Day by Day Current Affairs (March 23, 2020) MCQs for CSS, PMS

WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2019 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS. “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

March 23, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Sindh, GB opt for lockdown over virus threat

• The authorities have imposed a lockdown in Sindh for 15 days and in Gilgit-Baltistan for an indefinite period from March 22, 2020 midnight to contain the spread of coronavirus epidemic.
• The decision to lock down Sindh, disallowing people to venture out of their homes `without a valid reason`, was announced by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah after he held meetings with government officials and representatives of opposition parties in the provincial assembly.
• In his video message and a press statement released from the CM House, Mr Shah said the lockdown had been imposed after consultation with all political parties, within and without parliament, Ulema and people from different walks of life

2. Two more provinces seek army`s help to fight virus

• As the coronavirus death toll rose to six on March 22, 2020 with 799 confirmed cases across the country, the Punjab and Balochistan governments have requisitioned Pakistan Army`s assistance to ramp up civil administration`s efforts against the spread of the pandemic.
• The Gilgit-Baltistan government confirmed to Dawn that Dr Usama Riaz, 29, lost his life while fighting coronavirus. He had been screening people entering Gilgit Baltistan at the Juglote centre when he contracted the disease. He was put on a ventilator in the district headquarters hospital on Friday.
• Similarly, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in an official statement confirmed the death of a woman belonging to Parachinar

3. WB to provide $200m for emergency project to combat virus outbreak

• The executive board of the World Bank is scheduled to approve on March 22, 2020 $200 million for an emergency project in Pakistan to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and strengthen national systems for public health preparedness.
• The project will address critical country-level needs to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by coronavirus, and it will support strengthening the country`s national health systems for public health preparedness, and includes mitigation measures in social protection and education to help the poor and vulnerable cope with the immediate impact of the outbreak.

4. Rescue 1122 opens office in Mansehra

• The Rescue 1122 has established its secretariat in Mansehra district, and will start its operations as soon as the office is equipped with telephone lines and other required facilities.
• “The secretariat has been set up at the district council with induction of over 60 trained staff,” Amir Khadam, a spokesperson of the rescue service. He said 40 more employees would be induced within a couple of days.
• He said relief and rescue services would formally be launched next week. Mr Khadam said the rescue service would have launched the operations quite early, but the coronavirus outbreak in the country had delayed the launch.

5. PU develops anti-bacterial, sanitisers

• The Punjab University’s chemical engineers have developed anti-bacterial disposable wipes and sanitizers as per the WHO guidelines, which would help protect people from coronavirus.
• In this regard, PU Vice Chancellor Prof Niaz Ahmad addressed a press briefing here on March 22, 2020, along with Department of Polymer Engineering and Technology’s Associate Professors Dr Bilal Haider, Dr Atif Islam, Assistant Professor Dr Areeba Farooq, student volunteers including Hamza Javed, Musa Raza, Rahat Rashid, Hafiz Abdullah, Muhammad Asad and Musa Raza at the Institute of Chemical Engineering and Technology.

6. Gaza confirms first two Covid-19 cases linked to Pakistan

• Authorities in Gaza on March 22, 2020 confirmed the first two cases of novel coronavirus, identifying them as Palestinians who had travelled to Pakistan and were being held in quarantine since their return.
• The United Nations has warned that a Covid-19 outbreak in Gaza could be disastrous, given the high poverty rates and weak health system in the coastal strip under Israeli blockade since 2007.
• Following the confirmed cases, a World Health Organisation (WHO) delegation arrived in Gaza to assess the situation, a Palestinian security source said.

7. US becomes third worst affected country

• The United States now has the third highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases after China and Italy, as the global infection figures surpassed the 300,000 mark on March 22, 2020.
• Statistics collected by various monitoring agencies in Washington showed that by Sunday afternoon, the United States had a total of 38,138 confirmed cases, including 13,931 new ones.
• Total critical cases also rose to 708 while 396 people have already died of this fatal respiratory disease, including 94 new deaths.
• Globally, coronavirus had infected 319,675 by Sunday afternoon and caused 13,699 deaths.

8. Kabul, Taliban hold first prisoner exchange talks

• The Afghan government and the Taliban held their first discussion about arranging prisoner exchanges on March 22, 2020, the US special envoy for the country said on Twitter.
• `Today, the US and Qatar facilitated the first Afghan government to Taliban technical talks on prisoner releases, via Skype video conferencing,` Zalmay Khalilzad said.
• He had said on Wednesday that it was `urgent` to quickly conclude plans for such exchanges -as called for in a historic US pact with the Taliban -as the coronavirus pandemic was complicating diplomatic contacts

9. Merkel in quarantine after meeting infected doctor

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel will quarantine herself at home after being treated by a doctor who has since tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
• `The Chancellor has decided to quarantine herself immediately at home. She will be tested regularly in the coming days (and) fulfil her official business from home,` Steffen Seibert said in a statement.
• The doctor had visited Merkel on Friday to vaccinate her against the pneumococcus bacteria.
• It could take some time to determine whether the chancellor is herself infected as `a test would not yet be fully conclusive, Seibert said.

10. Music icon Kenny Rogers dies of natural causes, aged 81

• Country music legend Kenny Rogers, whose career spanned six decades, has died at the age of 81.
• “Rogers passed away peacefully at home from natural causes under the care of hospice and surrounded by his family,” they said in a statement.
• The family said they were planning a small private service “out of concern for the national COVID-19 emergency.”

Check our daily updated ‘s Complete Day by Day Current Affairs Notes

March 2020:
[catlist name=”March 2020″]

February 2020:
[catlist name=”February 2020″]

January 2020:
[catlist name=”January 2020″]

December 2019:
[catlist name=”December 2019″]

November 2019:
[catlist name=”November 2019″]