Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (July 28, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Scotland houses Ukrainian refugees on cruise ship

• Scotland has started to house Ukrainian refugees who fled the Russian invasion on a cruise ship docked off Edinburgh, the devolved government has said.
• The first Ukrainians boarded the specially chartered M/S Victoria on Tuesday, in a policy that critics brand potentially unsafe and unsuitable.
• The Scottish government plans to use the vessel, which is says is `fully staffed` and safe, to house up to 1,700 Ukrainian refugees in 739 cabins until next January to fill an accommodation backlog for refugees

7. UAE and Iran discuss boosting ties ahead of possible ambassador return

• The Emirati and Iranian foreign ministers have held a telephone conversation and discussed boosting ties, UAE state media reported on Wednesday, as the Gulf Arab country considers sending an ambassador back to Tehran.
• Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed ways of `boosting bilateral relations and areas of cooperadonfor the benent of both countries`, the UAE`s state news agency WAM reported.
• Sheikh Abdullah `highlighted the UAE`s keenness… to enhance the security and stability of the region`, WAM added

8. US Senate passes bill to boost chip making

• The US Senate on July 27, 2022 passed sweeping legislation to subsidise the domestic semiconductor industry, hoping to boost companies as they compete with China and alleviate a persistent shortage that has affected everything from cars to weapons and video games.
• The Senate passed the long awaited bill by 64 to 33. The House of Representatives is expected to approve it as soon as later this week, which would send it to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign into law.
• The long-awaited `Chips and Science` act provides $52 billion in government subsidies for US semiconductor production as well as an investment tax credit for chip plants estimated to be worth $24 billion

9. Kyiv strikes key bridge to choke Russian advance

• Ukrainian artillery on July 27, 2022 struck a key bridge falling in Moscow-controlled territory in south Ukraine, damaging an important supply route as Kyiv`s forces look to wrest back the Kherson region.
• The strike on the Antonivskiy bridge over the Dnipro river came hours ahead of the opening in Istanbul of a joint observation centre to monitor Ukrainian grain exports that have been blocked by the Kremlin`s warships.
• Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson, confirmed the bridge had been hit overnight and traffic had been halted

10. Sri Lanka extends emergency laws, protest leaders arrested

• Sri Lanka`s parliament approved the extension of a state of emergency for a month in a bid to get a grip on a political and economic crisis that has forced a change of leadership, a lawmaker said, as Singapore permits Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stay in the island republic for an additional 14 days, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on July 27, 2022.
• Then acting-president Ranil Wickremesinghe had declared a state of emergency on July 17 and won a parliamentary vote to become president three days later, over a week after Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned from his post of president in the face of widespread protests