Daily Top-10 Current Affairs MCQs/News (Jun 24 2023) for CSS

Table of Contents

6. Rs259bn grants okayed days before fiscal year`s close

• The government was compelled to sanction about Rs259 billion in supplementary grants just two working days before the fiscal year ends, mainly because of massive expenditure overruns by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.
• The decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet`s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) that approved Rs250bn supplementary funds for the provinces besides allowing the export of 32,000 tonnes of sugar by selected mills in Sindh.
• Presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the committee approved six supplementary grants worth Rs258.74bn, including Rs250bn for provinces that claimed this would not increase the fiscal deficit

7. West ‘pledges’ $200bn for climate fight

• Multilateral development banks like the World Bank are expected to find $200 billion in extra firepower for low-income economies by taking on more risk, a move that may require wealthy nations to inject more cash, world leaders said on June 23, 2023.
• The leaders, gathered at a summit in Paris to thrash out funding for the climate transition and post-Covid debt burdens of poor countries, said their plans would secure billions of dollars of matching investment from the private sector

8. US SC allows Biden`s shift on immigration enforcement

• The US Supreme Court on June 23, 2023 gave President Joe Biden`s administration the green light to move ahead with guidelines shifting immigration enforcement toward countering public safety threats, handing him a victory on the politically contentious issue in a legal battle with Texas and Louisiana.
• The justices ruled 8-1 in favour of the administration`s appeal of a judge`s ruling that had halted US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) guidelines narrowing the scope of those who can be targeted by immigration agents for arrest and deportation. The Republican attorney`s general in those two states filed suit to challenge Biden`s policy.
• The justices determined that the two states did not have legal standing to bring the legal challenge

9. Taliban letter reinforces bar on women aid workers

• Taliban authorities in Kandahar province ordered female aid workers this week to stop work on a refugee project, according to an official letter, reinforcing rules against women working despite exemptions sought by some organisations.
• The letter between departments of the ministry for refugees in Kandahar, the Taliban`s historical heartland, said aid agencies had been in violation of the orders in work related to refugees in Spin Boldak, a town near the border with Pakistan.
• The letter was confirmed by a spokesman for the provincial governor

10. `India one of the most dangerous countries for media`

• India is the world`s largest democracy, yet it is one of the world`s most dangerous countries for the media, says a fullpage advertisement in The Washington Post, published during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s visit to the US capital this week.
• The ad, which highlights the problems journalists in India face, was jointly sponsored by the world`s leading media and rights advocacy groups, including the National Press Club, Washington, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, International Press Institute (IPI), International Women`s Media Foundation, James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, Reporters Committee, and WAN IFRA.
• It reminded the Biden administration, and the visitors from India, that `press freedom is under increasing threat` in India, `with journalists facing physical violence, harassment, bogus lawsuits, and hate campaigns on social media`