Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (March 18, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Taliban to open high schools for girls next week

• The Taliban will allow girls around Afghanistan to return to class when high schools open next week, an education official said on March 17, 2022, after months of uncertainty over whether the group would allow full access to education for girls and women.
• `All schools are going to open to all boys and girls,` Aziz Ahmad Rayan, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education, said.
• `But there are some conditions for girls, he said, adding that female students would be taught separately from males and only by female teachers. In some rural areas where there was a shortage of female teachers, he said that older male teachers would be allowed to teach girls

7. UN okays ties with Afghanistan without recognising Taliban

• The UN Security Council voted on Thursday to establish formal ties with the Taliban-run Afghanistan without extending diplomatic recognition to the regime.
• Fourteen of the 15 members voted for the resolution while Russia abstained.
• The resolution `recognises the need to help address the substantial challenges facing Afghanistan`s economy, including through efforts to restore the banking and financial systems` It calls for `efforts to enable the use of assets belonging to Afghanistan`s central bank for benefit of the Afghan people, and for strengthened efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and other activities that support basic human needs in Afghanistan`

8. Indian purchase of Russian oil not violation of sanctions: US

• The White House has said that India would not be violating sanctions if it purchased discounted oil from Russia but doing so would put New Delhi on the wrong side of history.
• At a latest news briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki urged all countries to `abide by the sanctions that we have put in place and recommended` after Feb 24, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
• But when asked to comment on India`s reported purchase of discounted oil from Russia, she said: `I don`t believe this would be violating that.` She, however, advised India to think about where it wanted to stand on the Ukrainian issue

9. US expels another Chinese phone carrier on security grounds

• Washington has expelled another state-owned Chinese phone carrier from the US market over national security concerns amid rising tension with Beijing.
• The Federal Communications Commission revoked authorisation for Pacific Networks Corp. to provide domestic and international service under an order issued Wednesday.
• The US government is reducing Chinese access to American markets and investment over possible spying and Beijing`s military development

10. As Ukraine war rages, diplomats near agreement on Iran N-deal

• As the war in Ukraine rages on, diplomats trying to salvage the languishing 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been forging ahead with negotiations despite distractions caused by the conflict. They now appear to be near the cusp of a deal that would bring the US back into the accord and bring Iran back into compliance with limits on its nuclear programme.
• After 11 months of on-and-off talks in Vienna, US officials and others say only a very small number of issues remain to be resolve d. Meanwhile, Russia appears to have backed down on a threat to crater an agreement over Ukraine-related sanctions that had dampened prospects for a quick deal