Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (February 25, 2021) for CSS, PMS

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February 25, 2021: National / International Current Affairs

1. Pakistan offers $50m credit line to Sri Lanka for defence ties

• Pakistan has offered a $50 million new credit line to Sri Lanka for cooperation in the field of defence and security.
• The announcement was made by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who concluded his two-day official visit to the island nation, said a joint communique issued by the foreign ministries of the two countries from Colombo and Islamabad on Wednesday.
• The two sides called for stronger partnership in matters related to security, terrorism, organised crime and drug and narcotics trafficking as well as intelligence-sharing, according to the joint communique. They also noted that the elevation of staff-level talks to defence dialogue had provided an opportunity to expand security sector relations

2. Pak-Iran border near Panjgur closed

• Pakistani authorities on February 24, 2021 closed the Pak-Iran border in Panjgur district af ter violent demonstrations and attacks on government offices in Saravan area of Iran`s province of Sistan-Balochestan.
• `We have closed the border with Iran at Zero Point Sakan of Saravan district of Iran after firing and violent incidents on the Iranian side,` a senior official of the Panjgur administration told Dawn.
• He said that Pakistanis involved in smuggling of Iranian petrol and diesel had been asked not to go towards the border area.

3. KP cabinet okays two-year age relaxation for PMS examination

• The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa cabinet on February 24, 2021 approved two years extension in the upper age limit for the Provincial Management Service (PMS) examination to benefit the aspirants, who have become overage due to a pandemic induced delay in the holding of the exam.
• Chief Minister Mahmood Khan presided over the cabinet meeting, which was attended by ministers, his advisers, and administrative secretaries

4. Pakistan gets $1.1bn financing to import oil, LNG

• With sub-optimal utilisation of earlier $4.5 billion worth of three-year financing framework, Pakistan and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) on February 24, 2021 signed a $1.1bn trade financing facility for the current year.
• Under the Annual Financing Plan, `ITFC will mobilise trade financing of $1.1bn during the year 2021`, said an official statement after the signing ceremony. The financing available through this facility will be utilised by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Pak-Arab Refinery Ltd (Parco) and Pakistan LNG Ltd (PLL) for the import of crude oil, refined petroleum products and LNG during the year 2021 and help augment foreign currency reserves of the country and provide resources to meet the oil import bill.

5. Pakistan took $6.66 billion loan from external sources in seven months

• Pakistan has taken $6.66 billion loan from external sources in first seven months (July to January) of the current fiscal year to repay previous loans and maintain the foreign exchange reserves of the country.
• The government has received $6.66 billion total external inflows from multiple financing sources which are 54 per cent of annual budget estimates of $12.233 billion for the entire fiscal year 2020-21. The amount of borrowing in first seven months of the ongoing financial year is slightly higher than the borrowing made in same period of the previous year. In the corresponding period of fiscal year 2019-20, the external inflows were $6.282 billion which were also around 48 per cent of the annual budgeted amount of $12.958 billion

6. Ghana first to get vaccines under global Covax scheme

• Ghana became the first country to receive vaccines from the global Covax scheme on February 24, 2021, paving the way for poorer nations to catch up with inoculation drives in wealthier parts of the world to stamp out the coronavirus pandemic.
• But Europe`s vaccine rollout faced fresh woes after AstraZeneca said it would only be able to deliver half its promised doses to the EU, deepening ongoing tensions with the bloc over supply shortfalls

7. Malaysian king allows parliament to sit

• Malaysia`s king said on February 24, 2021 parliament can sit during a state of emergency, in a blow for the embattled prime minister whose government is on the verge of collapse.
• Parliament has been suspended since the king declared a national emergency last month to fight the coronavirus, following a request from Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin ascasesspira Hed out of control.
• The move sparked accusations that Muhyiddin, whose year-old government is riven by infighting, was using the virus crisis to cling to power

8. Electrostatic de-icing effect could be a game-changer

• If you have ever gotten up on a winter morning and thrown yourself into the arduous task of scraping frost from a windshield, a Virginia Tech lab is engaging science that could make your life much easier.
• In research funded by the National Science Foundation, Associate Professor Jonathan Borekyo has led a team in developing a potential solution for frost removal by way of electrostatics. As water freezes, positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons separate. Frozen ice crystals become electrified as the top of the frost becomes warmer than the bottom of the frost. This causes charged ions to move from top to bottom (warm to cold), but it turns out that the positive ions can migrate faster

9. Islamabad beat Karachi in high-scoring PSL match

• Islamabad United overcame a blistering century by Karachi Kings opener Sharjeel Khan to record their second successive victory in the Pakistan Super League on February 24, 2021.
• The left-handed Khan, who scored only six runs in the first six overs, plundered eight sixes and nine fours in his 105 off 59 balls to give defending champions a strong total of 196-3. But the depth in Islamabads batting, led by Iftikhar Ahmeds unbeaten 49, and an early onslaught by Alex Hales (46 off 21 balls) helped the former champions cruise to 197-5 for a five-wicket win in 19.1 overs

10. Rizwan, Fawad promoted, Hafeez declines Category C contract

• PCB Test Cricketer of the year 2020, Mohammad Rizwan, has been promoted to Category A of the PCB’s Central Contract List 2020-21 following stellar performances across all formats in the ongoing season. In the elite category, the 28-year-old has now joined Pakistan captain Babar Azam, former captain Azhar Ali and star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
• Since the current central contracts were announced on May 13, 2020, Rizwan is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Tests with 529 runs in seven matches at an average of 52.90, while he is overall the third leading run-scorer in T20Is with 325 runs at an average of 65 and strike-rate of just under 139. In the three ODIs against Zimbabwe, he scored 25 runs. Behind the wickets, Rizwan has accounted for 16 batsmen in Tests, three in ODIs and eight in T20Is in the season during which Pakistan played international cricket against England, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and South Africa. Their upcoming assignments are in South Africa and Zimbabwe

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