Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (March 17, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Small account holders permitted to invest in risk-free govt securities

• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed the account holders of the microfinance banks to invest in risk-free high yielding government securities.
• The central bank on March 16, 2022 said this measure was taken to provide greater investment opportunities to the public in line with the objective of diversifying funding for this exclusive avenue.
• According to the SBP circular, Microfinance Banks (MFBs) have been permitted to offer Investor Portfolio of Securities (IPS) accounts to their customers. Also, MFB account holders have been allowed to open IPS accounts with any scheduled bank to invest in government securities

7. North Korea`s `projectile` launch ends in failure

• North Korea fired a projectile on March 16, 2022 but the launch appears to have immediately failed, Seoul said, with analysts warning it was likely a test of Pyongyang`s so-called `monster missile`.
• The launch North Korea`s tenth suspected weapons test this year comes after the US said the nuclear-armed country was preparing to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) `at full range` for the first time since 2017.
• Despite biting international sanctions over its weapons programs, Pyongyang conducted seven missile tests in January and twice launched components of what it claimed were a `reconnaissance satellite`

8. Johnson lobbies Saudi prince for higher oil output to calm Ukraine fallout

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with oil-rich Saudi Arabia`s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to lobby for higher production on March 16, 2022 after Russia`s invasion of Ukraine sent markets into turmoil.
• Johnson, one of the few Western leaders to visit Riyadh since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, spoke with Prince Mohammed after talks with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed in the United Arab Emirates.
• The UK leader is hoping the oil rich Gulf states will raise production to help calm oil prices, which soared to nearly $140 a barrel before dropping below $100, and help end the West`s dependency on Russian oil following the invasion

9. 95pc Afghans face hunger, malnutrition

• A staggering 95 percent of the Afghan population is not eating enough food, with that percentage rising to almost 100 per cent for female headed households, warns a UN report.
• The report -released in New York on Tuesday evening showed that the number of people f acing acute hunger in Afghanistan had increased from 14 million in July 2021 to 23 million in March 2022.
• `It is a figure so high that it is almost inconceivable

10. US, Iran `close to deal` on reviving nuclear pact

• The United States and Iran are near to reaching an agreement over reviving the 2015 deal on limiting Tehran`s nuclear weapons program, the State Department said on March 16, 2022.
• `We are close to a possible deal, but we`re not there yet,` said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
• `We do think the remaining issues can be bridged.`