Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (July 01, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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July 01, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. India behind stock exchange attack, NA told

• Prime Minister Imran Khan has told the National Assembly that there is little doubt India masterminded and backed the attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange on June 30, 2020.
• In his address on Tuesday evening, PM Khan said India wanted to destabilise Pakistan and create `uncertainty` here.
• Mr Khan in a letter to the UN secretary general drew his attention to the continued brutalisation of people in Occupied Kashmir.
• India must be stopped from this unacceptable path that further usurps the legal & internationally guaranteed rights of the Kashmiri people & seriously imperils peace and security in South Asia.

2. ACS, AIG appointed for south Punjab secretariat

• The Punjab government on June 30, 2020 formally appointed the additional chief secretary (ACS) and additional inspector general (AIG) for the proposed south Punjab secretariat, taking the first concrete step towards the realisation of, what many call, south Punjab province.
• Zahid Akhtar Zaman, a Grade 21 officer working as the irrigation secretary, has been appointed as the ACS and Inam Ghani, a Grade 21 police officer, as the AIG.
• The secretariat, which would cover the divisions of Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan, is supposed to start working from today (Wednesday). However, it has still not been decided where it would be located: Multan or Bahawalpur. That is why both these civil servants are supposed to split between both cities.

3. Army gets first woman three-star general

• Lt Gen Nigar Johar on June 30, 2020 became the first woman three-star general in the history of Pakistan`s military.
• Military spokesman Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar announced her promotion on twitter. `Maj Gen Nigar Johar, HI (M) promoted as Lieutenant General,` he tweeted.
• Gen Johar has been serving in the army`s medical corps for almost three decades and has held various management positions during her career.
• She is a graduate of the Army Medical College and holds an MCPS degree in family medicine, MSc in advanced medical administration and a Masters in Public Health. She has served as the National Instructor of Hospital Preparedness in Emergency.

4. WB approves $500m loan for Pakistan`s budget support

• The World Bank (WB) on June 30, 2020 announced that it has approved another $500 million loan to Pakistan for the country`s budget support following its increased expenditures on Covid-19 crisis response.
• In a statement, the bank said its board of directors approved the financing for the Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE) programme to help Pakistan strengthen fiscal management, promote transparency and private sector growth and undertake foundational reforms in the energy sector to transition to low-carbon energy.
• These reforms are critical to build fiscal resilience and stimulate recovery from impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, it said.

5. IIUI board appoints Saudi national university`s president

• The International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Board of Trustees on June 30, 2020 appointed a new university president for a four-year term.
• The board met at the Presidency and approved the appointment of Saudi national Dr Hathal bin Hamoud Al-Qtaibi as IIUI president. He replaced Dr Yousif Al Draiweesh, also a Saudi national, who resigned on June 15.
• According to an IIUI statement, Dr Al-Qtaibi holds a PhD from the University of Madrid in Spain and completed his post doctorate from the United States.

6. EU safety agency to suspend PIA authorisation for six months

• After the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed concerns over the `serious lapse in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator`, the European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) on June 30, 2020 suspended Pakistan International Airlines` authorisation to operate to the EU member states for a period of six months effective from July 1, 2020 (today), with the right to appeal against the decision.
• However, later in the day the European Union allowed PIA to operate its flights to the continent till July 3, the airline`s spokesman said.

7. `Smart lockdown` extended in Lahore

• As the `15-day smart lockdown` in seven cities of the province ended on June 30, 2020 midnight, the Punjab government has empowered the deputy commissioners to decide `if further extension in any particular areas` under their jurisdiction is required.
• The district administration of Lahore extended lockdown in areas identified in the June 15 order. They include Shahdra, Mazang, Shad Bagh, Harbanspura, Old Lahore, Nishtar Town, Cantt, Allama Iqbal Town and Gulberg.
• A meeting presided over by Senior Minister Aleem Khan was held at Chief Secretary`s Office to review strategy [after lockdown], prices and essential medicines and security arrangements across the province in the backdrop of the terrorist attack in Karachi.

8. China imposes HK security law opposed by West

• China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong on June 30, 2020, dramatically tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city in a historic move decried by Western nations as a threat to the financial hub`s freedoms.
• Described by Beijing as a `sword` hanging over the heads of those endangering national security, the law took effect hours after it was signed by President Xi Jinping and just six weeks since it was first unveiled.
• Fed up with pro-democracy protests that rocked the city last year, China`s top lawmaking body enacted the legislation following closed-door deliberations that kept details secret until its passage.

9. Iran journalist who fuelled 2017 protests sentenced to death

• Iran sentenced a once exiled journalist to death over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests that began at the end of 2017.
• Ruhollah Zam`s website and a channel he created on the popular messaging app Telegram had spread the timings of the protests and embarrassing information about officials that directly challenged Iran`s theocracy.
• Those demonstrations represented the biggest challenge to Iran since the 2009 Green Movement protests and set the stage for similar mass unrest last November

10. Nepal offers locust bounty as swarms threaten crops

• Nepal is offering farmers cash rewards for catching desert locusts to limit the damage caused by the destructive swarms that have ravaged harvests in India and Pakistan.
• South Asia is experiencing its worst infestation in decades, with the plague of locusts devastating agricultural heartlands and are now entering Nepal.
• `Our decision is aimed at encouraging people to catch the insects instead of using pesticides which might be harmful to the environment, said agriculture ministry spokesman Khagendra Prasad Sharma, who handles the Far West Province. Farmers and other locals in two provinces that have already been invaded this week will be of fered up to 25 rupees (21 US cents) for every kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of the insects

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