Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs/News (Feb 01 2023) for CSS

Table of Contents

6. Blinken meets Abbas, presses for two-state solution

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shuttled from Israel to the Palestinians` West Bank on January 31, 2023, appealing for an end to resurgent violence and reaffirming Washington`s backing for a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict.
• Blinken is urging calm on both sides after last week`s killing by a Palestinian gunman of seven people outside a Jerusalem synagogue and anger among Palestinians over actions by Israeli forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank.
• `That`s the only way that we can create conditions in which people`s sense of security will start to improve,` he told a news conference in Jerusalem

7. IMF okays $4.7bn for Bangladesh

• The International Monetary Fund has signed off on a $4.7 billion support loan package for Bangladesh to help it cope with soaring energy and food costs that have sparked huge protests.
• Bangladesh and other South Asian countries dependent on fossil fuel imports were hit hard by sharp cost-of-living increases following Russia`s invasion of Ukraine.
• Nationwide blackouts of up to 13 hours a day hit the electricity grid last year and the government extended food relief for households unable to afford rice and other staples. The IMF package makes $476 million immediately available to the government but commits it to tax hikes and bringing down the number of bad loans in the banking sector

8. Hungary most corrupt EU member, says TI

• Hungary slid to bottom place among EU nations in a corruption index, with graft watchdog Transparency International on January 31, 2023 alleging misuse by `political elites` of state and bloc funds.
• Hungary has been embroiled in a long running spat with Brussels over corruption and rule of law concerns that have led to the freezing of billions of euros of bloc funding. In a bid to unlock the funds, Budapest committed to a range of legal and anti-corruption reforms, including the set-up of a watchdog that includes a Transparency International staff member

9. Biden to discuss weapon requests with Zelensky

• US President Joe Biden said on January 31, 2023 that he will be discussing Ukraine`s latest requests for advanced weaponry to defend against Russia with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• `We`re going to talk,` Biden told reporters, speaking the morning after he answered with an emphatic `no` when asked at the White House whether he favored sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
• The United States is by far the biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine, where the Russian invasion is now approaching the one-year mark. A coalition of other Western countries is also sending arms, ranging from rifles to armored vehicles and artillery

10. Britain only G7 nation to see economy shrinking

• Britain is the only Group of Seven nation to have suffered a cut to its 2023 economic growth outlook in International Monetary Fund forecasts published on January 31, 2023, adding to pressure on Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt to come up with a growth plan.
• Britain`s flagging economy now looks set to shrink by 0.6 per cent this year, a sharp downgrade from previously expected growth of 0.3pc in the IMF`s last forecast in October.
• All other G7 economies are predicted to grow this year, mostly at a stronger pace than the IMF forecast three months ago