Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (October 06, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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October 06, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Trade deficit surges 19.5pc in September

• Pakistan`s trade deficit widened by 19.49 per cent to $2.391 billion in September, compared to $2.001bn during the same month last year, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on October 5, 2020.
• The consistent decrease in imports during the last fiscal year and in the first two months of current fiscal year helped government manage external account despite a downward trend in exports.
• However, the PBS data showed that imports during September witnessed a double-digit increase. As a result, the trade deficit between July-September widened to $5.804bn, up 2.02pc from $5.689bn

2. Pakistan ranked top in Asia: Study

• Pakistan ranked top in Asia having the highest response to social protection amid COVID-19 crises at a global conference hosted by the International Policy Center for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) on October 5, 2020.
• This new study was conducted by UNICEF, UN and IPC-IG to assess social protection response in Asia focusing on an extensive mapping and overview of how social protection measures were deployed by the countries in Asia and the Pacific region in the response to the COVID-19 crisis, said a news release

3. Waqar Masood made SAPM for Revenue

• The government October 5, 2020 appointed Dr Waqar Masood as Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) for Revenue with the status of minister of state.
• Waqar Masood had retired as secretary finance in January 2017 on reaching the age of 60 years. In April 2020, the government had included Waqar Masood in Special Cell/Think Tank, which was constituted in Finance Division, to continuously evaluate evolving situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, identify issues, engage with stakeholders, provide data/input for decision making and suggest interventions to help with course. Later, in September this year, Masood was appointed as member Monetary and Fiscal Policies Coordination Board

4. US-British trio win medicine Nobel for Hepatitis C discovery

• Americans Harvey Alter and Charles Rice together with Briton Michael Houghton won the Nobel Medicine Prize on October 5, 2020 for the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus, paving the way for a cure, the Nobel jury said.
• The three were honoured for their `decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major global health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world,` the jury said.
• The World Health Organisation estimates there are around 70 million Hepatitis C infections globally, causing around 400,000 deaths each year

5. Afghan president arrives in Qatar amid peace talks

• Afghanistan`s President Ashraf Ghani arrived in Qatar for a bilateral meeting with top leaders but will not hold a meeting with Taliban officials even as peace talks are under way in the country`s capital Doha, officials said on October 6, 2020.
• Negotiations between the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban that started last month are aimed at the warring sides agreeing to a reduction of violence and a possible new power-sharing agreement in Afghanistan.

6. WHO believes 10pc of world has had Covid-19

• The WHO estimated on Monday that 10 percent of the world has been infected by the new coronavirus way more than has been recorded as it mulled speeding up internal reforms.
• To date, more than 35 million cases of Covid-19 have been registered worldwide, including some 1.04 million who have died, according to a tally based on official sources.
• But the World Health Organisation now estimates that around a tenth of the planet`s 7.8 billion or so people have already been infected since the virus first surfaced in China late last year more than 20 times the official count

7. Israel under diplomatic fire over sale of arms to Azerbaijan

• A major supplier of arms to Azerbaijan, Israel has come under diplomatic fire from Armenia over the struggle between the Caucasus neighbours in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh.
• Armenia, a country long-seen as close to Israel`s nemesis Iran, only opened an embassy in Tel Aviv on September 17, but Yerevan recalled its ambassador barely two weeks later, citing weapons sales to Azerbaijan

8. Dubai Safari Park reopens after two-year refurbishment

• Dubai`s Safari Park reopened its doors on October 5, 2020 after a two-year expansion, as the emirate seeks to boost its hard-hit tourism sector amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• The 119-hectare (294-acre) attraction, which is built on the site of a former waste dump, first opened its gates to the public in December 2017, but abruptly closed five months later for `park improvements`.
• After the addition of a variety of animals and plants and a shift in management, the park is open for business again.

9. Libya peace talks open in Berlin on optimistic note

• Germany`s foreign minister on October 6, 2020 voiced `cautious optimism` over efforts to end the conflict in Libya, as top diplomats sought to foster a peace drive given new impetus by a series of talks in recent weeks.
• UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres joined German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, other top diplomats and representatives of neighbouring countries at the meeting in Berlin. `We believe that there is now a window in which much has become possible that was not possible before. I think we must seize that,` Maas said.

10. Ali Naqvi inducted into ICC panel of match referees

• The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has pulled back its best match referee Mohammad Anis to induct former Test opener Ali Naqvi into the ICC Panel of International Match Referees.
• `Former Test opener Ali Naqvi is the only new inclusion as he joins Prof Javed Malik in the ICC Panel of International Match Referees, while Ahsan Raza, Asif Yaqoob, Rashid Riaz Waqar and Shozab Raza have been retained in the ICC Panel of International Umpires.

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October 2020:
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September 2020:
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August 2020:
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July 2020:
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June 2020:
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