Current Affairs — Chapter 3

Standing Files — Pakistan’s Office-Holders, World Leaders & Organisation Heads

Why this chapter matters: Every one-paper paper asks “who is” questions — who is the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice, the Army Chief, the UN Secretary-General, the IMF chief — and the answers change. That is why this chapter is a standing file, not a month file: it is the one place in the notes where the current holders live, it is dated, and it is updated whenever a holder changes rather than once a month. Learn it as three tables — Pakistan, the world, the organisations — and check the date line before you revise: last verified 1 November 2026. Anything that changed after that date is recorded in the next month file’s opening correction note, and then corrected here. The three taxonomy sub-topics are Pakistan’s office-holders, world leaders, and organisations’ heads.

How to use a standing file: read the Pakistan table first — it carries the most marks per line in PPSC papers — then the world table, then the organisations table. The rapid-fire section compresses all three tables into one-line facts for last-night revision. Where a title changed recently enough that older papers still print the old holder (the Army Chief’s Field Marshal rank, the Bangladesh premiership, the NATO Secretary-General), the Traps section resolves it to the current standard answer.

1. Pakistan’s office-holders

Federal government

• The federal government is the coalition formed after the February 2024 general elections, led by the PML-N with PPP, MQM-P and others — the same government whose October 2026 business (the 13 October parliamentary sessions, the Maldives state visit of 20–22 October) is recorded in the Pakistan October file.
• President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met at the Presidency on 10 October 2026 to discuss the political and security situation, with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Attorney-General Mansoor Usman Awan and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar in attendance — the meeting that fixed the 13 October sessions of both Houses.

Judiciary

• Justice Yahya Afridi is the substantive Chief Justice. His foreign visits in October 2026 — the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan (14–21 October and 27 October – 4 November) — are why Justice Munib Akhtar, the Senior Puisne Judge, took oath as Acting Chief Justice on 28 October 2026, the oath administered by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar. Papers that ask “who is the Chief Justice” want Yahya Afridi; Munib Akhtar is the answer only to a question about the acting charge in late October 2026.
• The Federal Constitutional Court is the post-27th-Amendment court whose Chief Justice is Aminuddin Khan; he travelled to Azerbaijan on 19–22 October 2026 for the TÜRK-AY conference of constitutional courts.

Services chiefs

• Field Marshal Asim Munir holds two titles at once: Chief of Army Staff, and — since 2025 — Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), the head of the Pakistan Armed Forces as a whole. Older papers print only “General Asim Munir, COAS”; the current full style is Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, COAS & CDF. His October 2026 engagements include the Maldives state-visit meetings of 20–22 October and a visit to Tehran on 20 October, where he met President Masoud Pezeshkian.
• The Chief of Defence Forces point is the trap: the CJCSC (General Sahir Shamshad Mirza) remains a separate office, but the CDF role now sits with the COAS.

State Bank & economy

• Jameel Ahmad is the Governor who raised the policy rate on 26 October 2026 (from 11.5%, where it had stood since 28 April 2026) and who reported FY26 growth at 3.4% (PBS) to 3.7% (SBP projection), reserves of $18.4 billion at end-FY26 and remittances near $41.5 billion in FY26 — all recorded in the Pakistan October file.

Provincial governments

• The KP pair is the one that changed most recently before this file: Faisal Karim Kundi announced the Rs 160 billion KP package publicly on 24 October 2026 after the Apex Committee meeting in Peshawar on 22 October (see the Pakistan October file). The four Chief Ministers above are the answers papers ask for; the Governors are asked less often, but the Punjab and Sindh Governors appear in appointment questions.

2. World leaders

Neighbours & the region

• Bangladesh is the recent change: the February 2026 general election returned Tarique Rahman as Prime Minister; he took office on 17 February 2026, and by late October 2026 was on his third overseas visit — the Tokyo summit with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on 27 October, following the February 2026 Bangladesh–Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. Older papers and older capsules print the interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus; the current answer is Tarique Rahman.
• Nepal is the other recent change: Sushila Karki led the interim government installed after the September 2025 protests, and Balendra (Balen) Shah succeeded her as Prime Minister on 27 March 2026. Papers still catching up may print Karki — she was interim only; the current answer is Shah.

The major powers & Europe

• Japan: Sanae Takaichi is the Prime Minister who welcomed Tarique Rahman at the Kantei on 27 October 2026 and hosted the Bangladesh–Japan summit that day.
• Canada: Mark Carney is the Prime Minister who represented Canada at the EU–Canada Summit in Montreal on 29–30 October 2026, opposite European Council President António Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
• Germany: Friedrich Merz has been Chancellor since May 2025; France: Sébastien Lecornu is the Prime Minister in the Macron presidency’s current government.
• United States: Donald Trump is the President whose October 2025 Gaza ceasefire took effect on 11 October 2025, whose TRIPP agreement Armenia approved on 28 October 2026, and whose Board of Peace the US State Department cited on 13 October 2026 (see the World October file).

3. Organisations’ heads

• Revision 2 November 2026 (monthly close-out): the G-24 chair row above was added per the November Pakistan file’s standing-file flag B3 (Pakistan file A69: Pakistan assumed the G-24 chairmanship on 1 November 2026, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb as chairman, three priorities, outgoing chair Nigeria — Dawn, 1 November 2026). All other holders in this table are unchanged from the 1 November 2026 verification; the SMPRA succession flag (November Pakistan file B2) is still unconfirmed and no SMPRA row is added.

• The October 2026 cross-check for this table is the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok (12–18 October 2026), where Georgieva and Banga jointly led the proceedings, Lagarde represented the ECB, Okonjo-Iweala the WTO and Cormann the OECD — all four names confirmed in the meetings’ own reporting (see the World October file).

• Khalilur Rahman is the trap name in this table: he is Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister and the President of the 81st UN General Assembly session (September 2026 – September 2027). His election to the Assembly presidency was congratulated by Prime Minister Takaichi at the 27 October Tokyo summit.

• António Costa appears twice in students’ confusion and must not be merged: he is the European Council President (the EU’s summit chair, at Montreal on 29–30 October), while António Guterres is the UN Secretary-General. Same first name, different organisation — papers test exactly this.

Master table — the whole file on one page

Rapid-fire one-liners

• Pakistan’s President is Asif Ali Zardari; its Prime Minister is Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
• Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister is Ishaq Dar.
• The Senate Chairman is Yousuf Raza Gilani; the National Assembly Speaker is Ayaz Sadiq.
• The Chief Justice of Pakistan is Yahya Afridi; the Federal Constitutional Court’s Chief Justice is Aminuddin Khan.
• The Army Chief is Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, who is also Chief of Defence Forces; the CJCSC is Sahir Shamshad Mirza; the Naval Chief is Naveed Ashraf.
• The State Bank Governor is Jameel Ahmad.
• Punjab’s Chief Minister is Maryam Nawaz; Sindh’s is Murad Ali Shah; KP’s is Sohail Afridi (non-functional — see provincial table); Balochistan’s is Sarfraz Bugti.
• China’s President is Xi Jinping; India’s Prime Minister is Narendra Modi; Bangladesh’s Prime Minister is Tarique Rahman (since 17 February 2026).
• The US President is Donald Trump; the UK Prime Minister is Keir Starmer; Canada’s Prime Minister is Mark Carney.
• Russia’s President is Vladimir Putin; Ukraine’s President is Volodymyr Zelenskyy; Japan’s Prime Minister is Sanae Takaichi.
• The UN Secretary-General is António Guterres; the IMF Managing Director is Kristalina Georgieva; the World Bank President is Ajay Banga.
• The WTO Director-General is Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the NATO Secretary-General is Mark Rutte; the OIC Secretary-General is Hissein Brahim Taha.
• The European Commission President is Ursula von der Leyen; the European Council President is António Costa — not the UN Secretary-General.

Most-asked facts

Papers ask office-holders in three fixed patterns, and this file is built for all three: (1) “Who is the X?” — the tables above are the answers; (2) “Who is the first / current holder of a new office?” — the Federal Constitutional Court’s Aminuddin Khan and the CDF title of Field Marshal Munir are the current examples; (3) “Who changed most recently?” — Bangladesh’s Tarique Rahman (February 2026) and Nepal’s Balendra Shah (March 2026, succeeding interim premier Sushila Karki) are the current examples, and the acting-CJP charge of Munib Akhtar (late October 2026) is the current Pakistan example. The standing bank behind the practice block (2,814 items) is dominated by the same three patterns from earlier cycles — which is why the file’s discipline is a date line and an update rule, not a longer list: a stale holder is a wrong answer, and a wrong holder in a standing file poisons every month that reuses it.

Traps & confusions

• General vs Field Marshal: older papers and older capsules print “General Asim Munir”. The current style is Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir. If a paper’s options offer only “General Asim Munir”, that is the same person — pick the name, not the rank.
• CJP vs Acting CJP: Yahya Afridi is the Chief Justice. Munib Akhtar held the acting charge only while Afridi was abroad (27 October – 4 November 2026). A question dated outside that window wants Afridi.
• Two Antónios: António Guterres = UN Secretary-General; António Costa = European Council President. Papers pair them deliberately.
• Bangladesh, old vs new: Muhammad Yunus was the interim Chief Adviser (2024–2026). The elected Prime Minister since 17 February 2026 is Tarique Rahman. A question asking for the current Prime Minister wants Rahman; a question about the interim government wants Yunus.
• Khalilur Rahman vs Tarique Rahman: Khalilur Rahman is Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister and the 81st UN General Assembly President — not the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is Tarique Rahman.
• Yahya Afridi vs the Constitutional Court: Afridi heads the Supreme Court; Aminuddin Khan heads the Federal Constitutional Court. They are different courts, and October 2026’s presidential leave approvals covered both men separately.
• COAS vs CJCSC vs CDF: the COAS (Munir) commands the Army and, since 2025, holds the CDF role over all three services; the CJCSC (Mirza) chairs the Joint Chiefs committee. They are not the same office.
• Gilani, two spellings: the Senate Chairman’s name is printed both “Yousuf” and “Yousaf” in Pakistani press. The chapter uses Yousuf Raza Gilani; options spelling it “Yousaf” name the same man.

Memory tricks

• Pakistan’s top four, one line: “Zardari presides, Shehbaz governs, Gilani chairs the Senate, Ayaz speaks for the Assembly.” President → Prime Minister → Senate → Assembly, in constitutional order.
• The services trio: “Munir commands, Mirza coordinates, Ashraf sails” — Army (Munir), Joint Chiefs chair (Mirza), Navy (Ashraf).
• The money trio: “Georgieva lends, Banga builds, Jameel steadies” — IMF (Georgieva), World Bank (Banga), State Bank (Jameel Ahmad).
• The two Antónios: “Guterres guards the globe, Costa chairs the Council” — UN vs European Council.
• The new premier: “Tarique took over in February Twenty-Six” — Bangladesh, 17 February 2026, the rhyme carrying the year.
• The October acting charge: “Munib minds the court while Afridi is away” — the late-October 2026 acting CJP, tied to Afridi’s South Korea visit.

Visuals

• Infographic — “Pakistan’s power map” (placement: after Section 1): a single diagram with four branches from the Constitution — Head of State (President Zardari), Head of Government (PM Shehbaz Sharif, DPM Dar), Parliament (Senate Chairman Gilani, NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq), Judiciary (CJP Afridi, FCC CJ Aminuddin Khan) — with the services chiefs (COAS & CDF Munir, CJCSC Mirza, CNS Ashraf) and the SBP Governor (Jameel Ahmad) as a side panel. Each box carries name + office only; no portraits.
• Map — “World leaders at a glance” (placement: after Section 2): a world map with the Section 2 countries labelled by their head of government (Trump, Starmer, Carney, Macron, Merz, Putin, Xi, Modi, Tarique Rahman, Pezeshkian, Erdoğan, Takaichi), so the region tables can be revised geographically.
• Table-card — “Organisation heads” (placement: after Section 3): the Section 3 table rendered as a card grid, one card per organisation with its acronym, its head’s name, and the head’s since-date where the chapter gives one (Taha 2021, Rutte 2024, Botchwey 2025, Kanda 2025).

Practice this topic

Practice query: subject=current-affairs + topic tags of Current Affairs Topic 3 (standing files — office-holders, world leaders, organisation heads). Bank count: 3,512 standing current-affairs practice items — IBES Capsule 1 (Current Affairs, 3rd Edition) bank of ~775 MCQs as catalogued in files/ibes-capsules/01-current-affairs.md, plus 27 CA-tagged items in the verified PPSC/FPSC paper banks (re-run 31 October 2026: 199 files, 24,641 questions, counting script hidden_files/goldmine-notes-count-ca02.py), plus 2,710 questions in the gk360 monthly CA bank (22 files, Jan 2025–Oct 2026, files/current-affairs-bank/; count = all questions in the files, recomputed by script 2 November 2026 — the Jun–Oct 2026 files were added 1 November 2026 from Anas’s PACE monthly PDFs, 698 published, 2 dropped, see hidden_files/ca-bank-conversion-note-2026-11-01.md). The holders in this chapter are current as at 30 October 2026 and are not yet in any past-paper bank: the site serves the standing bank for practice, and this chapter is the revision source for the holders themselves until they enter the banks. How this file stays current: it is a standing file, updated on change. When any holder in Sections 1–3 changes, the next month file records the change in its opening correction note, and this file is then corrected to the new holder with a new “last verified” date. A student revising from it should always check the date line at the top of this section.

Update — 31 October 2026 (October monthly close-out): the two B1 qualifications recorded in the November files’ opening correction notes are applied here — the KP Chief Minister row is qualified (removed by the 11 October proclamation; retained as party CM by PTI, 29 October) and the ECB President row is qualified (Lagarde to step down 7 February 2027; successor to be selected) — and the practice pool is recomputed to 2,814 (see bank count). Holders otherwise remain as verified 30 October 2026.

Update — 2 November 2026 (November monthly close-out): the G-24 chair row is added per the November Pakistan file’s standing-file flag B3 (Pakistan / Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, assumed 1 November 2026, succeeding Nigeria); the practice pool is recomputed to 3,512 (22 CA bank files, 2,710 questions — the Jun–Oct 2026 PACE conversion of 1 November 2026 now counted). The SMPRA succession flag (November Pakistan file B2) is still unconfirmed, so no SMPRA row is added. Holders otherwise remain as verified 1 November 2026.

Previous: World — October 2026 Month File · Next: Pakistan — November 2026 Month File

Sources & footer: Pakistan holders verified against October 2026 reporting — The Nation, 10 October 2026 (President–PM meeting, with Dar, Naqvi, Awan, Tarar, Cheema named); Maldives Voice / IRNA, 20–22 October 2026 (Field Marshal Asim Munir, COAS & CDF, and the Muizzu state visit); Dunya News / Law Today, 28 October 2026 (Munib Akhtar’s acting-CJP oath during Yahya Afridi’s South Korea visit, 27 October – 4 November); The Truth International, 13 October 2026 (Afridi’s and Aminuddin Khan’s foreign visits); UrduPoint, 1 October 2026 (Gilani–Ayaz Sadiq meeting); UrduPoint, 3 July 2026 (SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad); Business Recorder, 9 August 2026 (Gilani–Sadiq–Shah coordination). World and organisation holders verified against October 2026 reporting — the Bangkok IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings coverage, 12–18 October 2026 (Georgieva, Banga, Lagarde, Okonjo-Iweala, Cormann); the Tokyo summit reporting, 27 October 2026 (Tarique Rahman, in office since 17 February 2026; Sanae Takaichi; Khalilur Rahman as 81st UNGA President); the Montreal EU–Canada Summit, 29–30 October 2026 (Carney, Costa, von der Leyen); the World October file’s own verified sections (Guterres, Trump, Zelenskyy, Putin, Erdoğan, Xi, Pezeshkian). Organisation since-dates (Taha November 2021, Rutte October 2024, Botchwey April 2025, Kanda February 2025) follow the GK-03 International Organisations chapter’s verified table. Standing-file rule: this file’s holders are dated 30 October 2026; later changes belong in the next month file’s opening correction note and then in a corrected edition of this file — never as a silent edit.