Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (July 16, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Saudi Arabia doubles Russian oil imports for power generation

• Saudi Arabia, the world`s largest oil exporter, more than doubled the amount of Russian fuel oil it imported in the second quarter to feed power stations to meet summer cooling demand and free up the kingdoms own crude for export, data showed and traders said.
• Russia has been selling fuel at discounted prices after international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine left it with fewer buyers. Moscow calls the war in Ukraine a `special military operation`.
• The increased sales of fuel oil, used in power generation, to Saudi Arabia show the challenge that US President Joe Biden faces as his administration seeks to isolate Russia and cut its energy export revenues

7. S. Arabia opens airspace to `all carriers` in gesture to Israel

• Saudi Arabia announced on July 15, 2022 it was lifting restrictions on `all carriers` using its airspace, an apparent gesture of openness towards Israel hours before US President Joe Biden`s arrival.
• The US leader welcomed the `historic` decision, the latest conciliatory move by Riyadh concerning the Jewish state, which it has refused to recognise despite intensive efforts by the Israelis to establish ties with Arab countries.
• The Saudi civil aviation authority `announces the decision to open the Kingdom`s airspace for all air carriers that meet the requirements of the authority for overflying`, it said in a statement

8. Tehran unveils naval drone division

• Iran`s navy on July 15, 2022 unveiled its first division of ships and submarines capable of carrying armed drones, as US President Joe Biden tours the Middle East.
• The United States and Israel, the sworn enemies of Iran, have previously accused the Islamic republic of using drones and missiles to attack US forces and Israel-linked ships in the Gulf.
• `The first drone-carrier division of the Iranian navy consisting of ships and submarine units carrying all types of drone for combat, detection and destruction has been unveiled, state television said

9. India exempted from sanctions over Russia trade

• The US House of Representative has passed a legislative amendment that would protect India from punitive sanctions for buying missiles from Russia.
• The India-specific amendment, passed on Thursday afternoon, still has to go through the Senate before it`s signed by President Joe Biden.
• Authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, it urges the Biden administration to give India a waiver to the Countering America`s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), which can bring immediate sanctions against New Delhi for buying weapons from Moscow

10. US to resume International Space Station flights with Russia

• The United States said on July 15, 2022 would resume flights to the International Space Station with Russia, despite its attempts to isolate Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine.
• `To ensure continued safe operations of the International Space Station, protect the lives of astronauts and ensure continuous US presence in space, NASA will resume integrated crews on US crew spacecraft and the Russian Soyuz, the US space agency said in a statement.
• NASA said that astronaut Frank Rubio would fly with two Russian cosmonauts on a Soyuz rocket scheduled to launch on September 21 from Kazakhstan, with another astronaut, Loral O`Hara, taking another mission in early 2023.
• In a first, Russian cosmonauts will join NASA astronauts on SpaceX`s new Crew-5 which will launch in September from Florida with a Japanese astronaut also on the mission