kaum De Heere, or Diamonds
Of The Community, on the
assassination of former premier Indira
Gandhi after calls grew for it to be
banned for glorifying her killers.
The film tells the story of Indira
Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards who shot
the premier dead in 1984 apparently
in revenge for a military operation that
killed hundreds of Sikhs.
Aug 21: Turkey's ruling party chose
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to
be the new prime minister.
Aug 21: The United States designated
Pakistan-based hawala group, Haji
Basir and Zarjmil Company and, its
owner, Haji Abdul Basir, as Specially
Designated Global Terrorists for
providing financial services or other
support to the Taliban.
Aug 21: Thailand's coup leader and
army chief, General Prayut Chan-OCha, was elected prime minister by
the kingdom's junta-appointed
legislature.
Aug 21: Outgoing UN rights chief Navi
Pillay rebuked the UN Security Council
for putting short-term geopolitical
concerns and narrowly-defined
national interests ahead of intolerable
human suffering and grave breaches
of global peace and security.
Aug 22: Militiamen gunned down 70
people in an apparent revenge attack
at an Iraqi mosque. The shooting took
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place in the Hamreen area of Diyala
province.
Aug 22: South African wildlife
authorities said they have found
dozens of dead jackals at a popular
game park in the country's worst
ever incident of poisoning.
Aug 22: The ice bucket challenge's
phenomenal success is making other
charitable organisations rethink how
they connect with a younger
generation of potential donors. Since
the ALS Association began tracking
the campaign's progress on July 29, it
has raised more than $53.3 million
from 1.1 million new donors in what is
one of the most viral philanthropic
social media campaigns in history.
Aug 22: The Pentagon violated US law
when it controversially swapped a
soldier held in captivity for five years
in Afghanistan for five Taliban
detainees without giving lawmakers
sufficient notice, congressional
investigators said.
The Pentagon used $988,400 of its
wartime funding for the transfer that
freed Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.
Aug 23: Almost 200,000 people have
been killed in Syria since the country
fell into conflict in 2011, according to a
report by UN Human Rights
Commission released in Geneva.
A total of 191,369 people were killed
between March 2011, when the
conflict erupted, and April 2014,
according to the report.

Aug 23: An Indian woman is thought
to have had the world's longest
ectopic pregnancy after doctors
removed the skeleton of a baby that
had been inside her for nearly four
decades. Kantabai Thakre became
pregnant at the age of 24, in 1978. At
the time doctors warned the expectant
mother her unborn child had little
chance of survival, after it was found
to be growing outside of her womb.
Terrified at the thought of an
operation, she fled and sought
treatment for the pain at a small clinic.
Aug 25: Libya's outgoing parliament
voted to replace the current interim
government, deepening the conflict
torn country's already stark divisions
and leaving it with two rival
parliaments and governments.
Aug 25: Islamic State militants
stormed an airbase in northeast Syria,
capturing it from government forces.
Aug 25: French Prime Minister Manuel
Valls presented his government's
resignation, a day after Economy
Minister Arnaud Montebourg called for
new economic policies and questioned
neighbour Germany's obsession with
budgetary rigour.
Valls was asked by President Francois
Hollande to form a new team only four
months ago but has continually had to
reconcile policy differences between
leftists such as Montebourg and more
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centrist members of his Socialist-led
government.
Aug 26: The United Nations Children's
Fund undertook the largest emergency
supply operation in the organisation's
history in a single month by shipping
1,000 metric tonnes of life-saving
supplies for children caught in the
world's most urgent crises.
Aug 26: The presidents of Russia and
Ukraine sat down for talks, meeting
face-to-face for the first time since
June on the fighting that has engulfed
Ukraine's separatist east.
Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's
Petro Poroshenko were joined by the
presidents of Belarus and Kazakhstan
and three senior officials from the
European Union in the Belarusian
capital of Minsk.
Aug 26: A Jewish centre in Mumbai
that was stormed by heavily armed
militants during 2008 Mumbai attacks
reopened.
Aug 26: A long-term ceasefire was

agreed to by Israel and the
Palestinians, ending 50 days of the
deadliest violence in a decade.
The agreement involves an immediate
halt to the violence in Gaza, which
began on July 8 and has claimed the
lives of 2,143 Palestinians and 69 on
the Israeli side.
Aug 27: IMF chief Christine Lagarde
was put under formal investigation by
French magistrates for alleged
negligence in a political fraud affair
dating from 2008 when she was
finance minister.
Aug 27: India's top court said
lawmakers with criminal backgrounds
should not serve in government, with
13 ministers in the current
administration facing charges for
attempted murder, rioting and other
offences.
The ruling shines a spotlight on
Narendra Modi and his cabinet.
Aug 26: Saudi Foreign Minister Prince

Saud Al Faisal met with a senior
Iranian official to discuss regional
developments and the fight against
Islamic State jihadists.
Aug 27: Afghanistan's disputed

presidential election veered further off
course after both candidates withdrew
their observers from a UN-supervised
audit of votes.
The visit by Iran's Deputy Foreign

Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to
the city of Jeddah was the first by a
high-level official from Iran to Saudi
Arabia since Hassan Rouhani became
the Islamic republic's president in
August last year.
Aug 28: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

married in the French hamlet of
Correns.
Aug 28: Syrian armed groups, some
of whom are linked to Al Qaeda,
captured 43 UN peacekeepers on the
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Syrian side of the Golan Heights and
surrounded 81 others.
The 43 peacekeepers from Fiji were
forced to surrender their weapons and
taken hostage near the Quneitra
crossing, but 81 Filipino blue helmets
held their
ground and refused to disarm.
Aug 28: Recep Tayyip Erdogan was
sworn in as Turkey's president,
cementing his position as its most
powerful leader of recent times.
Aug 29: The United States delivered
an emergency shipment of weapons to
Lebanon's military as part of a broader
regional effort to combat the growing
threat posed by Islamic extremists.
The Lebanese government had
requested the weapons after militants
from Syria attacked the Lebanese
border town of Arsal, killing and
kidnapping soldiers and police.
Aug 29: The number of refugees from
the Syrian conflict had topped three
million, the UN said.
In Geneva, UN refugee agency chief
Antonio Guterres said Syria had
become the biggest humanitarian
emergency of our era after a million
people joined the exodus in the past
year alone.
Aug 30: Lesotho Prime Minister Tom
Thabane fled after soldiers seized
power in a coup, despite the military
denying it overthrew the tiny
mountain kingdom's government.
Aug 30: Myanmar's first census in

three decades shows the country has
a population of 51 million people.
Sep 01: A Sri Lankan court gave
permission to authorities to send back
scores of Pakistani asylum seekers.
Sep 01: Japan and India agreed to
strengthen defence relations. Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his
Indian counterpart Narendra Modi also
agreed to speed up talks on a so-far
elusive deal on nuclear energy
cooperation, welcoming what they
called significant progress in the
negotiations.
Sep 01: North Korea test-fired a shortrange missile into the sea off its east
coast in the latest of a series of missile
and rocket tests.
Sep 01: US President Barack Obama
formally notified Congress that he had
authorized targeted air strikes in Iraq
to help deliver a humanitarian aid to
the besieged shi'ite town of Amerli.
Sep 02: The High Court in Indian
state Himachal Pradesh banned a long
tradition of sacrificing animals for
religious reasons, deeming the
practice cruel and barbaric.
The Court asked police and other
officials to enforce its ban on the
slaughter of mainly goats in Hindu
temples throughout the state.
Sep 02: Iran unveiled a new surface-
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to-air missile, the Talash-3, and two
radar systems to improve its defences.
Australia to sell uranium to India,

crippled by power shortages and
blackouts.
Sep 02: Sudan ordered Iran to close

its cultural centres and given their
managers 72 hours to leave the
country.
Sep 05: Nato leaders agreed to set up

a new rapid reaction spearhead
force and to maintain a continuous
presence in an eastern Europe rattled
by Russian moves in Ukraine.
Sep 03: Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe named five female
ministers to country's 18-strong
cabinet.
Sep 06: The government of Turkish

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu won a
vote of confidence in parliament.
Sep 03: Al Qaeda chief Ayman alZawahiri declared in a video message

that the global Islamist extremist
movement has launched a new branch
to lead its struggle in the
Subcontinent.
Sep 07: Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe the first Japanese prime
minister to visit Sri Lanka in 24 years
and Sri Lanka's president agreed to
forge stronger maritime links between
their two countries.
Sep 04: Despite remarkable economic

growth, governance remains a concern
in Asia and the Pacific. The rapid
growth has lifted millions out of
poverty, yet the region continues to
face governance deficits that constrain
its ability to raise the quality of
growth, the Asian Development Bank
(ADB) said in an evaluation report.
Sep 09: One of two British explorer

ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror,
that disappeared in the Arctic more
than 160 years ago were found.
Sep 04: Former Israeli President

Shimon Peres proposed a new global
peace initiative to Pope Francis: A
United Nations of Religions, given
that most wars today have religious,
not nationalistic, undercurrents.
Sep 05: Conservative leaders Tony
Abbott of Australia and Narendra Modi
of India sealed a long-awaited nuclear
energy deal, paving the way for
Sep 09: The Group of 77 plus China,

the coalition of developing countries at
the United Nations, decided to take
collective action against US banks
which cancelled accounts of more than
70 overseas diplomatic missions.
Sep 11: The United States concluded
a deal with key Arab nations to launch
a coordinated military campaign
against the militants of the ISIS.
Sep 11: The Blade Runner, Oscar
Pistorius, was acquitted of murdering
his girlfriend, but the South African
celebrity athlete still faces judgement
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on a lesser culpable homicide charge.
Sep 11: The West hit Russia with new
sanctions over its role in the Ukraine
conflict after Kiev admitted losing
more ground to the rebels.
Sep 11: MasterCard lost its challenge
at Europe's highest court against an
EU ban on its cross-border card fees.
Sep 12: Retired US Marine general
John Allen, former commander of
American forces in Afghanistan, was
appointed coordinator of the
international effort against the Islamic
State, formerly known as the Islamic
State of Iraq and Al Sham (ISIS).
Sep 12: The worst-ever Ebola
outbreak killed more than 2,400
people, the UN said, as Cuba pledged
the largest foreign medical team
deployed so far in the west African
health crisis.
World Health Organisation chief
Margaret Chan warned the spiralling
epidemic of the murderous tropical
virus demanded a stronger, faster
response from the international
community.
Sep 12: German authorities banned
all activity on behalf of the Islamic
State extremist group, including the
distribution of propaganda material
and the display of its symbols.
The decree issued closes a legal gap
that made it difficult to prosecute
Islamic State supporters in Germany.
Sep 12: A Great Dane from Michigan

that held the title of world's tallest dog
died at age 5.
Sep 12: Pakistan and India filed
formal applications for the full
membership of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO). At
present, Iran, Pakistan and India are
the SCO observer countries. Russia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the
permanent members of the
organisation. SCO partners are
Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Sep 12: Nearly half of all girls in
South Asia marry before they turn 18,
according to a United Nations report
that lays bare what it calls glaring
inequalities.
The report, published by the UN
children's agency UNICEF, also
revealed that more than a million
newborn babies still die every year in
the region, often due to inadequate
healthcare.
Sep 13: A convoy of more than 200
white trucks crossed the Russian
border to deliver humanitarian aid to a
battered Ukrainian city, a move made
without Kiev's consent yet met with
silence by Ukraine`s top leaders.
Sep 15: About 500 Syrians,
Palestinians, Egyptians and Sudanese
died after human traffickers rammed a
vessel into their boat and it sank off
the Malta coast, the International
Organisation for Migration said.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
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Sep 15: Google launched a $105

smartphone in India, taking aim at
emerging markets as part of an
initiative called Android One.
Sep 15: A new UN mission officially
took charge of peacekeeping
operations in the Central African
Republic, with the tough task of
ending ethnic and religious bloodshed
there and helping bring back stability.
The 7,600-strong UN force known by
its French acronym MINUSCA took over
from a smaller UN Security Councilmandated African deployment, MISCA,
which was stationed in the country
since December, alongside 2,000
French soldiers.
Sports
Aug 16: Belarus' Maryna Arzamasova
overtook Britain's Lynsey Sharp to win
the women's 800m final at the
European Championships.
Christelle Daunay of France also broke
away from Italian Valeria Straneo in
the final stages of the women's
marathon to win gold.
Aug 17: England defeated India to
win the fifth Test by a crushing innings
and 244 runs at The Oval and clinched
the series 3-1.
Aug 18: Sri Lanka won the second
and final Test against Pakistan by 105
runs to sweep the series 2-0.
Aug 18: Roger Federer won an
unprecedented sixth championship in

Cincinnati when he defeated David
Ferrer in the Western & Southern
Open.
Aug 18: Serena Williams beat Ana
Ivanovic to win the Western &
Southern Open ladies' title.
Aug 19: Quinton de Kock, the 21year-old wicket-keeper/batsman of
South Africa, equalled the mark of
England's Jonathan Trott in reaching
the landmark of 1,000 runs in only 21
ODI games.
Aug 23: In a successful second edition
of the Youth Olympic Games
swimming programme, a total of 20
new World Junior records were
established, 16 in individual and four
in relay events.
Aug 26: Denesh Ramdin and Darren
Bravo both scored centuries in a
record breaking third wicket
partnership as West Indies crushed
Bangladesh to wrap-up a 3-0 one-day
series win.
The pair put on 258, a record for a
third-wicket partnership in a One-day
International, and the joint eighth
highest one day partnership of any
kind.
Aug 28: The second Youth Olympics
concluded after a spectacular closing
ceremony and a glowing endorsement
from the International Olympic
Committee (IOC).
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The sporting competition, which
involved almost 4,000 athletes aged
between 14 and 18, ended with the
host nation finishing as the most
successful country with 38 golds.
their fifth US Open title and take their

16th grand slam title together.
Aug 28: Howard Warner of New

Zealand reigned supreme in the
second World Senior Scrabble
Championship.
Sep 08: World number one Serena

Williams capped her dominant run to a
third consecutive US Open
championship, overpowering Caroline
Wozniacki to move up in the record
books with her 18th Grand Slam
crown.
Aug 28: Manchester United striker

Wayne Rooney was named as captain
of England Football Team. He will
replace Steven Gerrard.
Sep 09: Marin Cilic won his first major

final, beating Kei Nishikori of Japan at
the US Open.
Obituaries
Aug 29: Indian players topped the

medals table of the South Asian Cadet
and Junior Table Tennis
Championships, which concluded at
the Pakistan Sports Complex.
Aug 20: BKS Iyengar, the Indian yoga

guru credited with helping to fuel a
global explosion in the popularity of
the ancient spiritual practice, died
aged 95.
India clinched 10 gold and four silver

medals followed by Sri Lanka which
won four silver and eight bronze
medals.
Aug 21: Former Irish premier, Albert

Reynolds, a central figure in the
Northern Ireland peace process who
helped broker the 1994 IRA ceasefire,
died aged 81.
Sep 06: South Africa won a first-ever

tournament final against Australia.
Sep 07: Japan's Kei Nishikori became
the first Asian man to make a Grand
Slam final in the US Open.
Sep 08: American twins Bob and Mike
Bryan became the first doubles pair to
win 100 titles together after they beat
Spain's Marcel Granollers and Marc
Lopez in the US Open final.
The world number one duo broke the
11th seeds once in each set to claim
Aug 22: Acclaimed Indian writer

Udupi Rajagopalacharya
Ananthamurthy, famed for his novels
and poems, died at the age of 82.
Aug 23: Former Jamaican umpire
Douglas Sang Hue died aged 82 in
Kingston. In a career spanning more
than 25 years, Sang Hue umpired 31
Tests in the West Indies, as well as an
ODI featuring Pakistan in Kingston in
1988.
Aug 25: British actor and film director
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Richard Attenborough, who appeared
in films such as Brighton Rock, The
Great Escape and Jurassic Park, in a
career spanning six decades, died at
the age of 90.
Sep 02: South African Norman
Gordon, who was the oldest former
Test cricketer, died aged 103 in
Johannesburg.
Sep 04: Acerbic comedian Joan Rivers
died in New York. She was 81.
Sep 11: Richard Kiel, who played the
towering steel-toothed baddie Jaws
in two James Bond movies, died. He
was 74.
Sep 12: Former Northern Irish first
minister Ian Paisley, the firebrand
Protestant leader who struck a power
sharing deal with former foes Sinn
Fein, died at the age of 88.
Sep 14: Japanese actress and singer
Yoshiko 'Shirley' Yamaguchi, who was
nearly executed in China at the end of
World War II, died at the age of 94.
Science
Aug 21: After a remarkable analysis
of bacterial DNA from 1,000-year-old
mummies, scientists have proposed a
new hypothesis for how tuberculosis
arose and spread around the world.
The disease originated less than 6,000
years ago in Africa, they say, and took
a surprising route to reach the New
World: It was carried across the
Atlantic by seals.
Sep 04: The Milky Way galaxy resides
on the outskirts of a massive,
previously unknown galaxy supercluster, named Laniakea, from
Hawaiian words for immeasurable
heaven.
The discovery stems from a new
mapping technique that combines not
only the distances between more than
8,000 nearby galaxies, but also their
relative motions.
Sep 10: Earth's protective but fragile
ozone layer is beginning to recover,
largely because of the phase-out since
the 1980s of certain chemicals used in
refrigerants and aerosol cans, a UN
scientific panel reported in a rare
piece of good news about the health of
the planet. Scientists said the
development demonstrates that when
the world comes together, it can
counteract a brewing ecological crisis.
In 1974, Molina and F. Sherwood
Rowland wrote a scientific study
forecasting the ozone depletion
problem. They won the 1995 Nobel
Prize in chemistry for their work.
The ozone layer had been thinning
since the late 1970s. Man-made
chlorofluorocarbons, called CFCs,
released chlorine and bromine, which
destroyed ozone molecules high in the
air.
People & Places
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LAV DIAZ, PHILIPPINES
MAY MYAT NOE
On Aug 16, a five-and-a-half-hour film

from the Philippines From What Is
Before, directed by Lav Diaz, scooped
the coveted Golden Leopard prize at
the Locarno film festival in
Switzerland.
On Aug 29, May Myat Noe, a

Myanmar beauty queen and the
winner of Miss Asia Pacific World Super
Talent 2014, who was dethroned for
alleged misconduct, absconded with
her crown.
Clocking in at 338 minutes, the blackand-white film beat 16 other films to

the festival's top prize.
MOHAMMAD REZA RAHIMI
SAKARI MOMOI, JAPAN

On Aug 20, Sakari Momoi, a former
high school principal in Japan, who
was born on February 5, 1903, months
before the Wright brothers carried out
the first human flight, was recognised
as the world's oldest male at the age
of 111 by the Guinness World Records.
JOHANNES DAHSE & THORSTEN
HOLZ
On Aug 21, Facebook awarded a
$50,000 Internet Defence Prize to
Johannes Dahse and Thorsten Holz
from Ruhr-Universitdt Bochum in
Germany; the two German researchers
who devised a seemingly viable
approach to detecting vulnerabilities
in Web applications.
On Sep 01, Mohammad Reza Rahimi,

Iran's first vice president under former
president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was
sentenced to prison to become the
most senior official from that era to be
convicted.
RATU ATUT CHOSIYAH
On Sep 01, Indonesia's first female
provincial leader, and head of one of
the country's most powerful political
dynasties, Ratu Atut Chosiyah, was
jailed for four years for bribing a top
judge over an election dispute.
ROY ANDERSSON, SWEDEN
On Sep 06, Sweden's Roy Andersson
won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film
Festival for his absurdist feature A
Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on
Existence.
MILEY CYRUS
On Aug 25, a famous American diva
Miley Cyrus won the award for Video
of the Year for her hit single
Wrecking Ball, at the 2014 MTV
Video Music Awards.
His film, a series of bleakly comic

vignettes, had some critics in raptures
but left others scratching their heads.
MAHELA JAYAWARDENE
On Aug 18, Sri Lankan great Mahela
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Jayawardene ended his glittering test
career that spanned 17 years.
ANKARA, TURKEY
On Aug 26, thousands of people
formed the world's largest portrait of
Mustafa Kamal Ataturk, the founder of
the modern Turkish republic. At least
6,000 volunteers gathered outside the
Anitkabir mausoleum, Ataturk's final
resting place, to form the larger-thanlife portrait for an event marking
Turkey's Victory.
BERLIN
On Aug 28, the German Chancellor
Angela Merkel hosted the 'West Balkan
Conference' at the chancellery. The
conference was convened to thrash
out measures to bring about economy
prosperity and political stability in the
South-East European region.
The Award, established in 1942, is

presented by the Albert and Mary
Lasker Foundation. Each prize includes
a $250,000 honorarium. The winners
of this year are:
For Clinical Medical Research
1. Dr Mahlon DeLong of Emory
University, Atlanta, USA
2. Dr Alim Louis Benabid of Joseph
Fourier University, Grenoble, France
Special Achievement in Medical
Science
1. Mary-Claire King of the University of
Washington, Seattle, USA
For Basic Medical Research
1. Peter Walter of the University of
California, San Francisco, USA
NAIROBI, KENYA
On Sep 02, African leaders and
delegates attended the Africa Union
Peace and Security Council Summit on
Terrorism held at the Kenyatta
International Convention Centre in
Nairobi, Kenya.
NEW YORK, USA
On Sep 08, key discoveries about
breast cancer, Parkinson's disease and
the body's handling of defective
proteins earned prestigious medical
awards, the Lasker Award, for five
scientists.
2. Kazutoshi Mori of Kyoto University,

Japan
ARGENTINA
On Sep 10, authorities in Argentina
moved to stop any more kids being
called 'Messi' amid concerns that the
situation could get out of control.
Parents who wish to name their
children after Barcelona star Lionel
Messi will now be prohibited from
doing so in his home city.
CULLINAN, SOUTH AFRICA
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On Sep 09, a 232-carat white
diamond worth as much as $20 million
was discovered in Cullinan, east of
Pretoria at a South African mine famed
for its big-gem finds.
World in Focus (Sep-Oct 2014)
MCQs
CSS Interview Special
Saturday, November 01, 2014
National
Sep 16: Angry passengers of a PIA
aircraft forced two late-arriving
politicians Senator Rehman Malik
and MNA Dr Ramesh Vankwani to
get off the plane because they had
caused a flight delay of an hour and
45 minutes.
Sep 16: The Islamabad police
registered a criminal case against
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, some
federal ministers and police officials
under an order issued by a district and
sessions court.
Sep 16: Launching the first heritage
preservation project in Sindh, US
Ambassador Richard G. Olson
announced that more than $260,000
would be spent on the restoration of
400-year-old tombs of Mir Sultan
Ibrahim (1556-1592 AD), the ruler of
the Turkhan dynasty, and Amir Sultan
Muhammad at the Makli necropolis,
one of the largest cemeteries in the
world.
The US envoy also announced the

launch of US 'Ambassador's Fund for
Culture Preservation (AFCP)'.
Sep 17: The ECP granted PTI chief
Imran Khan's request to inspect the
electoral record of NA-122 Lahore; the
constituency where he lost to National
Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.
Sep 18: Unidentified gunmen shot
dead Dr Muhammad Shakeel Auj, the
dean of Karachi University's faculty of
Islamic Studies.
Sep 19: The UNDP released its 2014
Human Development Index (HDI) that
values for 187 countries and UNrecognised territories, ranking the
countries in terms of economic and
human development indicators. The
report said that growth in value of the
Human Development Index (HDI) for
Pakistan has almost stagnated over
the last five years as it stood at 146th
position among 187 countries.
Andre Franche, the country director of
the UNDP, said the rising or stagnating
income and educational inequality at
the global level had contributed to the
slow growth in human development.
Sep 19: Anwar Ahmed, judge of an
accountability court in Rawalpindi,
cleared Mian Nawaz Sharif in two
corruption references by rejecting a
NAB application for reopening of
Hudaibiya Paper Mills and Raiwind
Assets references.
Sep 19: An ordinance promulgated by
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Acting Governor Rana Iqbal abolished
the warring Punjab Textbook Board
and the Punjab Curriculum Authority,
merging their functions into a new
Punjab Curriculum and Textbook
Board.
Sep 19: WAPDA signed a joint venture
project contract with Sinohydro and
Hajvairy Group worth Rs.14.544 billion
for the construction of civil works for
Keyal Khwar Hydropower Project.
Sep 22: The federal cabinet decided
to lift a ban on government jobs, to
disburse Rs. 25,000 to each family
affected by floods before Eidul Azha,
and provide temporary relief to power
consumers who over-billed recently.
Sep 22: The Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) tacitly held returning
officers (ROs) responsible for the mess
created in various constituencies in
the General Elections 2013.
Sep 23: A multi-party conference
titled 'Administrative provinces and
demand for dividing Sindh is a
conspiracy against Sindh, country and
peace, rejected a call of the MQM to
create more administrative units in
Sindh.
The conference was jointly organised
by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan and the
Qaumi Awami Tehreek.
Sep 24: President Mamnoon Hussain
signed Gas Infrastructure
Development Cess (GIDC) Ordinance
2014 to provide a legal cover to gas
cess collection for infrastructural

development.
The ordinance will enable the
government to continue collecting the
gas infrastructure development cess
(GIDC) from the consumers after the
Supreme Court had refused to give a
legal cover to the cess collection.
Sep 25: The Supreme Court of
Pakistan restored the National
Assembly (NA) membership of Khalid
Hussain Magsi of the PML-N on an
interim basis.
Sep 26: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
told the 69th session of the UN
General Assembly that he had been
disappointed by India's decision to
cancel foreign secretary-level talks
with Pakistan.
In a speech that showed greater
emphasis on the Kashmir dispute than
seen during the last six years. He also
reminded the world body that it had
left the Kashmir issue unresolved for
decades.
Sep 26: The Sindh government
regularised the services of over
24,000 lady health workers.
Sep 26: Pakistan successfully testfired the short range, surface-tosurface Hatf IX (Nasr) missile. The test
was conducted with successive launch
of four missiles from multi-tube
launcher with salvo mode.
With a range of 60km and in-flight
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manoeuvring capability, Nasr is a
quick-response system with shoot and
scoot attributes. It contributes to the
full spectrum deterrence against the
prevailing threat spectrum.
Sep 26: The US government will
provide $41.8 million to improve
Pakistan's law-enforcement capability,
fight narcotics trafficking and reform
its criminal justice system.
A bilateral assistance agreement to
this effect was signed by US
Ambassador Richard Olson and
Economic Affairs Division Secretary
Mohammad Saleem Sethi.
Sep 26: An investigative reporter
Umar Cheema won Coalition on Right
to Information's RTI Annual Champion
Award for his efforts to promote right
to information through investigative
reporting. In citizen's category,
Sabahat Ghaznavi won the 1st Annual
Champion Award. He was given award
on first known case of citizen using KP
RTI law for getting job.
In organizations category, Centre for
Governance and Public Accountability
won the CRTI-RTI Annual Champion
Award. CGPA has not only been
advocating for RTI law for Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, but it has also
submitted 143 information requests to
contribute to the implementation of
this law.
Sep 26: Irfan Qaisar Sheikh was
posted as Chairperson Punjab
Technical Education and Vocational
Training Authority (TEVTA).

Sep 27: The Pakistan Navy
successfully performed a live-fire
demonstration of torpedo and antiship guided missiles during testing
operations in the northern Arabian
Sea. The demonstration coincided with
the start of joint exercises with the
Chinese Navy near Karachi.
Sep 28: Outgoing Afghan President
Hamid Karzai ordered the release of
Pakistani reporter Faizullah Khan who
was arrested in eastern Nangarhar
province a few months back.
Sep 29: The Punjab University and
the Pakistan Red Crescent Society
signed a memorandum of
understanding to develop a volunteer
force from university students.
Sep 29: An Election Tribunal denotified an MNA of PML-N, Dewan
Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, elected from
NA-153, Jalalpur for having a fake
degree.
Sep 29: US prosecutors indicted a
Pakistani man, Hammad Akbar, for
marketing a Stealth Genie application
that could be used to secretly spy on
calls, texts, and other activity on
Smartphone.
This was the first ever criminal case
centered on the advertisement and
sale of an app tailored to spy on
Smartphone.
Sep 30: The Balochistan High Court
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restrained the Chairman of the
Balochistan Public Service
Commission, Ashraf Magsi, from taking
part in interviews for jobs in
government departments.
Sep 30: The Balochistan Assembly
passed a resolution unanimously
seeking the return of Khan of Kalat
Agha Suleman Daud. The resolution
was tabled by Sardar Abdul Rehman
Khetran of the JUI-F.
Oct 01: Veteran politician Javed
Hashmi announced his resignation as
the president and member of the PTI,
in protest against what he called
undemocratic attitude of its chairman,
Imran Khan.
Oct 01: Pakistan ranks 62nd in the
foreign direct investment friendly
countries but it does not reflect its
potential and available resources,
necessitating a comprehensive
strategy to overcome low local and
foreign investment phenomenon.
Oct 01: Indonesian government
conferred the highest Military Awards
of 'Bintang Jalsena Utama and Bintang
Yudha Dharma Utama' on Chief of
Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Asif
Sandila, in recognition of his
meritorious services and significant
contribution in strengthening ties
between the naval forces of Indonesia
and Pakistan.
Oct 02: Pakistan cautiously welcomed
the signing of the Bilateral Security
Agreement (BSA) by Afghanistan and
the United States after the latter

clarified that counterterrorism
operations under the agreement would
be restricted to within Afghan borders.
Oct 02: All decimal coins of paisa
1,2,5,10,25 and 50 ceased to be a
legal tender from October 1, 2014.
However, Rs1 and above
denomination coins would remain
legal tender.
Oct 02: The economic coordination
committee (ECC) accorded approval to
the strategic Gwadar LNG terminal
along with 711 kilometres pipeline up
to Nawabshah.
Oct 03: Pakistan broke its 13-year-old
record of polio cases with the
confirmation of eight more cases,
raising this year's count to 202. In
2000, 199 cases were recorded.
Oct 04: Pakistan and Australia signed
an MoU, agreeing to take every
possible step in increasing the
bilateral trade volume to $1 billion by
next year.
The MoU was signed in the Australian
Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade (DFAT) Canberra on the sidelines
of Australia-Pakistan Joint Trade
Committee (JTC) meeting. Pakistan
delegation was led by Ministry of
Commerce Secretary Muhammad
Shehzad Arbab.
Oct 04: The national technical focal
person of the Prime Minister's Polio
Monitoring and Coordination Cell Dr
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Altaf Bosan was removed from his
position and was replaced by Dr Umar
Qadir Baloch, brother of Federal
Minister Abdul Qadir Baloch and a
senior grade 21 officer.
70,000 people, which makes it the

world's 7th largest mosque.
Additionally, the indoor capacity of
25,000 people makes it the largest
mosque in Pakistan.
Oct 08: Tensions between Pakistan

and India simmered over Eid holidays
as clashes along the Line of Control
(LoC) and Working Boundary (WB) left
10 people dead on the Pakistani side.
Oct 08: A murder case was registered

against the eldest son of Pakistan's
former prime minister Yousaf Raza
Gilani after his gunmen opened fire at
two young men for accidently hitting
the politician's SUV with their
motorcycle in the city's Defence area,
killing one of them.
Oct 08: Chief of the Army Staff Gen

Raheel Sharif announced a Fata Youth
Package under which 14,000 youths
from the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas will be inducted into the army
over five years.
Oct 08: US officials and investors
pledged support for the 4,500MW
Diamer-Bhasha dam, calling it
Pakistan's smartest choice for
economic development.
Oct 08: Admiral Muhammad
Zakaullah was sworn in as Chief of the
Naval Staff at a change-of-command
ceremony held at the PNS Zafar Naval
Complex.
Admiral Sandila formally handed over
the command of the Pakistan Navy by
presenting the traditional scroll to
Admiral Zakaullah.
Oct 08: Grand Jamia Mosque in Bahria
Town Lahore, completed at the cost of
about Rs4 billion, opened its doors for
Eidul Azha prayers. This masterpiece
of indigenous Pakistani architecture
has a capacity to accommodate
Oct 09: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

visited a bazaar in North Waziristan's
Miramshah town where he saw the
militant hideouts destroyed during the
Zarb-i-Azb military operation.
Oct 10: Education activist Malala
Yousufzai and Indian campaigner
against child trafficking and labour
Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel
Peace Prize. Malala, aged 17, became
the youngest Nobel Prize winner.
Oct 10: Over 200 Parliamentarians
from 53 countries of the
Commonwealth unanimously chose
Pakistan as the venue of 61st
Conference of Commonwealth
Parliamentary Assembly (CPA) in
Yaounde, Cameroon at the concluding
plenary of the 60th CPA.
Oct 11: Pakistan and Afghanistan
signed an agreement to set electricity
transit fees from Central Asia to South
Asia. The two sides agreed to a price
of 1.25 cents per kilowatt.
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The agreement also establishes

commercial arrangements for 1,300
megawatts of sustainable regional
electricity trade between Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan as
part of the Central Asia South Asia
Electricity Transmission and Trade
Project.
Oct 13: As India continued ceasefire
violations along the Line of Control
(LoC), the Foreign Office asked five
permanent members of the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) to use
their good offices to secure an end to
hostilities and for resumption of stalled
peace dialogue with New Delhi.
Oct 13: A 45-metre-long and 10metre-deep tunnel being built just a
few metres from the Karachi Central
Jail to spring 100 'dangerous militants'
was discovered in a house situated in
a neighbouring locality.
Oct 13: The Pakistan International
Airlines received two Airbus A -320
aircraft obtained on wet lease from the
Air VIA-Bulgarian Airways at Jinnah
International Airport.
Oct 13: The ground-breaking
ceremony of the Pakistan Housing
Project for the rehabilitation of waraffected homeless people of the
Northern Province of Sri Lanka was
held in Puthukkudiyiruppu village of
Mannar town.
The High Commissioner of Pakistan in
Sri Lanka, retired Maj Gen Qasim
Qureshi, Sri Lankan Minister for

Economic Affairs Basil Rajapaksa,
Minister for Industry and Commerce
Rishad Bathiudeen and Northern
Province Governor retired Maj Gen
G.A. Chandrasiri laid the foundation
stone of the project.
Oct 13: The Lahore High Court
directed the federal government to
submit details of expenses incurred
during the recent visit of PM Nawaz
Sharif, his family and personal
servants to New York.
Oct 13: The charge of law and
parliamentary affairs Punjab was
withdrawn from Rana Mashhood.
Oct 14: Military officials of Pakistan
and India spoke over hotline about the
aggravating situation on the Line of
Control and Working Boundary (WB) as
UN military observers visited the areas
hit by Indian shelling and the
Islamabad-based diplomatic corps was
briefed at the Foreign Office.
Oct 14: Six leading militants of the
outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan,
including its spokesman Shahidullah
Shahid, announced their allegiance to
Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi, the chief of
the Islamic State (IS).
Oct 15: The Punjab Assembly was
ranked at the bottom among the four
provincial legislatures in a study
conducted by PILDAT about the
working of the houses during the first
parliamentary year (June 2013-May
2014).
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The Sindh Assembly topped the

comparative performance analysis
with a score of 68 out of 100, followed
by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (67),
Balochistan (60) and Punjab with 58.
Oct 15: An accounts group
probationer, Nabiha Chaudhry, was
found burned to death in her hostel
room at the Audit and Accounts
Training Institute in Gulberg, Lahore.
Education
Sep 17: The US government launched
the second phase of its Merit and
Needs Based Scholarship Programme
which would benefit 3,000 talented
students in need of financial
assistance to pursue higher education.
The launch of new phase of the
programme funded by the US Agency
for International Development (USAID)
was announced by Gregory Gottlieb,
the mission director of USAID Pakistan,
at a ceremony which was also
attended by Minister for Planning and
Development, Ahsan Iqbal, Executive
Director of the Higher Education
Commission (HEC) Prof Mukhtar
Ahmad and vice chancellors of partner
universities.
merit-based admission policy for

medical colleges and instead reserved
50 per cent seats for boys and the
other 50 per cent for girls.
Oct 05: Punjab University (PU) Library
in collaboration with the Chinese
Educational Publications Import and
Export Corporation Ltd. established
Chinese Corner in the PU Library.
Oct 09: Federal Public Service
Commission (FPSC) announced to hold
CSS Competitive Examination-2015 for
recruitment to posts in BS-17 in
occupational groups and services
under the Federal Government with
effect from February 2015.
Oct 15: Federal Public Service
Commission (FBSC) announced result
of Competitive Examination (CSS)
2014 whereby 439 candidates
qualified in the written part of CSS
Competitive Examination out of 13170
candidates appeared.
Economy
Sep 18: Pakistan's tax authorities
signed an MoU with UK to identify and
nab rampant tax evaders by building
up capacity of Federal Board of
Revenue (FBR).
A total of 1,807 scholarships were

awarded under the first phase of the
programme and more than 1,300
students have already obtained their
undergraduate and graduate degrees.
Oct 13: European Union (EU) removed

the yellow flag on Pakistani mangoes.
The fruit was put under scrutiny at the
beginning of this mango season.
Sep 26: The Pakistan Medical and

Dental Council (PMDC) abolished
Oct 14: Pakistan Petroleum Limited

announced another discovery of gas
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and condensate in Sindh. The
discovery was made from exploratory
well Kinza X-1 in Sanghar district.
Transfers & Appointments
Sep 18: Maj Gen Bilal Akbar took over
as the 12th director general of
Pakistan Rangers, Sindh.
Sep 22: The government appointed Lt
Gen Rizwan Akhtar as next chief of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). He will
take charge when his predecessor Lt
Gen Zaheerul Islam retires on
November 7.
Sep 24: President Mamnoon Hussain
on the advice of the prime minister,
approved the appointment of Arshad
Bhatti, former federal secretary
Punjab, Syed Arshad Ali, former
federal secretary Sindh, Qazi Afaq
Hussain, former additional secretary
Punjab and Syed Rafique Hussain Shah
retired district & sessions judge KP, as
Federal Services Tribunal members.
Sep 25: The PML-N government
posted Arif Ahmed Khan, an additional
secretary, as Member (Oil), Oil and
Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA), on a
temporary basis, and extended
contracts of Managing Director SNGPL,
Arif Hameed, and MD of the PSO,
Amjad Pervez Janjua.
Sep 26: Deputy Secretary
Establishment Division, Islamabad,
Munir Jan Baloch, was appointed
Director General Planning and
Development of Gwadar Port.
Sep 27: Khalid Mahmood, a professor

of the Dayal Singh College, Lahore,
was appointed as Secretary Board of
Intermediate and Secondary Education
(BISE), Rawalpindi.
Oct 02: The government appointed
Vice Admiral Mohammad Zakaullah as
the next chief of naval staff. He will
succeed Admiral Mohammad Asif
Sandila.
Sports
Sep 18: Former champion Mohammad
Sajjad of Punjab recaptured the title of
the sixth National Bank of Pakistan
(NBP) Ranking Snooker Championship.
Sep 23: Pakistan's wait for a medal at
the Asian Games finally came to an
end when Syed Maratib Ali Shah won
the bronze medal in the Wushu
competition in the 17th Asian Games
in Incheon.
Sep 26: Pakistan retained their gold
medal in the Asian Games women's
Twenty20 cricket tournament,
overpowering Bangladesh by four
runs.
Sep 28: Peshawar Panthers added a
new chapter in the Pakistan T20
cricket history by annexing their
maiden national title after outgunning
Lahore Lions in final.
Oct 02: Pakistan's top pugilist
Mohammad Waseem ended up
securing a bronze medal after being
out-boxed in the final of his flyweight
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Obituaries
Sep 23: Former international athlete
and retired Deputy Superintendent of
Police Syed Abid Hussain died. He was
72.
Oct 04: Najeebullah Khan Niazi, an
MPA from PP-49 in Bhakkar, died of a
cardiac arrest.
division bout by Shakhobidin Zoirov of

Uzbekistan at the Asian Games at
Seohnak Gymnasium.
Oct 05: Australia beat Pakistan by six
wickets to win the one-off Twenty20
international.
Oct 11: Pakistan qualified for next
year's Polo World Cup after beating
archrivals India in a play-off match
held in Tianjin, China.
Oct 12: Australia beat Pakistan in the
third and final one-day international
against to clinch the series 3-0.
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Oct 09: Saeed Hasan Shah, a former
Pakistan Table Tennis Federation
(PTTF) president, died in Lahore. He
was 80.
Places in News
Paris, France
Sept 16: The 35th edition of Texworld
was held in Paris, in which 881
exhibitors from all over the world,
including China, Pakistan, Thailand,
India, Indonesia, Turkey and
Bangladesh participated. The Trade
Development Authority of Pakistan
(TDAP) has arranged national pavilion
in the exhibition.
Oct 13: The three-day International
Gender Responsive Policing (GRP)
Conference kicked off at a local hotel
in Islamabad with the theme that the
GRP can foster peaceful societies.
The police officers participating from
20 OIC countries along with
international human rights activists,
philanthropists and gender experts
emphasized on the need to have a
gender sensitized police.
People in News
Maulvi Agha Muhammad
On Sep 16, The Election Commission
of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified the
membership of a JUI-F MNA Maulvi
Agha Muhammad in a fake degree
case. He was elected from NA-261
Pishin-Ziarat.
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Malik Mumtaz Khan

On Sep 18, the Rural Media Network
Pakistan (RMNP) awarded its 2014
Sadiq Press Freedom Award, supported
by the World Association of
Newspapers and News Publishers
(WAN-IFRA), to slain journalist Malik
Mumtaz Khan.
Intizar Husain
On Sep 20, veteran short story writer,
novelist, journalist and poet Intizar
Husain was conferred upon the 'Officer
of the Order of Arts and Letters' by the
French Ambassador to Pakistan
Philppe Thiebaud in recognition of his
huge contribution to Urdu literature.
He is the first Pakistani writer who has
been given this award by France.
SM Tanveer
On Sep 22, SM Tanveer was elected
unopposed as central chairman of All
Pakistan Textile Mills Association
(APTMA) for the year 2014-15.
On Sep 25, renowned Punjabi poet

and short story writer from Pakistan,
Zubair Ahmad's book of short stories
'Kabooter, Banaire te Galiaan' in
Punjabi, won the first-ever prestigious
Canadian Literary Prize 'Dahan
International Punjabi Literature Prize.'
Irfan Hassan
Irfan Hassan, of Nankana Sahib, was
awarded a gold medal as he topped
the MBA department of the
Government College University,
Faisalabad. Irfan had to abandon his
studies twice because of financial
constraints, but he never lost heart
and fulfilled the dreams of his poor
parents.
Asma Jahangir
On Sep 30, leading human rights
activist Asma Jahangir was conferred
with the highest French award,
'Officier de la Lgion d'Honneur', by
the French Ambassador to Pakistan
Philippe Thiebaud for her excellent
role in protecting the rights of women
and minorities.
Zarar Sehgal
Rafay Baloch
On Sep 25, Zarar Sehgal, a New Yorkbased Pakistani American attorney,
was declared as Lawyer of the Year
for Team of the Year 2014 in Asset
Finance and Leasing category by Legal
500, the world's largest legal referral
firm.
Zubair Ahmad
A 21-year-old Pakistani security

researcher, Rafay Baloch, helped
Google fix a major security flaw in its
Android operating system for
smartphones, protecting the personal
data of millions of smartphone users
across the world.
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Rafay is a professional penetration
tester and author of the book 'Ethical
Hacking and Penetration Testing
Guide', identified a major vulnerability
in the Android Open Source Platform
(AOSP) Browser.
International
Sep 16: Sweden's Social Democratic
party, which ended its longest spell in
opposition in a century, formed a weak
minority government. Stefan Lfven,
the incoming prime minister, insisted
the new government would be
functional.
Sep 16: The number of hungry people
in the world has dropped by 100
million over the last 10 years but one
in nine are still undernourished, with
Asia home to the majority of the
underfed, the UN said.
The UN's food agencies said the global
number was down over 200 million
since the early 1990s, but warned that
despite the progress made, about
805 million people in the world, or one
in nine, suffer from hunger.
Sep 16: Ukraine ratified a sweeping
agreement with the European Union
and sought to blunt the independence
drive of Russia-backed separatists by
offering them temporary and limited
self-rule.
included both India and Pakistan
among 22 major illicit drug producing
or drug-transit countries. Afghanistan
is also on the list.

Of these 22, three countries Bolivia,
Myanmar and Venezuela are on a list
of those who can face US sanctions.
Sep 17: Panama may be the happiest
country in the world, racking up the
highest score in the Gallup-Healthways
Global Well-Being Index for 2013.
In contrast, conflict-afflicted countries
such as Syria and Afghanistan showed
the lowest scores in the survey of 135
came in at number 14 in the poll.
Sep 17: Recognising The 11th Hour
(2007) star's contribution to salvaging
the environment, the United Nations
named Leonardo DiCaprio a
Messenger of Peace.
Sep 18: The US intelligence chief
warned that a group of fighters trained
in Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as
the Khorasan Group, was emerging as
another major security threat rivalled
the threat posed by the Islamic State.
Sep 18: The United States will provide
$46 million in new security assistance
to Ukraine's military but stop short of
fulfilling an urgent request from
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko
for lethal aid to help his country fight
Russia-backed separatists.
Sep 19: Scots rejected independence
in a referendum that left the centuriesold United Kingdom intact but headed
for a major shake-up that will give
more autonomy to both Scotland and
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England.
Despite a surge in nationalist support
in the final fortnight of the campaign,
the No secured 55.3 per cent of the
vote against 44.7 per cent for the proindependence Yes camp.
Sep 19: Both chambers of the US
Congress authorised President Barack
Obama to arm and train moderate
rebels in Syria to fight Islamic State
militants. The Senate approved a $1
trillion government-funding bill that
gives the president new authority to
battle the IS.
Sep 19: French jets carried out their
first air strike against Islamic State
militants in Iraq.
Sep 19: Pronouncing foreign leaders'
names is a headache for newsreaders
the world over but it proved the
downfall of one Indian news-caster,
who mistook the visiting Chinese
president's name for the Roman
numeral XI, calling him Eleven
Jinping on air.
Sep 20: New Zealand's ruling National
Party stormed to a third term in
government in the country's general
election. Prime Minister John Key's
centre-right party won 48.1 per cent of
the vote, translating into 61 of 121
parliamentary seats.
Sep 20: The rival candidates in
Afghanistan's messy election for a new
president finally struck a powersharing deal.
Sep 20: The US Department approved

the sale of 160 mine-resistant ambush
protected (MRAP) vehicles to Pakistan
at an estimated cost of $198 million.
Sep 21: Former finance minister
Ashraf Ghani was declared
Afghanistan's next president, hours
after signing a power-sharing deal with
his rival Abdullah Abdullah that ended
a prolonged standoff over the disputed
result.
Sep 21: Secretary-General Ban Kimoon and UN's Women Global
Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson
launched a large solidarity movement
in New York with strong calls on men
and boys worldwide to raise their
voice for gender equality and women's
empowerment.
Sep 21: Rival groups in Yemen signed
a UN-brokered peace deal after Shia
rebels seized the government
headquarters and the prime minister
resigned in the face of raging violence.
Sep 22: Poland's president swore in

the government of incoming Prime
Minister Ewa Kopacz and called on her
to prepare the nation for a debate on
adopting the euro.
Sep 23: The United States and its
Arab allies bombed Syria for the first
time, killing scores of Islamic State (IS)
fighters and members of a separate Al
Qaeda-linked group, opening a new
front against militants by joining
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Syria's three-year-old civil war.
Sep 23: A US court sentenced Osama
bin Laden's son-in-law and former AlQaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu
Ghaith to life in prison.
Sep 23: A prominent academic from
China's mostly-Muslim Uighur
minority, Ilham Tohti, was jailed for life
for separatism. The EU, United
States and human rights groups had
all been calling for the release of Ilham
Tohti, a persistent but moderate
government critic who campaigned for
minority rights in the vast western
region.
Sep 23: The Turkish government
announced to lift a ban on female
students wearing the Islamic
headscarf at high school.
Sep 24: India's top court cancelled
more than 200 government permits
for coal mines and handed down fines
worth hundreds of millions of dollars to
companies after the licensing process
was deemed illegal.
Sep 24: Muslim cleric Abu Qatada
walked free form a Jordanian jail after
being cleared of charges of conspiring
in a plot to attack tourists.
meeting presided over by President

Barack Obama, unanimously adopted
a resolution, calling for a crackdown
on the flow of foreign fighters to
militants organisations such as ISIS.
Sep 24: British Prime Minister David
Cameron held talks with Iran's
President Hassan Rouhani at the
United Nations, the first meeting
between the countries' leaders since
the 1979 Revolution.
The meeting took place at the British
mission office at the United Nations.
Sep 25: India's ruling party severed
ties of 25 years with its far-right ally,
Shiv Sena, after days of bickering over
seat-sharing in elections in the
western state of Maharashtra.
Sep 25: The United States placed key
members of the Islamic State group on
a list of specially designated global
terrorists. Top on the list are two IS
leaders Amru al-Absi and Salim
Benghalem.
The designation targets terrorists,
their supporters and acts of terrorism
and came hours after the UN Security
Council adopted a resolution to
prevent foreign fighters from joining
militant groups.
Sep 24: India won Asia's race to Mars

when its unmanned Mangalyaan
spacecraft successfully entered the
planet's orbit after a 10-month journey
on a tiny budget.
Sep 25: Rival Palestinian factions

Hamas and Fatah reached an
agreement for the return of their unity
government to Gaza.
Sep 24: The UN Security Council, at a
Sep 26: The UN Human Rights
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Council passed a resolution
condemning so-called vulture funds
like the ones pursuing Buenos Aires for
payment on the Argentine bonds they
hold.
Sep 26: The European Union's recent
decision to appoint a special
ambassador accredited to the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) was seen as a welcome and
long-awaited step forward in the EU's
relations with one of the world's most
dynamic and rapidly growing regions.
As a statement by the European
External Action Service the EU's
foreign ministry underlined, the
important decision reflects Europe's
growing engagement with Asean and
an ambition to upgrade the existing
partnership with the Southeast Asian
countries grouping to a strategic one.
Sep 26: British Parliament gave
approval by 524 votes to 43 for Britain
to join the US-led coalition in airstrikes
against Islamic State (IS) fighters in
Iraq.
Labour MP Rushanara Ali immediately
resigned from the party's front bench
after the result was announced.
Sep 27: Catalonia's president, Artur
Mas i Gavarr, formally called a
referendum to be held on
November 9 to decide whether
Spain's richest region should be
independent.
Sep 27: The chief minister of India's
Tamil Nadu state, Jayalalithaa Jayaram,

was sentenced to four years in Jail in a
high-profile corruption case that has
lasted nearly two decades.
A special court in the southern state of
Karnataka found Jayalalithaa guilty of
disproportionately amassing about
Rs530 million ($8.7m) outside her
known sources of income.
Sep 28: Spanish director Carlos
Vermut's film Magical Girl, about a
father who tries to fulfil the last wish
of his ailing daughter, won the prize
for best movie at this year's San
Sebastian film festival. Vermut also
took the best director prize for the
movie.
Sep 28: Libya's Prime Minister
Abdullah al-Thani and his cabinet took
the oath of office after lawmakers
approved the line-up.
Sep 28: Russia successfully launched
a Proton-M rocket carrying a satellite
into orbit in the first such launch since
one of the rockets fell back to Earth
soon after liftoff in May.
Sep 29: The Philippine and the US
marines began military exercises close
to flashpoints in the South China Sea,
where Beijing is involved in bitter
territorial disputes with its neighbours.
The 12-day amphibious landing
exercises involving about 3,500 US
marines and sailors and 1,200 Filipino
counterparts were officially launched
from the Philippines' western island of
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Palawan facing the South China Sea.
Sep 29: Afghanistan inaugurated its
first new president in a decade,
swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani to
head a power-sharing government.
Mr Abdullah Abdullah took over as
country's CEO.
Sep 29: Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian
counterpart, Narendra Modi, pledged
to boost cooperation in the most
substantive interaction between the
two countries' leaders in 11 years.
Sep 30: Officials from Afghanistan
and the United States signed a longdelayed bilateral security agreement
to allow American troops to stay in the
country after the end of the year
2014, fulfilling a campaign promise by
new President Ashraf Ghani.
Afghan National Security Adviser Hanif
Atmar and US Ambassador James
Cunningham signed the BSA.
Sep 30: The world's first interactive
microbe zoo, Micropia museum,
opened in Amsterdam, shining new
light on the tiny creatures that make
up two-thirds of all living matter and
are vital for our planet's future.
and Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi coined a Hindi phrase chalein
saath saath as the central premise of
a defining 21st century partnership
between their countries.
Oct 01: Moscow and Kazakhstan

initialled an agreement on jointly
building and operating what would
become Kazakhstan's only nuclear
power plant.
Oct 01: Former Norwegian Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg took over as
the 13th Secretary General of North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato).
Oct 02: The gap between the haves
and the have-nots globally is now at
the same level as in the 1820s, the
OECD said, warning it was one of the
most worrying developments over
the past 200 years.
In a major report on global well-being
over the past two centuries, the
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD)
noted inequality shot up after
globalisation took root in the 1980s.
Oct 02: France declared
Independence from the European
Union's austerity-budget regime.
Oct 03: A stampede at Dussehra, a
popular Hindu festival, in the city of
Patna in eastern India left 32 people
dead.
Oct 03: Sweden would recognise a
new Palestinian state, the Nordic
country's new Prime Minister Stefan
Lfven said, underlining his support for
a two-state solution to the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.
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Oct 04: Latvia's ruling centre-right
coalition led by Prime Minister
Laimdota Straujuma scored a
resounding majority in elections.
Oct 08: If countries do not take urgent
steps to stop ocean acidification, the
global economy could be losing as
much as $1 trillion a year by the end
of the century, a United Nations report
said.
The report, an updated synthesis of
the Impact of Ocean Acidification on
Marine Biodiversity, was issued by the
Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) at the 12th meeting of the
Conference of the Parties to the CBD.
Oct 08: Facebook is officially the
owner of WhatsApp, after the
acquisition was finalised. The deal
price has risen from $19 billion to
$21.8 billion.
Oct 09: A federal judge in New York
rejected a bid by Aafia Siddiqui to
have her conviction for shooting at
American soldiers overturned.
Judge Richard Berman issued the
ruling.
Oct 10: Britain's anti-EU UK
Independence Party won its first seat
in the House of Commons.
Oct 10: A Japanese court ordered
Google to delete search results linking
the claimant to a crime he did not
commit, the latest in a series of rulings
around the world on what search
engines should tell users.

Oct 11: Greek Prime Minister Antonis
Samaras comfortably won a
confidence vote aimed at rallying
support for his plan to abandon a
widely-reviled EU/IMF aid package.
Oct 12: Russian President Vladimir
Putin ordered thousands of troops to
withdraw from the border with Ukraine
ahead of diplomatic talks on bringing
peace to the Western backed, former
Soviet republic.
Oct 13: Russia and China signed 38
energy, trade and finance agreements
proclaimed by Moscow as proof that a
policy turn to Asia is bearing fruit and
will help it to weather Western
sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.
Oct 13: Yemeni President Abdrabuh
Mansur Hadi named Khalid Bahah, a
top diplomat, as country's new
premier. Hadi's nomination appeared
to have the consent of Huthi rebels,
who seized control of much of the
capital Sanaa in a lightning offensive
recently.
Oct 14: British lawmakers voted to
recognise Palestine as a state, a move
that will not alter government policy,
but carries symbolic value, as
Palestinians pursue international
recognition.
Oct 15: Because trans-boundary
animal diseases (TADs) are causing
devastating economic losses in South
Asian countries, the Asian
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Development Bank (ADB) agreed to
establish a framework for improved
cooperation among member states of
the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (Saarc) to
combat the diseases.
Oct 15: A snowstorm and avalanche
in Nepal's Himalayas killed 17 trekkers
and guides nine foreigners and
eight Nepalese on a popular hiking
route, while more than 100 others
remain out of contact.
Oct 15: Australian novelist Richard
Flanagan won the prestigious $79,530
Man Booker prize for literature, for his
novel 'The Narrow Road to the Deep
North', set during the building of the
Thailand-Burma 'Death Railway' in
World War Two.
Economy
Sep 19: Chinese online giant, Alibaba,
made its historic Wall Street trading
debut. Alibaba leapt from an offering
price of $68 to $92.07 in the first
trades, then headed to nearly $100
before settling back at the close to
$93.89, a hefty gain of 38 per cent.
Sep 22: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's
initial public offering now ranks the
world's biggest in history at $25
billion, after the e-commerce giant and
some of its shareholders sold
additional shares.
Sep 23: The European Central Bank
launched the new 10-euro banknote.
The ECB is gradually phasing in new

banknotes to replace those in
circulation since the euro became a
physical currency in January 2002.
Sep 25: China and Spain signed
business deals worth about 3.2 billion
euros ($4bn) during a visit by Spanish
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to the
Asian powerhouse to drum up support
for his country's economy.
Oct 03: Facebook, the world's most
popular social network, gained
European Union clearance for its
proposed $19 billion takeover of
mobile messaging start-up WhatsApp
in a deal setting it against the
telecoms industry.
Sports
Sep 18: Prince Harry, fourth in line to
the British throne, was appointed as
the honorary president of World Cup
Organizers England Rugby 2015.
Sep 19: China's ace, Li Na,
announced her retirement at the age
of 32 marking an end to a career that
brought her nine titles and introduced
tennis to the masses in China. Li is the
first Asian national to win a Grand
Slam singles title.
Sep 20: North Korea's Om Yun Chol
beat his own world record in the men's
56kg clean and jerk by 1kg to grab the
weight-lifting gold. Om, the 2012
Olympic champion and 2013 world
champion, lifted 170kg to earn North
Korea's first gold medal at the Games.
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Om also had a combined total of

298kg to mark an Asian Games record
after lifting 128 kg in the snatch.
Sep 24: Singapore's Joseph Schooling
became the first male Singapore
swimmer to win Asian Games gold
since 1982.
Sep 24: The Qatar women's
basketball team forfeited a game at
the Asian Games after being refused
permission to wear the hijab, saying
they were taking a stand against what
they say is a discriminatory policy
against Muslim women.
Sep 26: A group of international
cricketers set a new record for the
highest-ever match with a lungbusting effort at the top of Kilimanjaro.
The teams, including English bowling

legend Ashley Giles and South African
icon Makhaya Ntini, the country's first
black Test player, trekked to the roof
of Africa before dawn and played ten
overs each of a Twenty20 game before
cloud stopped play.
The game was played at 5,730 metres
(18,910 feet), in the flat crater just
below Kilimanjaro's 5,895-metre
summit.
The standing record for the world's
highest game has been 5,165 metres,
played in the Himalayas at Everest
base camp in Nepal in 2009.
Sep 26: Superheavyweight Olympic

champion Zhou Lulu hoisted the
largest single weight ever by a
woman. She broke Russian Tatiana
Kashrina's world record in the clean
and jerk by 2kg, with 192kg (422lb),
and equalled the Russian's combined
record of 334kg (735lb), both set last
year.
Oct 02: India beat Pakistan in a
penalty shoot-out to win back the
Asian Games hockey title after 16
years and earned direct entry to the
2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Oct 03: Sri Lanka denied Afghanistan
their first ever Asian Games gold
medal as they overcame a batting
slump to win the final by 68 runs.
Oct 05: Chennai Super Kings won the
Champions League T20 final at the M.
Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Oct 05: World number one Novak
Djokovic destroyed Tomas Berdych in a
lop-sided contest to win his fifth China
Open crown. Maria Sharapova
overcame Petra Kvitova in the
women's final.
Oct 09: Former undisputed world
champion Jermain Taylor captured the
International Boxing Federation (IBF)
middleweight title with a unanimous
decision over Australian Sam Soliman.
Oct 12: Marc Marquez retained his
MotoGP title with a fighting second
place finish in the Japanese Grand
Prix.
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Oct 12: Roger Federer edged a

resilient Gilles Simon of France to win
the Shanghai Masters and claim the
81st title of his career.
Oct 12: Lewis Hamilton reeled off his
fourth consecutive victory to extend
his lead in the Formula One drivers'
title race and secure Mercedes'
maiden triumph in the constructors'
championship when he won the
inaugural Russian Grand Prix in
emphatic fashion.
Oct 09: Japan's Kohei Uchimura won a
record-stretching fifth straight allaround title at the world gymnastics
championships in Nanning, China.
Obituaries
Lyubimov founded and headed

Moscow's Taganka Theatre for 50
years, winning worldwide renowned
for his hugely visual and inventive
shows.
Oct 04: Haiti's former dictator JeanClaude Baby Doc Duvalier, who
ruled the impoverished Caribbean
nation from 1971 until his ouster in
1986, died. He was 63.
Oct 08: Tony-winner Geoffrey Holder,
a cultural giant who dazzled fans with
his dancing, acting and art work in a
multifaceted career that spanned over
six decades, died at 84.
Oct 09: Vic Braden, a 1950s tennis
standout who became a top US
instructor, died. He was 85.
Sep 16: Tony Auth, a Pulitzer Prizewinning cartoonist who for more than
40 years drew sharp and often darkly
comic lines of attack across the
spectrum of American life, finding
absurdities in all corners of it, died. He
was 72.
Science
Sep 24: Oleg Ivanovsky, a Russian

engineer in the early years of the
space race who helped design Sputnik,
the first satellite to orbit Earth, and
Vostok 1, the craft that carried the
astronaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in
space, died. He was 92.
The unmanned orbiter has travelled

more than 10 months and 442 million
miles (711 million kilometres) to reach
Mars for a first-of-its kind look at the
planet's upper atmosphere.
Oct 05: Yuri Lyubimov, a director who

dominated Russian theatre for half a
century, died at 97.
Sep 22: Nasa's MAVEN spacecraft

began orbiting Mars, on mission to
study how the Red Planet's climate
changed over time from warm and wet
to cold and dry.
Sep 30: The discovery of a new shape

of brain cell has neuroscientists
scratching their heads over what the
function of these neurons might be.
Though neurons come in different
shapes and sizes, the basic blueprint
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consists of a cell body, from which
protrude spindly appendages called
dendrites and axons. Dendrites are
branchlike structures that receive
signals from other nerve cells and
deliver them to the cell body. The
neuron then processes the signals and
zaps along information to the next cell
via a long projection called the axon.
and Asia were treated to a lunar

eclipse, a celestial show that bathed
the moon in a reddish tint to create a
'blood moon'.
At least, that's how it normally works.

The newly discovered cells have a
different, and until now, unknown
process. In these cells, the signals skip
the cell body altogether, instead
travelling along an axon that projects
directly from one of the dendrites.
People in News
Oct 04: A 36-year-old Swede has

become the world's first woman to
give birth after receiving a womb
transplant, doctors said, describing
the event as a breakthrough for
infertile women.
Because of a genetic condition called
Rokitansky syndrome, the new mother
was born without a womb, although
her ovaries were intact.
The surgeons said the case smashes
through the last major barrier of
female infertility the absence of a
uterus as a result of heredity or
surgical removal for medical reasons.
The replacement organ came from a
61-year-old woman. The organ was
transplanted in a 10-hour operation
last year.
Oct 08: Sky watchers in the Americas
During the total lunar eclipse, light

beams into Earths shadow, filling it
with a coppery glow that gives it a red
hue.
Elizabeth Holmes
America's youngest self-made female
billionaire, 30-year-old Elizabeth
Holmes, was a college dropout. But,
the company she founded has the
potential to change healthcare for
millions of Americans.
Elizabeth Holmes left Stanford
University at 19 with a plan to start
her own company. For money, she
cashed out the funds her parents had
saved for tuition. Now, she counts
billionaire Larry Ellison as an investor
and has former secretaries of state on
her board.
Kjell Stefan Lfven
Kjell Stefan Lfven, the 33rd Prime
Minster of Sweden, had worked as a
welder before becoming an active
trade unionist and rising to lead the
powerful IF Metall from 2006 to 2012.
Jason Isbell
On Sep 18, singer-songwriter Jason
Isbell won artist, album and song of
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the year awards at the Americana
Honors & Awards.
Padmini Prakash
On Sep 20, Lotus News, an Indian
television news station, recruited the
country's first transgender news
anchor, Padmini Prakash, five months
after a court ruled that transgender
people be recognised as a legal third
gender.
Jack Ma
On Sep 23, Jack Ma of e-commerce
giant Alibaba became China's richest
person with a fortune of $25 billion, an
annual wealth ranking for the country
showed.
Ma, who had to persuade friends to
give him $60,000 to start Alibaba just
15 years ago after being rejected by
US venture capitalists, now leads a
company valued at more than $200bn
after listing on the New York Stock
Exchange.
Edward Snowden & Alan
Rusbridger
On Sep 24, the former NSA contactor,
Edward Snowden, won the 2014 Right
Livelihood Award, a Swedish human
rights award sometimes referred to as
the alternative Nobel, for his
disclosures of top secret surveillance
programmes. He split the honorary
portion of the Award with Alan
Rusbridger, editor of British newspaper
The Guardian.
Major Mariam al-Mansouri

On Sep 25, Major Mariam alMansouri, reportedly the first female
UAE pilot of a fighter jet, led United
Arab Emirates air strikes that targeted
Islamic State jihadists in Syria as part
of the US-led campaign against
extremists.
Mansouri graduated from Abu Dhabi's
Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 2007
and is veteran pilot of F-16 warplanes.
Angelina Jolie
On Oct 10, Britain's Queen Elizabeth
made actress Angelina Jolie an
honorary Dame in recognition of her
campaigning to end sexual violence in
war zones and for services to UK
foreign policy.
Places in News
Toronto, Canada
On Sep 16, the Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper and the Aga
Khan IV formally opened the Ismaili
Centre Toronto and Aga Khan Museum.
The projects are intended to foster
knowledge and understanding both
within Muslim societies and between
these societies and other cultures.
New York, USA
The first World Conference on
Indigenous Peoples, a High-level
Plenary meeting of the 69th session of
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the UN General Assembly, was held at
UNHQ in New York from 22nd to 23rd
September, bringing together Heads
of State and Government, Member
States, hundreds of Indigenous
representatives from around the
world, UN agencies and civil society
representatives. It marked the
opening of the UN General Assembly's
annual general debate.
New York, USA
On Sep 23, more than 120 heads of
states and governments, business,
finance and civil society
representatives announced
commitments that will reduce
emissions, enhance resistance to
climate change and mobilise financing
for climate action at the UN Climate
Change Summit opened.
Makkah, Saudi Arabia
On Oct 03, Saudi Arabia's grand mufti
Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh asked
Muslim leaders that they must strike
the enemies of Islam with an iron
hand, in his Haj sermon, in apparent
condemnation of the Islamic State (IS)
group.
MCQs
National
1. Mir Sultan Ibrahim was a ruler of the
Turkhan dynasty which ruled ______,
from 1551 to 1608 AD.
A. Delhi
B. Punjab
C. Sindh
D. Hyderabad
2. On Sep 17, the US launched
'Ambassador's Fund for Culture
Preservation (AFCP)', in ______.
A. Punjab B. Sindh
C. FATA
D. Balochistan
3. On Sep 18, Maj Gen Bilal Akbar took
over as the ______ DG of Pakistan
Rangers, Sindh.
A. 12th
B. 17th
C. 23rd
D. 29th
4. The Country Director of the UNDP in
Pakistan, Marc-Andr Franche, is a
Colombian and ______ national.
A. Australian B. Canadian
C. Serbian D. French
5. On Sep 19, ______ signed a joint
venture project contract with
Sinohydro and Hajvairy Group for the
construction of civil works for Keyal
Khwar Hydropower Project.
A. NEPRA B. Punjab
C. Khyber PK D. WAPDA
Burj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE

On Oct 14, a brand new lounge
located on the 148th floor of the Burj
Khalifa, became the highest manmade observation deck on the planet,
at a staggering 555.7m above ground,
Guinness World Records announced.
6. On Sep 20, veteran short story

writer, novelist, journalist and poet
______ was conferred upon the 'Officer
of the Order of Arts and Letters'.
A. Amjad Islam Amjad
B. Intizar Husain
C. Ataul Haq Qasmi
D. Mushtaq Soofi
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7. The federal cabinet decided to lift a

ban on government jobs on ______.
A. Sep 16 B. Sep 20
C. Sep 21 D. Sep 22
8. On Sep 22, Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar
was appointed as the ______ chief of
the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
A. 17th
B. 19th
C. 21st
D. 24th
9. The Directorate for Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI) was founded in
______.
A. 1947
B. 1948
C. 1952
D. 1956
10. Gas Infrastructure Development
Cess (GIDC) Ordinance 2014 was
promulgated on ______.
A. Sep 20 B. Sep 22
C. Sep 24 D. Sep 26
11. Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif
addresses the 69th session of the UN
General Assembly on ______.
A. Sep 20 B. Sep 22
C. Sep 24 D. Sep 26
12. On Sep 26, the government
appointed ______ as Chairperson
Punjab Technical Education and
Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA).
A. Irfan Qaisar Sheikh
B. Bilal Yasin
C. Rana Sanaullah
D. Dr Tauqeer Shah
13. The Balochistan High Court
restrained the Chairman of the BPSC,
Ashraf Magsi, from taking part in
interviews for jobs in government

departments on ______.
A. Sep 24 B. Sep 26
C. Sep 28 D. Sep 30
14. The present Khan of Kalat is ______.
A. Agha Suleman Daud
B. Mir Shah Nawaz Khan
C. Mir Mohammad Azam Jan
D. Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo
15. Pakistan ranks ______ in the foreign
direct investment friendly countries.
A. 62nd
B. 82nd
C. 112nd D. 162nd
16. On Oct 01, Indonesia conferred the
highest Military Awards 'Bintang
Jalsena Utama and Bintang Yudha
Dharma Utama' on ______.
A. Gen Raheel Sharif
B. Admiral Muhammad Asif
Sandila
C. Admiral Zakaullah
D. Lt. Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha
17. All decimal coins of paisa
legal tender in Pakistan from _______.
A. Sep 28 B. Sep 30
C. Oct 01 D. Oct 15
18. On Oct 04, _______ was appointed
as the national technical focal person
of the Prime Minister's Polio Monitoring
and Coordination Cell.
A. Dr Umar Qadir Baloch
B. Sikandar Hayat Bosan
C. Fawad Hassan Fawad
D. Abdul Qadir Baloch
19. Under the Fata Youth Package
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______ youths from the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas will be
inducted into the army over five years.
A. 10,000 B. 14,000
C. 18,000 D. 25,000
20. Grand Jamia Mosque in Bahria
Town Lahore, completed at the cost of
about Rs4 billion, is the world's ______
largest mosque.
A. 3rd
B. 5th
C. 6th
D. 7th
21. Education activist Malala Yousufzai
became the youngest Nobel Laureate
ever when she won the 2014 Nobel
Peace Prize at the age of ______.
A. 15 years B. 16 years
C. 17 years D. 18 years
22. The 61st Conference of
Commonwealth Parliamentary
Assembly (CPA) will be held in ______.
A. Pakistan B. Bangladesh
C. Malaysia
D. Australia
23. The first electricity ever generated
in the territories we now call Pakistan
was from a microhydel scheme in
______.
A. Zhob
B. Qila Abdullah
C. Abbottabad D. Renala Khurd
24. On Oct 14, the Pakistan Petroleum
Limited announced discovery of gas
and condensate in Sindh's ______
district.
A. Sanghar B. Larkana
C. Thatta D. Badin
International
1. The founder and chairman of the
Aga Khan Development Network,

Prince Shah Karim Al Husseini, a.k.a.
Aga Khan IV, is the ______ hereditary
Imam of the Ismailis.
A. 18th
B. 32nd
C. 42nd
D. 49th
2. On Sep 16, Ukraine ratified a
sweeping agreement with the ______
and offered the separatists temporary
and limited self-rule.
A. Nato
B. EU
C. US
D. Russia
3. According the Gallup-Healthways
Global Well-Being Index for 2013,
______ was declared the happiest
country in the world.
A. Panama B. Denmark
C. Costa Rica D. Austria
4. On Sep 17, the United Nations
named, ______, as a Messenger of
Peace.
A. Jennifer Aniston
B. Angelina Jolie
C. Brad Pitt
D. Leonardo DiCaprio
5. Former UN Secretary General, Dag
Hammarskjold, was killed in a plane
crash outside the Northern Rhodesian
town of Ndola on Sep 17, ______.
A. 1961
B. 1965
C. 1973
D. 1985
6. On Sep 19, the Scots rejected
independence in a referendum with a
'NO' vote of ______.
A. 51.3%
B. 52.3%
C. 53.3%
D. 57.3%
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
7. On Sep 19, the US Senate approved
a $1 trillion government-funding bill
that gives the president new authority
for ______.
A. Homeland Security
B. Combating Taliban
C. UN Fund
D. Battling the IS
8. Premata Aotearoa, the 121-seat
Parliament of New Zealand, is located
in ______.
A. Hokitika B. Auckland
C. Wellington D. Christchurch
9. Afghanistan's former finance
minister Ashraf Ghani was declared
country's next president on ______.
A. Sep 18 B. Sep 19
C. Sep 20 D. Sep 21
10. On Sep 22, ______ president swore
in the government of incoming Prime
Minster Ewa Kopacz.
A. Serbia's B. Poland's
C. Sweden's D. Ukraine's
11. The United States and its Arab
allies bombed Syria for the first time
on ______.
A. Sep 20 B. Sep 22
C. Sep 23 D. Sep 27
12. Nasa's spacecraft that is orbiting
Mars to study how the Red Planet's
climate changed over time is named
______.
A. MAVEN B. Orion
C. MPCV
D. Dawn
13. On Sep 23, a US court sentenced
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin
Laden's ______, to life in prison.

A. Stepbrother B. Nephew
C. Son-in-law D. Brother-in-law
14. India's unmanned spacecraft that
successfully entered the planet's orbit
is named ______.
A. Mangalyaan B. Aryabhata
C. Buddha D. Bhaskara
15. On Sep 24, British Prime Minister
David Cameron held talks with Iran's
President Hassan Rouhani, the first
meeting between the countries'
leaders since ______.
A. 1979
B. 1984
C. 1992
D. 2000
16. Asean consists of ______ members.
A. 8
B. 10
C. 16
D. 18
17. Jayalalithaa Jayaram, who, on Sep
27, was sentenced to four years in Jail
in a high-profile corruption case, is the
chief minister of India's ______ state.
A. Haryana B. Karnataka
C. Maharashtra D. Tamil Nadu
18. On Sep 28, Abdullah al-Thani took
over as the Prime Minister of ______.
A. Bahrain B. Libya
C. Jordan D. Palestine
19. On Sep 29, the Philippine and
______ began military exercises in
country's western island of Palawan
facing the South China Sea.
A. S. Korea B. India
C. US
D. China
20. Afghanistan inaugurated its first
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new president in a decade, Ashraf
Ghani, on ______.
A. Sep 26 B. Sep 27
C. Sep 28 D. Sep 29
21. According to the US-Afghanistan
BSA, ______ American troops shall
remain in Afghanistan after 2014.
A. 9000
B. 9800
C. 10500
D. 15000
22. On Oct 1, ______ and Kazakhstan
initialled an agreement on jointly
building and operating what would
become Kazakhstan's only nuclear
power plant.
A. US
B. Germany
C. Russia D. China
23. On Oct 03, ______ announced that
it would recognise a new Palestinian
state, becoming the first European
country to make such a move.
A. France B. Sweden
C. Germany D. Denmark
24. On Oct 08, Facebook officially
became the owner of ______.
A. Twitter B. Viber
C. Skype
D. WhatsApp
C. Ahmed Hassan Abu Khanir

D. Ali Muhammad Mujawar
27. Man Booker prize for Literature
2014 went to ______.
A. King Kohei
B. Richard Flanagan
C. Jean Tirole
D. Yusuke Tanaka
28. Former Norwegian prime minister,
Jens Stoltenberg, is the ______
Secretary General of North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (Nato).
A. 6th
B. 8th
C. 10th
D. 13th
29. The world's three biggest carbon
polluting nations are ______, the US
and India.
A. UK
B. China
C. Pakistan D. Japan
30. Das Kapital, one of the major
works of the 19th-centruy economist
and philosopher Karl Marx (1818-83),
was published in ______.
A. 1845
B. 1859
C. 1867
D. 1881
Sports
25. On Oct 13, ______ and China signed

38 energy, trade and finance
agreements.
A. India
B. Russia
C. France D. Germany
26. On Oct 13, Yemeni President
Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi named ______
as country's new premier.
A. Khalid Bahah
B. Ali Abdullah Saleh
1. Pakistan's first medal at the 17th

Asian Games was won by ______.
A. Syed Maratib Ali Shah
B. Women's Cricket Team
C. Mohammad Waseem
D. Saeed Hasan Shah
2. First Asian national to win a Grand
Slam singles title is China's ______.
A. Hao Jie B. Ren Jing
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C. Zhu Lin
D. Li Na
3. On Sep 24, women's basketball

team of ______ forfeited a game at the
Asian Games after being refused
permission to wear the hijab
A. Qatar
B. Iran
C. Saudi Arabia D. Malaysia
3. On Sep 26, Pakistan beat ______ to
retain their gold medal in the Asian
Games women's Twenty20 cricket
tournament.
A. Afghanistan B. China
C. Bangladesh D. India
4. On Sep 26, a group of international
cricketers set a new record for the
highest-ever match 5,730 metres
(18,910 feet) at the top of Mount
______.
A. Aconcagua B. Elbrus
C. McKinley D. Kilimanjaro
5. The clean and jerk world record of
192 kilograms is held by ______
weightlifter Zhou Lulu.
A. S. Korean B. Chinese
C. Thai
D. Japanese
6. On Sep 28, ______ won the National
T20 Cup.
A. Peshawar Panthers
B. Lahore Lions
C. Rawalpindi Rams
D. Faisalabad Wolves
7. On Oct 05, ______ won the
Champions League T20 final.
A. Chennai Super Kings
B. Kings XI Punjab
C. Hyderabad Hurricanes
D. Kolkata Knight Riders

8. At present, ______ is the World
number one player of Tennis.
A. Roger Federer
B. Novak
Djokovic
C. Rafael Nadal D. Jermain Taylor
9. Polo World Cup 2015 will be played
in ______.
A. Austria B. China
C. Pakistan D. Nepal
10. Oct 09, ______ Kohei Uchimura won
the fifth straight all-around title at the
World Gymnastics Championships in
Nanning, China.
A. Malaysia's B. China's
C. Thailand's D. Japan's
Obituaries
1. On Sep 16, Tony Auth, a Pulitzer
Prize-winning ______ died.
A. Cartoonist B. Writer
C. Poet
D. Architect
2. Oleg Ivanovsky, a Russian engineer
who helped design Sputnik, the first
satellite to orbit Earth, died on ______.
A. Sep 20 B. Sep 22
C. Sep 24 D. Sep 26
3. Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier,
who died on Oct 4, was the former
dictator of ______.
A. Liberia
B. Ethiopia
C. Haiti
D. Niger
4. Najeebullah Khan Niazi, an MPA
from PP-49, and a cousin of PTI
chairman Imran Khan died on ______.
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A. Oct 4
C. Oct 8
B. Oct 6
D. Oct
World in Focus (Oct-Nov 2014)

MCQs
Economy Special
Monday, December 01, 2014
National
Oct 16: Amir Dogar, a PTI-supported
independent candidate, defeated
Javed Hashmi to win the NA-149 byelection.
Oct 16: The WHO held that Pakistan is
polio cases reported globally.
Oct 17: Germany and the UNDP
pledged 1 million euros for return and
rehabilitation of IDPs of North
Waziristan.
Oct 17: The Senate was informed that
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
(Nato), which has been involved in the
war in Afghanistan for over a decade
now has been using Pakistan's
airspace for free since the
commencement of the war on terror in
2001.
Oct 17: The Senate congratulated
Malala Yousafzai on receiving the
Nobel Peace Prize for her sacrifices for
promotion of peace and education in
the restive areas of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa.
Oct 18: Speaking at a mammoth rally

at Bagh-i-Jinnah, near the mausoleum
of the Quaid-i-Azam, Pakistan Peoples
Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari
outlined a bold and ambitious agenda
for his party and vowed to foil
conspiracies hatched to derail
democracy.
Oct 18: A survey conducted by The
Guide to Sleeping in Airports showed
Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto
International Airport as the world's
worst airport.
The survey says the airport, often
likened to a central prison, can be
aggressive yet inconsistent in its
security checks and crowd control is
often minimal if not entirely absent.
Oct 19: The head office of Edhi
Foundation, country's leading charity
organisation headed by renowned and
widely respected philanthropist Abdul
Sattar Edhi was robbed.
Oct 19: Bullet-riddled bodies of eight
labourers kidnapped from a poultry
farm in Sakran area near the industrial
town of Hub were found. The workers
had come to Hub from Muzffargarh
and Rahimyar Khan in Punjab.
Oct 19: The Muttahida Qaumi
Movement announced to quit the PPPled Sindh government, only six months
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
after having joined it.
Bahauddin Zakariya University.
Oct 19: Pakistan Electronic Media

Regulatory Authority (Pemra) banned
ARY News anchor Mubashir Lucman
and his programme 'Khara Such' till
further orders of the court.
BZU Vice-Chancellor Dr Khawaja

Alqama inaugurated the plant.
Oct 20: The Supreme Court

conditionally allowed the federal
government to transfer its 10 per cent
shares in Oil and Gas Development
Company Limited (OGDCL) to the
successful bidder.
Oct 20: The Sindh Assembly passed
unanimously The Sindh Local
Government (Amendment) Bill, 2014
in pursuance of the Supreme Court
decision to amend the LG law to
empower the Election Commission of
Pakistan to carry out delimitation of
union councils and wards in municipal
committees, town committees and
corporations.
The bill was introduced by
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr
Sikander Mandhro.
Oct 20: The Pemra suspend the
licence of ARY News for 15 days and
imposed a fine of Rs10 million on the
channel for maligning the judiciary.
Oct 20: The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) announced the sacking of
Shahidullah Shahid.
Oct 20: A mineral water plant was
opened at the Food Sciences and
Technology Department of the
Oct 20: The five-year SME

Development Programme 2013-18,
evolved by the Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Authority
(SMEDA) was included in the Federal
Government Vision 2025.
Oct 20: The World Osteoporosis Day
was observed at a ceremony by the
Lahore-based Pakistan Society for the
Rehabilitation of the Disabled.
Oct 20: Centre for Human Rights
Education Pakistan conferred Benazir
Bhutto Shaheed Democracy Award on
politician Javed Hashmi, anchorperson
Sohail Warriach, Jami Chandio, and
columnist Wajahat Masood to
recognize their invaluable services for
the protection and promotion of
democracy in the country.
Oct 20: Centre for Civic Education
conferred the award for social courage
on renowned journalist Hamid Mir as
he raised voice for freedom of media
and human rights.
Oct 21: Pakistan and Russia held the
2nd Round of Bilateral Strategic
Dialogue whereby both countries
agreed to take concrete steps for
injecting substance in the bilateral
relationship.
In this regard, the Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Morgulov Igor
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Vladimirovich called on Mr Sartaj Aziz,
Adviser to the Prime Minister on
National Security and Foreign Affairs,
Syed Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to
the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs
and Mr Aizaz A. Chaudhry, Foreign
Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. They discussed bilateral,
regional and global issues of mutual
interest.
Oct 21: The Pakistan Awami Tehreek
(PAT) chief declared an end to his
party's sit-in on Constitution Avenue,
Islamabad.
Oct 21: The United States designated
Khan Said Sajna, the deputy leader of
outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP), a global terrorist. The
designation list also includes Ramzi
Mawafi, a former physician of Al
Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Oct 21: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif
approved Apna Rozgar Scheme for
the unemployed youth through which
vehicles will be provided to jobless
youth on soft-terms.
complex named after the famous Edhi

couple, who run the country's largest
charity organisation, was inaugurated
at the Sindh Institute of Urology and
Transplantation.
Oct 22: The Punjab Assembly
unanimously adopted resolutions to
condemn Indian aggression on the
Line of Control and Working Boundary
and to pay a tribute to Malala Yusufzai
for earning the Nobel Peace Prize
2014.
Oct 22: Nahid Khan and Dr Safdar
Abbasi launched a new PPP faction
Pakistan People's Party Workers (PPPW).
Mr Abbasi was elected its first
president through a resolution at the
workers convention.
Oct 22: The Muttahida Qaumi
Movement announced to quit the PPPled Azad Jammu and Kashmir
government and also from GilgitBaltistan government.
Oct 22: The Council of Islamic

Ideology recommended a ban on 'hate
speech' which leads to sectarian
violence.
Oct 22: The Sindh High Court (SHC)

allowed the Bahria Town
administration to resume construction
work on a flyover and underpass in
Clifton area of the metropolis.
Oct 22: Officials from border forces of

Pakistan and Iran met in Tehran and
agreed to tighten security along their
border and share intelligence to
maintain peace there.
Oct 22: The Council of Islamic

Ideology (CII) provisionally rejected
the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance
(PPO) and the national security policy
terming both against Shariah.
Oct 22: A transplant operating theatre
Oct 22: United Nations Development
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Programme (UNDP) and International
Labour Organization (ILO) reached an
agreement to train IDPs, who fled their
towns due to ongoing military
operation 'Zarb-e-Azb', in various skills
and facilitate them in getting jobs.
Around 200 men and women will be
selected for this training and
employment programme under the
UNDP's 'Community Resilience Project
for NWA (North Waziristan Agency)
Displaced Families'.
Oct 23: The Prime Minister's
Inspection Commission observed that
distribution companies (Discos) have
installed new metres which run at
least 30-35 per cent faster than the
old ones.
Oct 24: Workers of Pink Ribbon
Campaign and the PHA expressed
solidarity with breast cancer patients
and sensitised the masses about the
hazards of breast cancer by arranging
pink lights at Liberty Market, Lahore
roundabout on occasion of
International Mammogram Day.
Oct 24: Speaking at a ceremony held
in connection with the World Polio day,
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
announced imposing polio emergency
in the country.
Oct 24: The government barred the
Punjab Food Authority (PFA) from
checking the quality of wheat stored
at flour mills and issuing them
licences.
Oct 25: Confirming the worst fears

about the spread of poliovirus from
Pakistan across the globe, the
Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) of
the Global Polio Eradication Initiative
has labelled the country's efforts to
combat the disease as a 'disaster' and
recommended that the polio
programme in Pakistan should be put
in the hands of the National Disaster
Management Authority (NDMA).
Oct 25: Pakistan named a tropical
cyclone that was developing in the
Arabian Sea as 'Nilofar'. Out of the
eight countries of the region, it was
Pakistan's turn to name the cyclone.
Oct 26: A tribal jirga was set up to
arrange talks between the government
and 'Mehsud Taliban'. Ikramuddin,
father-in-law of Baitullah Mehsud,
heads the jirga.
Oct 26: A national TV ratings
provider, Medialogic Pakistan (Pvt)
Ltd., launched a new service in 20
cities covering over 1,000 households
across the country.
Oct 27: The Karachi election tribunal
declared the election of Sardar
Mohammad Muqeem Khan, a Pakistan
Peoples Party candidate to a
Jacobabad provincial assembly seat
(PS-14) void.
Oct 27: Punjab Assembly passed
three bills, including the Local
Government (Second Amendment) Bill
2014 while rejecting all the objections
of opposition benches.
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Oct 27: Pakistan won a seat as

member of the administrative council
of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), the United Nations
specialised agency for information and
communication technologies.
The elections were held during the ITU
Plenipotentiary Conference at Busan,
Republic of Korea.
Oct 28: A stall representing Israel was
set up at the 'Global Village' part of
the Women's International Model
United Nations (WIMUN) 2014, which
was held at International Islamic
University Islamabad (IIUI).
Oct 28: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar
announced a 14-point 'future
roadmap' aimed at achieving over
seven per cent growth by 2018 and
making Pakistan a globally
competitive and prosperous country
with particular emphasis on
macroeconomic stability through
inclusive growth.
Oct 28: Girl's rights champion Malala
Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace
Prize laureate in history, won the
World's Children's Prize, after a global
vote involving millions of children.
Oct 29: The Supreme Court threw out
a set of three petitions, seeking the
annulment of the 2013 general
elections after all three complainants
failed to convince the court after the
day's hearing.
Oct 29: Antiques pertaining to the

Buddha era stolen from Mehrgarh area
of Balochistan were recovered in Italy.
Oct 29: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Assembly passed a resolution to press
the US government for freeing
scientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui declaring
her the 'oppressed daughter of
Pakistan'.
Oct 30: An anti-terrorism court
sentenced Shahid Aziz alias Gullu Butt,
the infamous character of the Model
Town tragedy, to 11 years and three
months in jail.
Oct 30: Burka Avenger, Pakistan's
pioneer 3D Animated TV Series, won
Best TV Show at the Second Asian
Media Awards.
Oct 31: The much feared tropical
cyclone Nilofar almost completed its
cycle without hitting the coastlines of
Pakistan and India.
constituted a special high-powered
committee to examine afresh the
issue of inflated electricity bills.
Oct 31: The government reduced the
prices of petroleum products by up to
11 per cent in view of the declining oil
prices in international market.
Oct 31: Fazal-i-Haq Abbasi of the
Asma Jahangir-led Independent
Democratic Group was elected
President of the Supreme Court Bar
Association for 2014-15.
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Nov 02: A devastating suicide attack

at the entrance of the Wagah border
parade venue killed 60 people,
including 10 women and seven
children, and left more than 110
injured.
Nov 03: Pakistan completed a 356run win over Australia in the second
Test to clinch the series.
Nov 05: President Mamnoon Hussain,
on the advice of the Prime Minister,
approved conferment of Nishan-iImtiaz (Military) Medal upon Admiral
Muhammad Zakaullah, Chief of the
Naval Staff.
Nov 07: Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar took
over as the 21st head of powerful Inter
Services Intelligence (ISI), succeeding
retired Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam.
Nov 08: The Balochistan government
sent a report to the federal
government and law-enforcement
agencies about growing footprint in
Pakistan of the Islamic State (IS)
group, also referred to as 'Daesh'.
Nov 10: Wafaqi Mohtasib Salman
Faruqui announced setting up of a
'National Commission for Children'.
Nov 11: Senator Mir Hasil Khan
Bizenjo was elected as president and
Dr Yasin Baloch as secretary general of
the National Party (NP).
Nov 11: The government appointed
Saud Aziz, a senior official of police
services group who had been under

investigation for a long time in the
assassination case of former prime
minister Benazir Bhutto, as Director
General of the National Crisis
Management Cell.
Nov 12: Maryam Nawaz resigned as
Chairperson of the Prime Minister
Youth Loan Programme, a position she
claimed to have been holding purely
as a volunteer and on an honorary
basis.
Nov 12: Pakistan ranks third in the list
of 15 high burden countries where the
estimated deaths of children by
pneumonia is alarmingly high.
According to the latest report, 71,000
children die of pneumonia every year
in Pakistan. The report says India is at
the top where 174,000 children die
annually followed by Nigeria
(121,000).
Nov 13: The Punjab government
notified a new joint team for
investigating the June 17 killings in
Model Town, about two and a half
months after a sessions court ordered
registration of a fresh FIR on a
complaint of the Pakistan Awami
Tehreek.
Nov 13: Syed Murad Ali Shah, the
former financial adviser to the chief
minister who was elected unopposed
in the by-election from PS -73, was
administered the oath as a minister in
the Sindh cabinet.
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Nov 13: Pakistan conducted a
successful training launch of ShaheenII, also known as Hatf-VI, ballistic
missile.
own and operate the planned 1,800km

Tapi gas pipeline.
The intermediate-range Shaheen-II is

capable of carrying nuclear and
conventional warheads to a range of
1500 kilometres.
Oct 16: Rawalpindi Rams won the PCB

Inter-Region Under-19 One-day
Tournament with an 84-run defeat of
Karachi Zebras in the final.
Nov 14: Afghan President Ashraf

Ghani set the tone of his two-day
fence-mending trip to Islamabad by
pledging stronger defence and
security ties with Pakistan.
Oct 20: The NED University of

Engineering and Technology clinched
the NUST Inter-University Girls
Throwball Tournament as they beat
Liaquat Medical University in the final.
President Ghani, who arrived in

Islamabad on a commercial flight from
Kabul, received a warm welcome at
the Islamabad's Nur Khan Airbase
where Adviser to Prime Minister on
Foreign Affairs and National Security
Sartaj Aziz received him.
Oct 20: Waseem Khatri's winning

streak of 27 matches was finally
broken but that didn't stop him from
taking the title of the Danpak third
Ranking Scrabble tournament at
Beach Luxury Hotel.
Sports
Nov 14: The Supreme Court revisited

its June 12, 2013, verdict that called
for the constitution of a federal
commission to ensure that all future
appointments to public offices were
conducted on the basis of merit.
Oct 25: Younis Khan surpassed former

captain Inzamam-ul-Haq as the
highest century maker for his country
when he scored his second century of
the match and the 26th of his
illustrious career. He also became the
seventh Pakistani to score a century in
both innings of a Test match.
Nov 14: The Election Commission of

Pakistan (ECP) on a reference sent by
the speaker of Balochistan Assembly
unseated Santosh Kumar, a minority
member of the assembly, elected on
PML-N ticket.
Oct 25: Pakistan's middle order

batsman Younis Khan became the first
Pakistani to score centuries in both the
innings against Australia.
Nov 15: Four state-owned gas

organisations of Turkmenistan,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and India (Tapi)
established a company that will build,
Oct 27: Punjab outplayed Islamabad

to win the gold medal while Sindh
bagged silver by beating Balochistan
in the second Women's U-19 Softball
Championship.
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Oct 29: The Guinness World Records

approved the world record of Pakistani
taekwondo black belt Ahmed Amin
Bodla who struck as many as 355
kicks in one minute earlier this year.
He had broken the record of American
Master Raul Meza.
Oct 30: Younis Khan became the first
batsman in 90 years to hit three
against Australia.
Oct 31: Younis Khan became the third
Pakistani after Javed Miandad and
Inzamam-ul-Haq and 28th batsman
overall to score 8000 runs in Test
cricket.
Nov 02: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ulHaq broke the Test record for the
fastest fifty and equalled that of the
quickest century.
The 40-year-old smashed a 21-ball
fifty and a 56-ball hundred on the
fourth day of the second Test against
Australia.
Nov 10: Pakistani batsmen continued
with their phenomenal form against a
hapless New Zealand side in the first
Test at Abu Dhabi, scoring three
centuries in an innings for the second
time in as many Tests to send records
tumbling and leaving cricket
statisticians scratching their heads.
Nov 10: Pakistan team set a new
record in the history of Test cricket, as
all top five batsmen of Pakistan scored

over 80 runs.
Nov 10: The International Cricket
Council (ICC) Board accepted the
PCB's nomination of its former
chairman, Najam Sethi, for the ICC
Presidency.
Nov 13: The gritty Misbahul Haq
became Pakistan's most successful
captain with a resounding victory in
the first Test against New Zealand in
Abu Dhabi. He surpassed the joint
record for most wins held by former
skippers Imran Khan (14 in 48
matches) and Javed Miandad (14 in 35
matches). Misbah has led his country
in 33 games so far.
Nov 13: Talented Hamza Godil and
Haleema Ali captured boys and girls
under-15 singles titles respectively in
the second Sindh Sports Board allKarachi ranking table tennis
tournament.
Obituaries
Oct 18: Ex-IG and retired Federal
Secretary for Anti-Corruption, Riaz
Sipra, passed away. He was 79.
Oct 28: Imran Mir, an eminent artist
and a leading figure of advertising
industry, died. He was 64.
Nov 03: Maulana Jamshaid, a senior
leader of Tableeghi Jamaat, breathed
his last.
Economy
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Oct 20: The State Bank of Pakistan

removed the name of HSBC Bank
Middle East from its list of commercial
banks after its merger with Meezan
Bank Limited.
Oct 22: American pharmaceutical
company Johnson & Johnson decided
to close down manufacturing
operation/production plant in Pakistan.
However, the company will continue
its supplies in the country.
Nov 14: The State Bank of Pakistan

placed KASB Bank under moratorium
for six months, restricting money
withdrawal to Rs300,000 per account.
Nov 15: The State Bank of Pakistan
(SBP) announced a reduction of 50
basis points in its policy rate after
keeping it at 10 per cent for 12
months.
Education
Oct 28: The German-Pakistan Trade

and Investment (GPTI), a forum to
enhance trade and investment
between both countries, was
launched.
Oct 17: Higher Education Department

(HED) Punjab appointed Riaz Ahmed
Hashmi as new chairman of BISE
Multan and Prof Rana Masood Akhtar
as chairman of BISE Bahawalpur.
Oct 29: The National Health Services,

Regulations and Coordination (NHSRC)
Ministry gave additional charge of DG
Health to Dr Asad Hafeez despite the
fact that he is a key accused in the
ephedrine case and had spent several
months in jail for allegedly misusing
authority.
Oct 21: According to a report titled

Broken Promises: the crisis of
Pakistan's out-of-school children,
prepared by Alif Ailaan, only one in
four children, who enrol in school in
the first grade make it to grade 10. In
2002-03, 2,833,726 children enrolled
in the first grade. But by 2011-12, only
718,945 remained in school.
Nov 11: Germany is looking to

increase its investment in Pakistan's
energy sector, provided its companies
are reassured about the security
situation, Chancellor Angela Merkel
said at a joint news conference with
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after their
meeting.
Nov 13: Pakistan and Afghanistan
resolved to expand bilateral trade to
$5 billion from the current $2.5bn in
two to three years.
Oct 27: The Chevening Scholarship

Pakistan programme head Jonathan
Williams announced that the
Chevening Scholarship programme
has tripled the number of scholarship
places for Pakistan by offering around
70 such opportunities for the
academic year 2015-2016.
Nov 13: The Punjab Higher Education
Department established a Centre of
Excellence for China Studies at the
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Government College University,
Lahore.
Export Processing Zones Authority

(EPZA).
Transfers and Postings
Oct 30: The parliamentary committee

on judges' appointments confirmed
appointment of eight additional judges
to the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Oct 17: Younus Dhaga was appointed

as new Federal Secretary for Water
and Power. He replaced Nargis Sethi
who went on a four-month leave.
Oct 17: The federal government
posted retired Squadron Leader Abid
Ali Khan as the new chief secretary of
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). He had
replaced Khizar Hayat Gondal.
Oct 18: Nasser N.S. Jaffer was
appointed as chairman of the Pakistan
International Airlines. He will replace
acting chairman Mohammad Ali
Gardezi.
Oct 20: Former State Bank governor
Dr Ishrat Husain and Shams Kassim
Lakha left the BISP, the organisation
which they were serving in the
capacity of non-government members.
Four new members, Dr Sania Nishtar
and Dr Zeba A. Sattar as nongovernment members and secretary
or additional secretary of the ministry
of foreign affairs and additional
secretary of the cabinet division, have
been inducted into the board for three
years
Oct 21: Consequent upon promotion
in BPS-22 as secretary to government
of Pakistan, Aftab Anwar Baloch, an
officer of Pakistan Customs & Excise
Group was appointed as Chairman
The judges are: Qazi Amin, Mirza

Waqas Rauf, Shahid Karim, Chaudhry
Mushtaq Ahmed, Khalid Mehmood
Malik, Ali Akbar Qureshi, Masood Abid
Naqvi and Chaudhry Mohammad Iqbal.
Nov 03: The president appointed
retired Maj Gen Niaz Muhammad Khan
Khattak as chairman of the Federal
Public Service Commission (FPSC),
Liaqat Ali Shah Hamdani as Controller
General of Accounts (CGA) and six
members of the Federal Service
Tribunal.
The president also approved the
appointment of Akhlaq Ahmed Tarar
and Mazhar Ali Khan as members of
the FPSC.
Nov 09: President Mamnoon Hussain
appointed Vice Admiral Khan Hasham
bin Saddique as Vice Chief of the
Naval Staff.
People in News
Malala Yousafzai & Sharmeen
Obaid Chinoy
Oct 17: The Asia Society honoured
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala
Yousafzai and Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy,
a Pakistani film-maker, and 11 other
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leaders and institutions as its
inaugural class of Asia Game
Changers.
Sameena Jabeen Ahmed
Oct 21: A Pakistani-born actress
Sameena Jabeen Ahmed bagged the
Best Actress award for her lead role in
music video director Daniel Wolfe's
debut feature film Catch Me Daddy.
Malala Yousafzai
Oct 22: Malala Yousufzai, a rights
activist and youngest-ever recipient of
the Nobel Peace Prize, now received
the US Liberty Medal and pledged her
$100,000 award to promote education
in Pakistan.
Khizr Imran Tajammul
Oct 25: A young Pakistani innovator,
Khizr Imran Tajammul, won the first
prize at the Rwanga Social Startup
Competition held at the fifth One
Young World summit in Dublin, Ireland.
The conference was attended by a

series of established global leaders
such as Kofi Annan, Mary Robinson, Sir
Bob Geldof, Professor Muhammad
Yunus, Paul Polman, Doug Richard,
Jimmy Wales, Former Latin American
Presidents, Sol Campbell, Dame Ellen
MacArthur, Martin Pollock, Hans Reitz,
Professor Meghan 'O Sullivan and
Meghan Markle.
Ch Anas Sarwar
Oct 25: Punjab Governor Ch

Mohammed Sarwar's son Anas Sarwar
was elected as the leader of Scottish
Labour Party, Scotland. Anas is the
first Asian and Muslim to have
achieved this landmark.
Shehzad Hameed Ahmad
Oct 29: Shehzad Hameed Ahmad
from Pakistan won the 'Prince of
Asturias Award' for his work during a
Fulbright scholarship. Ahmad received
the award which is Spain's equivalent
of the Nobel Peace Prize, from Spain's
King Felipe Juan on behalf of the
Fulbright Global Program for
International Cooperation.
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Sana
Saleem, Sarah Khan and Nigar
Nazar
Oct 29: Conquering the world with
their documentaries, campaigns and
cartoons, four Pakistani women made
it to BBC's 100 Women list. Among
these women are documentary filmmaker and Oscar award winner
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Internet
rights activist Sana Saleem, filmmaker
and campaigner Sarah Khan and
cartoonist Nigar Nazar. The first
Pakistani female cartoonist, Nigar
Nazar is Gogi Studios' mastermind and
lead cartoonist.
Ayan Qureshi
Oct 30: A Pakistani-Briton Ayan
Qureshi became the youngest
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Microsoft Certified professional,
accomplishing the feat at the age of
five years, 11 months toppling
Pakistani Mehroz Yawar who passed
the exam at the practically ancient
age of six and a half.
earned Global Platinum Standard

the International Baccalaureate
Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP)
Authorisation award.
Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology
(RIC)
Places in News
Peshawar
Oct 19: The two-day Afghan Cultural
Show concluded at Nishtar Hall with a
pledge to celebrate the Afghan
Cultural International Day every year
regularly and work for the promotion
of cultural activists.
Oct 29: The Interventional Cardiology

team at Rawalpindi Institute of
Cardiology (RIC) led by Professor of
Cardiology Major Gen (R) Dr Azhar
Mahmood Kayani achieved a unique
milestone here by becoming the first
institute to have performed coronary
angioplasty under cover of the latest
left ventricular assist device, 'Impella
2.5 abiomed Europe GmbH.
Lahore
Village Dulmial, Pakistan
Oct 22: The first-ever international
conference in Pakistan on a crucial
topic of Forensic Science and Justice
began at Government College
University Lahore under the auspices
of the university's Chemistry
Department, Punjab Forensic Science
Agency (PFSA) and Higher Education
Commission.
Lahore
Oct 28: Pakistan Human Capital
Forum (PHCF) held HR Services Best
Practices Seminar at Royal Palm
Country Club, Lahore.
The Sanjan Nagar Public
Education Trust
Down a broken road winding through a

corner of Pakistan's Punjab province
lies a silent graveyard, the resting
place of hundreds of soldiers who
fought for Britain in two world wars.
Nestled in the rocky hills of Punjab's
salt ranges, blasted by heat in the
summer, the village of Dulmial is a far
cry from the freezing mud of the
Flanders trenches.
But the village, around 150 kilometres
(90 miles) from Islamabad, gave 460
men to fight in the 1914-18 conflict
more than any other single village in
what was then British India.
Lahore
Oct 29: The Sanjan Nagar Public

Education Trust flagship campus
Nov 6-8: First Interschool Scrabble
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Tournament 2014 Lahore was
organized by TEEN TIMES, Pakistan's
first infotainment magazine, and a
project of Jahangir Books since 1923
at a local restaurant. 64 students from
Lahore's most prestigious institutions
participated in this 3-day event. The
team consisting of Muhammad Hamza
and Muaaz Atif from Beaconhouse
Newlands Campus, Lahore, emerged
as the winner. They were presented
beautiful shields and certificates for
their brilliant performance.
International
Oct 16: The UN General Assembly
elected five new non-permanent
members Angola, Malaysia, New
Zealand Spain and Venezuela to serve
on the Security Council for two-year
terms. They will take up their seats on
January 1, 2015.
Oct 16: Chinese censors blocked the
website of Britain's national
broadcaster, the BBC, in China.
Oct 16: A court in Britain ruled that
Ilyas Ashar, who smuggled to Britain a
10-year-old deaf and mute girl from
Pakistan, and kept her as a slave for
almost a decade, will have to pay the
girl $160,000.
states.
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill
making it the official state snack.
Oct 17: A US survey conducted by
Washington-based Pew Research
Centre in 44 countries among 48,643
respondents, from March 17 to June 5,
2014 revealed that:
In Pakistan, people were more
concerned about nuclear weapons
than religious and ethnic hatred as a
major threat to their security.
In India, people see religious and
ethnic hatred as a greater threat,
although, like Pakistan, India too is a
nuclear state.
In the Middle East, which is engulfed in
growing conflicts, people saw religious
and ethnic hatred is the greatest
threat to the world.
Oct 17: The US Federal Reserve chief
Janet Yellen warned that the gap
between the rich and the poor in the
United States has reached a near 100year high, and is still widening.
Ilyas, along with his wife Tallat, forced

her to work as their servant.
Oct 17: The European Union reached

an agreement with the United States
to use a US firm's air ambulances to
evacuate European doctors or nurses
from West Africa if they caught Ebola.
Oct 16: Yogurt became New York's

official state snack, joining the likes of
popcorn and salty boiled peanuts
among popular foods honoured by US
Oct 17: US President Barack created a

new top post in his administration to
lead the fight against the contagious
Ebola virus. He also authorised the use
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of American military reservists to
support humanitarian aid efforts
against the Ebola outbreak in West
Africa.
Oct 17: Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe sent religious offerings to Tokyo's
Yasukuni Shrine honouring the war
dead including convicted wartime
leaders, as dozens of lawmakers
prayed at the site in a ceremony that
drew a rebuke from China.
Many Asian victims of Japan's wartime
atrocities, especially China and the
Koreas, see the shrine as a symbol of
militarism.
Oct 17: India's top court granted bail
to Jayalalithaa Jayaram, a 66-year-old
ex-film star and a long-time head of
Tamil Nadu, jailed last month for
corruption.
Oct 17: India successfully test-fired its
first domestically built nuclear capable
and long-range cruise missile
'Nirbhay', or 'fearless', marking
another step in building up the
country's defence prowess.
Oct 17: Nigeria's military and
presidency claimed to have reached a
deal with Boko Haram militants on a
ceasefire and the release of more than
200 kidnapped schoolgirls.
Oct 17: American Vice President Joe
Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was
discharged from the US Navy reserve
after testing positive for cocaine.
Oct 18: Iraqi lawmakers approved

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's
remaining Cabinet nominees, including
for the critical defence and interior
portfolios, completing the government
formation.
Oct 18: A top-secret space plane
landed at an air force base on the
southern California coast. The plane
spent nearly two years circling Earth
on a classified mission. Known as the
X-37B, it resembles a mini space
shuttle.
Oct 20: France and Germany, the
eurozone's two biggest economies,
promised to do what was needed to
boost investment in the single
currency area at a time when the
region's economy is flagging badly.
Oct 20: Japan's Trade Minister, Yuko
Obuchi, and Justice Minister, Midori
Matsushima, resigned after allegations
that they misused campaign funds.
Ms Obuchi, the daughter of a former
prime minister, said that she needed
to focus on an investigation into
discrepancies in accounting for
election funds. Whereas Justice
Minister resigned after the opposition
Democratic Party of Japan filed a
criminal complaint against her over
distribution of hand-held fans or
uchiwa.
Oct 20: Kurds battling the 'Islamic
Sate' group's militants for the Syrian
border town of Kobane, welcomed a
first US airdrop of weapons as
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neighbouring Turkey said it would help
Iraqi Kurds to join the fight.
Oct 20: The World Health
Organization declared two major
African countries, Nigeria and Senegal,
Ebola free.
Oct 20: No bacon for breakfast, a
room for prayers and a Quran on your
bedside table: a hotel in Moscow
launched a special halal service as
Russia tries to attract visitors from the
Muslim world.
Oct 20: Joko Widodo, Indonesia's first
president from outside the political
and military elite, was sworn in as
leader of the world's third-biggest
democracy.
Oct 21: The White House announced
that detained American tourist Jeffrey
Fowle was released by North Korea.
Oct 21: A renowned Congolese
gynaecologist, Doctor Denis Mukwege
won the European Parliament's
prestigious Sakharov human rights
prize for his work in helping thousands
of gang rape victims in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Parliament president Martin Schulz
announced the award for Mukwege,
who has previously been tipped
several times for the Nobel Peace
Prize, for his work in treating the
appalling injuries inflicted on the
victims.
Oct 21: Olympic and Paralympic
sprinter Oscar Pistorius started his

five-year jail sentence for killing his
girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
Oct 21: Poppy production in
Afghanistan hit record levels last year.
Despite spending some $7.6bn to wipe
out poppy helds, poppy production in
2013 hit an all-time high in 2013.
Afghan farmers grew an
unprecedented 209,000 hectares
(516,000 acres) of opium poppy in
2013, surpassing the previous peak of
193,000 hectares in 2007, the Special
Inspector General for Afghanistan
Reconstruction, John Sopko, said.
Oct 22: Canada's capital was jolted by
the fatal shooting of a soldier and an
attack on the parliament building in
which gunshots were fired outside a
room where Prime Minister Stephen
Harper was speaking.
Oct 22: The death toll in the world's
worst-ever Ebola outbreak has edged
closer to 4,900, while almost 10,000
people have now been infected, new
figures from the World Health
Organization showed.
Oct 25: Iran hanged Reyhaneh Jabbari
a woman convicted of murdering a
former intelligence officer defying
international appeals for a stay of
execution.
Oct 25: India's Defence Acquisition
Council approved defence
procurement proposals worth Rs800bn
($13.1bn) to modernise the country's
ageing Soviet-era military hardware
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and boost its domestic defence
industry.
Oct 26: New Indonesian President
Joko Widodo unveiled a cabinet
including the country's first female
foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, as
well as political allies and technocrats
in key economic posts.
Oct 26: British troops ended their
combat operations in Afghanistan as
they and US Marines handed over two
huge adjacent bases to the Afghan
military, 13 years after a US-led
invasion launched the long and costly
war against the Taliban.
Oct 26: Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
acknowledged past and present
wrongdoings to Israel's Arabs, while
calling for calm in the wake of growing
unrest in east Jerusalem and the West
Bank.
revolts, conceded defeat in elections.

Oct 27: South Africa football captain
Senzo Meyiwa was shot dead by
burglars as he tried to protect his
celebrity girlfriend during a break-in
Oct 28: India's top court ordered the
government to disclose the names of
all people suspected of stashing
money in foreign banks beyond reach
of tax authorities.
Oct 28: Afghanistan and China
pledged a new long-term partnership
with each other as Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani began a four-day visit
while Nato combat troops prepare to
withdraw from his country.
Oct 29: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Malala Yousafzai donated $50,000 to
rebuild an UNRWA school (in Israelioccupied Gaza) damaged during the
recent fighting.
Mr Rivlin spoke at a memorial

ceremony for victims of 1956
massacre at Kafr Qassem, where
Israeli forces killed 47 residents of the
Arab village for breaking a wartime
curfew, becoming the first Israeli
president to attend the event.
Oct 29: The White House's

unclassified computer network was
breached by intruders, with The
Washington Post newspaper reporting
that the Russian government was
thought to be behind the act.
Oct 27: Brazil re-elected Dilma

Rousseff as country's president in the
narrowest presidential win since the
nation's return to democracy three
decades ago.
Oct 29: Bangladesh's war crimes

tribunal sentenced chief of the Jamaati-Islami to death for crimes against
humanity, including genocide, torture
and rape, during the 1971 war.
Oct 27: Tunisia's Ennahda party, the

first Islamist movement to secure
power after the 2011 Arab Spring
Oct 30: Afghan President Ashraf

Ghani removed his tribal Pashtun
surname Ahmadzai from all official
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documents.
Oct 30: Angry demonstrators went on
the rampage in Burkina Faso, setting
parliament ablaze in a surge of
violence that forced the government
to scrap a vote on controversial plans
to allow President Blaise Compaore to
extend his 27-year rule.
Oct 30: Sweden officially recognised
the state of Palestine, becoming the
first major European country to do so.
Oct 31: The head of Burkina Faso's
armed forces took power after
President Blaise Compaore resigned.
Oct 31: Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, the
Swedish co-founder of file-sharing
website The Pirate Bay, was sentenced
to three years and six months in jail in
the largest hacking case in Denmark's
history.
Nov 02: Mir Quasem Ali, an official of
the Jamaat-e-Islami party Bangladesh
and a media tycoon, was sentenced to
death for war crimes.
Nov 03: Prime Minister Victor Ponta
won the first round of Romania's
presidential election, a step towards a
victory that would consolidate his
leftist party's hold on power.
France's prestigious Femina Prize to

Haiti's Yanick Lahens Bain de lune
(Moon Bath), a family epic interwoven
with challenges facing her home
country.
Nov 06: Libya's Supreme Court
invalidated the internationally
recognised parliament in a ruling that
cannot be appealed against.
Nov 07: A veteran US diplomat and
Pakistan expert, Robin L. Raphel, was
arrested by the federal investigation
and her security clearance was
revoked.
Nov 07: China and Japan agreed to
work on improving ties and signalled
willingness to put a bitter row over
disputed islands on the back burner.
Nov 08: The European Union's top
diplomat Federica Mogherini said that
Jerusalem should be the capital of
two states, as tensions gripped the
holy city hit by Israeli Palestinian
violence.
Nov 08: President Barack Obama
introduced Loretta Lynch as his choice
for attorney general. Mr Lynch is an
accomplished prosecutor from New
York City.
Nov 03: The deputy governor of

Kandahar province in south
Afghanistan was shot dead at a
university in the provincial capital.
Nov 08: Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu

Mansour Hadi was ousted as leader of
his own political party, weakening his
authority at a time of turmoil in the
impoverished Arab nation.
Nov 03: An all-woman jury awarded
Nov 08: Egypt, facing its worst power
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crisis in decades, pledged greater
energy cooperation with Greece and
Cyprus, a diplomatic move that
opened up the possibility of progress
in talks to import natural gas from
Cyprus.
Nov 08: Everything I Never Told
You, the debut novel by author
Celeste Ng about a teenage girl
growing up in a mixed race family in
the American Midwest in the 1970s,
was named Amazon's best book of
2014.
Nov 08: The African Union raised
$28.5m from the continent's
wealthiest individuals and firms for a
fund to fight the Ebola outbreak
ravaging three West African nations.
Nov 09: Yemen sworn in a 29-member
cabinet including members of Saleh's
powerful General People's Congress
(GPC) and others seen as close to the
Huthi insurgents.
Nov 09: For the first time in 30 years
the alleged genocide of Sikhs in 1984
by the Indian army was documented
by the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
UN Human Rights Officer Stenfano
Sensi recorded the testimony of the
1984 witnesses and received
documentary evidence on the role of
Congress leaders in the killings.
Nov 09: Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi expanded his council of
ministers inducting 21 new faces.
Nov 11: Leaders of Asia-Pacific

economies agreed to begin work
toward possible adoption of a Chinesebacked free-trade pact, giving Beijing
a victory in its push for a bigger role in
managing global commerce.
Nov 11: China unveiled a
sophisticated new stealth fighter jet at
an air show, a show of muscle during a
visit by US President Barack Obama
for an Asia-Pacific summit.
Nov 11: Russia will build two new
nuclear power plant units in Iran under
an agreement signed in Moscow
between subsidiaries of the two
countries' state atomic agencies.
Nov 12: Opium poppy cultivation in
Afghanistan reached a record high in
2014, a United Nations report
revealed, highlighting the failure of the
multi-billion-dollar US-led campaign to
crack down on the lucrative crop.
The total area under cultivation was
about 224,000 hectares (553,500
acres) in 2014, a seven per cent
increase on last year, according to the
Afghanistan Opium Survey released by
the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC).
Nov 12: The United States and China
announced a largely symbolic plan to
implement new limits on carbon
emissions, the highlight of a summit
between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping
at which both leaders played down
suggestions of differences and rivalry.
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Nov 12: The Netherlands unveiled the

world's first solar bike path, a
revolutionary project to harvest the
sun's energy that could eventually
also be used on roads.
The so-called 'SolaRoad' bike path is
made of concrete modules each
measuring 2.5 by 3.5 metres (eight by
11 feet), embedded with solar panels
covered in tempered glass. To help
prevent accidents, the glass has been
given a special non-slip surface.
Nov 12: Suspected Jewish extremists
torched a West Bank mosque.
Unrest has escalated in recent days,
spreading from annexed east
Jerusalem to the occupied West Bank
and Arab communities across Israel,
raising fears of a new Palestinian
uprising.
Nov 14: Boko Haram seized the northeastern Nigerian town of Chibok, from
where 276 girls were kidnapped more
than six months ago.
Nov 15: Turkey and the United States
agreed a plan under which some 2,000
fighters from the moderate Syrian
opposition would be trained on Turkish
soil.
Sports
Oct 19: Cristiano Ronaldo netted
his14th and 15th goals to break a
record that had stood since the 194344 season when Oviedo's Esteban
Echevarria scored 14 goals through
the first eight rounds.
Oct 20: Ben Martin captured his first
US PGA Tour title at the Shriners
Hospital Open.
Nov 12: Turkey's state-run

broadcaster was penalised for
favouring President Tayyip Erdogan in
its coverage of the country's first
popular vote for head of state.
Oct 21: India's BCCI, the world's

richest board, suspended all future
tours with West Indies following the
Caribbean team's abrupt withdrawal
from a series in India.
Nov 13: Sultan Ksen of Turkey and

Chandra Bahadur Dangi of Nepal, the
world's tallest and shortest living men,
came face to face to celebrate the
10th annual Guinness World Records
Day.
Oct 26: Serena Willlams defeated the

Romanian Simona Halep to win her
third-successive title at the WTA Finals
and her fifth overall.
Nov 14: Defence Secretary Chuck

Hagel ordered top-to-bottom changes
in the management of the US nuclear
arsenal.
Oct 27: China's newly-crowned World

Cup winner Zhang Jike was fined his
entire prize money of $45,000 after
destroying two advertising boards
while celebrating victory.
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Oct 28: Portuguese star footballer
Cristiano Ronaldo won three awards as
he was named best striker and best
player of the 2013-14 La Liga
campaign, while he was also
presented with the best goal of the
season award at the Spanish Football
League (LFP) gala in Madrid.
Oct 29: FIFA President Sepp Blatter
revealed the logo for the 2018 World
Cup in Russia with the help of a crew
of cosmonauts.
The logo depicts the World Cup trophy
in red and blue, colours from the
Russian flag, with gold trim.
Oct 30: Nepal recorded their sixth win
in seven matches to claim the World
Cricket League (WCL) Division Three
Crown.
Nov 09: South Korea's Lee Mi-Hyang
won a nail-biting playoff to triumph in
the Mizuno Classic, birdying the fifth
extra hole to claim her first LPGA title.
Nov 09: Kenya's Felix Kipchirchir
Kandie won the Athens classic
marathon in a course record of two
hours, 10 minutes and 37 seconds.
Nov 10: The International Cricket

Council (ICC) announced a 20 percent
increase in prize money for next year's
World Cup in Australia and New
Zealand.
The winners will take home $3.975
million (3.18 million euros), but if a
team remains unbeaten that would
rise to more than $4m.
Nov 13: Rohit Sharma created history
by smashing the highest individual
ODI score with a breathtaking knock of
264 as India thrashed Sri Lanka by 153
runs in the fourth cricket ODI.
Nov 14: Indian cricket was thrown
into turmoil when the country's
highest court said four top officials,
including the sport's world chief
Narayanaswami Srinivasan, may have
been involved in corruption in the
Indian Premier League.
Nov 14: Fiery Australian paceman
Mitchell Johnson was named cricketer
of the year by the International Cricket
Council, matching his countryman
Ricky Ponting's feat of winning the
award twice.
Obituaries
Nov 09: Newly-crowned world

champion Marc Marquez won the
season-ending Valencia MotoGP to set
a new record of 13 victories in a year.
The 21-year-old Spaniard led from the
11th lap on his Honda and crossed the
line in a time of 46 minutes 39.627
seconds.
Oct 20: Swiss photographer Rene

Burri, celebrated for his portraits of
Che Guevara and Pablo Picasso, died
aged 81.
Oct 21: The chief executive of French
oil giant Total, Christophe de Margerie,
died in a plane crash at a Moscow
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airport.
Oct 21: Ayatollah Mohammad Reza
Mahdavi Kani, the chairman of Iran's
Assembly of Experts, the clerics who
appoint, and can dismiss the country's
supreme leader, died.
Oct 21: Gough Whitlam, a flamboyant
Australian prime minister and
controversial social reformer whose
grip on power was cut short by a bitter
constitutional crisis, died at the age of
98.
Oct 22: Legendary former Washington
Post editor Ben Bradlee, who oversaw
reporting on the Watergate scandal
that brought down US president
Richard Nixon, died. He was 93.
Oct 23: Ghulam Azam, a leader of the
Jamaat-i-Islami in Bangladesh, died,
just over a year after he was
sentenced to 90 years in prison on
charges of masterminding atrocities
during the military operation in 1971.
He was 91.
Oct 29: Zambian President Michael
Sata, an abrasive figure nicknamed
King Cobra because of his venomous
tongue, died in London.
Nov 03: A renowned Marathi and
Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar
Nov 05: Flamenco great Manitas de
Plata, the gypsy guitarist of humble
origins who made a fortune from his
virtuoso talent, died.
The son of a horse trader, Manitas de

Plata whose adopted name means
'little hands of silver' - was born
Ricardo Baliardo in a gypsy caravan in
the south of France in 1921. He
fathered up to 28 children.
Economy
Oct 17: The United Kingdom became
the first foreign country to issue
offshore renminbi bonds, with a
smoothly executed offering that
reflected the Chinese currency's
growing global appeal and London's
efforts to become the world's trading
hub.
Oct 20: The European Union (EU)
ended a long-running telecoms row
with China, dropping a threat to levy
punitive tariffs on Chinese telecoms
exports and easing tensions between
two of the world's top trading powers.
The deal struck between Brussels and
Beijing sets out a framework for China
to address EU concerns about
subsidies to Huawei, China's No. 2
telecom equipment maker, and its
smaller rival ZTE.
Oct 28: The Swedish central bank set
a zero base interest rate, deciding to
cut its key rate by a quarter of a
percentage point in a drive to push up
exceptionally low inflation. This is a
record low and the central bank said it
would stay at this rate until inflation
picks up.
Oct 28: Mexico and the United States
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reached a deal to avert potentially
steep duties on Mexican sugar imports
to the United States, defusing a
months-long dispute.
Oct 31: Britain announced to pay
back bonds issued by then finance
minister Winston Churchill to cover
debts from World War I, as well as the
Napoleonic and Crimean campaigns.
The 4% Consols bonds came out in
1927, partly to refinance National War
Bonds originating from WWI that were
widely touted as a patriotic
investment during the war years.
Oct 31: Russian and Ukrainian
officials reached an agreement to
resume Russian deliveries of natural
gas to prevent shortages over the
winter.
Nov 01: Egypt signed $350 million
worth of financing agreements with
Saudi Arabia, aimed at upgrading its
power grid and securing imports of
petroleum products.
Nov 08: China will contribute $40
billion to set up a Silk Road
infrastructure fund to boost
connectivity across Asia, President Xi
Jinping announced. This is the latest
Chinese project to spread the largesse
of its own economic growth.
Nov 08: Danish company OW Bunker,

the world's largest ship fuel supplier,
declared bankruptcy.
Nov 11: China and the United States
reached a breakthrough in talks on
eliminating duties on information
technology products, a deal that could
pave the way for the first major tariffcutting agreement at the World Trade
Organization in 17 years.
Nov 11: The Bahrain-based
Accounting and Auditing Organisation
for Islamic Financial Institutions
(AAOIFI) issued two new shariah
standards, revised three others and
said it will review at least five more in
coming months.
After a meeting of its 20-member
shariah board in Riyadh, AAOIFI said it
had issued a standard for arboun
(down payments) and another on
conditional termination of contracts,
following a public hearing held in
October.
AAOIFI has also revised standards
covering the conversion of
conventional banks into Islamic ones,
debt transfers (hawala) and murabaha
a common shariah-compliant sale
contract.
People in News
The fund will be for investing in

infrastructure, resources and industrial
and financial cooperation. The goal of
the fund is to break the connectivity
bottleneck in Asia.
Luis Suarez & Cristiano Ronaldo

Oct 16: Barcelona striker Luis Suarez
and Real Madrid and Portugal star
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forward Cristiano Ronaldo won the
Golden Boot award for scoring the
most goals in Europe's domestic
league's last season.
Maggie Smith
Oct 18: A 79-year-old 'Downton
Abbey' star and veteran actress
Maggie Smith was made a member of
the Order of the Companions of
Honour by Queen Elizabeth, one of
Britain's highest honours.
Malala Yousufzai and Jack Ma
Oct 17: Nobel laureate Malala
Yousafzai and Jack Ma of China's
Alibaba group topped the list of Asian
game changers at a ceremony held at
the United Nations.
Oct 22: Alan Knight, a British

fraudster who pretended to be
quadriplegic and sometimes comatose
for two years to avoid prosecution,
was convicted after police caught him
on camera driving and strolling around
supermarkets. Alan stole more than
40,000 pounds ($64,000) from the
bank account of an elderly neighbour
with Alzheimer's disease.
Amitabh Bachchan
Oct 28: Indian actor Amitabh
Bachchan was summoned by federal
court of Los Angeles for allegedly
instigating violence against members
of the Sikh community in 1984.
Shakib Al Hasan
Oct 19: Robbert van de Corput, better

known by his stage name Hardwell,
became the best DJ in the world for
the second year in a row. The Dutch DJ
and producer became the youngestever winner of the award last year,
taking the crown from five-time winner
Armin Van Buuren.
Nov 07: Shakib Al Hasan became only

the third player in history to score a
century and take 10 wickets in a
match as Bangladesh whipped
Zimbabwe by 162 runs in the second
Test to win the series.
Savjibhai Dholakia
Nov 08: For decades, 90-year-old

Arnold Abbott hauled pans filled with
roast chicken and cheese-covered
potatoes onto a south Florida beach
park to feed hundreds of homeless
people.
Oct 20: Savjibhai Dholakia, a diamond

merchant from the city of Surat in
western India hit the news when he
gave 1,200 of his workers new cars,
deposits for flats and thousands of
dollars worth of diamond jewellery as
rewards for loyalty.
Alan Knight
Arnold Abbott
For his good deeds, Abbott finds

himself facing up to two months in jail
and hundreds of dollars in fines after
new laws that restrict public feeding of
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the homeless went into effect in Fort
Lauderdale earlier this year.
Places in News
Pyeongchang, South Korea
Oct 17: A UN conference on
preserving the earth's dwindling
resources concluded with
governments making a firm
commitment to double biodiversity aid
to developing countries by 2015 in
Pyeongchang, South Korea. The
gathering, agreed to use average
annual biodiversity funding for the
years 2006-2010 as a baseline to be
doubled by 2015, and then maintained
through 2020.
England
Oct 20: Binge drinking and 24-hour
alcohol shops have caused a
shocking 40 per cent jump in deaths
from liver disease in England revealed
a survey held over a 12-year period. It
found that England is now the only
European country where fatalities from
liver disease are rising, as drinking has
gone down in other parts of Europe.
Beijing, China
Oct 26: Thousands of people

supporting the Kashmir cause
participated in the historic 'Million
March' organized by the PPP to
express solidarity with the Kashmiri
people over their decades-long
struggle for the right to selfdetermination. The Million March
started from Trafalgar Square and
concluded at 10 Downing Street.
New York, USA
Nov 03: One World Trade Centre,
America's tallest building, welcomed
its first tenants, publishing group
Conde Nast, in a symbolic moment 13
years after the 9/11 attacks.
National Cathedral, Washington
DC
Nov 15: Prayer rugs were laid out. A
man in the first row read out the
Azaan. Allah ho Akbar, said the
imam and the prayer began. These
words are repeated in millions of
mosques across the world everyday
but this was a historic occasion for
Washington: the first-ever Friday
congregation at the National Cathedral
in the US capital.
Oct 22: The finance ministers from

the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) forum met in Beijing prior to
the group's annual summit. They
observed that the global economy is
beset by increasing downside risks.
South Africa's Ambassador to the US,

Ebrahim Rasool, led the prayer.
London, England
1. Javid Hashmi was a member of
MCQs
National
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National Assembly from ______.
A. NA 118 B. NA 120
C. NA 149 D. NA 156
2. On Oct 17, ______, and the UNDP
pledged 1 million euros for return
and rehabilitation of IDPs of North
Waziristan.
A. Japan
B. Germany
C. UK
D. USA
3. The incumbent chairman of the
Pakistan International Airlines
(PIA) is ______.
A. Nasser N.S. Jaffer
B. M. Ali Gardezi
C. Syed Yawar Ali
D. Dr Miftah Ismail
4. The Sindh Assembly passed
The Sindh Local Government
(Amendment) Bill, 2014 on ______.
A. Oct 18 B. Oct 20
C. Oct 24 D. Oct 26
5. Dr Khawaja Alqama is the ViceChancellor of ______.
A. Quai-i-Azam University
B. University of the Punjab
C. International Islamic University
D. Bahauddin Zakariya University
A. Habib Bank B. Bank Alfalah

C. JS Bank
D. Meezan Bank
8. On Oct 21, Pakistan and Russia
held the 2nd Round of Bilateral
Strategic Dialogue in ______.
A. Karachi B. Moscow
C. Islamabad D. Kremlin
9. The sit-in of Pakistan Awami
Tehreek (PAT) on Constitution
Avenue, Islamabad ended on
______.
A. Oct 18 B. Oct 21
C. Oct 22 D. Oct 26
10. On Oct 21, the United States
designated Khan Said Sajna, the
deputy leader of the outlawed
______, a global terrorist.
A. Lashkar Islam
B. ISIS
C. TTP
D. Jundullah
11. Apna Rozgar Scheme has
been launched by the ______
government.
A. Federal B. Sindh
C. KP
D. Punjab
6. Pakistan Society for the

Rehabilitation of the Disabled is
A. Islamabad B. Lahore
C. Karachi
D. Peshawar
12. On Oct 21, A Pakistani-born

actress Sameena Jabeen Ahmed
bagged the Best Actress award
for her role in ______.
A. Catch Me Daddy
B. Law & Order
C. 30 Minutes or Less
D. Man Push Cart
7. On Oct 20, the SBP removed

the name of HSBC Bank Middle
East from its list of commercial
banks after its merger with ______.
13. The incumbent chairman of

Export Processing Zones Authority
(EPZA) is______.
A. Aftab Sultan Cheema
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B. Enver Baig
C. Nargis Sethi
D. Aftab Anwar Baloch
14. On Oct 22, ______ was elected
as the first president of a new PPP
faction, Pakistan People's Party
Workers (PPP-W) ______.
A. Nahid Khan
B. Dr Safdar Abbasi
C. Abid Minto
D. Mir Abdul Qudoos
15. On Oct 22, the UNDP and
______ reached an agreement to
train IDPs under 'Community
Resilience Project for NWA (North
Waziristan Agency) Displaced
Families'.
A. ILO
B. ADB
C. Unicef D. UNHCR
16. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
announced imposing polio
emergency in the country on the
occasion of the World Polio Day,
observed on ______.
A. Oct 22 B. Oct 24
C. Oct 26 D. Oct 28
17. The tropical cyclone in the
Arabian Sea that threatened
Pakistan's coastal areas was
named 'Nilofar' by ______.
A. Oman B. India
C. Pakistan D. Sri Lanka
18. The next cyclone in the
Arabian Sea would be named
Priya, a name proposed by
______.
A. Sri Lanka B. India
C. Nepal
D. Bangladesh
19. The Chevening Scholarship

Pakistan programme head is
______.
A. William Butler
B. Jonathan Williams
C. Jonathan Gilmore
D. Robert Frisk
20. The World's Children's Prize
2014 went to ______.
A. Indira Ranamagar
B. John Wood
C. Nabila Rehman
D. Malala Yousafzai
21. Education activist Malala
Yousufzai became the youngest
Nobel Laureate ever when she
won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize
at the age of ______.
A. 15 years B. 16 years
C. 17 years D. 18 years
22. Oct 31, ______ of the
Independent Democratic Group
was elected as President of the
Supreme Court Bar Association for
2014-15.
A. Fazal-i-Haq Abbasi
B. Kamran Murtaza
C. Kamran Shafi
D. Qazi Anwar
23. On Nov 03, Maj Gen (R) Niaz
Muhammad Khan Khattak was
appointed as chairman of the
______.
A. National Bank
B. PIA
C. BPSC
D. FPSC
24. On Nov 07, Lt Gen Rizwan
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Akhtar took over as the ______
head of powerful Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) ______ district.
A. 21st
B. 23rd
C. 27th
D. 28th
25. Vice Admiral Khan Hasham bin
Saddique was appointed as Vice
Chief of the Naval Staff on ______.
A. Nov 5
B. Nov 7
C. Nov 9 D. Nov 11
26. On Nov 10, Wafaqi Mohtasib
Salman Faruqui announced
setting up of a 'National
Commission for ______.
A. Women B. Employees
C. Students D. Children
27. On Nov 11, ______ was
appointed as the Director General
of the National Crisis Management
Cell.
A. Saud Aziz
B. Hanif Abbasi
C. Maryam Nawaz
D. Hamza Shahbaz
28. On Nov 13, Pakistan
conducted a successful training
launch of the intermediaterange______, also known as Hatf-VI,
ballistic missile.
A. Shaheen-I B. Nasr
C. Zarb
D. Shaheen-II
B. Secretary General
C. Economic and Social Council
D. General Assembly
2. The Pew Research Center, an
American think tank, is based in
______.
A. New York B. Washington
C. Ohio
D. Philadelphia
3. Janet Yellen is the Chair of the
Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, the central bank
of ______.
A. the US B. Norway
C. Australia D. Austria
4. Japan's Yasukuni Shrine, which
Korea and China see as a symbol
of Japanese militarism, is located
in ______.
A. Osaka B. Kyoto
C. Yokohama D. Tokyo
5. On Oct 17, India successfully
test-fired its first domesticallybuilt nuclear capable and longrange cruise missile named ______.
A. Nirbhay B. Pratap
C. Astra
D. Prahaar
International
6. On Oct 17, Pakistan's Nobel

laureate Malala Yousufzai and
______ Jack Ma topped the list of
Asian game changers.
A. Thailand's
B. S. Korea's
C. China's D. Japan's
1. Non-permanent members of the

UN Security Council are elected by
______ for a two-year term.
A. Security Council
7. On Oct 17, a UN conference on

preserving the earth's dwindling
resources concluded in
Pyeongchang, ______.
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A. China
B. Vietnam
C. Indonesia D. South Korea
8. Renminbi is the basic unit of
_______ currency.
A. Japan's B. England's
C. China's D. Bhutan's
9. ______ and Germany are the two
biggest economies in eurozone.
A. Sweden
B. Norway
C. Luxembourg
D. France
10. On Oct 20, the World Health
Organization declared two major
African countries, Nigeria
and______, Ebola free.
A. Liberia B. Senegal
C. Niger
D. Kenya
11. Joko Widodo, who was sworn
in on Oct 20, is the ______
president of Indonesia; the
world's third-biggest democracy.
A. 4th
B. 5th
C. 7th
D. 9th
12. Christophe de Margerie, who
died in a plane crash at a Moscow
airport on Oct 21, was the chief
executive of French oil giant
______.
A. Total
B. Shell
C. ExxonMobil D. Rosneft
13. Doctor Denis Mukwege, who
won the European Parliament's
prestigious Sakharov human
rights prize belongs to ______.
A. Nigeria B. Zimbabwe
C. DR Congo D. S. Africa
14. Iran's Majles-e-Khebregan-e

Rahbari, or the Assembly of
Experts, charged with electing
and removing the Supreme Leader
of Iran and supervising his
activities consists of ______
members.
A. 86
B. 94
C. 109
D. 137
15. The incumbent President of
the European Parliament, Martin
Schulz, is a ______ national.
A. German B. Czech
C. Austrian D. French
16. Stephen Harper is the prime
minister of ______.
A. Australia B. Canada
C. New Zealand D. Austria
17. Manohar Parrikar is India's
minister for ______.
A. Education B. Broadcasting
C. Finance D. Defence
18. On Oct 26, Indonesian
President Joko Widodo unveiled a
cabinet including the country's
first female foreign minister,
______.
A. Rasuna Said B. Retno Marsudi
C. Ratu Atut D. Mari Pangestu
19. British troops ended their
combat operations in Afghanistan
on ______, 2014.
A. Oct 22 B. Oct 24
C. Oct 26 D. Oct 28
20. The Kafr Qasim massacre took
place in an Israeli Arab village in
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
______.
A. 1944
C. 1954
B. 1948
D. 1956
21. Dilma Rousseff has been

serving as the President of ______
since 2011.
A. Mexico B. Brazil
C. Uruguay
D. Argentina
22. On Oct 30, ______ became the
first major European country to
recognise the state of Palestine.
A. Denmark B. Germany
C. Sweden D. Norway
23. Gottfrid Svartholm Warg is the
Swedish co-founder of file-sharing
website ______.
A. File Hippo B. The Pirate Bay
C. DropBox D. RapidShare
24. Sir Winston Churchill issued
the 4% Consols in ______ to
refinance National War Bonds
originating from WWI.
A. 1917
B. 1919
C. 1921
D. 1927
25. On Nov 01, Egypt signed $350
million worth of financing
agreements with ______.
A. World Bank B. Saudi Arabia
C. IMF
D. the US
26. On Nov 08, the ______ company
OW Bunker, the world's largest
ship fuel supplier, declared
bankruptcy.
A. Danish B. Russian
C. Swiss
D. Italian
27. Accounting and Auditing

Organisation for Islamic Financial
Institutions (AAOIFI) is based in
______.
A. Qatar
B. Bahrain
C. Saudi Arabia D. UAE
28. On Nov 12, the world's first
solar bike path was unveiled in
______.
A. France
B. China
C. Finland
D. The Netherlands
Sports
1. ______ won the PCB Inter-Region
Under-19 One-day Tournament.
A. Rawalpindi Rams
B. Sialkot Stallions
C. Hyderabad Wolves
D. Karachi Dolphins
2. The batsman who has scored
most centuries in test cricket for
Pakistan is ______.
A. Inzamam-ul-Haq
B. Javed Miandad
C. Salim Malik
D. Younis Khan
3. FIFA Football World Cup 2018
will be played in ______.
A. Russia B. Qatar
C. Saudi Arabia D. Malaysia
4. The record for the fastest fifty
in test cricket belongs to ______.
A. Jacques Kallis
B. Younis Khan
C. Misbah ul Haq
D. Ahmad Shahzad
5. The International Cricket
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Council (ICC) announced a ______
per cent increase in prize money
for 2015 Cricket World Cup.
A. 7.5
B. 10
C. 15
D. 20
Rene Burri, celebrated for his

portraits of Che Guevara and
Pablo Picasso, died.
A. Swiss
B. British
C. Mexican D. Spanish
6. On Nov 13, Misbahul Haq

became Pakistan's most
successful captain when he won
______ tests for Pakistan.
A. 14
B. 15
C. 16
D. 17
2. On Oct 21, Gough Whitlam, a

flamboyant ______ prime minister
and controversial social reformer
died.
A. Indonesian B. German
C. Australian D. Italian
7. India's Rohit Sharma created

history when he smashed 264
runs, the highest individual ODI
score, against ______.
A. Sri Lanka B. Zimbabwe
C. West Indies D. England
3. Legendary former Washington

Post editor Ben Bradlee, who died
on Oct 22, was famous for his
reporting of Watergate scandal
that brought down President
______.
A. Ronald Reagan
B. Andrew Jackson
C. Richard Nixon
D. Bill Clinton
8. On Nov 14, ______ paceman

Mitchell Johnson was named
cricketer of the year by the
International Cricket Council.
A. Australian B. English
C. S. African D. West Indian
9. ______ star Cristiano Ronaldo
was named best striker and best
player of the 2013-14.
A. Spanish
B. Portuguese
C. Brazilian D. German
10. The incumbent FIFA President
is ______.
A. Sepp Blatter B. Joo Havelange
C. Mohammed bin Hammam
D. Edith Wharton
Obituaries
1. On Oct 20, ______ photographer
4. On Oct 29, ______ President

Michael Sata died in London.
A. Zambian B. Nigerian
C. Congolese D. Kenyan
World in Focus (Nov-Dec 2014)
MCQs
National
Nov 16: Defender, a short film
about the Pak Army that features
various sections of the military, won
the best documentary award in its
category at Rome Film Festival 2014.
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Nov 17: Pakistan successfully

revalidated the design and technical
parameters of Shaheen-1A (Hatf-IV), a
nuclear-capable intermediate range
ballistic missile.
Nov 17: The United States and
Pakistan concluded the first phase of a
confidence-building dialogue linked to
the Pakistani army chiefs maiden visit
to the United States.
Nov 18: A three-member bench of the
Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice
Nasirul Mulk, rejected the petitions
seeking disqualification of Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif declaring them
ineffective.
Nov 18: A new global study by
London-based Institute for Economics
and Peace ranked Pakistan third on the
Global Terrorism Index (GTI) list.
Iraq was the country hit hardest by
terrorism, with 2,492 attacks that
killed more than 6,300 people followed
by Afghanistan and Pakistan, with
Nigeria and Syria in fourth and fifth
place respectively.
Nov 19: Chief of the Army Staff
(COAS) General Raheel Sharif, during
his official visit to the US, was
conferred on US Legion of Merit Medal
for brave leadership, sagacity, vision,
efforts for peace and stability in the
region.
Nov 19: The Supreme Court disposed
of a petition filed against October 12,
1999 military action that removed the

Nawaz Sharif government, declaring it
infructuous.
Nov 21: The special court seized with
trying Musharraf for high treason
ordered the federal government to
include former prime minister Shaukat
Aziz, former and existing federal
minister Zahid Hamid and former chief
justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, as coaccused in the case.
Nov 21: Zahid Hamid, the minister
named by a special court as one of the
abettors of retired Gen Pervez
Musharraf, resigned.
Nov 23: University of the Punjab won
the All Pakistan Bilingual Declamation
Contest held at PAF Academy Risalpur.
Nov 23: A Swiss federal tribunal ruled
that a valuable jewellery set that was
seized by authorities in connection
with investigations into allegations of
graft, belonged to former president
Asif Ali Zardari or the legal heirs of the
late Benazir Bhutto.
Nov 23: The UK Immigration officials
imposed a fine of 2,000 on PIA flight
PK-785 carrying an air hostess bearing
an expired passport.
Nov 24: Polio vaccination began in
South Waziristan after a break of twoand-a-half years.
Nov 24: Another 50MW generated
through the wind energy were added
to the national grid after the National
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Transmission and Dispatch Company
got the test run of the wind energy
plants at Jhimpir (Nooriabad), near
Hyderabad.
Nov 24: Pakistan has the world's
fastest-growing nuclear programme
capable of making up to 200 nuclear
devices by the year 2020, a report
entitled Strategic Stability in the
Second Nuclear Age Council, released
by the Council on Foreign Relations
said.
Nov 25: The Supreme Court held that
provisions of the National
Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999,
are applicable with equal force even to
a person who is not holder of a public
office and ordered to proceed against
a guarantor of Messers Ittefaq
Foundries (Pvt) Ltd in a loan default
case.
Nov 25: The Lahore High Court
suspended the recovery of debt
servicing surcharge (DS-surcharge) on
electricity bills levied by the federal
government at the rate of 30 paisa per
unit.
Nov 25: With a score of 27.8 in the
South Asia Women's Resilience Index,
Pakistan is the worst performer when
it comes to women empowerment in
the face of a disaster, be it natural,
economic and conflict related,
revealed a latest report by the
Economist Intelligence Unit.
Nov 26: Police recovered 26 girls,
aged between five and 11 years, from
a two-room house in Liaquatabad C-1

area of Karachi.
conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on
Admiral Dr Marsetio, Chief of the
Indonesian Navy in recognition of his
outstanding services towards further
cementing the defence cooperation
between the two countries.
Nov 26: The chief minister of Punjab
allowed free treatment to the retired
officers of Pakistan Administrative
Service (PAS erstwhile DMG) and
Police Service of Pakistan (PSP), who
served and got settled in Punjab, in all
provincial hospitals. The free
treatment is also allowed to the
dependent family members of these
officers.
Nov 26: The Punjab government
constituted a special police contingent
trained to control mobs and to
disperse them effectively, when
needed. The special police contingent
includes male as well as female
personnel.
Nov 27: A brief meeting between
Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and
Narendra Modi salvaged the Saarc
summit, held at the Nepalese capital
of Kathmandu, with all eight countries
clinching a last-minute deal to create a
regional electricity grid.
Nov 28: Pakistan and Russia
expressed their determination to
remove all impediments in the way of
finalising plans and projects already
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agreed upon.
him).
Nov 29: Over 1.5 million votes were

rejected in the 2013 general elections,
far more than the number of ballots
rejected in the 2002 and 2008
elections, according to an internal
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
document.
Dec 3: Police used batons to disperse

a group of visually-impaired persons
who had gathered on International
Day of Persons with Disabilities to
protest against disregard of the job
quota for special persons and to raise
voice for their rights.
Nov 29: Independent candidate

Inamullah Khan Niazi won the byelections in PP-48 constituency of
Darya Khan.
Dec 4: The Executive Committee of

the National Economic Council (Ecnec)
approved eight development projects
worth Rs157 billion, including two
signature projects of the ruling
Pakistan Muslim League-N first phase
of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor
(PCEC) and another dedicated rapid
transit system for Karachi from Saddar
to Surjani.
Nov 30: Pakistan emerged as the

second largest donor for the World
Food Programme (WFP) with a
donation of 150,000 metric ton wheat
in 2013.
The donation was valued at Rs 5.5
billion ($52 million).
Dec 2: Pakistan's ranking in
Transparency International's
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
2014 improved. The TI described
Pakistan's CPI score of 29 out of 100
and ranking of 126 among 175
countries as the best. The country has
never achieved this distinction since
the first CPI was issued in 1995.
Dec 2: A blasphemy case was
registered against singer-turned
preacher Junaid Jamshed on the
directives of a district and sessions
court for one of his televised sermons
that is thought to contain
blasphemous remarks about a wife of
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
Dec 4: Chief of Army Staff (COAS)

General Raheel Sharif said that the
presence of non-state actors was a
direct threat to the states' internal
security.
Addressing 8th International Defence
Exhibition and Seminar IDEAS-2014 in
Karachi, the COAS said terrorists were
trying to impose their ideology and
that national security was the duty of
every institution.
Dec 4: Pakistan's prestigious Lux Style
Awards was held in Karachi's
Movenpick Hotel.
Dec 5: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
reiterated Pakistan's commitment to
forging cooperative relations with the
Afghan national unity government. He
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was speaking at a meeting with British
Prime Minister David Cameron. They
discussed Pakistan-UK relations, the
regional situation and other issues of
mutual interest.
policy on electricity subsidies is

regressive as it benefits the richest
and the most affluent segment of
society more than the poorest in the
country, the World Bank claims.
Dec 5: Newly-appointed Chief Election

Commissioner (CEC) Justice Sardar
Mohammad Raza Khan resigned as
chief justice of the Federal Shariat
Court.
In its latest report 'Addressing

Inequality in South Asia', released on
December 4, the World Bank identified
the most unjust and regressive part of
the government's power policy where
taxpayers' money is offered as a
power subsidy but to the benefit of the
richest segment of the society instead
of the poor.
Dec 5: An agreement was signed

between Pakistan and the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) for a loan of
$150 million to rehabilitate and
upgrade the capacity of two barrages,
Trimmu and Panjnad, in Punjab.
Dec 6: The Economic Coordination
Committee (ECC) of the cabinet
approved the release of $16.46 million
to the cash-starved PIA to enable it to
induct aircraft on dry lease.
Dec 6: A key Al Qaeda commander
Adnan el Shukrijumah was eliminated
during a raid by Pak Army at a
compound in Shin Warsak area of
South Waziristan Agency.
The 39-year-old Saudi of Guyanese
origin was on the US Most Wanted
List and carried a reward of $5 million
on his head.
Dec 6: Retired Justice Sardar
Mohammad Raza Khan was sworn in
as the 14th Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) of Pakistan.
Dec 6: The Government of Pakistan's
Dec 6: The tenure of US assistance

under Kerry-Lugar-Berman (KLB) Act
expired without providing whole
committed amount up to $7.5 billion
for Pakistan.
Dec 7: The Lal Masjid-run Jamia Hafsa
madrassa for girls expressed its
support for the Islamic State (IS) being
led by Commander Abu Bakar Al
Baghdadi.
Dec 8: An election tribunal ordered
inspection of polling bags of the
National Assembly constituency NA122, where NA Speaker Sardar Ayaz
Sadiq had been declared victorious in
general elections 2013 against the PTI
chief, Imran Khan.
Dec 8: During the last session of the
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) legislative
assembly, a resolution criticising
remarks made by Federal Minister for
Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz
Rasheed and Defence Minister
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Khawaja Asif that GB is not a
constitutional part of Pakistan, was
adopted.
disabled from two per cent to three

per cent besides lifting ban on their
recruitment.
Dec 9: The Supreme Court disposed

of a set of identical petitions seeking
the disqualification of Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif as the counsels failed to
convince the court that the premier
had misstated facts on the floor of the
house.
Dec 10: An audit report exonerated

ministry of water and power of overbilling in the month of July and, on top
of that, the government has decided
not to give Rs.8 billion relief to the
people it had earlier announced on
account of inflated bills.
Dec 9: The kidnapped Punjab

Assembly member Rana Jamil Hassan
was recovered from the Taliban
militants in Khyber Agency.
Dec 12: The country escaped a

national power breakdown by a minute
margin as some technical fault either
in one of the dams or the 500kV
transmission lines triggered a domino
effect and took the entire system
down, suspending supplies to the
entire country, except Karachi and
some parts of lower Sindh and to
some parts of Balochistan.
Dec 9: At the 19th session of

Pakistan-Iran Joint Economic
Commission (JEC), Pakistan and Iran
signed five MoUs to boost cooperation
in the field of investment, economic
and technical assistance, small and
medium enterprises, ports and
handicraft.

announced a Rs2.32 per unit reduction
in electricity tariff.
Dec 10: MQM chief, Altaf Hussain,

sent the Karachi and London-based
members of the top decision-making
forum packing and asked his workers
to prove that the MQM can work
without them.
Dec 12: Co-chairperson of the

Pakistan People's Party and former
president Asif Ali Zardari was finally
acquitted in two corruption references
filed against him about 17 years ago.
Dec 10: The Supreme Court

suspended a Nov 25 verdict of GilgitBaltistan (GB) Anti-Terrorism Court,
convicting media tycoon and Geo TV
owner Mir Shakeelur Rahman.
Dec 12: The caretaker Chief Minister

of Gilgit-Baltistan Sher Jahan Mir took
oath of his office. Governor GilgitBaltistan Pir Syed Karam Ali Shah
administered the oath.
Dec 10: Punjab Chief Minister

Shahbaz Sharif granted approval to
enhance the quota of jobs for the
Dec 12: The government decided to

keep the ban on YouTube for an
indefinite period after a secret trial
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opening of the video-sharing website.
Dec 13: PTI and the MWM leaders
challenged in the Supreme Court the
appointment of the newly-appointed
Gilgit-Balistan CEC Justice (retd) Tahir
Ali Shah, contending that he was
'unsuitable' for the post because of his
alleged close association with the
ruling PML-N.
Dec 15: An antiterrorism court
declared Dr Tahirul Qadri a proclaimed
offender and issued his arrest
warrants in a case of kidnapping and
attacking policemen as well as arson
at the Lillah motorway interchange.
Economy
Nov 17: The government announced
to lift a ban on new gas schemes in
the country.
Nov 17: The Asian Development Bank
announced an interim plan for six
sectors including energy and
transport; agriculture and natural
resources; rural development; water
supply and other urban infrastructure
and services; finance; and public
sector management to which the ADB
assistance will continue.
Nov 19: The Federation of Pakistan
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
(FPCCI) and Shanghai Chamber of
Commerce China signed an agreement
for the joint construction of maritime
Silk Road economic cooperation and
promotion of common development.
Nov 22: According to the 'Paying

Taxes 2015 Study, a report jointly
released by the World Bank and PwC,
tax filing time has increased by 17
hours in Pakistan due to the
introduction of a new provincial VAT
(value-added tax) system.
Nov 26: Pakistan raised $1 billion
from the international Islamic bond
market by selling its Sukuk papers at
6.75 per cent profit rate.
Dec 3: KASB Securities Limited (KSL)
was back in business after the
Securities and Exchange Commission
of Pakistan (SECP) lifted its suspension
of trading facilities imposed on
November 18.
Dec 3: Qatar Investment Authority, an
investment institution of the Qatar
government, announced to make huge
investment in Pakistan in various
national development projects
especially energy generation, gas
supply and other sectors.
Dec 7: Sindh increased sugarcane
price to Rs182 per maund after
growers' mounted protests against the
price temporarily fixed at Rs155 by
the agriculture department.
Dec 10: The State Bank of Pakistan
claimed in its annual report that the
fiscal year 2013-14 was a better year
for macro-economy, though most of
the targets set for the year could not
be achieved, except the fiscal deficit
which remained lower than the target.
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The report also indicated that the
government had artificially managed
to bring down the fiscal deficit to 5.5
per cent as it did not pay the amount
due in FY14.
Dec 10: Meezan Bank's Annual Report
2013 was awarded the 'Certificate of
Merit' in the private banks category by
South Asian Federation of
Accountants.
Education
Nov 19: Higher Education
Commission Pakistan (HEC) declared
MCom (3 years programme) equal to
MPhil/MS of Commerce.
Dec 15: The University of Agriculture
Faisalabad (UAF) set up Waris Shah
Chair for research on the Punjabi
classic poet.
Appointments and Transfers
administered the oath to retired Maj
Gen Niaz Mohammad Khan Khattak as
chairman of the Federal Public Service
Commission (FPSC).
granted one year extension to
Pakistan Agricultural Research Council
(PARC) Chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmed.
Nov 21: CEO of Peshawar Electric
Supply Company (Pesco), Brigadier
(Retd) Tariq Saddozai, was appointed
as the chairman of NEPRA for five
years.
Nov 24: The Secretary of Narcotics

Control Division, Muhammad Akbar
Khan Hoti, was appointed as director
general of the Federal Investigation
Agency (FIA).
Acting DG FIA Ghalib Ahmad Bandesha
will assume the charge as secretary
Narcotics Control Division.
Nov 25: Enver Baig, the chairman of
Benazir Income Support Programme
(BISP), resigned from his post. He was
later made the chairman of Pakistan
Industrial Development Corporation
(PIDC).
Nov 27: The board of directors of the
K-Electric Limited appointed Tayyab
Tareen as the Chief Executive Officer.
Dec 1: Federal Ombudsman Salman
Faruqi was given additional charge of
Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) as the
incumbent FTO Abdul Rauf Chaudhry
went on one-month leave.
Dec 4: On the advice of the prime
minister, President Mamnoon Hussain
Sardar Mohammad Raza Khan, the
incumbent Chief Justice of Federal
Shariat Court, as the new Chief
Election Commissioner of Pakistan.
The parliamentary committee for the
appointment of the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) had agreed on
the name of Justice Khan only a day
ahead of the apex court's deadline.
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appointed Sher Jahan Mir as caretaker
chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan after
the legislative assembly completed its
five-year tenure.
Earlier President Mamnoon Hussain,
on recommendation of the prime
minister, made amendments in the GB
Empowerment and Self-governance
Order, 2009, because there was no
provision in the law for setting up a
caretaker government in GilgitBaltistan.
Dec 11: President Mamnoon Hussain,
on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, approved the appointment of
Justice Fida Muhammad Khan, the
senior-most judge of the Federal
Shariat Court as Acting Chief Justice.
The President authorised Justice
Sheikh Najmul Hasan, the next senior
Judge of the FSC to administer the
oath of office to the Acting Chief
Justice.
Dec 13: The government decided to
appoint Sohail Mahmood as Pakistan's
new ambassador to Turkey. He will be
replacing Muhammad Haroon Shaukat.
Dec 15: The government appointed

Dr Maleeha Lodhi as the new
ambassador to the United Nations.
She succeeds Ambassador Masood
Khan and will assume her new
assignment in February 2015.
Science
Nov 23: While the scientists around
the globe are in search of efficient

enzymes that can simplify the process
of starch hydrolysis for glucose and
maltose production, four scientists of
the PU's Institute of Agricultural
Sciences, including Dr Nasir Ahmad,
Dr Muhammad Saleem Haider, and
School of Biological Sciences Dr
Naeem Rashid, Dr Muhammad Akhtar,
discovered a novel thermo-acidophilic
enzyme.
It is worth mentioning that there is not
even a single unit of enzyme
production in Pakistan.
Sports
Nov 17: M. Inayatullah took the
winner's trophy in the prestigious
Premier category comprising top 10
players of the country at the Danpak
4th Ranking Scrabble Tournament held
at the Beach Luxury Hotel, Karachi. A
record 84 players featured in four
categories.
Nov 17: Experienced wrestler
Mohammad Inam lifted bronze medal
for Pakistan in the fourth edition of the
Asian Beach Games being held in
Phuket, Thailand.
Nov 22: Iman Qureshi won the
women's singles title of the 2nd
Hassan Tariq Rahim Masters Cup
Tennis tournament.
Nov 22: Pakistan lifted bronze medal
when they defeated Bahrain 2-1 in the
bronze medal match of the men's
handball competitions of the 4th Asian
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Beach Games at Phuket, Thailand.
Nov 23: Three-year-old bay colt, Risk
Free, lifted the Shah Mardan Shah II Pir
Pagara VII Memorial Cup at the Karachi
Racecourse.
Nov 23: Pakistan kabaddi team won
the silver medal after losing to Iran in
the final of the 4th Asian Beach Games
men's Kabaddi.
Nov 24: Madeha Hussain of Punjab
Law College won a gold medal for the
first time in the Punjab University
Intercollegiate Karate Championships.
Noor Asfia of the same college won
the silver medal.
Dec 4: Star-studded polo team Witribe
Shahsawars won the Grace King land
Polo Cup held at the Lahore Polo Club.
Dec 5: New Zealand beat Pakistan in
the second Twenty20 international in
Dubai to level the two-match series.
Dec 7: India beat two-time winners
and defending champions Pakistan in
a thrilling final to be crowned
champions of Blind Cricket World Cup.
Dec 7: Rawalpindi's Ghazanfar
Mahmood with an aggregate score of
218 retained the trophy of the threeday Chief of Naval Staff (CNS)
Amateur Golf championship at the
Royal Palm Golf Course, Lahore.
Dec 7: Pakistan won the title of men's
International Handball Tournament by
outplaying Yemen in the final played at
the University of Agriculture

Faisalabad (UAF).
Dec 8: Karar Hussain of the DHA shot
one under par 71 to win the amateurs
gross crown in the Atlas Honda golf
tournament played over 18-holes at
the Arabian Sea Country Club (ASCC).
Dec 12: Former senator Salim
Saifullah Khan took over as president
of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF)
as his group was elected unopposed.
Dec 13: Pakistan edged out hosts
India 4-3 in a thrilling semi-final to set
up a Champions Trophy field hockey
title clash against Olympic gold
medallist Germany.
Dec 13: The first game of the fivematch series between Pakistan A and
Kenya was played at the Gaddafi
Stadium in what was said to be the
revival of international cricket in
Pakistan.
Obituaries
Nov 18: Renowned industrialist and
former minister Shahzada Alam
Monnoo died. He was 80.
Nov 19: Renowned trainer, consultant
and motivational speaker Nadeem
Chawhan passed away. Chawhan was
called The Vizier of Storytelling due
to his enigmatic, humorous and
insightful style of engaging audiences.
Nov 23: Educationist, lyricist, writer
and critic Ahmed Aqeel Ruby passed
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away at 75.
Nov 25: Founder member of Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and its former
Punjab president Ahsan Rasheed
passed away.
Nov 29: Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro,
secretary general of the Sindh chapter
of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, was
gunned down at a mosque adjacent to
Madressah Haqqania in Sukkurs SITE
area. He was 55.
Nov 29: Former Lahore High Court
Chief Justice Rashid Aziz Khan passed
away.
Dec 8: Veteran communist leader
Comrade Sobho Gianchandani died.
He was 95.
Dec 8: Renowned tennis coach
Qamaruddin, the father of Davis
Cupper Nomi Qamar, passed away.
Dec 9: Usman Ahmed Bilour, the
younger son of Awami National Partys
late leader Bashir Ahmad Bilour, died.
He was 43.
Dec 10: Mansoor Malangi, the great
Seraiki singer died. He was 66.
Dec 11: Renowned Pashto poet
Ikramullah Gran Bacha passed away.
He was 73.
Dec 12: Noted scholar and former
Balochistan Education director, Dr
Inamul Haq Kausar, passed away.
The author of 80 books, Dr Kausar

rendered meritorious services in the
fields of education and literature. He
was also awarded with pride of
performance and many other
accolades.
Dec 14: One of the pioneers in
neurosurgery in Pakistan, Prof Bashir
Ahmed, passed away.
Dec 15: Adviser to PPP's
Parliamentary Group in the National
Assembly and Senate Izhar Amrohvi
passed away at 82.
People in News
Admiral Muhammad Zakaullah
decorated Admiral Muhammad
Zakaullah, Chief of Naval Staff with
Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) in recognition
of his long meritorious services,
exceptionally commendable
performance and inspirable devotion
of duty.
Raniya Hosain
Nov 21: Raniya Hosain, a 15-year-old
Pakistani student won praise from the
Duchess of Cornwall after being
declared winner in the Commonwealth
Essay competition.
Raniya, who wrote a descriptive essay
about Pakistan's contribution to the
Commonwealth, won in the senior
category and was especially flown
over from Pakistan to take part in a
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ceremony at the Buckingham Palace.
Nov 26: A gold medal was awarded to
Prof Dr Masood Sadiq, dean of the
Children's Hospital and Institute of
Child Health, by President Mamnoon
Hussain at the opening ceremony of
the 22nd International Biennial
Paediatrics Conference in recognition
of his services in the field of paediatric
cardiology in Pakistan.
The judges for this years award were:

Amit Chaudhuri, Aatish Taseer and
Mridula Koshy.
Malala Yousufzai & Kailash
Satyarthi
Dec 10: Malala Yousufzai received the
Nobel Peace Prize as the youngest
ever laureate, sharing her award with
Indian child rights campaigner Kailash
Satyarthi.
Cecil Chaudhry
Nov 29: The government renamed a
portion of Lawrence Road to honour
the late Cecil Chaudhry, a war veteran
of the Pakistan Air Force.
Ushna Suhail
Nov 29: Pakistan ladies tennis
champion and FFC Sports Ambassador
Ushna Suhail became Pakistan's first
female tennis player to enter
International Tennis Federation (ITF)
rankings.
Fawad Khan
Nov 29: Pakistan's Fawad Khan was
honoured with the Best Bollywood
Debut award at the Masala Awards
2014 held in Dubai.
Bilal Tanweer
Dec 3: Writer and translator Bilal
Tanweer won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt
First Book Prize for his novel The
Scatter Here Is Too Great.
Nobel winners receive $1.1 million

(roughly 110 million rupees), which is
shared in the case of joint wins.
Tahira Yasub
Dec 12: Tahira Yasub became the first
woman superintendent of police (SP)
in Gilgit-Baltistan region.
Shaukat Aziz
Dec 14: The Asian Business
Leadership Forum gave 'ABLE
Statesman' award to the former Prime
Minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, on
playing an excellent role in the
financial progress of Pakistan in the
Asian Union.
Sadruddin Hashwani
Dec 15: Prominent businessman of
Pakistan and Chairman of Hashoo
Group, Sadruddin Hashwani was
honoured with ABLE lifetime
achievement Award.
Places in News
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Washington
Nov 18: The Pentagon hosted COAS
Gen Raheel Sharif for talks with top
American defence leaders on USPakistan military-to-military relations.
Gen Sharif's delegation was greeted
with a full honour guard.
parliamentarians from 25 Asian

countries attended session of the APA
which was launched in 2004.
Karachi
Dec 4: 8th International Defence
Exhibition IDEAS-2014 was held in
Karachi.
Lahore
Islamabad
Nov 21: During a public gathering in

Lahore, Jamaati-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq
unveiled his 'people's agenda'
containing all features of a welfare
state. Presenting himself for
accountability as two-time senior
minister in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
government, he expressed hope that
the incumbent and former presidents
and prime ministers will follow suit to
promote good democratic traditions.
Dec 9: A three-day international

conference on sustainable
development opened in Islamabad.
The conference is being attended by
representatives from more than 16
South Asian countries and over 50
international experts.
Lahore
Nov 24: Fifty noted Muslim scholars
and leaders of Islamic movements
from 30 countries reaffirmed their
pledge of peaceful preaching of Islam
and refraining from violence for the
cause.
These leaders came to Pakistan to
attend Jamaat-e-Islami's three-day
convention at Minar-e-Pakistan.
Lahore
Nov 30: The 7th plenary session of
the Asian Parliamentary Assembly
started in Lahore. As many as 126
New Delhi
Dec 12: The India-Pakistan
Parliamentarians Dialogue-VI, which
concluded in New Delhi, suggested
eleven modes which could be used
actively to facilitate the resumption of
dialogue on terms that are mutually
acceptable.
The Dialogue was organised by
Pakistan Institute of Legislative
Development and Transparency
(Pildat).
International
Nov 17: Almost 36 million people are
living as slaves across the globe with
an index listing Mauritania,
Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar and India as
the nations where modern-day slavery
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is most prevalent, a report by an
Australia-based human rights group
The Walk Free Foundation, said.
Nov 17: Authorities in Burkina Faso
named former foreign minister Michel
Kafando as countrys transitional
president.
Nov 18: A United Nations General
Assembly committee adopted a
Pakistani-sponsored resolution
reaffirming that the universal
realisation of the right of peoples to
self-determination was a fundamental
condition for the effective guarantee
and observance of human rights.
Nov 19: Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapaksa unconditionally pardoned
and released five Tamil Nadu
fishermen who had been sentenced to
death for drug trafficking by the
Colombo High Court.
Nov 19: Spanish lawmakers adopted
a motion calling on their government
to recognise a Palestinian state. The
motion was adopted nearly
unanimously with 319 in favour, two
against, and one abstention.
Nov 19: Colonel Isaac Zida, the
military officer who took power after
the fall of Burkina Faso president
Blaise Compaore, was named
country's interim prime minister.
Nov 19: Malaysia became the only
Muslim country making it to the top 10
in the Global Giving Index 2014
released by Charities Aid Foundation
(CAF); a 90-year-old charity in the

United Kingdom. The report was based
on Gallup data collected across 135
countries.
Nov 19: Oxford Dictionaries picked
vape the act of smoking an ecigarette as their new word of the
year, with the affectionate bae and
the more pragmatic contactless as
runners-up.
Nov 19: Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United
Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, called on the Muslim world to
denounce the monstrous crimes of
the extremist group that seeks to
establish an Islamic state in Iraq and
Syria.
Nov 21: A study by the Swiss bank
UBS and luxury industry consultant
Wealth-X revealed that a bare 0.004
per cent of the world's adult
population controls nearly $30 trillion
in assets, 13pc of the world's total
wealth.
The report said 211,275 people qualify
as ultra-high net worth (UHNW)
those with assets above $30 million.
Of them, 2,325 have more than $1
billion.
Nov 21: Prosecutors filed suits against
government officials in Spain's
powerful north-eastern region of
Catalonia for staging a vote on
secession that had been ordered
suspended by the constitutional court.
The prosecutor's office urged
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Catalonia's regional court to
investigate possible charges of grave
disobedience, abuse of public funds,
prevarication, usurpation of powers
and obstructing justice against
Catalan regional President Artur Mas
and two other regional officials for
staging the November 9 non-binding
ballot.
Nov 21: The United Nations adopted
the first-ever resolution calling on
governments to stop child marriages.
About 15 million girls worldwide
become child brides each year and
globally, more than 700 million women
were married before the age of 18.
Unless action is taken, some 1.2 billion
girls will be married by 2050, says the
Girls Not Brides coalition of nongovernmental organisations.
Nov 21: US President Barack Obama
announced sweeping immigration
reforms that will allow almost five
million immigrants to legalise their
status in the United States.
Nov 21: In a stunning upset, 17-yearold Pakistani prodigy, Moiz Baig,
defeated Nigel Richards, the reigning
world champion and arguably the
greatest player of all times in the
Scrabble Champions Tournament 2014
in London.
Nov 22: President Barack Obama
signed an order that permits American
personnel to continue to fight the
Taliban and other militant groups that
pose a threat to either the US forces or
Afghan government even after the

proposed pullout of most units in
December 2014.
Nov 22: Chinese director Lou Ye's
drama Blind Massage, starring blind
amateur actors as massage therapists
scooped six gongs out of seven
nominations at the Golden Horse Film
Awards, touted as the Chinese
language Oscars.
Nov 22: The first bus in Britain
powered entirely by human and food
waste made its first journey.
Bio-Bus, a 40-seater shuttle service
between Bath and Bristol Airport, can
travel up to 186 miles on just one tank
of gas which is generated through the
treatment of sewage and food waste
deemed unfit for human consumption.
Nov 22: A Tunisian woman Fatma Ben
Guefrache, who is also a computer
scientist, won a pageant exclusively
for Muslims in Indonesia. Fatma
received a prize which includes a gold
watch, a gold dinar and a mini
pilgrimage to Mecca.
Nov 23: Afghanistan's parliament
approved agreements with the US and
Nato allowing international troops to
remain in the country past the end of
this year.
Nov 23: Israel's cabinet approved a
contentious bill to officially define as
the nation state of the Jewish people.
Nov 24: US Defence Secretary Chuck
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Hagel resigned from his post.
Nov 24: Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdoan told a meeting on
women's rights that gender equality
was contrary to nature and said
feminists did not recognise the value
of motherhood.
Nov 24: South Korea's education
minister apologised and the head of
the national exam board resigned
after accepting that there were errors
in two questions in the country's
cutthroat college entrance test.
Nov 25: Nepal and India signed a deal
to build a $1-billion hydropower plant.
The deal allows India's state-owned
company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam to
construct a 900-megawatt hydropower
project on Nepal's Arun river, with
electricity expected to be generated
from 2021.
Nov 25: An influential Bangladesh exminister, Abdul Latif Siddique, was
jailed over remarks criticising the
annual Muslim Haj pilgrimage. He had
called the Muslim ritual Haj a waste
of manpower.
Nov 25: A grand jury, comprising nine
white and three black members, in
Ferguson determined that officer
Darren Wilson, who shot and killed
black teenager Michael Brown in
August, should face no charges. Riots
erupted overnight after the decision
was announced.
Nov 25: At a meeting of the Saarc
Foreign Ministers' Council, it was

decided to give up 30-year-old
tradition of holding Saarc summit
annually. Now from this year, the
Saarc will be having its summit
biannually.
Nov 25: Afia Nathaniel's road trip
thriller Dukhtar won the awards for
'Best Director' and 'Audience Award
for Best Feature' at the 11th South
Asian Film Festival (SAIFF) held in New
York City.
Nov 26: South Asian leaders,
including from India and Pakistan,
discussed trade and energy
cooperation and regional peace, but
did not reach a consensus on expected
transportation and energy agreements
at the 18th Summit of the Saarc.
Nov 26: Britain unveiled The CounterTerrorism and Security Bill, a draft
legislation to ban extremist preachers
from universities, increase surveillance
on suspected radicals and stem the
flow of jihadists joining the Islamic
Stage group.
Nov 26: Iran's parliament approved
Iranian Red Crescent chief Mohammad
Farhadi as the new science minister.
Nov 26: The United Nations Security
Council voted unanimously to extend
its peacekeeping mission in South
Sudan.
Nov 27: A team of scientists led by Dr
Francis Collins and Dr Anthony Fauci
successfully conducted the first
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human trial of an experimental Ebola
vaccine.
Nov 27: The World Trade Organisation
(WTO) adopted the first worldwide
trade reform in its history. The
agreement means the WTO will
introduce new standards for customs
checks and border procedures.
Streamlining the flow of trade will add
as much as $1 trillion and 21 million
jobs to the world economy.
Nov 29: The World Bank (WB) said it
will loan East African nations $1.2
billion to improve inland waterways
and ports in Kenya and Tanzania, as
part of efforts to boost integration in
the region.
Dec 1: Turkish President Recep Tayyip

Erdogan held talks in Ankara with his
Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin
aimed at boosting trade and
strengthening relations, despite sharp
differences over the crisis in Syria and
Ukraine.
Dec 1: The Asian Parliamentary
Assembly (APA) executive council,
which consists of 25 members,
approved the constitution of a special
committee to mobilise support and
prepare a strategy for establishing
Asian Parliament.
Nov 29: Taiwan's premier, Jiang Yihuah, resigned after his Beijingfriendly ruling party suffered a
landslide defeat at the island's biggest
ever local elections.
Dec 2: Chan Kin-man, Benny Tai Yiuting and Chu Yiu-ming, the original
founders of Hong Kong's prodemocracy Occupy Movement
announced they would surrender by
turning themselves in to police and
urged protesters on the streets to
retreat.
Nov 29: An Egyptian court dropped its

case against former president Hosni
Mubarak over the killing of protesters
in the 2011 uprising.
Dec 2: Nato member countries

approved a new interim quick-reaction
military force to protect themselves
from Russia or other threats.
Nov 30: Swiss voters overwhelmingly

rejected proposals that would have
forced the central bank to buy huge
amounts of gold and imposed strict
curbs on immigration.
Dec 2: Ukraine's Parliament approved

the formation of a new government,
bringing an end to the political
wrangling following an October
election.
Nov 30: Former French President

Nicolas Sarkozy gained control over
the centre-right opposition and
established a steppingstone in his
attempt to run the country again.
The cabinet approved by lawmakers

will be headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk,
who has served as prime minister
since February.
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Dec 2: France's lower house of
parliament voted to urge the
government to recognise a Palestinian
state. The vote, approved with 339
votes to 151, is non-binding.
official Ashton Carter as his new

Secretary of Defence. He replaced
Chuck Hagel who resigned on Nov 24
but will continue to serve until the
Senate confirms Mr Carter.
Dec 2: India successfully test-fired the

nuclear-capable strategic ballistic
missile Agni-IV, with a strike range of
about 4,000km.
Dec 5: The House of Representatives

adopted an annual US defence
spending bill which includes
emergency funding for military
operations against Islamic jihadists in
Iraq and Syria.
Dec 3: A 900-kilometre railway linking

Centra l Asia to the trade routes of
the Persian Gulf through Turkmenistan,
Kazakhstan and Iran was launched.
The route permits train service from
Kazakhstan`s city of Uzen through
Turkmenistan to Iran's Gorgan.
Dec 4: The US Congress extended the
Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan for
a year but has also included some new
conditions in its final budget
proposals.
Dec 4: Tunisia's first full elected
parliament appointed Mohammed
Nacer, vice president of the secular
Nidaa Tounes party that won 86 of the
217 seats, as its speaker.
Dec 5: The British Museum sent one
of its most precious artefacts for
display in Russia, in a gesture of
diplomacy amid the biggest rift in
relations between the government in
Moscow and Nato countries since the
Cold War.
Dec 5: US President Barack Obama
officially nominated a former Pentagon
The Republican-led House passed the

measure by a vote of 300 to 119.
Dec 5: The International Criminal
Court's chief prosecutor dropped a
case against Kenyan President Uhuru
Kenyatta alleging crimes against
humanity, saying there was
insufficient evidence to take him to
trial.
Dec 6: Members of parliament voted
Somalia's prime minister out of office
for the second time in a year.
Dec 6: Britain signed a deal with
Bahrain that will bolster the United
Kingdom's military presence in the
island nation and give it a more
permanent naval base in the oil-rich
Persian Gulf region.
Dec 6: An additional 1,000 US troops
will remain in Afghanistan next year to
meet a temporary shortfall in Nato
forces, US Defence Secretary Chuck
Hagel said during a visit to Kabul.
Dec 6: UN General Assembly's
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Economic and Financial Committee
adopted a resolution outlining the
plan, which was proposed by
developing countries and strongly
backed by Argentina, to develop a new
legal framework to restructure
national debts and avoid the kind of
speculative action that led Argentina
to a second default.
Dec 6: The Maldives declared two
days of public holidays in a bid to
manage fraying tempers and ration
supply following a drinking water
crisis.
Dec 8: The US and Nato closed their
combat command in Afghanistan,
more than 13 years after invading the
country in the wake of the Sept 11
terror attacks to target Al Qaeda and
Osama bin Laden.
Dec 8: In Australia's emotional
opening Test against India in Adelaide,
the late Phillip Hughes was
symbolically named 13th man.
Dec 8: Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah
appointed new ministers for health,
higher education, transport,
agriculture, information and Islamic
affairs as part of the kingdom's
broadest reshuffle of second-tier posts
in years.
Dec 8: The Los Angeles Film Critics
Association named Richard Linklater's
Boyhood, a 12-year experiment,
their best picture of 2014.
Linklater also earned a best director
honour for his film, while Patricia

Arquette picked up the best actress.
Dec 9: German Chancellor Angela
Merkel was re-elected unopposed as
chief of her conservative party.
Dec 9: The six-member Gulf
Cooperation Council announced to
create a regional police force, known
as GCC-POL, which will be based out of
the UAE's capital of Abu Dhabi.
Dec 9: The US Senate Intelligence
Committee released a report on the
CIA's use of torture for coercing
information from terror suspects after
the attacks of Sept 11, 2001.
Dec 9: The Israeli military's
destruction of civilian buildings during
its Protective Edge offensive in
summer 2014 amounted to war crimes
and must be investigated, Amnesty
International said.
Dec 10: The United States senate
confirmed the nomination of Richard
Rahul Verma as the next US
ambassador to India.
Dec 10: Ziad Abu Ein, 55, a
Palestinian minister without portfolio,
died shortly after Israeli border guards
shoved and grabbed him by the
throat.
Dec 10: Poland's top court ruled that
Jewish and Muslim communities can
perform kosher and halal slaughter,
striking down a two-year-old ban as an
unconstitutional breach of religious
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freedom.
Dec 10: Time magazine named the
medics who have treated patients
struck with the killer Ebola virus as its
Person of the Year 2014, paying
tribute to their courage and mercy.
Dec 10: E. H. Shepard's original inkdrawing of an iconic literary
illustration depicting Winnie-the-Pooh
and his friends playing poohsticks
sold at auction in London for a recordbreaking 314,500 ($490,470).
The sale of the much-loved A. A. Milne
characters Pooh, Christopher Robin
and Piglet broke the world record for
any book illustration in the sale at
Sotheby's auction house.
Dec 10: President Robert G. Mugabe
of Zimbabwe dismissed his vice
president Joice Mujuru.
Dec 12: US lawmakers approved fresh
economic sanctions against Russia, a
move likely to anger President
Vladimir Putin as American lawmakers
toughen their response to Kremlin's
continued support to rebels in eastern
Ukraine.
Dec 12: The Federal Constitutional
Court, Germany's top court, rejected a
bid by leftist opposition parties to call
former NSA contractor Edward
Snowden as a witness in a
parliamentary probe of US intelligence
activities.
Dec 12: Nearly 6,600 people have
now died from the Ebola virus, almost

all of them in west Africa, the World
Health Organisation said.
Dec 12: The Portuguese parliament
adopted a recommendation calling
upon the government to recognise the
Palestinian state, drawing votes from
the majority and the opposition.
Dec 12: China banned playing its
national anthem at weddings,
funerals, balls or other non-political
functions and it will now only be
performed at certain dignified events.
Dec 13: Iran extended temporary
visas for 450,000 Afghan refugees for
six months, lifting a threat to send
them back home.
Dec 14: About 190 nations agreed to
the building blocks of a new-style
global deal due in 2015 to combat
climate change.
Dec 14: Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe won comfortable reelection in a snap poll.
Dec 14: Hazem Sherif, a Syrian from
war-torn Aleppo, was declared the
winner of this year's 'Arab Idol' singing
contest.
Dec 15: The UN General Assembly
adopted a resolution by consensus on
promoting interreligious and
intercultural dialogue under which the
193-member body affirmed that
mutual understanding and dialogue
were important components of the
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culture of peace.
Dhabi Grand Prix.
Dec 15: Miss South Africa, 22-year-old

Rolene Strauss, was crowned Miss
World 2014 at the pageant's final in
London.
Nov 23: Roger Federer defeated

Richard Gasquet to seal Switzerland's
maiden Davis Cup title.
Sports
Nov 16: India beat Sri Lanka to secure
a 5-0 series whitewash in the One-day
International series.
Nov 16: Bangladesh thrashed
Zimbabwe by 186 to sweep the test
series 3-0.
Nov 17: American twins Bob and Mike
Bryan claimed the ATP Tour Finals title
for the fourth time.
Nov 18: India seamer Bhuvneshwar
Kumar won the Polly Umrigar Award
for 2013-14 when he was declared
India's best international cricketer for
2013-14.
Nov 21: India clinched the South
Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
Women's Championship, outclassing
Nepal.
Nov 22: Pole vault world record
holder Renaud Lavillenie and Olympic
shot put champion Valerie Adams were
named World Athletes of the Year by
the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF).
Nov 23: British driver Lewis Hamilton
clinched his second Formula One title
with victory at the season-ending Abu
Nov 26: Lionel Messi netted his fifth

Champions League hat trick in 91
matches to take his tally to 74. The
previous record of 71 goals had been
set by former Real Madrid and Schalke
striker Raul over the course of 142
matches.
Nov 28: Brendon McCullum scored
the fastest test century by a New
Zealand batsman on only 78 balls. The
earlier record was of 81 balls by Ross
Taylor.
Nov 29: The 14-year-old Chinese
snooker sensation Yan Bingtao won
the fully stretched final of the
International Billiards and Snooker
Federation (IBSF) world amateur
championship, held in Bangalore after
defeating Pakistan's Mohammad
Sajjad.
Nov 30: Rising American star Jordan
Spieth dominated the final round to
win the Australian Open Golf by six
shots.
Dec 1: Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam
became the first cricketer to claim a
hat-trick on his debut in a One-day
International.
Dec 3: Pakistan and New Zealand
dedicated the trophy for their two
Twenty20 matches in the Dubai to the
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memory of late Australian batsman
Phillip Hughes.
season-ending championship in three

years.
Dec 3: Sri Lankan batsman Kumar

Sangakkara became only the fourth
batsman in history to surpass 13,000
ODI runs.
Dec 14: British boxer Amir Khan won

a 12-round bout over former champion
Devon Alexander in a welterweight
matchup.
Dec 8: Argentina beat Australia 3-1 in

a penalty shootout in the final of the
Women's Champions Trophy.
Dec 14: Olympic hockey goldmedallists Germany added the

Champions Trophy to their list of
laurels with a 2-0 victory over spirited
Pakistan in the final.
Dec 9: New Zealand's Ross Taylor

equalled the record of most successive
hundreds in ODIs by making an
unbeaten 105 in the first match of the
five-match series against Pakistan at
Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It
was Ross Taylor's third successive
hundred in one dayers.
Pakistan's Zaheer Abbas and Saeed
Anwar and South African Herschelle
Gibbs, Arabham de Villiers and
Quinton de Kock, have also scored
three hundreds in successive ODIs.
Dec 9: World number one Rory
McIlroy won the Golf Writers Trophy for
the second time in three years.
Dec 10: Former Australia captain
Ricky Ponting was appointed head
coach of Indian Premier League side
Mumbai Indians.
Dec 13: China's world No.5 Feng
Shanshan, the highest ranked player
in the field, completed a dominant
wire-to-wire victory at the 500,000
euros Ladies European Masters her
second win in the European Tour's
Dec 15: Double Formula One world

champion Lewis Hamilton, who won 11
grands prix for Mercedes in 2014, was
named BBC Sports Personality of the
Year. The award is widely regarded as
Britain's most prestigious cross-sports
accolade.
Obituaries
Nov 16: Ian Craig, the youngest
player to play Test cricket for Australia,
died aged 79. Ian had debuted in 1953
at 17 years and 239 days.
Nov 16: Alexander Grothendieck, one
of the greatest mathematical minds of
the twentieth century, died. He was
86.
Alexander is known for his excavating
new ground in the field known as
algebraic geometry and supplied a
theoretical foundation for the solving
of some of the most vexing
conundrums of modern mathematics.
Nov 25: Legendary Kathak dancer
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Sitara Devi died at a hospital in
Mumbai. She was 94.
significantly expanding ties between

the two countries.
Born in 1920 in Kolkata, Sitara Devi

drew from the themes, poetry and
choreography collected by her father.
Having appeared in a clutch of
successful movies in which she
invariably had a dancing role, Sitara
Devi last performed a classic Holi
dance in Mother India. Thus she
connected two great movie makers,
Mehboob who cast her in her last role
in Mother India, and K. Asif of Mughali-Azam fame to whom she was married
for some time.
Nov 27: The European Parliament

approved overwhelmingly a resolution
calling on the EU to consider ordering
search engines to separate their
commercial services from their
businesses.
Nov 26: Lebanese singer and actress

Sabah, an icon of Arab music, died at
87.
Nov 27: British detective writer P. D.
James, the creator of the best-selling
series featuring poetry-writing sleuth
Adam Dalgliesh, died at the age of 94.
Nov 30: Mark Strand, whose spare,
deceptively simple investigations of
rootlessness, alienation and ineffable
strangeness of life made him one of
America's most hauntingly meditative
poets, died at 80.
Dec 2: Veteran Indian movie comedian
Deven Verma passed away. He was 77.
Economy
Nov 17: China and Australia sealed a
landmark free trade agreement more
than a decade in the making,
Dec 1: Turkey assumed the

presidency of the G20 group of major
economies for the first time in its
history.
Dec 2: Iraq's government and the
autonomous Kurdish region announced
an agreement resolving their
longstanding disputes over the budget
and oil exports.
People in Places
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama
Nov 19: A Christian named Basuki
Tjahaja Purnama was inaugurated as
governor of the Indonesian capital for
the first time in 50 years. He is the
first person from the country's tiny
ethnic Chinese minority to become
leader of Jakarta.
Katy Perry
Nov 24: Pop star Katy Perry and
British boy band One Direction were
big winners at the American Music
Awards (AMA's), with both winning
three top honours.
Denis Mukwege
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Nov 26: Congolese doctor Denis

Mukwege received the European
Parliament's Sakharov rights prize for
helping thousands of gang rape
victims. The 59-year-old Mukwege is
often dubbed "Doctor Miracle" for his
work with victims in the DR Congo.
Gergely Barki
Nov 27: A long-lost avant-garde
painting returned home to Hungary
after nine decades thanks to a sharpeyed art historian. Gergely Barki, a
researcher at Hungary's national
gallery in Budapest, noticed Sleeping
Lady with Black Vase by Rbert Berny
in the Hollywood film Stuart Little.
Lord Harries of Pentregarth
Nov 29: The former Bishop of Oxford,
Lord Harries of Pentregarth suggested
that readings from the Quran should
feature in the next Coronation when
Prince Charles succeeds to the Throne.
Mahesh Savani
Dec 1: Mahesh Savani, an Indian
diamond trader, threw a mass
wedding ceremony for 111 fatherless
women and gave each one gifts worth
thousands of dollars.
Cuban leader's important

contributions to world peace.
Asha Bhosle
Dec 13: Noted Indian playback singer
Asha Bhosle was honoured with the
Lifetime Achievement Award at the
11th Dubai International Film Festival
(DIFF).
Places in News
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Nov 21: China's Vice Premier Wang
Yang paid a visit to Slovenia in what is
being described as crucial for
attracting Chinese investments in the
tiny eurozone country. He also
addresses a Slovenia-China Business
Forum held in Ljubljana, Slovenia's
capital.
London, UK
Nov 24: The World Scrabble
Champion concluded in London where
Britain's Craig Beevers lifted the
trophy with Chris Lipe of the US stood
the runner-up.
Pakistan's Waseem Khatri won the
prize for the biggest win of the
tournament when he pulverized
Catalin Caba of Romania 684-253.
Fidel Castro
Kathmandu, Nepal
Dec 11: Fidel Castro was awarded
China's version of the Nobel Peace
Prize, with a paper close to the ruling
Communist Party hailing the former
Nov 27: South Asian leaders signed

an agreement to improve the crossborder energy trade in the power-
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
starved region, as the Saarc summit
overshadowed by Pakistan-India
rivalry ended with little progress
towards regional integration.
one of the most ambitious engineering

projects in Chinese history, will carry
water from central China to quench
the thirst of Beijing and other areas.
Bariyapur, Nepal
Lima, Peru
Nov 28: Hordes of Hindu worshippers

slaughtered thousands of animals in a
remote corner of Nepal to honour their
goddess of power. Sword-wielding
devotees poured into Bariyapur
making this remote village the world's
largest abattoir, with animals ranging
from buffaloes to rats butchered.
Dec 13: The UN Climate Change

Conference (UNFCCC), known also as
Conference of the Parties (COP 20),
concluded its 12-day meeting at Lima,
Peru. About 190 nations agreed to the
building blocks of a new-style global
deal due in 2015 to combat climate
change.
London, UK
Weird News

reiterated Pakistan's commitment to
forging cooperative relations with the
Afghan national unity government. He
was speaking at a meeting with British
Prime Minister David Cameron. They
discussed Pakistan-UK relations, the
regional situation and other issues of
mutual interest.
Nov 25: A 22-year-old Pakistani, Asim

Abbasi, was declared an alleged Jewish
terrorist in the country. Asim, accused
of taking an alleged rifle to Belgium,
was actually a cricket fan and was
taking along with him a bat hidden in
a jersey.
London, UK
Dec 9: New Scotland Yard, the
headquarters of London's Metropolitan
Police, was sold to investors from the
UAE, for $580 million.
Beijing, China
Dec 12: A multi-billion-dollar manmade river to divert water from
China's south to its parched north was
opened. The central route of the
SouthNorth Water Diversion Project,
Nov 26: In other countries, you may

be asked to give a push to a car stuck
in the mud. In Russia, passengers in
the Arctic came out of an airliner in
sub-zero temperatures to help it move
to the runway.
A Russian-made Tu-134 with 74 oil
workers and seven crew members
aboard was due to fly from the town of
Igarka to Krasnoyarsk, about 1,300km
to the south, when the plane froze to
the ground. It was -52C outside and
the passengers seemed desperate to
get home.
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Dec 4: In the first case of its kind, a
New York appeals court rejected an
animal rights advocate's bid to extend
legal personhood to chimpanzees,
saying the primates are incapable of
bearing the responsibilities that come
with having legal rights.
Dec 6: A feline named Frank and
Louie after he was born with two
faces, two mouths, two noses and
three blue eyes died at the age of 15.
Dec 15: A Chinese teenager executed
after being convicted of murder and
rape 18 years ago was declared
innocent by a court, in a rare
overturning of a wrongful conviction.
The 18-year-old, named Hugjiltu and
also known as Qoysiletu, was found
guilty and put to death in Inner
Mongolia in 1996, but doubt was cast
on the verdict when another man
confessed to the crime in 2005.
World in Focus (December 2014
January 2015)
National, International News &
MCQs
National
Dec 16: More than 130 schoolchildren
and 10 other people were killed when
heavily armed militants stormed Army
Public School in Peshawar.
Dec 16: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)
shelved its plans for countrywide
demonstrations
against
the
government.
Dec
16:
The
Supreme
Court
restrained the Sindh government from
executing a land deal of 350 acres of

Clifton
Beach
in
Karachi.
Dec 16: In terms of death toll, the
Peshawar Army School shooting was
the second worst terrorist incident of
its kind in human history after the
September
2004
Beslan
School
massacre in Russia, where 186
children were among the 385 hostages
killed by 32 brutal insurgents.
Dec 17: Prime Minister Mohammad
Nawaz Sharif lifted a moratorium on
executions in the country, allowing
capital
punishment
for
those
sentenced to death in terrorism cases.
Dec 18: An anti-terrorism court (ATC)
ordered the release of Zakiur Rehman
Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the
26/11 Mumbai attacks, after his postarrest bail plea was accepted.
Dec 17: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif
flew to Kabul to get assurances from
the
Afghan
government
and
International Security Assistance Force
in Afghanistan for action against a
Kunar-based Taliban splinter group
believed to be behind the Peshawar
carnage.
Dec 18: Pakistan Petroleum Limited
(PPL) found another natural gas and
condensate reserve in Sanghar district
of
Sindh
province.
Dec 19: Mohammad Aqeel alias Dr
Usman, the lone surviving member of
a terrorist squad that attacked the
GHQ, and Arshad Mehmood, one of
the men accused of trying to
assassinate former military ruler
retired General Pervez Musharraf,
were
executed.
The hangings, carried out in the
Faisalabad district jail, were the first
death sentences carried out after the
government
ended
a
six-year
moratorium
on
executions.
Dec 19: Pakistan became the first
Asian country to be admitted to
European Organisation for Nuclear
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Research (CERN), the worlds premier
scientific organisation engaged in
investigating fundamental structure of
the universe, as associate member.
CERN Director General Dr Rolf Heuer
on behalf of CERN and Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman
Dr
Ansar
Parvez
signed
the
agreement.
Dec 19: A case was registered, at the
Aabpara police station under Section
506 (2), against the chief cleric of Lal
Masjid, Maulana Abdul Aziz, following
a protracted protest by civil society
members against his controversial
statement
on
massacre
of
schoolchildren
in
Peshawar.
Dec 20: The Secretary General of
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC), Iyad Amin Madani, announced
that the OIC will organise a peace
conference of ulema and ambassadors
of Muslim countries in Peshawar to
adopt
a
joint
strategy
against
terrorism.
Dec 21: Auditors detected financial
irregularities of up to Rs62,878 million
out of the total expenditures of
Rs444.78 billion, 90 per cent of all
auditable expenditure, committed by
36
departments
of
the
Sindh
government during 2011-12, the audit
report
for
2012-13
claimed.
Dec 21: Four terrorists involved in an
attack on former president Pervez
Musharraf in 2003 named Ghulam
Sarwar Bhatti, Zubair Ahmed, Rasheed
Mehmood Qureshi alias Tipu and
Akhlaq Ahmed alias Roosi, were
hanged in the district jail Faisalabad.
Dec 21: The World Bank, USA and
other western donors committed $1
billion
for
placing
electricity
connectivity among Central Asia and
South Asia through CASA-1000 against
total estimated cost of $1.3 billion.
Dec 22: A Senior PTI leader Sadaqat
Abbasi resigned as president PTI North
Punjab.
Dec 22: Pakistan and Russia signed a
most sought-after energy deal of $1.7
billion for laying a liquefied natural gas
(LNG) pipeline from Karachi to Lahore.
The supply of LNG is expected before
March
2015.
It is for the first time Islamabad and
Moscow have signed an energy pact
decades after their defence deal.
Dec 23: Justice Athar Minallah of the
Islamabad High Court (IHC) stopped
proceedings in the high treason case
till the maintainability of appeals filed
against the special court order to
include
former
president
Pervez
Musharrafs abettors in the case is
decided.
Dec 23: The Punjab Assembly
unanimously
adopted
three
resolutions,
including
the
one
demanding effective legislation to
prevent underage marriages. Two
resolutions
were
withdrawn
one
already under consideration by the
treasury and the other requiring
revision.
Dec
23:
Pakistan
Institute
of
Legislative
Development
and
Transparency (Pildat) rated Jamaat-eIslami (JI) as the most democratic
party and the PML-N as the least
democratic one in its report on
Assessing Internal Democracy in
Major Political Parties of Pakistan.
Dec 23: The PTI appointed MNA
Ghulam Sarwar as President North
Punjab and Zahid Hussain Kazmi as
General
Secretary.
Dec 25: The federal government
established National Food Security
Commission (NFSC), a step forward to
develop a national policy for the longterm sustainability of food security
and
agriculture
development.
The prime minister of Pakistan will be
the chairman of the newly established
NFSC. The NFSC would have its own
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
secretariat at the Ministry of National
Food
Security
and
Research,
Islamabad.
Dec 26: The Karachi police launched
an online FIR registration project to
help complainants get their cases
registered
through
the
internet
without
visiting
police
stations.
Dec 27: The government rejected
calls by the United Nations and the
European Union to revive moratorium
on execution of convicts, noting that
capital punishment for terrorists did
not
violate
international
law.
formed a monitoring committee and
15
sub-committees
for
the
implementation of the National Action
Plan (NAP) for eradicating terrorism
and set a timeframe for them to
submit
their
respective
recommendations.
Dec 28: A major fire broke out in a
timber warehouse due to which 450
shops and warehouses, along with 250
houses, were gutted in Old Haji Camp
in the Shershah Police precincts,
causing over a one billion rupees loss.
Dec 29: A huge fire ravaged a threestorey building housing a watch
market in Anarkali Bazaar, Lahore,
leaving
13
people
dead.
Dec 29: Uzair Baloch, an alleged
leader of one of the gangs operating in
crime infested Lyari, was arrested in
Dubai by the Interpol while he was
crossing into the United Arab Emirates
from
Oman
by
road.
Dec 29: The Islamabad High Court
ordered the conditional release of
Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi, the alleged
mastermind of the Mumbai attacks.
Dec 31: With the election on 612
seats reserved for labourers and
peasants, the third phase of local
government elections was completed
in
Balochistan.
Dec 31: Indian Border Security Force
(BSF) fraudulently shot dead two

unarmed officials of the Pakistani
Chenab Rangers in Shakargarh sector
of
Sialkot
Working
Boundary.
Dec 31: Pakistan has the third highest
number of newborn deaths in the
world with a neonatal mortality rate
standing at a staggering 36 per 1000
live births according to Dr Anwar-ulHaq Tabassum, Punjab Provincial
Coordinator, Mercy Corps, Pakistan.
Jan 02: The All-Party Conference
convened by Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif
decided
to
amend
the
Constitution to provide for trial of
terror suspects by military courts for a
period
of
two
years.
Jan 02: The United States Patent and
Trademark Office granted a patent to
the Government College Universitys
Nano Fertilizer that produces healthy
food and significantly increases the
crop
yield.
Jan 05: Punjab Assembly unanimously
passed The Punjab Local Government
(Third Amendment) Bill 2014 which
gives a definition for elections as per
the recommendations of the Election
Commission
of
Pakistan
(ECP).
The Bill was moved by Law Minister
Mian
Mujtaba
Shuja-ur-Rehman.
Jan 06: The parliament passed two
key government bills, amending the
constitution and the Army Act to try
civilian terror suspects in military
courts.
As the unanimous vote on both the
Constitution (Twenty-first Amendment)
Bill
and
the
Pakistan
Army
(Amendment) Bill was completed in
both houses of parliament, Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a speech
to the Senate that more laws were on
the way for the implementation of the
20-point National Action Plan against
terrorism.
Jan 06: The arrival and departure of
buses under the Pak-India Dosti
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Service was limited to Wagah border
because
of
terrorism
threats.
Jan 06: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Sensitive
and
Vulnerable
Establishments and Places (Security)
Bill 2014 sailed through the provincial
assembly declaring almost all public
places except mosques the sensitive
establishments and vulnerable places.
Jan 06: The groundbreaking ceremony
of the latest marvel of Islamic
architecture, the Bahria Town Grand
Mosque that will be the biggest
mosque of the world after Harmain
Sharifain,
was
conducted
by
Noshairwan, the eldest employee of
Bahria
Town
Karachi.
Jan 07: President Mamnoon Hussain
gave his ceremonial assent to the 21st
Constitution
Amendment
bill.
Jan 07: Pakistans first-ever centre for
promotion of early education skills and
healthy development of children was
inaugurated at the Academy of
Education Planning and Management
(AEPAM),
Islamabad.
Childrens Global Network (Pakistan) in
collaboration with Open Society and
Ministry of Federal Education and
Professional Training set up the centre.
Jan
07:
The
Pakistan
Tourism
Development Corporation will remain
at the federal level as it is a legal
corporate entity established under the
Company Act, PTDC Managing Director
Kabir
Ahmed
Khan
announced.
After
the
18th
Constitution
Amendment, the status of the PTDC
was
not
clear.
Jan 07: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
paid an official visit to Bahrain. He said
that Pakistan was keen to work with
Bahrain to further improve economic
relations between the two friendly
countries.
Jan 07: Pakistan, which hosts about
1.6 million Afghan refugees, is the
biggest host country in absolute
terms, a UNHCR report revealed.

Other countries with large refugee
populations are Lebanon (1.1m), Iran
(982,000), Turkey (824,000), Jordan
(737,000), Ethiopia (588,000), Kenya
(537,000)
and
Chad
(455,000).
Jan 08: The Punjab government
promulgated the Punjab Security of
Vulnerable Establishments Ordinance
2015
to
enhance
security
of
vulnerable places in view of the
ongoing
wave
of
terrorism.
Jan 09: The Pakistan Army announced
the establishment of the first group of
nine military courts for trying civilian
terror
suspects.
Jan 09: The Punjab government
promulgated two more ordinances,
amending laws about weapons and
wall chalking to enhance punishments.
By promulgating the Punjab Arms
Amendment
Ordinance,
the
government has enhanced fine and
imprisonment
for
possessing
prohibited or non-prohibited weapons
and
their
ammunition.
The Punjab Prohibition of Expressing
Matters
on
Walls
Amendment
Ordinance enhances fine from the
existing Rs5,000 to Rs25,000 to
Rs100,000.
It makes wall chalking a cognizable
and
non-bailable
offence.
Jan 10: Denmark provided financial
aid worth $1.6m to the Pakistan
government to assist the internally
displaced persons (IDPs) of North
Waziristan
and
Khyber
Agency.
Jan 11: At least 62 people, including
women and children, were burnt alive
when their bus caught fire after an oil
tanker collided with it off the National
Highway
in
Malir,
Karachi.
Jan 12: The second edition of the
revitalised Pak-US Strategic Dialogue
opened with focus on advancing the
bilateral
relationship.
The first round of the ministerial
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meeting was co-chaired by Adviser to
Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and
National Security Sartaj Aziz and US
Secretary of State John Kerry at the
Foreign
Office.
Jan 13: The US State Department
declared Mullah Fazlullah, chief of the
outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, a
specially designated global terrorist.
Jan 13: Pakistan broke its own 16-year
record for the highest number of polio
cases diagnosed in a calendar year,
after the tally of children afflicted by
the debilitating disease crossed the
300
mark.
Jan 13: The federal government
decided to extend the jurisdiction of
the newly-constituted military courts
to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and
Gilgit-Baltistan
(GB).
Jan 13: The polio vaccine being used
to fight the crippling disease in our
Islamic
state
is
Halal.
A laboratory controlled by the Drug
Regulatory Authority of Pakistan
(DRAP) has tested the vaccine and
certified
that.
Jan 14: The Punjab government, on
the
directions
of
the
Punjab
Ombudsman, amended the Punjab
Pension Rules, which provide that
divorced daughter and unmarried
sister of a deceased government
employee will also be entitled to
family pension till life after his widow,
infants and unmarried daughters.
Jan 15: Amid protests and walkouts
over other issues, the National
Assembly passed a resolution to
condemn the latest cartoon printed by
a French satirical magazine featuring
the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and
demand
decisive
steps
internationally
to
stop
such
controversies.
The resolution was moved by Minister
for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique.
Economy
Dec 23: After the fourth and fifth
reviews
of
Pakistans
economic
performance, the IMF released to
Pakistan
US$1.05
billion
under
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
three-year Extended Fund Facility.
Dec 29: The United Business Group
(UBG), led by Iftikhar Ali Malik and S M
Muneer, won the 2015 elections of the
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).
Dec 30: Expecting a major dip in its
revenue collection, the government
raised the general sales tax on
petroleum products by five per cent,
above the normal 17 per cent.
Dec
30:
Provincial
Environment
Secretary Iqbal Muhammad Chohan
launched the Sialkot Tannery Zone
(STZ) project at Khambraanwala near
Sialkot.
Jan 03: Pakistans per capita income
rose by 10.9 per cent to Rs143,808 for
the fiscal 2013-14 compared with
Rs129,569 in the previous year.
Jan 06: The government agreed in
principle on waiver of sales tax on
replacement of SIMs during the period
from 12th January to 28th February,
2015, charged by FBR provided that a
proper definition of Replacement SIM
was
arrived
at.
Jan 10: The Economic Coordination
Committee of the cabinet imposed
regulatory duty of Rs200 per set on
import
of
mobile
phones.
Jan 14: The Federal Board of Revenue
(FBR) imposed regulatory duty of up to
15 per cent on import of various steel
products.
Education
Dec
28:
The
elementary
and
secondary
education
department
Punjab decided to conduct centralised
examinations for grade five in the
government schools to assess the
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
students and teachers properly. The
centralised exam would be conducted
from the next annual examinations.
Mostly, the papers would consist of
multiple choice questions (MCQs) and
a little room would be spared for the
long question.
Elections,
Appointments
&
Transfers
Dec 16: Former University of Gujrat
vice-chancellor Prof Dr Nizamuddin
was appointed chairman of the Punjab
Higher
Education
Commission.
Dec 23: The federal government
appointed
Vadiyya
Khalil
as
chairperson
of
the
Competition
Commission of Pakistan (CCP) for a
period
of
three
years.
She has previously served as a
member CCP from 2010 to 2013 where
she was overseeing the mergers and
acquisitions and advocacy functions of
the
commission.
She has over 20 years of experience in
corporate and commercial banking at
international and national banks.
Dec 24: President Mamnoon Hussain
Muhammad Noor Meskanzai as chief
justice of the Balochistan High Court
(BHC).
designated Leila Khan, an MNA of PMLN, as chairperson of the Prime
Ministers Youth Programme (PMYP) on
an honorary basis. She will not draw
any salary or perks and privileges as
chief
of
the
programme.
Dec 30: Arshad Ansari of the
Journalist
Panel
was
re-elected
president of the Lahore Press Club for
year
2015.
Dec 31: Inspector General, National
Highways and Motorways Police,
Zulfiqar Cheema retired from service.
Jan 05: The government announced
appointment of Senator Mushahidullah
Khan
as
a
federal
minister.
Jan 06: Khalid Rahman was appointed
as Managing Director of Sui Southern
Gas Company by Ministry of Petroleum
and Natural Resources w.e.f. January 2,
2015.
Jan 06: Senior bureaucrat Babar
Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad was posted
as the Punjab chief secretary. But, the
notification to this effect was revoked
within
24
hours
Jan 07: Federal Secretary for Ports
and Shipping Khizar Hayat Gondal was
appointed Chief Secretary Punjab
instead of Babar Yaqoob Fateh
Mohammad.
Jan 09: Ziaul Haq was appointed as
new managing director of Telephone
Industries
of
Pakistan
(TIP).
Jan 09: The Pakistan Broadcasters
Association (PBA) elected Mir Ibrahim
Rahman (Geo) as its Chairman and
Sultan Ali Lakhani (Express News) as
Secretary
General.
The board of directors also elected
Mian Aamer Mehmood (Dunya TV),
Muhammad Aslam Kazi (KTN), Shakeel
Masud (Dawn News), Saleem Adil
(Samaa TV), as senior vice chairman,
vice chairman, joint secretary and
finance
secretary
respectively.
Sher Asfandyar Khan, Shazya Amin,
Shahid Jamil, Nazafreen Saigal and
Imran Riyaz were elected on the board
of directors. Taher A. Khan was
appointed
as
internal
election
commissioner to conduct and hold the
elections.
Jan 10: Chaudhry Ishtiaq of the
Professional Group won elections for
the president of the Lahore Bar
Association for year-2015 by defeating
Arshad Jahangir Jhojha of the Friends
Group.
Jahangir
Bhatti
and
Muhammad
Naveed Chughtai were elected vice
presidents.
Jan 10: The Chief Justice Islamabad
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
High Court (IHC) posted Raja Jawad
Abbas Hassan, District and Sessions
Judge as Registrar Islamabad High
Court
(IHC).
Jan 10: Shoaib Warsi was redesignated as Chief Operating Officer
and Deputy Managing Director of the
SSGC.
Jan 15: The Prime Minister of
Pakistan, who is also the Chairman
Gilgit-Baltistan
Council,
appointed
Nasir Hussain (Gilgit Division), Haji
Sanaullah
(Baltistan
Division),
Inayatullah Shumall (Diamer Division),
Advocate Mushtaq Ahmad (Gilgit
Division) and Haji Niamatullah (Bunji)
as members of the caretaker cabinet
of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Sports
Dec 19: Skipper Kane Williamson and
Ross Taylor hit half-centuries while
paceman Matt Henry recorded careerbest bowling figures as New Zealand
thumped Pakistan by 68 runs in the
fifth and final one-dayer in Abu Dhabi.
Dec 20: Pakistan lost to India in the

Kabaddi World Cup final. Pakistan
captain Shafiq Chishti alleged umpires
being biased towards his team. India
won the title for a fifth time in

succession.
Dec 21: Third seed Sadia Gul
defeated the top seed Zoya Khalid in
the final of the fifth Hyderabad
Commissioner Cup National Womens
Squash Championship to pick up the
second
title
of
her
career.
Dec 22: Pakistan won five bronze
medals in the 10th Iran Zamin Cup
Karate Cadet Tournament held in
Tehran.
Dec 23: The CEO of the International
Kabaddi Federation (IKF), Deoraj
Chaturvedi, said that the Kabbadi
World Cup, which was concluded in
India, was not an officially-sanctioned
event.
Dec 25: Pak Army won the Premier
League Rugby Championship after
beating
AIT
club.
DHA Lahore ended in third after
beating
Islamabad.
Dec 26: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines
(SNGPL) were crowned champions of
the
Quaid-e-Azam
Trophy
Gold
tournament.
Dec 26: Islamabad Leopards skipper
Zohaib
Ahmad
was
declared
outstanding cricketer/best all-rounder
of the countrys premier tournament,
Quaid-e-Azam
Trophy
Gold.
Dec 27: Pakistans suspended offspinner Saeed Ajmal was withdrawn
from
the
2015
World
Cup.
Dec 27: The PCB confirmed the
appointment
of
Naveed
Akram
Cheema as manager of Pakistan
cricket team for the World Cup.
Dec 28: Sports Board Punjab (SBP)
signed an MoU with British boxer Amir
Khan for the promotion of boxing in
the country at National Hockey
Stadium.
Jan 02: Naveed Akram Cheema
formally rejoined Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB) as manager of the
national
team.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Jan 03: Public fancy five-year-old bay
horse Hot Man lifted The New Year
Cup.
Jan 03: Ace rider Mohammad Essa
retained the Best Rider of the Year
award at the Karachi Racecourse.
Jan 09: Sarah Mahboob Khan won the
ladies singles final at the Kulsum
Saifullah Khan National Ranking tennis
tournament.
Jan 10: Mohammad Faheem subdued
top seed Abdul Raheem to lift his
maiden national
junior under-21
snooker
title.
Jan 11: Pakistan International Airlines
(PIA) defeated Wapda to win the 61st
National Hockey Championship.
Obituaries
Dec 24: Renowned film director and
lifetime chairman of the Pakistan Film
Directors Association, Aslam Dar,
passed
away
at
78.
Dec 28: A senior journalist Sulaiman
A. Meenai passed away. He was 85.
Dec 29: Syed Nisar Hussain Shah
Latifi, the 11th Sajjada Nashin of the
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai shrine, died. He
was
67.
Dec 30: Afzal Tauseef, a prolific
progressive writer and columnist,
passed
away.
She
was
78.
Dec 30: Federal Secretary Rashida
Malik, wife of Azad Kashmir IG Malik
Khuda Baksh Awan, passed away at
the
age
of
54.
Jan 05: Prof Fizaur Rehman Khan,
former
principal
of
Government
College University Lahore, passed
away
at
94.
Jan 09: Former Sindh cricket captain
and first class batsman Dr Iqbal Shaikh
died. He was 80.
People
in
News
Hassan
Noman
Dec 16: Hassan Noman, a renowned
soccer player from Burewala, was
declared best goal-scorer of Fifa

Interactive World Cup (WC) 2015
season-1.
Dr
Amjad
Saqib
Dec 17: Dr Amjad Saqibs immense
contribution
in
social
sector
entrepreneurship
and
Shariacompliant
microfinance
was
acknowledged by Abu Dhabi Islamic
Bank and Thomson Reuters. He was
bestowed on the prestigious Lifetime
Achievement Award for the Ethical
Finance Innovation Challenge Award
(EFICA).
Jam
Khan
Sundrani
Dec 20: Jam Khan Sundrani, an
education activist from Ghotki district
of Sindh, hit the news when news
reports in media said that when a child
in any home in the kutcha area or the
floodplain bordering Ghotki refuses to
go to school or fakes a tummy-ache,
his or her parents only have one
advice to give: Run along to school,
my child, or Jam Khan Sundrani will
come to get you and take you there
himself!
If the children are facing some issue in
school, Jam makes sure that it is
resolved, if transport is a problem, Jam
will be waiting outside their homes on
his motorbike to take them to school
and personally ensure that they do not
miss a single lesson. During floods,
walking in waist-deep water he has
carried children to school on his
shoulders. He also makes sure that the
teachers are present at their jobs six
days
a
week.
Muhammad
Azfar
Ahsan
Dec 25: Organisation for Pakistani
Entrepreneurs
of
North
America
(OPEN) awarded Entrepreneur of the
Year Award to Muhammad Azfar
Ahsan, founding CEO of Pakistans
leading
conference
management
organisation
Nutshell
Forum,
in
recognition
of
his
contribution,
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
commitment, performance, exemplary
work ethic and dedication in the event
management
sector.
Asif
Ali
Zardari
Dec 30: The chieftainship of the
Zardari tribe was conferred upon
Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman
and former president Asif Ali Zardari.
He succeeds his father, Raees Hakim
Ali Zardari, who headed the tribe until
his
death
on
May
24,
2011.
Syed
Waqar
Hussain
Shah
Dec 31: Syed Waqar Hussain Shah
became the 12th Sajjada Nashin of the
Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai shrine.
Fiza
Farhan
Jan 07: 28-year-old Fiza Farhan, cofounder of Buksh Foundation, was
included in the list of American
business magazine Forbes list of 30
under 30 social entrepreneurs for
2015.
Places
in
News
Lahore
Dec
16:
Two-day
international
conference on Environment and
Sustainable Development began at
Government College University Lahore
under the auspices of the universitys
Sustainable
Development
Study
Centre (SDSC) and Higher Education
Commission
(HEC).
Pitafi
Village,
Ghotki
Dec 28: The 306th annual Hindu
festival Sindh Shaddani Darbar
got under way at Hayat Pitafi village
near Mirpur Mathelo town of Ghotki
district.
Ormara
Dec 31: A 1.8-metre-long sunfish that
accidentally got entangled in fishing
net off Ormara, Balochistan, was
safely released by fishermen recently.
The sunfish weighed about 450kg.
Gwadar
Jan 07: A 60-inch long leatherback
turtle that accidentally got entangled
in fishing net in Gwadar was released

back
into
the
deep
sea.
Its the second time in 10 months that
leatherback
turtles
(Dermochelys
coriacea) that are rarely found along
Pakistans coast has been caught and
released.
International
Dec 16: The Washington-based group
Global
Financial
Integrity
(GFI)
revealed that nearly $1 trillion was
illicitly
drained
from
developing
countries in 2012, representing a
record level of corruption, money
laundering
and
false
trade
documentation.
Dec 16: Jeb Bush, son to one former
US president and brother to another,
threw his hat into the ring for the 2016
race.
Dec 16: Romanias Prime Minister
Victor Ponta said hell give up his
doctorate in law after years of being
accused of plagiarising swathes of his
PhD
thesis.
Dec 17: The United States and Cuba
made a historic breakthrough in their
Cold War stand-off, moving to revive
diplomatic ties and launch measures
to ease a five-decade US trade
embargo.
Dec 17: The head of the US Agency
for International Development, Rajiv
Shah, said that he would step down
from
his
post
in
February.
Dec 17: The Palestinian group Hamas
must be removed from the European
Unions terrorism blacklist, but its
assets will stay frozen for the time
being, a European court ruled.
Dec 17: The Church of England
named Libby Lane a saxophoneplaying vicar with a taste for football
as its first female bishop.
Dec 17: The European Parliament
overwhelmingly
backed
the
recognition of a Palestinian state in
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
principle, following a series of votes
on the issue in EU nations that
enraged
Israel.
Lawmakers approved the motion by
498 votes to 88 with 111 abstentions.
Dec 17: The Lok Sabha observed a
brief silence in memory of 141
Pakistanis, including at least 132
children, killed by terrorists at a
Peshawar school and passed a
resolution
condemning
the
despicable and cowardly terrorist
attack.
Dec 17: North Korea marked the end
of a three-year mourning period for
the late leader Kim Jong Il, opening the
way for his son, Kim Jong Un, to put a
more personal stamp on the way the
country
is
run.
Dec 18: Boko Haram kidnapped at
least 185 people, including 100
women and children, in northeast
Nigeria.
Dec 18: A Nigerian military court
sentenced 54 soldiers to death for
mutiny after they refused to deploy for
an operation against Boko Haram
Islamists
in
the
northeast.
Dec 18: People around the world lived
on average to a ripe old age of 71.5 in
2013, up from 65.3 in 1990, a study
said, noting the gains came despite
big increases in liver cancer and
chronic
kidney
deaths.
Global life expectancy rose by 5.8
years in men and 6.6 years in women
between
1990
and
2013.
Dec
19:
Indias
government
introduced legislation billed as the
biggest
tax
reform
since
independence.
The
long-awaited
goods and-services tax (GST) would
eliminate a slew of levies currently in
place to create a single internal
market.
Dec 20: Israel was asked by the UN
General Assembly to compensate
Lebanon for $856.4 million in oil spill
damages it caused during its 2006 war

with
Hezbollah.
Dec 20: President Barack Obama
signed
the
National
Defence
Authorisation Act for the fiscal year
2015, a massive annual defence policy
bill which grants $1 billion to Pakistan
for the expenses made by its army in
support of the US military operations
in
war-torn
Afghanistan.
The Act sets overall defence spending
at $578 billion, which has provision for
release of Coalition Support Fund
amounting to $1 billion to Pakistan.
Dec 20: Italian Prime Minister Matteo
Renzi won a confidence vote to get his
tax-cutting 2015 budget through the
Senate.
Dec 20: The death toll from Ebola in
the three worst-affected countries in
West Africa has risen to 7,373 among
19,031 cases known to date, the World
Health
Organization
said.
Dec 21: The radical Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (VHP) of India started
converting Christian tribal people to
Hinduism in Prime Minister Narendra
Modis
home
state
of
Gujarat.
Dec 21: New Romanian President
Klaus
Iohannis,
whose
anti-graft
platform propelled him to the top job,
urged politicians to stamp out
entrenched corruption in one of
Europes
poorest
countries.
Dec 21: The United States said that
after Jan 2, US forces in Afghanistan
will not target Mullah Omar and other
Taliban leaders unless they posed a
direct
threat
to
the
US.
Dec 22: Thousands of Spaniards
including humble restaurant workers
and care home residents celebrated
wins in the worlds biggest lottery
draw, scooping up shares in over 2.2
billion euros ($2.7bn) in prizes doled
out
across
the
country.
El Gordo, or the Fat One, is the top
award millions vie for every year in the
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SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
traditional Christmas lottery, which
had Spaniards on tenterhooks for four
hours as the ceremonial draw took
longer than usual to throw up the big
prizes.
Dec 22: Sri Lankas President Mahinda
Rajapakse suffered a setback to his reelection hopes when a key minister
and his minority Muslim party quit the
coalition
government.
Dec 22: Afghan security forces
launched an operation against TTP
militants in an eastern province. TTP
leader Mullah Fazlullah is believed to
be hiding in Afghanistans Kunar
province, which borders Pakistans
restive
tribal
areas.
Dec 23: Suspected tribal separatists
killed at least 33 people, including
women and children, in Indias northeastern
state
of
Assam.
Police suspect militants of the National
Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB)
were
behind
the
attacks.
Dec 23: Lawmakers in Ukraine
overwhelmingly
adopted
a
bill
dropping Ukraines non-aligned status,
a classification given to states such as
Switzerland that refuse to join military
alliances and thus play no part in
wars.
Dec 23: Syed Mohammad Qaisar, a
former junior minister in a Bangladeshi
military government was sentenced to
death after a war crimes tribunal
found him guilty of atrocities during
the countrys war of independence.
Dec 23: Results for Jammu and
Kashmir assembly elections rejected
Narendra Modis plans to repeal Article
370 and with it key constitutional
privileges
that
protect
Kashmiri
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs against
Delhi-backed cultural and economic
encroachments.
Dec 24: India conferred its highest
civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, on
former prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, who is credited with

bringing about a thaw in relations with
Pakistan.
The Bharat Ratna was also conferred
on the late Indian educationist Madan
Mohan Malviya, who established
Indias renowned Banaras Hindu
University and also took part in the
countrys independence movement.
Only 43 people have been honoured
with the title since its inception,
including scientist C.V. Raman and star
cricketer
Sachin
Tendulkar.
Dec 25: Iran launched six-day military
drills in a show of strength stretching
several hundred kilometres from the
Strait of Hormuz to the Gulf of Aden.
Close to 13,000 personnel will take
part in the drills, which will be the first
time Iran has organised military
manoeuvres so far from its coastline.
Dec 26: Malaysias worst flooding in
decades forced some 118,000 people
to flee as Prime Minister Najib Razak
came under fire after photos showed
him golfing with US President Barack
Obama
during
the
calamity.
Dec 27: Residents of Myanmars
commercial hub Yangon went to the
polls for the first municipal elections in
six
decades.
Dec
27:
Belarusian
President
Alexander Lukashenko dismissed the
countrys prime minister, central bank
head and other top ministers, in the
biggest government reshuffle since
2010.
Dec 28: Latvia takes over as
European Union president, putting it
on the front line of negotiations with
neighbouring Russia over the deadly
crisis
in
Ukraine.
Dec 28: Sri Lankas main Muslim
party, the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress,
quit the government and pledged
support to the opposition in a move
seen as the biggest setback yet to
President Mahinda Rajapakses re-
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election
bid.
Dec 28: Nato formally ended its war
in Afghanistan, holding a low-key
ceremony here after 13 years of
conflict that have left the country in
the grip of worsening violence.
Dec 29: Cameroon sent warplanes
into action against Nigerian Boko
Haram fighters for the first time.
Dec 29: China blocked the last
remaining way to access Googles
popular
e-mail
service.
Dec 29: An Egyptian court in the
Mediterranean city of Alexandria
issued an indefinite ban on an annual
Jewish pilgrimage held since 1979
the year Egypt and Israel signed a
peace treaty in the Nile Delta
province of Baheira marking the
birthday of a Moroccan rabbi Yacoub
Abu Hasira, saying it went against
local
traditions.
Dec 29: The soldiers who stand guard
outside Britains royal palaces were
moved behind metal fences because
of fears of a terror attack. The Royal
Guards, a popular tourist attraction
outside royal residences because of
their ceremonial uniforms, have been
separated from the public, with armed
police providing additional protection.
Dec 30: The richest people on Earth
got richer in 2014, adding $92 billion
to their collective fortune in the face of
falling energy prices and geopolitical
turmoil incited by Russian President
Vladimir
Putin.
The net worth of the worlds 400
wealthiest billionaires on December 29
stood at $4.1 trillion, according to the
Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily
ranking of the world`s richest.
Dec 30: Amit Shah, the head of
Indias ruling party BJP, was acquitted
of murder, kidnapping and extortion
charges, exonerating the controversial
politician
in
a
trial
that
had
undermined the governments promise
to usher in a new era of clean politics.

Dec 30: Bangladeshs war crimes
court sentenced a senior Jamaat-iIslami leader, A.T.M. Azharul Islam, to
death for rape, mass murder and
genocide during the countrys 1971
war. He is the 16th person and the
11th Islamist to be convicted of
atrocities by the International Crimes
Tribunal.
Dec 31: The UN Security Council
failed to adopt the Arab coalitions bid
calling for the creation of a Palestinian
state
and
an
end
to
Israeli
occupation. The United States and
Australia voted against the resolution
while France, China and Russia were
among the eight countries that voted
for it. Britain along with Lithuania,
Nigeria, Korea and Rwanda abstained
from
the
vote.
Dec 31: President Mahmud Abbas
signed a Palestinian request to join the
International Criminal Court, seeking a
new avenue for action against Israel.
He also signed the applications to join
20 other international conventions.
Jan 01: India scrapped its 65-year-old
Planning Commission, replacing it with
National Institution for Transforming
India (NITI) that will act more like a
think tank or forum in contrast with
the Commission which imposed fiveyear-plans and allocated resources to
hit
set
economic
targets.
Jan 01: Saudi Arabia made health
insurance
mandatory
for people
coming to the country on visit visa.
Jan 01: A New Years stampede on
Shanghais historic waterfront killed at
least 36 revellers and injured dozens
more.
Jan 01: Chinas Three Gorges dam
broke the world record for annual
hydroelectric power production, more
than a decade after it became the
worlds
largest
power
plant.
Jan 02: The Eurasian Economic Union,
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
a trade bloc of former Soviet states,
expanded to four nations when
Armenia formally joined, a day after
the union between Russia, Belarus and
Kazakhstan
began.
Jan
03:
Turkeys
government
authorised the building of the first
church in the country in nearly a
century. The church is for the tiny
Syriac community in Turkey and will be
built in the Istanbul suburb of Yesilkoy
on the shores of the Sea of Marmara,
which already has Greek Orthodox,
Armenian and Catholic churches.
Jan 07: Heavily armed men shouting
religious
slogans
stormed
the
headquarters of a satirical weekly,
Charlie Hebdo, in Paris, killing 12
people.
Jan 07: UN chief Ban Ki-moon
accepted the request by Palestine to
join the International Criminal Court, a
move that would open the way for war
crimes complaints against Israel.
The decision grants the Hague-based
ICC jurisdiction to open cases starting
April 1 on serious crimes committed in
the
Palestinian
territories.
Jan 09: India-held Kashmir was
brought under direct rule by New Delhi
when President Pranab Mukherjee
placed the region under Governors
Rule.
Jan 09: Russia passed a controversial
law
banning
transvestites
and
transsexuals from driving, prompting
sharp criticism from rights activists,
including a prominent Kremlin adviser.
Jan 09: Two brothers suspected of
attacking the offices of French satirical
newspaper Charlie Hebdo were killed
when police stormed their hideout.
Jan 09: A US judge sentenced British
hate preacher Abu Hamza to life
behind bars for 11 terrorism and
kidnapping convictions, calling his
crimes that spanned the globe evil
and
barbaric.
Jan 10: A tail section from the crashed

Air Asia plane became the first major
wreckage lifted off the seabed. The
plane, flying from Indonesia to
Singapore with 162 people on board,
went missing on December 28.
Jan 10: The FBI and US Justice
Department
prosecutors
recommended bringing felony charges
against retired General David Petraeus
for allegedly providing classified
information to his former mistress
while he was director of the CIA.
Jan 10: The Paris Observatory
announced that it was adding a leap
second to clocks. At midnight on June
30, dials will read 11:59:60 for one
second as clocks pause to allow the
Earths rotation to catch up with
atomic
time.
Jan 12: The Afghan government
finally
unveiled
its
25
cabinet
nominees as well as nominees for
director of the Afghan intelligence
service and governor of the Central
Bank.
Jan 12: Coming of age tale Boyhood
won the coveted Golden Globe for best
drama, while the quirky period caper
The Grand Budapest Hotel was the
surprise winner for best comedy or
musical, in a big upset to awards
season
front-runner
Birdman.
The first major awards for the
Hollywood film industry this year were
scattered widely among many films,
potentially setting up a complex race
towards the industrys top honours,
the
Oscars.
Jan 13: An Egyptian appeals court
overturned
a
three-year
prison
sentence against ousted strongman
Hosni Mubarak on corruption charges
and ordered a retrial in the sole case
pending
against
him.
Jan 14: Japans Cabinet approved a
record 96.3 trillion yen ($814 billion)
government budget for the coming
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
fiscal year after a tax hike to
accommodate rising outlays for social
security
and
defence.
Jan 14: Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abes government approved a
record $42 billion military budget, with
outlays rising for a third year to
counter Chinas rising military might.
Jan 15: Dark comedy Birdman, and
stylish crime caper The Grand
Budapest Hotel topped the Oscars
nominations list with nine each, firing
the starting gun on the home stretch
of
Hollywoods
awards
race.
Jan 15: Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu
accused
his
Israeli
counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of
committing crimes against humanity
comparable to those of the gunmen
behind the Paris attacks that left 17
dead.
Jan 15: Pope Francis condemned
killing in Gods name but warned that
religion
could
not
be
insulted,
weighing into a global debate on free
speech ahead of a rapturous welcome
in the Philippines.
Sports
Dec 16: Kumar Sangakkara set a
record for the most runs in a calendar
year.
When former skipper Sangakkara, who
will retire from ODIs after next years
World Cup in Australia and New
Zealand, got to six, he broke Ricky
Pontings
record
for
the
most
international runs, in all formats, for a
calendar
year.
The former Australia captain had
scored
2,833
in
2005.
Dec 17: South African captain Hashim
Amla and his senior lieutenant A.B. de
Villiers both hit centuries as South
Africa took command after early
setbacks on the first day of the first
Test
against
the
West
Indies.
Dec 21: Nicol David regained the
world title in her most exciting final,

saving four match points in a row to
overcome the third-seeded Egyptian
Raneem el Weleily in the World Squash
Championship
final.
David also extended her record of
world
titles
to
eight.
Dec 21: Real Madrid defeated San
Lorenzo of Argentina to win the Club
World Cup and secure their fourth
trophy
of
2014.
Dec 23: German skiing ace Felix
Neureuther recorded his 10th World
Cup victory by winning the mens
slalom.
Dec 28: Wild Oats XI won the Sydney
to Hobart yacht race for a record
eighth time. Australian-owned Wild
Oats crossed the finish line to
complete the 70th edition of the blue
water classic in an unofficial time of 2
days, 2 hours and 2 minutes.
Dec 29: New Zealand wrapped up a
crushing eight-wicket victory against
Sri Lanka to cap their most successful
year
in
Test
cricket.
Dec 30: Cristiano Ronaldo and Real
Madrid were the big winners in the
Globe
Soccer
Awards.
Ronaldo received the Best Player of
the Year award and Marca fans
favourite player of the year, then
watched as his Real Madrid coach
Carlo Ancelotti won Coach of the Year,
his club president Florentino Perez
received Best President of the Year
and then Real Madrid were presented
as the Best Club of the Year.
Dec 31: Tour de France winner
Vincenzo Nibali was named champion
of champions for 2014 by Italian
newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Sicilian had been named top
Italian the previous year when he won
the
Giro
d`Italia.
Jan 03: Sri Lankan batsman Kumar
Sangakara became only the fifth to
make
12,000
runs
in
career.
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Jan 11: Roger Federer beat Milos
Raonic at the Brisbane International to
register his 1,000th ATP career win
and
collect
his
83rd
title.
Jan 11: Faf du Plessis smashed 119
from 56 balls with 11 fours and five
sixes to record the highest score by a
South African in the shortest format of
international cricket. His was the
second fastest century in Twenty20
Internationals.
Jan 11: West Indies produced a record
chase against South Africa when they
crossed the target of 232 runs in the
highest successful run chase in
Twenty20 International cricket, beating
Indias 211 against Sri Lanka in 2009.
Jan 13: Snookers great showman
Ronnie OSullivan equalled the record
for century breaks when he rolled in
the 775th of his career at the Masters.
Jan 13: For the third time, Cristiano
Ronaldo was voted the worlds best
football player. He won the FIFA Ballon
dOr award for the second year
running.
Elections
&
Postings
D
ec 31: Beji Caid Essebsi was sworn in
as
Tunisias
first
freely-elected
president.
Jan 09: With heavy support from the
Tamil and Muslim voters, Maithripala
Sirisena, the joint opposition candidate

in Sri Lankas presidential election,
emerged victor in the race with a
51.28
per
cent
vote,
beating
incumbent
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa who secured 47.58pc.
Jan 15: Saudi Arabia appointed its
senior diplomat Abdullah Mardob AlDahrani as new ambassador to
Pakistan. The Saudi mission in
Islamabad was without a full-fledge
ambassador for eight months which
has been the longest period of time.
Dec
17:
Somalias
president
appointed political heavyweight Omar
Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke as countrys
new prime minister. He becomes is
now the first person to hold the post
twice.
Jan 01: China appointed a top official
of the ruling partys propaganda
department as president of the Xinhua
news agency, the key mouthpiece of
the
Communist
state.
The appointment of Cai Mingzhao, a
vice director of the propaganda
department, is the latest of several
replacements in the partys key
information and media agencies over
the past year.
Economy
Dec 23: The Indian government
ordered a cut of nearly 20 per cent in
its 2014-15 healthcare budget due to
fiscal
strains.
Jan 13: Chinas trade surplus soared
by almost half last year to a record
$382 billion, but the world`s secondlargest economy again missed its
trade growth target due to weakness
overseas.
Exports increased 6.1 per cent to
$2.34 trillion in 2014, while imports
rose
0.4pc
to
$1.96tr.
Jan 14: Honda unveiled a hydrogenpowered car it aims to begin selling in
March 2016 in Japan.
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People
in
News
Rob
and
Paul
Forkan
Dec 23: A decade after being
orphaned by the Asian tsunami, British
brothers Rob and Paul Forkan are
successful entrepreneurs who are
giving back to the Sri Lankans who
helped
them
by
building
an
orphanage.
The brothers, their two younger
siblings as well as their parents Kevin
and Sandra were relaxing in their hotel
complex on December 26, 2004, when
the giant wave crashed through their
bungalows. Rob and Paul managed to
climb on the roof and clung on as the
water
rushed
by.
Amir
Khan
Dec 24: Amir Khan, a British boxing
champion of Pakistan origin, dedicated
his WBC welterweight title to the
victims of the Taliban attack on a
Peshawar school and announced that
he would auction the pair of shorts,
carrying a waistband made from 24carat gold thread is worth 30,000
pounds, he wore during his latest
match to raise funds for rebuilding the
school
and
for
other
projects.
Hillary
Clinton
Dec 29: Former secretary of state
Hillary Clinton emerged as the woman
most admired by Americans, followed
by television icon Oprah Winfrey and
Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.
Clinton, a likely 2016 US presidential
candidate, won the honour for the
13th year in a row, earning 12 per
cent
of
the
votes.
Adam
Sandler
Dec 24: Comedian Adam Sandler
topped Forbes list of Hollywoods
most overpaid actors for a second
consecutive year, nudging out Johnny
Depp and Tom Hanks for the honuor.
Thomas
Piketty
Jan 01: Frances influential economist
Thomas Piketty, author of the best-
seller Capital in the 21st Century,

refused to accept the countrys
highest award, the Legion dhonneur,
in protest against the Socialist
governments
policies.
Madhu
Bai
Kinnar
Jan 05: A low-caste transgender in
central India, Madhu Bai Kinnar,
became the countrys first to win civic
polls and be declared mayor. Madhu
won the municipal election in Raigarh
in the central state of Chhattisgarh.
Gyan
Mani
Nepal
Jan 11: Nepalese civil servant Gyan
Mani Nepal became the countrys first
Integrity
Idol.
The online contest, which eschewed
the glitz of popular television talent
shows, saw nearly 10,000 people cast
their votes via text message and
Facebook in a bid to encourage
honesty in the corruption-ridden
Himalayan nation.
Places
in
News
Dec 18: A summit on security in the
sub-Saharan Sahel region of Africa,
where armed Islamic extremists linked
to al-Qaeda are active, opened in
Mauritania, attended by five heads of
state.
The meeting was part of the
Nouakchott Process, named for an
initiative launched in Mauritanias
capital in March 2013 to boost security
cooperation among 11 participating
states.
The summit, whose theme was a
space
made
secure
for
global
development, was the first since
Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea,
Ivory Coast, Libya, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Nigeria and Senegal signed up
to
the
process.
Bangkok,
Thailand
Dec 20: The 5th Greater Mekong
Subregion (GMS) Summit under the
theme Committed to Inclusive and
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Sustainable Development in the GMS
was held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Vietnams Prime Minster Nguyen Tan
Dung, Laos Prime Minister Thongsing
Thammavong,
Cambodias
Prime
Minister Hun Sen, Thailands Prime
Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Chinas
Premier
Li
Keqiang,
Myanmars
President Thein Sein and Asian
Development Bank (ADB) President
Takehiko Nakao participated in the
event.
Tokyo,
Japan
Jan 14: An investment seminar was
organised by the Japan External Trade
Organisation (Jetro), co-sponsored by
Pakistans Board of Investment (BoI),
in Tokyo. Speaking at the occasion, the
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar sought
Japans technical assistance and
investment in renewable energy
sources such as solar, wind, thermal
and biogas.
Obituaries
Dec 19: Mandy Rice-Davies, a model
implicated in the Profumo affair that
scandalised 1960s Britain and almost
brought down the government, died at
the
age
of
70.
Dec 18: Italian actress Virna Lisi, who
played opposite Hollywood stars
including Frank Sinatra in the 1960s
and later established herself an
acclaimed character actress, died at
the
age
of
78.
Dec 22: Dr Lee W. Wattenberg, a
medical researcher who helped jumpstart the field of cancer prevention,
finding weapons in the food people eat
including chemical compounds in
broccoli, cabbage, coffee and garlic
died
at
92.
Dec 23: Anna Stoehr, a 114-year-old
woman who challenged Facebook after
the social media site wouldnt let her
list
her
real
age,
died.
Dec 23: The former coach of
heavyweight champions Vladimir and

Vitali Klitschko, Fritz Sdunek, died at
the
age
of
67.
Dec 26: Former England batsman
Geoff Pullar died aged 79. Pullar made
his debut against India in July 1959.
Jan 01: Lebanons former Prime
Minister Omar Karami died aged 80.
Jan 02: Mario Cuomo, the three-time
governor of New York and a leading
voice of the Democratic Partys liberal
wing who turned down several
invitations to seek the US presidency,
died.
He
was
82.
Jan 4: He Zhenliang, a key figure in
returning China to the Olympics in the
1980s after an absence of almost
three decades and in securing the
2008 Summer Games for Beijing, died.
He
was
85.
Jan 07: Julio Scherer Garcia, one of
the
most
influential
Mexican
journalists of the past half century,
died.
He
was
88.
Jan 07: Actor Khan Bonfils, known to
Star Wars fans for playing Jedi master
Saesee Tiin in The Phantom Menace,
died.
He
was
43.
Jan 09: Australian actor Rod Taylor,
famous for his role in Alfred
Hitchcocks iconic 1963 thriller The
Birds,
died
aged
84.
Jan 10: Italian neo-realist film director
Francesco
Rosi,
known
for
his
trenchant documentaries and exposes,
died
at
92.
Jan 12: Anita Ekberg, who became an
international symbol of lush beauty
and unbridled sensuality in the 1960
Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita,
died. She was 83.
2014 Review
National
Jan 01: The first-ever national Police
Shuhada
Day
was
observed.
Jan 04: The government appointed Dr
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Miftah Ismail as chairman Board of
Investment
(BoI).
Jan 10: The Nadra Chairman Tariq
Malik
resigned.
Jan 11: Imran Khan and Abdul Sattar
Edhi were included in the list of the
most admired persons on this planet.
Jan
12:
Belgiums
King
Philip
appointed Dr Ata ul Haq as advisor on
economic
diplomacy.
Jan 15: Senior British diplomat Philip
Barton took over as UKs High
Commissioner
to
Pakistan.
Jan 16: Salman Aslam Butt was
appointed as the attorney general of
Pakistan.
Jan 16: The KP government bifurcated
Kohistan district in Upper and Lower
Kohistan, raising the number of
districts
to
26.
Jan 17: Nawaz Sharif was awarded an
honorary PhD degree by the GCU,
Lahore.
Jan 17: The World Health Organisation
(WHO) declared Peshawar the largest
endemic poliovirus reservoir in the
world.
Jan 24: A Pakistanio stuent, Rai Haris
Manzoor, made a new world record by
passing the O-Level exam at the age
of
9
years.
Jan
26: Former justice Sardar
Muhammad Raza Khan was appointed
as
chairman
Missing
Persons
Commission.
Jan 27: Irfan Siddiqui was appointed
as Special Assistant to Prime Minister
on
National
Affairs.
Feb 03: Former governor SBP, Dr
Shamshad Akhtar, assumed charge as
executive secretary of the Economic
and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (Escap) at its headquarters
in
Bangkok.
Feb 07: The Sindh government
established its own HEC with Dr Asim
Hussain
as
its
chairman.
Feb 12: Pakistani siblings Mirza Ali
and Samina Baig reached the summit

of Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m), Africas
highest
peak.
Feb 18: Former military ruler retired
Gen Pervez Musharraf finally appeared
before
the
Special
Court.
Feb 18: Pakistani journalist Sidra Iqbal
was awarded the 4th Annual GR8!
Women
Awards
2014.
Feb 24: The KP government approved
establishment of Air University and
Technical University in Nowshera.
Feb 25: The federal cabinet approved
the
national
security
policy.
Feb 27: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
ended blockade of Nato supplies to
Afghanistan.
Feb 28: The Wapda completed
130MW Duber Khwar hydropower
project.
Mar 26: Government negotiators held
first face-to-face talks with Taliban
leaders.
Mar 31: Hameed Haroon and Sarmad
Ali were elected president and
secretary general of the APNS for
2014-15.
Apr 07: The National Assembly
passed the Protection of Pakistan Bill
2013.
Apr 15: Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi
became the Governor of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa.
April 16: Pakistan-born visual effects
artist Mir Zafar Ali bagged his third
Oscar.
Apr 17: Islamabad-based Jamia Hafsa
renamed its library in honour of
Osama
bin
Laden.
Apr 20: Pakistan and UAE navies
commenced a seven-day joint exercise
Nasl
al
Bahr.
Apr 22: Pakistan Navy was accorded
Observer Status of the Western
Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS).
Apr 24: The Sindh government
created sixth administrative division
named
Bhambhore.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Apr 28: Ashraf Mahmood Wathra was
appointed Governor of the State Bank
of
Pakistan.
Apr 28: Sindh became the first
province to set the minimum age of
marriage
at
18
years.
May 14: The Punjab government
promulgated The Punjab Free and
Compulsory
Education
Ordinance
2014.
May 22: Pakistan and China signed a
$1.6 billion agreement for a metro
train
project
in
Punjab.
May 24: CM Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali
Shah, granted the status of division to
Shaheed
Benazirabad
district.
May 24: Pakistan and China began
their joint air exercises, codenamed
Shaheen-III.
June 01: The relaxation extended to
Pakistan by the WHO expired. Polio
vaccination
certificates
became
mandatory for all people travelling
abroad
June 02: Russia lifted an embargo on
sales of weapons and military
hardware
to
Pakistan.
June 06: The Pemra suspended the
licence of Geo News for 15 days and
fined
it
Rs10
million.
June 12: PNS Dehshat, built at
Karachi Shipyard and Engineering
Works Ltd (KS&EW), was inducted into
Pakistan
Navys
fleet.
June 15: Pakistan Army launched a
comprehensive operation Zarb-e-Azb
in
North
Waziristan.
June 17: Justice Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmad
took oath as chief justice of the Lahore
High
Court.
June 17: 14 people were killed in
Polics-PAT workers clash at Minhajul
Quran headquarters in Model Town,
Lahore.
launched the PMs Laptop Scheme.
June
25:
The
ground-breaking
ceremony of the 4,320 mega watts
(MW) Dasu Hydro-Power Project at

Dasu
was
performed.
July 06: Justice Nasirul Mulk took oath
as 22nd Chief Justice of Pakistan.
July 11: The Protection of Pakistan
Ordinance-2014 was signed into law
by
the
President.
July 23: The single-engine plane of
Haris Suleman crashed in the sea.
July 26: Samina Baig became the first
Pakistani woman to climb all seven
highest peaks in the seven continents.
July 28: The EU stopped PIA from
bringing cargo to the member states
owing
to
security
concerns.
Aug 11: Pakistan Vision 2025 was
unveiled by the Prime Minister.
Aug 12: Prime Minister requested the
Supreme Court to announce a
commission to investigate PTIs rigging
allegations.
Aug 14: Pakistan Navy took over the
command of the multinational naval
counter-terrorism
coalition
force.
Aug 16: Inqilab and Azadi
marches settled down in Islamabad.
Aug 17: PTI Chairman Imran Khan
ordered his supporters to launch a civil
disobedience movement against the
government.
Aug 18: New Delhi called off the
proposed
meeting
of
foreign
secretaries of the two countries.
Aug 22: Asma Shirazi was awarded
the
Peter
Mackler
Award
for
Courageous and Ethical Journalism.
Aug 22: Shah Mehmood Qureshi
submitted the resignations of PTI
MNAs.
Aug 28: Security forces got freed Prof
Ajmal Khan, Vice Chancellor of the
Islamia
University
Peshawar.
Sep 01: A mob of protesters from the
PTI and PAT sit-ins stormed the
headquarters of Pakistan Television
(PTV).
Sep 07: Heavy floods hit Punjab
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
causing
colossal
losses.
Sep 18: Maj Gen Bilal Akbar took over
as the 12th director general of
Pakistan
Rangers,
Sindh.
Sep 22: The government appointed Lt
Gen Rizwan Akhtar as next chief of the
ISI.
Oct 02: All decimal coins of paisa
legal
tender.
Oct
08:
Admiral
Muhammad
Zakaullah was sworn in as Chief of the
Naval
Staff.
Oct 08: Grand Jamia Mosque, the
worlds 7th largest mosque, was
opened in Bahria Town Lahore.
Oct 10: Education activist Malala
Yousufzai, aged 17, became the
youngest
Nobel
Prize
winner.
Oct 16: The WHO held Pakistan
polio
cases
reported
globally.
Oct 19: The head office of Edhi
Foundation
was
robbed.
Oct 21: Pakistan and Russia held the
2nd Round of Bilateral Strategic
Dialogue.
Oct 21: Dr Tahirul Qadri declared an
end to his partys sit-in on Constitution
Avenue,
Islamabad.
announced imposing polio emergency
in
the
country.
Oct 27: Pakistan won a seat as
member of the administrative council
of the International Telecommunication
Union (ITU), the United Nations
specialised agency for information and
communication
technologies.
Oct 31: The much feared tropical
cyclone Nilofar almost completed its
cycle without hitting Pakistan and
India.
Nov 07: Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar took
over as the 21st head of ISI,
succeeding retired Lt Gen Zaheerul
Islam.
Nov 12: Maryam Nawaz resigned as
Chairperson of the Prime Minister

Youth
Loan
Programme.
Nov 14: Afghan President Ashraf
Ghani came to Pakistan on a two-day
fence-mending trip.
International
Jan 01: Greece began a six-month
stint as president of the European
Union.
Jan 12: Sheikh Hasina was sworn in
for a third spell as Bangladeshs prime
minister.
Feb 03: Janet Yellen was sworn in as
the first woman chair of the US Federal
Reserve.
Feb 10: Sushil Koirala was elected
Nepals
new
prime
minister.
Feb 14: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal after a 49-day stint resigned.
Feb 16: Somayya Jabarti became the
first woman editor-in-chief of a daily in
Saudi
Arabia.
Feb 16: Powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr announced his exit from
politics.
Feb 20: Indias parliament approved a
plan
to
create
29th
state.
Feb 21: Democratic Party leader
Matteo Renzi formed new government
in
Italy.
Feb 21: Indonesia instituted the
worlds biggest manta ray sanctuary.
Mar 5: Perenna Kei, a 24-year-old
Hong Kong-based woman was named
the
worlds
youngest
billionaire.
Mar 05: Swami Vivekanada Subharti
University in Meerut suspended 67
Kashmiri
students
for
cheering
Pakistan during the India-Pak Asia Cup
match.
Mar 06: Lawmakers in Crimea voted
to
join
Russia.
Mar 18: President Vladimir Putin
signed a treaty claiming the Black Sea
region of Crimea as Russian territory.
Mar 24: An Egyptian court sentenced
529 supporters of deposed president
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Mohamed
Morsi
to
death.
Mar 27: PhilippinesMoro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) signed an
historic pact with President Benigno
Aquinos
government.
Mar 27: The WHO officially certified
India and 10 other Asian countries free
of
polio.
Apr 05: Afghans flocked to polling
stations
nationwide.
Apr 05: Europe launched the first
satellite
of
its
multibillion-euro
Copernicus Earth observation project.
Apr 07: Indians began voting in the
worlds
biggest
election.
Apr 16: A South Korean ferry MV
Sewol, carrying 462 on board sank.
Apr 17: The Indian government
installed Admiral Robin K. Dhowan as
the
new
navy
chief.
Apr 23: President Mahmood Abbass
PLO and Gaza-based group Hamas
agreed
to
a
unity
pact.
Apr 24: The tiny Pacific republic of the
Marshall Islands sued the United
States and eight other nuclear-armed
countries, accusing them of failing
their obligation to negotiate nuclear
disarmament.
May 02: Landslides buried a village in
northern Afghanistan, killing at least
2600
people.
May 06: The worlds five nuclear
powers, the United States, Russia,
China, Britain and France, signed a
protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear
Weapons-Free Zone in Central Asia.
May 12: The UN appointed Maj Gen
Kristin Lund as the first woman to
command
UN
peacekeeping
operations.
May 13: Indias government named
Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag
as
countrys
new
army
chief.
May 20: Thailands army chief
imposed martial law, but insisted the
intervention did not amount to military
coup.
May 26: Narendra Modi was sworn-in

as Indias 15th prime minister.
May 29: Ex-army chief Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi won the presidential election in
Egypt.
June 05: Syrian President Bashar alAssad won a new seven-year term
with nearly 90 per cent of the vote.
June 18: King Juan Carlos sealed his
abdication of the Spanish crown after
a
four-decade
reign.
June 24: The Okavango Delta in
Botswana became the 1,000th site on
the UNESCOs world heritage list.
June 25: Britain became the first
bond.
June 27: EU leaders picked former
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean
Claude Juncker as the blocs new chief
executive.
July 12: Worlds top crude consumer,
the United States, became the worlds
top
producer.
July 17: A Malaysian airliner carrying
295 people from Amsterdam to Kuala
Lumpur crashed in rebel-held east
Ukraine.
July 18: People around the world
celebrated
Mandela
Day.
July 22: The reform-minded governor
of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, was declared
the winner of Indonesias presidential
election. July 22: Chinese authorities
shut an OSI plant a supplier to
McDonalds and KFC in China for
mixing out-of-date meat with fresh
product, re-labelling expired goods
and
other
quality
problems.
July 24: Kurdish politician Fuad
Masum was named Iraqs new
president.
July 24: Far-right hawk Reuven Rivlin
was sworn in as Israels 10th
president.
Aug 05: A South African village
became the first in the world to be
powered
by
fuel
cells.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Aug 05: An Afghan soldier shot dead
Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene; the
highest-ranking American officer to be
killed
since
9/11.
Aug
13:
Iran-born
Maryam
Mirzakhani became the first woman to
win Fields Medal the Nobel Prize of
mathematics.
Aug 14: The UN announced its
highest level of emergency for the
crisis ignited by the IS militants.
Aug 15: Panama celebrated the
100th anniversary of its famous canal.
Aug 21: Turkeys ruling party chose
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to
be
the
new
prime
minister.
Aug 26: A ceasefire was agreed to by
Israel and the Palestinians, ending 50
days of the deadliest violence in a
decade.
Aug 28: Recep Tayyip Erdogan was
sworn in as Turkeys president.
Sep 19: Scots rejected independence
in a referendum that left the centuriesold
United
Kingdom
intact.
Sep 23: A prominent academic from
Chinas
mostly-Muslim
Uighur
minority, Ilham Tohti, was jailed for life
for
separatism.
Sep
24:
Indias
unmanned
Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully
entered the orbit of Mars after a 10month
journey.
Sep 29: Ashraf Ghani became the
new Presidnt of Afghanistan while
Abdullah Abdullah took over as
countrys
CEO.
Sep 30: Afghanistan and the US
signed
the
Bilateral
Security
Agreement.
Sep 30: The worlds first interactive
microbe zoo, Micropia museum,
opened
in
Amsterdam.
Oct 01: Former Norwegian Prime
Minister Jens Stoltenberg took over as
the 13th Secretary General of Nato.
Oct 08: Facebook officially purchased
WhatsAppfor
$21.8
billion.
Oct 14: British lawmakers voted to

recognise Palestine as a state, in a
symbolic
vote.
Oct 15: Australias Richard Flanagan
won the Man Booker prize for his novel
The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
Oct 16: Yogurt became New Yorks
official
state
snack.
Oct 20: The WHO Nigeria and Senegal
as
Ebola-free.
Oct 20: Joko Widodo was sworn in as
the President of Indonesia; worlds
third-biggest
democracy.
Oct 22: Canadas capital was jolted
by the fatal shooting of a soldier and
an attack on the parliament building.
Oct 27: Brazil re-elected Dilma
Rousseff as countrys president in.
Oct 30: Sweden officially recognised
the state of Palestine, becoming the
first major European country to do so.
Nov 07: A veteran US diplomat and
Pakistan expert, Robin L. Raphel, was
arrested
by
the
FBI.
Nov 12: The Netherlands unveiled the
worlds first solar bike path.
SPORTS
Jan
01:
New
Zealands
Corey
Anderson clubbed the fastest century
in the ODI history from 36 balls.
Jan 04: India won Under-19 Asia Cup
by beating Pakistan in the final.
Jan 07: Imran Farhat became only the
second Pakistani to score a triple
hundred twice in first-class cricket.
Jan 15: Cristiano Ronaldo was
awarded the 2013 FIFA Ballon dOr.
Jan 25: Chinese ace Li Na became the
oldest womens Tennis champion.
Jan 30: Kenya lost One Day
International
(ODI)
status.
Jan 30: New Zealands Kathy Cross
became the first woman on the ICC
Associate and Affiliate panel of
umpires.
Feb 07: Russias Sochi Winter
Olympics officially got underway.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
Feb 07: Kumar Sangakkara became
the second batsman in history to score
a triple century and a hundred in the
same
match.
Feb 08: The International Cricket
Council
approved
wide
ranging
changes to its structure that puts
India, England and Australia in control
of
the
world
game.
March
04:
Pakistan
defeated
Bangladesh in its biggest run chase in
one-day internationals, reaching 329-7
with
a
ball
to
spare.
Feb 17: Brendon McCullum and
Bradley John Watling of New Zealand
broke the world record for the highest
sixth-wicket partnership with a 352run
stand
against
India.
Feb 17: Kuldeep Yavdav became the
first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in
Under-19
World
Cup
history.
Feb 26: Mahela Jayawardene became
only second player after Indias Sachin
Tendulkar to appear in 600 or more
intl
matches.
March 01: South Africa won their
maiden ICC Under-19 Cricket World
Cup
title.
March 08: Sri Lanka defeated
Pakistan by five wickets in the final of
the
Asia
Cup.
Mar 30: Ahmed Shehzad became the
first Pakistani batsman to score a
century
in
Twenty-20
cricket.
Mar 23: Australia triumphed in the
Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, claiming their
eighth
title.
Apr
06:
Australia
overpowered
England to win their third consecutive
Womens
World
Twenty20.
Apr 06: Sri Lanka lifted their maiden
World
Twenty20
title.
May 07: Afghanistan won the ACC
Premier
League
title.
June 15: Australia outclassed the
Netherlands to grab their third World
Cup
Hockey
title.
July 12: Englands Joe Root and James
Anderson made a Test record of lastwicket

stand
of
198
runs.
July 13: Germany grabbed their fourth
World Cup crown after a 1-0 victory
over
Argentina.
Aug 02: Nicola Adams became the
first female Commonwealth Games
boxing
champion.
Sep 06: South Africa won a first-ever
tournament final against Australia.
Sep 07: Japans Kei Nishikori became
the first Asian man to make a Grand
Slam
final.
Sep
24:
The
Qatar
womens
basketball team forfeited a game at
the Asian Games after being refused
permission
to
wear
hijab.
Sep 28: Peshawar Panthers won the
national
T20
cricket
title
after
outgunning Lahore Lions in final.
Oct 02: India beat Pakistan in a
penalty shoot-out to win back the
Asian Games hockey title after 16
years.
Oct 25: Younis Khan surpassed former
captain
Inzamam-ul-Haq
as
the
highest century maker for his country.
He is also the first Pakistani to score
centuries in both the innings against
Australia.
Oct 30: Younis Khan became the first
batsman in 90 years to hit three
against
Australia.
Nov 02: Pakistan skipper Misbah-ulHaq broke the Test record for the
fastest fifty and equalled that of the
quickest
century.
Nov 10: Pakistan team set a new
record in the history of Test cricket, as
all top five batsmen of Pakistan scored
over
80
runs.
Nov 13: Misbahul Haq surpassed the
joint record for most wins held by
former skippers Imran Khan and Javed
Miandad.
Nov 13: Rohit Sharma smashed the
highest individual ODI score with a
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
breathtaking knock
against Sri Lanka.
of
264
runs
ECONOMY
Jan 10: The SECP approved issuance
of first-ever listed Sukuk issue by the
KESC amounting to Rs. 6 billion.
Feb 06: The SBP granted licence to
Sindh Bank for the commencement of
Islamic
banking
operations.
Apr 23: The cellular service providers,
Mobilink, Telenor and Ufone picking up
licences for 3G services while Zong
acquired a licence for both 3G and 4G
services.
May 21: China signed a landmark
deal to buy Russian natural gas.
May 29: Russian President Vladimir
Putin signed a treaty with Kazakhstan
and Belarus creating a vast trading
bloc.
Sep 04: Pakistan assumed charge of
the 10-member ECO Chamber of
Commerce and Industry for three
years.
Sep 19: Chinese online giant, Alibaba,
made its historic Wall Street trading
debut.
Sep 22: Alibaba Group Holding Ltds
initial public offering became the
worlds biggest in history at $25
billion.
Sep 23: The European Central Bank
launched the new 10-euro banknote.
Nov 14: The SBP placed KASB Bank
under moratorium for six months.
Oct 17: The United Kingdom became
the first foreign country to issue
offshore
renminbi
bonds.
Nov 08: Danish company OW Bunker,
the worlds largest ship fuel supplier,
declared bankruptcy.
EVERYDAY
SCIENCE
Jan 17: A critically endangered
species of marine turtle was found for
the
first
time
in
Pakistan.
Jan 23: The fastest ever broadband
speed was achieved in a test in

London.
Feb 27: NASA confirmed 715 newly
discovered planets outside the solar
system.
Sep 22: Nasas MAVEN spacecraft
began
orbiting
Mars.
Oct 04: A 36-year-old Swede became
the worlds first woman to give birth
after receiving a womb transplant.
OBITUARIES
Jan 07: Hong Kong media mogul Sir
Run
Run
Shaw.
Jan 11: Former Israeli prime minister
Ariel
Sharon
Jan 17: The spiritual head of the
Dawoodi Bohra community Syedna
Mohammed
Burhanuddin.
Jan 31: Prof Dr Khawaja Amjad Saeed,
the Founder Principal of Hailey College
of Banking & Finance, University of the
Punjab.
Feb 07: Veteran actor Ghayyur
Akhtar.
Feb 21: Founder of the ARY Group,
Haji
Abdul
Razzak
Yaqoob.
Feb 22: Veteran film writer, director
and
lyricist
Aziz
Meeruthi.
Feb 24: Former interior minister Gen
(retd)
Hamid
Nawaz.
Feb 16: William Duff, the British
banker who transformed Dubai into a
financial
powerhouse.
Mar 16: Former IGP and chief
ministers adviser Jehanzeb Burki.
Mar 20: An iconic wit, writer,
raconteur and Urdu buff Khushwant
Singh.
Apr 17: Colombias Nobel-winning
novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Apr 19: Motorways DIG Mirza Shakeel
Ahmed.
Apr 27: Former Punjab chief secretary
Javed
Qureshi.
May 16: Zille Huma, noted singer and
daughter of melody queen Noor Jehan.
June 10: A veteran politician and
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
head of Balochistans Marri clan,
Nawab
Khair
Bakhsh
Marri.
May 28: Celebrated African-American
author, poet and civil rights activist
Maya
Angelou.
May 28: Sultan Azlan Shah, the
founder of Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey
Cup.
June 25: Legendary character actor
Eli
Wallach.
July 10: Indias acting legend Zohra
Sehgal.
July 26: A veteran journalist and
editor-in-chief of the Nawai Waqt
Group,
Majid
Nizami.
Aug 03: Veteran politician and the
last crown prince of the princely state
of
Swat,
Miangul
Aurangzeb.
Aug 08: Anita Ghulam Ali former
education
minister
of
Sindh.
Aug 04: Dick Smith, Hollywoods
preeminent master of film make-up.
Aug 12: Robin Williams, the actor
whose madcap comic style made him
one of television and films biggest
stars.
Aug 13: Legendary actress Lauren
Bacall.
Aug 19: Pakistans first-ever world
champion in any sport, squash star
Hashim
Khan.
Aug 22: Acclaimed Indian writer
Udupi
Rajagopalacharya
Ananthamurthy.
Sep 04: Leading ghazal and playback
singer
Habib
Wali
Mohammad.
Sep 15: The longest serving physician
of
the
country
Dr
S.M.
Rab.
Sep 24: Oleg Ivanovsky, a Russian
engineer who helped design Sputnik,
the first satellite to orbit Earth, and
Vostok 1, the craft that carried the
astronaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in
space.
Oct 21: The chairman of Irans
Assembly
of
Experts
Ayatollah
Mohammad
Reza
Mahdavi
Kani.
Nov 03: Renowned Marathi and

Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar.
MCQs
National
1. The tragic Peshawar massacre took
place
on
______.
(a)
Dec
16
(b)
Dec
17
(c) Dec 18 (d) Dec 19
2. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a
moratorium on executions in the
country
on
______.
(a)
Dec
16
(b)
Dec
17
(c) Dec 18 (d) Dec 19
3. On Dec 19, Mohammad Aqeel alias
Dr Usman and Arshad Mehmood were
executed
in
______
Jail.
(a)
Sukkur
(b)
Multan
(c) Faisalabad (d) Adiala
4. On Dec 19, Pakistan became the
______ Asian country to be admitted to
CERN,
as
associate
member
(a)
First
(b)
Second
(c) Third
(d) Fourth
5. The incumbent chairman of Pakistan
Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is
______.
(a) Parvez Butt
(b) Ansar Parvez
(c) Anwar Ali (d) Ishfaq Ahmad
6. The total estimated cost of placing
electricity connectivity through CASA
1000
is
______
billion.
(a)
$1.0
(b)
$1.3
(c) $2.0
(d) $2.3
7. On Dec 22, Pakistan and ______
signed an energy deal of $1.7 billion
for laying an LNG pipeline from
Karachi
to
Lahore.
(a)
Turkey
(b)
China
(c) Russia (d) Japan
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
8. The supply of LNG Karachi-Lahore
Pipeline will be available before ______
2015.
(a)
March
(b)
April
(c) May
(d) June
9. The present chairman of the Punjab
Higher Education Commission is
______.
(a)
Dr
Salman
Rizvi
(b)
Dr
Akhtar
Shumar
(c)
Dr
Mhjahid
kamran
(d) Prof Dr Nizamuddin
10. On Dec 23, ______ was appointed
as chairperson of the Competition
Commission of Pakistan (CCP) for a
period
of
three
years.
(a) Leila Khan
(b) Vadiyya Khalil
(c) Salma Rashid (d) Adeeba Butt
11. In its report entitled Assessing
Internal Democracy in Major Political
Parties of Pakistan, the Pildat ranked
______ as the most democratic party.
(a)
JI
(b)
PML-N
(c) PTI
(d) MQM
12. On Dec 24, Justice Muhammad
Noor Meskanzai was appointed as the
chief justice of the ______ High Court.
(a)
Peshawar
(b)
Karachi
(c) Islamabad (d) Balochistan
13. On Dec 25, Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif designated______ as chairperson
of
the
Prime
Ministers
Youth
Programme
(PMYP).
(a) Fozia Ali
(b) Salma Maroof
(c) Hina Butt (d) Leila Khan
14.
On
Dec
25,
the
federal
government established National Food
Security Commission (NFSC) with
______
as
its
chairman.
(a)
President
(b)
Prime
Minister
(c)
Minister
for
Agriculture
(d) Minister for Water & Power
15. Sindh Shaddani Darbar is an
annual
______
festival.
(a)
Christian
(b)
Parsi
(c) Buddhist (d) Hindu
16. Pakistan Peoples Party cochairman and former president Asif Ali
Zardari became the chief of the
Zardari
tribe
on
______.
(a)
Dec
18
(b)
Dec
25
(c) Dec 28 (d) Dec 30
17. On Dec 30, ______ of the Journalist
Panel was re-elected president of the
Lahore Press Club for year 2015.
(a)
Arshad
Ansari
(b)
Habib
Shaukat
(c)
Sohail
Warraich
(d) Amin Hafeez
18. On Dec 31, Syed Waqar Hussain
Shah became the ______ Sajjada
Nashin of the Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai
shrine.
(a)
11th
(b)
12th
(c) 13th
(d) 14th
19. Pakistan has the ______ highest
number of newborn deaths in the
world.
(a)
Second
(b)
Third
(c) Eighth (d) Eleventh
20. The Punjab Assembly passed The
Punjab Local
Government (Third
Amendment) Bill 2014, on ______.
(a)
Jan
01
(b)
Jan
03
(c) Jan 05 (d) Jan 08
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
21. Twenty-first Amendment to the
Constitution of Pakistan 1973 was
approved by both houses of the
parliament
on
______.
(a)
Jan
04
(b)
Jan
05
(c) Jan 06 (d) Jan 09
22. The Bahria Town Grand Mosque
will be the ______ biggest mosque of
the
world.
(a)
Second
(b)
Third
(c) Fourth (d) Fifth
23. On Jan 06, ______ was appointed as
Managing Director of Sui Southern Gas
Company.
(a) Zulfiqar Ali
(b) Habib Asghar
(c) Leila Khan (d) Khalid Rahman
24. On Jan 07, Pakistans first-ever
centre
for
promotion
of
early
education
skills
and
healthy
development
of
children
was
inaugurated
in
______.
(a)
Lahore
(b)
Islamabad
(c) Quetta (d) Karachi
25. On Jan 07, the UNHCR declared
Pakistan, which hosts about ______
Afghan refugees, the biggest host
country
in
absolute
terms.
(a) 1.0 million
(b) 1.6 million
(c) 2.4 million (d) 3.0 million
28. The incumbent chairman of

Pakistan Broadcasters Association is
______.
(a)
Mir
Ibrahim
Rahman
(b)
Sultan
Ali
Lakhani
(c)
Shakeel
Masud
(d) Mian Aamer Mehmood
29. On Jan 10, ______ provided
financial aid worth $1.6m to the
Pakistan government to assist the IDPs
of North Waziristan and Khyber
Agency.
(a)
Japan
(b)
Norway
(c) Russia (d) Denmark
30. The second edition of the
revitalised Pak-US Strategic Dialogue
opened
on
______.
(a)
Jan
08
(b)
Jan
10
(c) Jan 12 (d) Jan 14
International
1. Global Financial Integrity is a global
anti-corruption group based in ______.
(a)
London
(b)
Paris
(c) Washington (d) Hamburg
2. On Dec 16, ______ Prime Minister
Victor Ponta announced to give up his
PhD in law after being accused of
plagiarism.
(a)
Italys
(b)
Canadas
(c) Romanias (d) Belgiums
26. The Pakistan Army announced the

establishment of the first group of nine
military courts for trying civilian terror
suspects
on
______.
(a)
Jan
06
(b)
Jan
07
(c) Jan 09 (d) Jan 10
3. On Dec 17, the United States and

______ made a historic breakthrough in
their
Cold
War
stand-off.
(a)
Russia
(b)
Cuba
(c) Vietnam (d) China
27. The current Chief Secretary Punjab

is
______.
(a)
Khizar
Hayat
Gondal
(b) Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad
(c)
Khalid
Rahman
(d) Naveed Akram Cheema
4. Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the

United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) is an ______ by
birth.
(a)
American
(b)
Indian
(c) Ethiopian (d) Italian
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
5. On Dec 17, Omar Abdirashid Ali
Sharmarke became the first person to
hold the post of Prime Minister of
______
twice.
(a)
Yemen
(b)
Sudan
(c) Somalia (d) Nigeria
12. On Dec 20, the UN General

Assembly asked ______ to compensate
Lebanon for $856.4 million in oil spill
damages.
(a)
Syria
(b)
Jordan
(c) Egypt
(d) Israel
6. On Dec 17, the Church of England

named ______ as its first female
bishop.
(a) Miri Gold
(b) Ilana Mills
(c) Eileen Harrop (d) Libby Lane
13. On Dec 20, the 5th Greater

Mekong Subregion (GMS) Summit was
held
in
______.
(a)
Hanoi
(b)
Bangkok
(c) Vientiane (d) Beijing
7.
The
European
Parliament
overwhelmingly
backed
the
recognition of a Palestinian state on
______.
(a)
Dec
16
(b)
Dec
17
(c) Dec 19 (d) Dec 20
14. Matteo Renzi is the incumbent

prime
minister
of
______.
(a)
Italy
(b)
Germany
(c) France (d) Laos
8. Lok Sabha is the lower house of the

parliament
of
______.
(a)
Bhutan
(b)
Nepal
(c) India
(d) Bangladesh
9. North Korea officially mourned the
death of its Supreme Leader, Kim
Jong-il,
for
______.
(a)
6
Months
(b)
1
Year
(c) 2 Years (d) 3 Years
10. On Dec 18, a ______ military court
sentenced 54 soldiers to death for
mutiny after they refused to deploy for
an operation against Boko Haram.
(a)
Kenya
(b)
Nigeria
(c) Algiers (d) Niger
11. Nouakchott is the capital of ______.
(a)
Mauritania
(b)
Tanzania
(c) Somalia (d) Mozambique
15. National Democratic Front of

Bodoland (NDFB) is a separatist group
in
______.
(a)
China
(b)
Thailand
(c) India
(d) Philippines
16. On Dec 22, Afghan security forces
launched an operation against TTP
militants in eastern province namely
______.
(a)
Balkh
(b)
Kunar
(c) Helmand (d) Ghazni
17. On Dec 23, lawmakers in Ukraine
adopted a bill dropping Ukraines nonaligned
status
with
______.
(a)
Isaf
(b)
Nato
(c) ANZUS (d) BALTRON
18. On Dec 24, India conferred the
Bharat Ratna on Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and
______
(a)
Madan
Mohan
Malviya
(b)
Sachin
Tendulkar
(c)
Amitabh
Bachchan
(d) Abdul Kalam Azad
19. Indias highest civilian honour, the
Bharat Ratna, was launched in ______.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
(a)
1947
(c) 1953
(d) 1954
(b)
1951
20. Yangon is a city in ______.

(a)
Maldives
(b)
Myanmar
(c) Cambodia (d) Bhutan
transvestites and transsexuals from

driving.
(a)
India
(b)
Nigeria
(c) China (d) Russia
21. The current president of the

European
Union
is
______.
(a)
Croatia
(b)
Belarus
(c) Latvia (d) Germany
29. A leap second is occasionally

inserted into the atomic scale of
reckoning time in order to bring it into
line
with
______
time.
(a)
Ephemeris
(b)
Solar
(c) Sun Transit (d) Lunar
22. The EU presidency rotates among

the member states of the EU every
______
months.
(a)
6
(b)
12
(c) 15
(d) 18
30. On Jan 9, Maithripala Sirisena was

sworn in as the new president of
______.
(a)
Maldives
(b)
Sri
Lanka
(c) Nepal (d) Bhutan
23. Nato formally ended its war in

Afghanistan
on
______.
(a)
Dec
24
(b)
Dec
26
(c) Dec 28 (d) Dec 30
Sports
1. The Kabaddi World Cup 2015 was
won
by______.
(a)
Canada
(b)
Iran
(c) India
(d) Pakistan
24. Egypt and Israel signed a peace

treaty
in
______.
(a)
1964
(b)
1970
(c) 1975
(d) 1979
25.
Amitbhai
Anilchandra
Shah,
commonly known as Amit Shah, is the
current President of the ______.
(a)
Congress
(b)
BJP
(c) NCP
(d) BSP
26. The members of the Eurasian
Economic Union include Belarus,
Kazakhstan,
Russia
and
______.
(a)
Armenia
(b)
Tajikistan
(c) Kazakhstan (d) Azerbaijan
27. Turkeys famous city Istanbul is
located
near
the
______.
(a)
Black
Sea
(b)
Red
Sea
(c) Marmara Sea (d) Baltic Sea
28. On Jan
controversial
09,
______
law
passed a
banning
2. Nicol David is a Malaysian ______

player.
(a)
Hockey
(b)
Squash
(c) Tennis (d) Badminton
3. On Dec 21, a ______ club, Real
Madrid, defeated San Lorenzo of
Argentina to win the Club World Cup.
(a)
French
(b)
Spanish
(c) Australian (d) German
4. In the 10th Iran Zamin Cup Karate
Cadet Tournament, held in Tehran,
Pakistan won ______ bronze medals.
(a)
5
(b)
7
(c) 9
(d) 12
5. On Jan 11, the Swiss ace Roger
Federer registered his ______ ATP
career
win.
(a)
500th
(b)
750th
(c) 1,000th (d) 1500th
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
6. On Jan 13, Portuguese star Cristiano
Ronaldo was voted the worlds best
football player for the ______ time.
(a)
First
(b)
Second
(c) Third (d) Fourth
7. The record of chasing highest target
in a Twenty20 match is held by ______.
(a) South Africa
(b) West Indies
(c) Australia (d) India
journalists of the past half century,

died.
(a)
Cuban
(b)
Mexican
(c) American (d) British
International MCQs (September
2014)
Written by: editor on January 8, 2015.

Obituaries
1. Virna Lisi, who played opposite
Hollywood
stars
including
Frank
Sinatra in the 1960s, was an ______
actress.
(a)
Danish
(b)
Georgian
(c) Italian (d) French
2. Anna Stoehr, who died on Dec 23,
was famous for challenging ______
after the site didnt let her list her real
age.
(a)
MySpace
(b)
LinkedIn
(c) Twitter (d) Facebook
3. On Dec 24, renowned film director
and lifetime chairman of the Pakistan
Film Directors Association ______
passed
away
(a) Kaifi
(b) Aslam Dar
(c) Kamal Ahmed (d) Aqeel Rubi
4. Syed Nisar Hussain Shah Latifi, the
11th Sajjada Nashin of the Shah Abdul
Latif Bhitai shrine, died on ______.
(a)
Dec
29
(b)
Dec
30
(c) Jan 03 (d) Jan 05
5. Omar Karami, who died on Jan 01,
was the former Prime Minister of
______.
(a)
Syria
(b)
Jordan
(c) Egypt
(d) Lebanon
6. On Jan 07, Julio Scherer Garcia, one
of
the
most
influential
______
1. The WikiLeaks founder, Julian

Assange, has kept him hiding in the
Ecuadorean Embassy in ______.
A. London B. Paris
C. Stockholm D. New York
2. On July 16, a Netherlands court
ruled that the Dutch state was liable
for the deaths of over 300 ______
Muslim men and boys in the
Srebrenica massacre.
A. Serbia n B. Azri
C. Bosnian D. Cambodian
3. The Srebrenica massacre took place
in ______.
A. 1975
B. 1980
C. 1987
D. 1995
4. The incumbent President of the
European Parliament is ______.
A. Manolis Glezos B. Martin Schulz
C. Pat Cox D. Jerzy Buzek
5. On July 17, the United States and
______ began a joint naval exercise.
A. Thailand B. Japan
C. South Korea D. Vietnam
6. Tony Abbott is the prime minister of
______.
A. Australia B. New Zealand
C. Mexico D. Canada
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
7. Nelson Mandela International Day or
Mandela Day is observed on ______
each year.
A. July 16 B. July 18
C. July 20 D. July 22
8. On July 19, Iran and six world
powers agreed to extend the talks
until______.
A. Nov 24 B. Dec 15
C. Dec 28 D. Dec 31
9. On July 19, it was decided that the
UN team tasked with investigating
allegations of human rights violations
and war crimes against the Sri Lankan
government and the LTTE, will hold
hearings in New York, Geneva and
______.
A. Bangkok B. Colombo
C. New Delhi D. Bonn
10. On July 21, China agreed to
provide ______, a Latin American
country, with a new $4 billion credit
line.
A. Vietnam B. Colombia
C. Mexico D. Venezuela
11. The United States National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) has been
maintaining a global temperature
record since ______.
A. 1880
B. 1895
C. 1937
D. 1987
12. Joko Widodo was elected the
president of ______ on July 22.
A. Philippines B. Malaysia
C. Indonesia D. Thailand
13. The worlds third-biggest
democracy is ______.
A. Indonesia B. India
C. Italy
D. China
14. On July 22, the first UN-backed

Girl Summit was launched in ______.
A. New York B. London
C. Brussels D. Chicago
15. On July 23, the UN launched an
international inquiry into human rights
violations and crimes that may have
been committed by ______.
A. Israel
B. Sri Lanka
C. India
D. Palestine
16. The Saudi cabinet decided to allow
women to contest and vote in the
municipal elections on ______.
A. July 20 B. July 21
C. July 22 D. July 23
17. The name of Queen Elizabeths
racehorse ______.
A. The Conqueror B. Formidable
C. The Colt D. Estimate
18. On July 24, a Kurdish politician
______ was named Iraqs new
president.
A. Haider al-Abadi
B. Fuad Masum
C. Ajil al-Yawer
D. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
19. On July 24, the United States, India
and ______ kicked off week-long war
games in the Pacific
A. Japan
B. Maldives
C. Thailand D. South Korea
20. Military exercise launched by the
United States, India and Japan has
been named as ______.
A. Iron Fist Exercise
B. Malabar Exercise
C. Operation Brasstacks
D. Operation Chequerboard
21. On July 24, Reuven Rivlin was
sworn in as ______ 10th president.
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
A. Israels
C. Polands
B. Italys
D. Denmarks
22. Save the Children, an international

nongovernmental organisation
founded by Eglantyne Jebb and
Dorothy Buxton on 15 April 1919, is
A. London B. Wimbledon
C. Birmingham D. Washington DC
23. Air Algrie is the national airline
of______.
A. Angola B. France
C. Algeria D. Barbados
24. On July 24: The United Nations
sent its first humanitarian aid convoy
into ______.
A. Lebanon B. Gaza
C. Myanmar D. Syria
25. Enrique Pena Nieto is the president
of ______.
A. Canada B. Mexico
C. Argentina
D. Portugal
26. Celebrated on July 27, The Day of
Victory in the Great Fatherland
Liberation War is a national holiday in
______
A. USA
B. Japan
C. North Korea D. South Korea
27. The Suez Canal is an artificial sealevel waterway in ______, connecting
the Mediterranean Sea and the Red
Sea.
A. Panama B. Egypt
C. Libya
D. South Sudan
28. Brother Number Two Nuon Chea
is a prominent leader of Khmer Rouge,
a regime responsible for the deaths of
up to two million people in ______.
A. Cambodia B. Vietnam
C. Haiti
D. Liberia
29. Silicon Valley is located in ______.

A. California B. Arizona
C. New Jersey D. New Hampshire
30. Freedom and Justice Party is a
political group in ______.
A. Syria
B. Iraq
C. Lebanon D. Egypt
31. The Panama Canal that connects
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was
opened on August 15, ______.
A. 1914
B. 1915
C. 1917
D. 1920
32. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
resigned on ______.
A. Aug 12 B. Aug 14
C. Aug 15 D. Aug 18
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR
IN HEAVEN. AMEEN
SHAHAAN ZULFIQAR

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