Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (October 21, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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October 21, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. SBP governor inaugurates first `urban forest` project

• State Bank Governor Dr Reza Baqir on October 20, 2020 inaugurated the first Polyculture Forest project, envisaging an `urban forest` on 5,000 square metres of land on the premises of Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, Karachi.
• Under the project, about 15,000 saplings of 45 indigenous species will be planted using the Miyawaki method, a technique introduced by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki which helps build dense native forests.
• The method ensures growth of plants 10 times faster and results in 30 times denser than usual plantation

2. Sindh top cops defer leaves for 10 days

• Sindh Police Inspector General Mushtaq Mahar on October 20, 2020 announced to defer his own leave application along with several other high-ranking police officers in the “larger national interest.”
• The provincial police chief announced the decision on social media after getting assurances from Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari that a transparent inquiry would be conducted into the Karachi incident involving the arrest of PML-N leader Muhammad Safdar.
• The police also asked the other officers under his command to set aside leave applications and continue duties and wait till the conclusion of the inquiry

3. 40pc children under five years stunted in Pakistan: report

• As many as four out of 10 under five children are stunted in Pakistan while nearly 13pc of children between the age of two and five years suffer from some form of functional disability.
• One in every eight adolescent girls and one in every five adolescent boys are underweight. Moreover, over half of the adolescent girls in Pakistan are anemic.
• Women of reproductive age also bear the burden of malnutrition and 14pc of them are undernourished, though it reflects an improvement compared to 18pc in 2011. Overweight and obesity has increased from 28pc in 2011 to 38pc in 2018.

4. Circular debt jumps 30pc to Rs2.15tr in FY20

• The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on October 20, 2020 acknowledged that the circular debt has crossed Rs2 trillion mark with an increase of more than 30 per cent in the last fiscal year.
• In its `State of the Industry Report 2020`, the power regulator said that the circular debt has reached Rs2.15tr by June this year from Rs1.6tr in June 2019.
• The report said that Covid-19related issues have also contributed to the rise in circular debt as the pandemic has led to an increase in theft of electricity and non-payment of electricity bills.

5. Offices of occupied Kashmir`s prominent English newspaper sealed

• Offices of a prominent English daily in India-held Kashmir have been sealed by the administration.
• The editor of Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin, said in a tweet on October 20, 2020 night that the administration had sealed the offices of her newspaper in Srinagar `without any due process of cancellation and eviction`, just like she herself was evicted from her apartment, which was located in the Jammu region.
• According to Scroll.in, Ms Bhasin had been evicted from her apartment two months ago. In her tweet last night, Ms Bhasin said that her `valuables were handed over to the `new allottee“ by the Estates Department when she was evicted.

6. UN rights chief slams India over arrests, restrictions on NGOs

• UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet voiced her dismay on October 20, 2020 at the arrest of activists in India and restrictions to the work of non-governmental organisations.
• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights appealed to New Delhi to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs. Bachelet regretted what she called the application of vaguely worded laws that constrain NGOs` activities and restrict foreign funding.

7. US slaps Google with antitrust suit

• The US government filed a blockbuster lawsuit on October 20, 2020 accusing Google of maintaining an `illegal monopoly` in online search and advertising in the country`s biggest antitrust case in decades and opening the door to a potential breakup of the Silicon Valley titan.
• The politically-charged case, which could take years to play out, draws new battle lines between the US government and Big Tech with potentially major implications for the sector.

8. Turkey evacuates large military post in Syria

• Turkish troops in northwestern Syria have been evacuating one of their largest military bases in the area, which was surrounded by Syrian government troops for months, activists said on October 20, 2020.
• There was no immediate comment from Turkish officials.
• Activists and opposition media platforms reported the military evacuation, posting footage and photos of Turkish trucks and equipment driving north of Morek.

9. Israel, UAE agree to visa-free travel as ties deepen

• Israel and the United Arab Emirates agreed on October 20, 2020 to visa-free travel, an unprecedented arrangement between Israel and an Arab state, signed after the first ever official UAE delegation landed in Tel Aviv.
• The visit, hailed as a `glorious day for peace` by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, came after Israel and the Gulf state agreed to normalise ties in a deal inked at the White House last month.

10. World champion Naser wins doping case on technicality

• The women`s 400-metre world champion has avoided being banned for a doping rule violation on a technicality, according to a ruling published on October 20, 2020.
• The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said the charges against Bahraini runner Salwa Eid Naser for missed tests and filing failures were dismissed by an independent tribunal. Naser, who was born in Nigeria but competes for Bahrain, will keep her title and has been cleared to compete at next year`s Tokyo Olympics. The 22-year-old Naser ran the fastest women`s 400 since 1985 to win the world title last year in Doha.

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