Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (August 18, 2022) for CSS

Table of Contents

6. Pakistan included in new UK trading scheme

• The United Kingdom (UK) has launched a `Developing Countries Trading Scheme` (D CT S), whose implementation in early 2023 will provide tariff reductions and simpler terms of trade to 65 countries, including Pakistan.
• The DCTS replaces the UK`s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), a preferential trading system that provides tariff removals and reductions on various products.
• The British High Commission in Islamabad on Wednesday said that 94 per cent of goods exported from Pakistan will be eligible for duty-free access to the UK. Pakistan will save £120 million in tariffs on exports to the UK under the scheme

7. Taliban test repaired planes, helicopters

• Taliban military aircraft roared over the Afghan capital on August 17, 2022 as the group`s defence ministry tested out recently repaired hardware, much of it left behind by foreign militaries and acquired since the Taliban seized power a year ago.
• Aircraft, including helicopters and at least one plane, flew low over Kabul skies near the airport, including what appeared to be at least one Russian-made MI-24 attack helicopter and two other American-made aircraft.
• A defence ministry spokesperson, Enayatullah Khowarazmi, said the Taliban had recently repaired some helicopters and were conducting the flyovers as a test. He did not confirm the exact make or country of origin, saying only that `all types of aircraft` were being tested

8. Israel, Turkiye resume full diplomatic relations

• Israel and Turkiye announced the resumption of full diplomatic ties on August 17, 2022, following years of strained relations between the Mediterranean nations.
• Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed the diplomatic breakthrough as an `important asset for regional stability and very important economic news for the citizens of Israel`.
• Lapid`s office said the diplomatic development will see ambassadors and consuls general posted to the two countries once more.
• The announcement follows months of bilateral efforts to mend ties, with reciprocal visits by top officials

9. Taiwan shows off most advanced fighter jet

• Taiwan displayed on August 17, 2022 its most advanced fighter jet, the missile-equipped F-16V, in a rare nighttime demonstration in the wake of China`s unprecedented military drills around the island.
• Beijing staged days of air and sea drills in the Taiwan Strait this month after visits by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a congressional delegation to the self-ruled island territory.
• Taipei has carried out its own drills to simulate defence against invasion by China and on Wednesday air force personnel loaded an F-16V fighter with a US-made anti-ship missile in a `combat readiness` exercise at an airbase in eastern Hualien county. Six F-16Vs later took off for night reconnaissance and training missions, including two armed with missiles, according to Taiwan`s air force

10. Taliban kill estranged Hazara commander `trying to flee to Iran`

• The Taliban`s lone Hazara Shia commander, who reportedly parted ways with the Islamic emirate a couple of months ago, was killed as he attempted to flee the country, the defence ministry said in a statement.
• Mawlawi Mahdi Mujahid was shot dead by Taliban forces near the border with Iran, officials confirmed to Reuters on August 17, 2022, adding that he had rebelled against the de facto government.
• After the Taliban formed a government last year, Mahdi was given the post of intelligence chief in Bamiyan province. But months later, he was sacked following a dispute local media attributed to control of the lucrative coal trade. Mujahid went on the run in June after the Taliban sent thousands of troops to crush his loyalists.
• The defence ministry on August 17, 2022 described Mahdi as a the `leader of the rebels` in a district in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul