Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (June 12, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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June 12, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Rs1.15 trillion taxes exempted

• The government has given massive tax exemptions worth Rs1.15 trillion in ongoing fiscal year, which are 18.26 percent higher than the exemptions given last year.
• Pakistan’s tax expenditures in the form of exemptions have been recorded at Rs1,149.95 billion during the ongoing financial year 2019-2020 as against Rs972.4 billion of the previous fiscal year 2018-19, showing an increase of over 18.26 percent, the latest Economic Survey showed.
• The government has given massive tax exemptions at the time when Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is continuously failing to achieve its targets. The FBR is all set to miss the annual tax collection target of Rs5.55 trillion by Rs1.647 trillion during ongoing financial year. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) tax collection would record at Rs3.908 trillion after COVID-19 against the initial target of Rs5.55 trillion. The FBR would also miss the revised target of Rs4.8 trillion by Rs892 billion

2. Punjab govt incentivises housing schemes by changing rules

• The Punjab government on June 11, 2020 notified amendments to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Private Housing Schemes Rules-2014 under which the sponsors and developers of the housing projects of over 100 kanals and land subdivisions (small schemes below 100 kanal) had been given major incentives in a bid to boost the construction sector.
• According to an official document, the condition of preliminary planning permission (PPP) that was earlier mandatory to be obtained before grant of the technical sanction of the layout plan (map) and final approval of the scheme has been abolished, saving time of around three to six months.
• The PPP was a formality to check status of the land (ownership) from the revenue department and situation of the land within flood prone areas from the irrigation department

3. Total public debt jumps to 88pc of GDP

• Total debt and liabilities of the country rose by Rs2.597 trillion in the period running from July 2019 to March 2020, the Pakistan Economic Survey showed. The total is now at 102.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
• The bulk of the increase seems to have come from government domestic debt, which rose by Rs1.746tr in the same period.
• The remaining increase has come from government`s external debt which rose by Rs603 billion.

4. Pandemic is growing fast in Africa: WHO

• The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating in Africa, spreading to rural areas after international travellers brought it to capital cities, the World Health Organisation said on June 11, 2020.
• But the WHO said there was no indication that large numbers of severe cases and deaths were being missed, nor has the virus caused significant infections in refugee camps across the continent.
• Ten countries are driving Africa`s epidemic, accounting for 75pc of some 207,600 cases on the continent, said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO`s Africa regional director. About 5,000 deaths have been reported

5. Malaysia pulls out of Haj due to pandemic

• Malaysia on June 11, 2020 pulled out of Hajj over coronavirus fears days after neighbouring Indonesia, the world`s biggest Muslim majority nation, also withdrew.
• Millions travel from around the world to Saudi Arabia every year to perform the hajj, a ritual that every Muslim must do once in their lives if able.
• The virus pandemic, which has killed more than 400,000 people worldwide, has thrown the end-of-July celebration into doubt, although Riyadh is yet to announce a decision on whether it will proceed.

6. More than 94,000 Yemenis displaced since January: UN

• The UN refugee agency announced on Thursday that more than 94,000 people have been displaced and forced to flee their homes in several parts of Yemen since January, a grim statistic reflecting the devastation brought on by the civil war in the Arab world`s most impoverished country.
• The ongoing conflict in Yemen continues to displace people from their homes as they struggle to survive, UNHCR said in a tweet. The agency said the number of over 94,000, including at least 15,000 households, were displaced between Jan 1 and June 6. Only about 5,200 people were able to return to their places of origin in that period, added the UNHCR.
• The civil war erupted in Yemen in 2015, when a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition launched an offensive against Yemen`s Houthi rebels who had overrun the capital of Sanaa and most of the country`s north the previous year, forcing an internationally recognised government to flee to the south.

7. Iraq, US launch strategic talks, with tempered expectations

• After months of tensions, Baghdad and Washington are poised to launch strategic talks June 12, 2020 to reset ties — but even with a new US-friendly Iraqi premier, a major breakthrough is unlikely.
• Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, top-level talks expected to take place in Baghdad have been demoted to a brief online kick-off session, as Iraq faces a spike in cases as well as a looming financial crisis.
• That has tempered expectations for the first strategic dialogue between Iraq and the US in a decade, which will chiefly address the fate of the US-led military coalition, as well as economic and cultural ties.

8. Netflix launches ‘Black Lives Matter’ section

• Netflix have added a Black Lives Matter section to the streaming service. In a statement detailing the move, Netflix explained the aim is to highlight ‘powerful and complex narratives about the Black experience’.
• A host of shows have been removed from various services following the recent Black Lives Matter protests that have been taking place primarily in the US and the UK and now bosses have launched a new section.
• The Black Lives Matter section of the site features 47 films and series including Beyonce’s Homecoming, Dear White People and When They See Us.

9. Embryo-like model provides a ‘blueprint’ of human body

• An embryo-like model researchers created from stem cells can provide a ‘blueprint’ of the human body as it forms, a study has reported.
• The development by researchers from the University of Cambridge will allow experts to study the so-called ‘black box’ period of human development, gastrulation. Scientists are unable to directly observe this time in human development in the laboratory as a result of ethical and legal constraints on embryonic research

10. Stolen Banksy mural found in Italy

• A Mural by secretive British street artist Banksy stolen from the Bataclan theatre in Paris, where Islamist gunmen killed 90 people in 2015, has been found in a farmhouse in Italy, police said on June 11, 2020.
• The work, one of a series of murals painted in June 2018 in the French capital, shows a veiled female figure staring mournfully downwards.
• Thieves stole the mural in January last year, apparently using portable grinders to remove a fire-exit door before carrying it off in a van, the daily La Repubblica reported.

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