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April 21, 2023: National Current Affairs MCQs
1. Pakistan places order for first oil cargo from Russia
• Pakistan has placed its first order for discounted Russian crude oil under a deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow, State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik said, with one cargo to dock at the port of Karachi in May.
• Pakistan`s purchase gives Russia a new outlet, adding to Moscow`s growing sales to India and China, as it redirects oil from western markets because of the Ukraine conflict.
• As a long-standing Western ally and the arch-rival of neighbouring India, which historically is closer to Moscow, analysts say the crude deal would have been difficult for Pakistan to accept, but its financing needs are great.
• Discounted crude offers respite as Pakistan faces an acute balance-of-payments crisis, risking a default on its debt obligations. The central bank currently has some $4.4 billion in foreign exchange reserves, scarcely enough to cover four weeks of controlled imports
2. President Alvi writes to PM on legality of caretaker govts
• President Arif Alvi has questioned the legality of caretaker governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which have crossed their constitutional limit of 90 days.
• The president on April 20, 2023 forwarded a letter written by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry to PM Shehbaz Sharif, asking him to look into the issues raised in the letter.
• `The president has requested the prime minister to address the issues raised by the former federal minister t o uphold the Constitution and strengthen democracy,` the Presidency said in a tweet
3. Bilawal to become first FM to visit India in over a decade
• Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari will be the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit India in nearly 12 years, as the Foreign Office confirmed on April 20, 2023 that he would attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Goa next month.
• This is also the first time since 2016 that the most senior Foreign Office representative would visit India.
• Mr Bhutto-Zardari will be leading the Pakistan delegation to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which will take place in the Indian city of Goa on May 4 and 5, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch announced at a weekly media briefing
4. SBP reserves jump by $394m
• Foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $394 million during the week ended on April 14, reported the central bank on April 20, 2023.
• The SBP reserves have been showing some improvement following the inflow of a $1.3bn loan from China in three instalments in recent weeks.
• Pakistan depends largely on China for commercial and non-commercial loans and currently owes the highest amount of $30bn to Beijing.
• Being the biggest trade partner, China contributed more than 30pc to the overall foreign direct investment inflows Pakistan received during 9MFY23, though the balance of trade is largely on the Chinese side
5. Rich-poor gap in health coverage among women has halved: WHO
• The Health Inequality Data Repository (HIDR), launched by World Health Organisation (WHO), shows that in just a decade, the rich-poor gap in health service coverage among women, newborns and children in low and middle income countries has nearly halved.
• The report also revealed that in these countries eliminating wealth related inequality in under-five mortality could help save the lives of 1.8 million children.
• In high-income countries, hypertension is more common among men than women and obesity rates are similar among men and women. By contrast, in low-income countries, hypertension rates are similar among women and men, but obesity rates are higher among women than men
