Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (June 04, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. 10pc duty imposed on Chinese petroleum

• Pakistan on Friday imposed a 10 per cent regulatory duty on the import of petroleum products from China after a massive 673pc surge in duty-free imports to Rs250 billion this year with a revenue loss of Rs25bn under the garb of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA).
• A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet which also approved almost Rs147bn worth of supplementary grants including Rs81bn additional funds to defense services for expenditure before June 30.
• The meeting, presided over by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, also approved a summary for the grant of an unspecified amount of honorarium to officers and staff of the ministry of finance and revenue board. The decisions came a day after the government increased petroleum prices to reduce the budgetary burden

7. Russia walks the plank to a foreign bond default

• Russia`s failure to send an interest payment to creditors is triggering a payout on debt insurance, taking the country another step closer to its first default on international bonds since the Bolshevik revolution more than a century ago.
• On Friday, the European Union expanded sanctions on Russia, including on a domestic payments processing firm Moscow hoped to use for servicing its Eurobonds.
• Nudging Russia towards a debt crisis through the mechanism of financial sanctions is part of a wider stand-off that has built up between the Kremlin and the West during the 100 days since Russia`s invasion of Ukraine, which it refers to as a `special operation`

8. US report marks out India, Pakistan for restricting religious freedom

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has marked out both India and Pakistan for restricting religious freedom India for rising attacks on religious minorities and their places of worship and Pakistan for sentencing 16 people to death last year on blasphemy charges.
• `In India, … we`ve seen rising attacks on people and places of worship,` said the chief US diplomat while launching the annual US report on religious freedom.
• `In Pakistan, at least 16 individuals accused of blasphemy were sentenced to death in 2021, though none of these sentences has yet to be carried out,` he added

9. EU bans most Russian oil imports, unveils other sanctions

• The EU formally adopted a ban on most Russian oil imports on Friday, hitting Moscow with its toughest sanctions over the war on Ukraine after weeks of wrangling with Hungary.
• The sanctions the sixth wave imposed by the 27-nation bloc since the Kremlin launched the invasion in February include cutting Russia`s biggest bank Sberbank from the global SWIFT messaging system, the text published in the EU`s official journal said. President Vladimir Putin`s alleged girlfriend, former gymnast Alina Kabaeva, was also added to an assets freeze and visa ban blacklist, along with Russian army personnel suspected of war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
• EU leaders agreed to target Russia`s oil exports after weeks of resistance from Hungary, ceding to Prime Minister Viktor Orban`s demand to exempt Russian oil delivered by pipeline

10. Turkish official uses `Turkiye` nameplate at UN

• The UN confirmed on June 3, 2022 that it has accepted a request from the Turkish government to change the country`s name from Turkey to Türkiye.
• A picture released by Türkiye`s Anadolu news agency showed a Turkish diplomat, Ayse Inanc, sitting behind the new nameplate at the United Nations.
• UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday afternoon that the United Nations had received a letter from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday, requesting Secretary General Antonio Guterres to use `Türkiye` instead of `Turkey` in all official documents