Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (February 09, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Saudi Arabia eases travel restrictions for pilgrims

• While Pakistan achieved another milestone in the fight against coronavirus by vaccinating over two million people in a day, Saudi Arabia has eased travel restrictions for the pilgrims from Pakistan intending to perform Umrah by revising the Covid-19 guidelines.
• The development coincided with the national positivity rate dropping to 5.34 per cent across the country, where less than 3,000 cases were reported in a day after a one-month hiatus.
• According to the fresh guidelines for pilgrims from Pakistan intending to perform Umrah, at the time of departure the travellers will be required to submit only a negative PCR test report that should not be more than 48 hours old

7. Schools shut in Karnataka as hijab ban protests intensify

• Authorities in southern India ordered schools to shut on February 8, 2022 as protests intensified over a ban on Islamic headscarves that has outraged Muslim students.
• The stand-off in Karnataka state has galvanised fears among the minority community about what they say is increasing persecution under the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Fresh demonstrations on February 8, 2022 saw officers fire tear gas to disperse a crowd at one government-run campus, while a heavy police presence was seen at schools in nearby towns

8. 49 convicted over deadly 2008 Ahmedabad attacks

• India convicted 49 people on February 8, 2022 over a 2008 attack in the western city of Ahmedabad that left over fifty dead, in what perpetrators said was retaliation for earlier deadly communal violence.
• The string of bombings killed 56 people and wounded more than 200 others as shrapnel ripped through markets, buses and other public places in Gujarat state`s commercial hub.
• A group calling itself the Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility, and said the act was revenge for 2002 religious riots in the area that left thousands dead.
• Nearly 80 people were charged but 28 were acquitted, prosecutor Amit Patel told reporters outside an Ahmedabad court

9. Taliban delegation in Geneva

• A Taliban delegation has arrived in Geneva for talks with Swiss officials and NGOs on humanitarian access and human rights, Switzerland`s foreign ministry said on February 8, 2022.
• The delegation from Afghanistan`s new rulers is due to hold talks with the Red Cross and other non-governmental organisations in the Swiss city, which is also home to several United Nations agencies. `The members of the delegation will have discussions around humanitarian access to populations in need, the protection of humanitarian actors and respect for human rights,` a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. `The protection of children during conflicts and the management of land contaminated by mines are also on the agenda of the conferences, which take place in a confidential setting.`

10. India protests to South Korea over Hyundai`s Kashmir tweet

• India said on February 8, 2022 it had summoned South Korea`s ambassador to express displeasure over a social media post by a Pakistani partner of Hyundai Motor over occupied Kashmir that has caused a furore in the country.
• The foreign ministers of India and South Korea also spoke by telephone as the car company f aced a backlash in India from social media users incensed by comments expressing solidarity with the people of held Kashmir.
• South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed his regret during the conversation with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, an Indian foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday