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

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October 21, 2021: National / International Current Affairs

1. Tarin stays in Washington as talks with IMF move forward

• Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin held a series of meetings with senior officials of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington on October 20, 2021 for finalising the release of the next tranche of a $6 billion loan facility.
• The PM`s aide rushed to Washington from New York on Tuesday to join the ongoing discussions as an IMF official acknowledged progress. The finance secretary was holding the talks in his absence.
• On Wednesday, members of his team told journalists the talks would continue for another day and the two sides would issue a joint statement on Thursday, announcing details of the arrangement.

2. No-trust motion against Alyani tabled in Balochistan Assembly

• With the support of opposition parties, disgruntled members of the ruling Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) tabled a no-confidence motion against Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani in the provincial legislature on October 20, 2021.
• Speaker Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, who was presiding over the assembly`s session called by the governor to discuss the no-trust motion, fixed October 25 for voting on the motion after completing a debate.
• While speaking on the motion, Chief Minister Alyani announced that he would not resign and would face the no-trust motion in the assembly. `I will prefer to fight against the no-trust motion even if two members remain with me,` he said

3. Navy thwarts bid by Indian sub to enter Pakistan waters

• The Pakistan Navy last weekend thwarted an attempt by an Indian submarine to enter Pakistani waters.
• `The Pakistan Navy with its unremitting vigilance and professional competence has once again detected and blocked the Indian submarine on Oct 16 from entering into Pakistani waters,` the military`s media affairs wing said in a statement.
• It was the third reported attempt by an Indian submarine that had been `prematurely detected and tracked` by the PN Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft. The previous attempts were reported in March 2019 and Nov 2016

4. Nato assures Pakistan of increased cooperation over Afghanistan

• A senior official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) on October 20, 2021 assured Pakistan of increased cooperation over Afghanistan.
• The Inter-Services Public Relations said that Nato`s Senior Civil Representative Stefano Pontecorvo in a meeting with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa promised `enhance cooperation with Pakistan on Afghanistan`.
• Mr Pontecorvo also expressed the hope that Nato countries would have regular engagements with Pakistan on bilateral issues.

5. Biden names ME expert as new US envoy to Pakistan

• US President Joe Biden is nominating Donald Armin Blome, an expert on Middle East affairs, as his new `Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan`, the White House announced.
• Donald Armin Blome, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister Counsellor, is currently serving as US ambassador to Tunisia.
• Prior to that, Amb Blome was chargé d`affaires at the Libya External Office in Tunisia, Consul General at the US Consulate in Jerusalem, and Director, Office of Arabian Peninsula Affairs, at the US Department of State

6. Washington`s new special envoy is an old Afghan hand

• The Biden administration has selected Thomas West, a diplomat with years of experience in dealing with Afghanistan, as America`s new Special Representative for the war-torn country.
• Mr West, who previously served as the Deputy Special Representative, replaces Zalmay Khalilzad who concluded the US-Taliban deal in February 2020 after two years of negotiations.
• Mr West has also served on then-Vice President Joe Biden`s national security team and on the National Security Council staff

7. North Korea tests `submarine-launched ballistic missile`

• North Korea successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, state media reported on October 20, 2021 as the nuclear-armed country seeks to show off its ever expanding military capabilities.
• Tuesday`s test, carried out near Sinpo, the site of a major naval dockyard, came as both Koreas build up their weapons technology in what could become an arms race on the peninsula, and with Washington Pyongyang dialogue at a standstill.
• A proven submarine based missile capability would take the North`s arsenal to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and a second-strike capability in the event of an attack on its military bases

8. Russian opposition leader wins EU`s Sakharov rights award

• The European Parliament on October 20, 2021 gave its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought the EU`s top human rights award to jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
• The anti-corruption campaigner, who last year survived a poisoning attack he blames on the Kremlin, is Russian President Vladimir Putin`s best-known domestic opponent.
• After returning to Russia in January from Germany, where he was treated for the attack, he was convicted on old embezzlement charges and is now imprisoned in a penal colony outside Moscow, but continues to needle Putin

9. SL whip Ireland to reach Super 12s

• Wanindu Hasaranga starred with a fine all-round effort as Sri Lanka decimated Ireland by 70 runs to register their second successive win in the Twenty20 World Cup on October 20, 2021 and qualify for the Super 12 stage.
• Hasaranga smashed 71 and Pathum Nissanka, who made 61, put on a critical fourth-wicket wicket partnership of 123 to guide Sri Lanka to 171-7 in the first-round match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.
• Their bowlers, led by spinner Maheesh Theekshana (3-17) then turned on the heat to bowl out Ireland for 101 in 18.3 overs.

10. Beijing lights Olympic flame amid boycott calls

• The Olympic flame arrived in Beijing on October 20, 2021 amid calls from overseas critics for a boycott of the Feb 4-20 Winter Games.
• Beijing`s Communist Party Secretary Cai Qi, the top official in the Chinese capital, received the flame at a closely guarded airport ceremony.
• Beijing successfully hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, although the event failed to produce the more open political and social environment in China that many had hoped for

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