Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (February 23, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. 41 wheat-laden trucks off to Jalalabad

• The 41 Afghan trucks collected the first consignment of 2,500 metric tonnes of wheat from India and left for Jalalabad, Afghanistan, here on Tuesday night.
• A day earlier (on Monday), the trucks reached Lahore from Torkham and entered the India territory after crossing the Wagah border.
• Carrying wheat, the trucks driven by the Afghan drivers were dispatched toll-free for Afghanistan by the Pakistan security, immigration and Customs authorities in Lahore, according to official sources.
• `Actually, there was a plan of a convoy of 60 Afghan trucks` arrival at Wagah on Monday

7. UAE invests heavily in unmanned weapons after drone attacks

• The United Arab Emirates is ploughing money into drones, robots and other unmanned weaponry as autonomous warfare becomes more and more widespread including in attacks on the Gulf country by Yemeni rebels.
• Large, black drones with the orange logo of EDGE, the UAE`s arms consortium, were on display at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX), along with remote-controlled machineguns and other `smart` weapons.
• The exhibition comes at a time of growing unmanned attacks around the region, including the Jan 17 drone and-missile assault by Yemen rebels that killed three oil workers in Abu Dhabi, the first in a series of similar incidents.
• EDGE, an Abu Dhabi-based defence consortium that groups 25 Emirati firms, was formed three years ago but reached an estimated $4.8 billion in arms sales in 2020 nearly all of them to the UAE government

8. UN experts urge India to stop victimising Muslim journalist

• UN rights experts urged India on February 22, 2022 to `end relentless misogynistic attacks` on a Muslim journalist as Indian Muslims protested across the United States against the hijab ban in their country.
• Rana Ayyub, an independent journalist and defender of women`s human rights, `continues to be the target of intensifying online harassment by far right Hindu nationalist groups,` the UN experts said in a statement issued in New York.
• They noted Ms Ayyub`s reports on issues affecting minority Muslims in her country and criticised the Indian government`s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. In her latest statement, Ms Ayyub also criticised a recent ban on hijabs at schools and colleges in Karnataka state

9. Russia sends troops into `independent` regions

• The Kremlin raised stakes further in the standoff over Ukraine on February 22, 2022 by saying that the recognition of two rebel-controlled regions in the country`s east, announced the previous day, extends even to the large parts of these administrative units now held by Ukrainian forces.
• Kremlin`s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had recognised the two regions` independence in borders that existed when they proclaimed their independence in 2014 broad territories that extend far beyond the areas now under rebel control and that include the major Black Sea port of Mariupol.
• Putin`s move to recognise the territories` independence opened the door for him to formalise his hold on them and send forces in, though Ukraine and its Western allies have charged Russian troops have been fighting there for years

10. Ireland, UAE qualify for T20 World Cup

• Ireland booked their spot at this year`s T20 World Cup with a comfortable 56-run victory over hosts Oman in qualifying on Tuesday, as the United Arab Emirates also secured a ticket to Australia.
• The Irish will be making their seventh straight appearance in the showpiece, having only missed the inaugural edition in 2007.
• Andy Balbirnie`s side made a shaky start to the Global Qualifier A event, losing their first game last week to the UAE, but bounced back with successive wins to reach the semi-finals.