Pakistan's First Monthly E-Magazine for Civil Services Aspirants Monthly CSS TIME May 2021 International Day Current Affairs of UN Peacekeepers: 29 May MCQs The Road to a Lasting Peace: April 2021 Leveraging the Power of Youth for Peace and Security.”Buy HSM Books Online Books for Competitive Exams & Military Tests a Just while sitting at home you can choose from a vast variety, and your desired Competitive Exams CSS/PMS/PCS/NTS and Military Tests (Army, ISSB/PAF/NAVY) HSM Books will be efficiently delivered to you on the designated date. Spectacular services and satisfying our customers will always be our most significant priority. We hope you have a worthy shopping experience at . www.hsmpublishers.com Thank you. HSM Publishers was started in 2013 as a publishing division of Ilmi Kitab Khana, founded by Haji Sardar Muhammad in 1945. Today it proudly owns: + Ilmi Kitab Khana Lahore + HSM Publishers Lahore + Ilmi Kitab Khana/HSM Publishers Islamabad F-7 Islamabad (Islamabad showroom where one finds under one roof the widest range of All kinds of Schools/Colleges/Universities educational pos Competitive Exams, ey Exam books and General Knowledge ooks ) 2UPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com nes UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 3 UNO Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or commonly known as MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name. It is a UN peacekeeping force in the DRC which was established by UN Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War. International Day of UN Peacekeepers is observed globally on 29 May every year. The United Nations commemorates the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. This day is dedicated to all the women and men who have served as military, police or civilians in UN Peacekeeping aa which ji jon in lization Missi¢ a He een country Is oie ly on known os MONUSC! g dan (a) South Su i Seno Republic of the Cong a Somalia Answer (6 Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com Monthly HSM CSS Times UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 4 The Theme for This Year's Day is “The Road N Peace keeping toa Lasting Peace: Leveraging the Power of Youth for Peace and Security.” The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, 29 May, offers a chance to pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian personne''s invaluable contribution to the work of the Organization and to honour more than 4,000 peacekeepers who have lost their lives serving under the UN flag since 1948, including 130 last year. This year, the challenges and threats faced by our peacekeepers are even greater than ever as they, like people around the world, are having to cope not only with the COVID-19 pandemic but also the continued requirement to support and protect the people in the countries in which they are based. Today, tens of thousands of young peacekeepers (between the ages of 18 and 29 years) are deployed around the world and play a major role in helping the missions implement their mandated activities including the protection of civilians. And UN peace operations -- in line with a series of Security Council resolutions (2250, 2419 and 2535) -- are increasing their collaboration with youth and youth groups to help build sustainable peace and implement their mandates on the ground. United Nations Peacekeeping was created in 1948. Its first mission involved the establishment of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which served to observe and maintain ceasefire during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. UN Peacekeeping maintains three basic principles: © Consent of the parties, © Impartiality and 0 —_Non-use of Force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate. The UN Peacekeepers are led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DKPO). There are currently 17 UN peace operations deployed on four continents UN Peacekeepers are from diverse backgrounds, from areas all around the world. They include police, military and civilian personnel. They are often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets. The UN Peacekeeping Force won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. The United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security. For this reason, the international community usually looks to the Security Council to authorize peacekeeping operations. Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com SS Times About International Day of UN Peacekeepers The first UN peacekeeping mission was established on 29 May 1948, when the Security Council authorized the deployment of a small number of UN military observers to the Middle East to form the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Since then, more than 1 million women and men have served in 72 UN peacekeeping operations, directly impacting the lives of millions of people and saving countless lives. Today, UN Peacekeeping deploys more than 89,000 military, police and civilian personnel in 12 operations. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2003 and designated 29 May as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. The day was established tohonour the memory of the UN UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 5 >. ¥ the cause of peace and pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage. Green, White and Blue: Pakistan on the Front-Lines of UN Peacekeeping Beginning with Congo in 1960, Pakistan has deployed peacekeepers in virtually every continent. In the 60 years that followed, the peacekeepers who have lost their lives in ie Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com Monthly HSM CSS Times May 2021 country has sent more than 200,000 troops for 46 missions in 28 different countries, consistently making it one of the top five contributors. With any commitment comes sacrifice, and Pakistan's Blue Helmet story is no different. As many as 157 Pakistani peacekeepers have been martyred while helping restore peace and stability to the turbulent regions, including 24 officers. Even so, its dedication to UN peacekeeping efforts has not wavered. Even now, with more than 7,000 personnel deployed in nine of the 14 ‘ongoing UN missions, Pakistan remains the third largest source of peacekeepers in the world UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 6 Genesis of Pakistan's Peacekeeping Efforts An overview of Pakistan's peacekeeping missions in Latin America, the Balkans, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, Middle East and Southeast Asia reveal its persistent commitment to international peace and security. In these missions, Pakistani troops went beyond the call of duty to provide humanitarian assistance and in some circumstances even laid down their lives when rescuing people. An account of select UN missions, with diverse mandates and varying operational environments participated in by Pakistani troops, is elucidated in the ensuing paragraphs ow 1 Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comScore up to 90% in English Don't Study Hard, Study Smart with Technique HSM: Tricky Vocabulary For All Competitive Exams along with antonyms, synonyms and example sentence will help you in gaining confidence in attempting the English section. This Book will solve your following problems: 1. Complete basic words learning. . Enhance your English Vocabulary . Panacea for oh Medium Students . You will be more efficient in English Language & Reading Comprehension, fen TRIC Aero UES ay eo Rr rors a Chal Kabir Street, Urdu Bazar Lahore, Pakistan FR, contact@ilmikitabkhana.com (042) 37353510 - 37248129 -37171280-1 vwwwchsmpublishers.com ed Sts Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | Feb 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 8 Monthly HSM CSS Times Acknowledgement of Pakistani Peacekeeping Contributions Pakistan's contributions to UN missions have been multifarious, from Europe and Africa to the Middle East. These contributions include not just military personnel, but also police officials assigned to UN peacekeeping, Despite the constraints imposed by culture and family traditions typical of South Asian countries, Pakistan has also provided women officers who have served in both military and police forces. Besides performance, the conduct of Pakistani peacekeepers has been exemplary compared to other contingents, whose record has been marred by various incidents. Pakistani Blue Helmet performance has been lauded by both the UN leadership and world leaders. During his visit to Pakistan in 2013, then-UN Secretary General Ban said, “I was overwhelmed with gratitude for its role in aiding international peace and security. More than 100 countries contribute troops and police for UN peacekeeping missions. Pakistan is number One.” Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | Recently, on 16 February 2020, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed Pakistan's peacekeeping contributions, “Pakistan is among the top contributors to UN peacekeeping. It was inspiring to meet some of the brave women and men who are serving for peace around the world. Thank you for your service and sacrifice."He further said, "| am in a love affair with Pakistan and its people”. Further back in history, Indonesia's first president Sukarno and then-Chinese premier Zhou Enlai had also praised Pakistan's peacekeeping role in the former colony with utmost admiration. Sukarno said, “It was because of Pakistani troops that Indonesia and Pakistan came closer, they were Pakistan's best ambassadors." For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comMonthly HSM May 2021 oSS Times UPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 9 Td oy = example in UN history, when a military force had gone in, performed its role honestly and came out, was Pakistan's military contingent.” Pakistan has enhanced focus on gender mainstreaming and female representation in peacekeeping missions. Pakistan is the first country to deploy Female Engagement Teams in peacekeeping missions. Currently 2 FETs (30 lady officers) have been deployed in UN Mission Congo and CAR and another FET will be deployed in Congo. Pakistan has an elaborate Foreign Outreach Programme to engage friendly countries, UN organizations and international peacekeeping training institutions. Bilateral activities include 19 Instructor Exchange Programmes with five countries, collaboration with seven international training institutes and Association of Centre for International Peace Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | » A and Stability (CIPS), NUST with UN Women, UNOCHA, UNHCR and UN ITS. First-ever Pakistani Female Engagement Team In January 2020, the first Pakistani Female Engagement Team (FET) in any UN mission around the world received medals for serving For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comSS Times in MONUSCO for participation in military and police operations including peacekeeping, humanitarian efforts, and disaster relief. The team includes psychologists, stress counselors, vocational training officers, gender advisors, doctors, nurses, operations officers, information officers, and logistics officers. Pakistan Army's Major Samia Rehman, who. serves as an operational planning officer with the UN mission in Congo, says it is an honour to serve under the Blue Helmet wearing the Pakistani flag, “It was a hard decision to leave my two-year-old son behind, but once | saw Congolese children striving for a better future, | decided to work for them’ she shared in an online post. Now “I see the smile of my son in the smiles of Congolese children." Her husband also served in the DRC as a peacekeeper. "He gave me the Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | UPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com UN INTERNATIONAL DAY 10 strength to join the mission, as it was not easy for my family and friends to accept it.” In 2019, she was awarded the UN Special Representative for Secretary-General (SRSG) Certificate of the Year. Why is it important to have women peacekeepers? Major Samia encouraged more women to participate in peacekeeping, as they serve as a role model in local communities facing violence. Women only represent 6 percent of the UN's uniformed military, police, justice, and correction personnel. “Being a woman, a female peacekeeper, | deeply understand the suffering of Congolese women and children" she says, adding that “working in a peacekeeping mission is one of the best experiences I have ever had.” Major Fozia Perveen, the first Pakistani officer to serve as a peacekeeper in Cyprus, says that women can play a key role in peace-building efforts. Sharing her personal experience in an interview, she said “locals, particularly women, are more open to engagement if the officer dealing with them is a woman." She hailed the fact that women hold key leadership positions in UN mission in Cyprus. For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com Monthly HSM CSS Times ADB Forecasts Pakistan's GDP Growth Rate The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on April 29, 2021 forecast Pakistan's GDP would grow by two per cent during the current year subject to successful vaccine rollout and implementation of stabilisation measures. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected the growth rate of Pakistan's economy, in its latest flagship Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2021. For the financial year 2021-22, the GDP growth rate is estimated at 2 percent: However, the economic outlook is subject to downside risks, depending on persistent containment measures and success in achieving the vaccination target of 70pc of the eligible population by the end of December 2021. The ADB's forecast is closer to 1.3pc growth forecast by the World Bank and 1.5pc by the Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | PAKISTAN AFFAIRS {o) 1.1 per cont {b) 1.5 per cent (c) 2.0 per com (d) 1-2 per cent answer: (2 IMF when compared to 2.9pc and 3pc growth estimates by the Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Pakistan, respectively. It said inflation would be down to 8.7pc this year against 10.7pc last fiscal year. It said the real GDP reversed growth at 1.9pc in FY2019 to contract by 0.4pc in FY2020 as economic activity was depressed by Covid-19 containment measures and earlier economic stabilisation efforts initiated before the pandemic. "The downturn was worsened by currency depreciation and fiscal tightening.” The Manila-based lending agency forecast that the South Asian region would post a 9.5pc growth this year, led by 11pc in India and 13pc in Maldives. Bangladesh's economy would grow by 6.8pc, while Afghanistan and Nepal would see about 3pc GDP growth rate and Sri Lanka 4.1pc. Bhutan economy would For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comAccording to FPSC Revised, syllabi enirvesn ssc Wraita) ee ee baa ees Ua h iri Ce chan e c Ei canal \CcQs Wee ee ona iN ine: www.hsmpublishers.comMonthly HSM CSS Times be contract by 3.4pc. Economic power house China is forecast to grow by 8.1pc this year. The ADB said Pakistan's agriculture was forecast to see slower growth, mainly because of a sharply lower cotton harvest following heavy rains, pest attacks and continued contraction in cultivated area. Other major crops, notably rice, sugarcane and maize, look set to exceed output in FY2021 after the government subsidised agricultural inputs and bank credit Industry and services already show signs of recovery in FY2021 with fiscal incentives granted to key construction and export industries and subsidised credit offered to protect employment and stimulate growth. Industry appears poised for robust growth led by manufacturing and construction. Large-scale manufacturing, which accounts for aver half of the industry sector, reversed contraction by 3.2pc in the first seven months of FY2020 to expand by 7.9pc during the same period of FY2021. Support in FY2021 came from strong growth in businesses allied with construction and from the food- processing industry, amply supplied with substantial imports of un-milled wheat and by higher sugarcane output. Services are expected to rebound as retail and trade pick up, and as schools and nonessential services reopen Despite low interest rates and, early in the fiscal year, further electricity tariff adjustments and food supply interruptions, headline inflation is projected to slow to UPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com PAKISTAN AFFAIRS 13 8.7pc in FY2021. This partly reflects government subsidies for wheat and sugar imports, its careful monitoring of prices for essential commodities and improved food supply later in the fiscal year. The central bank has kept its policy rate at 7pc to support economic recovery. This accommodative stance is made possible by lower inflation expectations and a stable exchange rate. Growth in private sector credit picked up in the first half of FY2021, led mainly by construction, wholesale and retail trade and consumer spending, Growth reflected lower borrowing costs, subsidised credit schemes and tax concessions for construction. With fiscal consolidation expected to resume and the government likely to continue its policy of not borrowing from the central bank, inflation is projected to slide to 7.5pc in FY2022. Assuming that stabilisation efforts are sustained and economic recovery is timely, public debt is expected to fall as a percentage of GDP. The current account deficit is expected to narrow slightly to the equivalent of 1pc of GDP in FY2021 with support from robust remittances. The current account deficit is projected to widen again in FY2022 to equal Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com Monthly HSM CSS Times PAKISTAN AFFAIRS May 2021. 2pc of GDP on robust growth in imports as___In general, SMEs lack a supportive public recovery strengthens and a surge in sector, skilled labour, trade capacity, and remittances tapers. access to finance. Only 21pc of adults and The pandemic has highlighted that Pakistan {peat eee en pees. In Bell needs to address the challenges ofits private _ Ber tesh Yor anole, Lope of adults and sector in particular theiprevelence:of SMEs 36pc of women have bank accounts. Credit is (small and medium enterprises) that operate 3 crucial challenge as commercial banks do informally. An estimated 3.3 million SMEs in hot prioritise lending to SMEs, preferring to Pakistan engage some 40,million households _jend instead to the public sector or to large, in entrepreneurial activity. SMEs operate low-risk enterprises, across the economy, including agriculture ss and livestock, trade and manufacturing, and services. SMEs provide at least 30pc of GDP, employ 80pc of non-farm labour and produce a significant percentage of exports. However, their contribution to GDP is smaller than in other low-income countries, where it reaches up to 6Ope. The low economic share of SMEs reflects their low value addition in a challenging macroeconomic environment with scarce credit, high inflation, an unstable currency and inadequate infrastructure. These constraints hamper SME efforts to take full advantage of Pakistan's open economy and increasingly accessible world markets. Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com WORLD REPO! i. | HUMAN RIGHTS PAOPAy) Human Rights Released by the U.S. State Department. The report, which is submitted each year to the US. Congress, is retrospective and contains a country-wise discussion of the state of human rights. The US State Department's annual report on human rights identified unlawful, arbitrary and extrajudicial killings and disappearances as major issues in both India and Pakistan. Key Findings: 1. The report — which covers incidents reported in 2020 — highlighted 32 extrajudicial killings in the first half of 2020 in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The statistics include the deaths of 63 civilians, 89 security force members, and 284 insurgents across India as a result of insurgency attacks. 2. According to this report, torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment were common in both India and Pakistan. 3. The chapter on Pakistan mentioned “threats of violence, or unjustified arrests or prosecutions against journalists, use of criminal libel laws to prosecute social media speech and censorship, and site blocking.” THE human rights situation in Pakistan, almost predictably bleak every year, was deeply impacted in 2020 by an unprecedented factor — the Covid-19 pandemic. While the contagion has affected all segments of society, it has exacerbated existing socioeconomic inequalities. No ‘great equaliser’, this global crisis has dealt a cruel blow to already disadvantaged sections of society. The recently launched annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan takes into account the ways in which the pandemic led to many of the gains in health and education of the previous decades being rolled back as the economy tanked and people — especially factory workers and private employees — lost their jobs. People suffering from health conditions other than Covid-19 found it difficult to access medical help; and tens of millions of children missed both polio and routine immunisations last year. The nationwide lockdown in March 2020, though necessary, led to widespread misery among daily-wage labourers and the poorest households. However, the HRCP report notes that the government's provision of monetary relief through the Ehsaas and BISP Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com HUMAN RIGHTS rm programmes mitigated its effects for a remained a blot on this country's reputation, number of people. The closure of schools and —_ and the government appeared no closer to the extremely patchy switchover to online criminalising the act of ‘disappearing’ people. education left a vast swathe of children In fact, two major national human rights unable to continue classes due to absent or institutions have been without chairpersons unreliable internet coverage. This loss of an ince 2019, whict Si bout th entire school year will have long-term A Be ee Ue OnS eee consequences for literacy levels, especially centre's commitment to protecting citizens where girls’ education is concerned. rights. The picture is not a heartening one. Meanwhile, the pandemic — with ‘work from home' directives and curtailed freedom of movement — also threw together victims and perpetrators of domestic violence and sexual abuse in close proximity for extended periods of time, leading to a spike in these crimes. Crammed into overcrowded prisons that are ripe for the spread of disease, prisoners got no relief from the highest court in the land that stayed high court orders to release some of them on a conditional and temporary basis. At least, far fewer convicts were awarded the death penalty last year — down to 177 from 158 in 2019 — and no execution was carried out. In major respects, Pakistan continues to run counter to international conventions. Enforced disappearances Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.commale Fee Best Compilatio ana ae MODEL PAPERS For General Ability MCQs Test eee Pakistan Studies eres Cet ee ens eC emo 2005-2020 Mathematics eis Bre rey . = has bir Street, Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Pakistan “ contact@ilmikitabkhana.com 37353510 - 37248129 - 37171280-1 www.hsmpublishers.com Follow, like and love us on eee) esa rsUPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com SS Times On 26 April 2021, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released its 2020 report on Military spending trend in the world. Total global military expenditure rose to $1981 billion last year, an increase of 2.6 per cent in real terms from 2019 The five biggest spenders in 2020, which together accounted for 62 per cent of global military expenditure, were the United States, China, India, Russia and the United Kingdom. Military spending by China grew for the 26th consecutive year. About Pakistan, the Sipri report said its military expenditure had gone up by 70 per cent during the 2010-19 decade to reach $10.3bn. In terms of GDP, the military budget rose from 3.4 per cent in 2010 to four per cent last year. Six of the 10 countries with a spending of four per cent or more are in the Middle East. Oman spent 8.8pc of GDP on the military — the highest in the world. Close on its heels was Saudi Arabia with eight percent, Kuwait INTERNATIONAL RELA TIONS 18 ton which Pn f 9 east military spencer is the ce mond? Spending 2020 io) USA by Chino a saudi Arabic (d) Russio answer: (0) per cent) and Lebanon (4.2 per cent) The other four are Pakistan (4pc), Algeria (6po), Armenia (4.9pc) and Azerbaijan (4pc). Military expenditure increases in the first year of the pandemic The 2.6 per cent increase in world military spending came in a year when global gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 4.4 per cent (October 2020 projection by the International Monetary Fund), largely due to the econor pacts of the Covid-19 (5.6 per cent), Israel (5.3 per cent), Jordan (4.7 pandemic As a result, military spending as a Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.comMonthly HSM CSS Times May 2021 share of GDP—the n military burden—reached a global’ average of 2.4 per cent in 2020, up from 2.2 per cent in 2019. This was the piagest year-on-year rise in the military burden since the global financial and economic crisis in 2009. Even though military spending rose globally, some countries explicitly reallocated part of their planned military spending to pandemic response, such as Chile and South Korea. Several others, including Brazil and Russia, UPLOADED BY HSM PUBLISHERS www.hsmpublishers.com INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 19. spent considerably less than their initial military budgets for 2020. ‘We can say with some certainty that the pandemic did not have a significant impact on global military spending in 2020,' said Dr Diego Lopes da Silva, Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. ‘It remains to be seen whether countries will maintain this level of military spending through a second year of the pandemi World military spending Global military expenditure saw its biggest uptick in a decade in 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute > Combined global total $1.9 trillion, > Five biggest spenders accounted for» Top 15 account for 81% representing a 3.6% growth on 2018 ‘over 62% of global military spending Top two spenders Inthe top 10 In the top 15, UNITED STATES FRANCE eran , billions, 2019 ofGop__ €=% change from 2018 Source SPR Trends in World Miitory Exp Monthly HSM CSS Times (E Magazine) | May 2021 | For Free Download: www.hsmpublishers.com