Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs/News (July 15 2023) for CSS

Table of Contents

6. Russia shows no intent to change tack, says Blinken after Jakarta forum

• Russia shows no sign of changing direction in its war on Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 14, 2023, as foreign ministers from 24 countries met in Indonesia`s capital for Southeast Asia`s annual security-focused gathering.
• Top diplomats from China, the United States and Russia were among those who travelled to Jakarta for the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), where broad-based agendas are typically hijacked by geopolitical flare-ups.
• Speaking to reporters after the talks concluded, Blinken said there was no indication that Russia was willing to engage in meaningful diplomacy on the war, which Moscow calls a `special military operation` to `denazify` its neighbour

7. Russian legislators okay bill banning gender change

• Russian lawmakers in the lower house of parliament on July 14, 2023 voted overwhelmingly in favour of new legislation that would make gender reassignment illegal, further cementing an ultra-conservative, anti-Western drive in society.
• `The State Duma banned gender reassignment in Russia,` the lower house said in a statement, adding that all factions had voted to introduce the new laws `unanimously`.
• `This decision will protect our citizens and our children,` Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said in a separate statement on social media

8. UN waits for Moscow`s answer as deadline for grain deal looms

• United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres is still waiting for a response from Russian President Vladimir Putin on a proposal to extend a deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain beyond Monday, a UN spokesperson said on July 14, 2023.
• Guterres wrote to Putin on Tuesday asking him to extend the Black Sea deal in return for connecting a subsidiary of Russia`s Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the international payment system SWIFT, sources said.
• The last ship travelling under the Black Sea deal is loading its cargo at Ukraine`s Odesa port. Russia has not agreed to register any new ships since June 27 and the initiative will expire on Monday if Moscow does not agree to extend it.

9. India launches cut-price moon mission in second attempt

• India launched a rocket on July 14, 2023 carrying an unmanned spacecraft to land on the Moon, its second attempt to do so as its cut-price space programme seeks to reach new heights.
• The heavyweight LVM3-M4 rocket lifted off from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh carrying the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, as thousands of enthusiasts clapped and cheered.
• `Chandrayaan-3… has begun its journey to the Moon. Health of the spacecraft is normal,` the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on Twitter

10. After Holy Quran outrage, Sweden allows Torah burning

• Swedish police on July 14, 2023 said they had granted a permit for a protest which would include burning holy texts outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, sparking condemnation from Israel and Jewish organisations.
• The controversial protest, scheduled for Saturday, comes weeks after a man set fire to pages of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm`s main mosque leading to widespread outrage and condemnations around the world.
• The demonstration would include burning of the Torah and the Bible, was in response to the Holy Quran burning protest and would be an expression in support of freedom of speech, according to the application to police