Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (June 21, 2021) for CSS, PMS

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June 21, 2021: National / International Current Affairs

1. 1.55m doses of Sinovac vaccine arrive

• As complaints of shortage of Covid-19 vaccines were being received from all federating and administrative units of the country, 1.55 million doses of Sinovac vaccine reached from China on June 20, 2021.
• Half of the consignment was offloaded at Islamabad airport after which a special flight took off for Karachi to deliver the remaining doses of the vaccine there.
• The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has claimed that 2m to 3m more doses of Covid-19 vaccine will arrive by the end of the current month.

2. Governor returns media protection bill to Sindh PA

• Sindh Governor Imran Ismail has refused to give his assent to the Sindh Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners bill, which was passed by the Sindh Assembly recently, and returned the bill to the legislature for reconsideration because it lacked a `mechanism for monitoring funds of the commission concerned`.
• The governor had also made an observation that there was a `perceived contradiction` in the bill
• The governor pointed out in his summary that the bill proposed formation of a government-funded commission, but envisaged `neither any finance committee to supervise income/spending nor any mechanism for third party audit of government funding`. Therefore, he suggested, the bill include `an appropriate mechanism for the purpose`.

3. WB approves over $440m for water, sanitation services in Punjab

• The World Bank has approved $442 million to help improve access to water and sanitation services for the most vulnerable rural communities in Punjab.
• The`Punjab Rural Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Project` will help upgrade water supply and sanitation infrastructure and services that ensure equitable and sustainable access to drinking water and safe wastewater management. The project prioritises rural settlements where water contamination and poor sanitation practices are more prevalent, causing high levels of illness and child stunting, the World Bank said in a statement

4. Niger to establish SEZs for Pakistan

• Niger`s Minister for Commerce and Trade Gabo Sabo Moctar on June 20, 2021 said his government was planning to establish special economic zones (SEZs) for Pakistan as it looked to attract investment in the infrastructural sector in Africa.
• `There is scope of increasing bilateral trade.
• Pakistan`s basmati rice is excellent. Niger has a new market for Pakistani exporters. Trade with Pakistan is our priority in pharmaceuticals, agricultural inputs and other sectors,` he said during his visit to the office of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) along with a business delegation from the Republic of Niger

5. Third pandemic wave arrives as Brazil surpasses 500,000 deaths

• Brazil on June 20, 2021 became the second country after the United States to surpass 500,000 Covid-19 deaths as the South American giant grapples with a third wave of the pandemic.
• `500,000 lives lost due to the pandemic that affects our Brazil and the world,` Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tweeted.
• The Health Ministry reported 500,800 deaths, including 2,301 in the last 24 hours, a toll that many experts say underestimate the real toll from the health crisis.

6. China administers one billionth Covid-19 vaccine

• China on June 20, 2021 announced it had administered its one-billionth shot in the world`s biggest coronavirus inoculation drive.
• The global death toll from Covid-19 is now more than 3.8 million and many nations are still battling outbreaks, but vaccine drives in some countries are allowing activities that were unthinkable a few months ago.
• China`s vaccine milestone comes after the number of shots administered globally passed 2.5 billion on Friday, according to a count from official sources.

7. Progress made in Vienna on restoration of Iran N-accord

• Top diplomats said on June 20, 2021 further progress had been made at talks between Iran and global powers to try to restore a landmark 2015 agreement to contain Iranian nuclear development that was abandoned by the Trump administration.
• They said it was now up to the governments involved in the negotiations to make political decisions.
• It was the first official meeting since Iran`s hard-line judiciary chief won a landslide victory in the country`s presidential election last week.

8. Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah to visit White House on 25th

• US President Joe Biden looks forward to welcoming Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, to the White House on June 25, the White House announced on Sunday.
• `The visit will highlight the enduring partnership between the United States and Afghanistan as the military drawdown continues,` the White House said. `The United States will remain deeply engaged with the government of Afghanistan to ensure the country never again becomes a safe haven for terrorist groups who pose a threat to the US

9. Astronauts install new solar panels on space station

• A French and an American astronaut embarked on a spacewalk on June 20, 2021 to complete the installation of new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), they announced on Twitter.
• `Here we go again for episode (2) of the new solar array installation spacewalks, tweeted Thomas Pesquet, a Frenchman with the European Space Agency.
• `It is a huge team effort each time and couldn`t be happier to return with @astro_ kimbrough,` he said, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough, a Nasa astronaut

10. New York`s Radio City reopens after 15 months

• Fifteen months after shuttering for the pandemic, New York`s Radio City Music Hall reopened its doors on Saturday for the Tribeca Festival premiere of a new Dave Chappelle documentary for a full-capacity, fully-vaccinated audience.
• The debut of Dave Chappelle: This Time This Place, which chronicles Chappelle`s pandemic stand-up series held in rural Ohio cornfields, marked the first time the hallowed midtown hall was yet again packed since closing in March 2020 a shutdown that put a year-plus`s worth of concerts, including Radio City`s famous Rockettes, on ice for easily the longest spell since the Art Deco venue first opened in 1932.

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