Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs/News (April 15, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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April 15 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Lockdown eased, extended for two weeks

• The government has extended the prevailing lockdown for another two weeks with some essential industries being allowed to reopen.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan announced the decision in his televised address to the nation on April 14, 2020 after chairing a National Coordination Committee (NCC) meeting, which was attended by the chief ministers of all provinces.
• The decision by the government to open certain workplaces came on the day when the death toll from Covid-19 touched 100.

2. Pakistan becomes 40th country with 100 Covid-19 deaths

• Pakistan has become the 40th country where 100 or more people have died of the novel coronavirus and the national tally of Covid-19 cases is moving towards 6,000.
• Moreover, the federal government on April 14, 2020 claimed that predictive estimates showed that Covid-19 cases in Sindh were more than expectations, while Punjab performed better in terms of combating the deadly virus.
• The federal capital reported its second death on Monday night when a Covid-19 patient died at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS),but again a controversy arose whether the death should be placed in the list for Punjab or Islamabad. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said at a media briefing that though Sindh announced restrictions/lockdown earlier and Punjab took the step later, the latter`s performance was better than the former.

3. IMF sees negative 1.5pc growth in Pakistan this year

• The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on April 14, 2020 projected economic recession for Pakistan following the coronavirus-related `The Great Lockdown` that would sharply contract the global economy this year.
• The fund projected Pakistan`s economy to shrink by 1.5pc during this fiscal year, compared to 3.3pc growth in 2018-19. These estimates are generally comparable with 1.3pc decline in the country`s economic output forecast by the World Bank on Sunday.
• `As a result of the pandemic, the global economy is projected to contract sharply by 3pc in 2020, much worse than during the 2008-09 financial crisis,` said the IMF in its annual flagship World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on April 14, 2020.

4. Senior minister Abdul Aleem Khan has given the portfolio of food

• Newly-inducted Abdul Aleem Khan on April 14, 2020 was restored to his `status of senior minister` and given the portfolio of food.
• A notification to the effect was issued here on April 14, 2020.
• According to insiders, the major demand of Mr Khan was senior minister`s portfolio, which entitles him to occupy a part of Chief Minister Secretariat (90-Shahrah-i-Quaid-iAzam) and operate from there.
• `He may be given other portfolios in coming weeks,` says an insider.
• Meanwhile, Abdul Aleem Khan presided over the first briefing of the food department and directed that the target of 4.5 million ton wheat procurement should be met in any case.
• He said that there should be no restriction on the inter-district transportation of wheat while the smuggling of the commodity should be stopped at all costs by sealing all provincial borders

5. Law ready to punish hoarders

• The Ministry of Law and Justice on April 14, 2020 finalised the draft of a presidential ordinance envisaging exemplary punishment for profiteers and hoarders creating artificial shortage of essential items during the ongoing emergency like situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the task to Law Minister Farogh Naseem for the purpose.
• Although the punishment for profiteering and hoarding will be the same three years as envisaged under the `Price Control and Prevention of Profiteering and Hoarding Act 1977`, a law ministry official said the draft law had simplified the procedure to make arrests as well as confiscation of the hoarded commodities easy.

6. Climate change ministry takes over management of Islamabad zoo

• The government on April 14, 2020 made the Ministry of Climate Change responsible for Marghazar Zoo.
• The zoo was previously the responsibility of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad, which is under the Ministry of Interior, but the climate change ministry has spent the last year and a half trying to convince the government it could manage the facility better.
• Last February, State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul told a parliamentary body that the zoo was in terrible condition, and exotic animals kept there were dying for want of trained caretakers and handlers

7. Danish govt weighs early easing of curbs

• The Danish government plans to reopen society more quickly than anticipated as the number of coronavirus-related hospitalisations continues to fall, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on April 14, 2020.
• As a first step in a gradual relaxation of a month-long lockdown, Denmark will on Wednesday reopen day care centres and schools for children in first to fifth grade.
• But the government has faced some criticism for keeping many small businesses such as restaurants, cafes and hair dressers shut.

8. S. Arabia resumes talks with Houthis as truce falters

• Saudi Arabia has resumed indirect talks with Yemen`s Houthi movement to cement a faltering ceasefire, sources familiar with the discussions said, as the United Nations pushes for a de-escalation to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak.
• The Iran-aligned Houthis have yet to accept the nationwide truce prompted by the pandemic and announced by the Saudi-led coalition last week, and violence has continued on several frontlines.
• The ceasefire was meant to take effect on Thursday, a day before Yemen recorded its first infection of the virus.

9. Motorcycles banned in Kabul

• Authorities in Kabul have decided to ban motorcycles and scooters in the Afghan capital in a bid to control rampant crime and stop assailants on two-wheelers from conducting targeted killings.
• The ban, which takes effect on April 15, 2020, comes after a string of assaults by armed men on motorcycles.
• Delivery riders, who are in high demand amid Kabul`s coronavirus lockdown, will be exempted.
• `Most of the crimes in the city, including targeted killings, are carried out using motorbikes,` an interior ministry spokesman said.

10. Tour de France called off; organisers working on new start date

• Tour de France organisers are working feverishly in the shadows to find a new start date for cycling`s biggest stage race after public gatherings were banned until mid-July in the latest extension of the French coronavirus lockdown.
• Originally slated to start from Nice on June 27 with a caravan of around 4,500 people and arrive in Paris on July 19, there is no chance the event can go ahead as planned and organisers face a mammoth logistical task of rescheduling.
• So far organisers Amoury Sports Organisation (ASO) have remained silent publicly, but several mayors of the French towns along the planned route say they have been consulted on the matter of the new date.

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