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Day by Day Current Affairs (January 18, 2018) | MCQs for CSS, PMS, NTS

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 January 18, 2018 (Day by Day Current Affairs)

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  1. Success eludes intra-Afghan peace talks in Islamabad
    • A delegation from the Qatar Office of the Afghan Taliban arrived in Islamabad last week to kick-start the long-stalled intra-Afghan peace talks, but failed to break the ice
    • The delegation, which included Shababuddin Dilawar and Malawi Rasool, came from Qatar to explore prospects of resuming talks
    • `They are sticking to their past stance. They want to negotiate with the US through the Qatar Office, but refused to negotiate with the Afghan government
    • While Pakistan supported and encouraged the Taliban to resume talks in Afghanistan, it avoided engaging with the Taliban in the wake of current strained relations with Washington
  2. State Bank launches systemic risk survey
    • State Bank of Pakistan on January 17, 2018 launched Systemic Risk Survey (SRS) to gauge the views of market participants and experts about various existing and emerging risks, that potentially undermine stability of the financial system
    • The survey aims at evaluatingthe respondents`conHdence in the stability of the financial system as a whole and banking system in particular
  3. Former CIA agent arrested with secret information
    • US authorities had arrested a former CIA agent, Hong Kong resident Jerry Chun Shing Lee, after discovering he had an unauthorised notebook that had the identities of undercover US spies
    • Lee, a naturalized US citizen also known as Zhen Cheng Li, was arrested after he arrived at JFK International Airport in New York
    • The Department of Justice said Lee, 53, grew up in the United States and served in the US Army before joining the Central Intelligence Agency as a case officer in 1994.
    • He served in unnamed overseas locations and left the agency in 2007, later apparently taking a job in Hong Kong
  4. PM announces plans for foreign assets amnesty scheme
    • Prime Minister Shahid Khagan Abbasi announced on January 17, 2018 the government`s intentions toofferanamnestyschemeforPakistanis to declare their foreign assets, and reduce tax rates to broaden the tax base and address challenges on the external and fiscal fronts, ahead of next year`s budget and the upcoming general elections
    • The government was working on a scheme to allow Pakistanis to declare their assets abroad
    • Another way could be the use of technology, with the help of the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to identify prospective taxpayers to address the country`s fiscal challenges
    • Former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain also advised the government to follow the Indonesian example, which materialised $30-40 billion by offering an amnesty scheme to attract people to declare their foreign assets
  5. Saudi Arabia announces $2b bailout for Yemen govt
    • Saudi Arabia announced on January 17, 2018 it would transfer $2 billion to Yemen’s central bank, following desperate calls for a financial rescue from the beleaguered government it has supported militarily for nearly three years
    • The bailout aims to curb the fall in value of the Yemeni riyal, which has plummeted as the war between the Saudi-backed government and Huthi Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north has dragged on
    • The riyal currently trades at 500 to the dollar, down from around 215 before the war, a serious depreciation for a country that relies heavily on imports of basic foodstuffs
  6. Brazil great Ronaldinho retires from football
    • Ronaldinho, `the ever-smiling magician` of Barcelona, as described by his former club, has ended his professional career
    • Ronaldinho played his last professional match in 2015 for Brazilian club Fluminense
    • Ronaldinho`s decorated career also includes one World Cup title (2002), one Champions League victory (2006) and two La Liga titles with Barca, and two FIFA world player of the year awards (2004 and 2005).
    • He played 101 matches and scored 35 goals for Brazil from 1997 to 2013
  7. US freezes funding for Palestinian refugees
    • The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned it faced its worst funding crisis ever after the White House froze tens of millions of dollars in contributions, a move Palestinian leaders decried as cruel and blatantly biased
    • The agency provides Palestinian refugees and their descendants across the Middle East with services including schools and medical care, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long accused it of hostility toward Israel and called for its closure.
    • Some five million Palestinians are eligible for its services. The United States held back $65 million that had been destined for the agency, two weeks after President Donald Trump threatened future payments
    • The United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA)
  8. Import of fresh fruit, vegetables from Afghanistan banned
    • The Pakistan Customs and Food Department banned import of food items from Afghanistan and stopped loaded truck at Torkham border
    • The Customs officials put forward seven conditions for importing fresh and dry fruits, cooking oil and ghee from Afghanistan
  9. Tensions grow: China’s aircraft carrier sails by Taiwan
    • China’s sole operational aircraft carrier passed through the Taiwan Strait on January 17, 2018, the island’s defence ministry said, as Beijing steps up pressure on its democratic rival
    • It comes weeks after Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen warned against what she called China’s “military expansion”- the increase of air and naval drills around the island since she came to power in May 2016
  10. Internet surveillance; US Senate advances bill to renew NSA’s programme
    • The US Senate advanced a bill to renew the National Security Agency’s warrantless internet surveillance programme, as a final push by privacy advocates to derail the measure came up one vote short
    • The vote marked a disappointing end to a years-long effort by a coalition of liberal Democrats and libertarian-leaning Republicans to redefine the scope of US intelligence collection in the wake of the 2013 disclosures of classified surveillance secrets by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
    • The legislation just cleared the procedural 60-vote threshold required to limit debate in the Senate and was expected to earn the simple majority required to officially pass through the chamber sometime later this week

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