CSS Current Affairs MCQs - 2020

Drone attacks claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels have caused fires at two major facilities run by Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil giant, disrupting output and exports.

The NSTP has been launched under the overarching theme of the ‘Innovate Pakistan’, a platform designed to synergies researchers, creators, investors, implementers and end users of technologies to transform innovative ideas into successful products and services while promulgating a culture of entrepreneurship in Pakistan. With over PKR 8 Billion being invested into the master plan, NSTP will emerge as an innovation powerhouse for businesses.

Commonwealth Day is a celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is held on the second Monday of March each year. The Commonwealth consists of 53 nations, including the colonizer Britain, plus 15 of its overseas territories. Sixteen of these states recognize the Queen as their monarch. Around 2.2 billion people are thought to celebrate this day, which represents about a third of the global population. In some parts of World the Commonwealth the day is a public holiday, but it is not currently a public holiday in Britain. This day was first celebrated in 1902 on the date of Queen Victoria’s birthday, January 22, and its original purpose was to be a ‘symbol of that unity of feeling... to those ideals of freedom, justice, and tolerance for which the British Empire [stood] throughout the world’. Empire Day wag renamed Commonwealth Day in 1958, and its date was changed to the second Monday in March in 1974.

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.’ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the cornerstone for modern day human rights within the framework of the United Nations.

Azakhel Pirpiai Dry Port is spread over 28 acres of land and developed at a cost of Rs. 510 million. It would be expanded to 64 acres with passage of time. Azakhel Dry Port, the largest in KP and second largest in the country, is situated in Pirpai area, at distance of eight kilometers from the main city. The dry port is connected to Peshawar through a road. The dry port will help in easy transportation of goods from Karachi Port go inside country and Afghanistan via road. Pakistan Railways has acquired 64 acres land for the dry port and work on 28 acres land has been completed in the first phase.

On 3 January 2020, a United States drone strike near Baghdad international Airport targeted and killed Iranian major general Qasem Soleimani of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). General Soleimani was Iran’s most powerful security and intelligence commander. He was the longtime leader of its Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, the foreign-facing branch of the country’s powerful security apparatus. He worked closely with Iraqi and Lebanese allies, nurturing proxy forces to form a Shiite axis of power throughout the region. His profile rose amid the fight to prop up President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and later the fight against the Islamic State. He had long been designated as a terrorist by the United States and Israel, but man’ in Iran lauded him as a hero.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union that were aimed at curtailing the manufacture of strategic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. The first agreements, known as SALT-I and SALT-II, were signed by the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1972 and 1979, respectively, and were intended to restrain the arms race in strategic (long-range or intercontinental) ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons. First suggested b U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, strategic arms limitation talks were agreed on by the two superpowers in the summer of 1968, and full-scale negotiations began in November 1969.

World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018. Total world military expenditure rose to $1822 billion in 2018, representing an increase of 2.6 per cent from 2017. New research from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) 2020 suggests that China is the second-largest arms producer in the world, behind the United States but ahead of Russia.

The Council is made of 47 Member States, which are elected by the majority of members of the General Assembly of the United Nations through direct and secret ballot. The General Assembly takes into account the candidate States’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights, as well as their voluntary pledges and commitments in this regard. The Council's Membership is based on equitable geographical distribution, Seats are distributed as follows:

1. African States: 13 seats

2. Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats

3. Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats

4. Western European and other States: 7 seats

5. Eastern European States: 6 seats

By secret ballot, the Assembly elected Armenia, Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Libya, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Namibia, Netherlands, Poland, Republic of Korea, Sudan and Venezuela. All 14 members will serve three year terms beginning on 01 January 2020.

The Chiefs of Defense Conference is an annual conference of the chiefs of defense of the nations in the Asia-Pacific region. These conferences bring together senior military leaders from regional nations to meet and discuss mutual security challenges, improve mutual relationships and foster security cooperation. Theme for 2019 Indo Pacific Chiefs of Defence conference: “Collaboration in a free and Open Indo — Pacific’’.

China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue was established in 2017 as a means of trilateral cooperation on issues of mutual interest and with a particular focus on cooperation in economic development and peace and security. The first meeting of the Dialogue was held in Beijing in 2017, second in Kabul in December 2018 and third on 7 September 2019 in Islamabad. The next round of talks will be held in Beijing in 2020.

The enactment of six regulatory reforms has landed Pakistan among the world’s top 10 business climate improvers, according to the World Bank Group’s Doing Business 2020 study. Due to a concerted improvement in business regulation, Pakistan climbed 28 places and rose to a rank of 108 in the global ease of Doing Business rankings this year from 136 the previous year.

30 members till March 2022

Indonesia is situated in southeast Asia. The nation is made up of more than 14,000 volcanic islands between Asia and Australia and has a population estimated at 255 million people. Sumatra, part of the Sunda Islands, is an island located in western Indonesia. Measuring just over 473,000 km square, Sumatra is the sixth largest island in the world.

The WTO's predecessor, the GATT, was established on a provisional basis after the Second World War in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation - notably the "Bretton Woods" institutions now known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The original 23 GATT countries were among over 50 which agreed a draft Charter for an International Trade Organization (ITO) - a new specialized agency of the United Nations. The Charter was intended to provide not only world trade disciplines but also contained rules relating to employment, commodity agreements, restrictive business practices, international investment and services. GATT came into effect on 1 January 1948 and was refined over eight rounds of negotiations, leading to the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which replaced GATT in 1995. GATT was focused on trade in goods and aimed t0 liberalize trade by reducing tariffs and removing quotas among member countries.

India decided not to participate in the 2016 SAARC which was to be held in Pakistan, after an Indian Army camp in Uri was attacked by terrorists. The SAARC summit of 2016 was finally cancelled as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Maldives followed India’s decision t0 boycott the summit.

The Nuclear Suppliers group (NSG) was formed in 1975 after, the explosion by India in May 1974 of a nuclear device. India declared this detonation for peaceful purposes although it was for military use. The NSG seeks to prevent similar future misuses.

The main aim is to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Moreover international trade and cooperation in the nuclear field is not hindered unjustly in the process.

To admit a new country in the group prerequisites are

• It must have the capability to supply the items and country should adhere to the guidelines of NSG, signatory of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).
• The country supports the international efforts towards non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and of their delivery vehicles.
• Enforcement of a legally based domestic export control system which gives effect to the commitment to act in accordance with the guidelines.
• Consensus of all member states which are presently 48 is mandatory for new entrant.

A rotating Chair has the overall responsibility for coordination of work and outreach activities. India had applied for the membership on 12 May 2016, closely followed by Pakistan on 19 May 2016. India is backed by the US, and a number of western countries.

Most of tie NSG major powers possessing nuclear weapons have also shown leniency towards India. In Seoul meeting held in June 2016, the NSG Chair, Ambassador Song of South Korea, and the previous Chair, Ambassador Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina, were willingly co-opted to pave the way for India. Draft ‘Exchange of Notes’ for non NPT applicants, also known as Grossi formula was ready in December 2016. It is heavily tilted towards granting the membership to India. On December 29, 2016 Pakistan Foreign Office rejected the Grossi formula on the grounds that it is discriminatory and unhelpful for advancing global non-proliferation objectives.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and entered into force on 1 January, 1994 in order to establish a trilateral trade bloc in North America. After U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2017, he sought to replace NAFTA with a new agreement, beginning negotiations with Canada and Mexico. In September 2018, the United States, Mexico, and Canada reached an agreement to replace NAFTA with the United States - Mexico - Canada Agreement (USMCA). NAFTA will remain in force, pending the ratification of the USMCA.