Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (July 25, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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July 25, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Erdogan leads prayers after Hagia Sophia restored as mosque

• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 24, 2020 led the first prayers attended by thousands in Hagia Sophia since the iconic Istanbul cathedral was converted back into a mosque.
• The UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul was first built as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
• The Council of State, the highest administrative court, on July 10 unanimously cancelled a 1934 decision by modern Turkey`s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to turn it into a museum, saying it was registered as a mosque in its property deeds.

2. PM forms panel on Balochistan uplift plans

• Prime Minister Imran Khan on July 24, 2020 constituted a three-member committee to suggest priority areas for development in Balochistan with special focus on communications, agriculture, energy and other important sectors and submit a report in this regard.
• The committee comprising Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was constituted by the prime minister while presiding over the second meeting of the National Development Council (NDC), according to a handout issued by the PM Office.
• The meeting also approved the setting up of the Balochistan Mineral Exploration Company which would work for better utilisation of mineral resources of the province and boost exploration activities

3. PUBG game suspension order set aside

• The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on July 24, 2020 restored the Player Unknown`s Battlegrounds (PUBG) video game and set aside the order of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for its suspension.
• Justice Aamer Farooq of the IHC announced the decision on the petition filed by M/s Proxima Beta Pte, a non-resident private limited company incorporated under the laws of Singapore and claims to have exclusive rights to operate, offer and control the game in Pakistan.
• The counsel for the petitioner contended that no prior intimation was given or hearing was conducted before suspending the online game. It was submitted that under Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganisation) Act, 1996, the PTA was required to provide an opportunity of hearing to a person against whom any action was proposed to be taken

4. Masks becoming mandatory amid Europe`s virus uptick

• New rules on wearing masks in England came into effect on July 24, 2020, with people entering shops, banks and supermarkets now required to wear face coverings, while Romania reported a record for daily infections and new cases nearly doubled in France.
• People in England can be fined as much as 100 pounds ($127) by police if they refuse. The British government had given mixed signals for weeks before deciding on the policy.
• Places like restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers are exempt.

5. Russia rejects US, UK space weapon claim as `propaganda`

• Russia on July 24, 2020 dismissed accusations from the United States and Britain that it had tested an anti-satellite weapon in space as `propaganda`.
• Moscow responded after the United States Space Command on Thursday accused Russia of test-firing an anti-satellite weapon in space and warned the threat against US systems was `real, serious and increasing`.
• The head of Britain`s Space Directorate, Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth, also reacted, tweeting that `actions of this kind threaten the peaceful use of space.` The Russian foreign ministry insisted on Moscow`s `commitment to obligations on the non-discriminatory use and study of space with peaceful aims.

6. Columbus statues taken down at two Chicago parks

• Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks were taken down early on July 24, 2020 at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police.
• Crews used a large crane to remove the statue in downtown Chicago`s Grant Park from its pedestal. A small crowd cheered and passing cars honked as the statue came down about 3am. The second statue was removed about 5:30am from Arrigo Park in Chicago`s Little Italy neighborhood

7. India and China agree to speed border troop pullback

• Indian and Chinese diplomats agreed on July 24, 2020 to a fast pull back of troops eyeballing each other across a disputed border in the western Himalayas where 20 Indian soldiers died in a clash last month, the Indian government said.
• There were no shots fired during the June 15 fighting in the Galwan Valley of India`s Ladakh region when the Indian soldiers were beaten with rocks and clubs, but it still marked the worst clash in decades between Asia`s nuclear-armed powerhouses.
• Since then the two sides have held several rounds of talks to restore calm and reduced the numbers of troops in the valley, while still pouring reinforcements into the wider region.

8. China asks US to close consulate in Chengdu

• China on July 24, 2020 ordered the US consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu to close in retaliation for one of its missions in the United States being shuttered, capping a furious week of Cold Warstyle diplomacy.
• Ordering the Chengdu consulate to cease operations was a `legitimate and necessary response to the unreasonable measures by the United States`, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.
• `The current situation in China-US relations is not what China desires to see, and the US is responsible for all this,` it said without saying when the consulate would have to shut down

9. Emirates offers free global cover for virus-related costs

• Emirates has offered free global cover (medical bills for travellers) for coronavirus related costs, saying it will cover medical and quarantine costs of its customers regardless of their class of travel or destination.
• This cover is immediately effective for customers flying on Emirates until Oct 31, 2020 (first flight to be completed on or before Oct 31). It is valid for 31 days from the moment they fly the first sector of their journey.
• Emirates said in a press release on Friday that it is the first airline in the world to offer free global cover for Covid-19-related costs

10. Pakistan`s Waseem Khatri clinches online scrabble championship in style

• Pakistan`s brilliant scrabble champion Waseem Khatri clinched the online Double-double Scrabble Championship this week in which 64 participants from around the world competed.
• The championship, organised in the USA, kicked off on Tuesday, May 12 and the final was played on July 22.
• Waseem was the sole representative of Pakistan in the high profile event and did the nation proud by storming into the finals and winning it in style.
• The tournament had nine rounds, and Waseem started his campaign with a 3-1 over Marty Gabriel of USA.

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