Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (September 22, 2020) for CSS, PMS

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September 22, 2020: National / International Current Affairs

1. Consensus on GB`s provisional status as province

• In a significant development amid political tensions in the country, the government and the opposition almost reached a consensus on granting `provisional provincial status` to strategically-located Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) while agreeing to hold consultations on the issue after the elections of its legislative assembly later this year, it emerged on September 21, 2020.
• According to sources, the government and the opposition had discussed the move prior to the meeting of the political leadership with the army chief

2. Supreme Court rejects Faisalabad Commissioner’s report

• The Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 21, 2020 dismissed the report submitted by the Faisalabad Commissioner regarding establishment of petrol pumps on state land. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan heard the case. During the course of proceedings, the court rejected the Commissioner’s report and summoned him to appear before the court in person on next date of hearing.
• The court sought reports on encroachments in Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Chiniot. The court also sought the master plan of Faisalabad, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Chiniot

3. Textile exports fall 15pc in August

• Pakistan`s textile and clothing exports declined by over 15 per cent year-on-year to $1.007 billion in August, compared to $1.19bn in the corresponding month of 2019, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed on September 21, 2020.
• The export proceeds dipped in the second month of current fiscal year after posting growth in the first month. As a result of Covid-19, the demand for country`s exports has collapsed during the last five months

4. India threatening military aggression, Pakistan tells OIC group

• Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has alerted the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir that India has intensified its belligerent rhetoric against Pakistan, including threats of military aggression.
• The OIC Contact Group met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 20, 2020 to discuss the worsening human rights situation in India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir

5. $1m ADB grant to build energy-efficient centralised air-conditioning systems

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved 1 million US dollar support to build disease-resistant centralised air-conditioning (CAC) systems in developing member countries (DMCs).
• This will help to improve energy efficiency and mitigate risks of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and other airborne viruses in public buildings

6. Pakistan got $3b world grants, loans during pandemic

• Pakistan has received more than $3 billion grants and loans from various international donors and countries during the Corona pandemic.
• Various international donors, countries have pledged total of $3.794 billion budgetary support loans, project financing loans and grants during the COVID-19 pandemic, out of which more than $3 billion have so far been received, officials of the Economic Affair Division informed the Senate Standing Committee on Planning Development and Special Initiative here yesterday. The Senate committee was informed that under budgetary support loans Pakistan received a pledge of $2636 million from International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The entire committed amount of $2636 million under the budgetary support loans has been received and distributed

7. 14 Afghan security men killed in clashes with Taliban

• At least 14 Afghan soldiers and police were killed during intense fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan, officials said on September 21, 2020, as unabated violence gripped the country despite ongoing peace talks.
• Taliban fighters launched an overnight assault late on Sunday on several Afghan security force positions in the southern province of Uruzgan, inflicting a heavy toll that left Afghan troops vulnerable to being overrun

8. Taj Mahal reopens even as India`s coronavirus cases soar

• India`s famed Taj Mahal and some schools reopened on September 21, 2020 as authorities pressed ahead with kickstarting the nation`s coronavirus-battered economy despite soaring infection numbers.
• India, home to 1.3 billion people and some of the world`s most crowded cities, has recorded more than 5.4 million Covid-19 cases, second only to the United States which it could overtake soon

9. Eight Indian MPs suspended after parliament protests

• Eight Indian lawmakers were suspended from parliament on September 21, 2020 for `unruly behaviour` after opposition to contentious new f arming legislation sparked some of the most chaotic scenes in recent years.
• MPs in the upper house had on Sunday torn up copies of the legislation, broken microphones, hurled copies of the parliamentary rulebook and staged a sit-in protest once proceedings were adjourned after a tumultuous day

10. New Zealand commits over 18 mln USD investment in global vaccine facility

• The New Zealand government has committed to investing 27 million NZ dollars (18.3 million U.S. dollars) in COVID-19 vaccine development through the global COVAX Facility, Deputy Prime minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Monday.
• “The COVAX Facility is a key part of our COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy to obtain safe and effective vaccines. It allows us to invest in a high-quality, diversified portfolio of COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
• This will ensure we are spreading risk and keeping our options open,” Peters said in a statement. New Zealand expressed interest in joining the COVAX Facility in July, which allowed the country to support international efforts to shape how the facility works, he said.

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