Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (March 19, 2021) for CSS, PMS

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March 19, 2021: National / International Current Affairs

1. K-2 nuclear power plant connected to grid

• The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) on March 18, 2021 announced that it had connected the much-awaited 1,100MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (K-2) to the national grid.
• In a statement, the PAEC termed it a `Pakistan Day` gift to the nation. It said the nuclear power plant (NPP) had achieved criticality at the end of February and was undergoing certain safety tests and procedures before it could finally be connected to the national grid.
• The loading of nuclear fuel onto the plant was started on December 1, 2020 after getting clearance from the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority

2. Pakistan, US, Russia, China call for Afghan ceasefire

• The United States was joined by Russia, China and Pakistan on March 18, 2021 in calling on Afghanistan`s warring sides to reach an immediate ceasefire, at talks that showed Washington`s determination to win backing from regional powers for its plans.
• Just six weeks before a deadline for the United States to pull out troops that have been in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years, Washington sent a senior official for the first time to participate in regional peace talks convened by Russia.
• The Moscow talks were meant to breathe life into negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Qatar`s capital Doha, stalled over government accusations that the insurgents have done too little to halt violence

3. World Down Syndrome Day celebrated

• World Down Syndrome Day celebrated globally around the world and in Pakistan.

4. Nine killed as military chopper shot down in Afghanistan

• At least nine people were killed when a military helicopter was shot down in central Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani said on March 18, 2021.
• The ministry of defence said earlier the aircraft had crashed in a volatile district of Wardak province, where Afghan forces and local militias have fought bitterly in recent years.
• `Our helicopter was shot down… and our brave pilots were martyred,` Ghani said at a ceremony at the presidential palace.

5. Russia hosts Afghan talks as US deadline for exit looms

• Russia on March 18, 2021 was hosting faltering Afghan peace talks, hoping to cement its role as a powerbroker ahead of a looming deadline for US troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.
• The conference in Moscow is part of intensifying negotiations between the Afghan government, the Taliban and the United States in Qatar to negotiate Washington’s exit and end decades of war

6. Tanzania`s Covid-sceptic president dies

• Tanzanian President John Magufuli died on March 18, 2021 aged 61 from a heart condition, his vice president said, after more than five years of divisive, authoritarian rule capped by his refusal to take Covid-19 seriously.
• Magufuli, popularly nicknamed the `Bulldozer`, had been missing from public view for almost three weeks, fuelling wild rumours of his ill health, with opposition leaders claiming he had contracted the virus.
• `It is with deep regret that I inform you that today we lost our brave leader, the President of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,` said Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan

7. Tanzania’s Hassan to make history as first female president

• Dar es Salaam-Samia Suluhu Hassan is a soft-spoken, Muslim woman thrust from the obscure role of vice president to become Tanzania’s first female leader after John Magufuli’s sudden death.
• Under the constitution Hassan, the country’s 61-year-old vice president, will serve the remainder of Magufuli’s second five-year term, which does not expire until 2025.
• A former office clerk and development worker, Hassan began her political career in 2000 in her native Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago, before being elected to the national assembly on mainland Tanzania and assigned a senior ministry.

8. UN experts call upon Tehran to release `near death` scientist

• Tehran must immediately release Iranian-Swedish scientist Ahmadreza Djalali, who is reportedly in a critical condition after months of prolonged solitary confinement while awaiting execution, UN rights experts said on March 18, 2021.
• The eight independent experts, who were appointed by the United Nations but who do not speak on its behalf, warned that the professor, arrested during a visit to Iran almost five years ago, was `near death`.
• `Djalali`s situation is truly horrific,` said the group, made up of experts on the rights situation in Iran, on extrajudicial executions, on arbitrary detention and on torture.

9. F1 unveils fastest street track for Saudi Grand Prix

• Saudi Arabia`s first ever Formula One Grand Prix in December will feature the fastest street circuit in the sport.
• They predicted the race in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah will see average speeds of around 250 kph (155 mph) and the circuit will run over 6.175 km (3.8 miles), making it the second longest track on the calendar.
• `The fastest street track in Formula 1 history -that`s what the drivers will be taking to when they line up for the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on December 5,` F1 organisers said in a statement.

10. Amazon to make first Bollywood film

• Amazon is diving into Bollywood with its first Hindi-language movie, starring India`s highest-paid actor, as it fights for viewers in the huge but crowded market.
• Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar will be the lead in the action-adventure flick `Ram Setu`, which will be released in cinemas before its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video, the American tech giant said in a statement on March 17, 2021.

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February 2021:
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February 2021:
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January 2021:
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December 2020:
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November 2020:
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October 2020:
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