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

Shahzad F. Malik

2 years ago

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

WELCOME TO CSS TIMES DAY BY DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS, YOUR BEST SOURCE FOR UP-TO-DATE AND DAILY TOP CURRENT AFFAIRS 2021 FOR PREPARATION OF CSS, PMS, BANKING, NTS, RAILWAYS AND ALL COMPETITIVE EXAMS. “DAY TO DAY CURRENT AFFAIRS” BASICALLY IS TOP 10 NEWS SUMMARY ON CURRENT HAPPENINGS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE FOR ALL EXAMINATIONS

February 18, 2022: National / International Current Affairs

1. Opposition tastes defeat as Senate passes Ogra bills

• The opposition in the Senate on February 17, 2022 snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when the government managed to get three bills passed from the upper house of parliament, despite opposition protests.
• Before the two controversial Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) bills, cleared by the concerned Senate standing committee, could be taken up for consideration, the opposition raised technical objections and sought deferment of the bills to allow members to introduce amendments.
• However, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani agreed to cooperate with the treasury after assurances from Science and Technology Minister Shibli Faraz, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan and Leader of the House Dr Shahzad Waseem that amendments to be moved by the opposition would be entertained

2. Senate committee defers bill to set up varsity in PM House

• A Senate committee on February 17, 2022 deferred the bill of Prime Minister`s Imran Khan`s much trumpeted proposed university in Prime Minister House as it wanted to get a briefing from Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood at the next meeting.
• The Senate Standing Committee on Federal Education and Professional Training briefly discussed the `Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technology University Bill 2022` for setting up a university in the Prime Minister House. However, the committee decided to defer the bill till the next meeting.
• Before deferring the bill, some members said several existing universities in the country were facing an acute shortage of funds and the government should also look into their issues

3. NA panel okays disputed NAB bills

• The National Assembly`s Standing Committee on Law and Justice on February 17, 2022 approved with a majority vote two controversial bills seeking to amend the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999, amid opposition`s protest and walkout.
• The opposition members staged a walkout from the committee`s meeting after its chairman, Riaz Fatyana, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), declared that the bills had been passed with a nine-seven vote.
• The opposition members accused the committee`s chairman of putting the bills for voting without completing the discussion on them and after seeing that the treasury members were more in number than the opposition.
• Two opposition members Khawaja Saad Rafique and Rana Sanaullah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were not present at the time of voting.

4. ECC okays Rs12.3bn subsidy for urea imports

• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on February 17, 2022 approved expanding the Kamyab Pakistan Programme (KPP) throughout the country and also cleared a Rs18 billion supplementary grant for Local Bodies` elections.
• The meeting of the ECC presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin also approved Rs12.345bn subsidy for import of about 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser to be sharedona50:50basisbythefederalandthe provincial governments.
• The ECC approved a summary presented by the Ministry of Industries and Production regarding uninterrupted supply of oxygen gas in the country for medical purposes and approved duty and tax exemption to products and goods i.e oxygen gas, oxygen gas cylinder and cryogenic oxygen tanks for the health sector up to June to cope with the fifth wave of Covid in the country

5. Pakistan finally owns woman languishing in Indian jail

• Pakistan has finally issued a citizenship certificate for Sumaira, a woman languishing in an Indian detention centre, paving way for her return to Pakistan with her daughter soon.
• Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed announced on February 17, 2022 that his ministry had issued a citizenship certificate for Sumaira, who is languishing in a detention centre in the Indian city of Bangalore, after verification of her family tree by the National Database and Regulatory Authority (Nadra).
• He said the certificate had been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan`s High Commission in New Delhi would issue a travel document to her, allowing her to return to Pakistan along with her four-year-old daughter

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6. Israeli navy joins US-led exercise with S. Arabia, Pakistan

• The Israeli navy confirmed on February 17, 2022 that it has participated in a US-led exercise with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and some other countries that do not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
• The US Navy said in a statement that more than 9,000 people from 60 militaries took part in the International Maritime Exercise (IMX), which kicked off on Jan 31.
• The participants included Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Comoros, Djibouti, Somalia and Yemen who do not have diplomatic ties with Israel.
• Several countries with which Israel recently normalised relations such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also participated. Bahrain is a close US ally and hosts the 5th Fleet of the US Navy

7. African leader asks EU: `Are we equal?

• Sierra Leone`s leader challenged Europeans on February 17, 2022 to remember there are `human beings on the other side` in Africa who have been left behind in the unequal global response to Covid-19.
• By the start of February, only 11 percent of Africans were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus far fewer than in richer parts of the world where vast and expensive inoculation campaigns have reached most of their populations.
• `We feel left out, President Julius Maada Bio said in his speech at the European Union-African Union summit. `So at a meeting like this we really want to ask these critical questions.
• Are we equal partners in this? Do we consider there are human beings on the other side?` Many developing countries have called for intellectual property rights for Covid vaccines and treatments to be waived, but face opposition from rich nations, including many in the EU.

8. France announces Mali withdrawal after decade-long jihadist fight

• France announced on February 17, 2022 that it was withdrawing its troops from Mali after a breakdown in relations with the country`s ruling junta, ending a near 10-year deployment against jihadist groups that pose a growing threat in West Africa.
• France sent soldiers to its former colony in 2013 to beat back advancing Islamic extremists, but its initial battlefield success was followed by a grinding anti-insurgency operation and rising hostility from Malians.
• Anger in Paris about the alleged arrival of Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group, as well as deepening ties between the Malian regime and Moscow, also hastened the French departure
9. Draft of Iran`s nuclear deal revealed
• A US-Iranian deal taking shape to revive Iran`s 2015 nuclear agreement with world powers lays out phases of mutual steps to bring both sides back into full compliance, and the first does not include waivers on oil sanctions, diplomats say.
• Envoys from Iran, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, the European Union and United States are still negotiating details of the draft accord amid Western warnings that time is running out before the original deal becomes obsolete.
• Delegates say much of the text is settled but some thorny issues remain.
• The broad objective is to return to the original bargain of lifting sanctions against Iran, including ones that have slashed its crucial oil sales, in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities that extend the time it would need to produce enough enriched uranium for an atomic bomb if it chose to

10. Australia to list Hamas as terror group

• The Australian government intends to list the entirety of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas as a terrorist organisation under the country`s criminal code, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said on February 17, 2022.
• A listing by Australia of the whole group, rather than just its military wing as at present, would bring Canberra`s stance in line with the United States, the European Union and Britain.
• `The views of Hamas and the violent extremist groups listed today are deeply disturbing and there is no place in Australia for their hateful ideologies,` Andrews said in a statement.
• Andrews said she had written to Australia`s state and territory leaders to consult with them on listing the whole of Hamas, `and will finalise the listing as soon as possible`

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