Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (May 19, 2022) for CSS, PMS

Table of Contents

6. Govt commits cut in subsidies, imports

• Pakistan is set to move swiftly on reducing massive fuel and electricity subsidies and banning about 30 luxury imports to contain fiscal and trade deficits under a commitment given to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure an economic bailout.
• On the first day of the formal talks with the IMF mission led by Nathan Porter in Doha, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail virtually leading the country`s economic team cleared uncertainty on two counts that the new coalition government would stay in office and take tough decisions, undertake reforms committed in the original fund programme and complete structural benchmarks.
• Informed sources said the talks opened on a healthy note as the two sides appeared converging to key principles separating the state`s economic decision-making from politics

7. SBP bans trading platforms like OctaFX, Easy Forex

• The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has declared forex trading platforms like OctaFX and Easy Forex illegal in the country and warned citizens that these platforms are regulated neither by the central bank nor the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
• YouTube and other social media websites are awash with ads of such digital platforms, which have also taken on board several so called influencers to promote their services. As a result, more and more Pakistanis are now relying on such trading platforms as a source of primary or passive income.
• The SBP `has noticed that an increasing number of offshore foreign exchange trading websites, mobile applications and platforms such as OctaFX, Easy Forex, etc

8. WB moves to address global food crisis

• The World Bank has announced actions that it plans to take as part of a comprehensive, global response to the ongoing food security crisis, with up to $30 billion in existing and new projects in areas such as agriculture, nutrition, social protection, water and irrigation.
• This financing will include efforts to encourage food and fertilizer production, enhance food systems, facilitate greater trade and support vulnerable households and producers, a World Bank press release stated on Wednesday.
• The World Bank is working with countries on the preparation of $12bn of new projects for the next 15 months to respond to the food security crisis

9. Russian soldier pleads guilty at Kyiv war crimes trial

• A Russian soldier pleaded guilty on May 18, 2022 to killing a Ukrainian civilian in the opening stages of Moscow`s invasion during the first war-crimes trial held since the war began.
• The hearing in a packed Kyiv courtroom is the first in a series of proceedings being brought by Ukraine against Russian servicemen who have been accused of carrying out atrocities by Kyiv and its Western allies.
• They are also a public test of Ukraine`s judicial system at a time when international institutions are simultaneously investigating abuses allegedly committed by Russian forces

10. US is flooded with guns, says Justice Dept

• US firearms makers produced over 139 million guns for the commercial market over the two decades from2000, including 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to a new government report.
• Another 71 million firearms were imported in the same period compared to just 7.5 million exported underscoring how the country is literally swimming in personal weapons that have stoked a surge in gun violence, murders and suicides, according to the Justice Department report.
• The report shows that while Americans have made favorites of semi-automatic assault rifles seen in many mass shootings, they have bought en masse the increasingly cheap, easy-to-use and accurate semi-automatic 9 mm pistols like those that most police now use