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Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (Feb 21 2023) for CSS

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Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs / News (Feb 21 2023) for CSS
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February 21, 2022: National Current Affairs MCQs

1. NA passes IMF-dictated finance supplementary bill

• Despite clearly lacking quorum, the National Assembly after a lackluster debate on February 20, 2023 passed the IMF-dictated Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2023, seeking to impose additional Rs170 billion taxes with minor amendments as Finance Minister Ishaq Dar blamed the mismanagement in the power sector and poor economic policies of the previous PTI regime mainly responsible for this economic burden on the masses.
• In his winding up speech on the finance (supplementary) bill, generally known as the mini-budget, the minister informed the house that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) initially wanted the government to raise more than Rs800bn from tax and non-tax measures and that it took him and his team 10 days to convince the Fund to bring it down to the minimum level of R170bn.
• Before presentation of the bill in the parliament on Feb 15, the government had already implemented Rs115bn worth of taxes through two notifications issued on Feb 14. Now, after a formal assent by President Arif Alvi, the remaining Rs55bn tax measures would come into effect

2. Alvi goes solo, fixes April 9 for KP, Punjab polls

• In a controversial move that was condemned by the government as `unconstitutional and illegal`, President Dr Arif Alvi on February 20, 2023 fixed April 9 as the date for elections to the provincial assemblies of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
• The development came hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) reaffirmed its decision not to consult the president on dates for elections to the two provincial assemblies.
• In a letter written to Chief Election Commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja, President Alvi said the date has been announced under Section 57(1) of the Elections Act. He asked the ECP to issue the election schedule in accordance with Section 57(2) of the Act.
• The president said that he was under oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution under Article 42 read with the third schedule of the Constitution

3. Guard injured as Pakistan, Afghan forces trade fire at Torkham

• Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged fire on the Torkham border on February 20, 2023, leaving a border guard injured.
• The Afghan Taliban on Sunday shut the border corssing, accusing Pakistan of reneging on its commitments.
• Irshad Momand, a district administration official in Landi Kotal told Dawn that Pakistan responded to `unprovoked` firing from the Afghan side.
• People living near the border crossing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirmed that a heavy exchange of fire continued for over an hour

4. ADB okays $5m for Balochistan`s flood-affected areas

• The Asian Development Bank has approved emergency assistance of $5 million for climate resilient seeds for staple crop cultivation, and women-led livelihood to meet basic household needs in flood-hit areas of Balochistan.
• The ADB financing will support rural farm households in four districts of Nasirabad division.
• The most flood-impacted area in Balochistan is Nasirabad division, which has six districts: Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Kacchi, Nasirabad, Sohbatpur, and Usta Muhammad.
• The aid will provide 60,000 out of a total of 188,000 households in the target districts with climate-resilient rice seed. The seeds will be sown on 54,000 hectares in the province

5. North Korea uses Pacific as `firing range`, fires two more missiles

• North Korea launched two more ballistic missiles off its east coast on February 20, 2023, with the powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un saying Pyongyang`s use of the Pacific as its `firing range` would depend on the behaviour of US forces.
• The launches come just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan`s west coast, prompting the United States to hold joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan on Sunday.
• North Korea`s state media confirmed it fired two projectiles from a multiple rocket launcher, aiming at targets 395 km and 337 km away, respectively.
• `The 600mm multiple rocket launcher mobilised in the firing… is a means of tactical nuclear weapon,` capable of `paralysing` an enemy airfield, state news agency KCNA said

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6. UNSC denounces Israel over settlements

• The UN Security Council issued a formal statement on February 20, 2023 denouncing Israel`s plan to expand settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, the first action the United States has allowed the body to take against its ally Israel in six years.
• Washington`s support for the presidential statement action the 15-member council has to agree by consensus came af ter the United Arab Emirates said it would not put a stronger draft resolution on the issue to a vote, a move that could have prompted a US veto.
• `The Security Council reiterates that continuing Israeli settlement activities are dangerously imperiling the viability of the two-State solution based on the 1967 lines,` the council said in the statement.

7. Assad visits Oman after quake, in first since war

• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visited Oman on February 20, 2023, his first official trip to the Gulf country in more than a decade of civil war at home, the Omani foreign ministry said.
• The one-day trip to meet with Sultan Haitham bin Tareg came two weeks after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Turkiye and northern Syria, killing more than 44,000 people across both countries.
• The quake sparked Arab outreach to the internationally-isolated Assad government, which was expelled from the Arab League after war broke out in 2011. Sultan Haitham and Assad `held official talks` at the royal palace in Muscat, Oman`s foreign ministry said in a statement. The Omani ruler `extended anew his condolences and sincere sympathy to the president and to the brotherly Syrian people for the victims of the devastating earthquake`, it added

8. Biden makes surprise trip to Kyiv before war anniversary

• US President Joe Biden on February 20, 2023 made a trip to Kyiv organised in strict secrecy, promising $500 million in fresh arms deliverles and `unwavering` American support ahead of the first anniversary of Russia`s invasion.
• Air raid sirens rang out across the capital at one point as Biden walked alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during what was the US president`s first visit to the country since Russian troops invaded on Feb 24, 2022.
• `One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,` Biden said, speaking alongside Zelensky at the Ukrainian president`s official residence, the Mariinsky Palace

9. Blinken reaffirms US pledge to deliver F-16 fighters to Turkiye

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on February 20, 2023 underlined Washington`s commitment to delivering F-16 jets to Turkiye as he wrapped up a visit during which he pledged solidarity with the earthquake hit country.
• It was Blinken`s first visit to Turkiye as secretary of state in a trip that was planned before a 7.8-magnitude earthquake on February 6, which has now killed nearly 45,000 people in Turkiye and Syria.
• Relations between the United States and Turkiye have been strained in recent years, but Washington has found Ankara helpful for its mediatory role between Russia and Ukraine since Moscow`s invasion last year

10. Sanctions-hit Russia displays combat-tested arms at UAE fair

• Russia showed up in force on February 20, 2023 at an arms fair in the United Arab Emirates, displaying combat-tested weapons up for export, including rifles and air defence systems.
• At an isolated pavilion at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi, Moscow`s state arms exporter Rosoboron export said it had more than 200 full-scale models of armament, ammunition and military gear.
• Russian armoured vehicles, attack helicopters and anti-aircraft missile systems were also on display at IDEX, which opened on Monday, as crippling Western sanctions push President Vladimir Putin to seek new markets for arms exports

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