Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (August 20, 2022) for CSS

Table of Contents

6. Azad Kashmir offers jobs to 100 children of migrants from IHK

• Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas on August 19, 2022 announced that his government would provide public sector jobs to as many as 100 educated children from the families of post-1989 migrants from India-held Kashmir (IHK) in addition to their 6pc quota in this regard.
• He also declared that the government would spare Rs30 million to advance interest free loans to refugees for small businesses and another Rs15 million for the education and weddings of their children.
• He was speaking at a large ceremany in Ambore refugee camp, some 5km on the outskirts of Muzaf farabad, after handing over the copy of a recently issued notification, envisaging an increase of Rs1.500 in the monthly subsistence allowance of post-1989 migrants, to camp leader Chaudhry Ferozuddin

7. Govt okays major changes to LNG policy

• Ahead of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif`s visit to Doha next week, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on August 19, 2022 approved major changes to the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Policy to remove restrictions on upcoming private sector LNG terminals to provide their part capacity to the government.
• The meeting of the ECC, presided over by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, also formally approved the li ting of an import ban on all the 33 categories of goods covering more than 860 products and tariff lines.
• Earlier on July 28, the ECC had approved the lifting of the ban on all but three categories-finished units of cars, cell phones, and home appliances. However, PM Sharif did not agree with the move, and hence the cabinet did not endorse the ECC decision

8. US unveils $775m arms package for Ukraine

• The US Defence Department announced on August 19, 2022 a $775 million package of defence equipment and ammunition for Ukraine, including various types of missiles, artillery and mine-clearing systems.
• The package includes more precision-guided missiles for the Himars systems that have permitted Ukrainian forces to strike Russian command centres and munitions depots far behind the front lines, and more anti-armour weapons, including TOW missiles and Javelin systems.
• It also includes Scan Eagle surveillance drones, high-speed anti radiation (HARM) missiles that hone in on ground-based radar systems, and 105mm howitzers, along with 36,000 artillery rounds for them

9. Putin allows IAEA inspectors to visit plant via Ukraine

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has allowed a team of independent inspectors to travel to the Moscow-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant via Ukraine, the French presidency said on August 19, 2022.
• The apparent resolution of a dispute over whether inspectors travel to the plant via Ukraine or Russia came as a senior US defence official claimed Ukraine`s forces had brought the Russian advance to a halt.
• According to French President Emmanuel Macron`s office, Putin had `reconsidered the demand` that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) travel through Russia to the site, after the Russian leader himself warned fighting there could bring about a `catastrophe`

10. Foreign engagement will be in line with Sharia: Taliban

• The Taliban will deal with the international community in line with Sharia, the supreme leader of the group said, according to a copy of his speech shared by the information ministry on August 19, 2022.
• Yet to be formally recognised as a government by any foreign capital, the group is struggling with a severe economic crisis due to strict enforcement of international sanctions and the cutting off of development aid.
• Many governments, including Washington, have put pressure on the Taliban to ease its restrictions on women and to open schools for high school aged girls.