Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (March 21, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Food subsidy scheme launched in BD

• Bangladesh launched a nationwide food subsidy programme on March 20, 2022 after prices for cooking oil, lentils and other staples shot up in the wake of Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.
• Rising produce costs, which officials blame on wild price fluctuations in the global oil market since the conflict began, have sparked murmurings of discontent around the nation of 170 million people in recent weeks.
• Opposition activists have accused traders of profiteering and staged several protest rallies, with a nationwide strike against soaring prices planned for the end of the month

7. Germany seals energy deal with Qatar in bid to cut reliance on Russia

• Germany has agreed a long-term energy partnership with Qatar as it looks to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, a spokeswoman for the economy ministry said on March 20, 2022.
• Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck secured the deal on a visit to Doha as part of efforts to diversify Germany`s energy supply, according to his ministry.
• The next step will be for the companies involved to `enter into the concrete contract negotiations`, the spokeswoman said.
• Habeck had held talks in Doha with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar, one of the world`s three biggest exporters of liquified natural gas (LNG)

8. Iran nuclear deal may be finalised in days, officials suggest

• The Iranian nuclear deal could be finalised as early as this week, says a British media outlet as rapidly rising oil prices force the West to look beyond Russia.
• `Agreement on the international deal on Iran`s nuclear programme could be reached within 48 hours,` Britain`s Independent newspaper reported on Saturday, quoting a senior participant in the deal talks.
• Other reports do not give a specific date but claim that the United States and its allies seem ready to finalise the deal as early as possible

9. Russia bombs art school used as shelter in Mariupol

• Ukrainian authorities said the Russian military bombed an art school where about 400 people had taken refuge in the port city of Mariupol, where President Volodymyr Zelensky said an unrelenting siege by Russian troops would go down in history for what he said were war crimes.
• Local authorities said the schools building was destroyed and people could remain under the rubble.
• There was no immediate word on casualties

10. Houthis unleash barrage of drone, missile strikes on Saudi Arabia

• Yemen`s Houthi rebels unleashed a barrage of drone and missile strikes on Saudi Arabia early Sunday that targeted a liquated natural gas plant, water desalination plant, oil facility and power station, Saudi state-run media reported.
• The attacks did not cause casualties, the Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said, but damaged civilian vehicles and homes in the area. The salvo marked the latest escalation in Houthi cross-border attacks on Saudi Arabia as peace talks remain stalled and the conflict that over seven years has laid waste to much of Yemen rages on