Misc. Test – 06 – CSS Exam Desk

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, Rahul Dev from Tharparkar, the largest district in Sindh province, was recruited as a general duty pilot officer in the Pakistan Air Force. (in May 2020)
The Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine, who created one of the most famous opening riffs in 1960s pop music, has died due to connecticut at the age of 77 on January 29, 2021.
The 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship was held in Egypt from 13 to 31 January, 2021. Champions, this time: Denmark (2nd title)
The sixth edition of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) 2020, originally scheduled for September 2-5, was canceled and will be held next year in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The EEF was established by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2015. It is held annually since 2015 in the Russian port city of Vladivostok.
The assassination of Jamal Khashoggi—a Saudi dissident, journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, former editor of daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia named Al-Watan and former general manager and editor-in-chief of the Al-Arab News Channel—occurred on 2nd October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. He was living in self-imposed exile in Virginia. Time magazine collectively named Jamal Khashoggi and other killed and imprisoned journalists as its “person of the year” for 2018. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved of an operation to capture or kill dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018, according to a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment released on 11th February, 2021.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported that the year 2020 the worst year on record. The international arrivals dropped by 74 percent. (January 2021)
The 2023 Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup will be the 13th edition, scheduled to be hosted by India during October and November 2023. This will be the first time the competition is held completely in India.
The 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup was the seventh tournament. It was held in Australia between 21st February and 8th March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women’s Day. Hosted by Australia, it won the tournament, beating India by 85 runs, to win their fifth title.
Brazil’s National Museum in Rio de Janeiro reduced its 200-year-old history to ashes on 3rd September, 2018.
Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, was killed on May 25th, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.
British Pakistani Raffia Arshad is the first ever hijab-wearing deputy district judge in the United Kingdom. (May 2020).
The Rajya Sabha (or Council of States is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India) on December 11th, 2019 passed the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act with as many as 125 MPs voting in favour of it and 99 against it. On December 9th, 2019, the CAB Bill was tabled and passed in the Lok Sabha (or House of the People, is the lower house)’s Winter Session. President Ram Nath Kovind signed it on December 12, 2019. The CAB amends the 64-year-old Indian Citizenship law in India.
The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. Novak Djokovic, a Serbian professional tennis player, won it.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on 26th January, 2021. Mario Draghi formally sworn in as Italy’s prime minister on February 13th, 2021. Sergio Mattarella has been serving as the 12th and current President of the Italian Republic, since February 2015.
On 25th March 2020, suicide bombers and assailants armed with guns attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (a Sikh shrine) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Asma Jahangir is one of the recipients of this year’s prestigious UN Human Rights Prize. She was former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The prize was awarded posthumously to Jahangir who died on 11 February 2018 (aged 66) due brain haemorrhage in Lahore.
Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Clean Green Pakistan Movement (CGPM) 5-year campaign on 13th October 2018.
The governments of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan will revive a transnational rail service linking Istanbul, Tehran and Islamabad in 2021. The roots of this grand project can be found in the ITI Container Train Service launched in 2009 under the umbrella of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
The world’s longest sea bridge – Hong Kong-Zhuhai bridge- was opened in October 2018, after nine years of construction. The bridge spans 55km (34 miles) and connects Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.
President Arif Alvi launched a two-week drive against measles in the country on October 15th, 2018.
The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel was opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work. The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel provides a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe.
In Russia, thousands of people took part in unauthorised protests to demand the release of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on January 31st, 2021.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 10th, 2020 inaugurated the Azakhel dry port, completed at a cost of Rs510 million, in Nowshera district.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on December 9th, 2020 inaugurated Air Sial, the third private airline of Pakistan, which is being operated by Sialkot’s business community.
Pakistan and Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 5th, 2020 signed a bilateral readmission agreement paving the way for repatriation of nearly 3,000 illegal Pakistani migrants. The agreement was signed in Islamabad during a two-day visit of the Chairman of the Tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Sefik Dzaferovic.
Nisha Rao, 28, is Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer. The parliament just passed a law in 2018 recognising transgender people as equal citizen and protecting them from discrimination and violence.
Vietnam ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected as the president for 3rd 5-year term on 31st January, 2021. Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has been serving as the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Pakistan has been ranked as a 4th Generation Regulator (G4) by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), becoming the only country in South Asia to have achieved the status. Out of the 38 economies in Asia-Pacific, only eight per cent states have managed to achieve G4 status. In the ITU report titled “Global ICT Regulatory Outlook 2020 (GIRO)”, Pakistan scored 88 out of 100. (Reported in April, 2020)
On 29th June 2020, Balochistan Liberation Army militants attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi with grenades and by firing indiscriminately. At least three security guards and a police sub-inspector were killed, while seven people were injured during the attack.
11 coal miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community were executed by unidentified attackers in the Mach coal field area in Bolan district, some 100km from Quetta. The attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.
Sindh became the first province in the country to make phase-wise Covid-19 vaccination plan on December 18th, 2020.
‘Women Power Run’, the first-ever all women five-km race organised by the Born2Run Pakistan in Karachi’s DHA on December 6th, 2020.
Bill introduced by Republican Congressman Andy Biggs on the first day of the 117th Congress to terminate designation of Pakistan as Major non-NATO ally. (4th January, 2021).
South Korea has frozen over $9 billion an Iranian funds under the US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program (reported on January 5th, 2021).
The world’s oldest python’s fossils found in the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Messel Pit’ in Germany and are about 47 million years old. (Reported on 16th December, 2021)
Pakistan, 3 other countries (Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh) need $2.8bn humanitarian response funding, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) on 2nd January, 2021.
Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation, founded in 1849 and headquartered in New York, United States. India’s drug regulator on January 1st, 2021 approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Pakistan approved payment of $28.7 million in damages to the UK-based asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC on 2nd January, 2021.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on January 1st, 2021 approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use. It is the first vaccine to be added to the UN organisations` Emergency Use Listing (EUL). The UK becomes first country to use AstraZeneca vaccine.
Pakistan`s captain in all three formats, Babar Azam, was declared as Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year and also clinched the title of White-ball Cricketer of the Year 2020 as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on January 1st, 2021.
The acting captain of Pakistan Test team in New Zealand, Mohammad Rizwan was declared as Test Cricketer of the Year 2020.
In the women`s section, all rounder Aliya Riaz was named as the Women`s Cricketer of the Year while 19-year-old Fatima Sana was chosen as the Women`s Emerging Cricketer of the Year.
The 17-year-old Test fast bowler Naseem Shah won the Emerging International Cricketer of the Year.
The Sindh government for the first time proposed Rs2,000 per 40kg price for 2020-21 for wheat.
New Zealand grabbed the number one position in the ICC Test rankings for 2021 for the first time in history after defeating Pakistan by an innings and 176 runs in the second Test in Christchurch, on 6th January, 2021. Kiwis became the sixth country in the past 10 years to be ranked number one in Test cricket.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been named as the ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Decade. He has an incredible record to date in the format, having amassed 89 wickets in 48 games.
India’s captain Virat Kohli on December 28th, 2021 headlined the ICC top honours for the decade, winning the Sir Garfield Sobers award for the best male cricketer of the past 10 years. Kohli was also picked for the ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.
Australia has changed its national anthem in a bid to reflect 60,000 years of Indigenous history on 1st January 2021.
The number of people killed in large commercial airplane crashes in 2020 stood at 299 worldwide, even as the number of crashes fell by more than 50 per cent, a Dutch viation consulting firm To70 reported on January 1st, 2021. More than half of all deaths in the To70 review were the 176 people killed in January 2020 when a Ukrainian plane was shot down in Iranian airspace.
Emma Alam, a young girl from Pakistan won the 29th World Memory Championships global finals, beating more than 300 competitors from all over the world. The World Memory Championships was founded in 1991 by world-renowned Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene.
The 41st annual Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit was held on 5th January 2021 in the Saudi city of Al-Ula. This is the tenth time for the Kingdom to host the Gulf summits. Dr Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf from Kuwait is the secretary general of the GCC on 12th February, 2020. Saudi Arabia restored full ties between Qatar and embargo nations after three years. Qatar was also a GCC member state, along with Kuwait and Oman, which remained neutral in the spat. In June 2017, Saudi Arabia and its allies, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Qatar and imposed a naval, air and land blockade on the country. The quartet accused Doha of being too close to Iran and supporting terrorist groups.
In 1981, the GCC was established by charter. It is made up of six member states – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar – and headquartered in Riyadh. Qatar hosts the region’s largest US military base and Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty, making permanent a nearly 20-year freeze on capital punishment in the Central Asian country on January 2nd, 2021.
South Sudan regained its right to vote in the UN General Assembly on 11th February, 2021 after paying part of its debts to the organization. Juba had to pay a minimum of $22,804 dollars to regain the possibility of participating in a ballot.
During the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, he was acquitted by the Senate on February 13, 2021, with 57 senators voting in favour of conviction and 43 voting against. The impeachment began on February 9, 2021.
Gen Min Aung Hlaing is a Burmese army general who has served as Chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar since February 2021, a position which makes him the country’s de facto leader. He has also been the commander-in-chief of Defence Services since March 2011.
On January 31, 2021, Stardust 1.0 was launched from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US, a former military base, becoming the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel, which is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.
Under a February 2020 deal, US forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 1st, 2021 in exchange for counter-terrorism guarantees. There are currently 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, along with 6,346 U.S. contractors. New Zealand on February 16th, 2021 announced that it will withdraw its last remaining troops from Afghanistan by May 2021, following a 20-year deployment.
Jacinda Ardern has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. She declared victory in New Zealand’s general elections on 17th October, 2020, securing a second leadership term. New Zealand usually has a general election every 3 years.
The Asia Pacific Advanced Networks (APAN) 51st meeting – APAN51 was hosted by the Pakistan Education & Research Network & Higher Education Commission of Pakistan virtually on 1 – 5 February, 2021.
Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and the global economy. Around 80 per cent of global trade by volume and over 70 per cent of global trade by value are carried by sea and are handled by ports worldwide.
Pakistan received the geographical indication (GI) tag for its Basmati rice on January 26, 2021.
Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act is a scholarship law of the constitution of the United States that was originally introduced by the 113th United States Congress on November 19, 2020.
Aman-2021, a biannual maritime naval exercise by the Pakistan Navy, was carried out from February 11th to 16th at the Pakistan Navy dockyard Karachi in Arabian Sea. Participants from the naval forces of 45 countries took part. Aman’s motto was ‘Together for Peace’.
China sold 50 armed drones to Pakistan in December 2020.
India held an online exam on ‘gau vigyan’ (cow science) on February 25, 2021.
A Boeing 737 passenger plane – Sriwijaya Air- was carrying 62 people, crashed into the the Java Sea after take-off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on 9th January, 2021.
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane – the A320 Airbus – from Lahore to Karachi, with an estimated 99 people onboard, crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport on May 22, 2020.
The Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) was launched at the IEA Ministerial Meeting in 2017 to provide independent and cutting-edge technical support to governments.
UK opened special visa route for Hong Kong residents to become citizens on January 31, 2021.
The EU and China agreed to complete the negotiations on investment protection and investment dispute settlement within two years, on January 14th, 2021.
Japan to launch the first wood-based satellite by 2023 to reduce space debris, reported on January 1st, 2021.
The storming of the United States Capitol was a violent attack against the 117th United States Congress at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021.
India will chair the crucial Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council during its tenure as non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN body, reported on January 8th, 2021.
Archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia – a wild pig – believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago, on January 14th, 2021.
India started the ‘world’s biggest’ vaccination drive on January 16th, 2021.
Former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan was voted the world’s best captain in a survey conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Twitter on 12th January, 2021.
Iran’s Supreme Leader on January 8th, 2021 banned the government from importing COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and the United Kingdom.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on January 3rd, 2021 released its three-year performance report, showing a total recovery of Rs487 billion. The total recovery of NAB, since its inception in 1999, is said to be Rs714bn.
Pakistan scripted history on 14th February evening as they defeated South Africa in the final T20I of the three-match series by 4 wickets to register 100th win in the shortest format of the game. Pakistan became the first men’s team to reach a century of T20I victories.
South Africa’s military changed its dress policy to allow Muslim women to wear hijabs with their uniforms on 28th January, 2021.
New Zealand, Vietnam topped in the COVID-19 performance index, according to the performance index by Lowly Institute on January 28th. 2021. Pakistan at 69th place for its performance in containing the COVID-19 outbreak.
Facebook Inc. appointed Henry Moniz as its first-ever Chief Compliance Officer on February 2nd, 2021.
Kaja Kallas, the leader of the Reform Party, became Estonia’s first female prime minister on January 24th, 2021. Kersti Kaljulaid is the fifth and current President of Estonia, in office since 10 October 2016. Estonia would thus currently become the only country in the world where both the president and the prime minister are women.
2 February each year is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and our planet. This day also marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The theme for World Wetlands Day in 2021 is expected to be “Wetlands and Water”.
SpaceX tops ISRO’s record, launches 143 satellites in first dedicated rideshare for SmallSats. (26th January, 2021)
In January 2021, K2 became the final eight-thousander to be summited in the winter; the mountaineering feat was accomplished by a team of Nepalese climbers, led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.
Hungary approved China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the European Union to do so. The country became also the first in the EU to approve the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
The United Arab Emirates plans to offer citizenship to a select group of foreigners, the first Gulf Arab nation to formalize a process aimed at giving expatriates a bigger stake in the economy. (30 January, 2021)
China on January 20th, 2021 announced 28 top officials under the former US President Donald Trump.
Signed March 24, 1992, the Open Skies Treaty establishes the Open Skies regime for the conduct of short-notice, unarmed, observation flights by States Parties over the territories of other States Parties. The Treaty gives each State Party the right to conduct and the obligation to accept observation flights over their territory. The United States formally withdrew from the treaty on November 22nd, 2020; Russia withdrew on January 15th, 2021
France organized, in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank, a ‘One Planet Summit’ for biodiversity on January 11, 2021 in Paris.
22-year-old Los Angeles native, Amanda Gorman became the youngest poet to read the poem “The Hill We Climb” on Biden’s inauguration ceremony. The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States took place on January 20, 2021, marking the start of the four-year term.
The Global Risks Report 2021 was released by the World Economic Forum on 25th February, 2021.
India celebrates Republic Day annually on 26th January, and this year in 2021, the country celebrated its 72nd Republic Day to mark the day India became a sovereign republic.
The 21-year-old Punjab youth, Jugraj Singh hoisted the Nishan Sahib flag on the Red Fort in Delhi amid the Republic Day in 2021 during farmer protests. The Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, after ruling from Agra for eleven years, decided to shift to Delhi and laid the foundation stone of the Red Fort or Lal Qila in 1618.
The Abraham Accords are a joint statement between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and the United States, reached on August 13, 2020. The UAE was the first of four Arab countries (UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, Morocco) to establish ties with Israel under a series of agreements brokered by the Trump administration. Until last year, only Egypt, in 1979, and Jordan, in 1994, had normalised ties with Israel.
Israel on January 24th, 2021 opened its embassy in Abu Dhabi; UAE followed suit.
The South Asian Games 2023 will be hosted by Pakistan. Pakistan would be hosting for the third time after the 1989 and 2004 Games.
The January full moon is often called the Wolf Moon. It was seen on 28th January 2021 in the UK (and the rest of the world).

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Misc. Test – 06

Misc. Test – 06

For the first time in Pakistan’s history, Rahul Dev from Tharparkar, the largest district in Sindh province, was recruited as a general duty pilot officer in the Pakistan Air Force. (in May 2020)

The Animals guitarist Hilton Valentine, who created one of the most famous opening riffs in 1960s pop music, has died due to connecticut at the age of 77 on January 29, 2021.

The 2021 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship was held in Egypt from 13 to 31 January, 2021. Champions, this time: Denmark (2nd title)

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported that the year 2020 the worst year on record. The international arrivals dropped by 74 percent. (January 2021)

The 2023 Men’s ICC Cricket World Cup will be the 13th edition, scheduled to be hosted by India during October and November 2023. This will be the first time the competition is held completely in India.

Brazil’s National Museum in Rio de Janeiro reduced its 200-year-old history to ashes on 3rd September, 2018.

Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, was killed on May 25th, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

British Pakistani Raffia Arshad is the first ever hijab-wearing deputy district judge in the United Kingdom. (May 2020).

The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. Novak Djokovic, a Serbian professional tennis player, won it.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte resigned on 26th January, 2021. Mario Draghi formally sworn in as Italy’s prime minister on February 13th, 2021. Sergio Mattarella has been serving as the 12th and current President of the Italian Republic, since February 2015.

On 25th March 2020, suicide bombers and assailants armed with guns attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (a Sikh shrine) in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Clean Green Pakistan Movement (CGPM) 5-year campaign on 13th October 2018.

The governments of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan will revive a transnational rail service linking Istanbul, Tehran and Islamabad in 2021. The roots of this grand project can be found in the ITI Container Train Service launched in 2009 under the umbrella of the Economic Cooperation Organization.

The world’s longest sea bridge – Hong Kong-Zhuhai bridge- was opened in October 2018, after nine years of construction. The bridge spans 55km (34 miles) and connects Hong Kong to Macau and the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai.

President Arif Alvi launched a two-week drive against measles in the country on October 15th, 2018.

The world’s longest and deepest rail tunnel was opened in Switzerland, after almost two decades of construction work. The 57km (35-mile) twin-bore Gotthard base tunnel provides a high-speed rail link under the Swiss Alps between northern and southern Europe.

In Russia, thousands of people took part in unauthorised protests to demand the release of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny on January 31st, 2021.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 10th, 2020 inaugurated the Azakhel dry port, completed at a cost of Rs510 million, in Nowshera district.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on December 9th, 2020 inaugurated Air Sial, the third private airline of Pakistan, which is being operated by Sialkot’s business community.

Nisha Rao, 28, is Pakistan’s first transgender lawyer. The parliament just passed a law in 2018 recognising transgender people as equal citizen and protecting them from discrimination and violence.

Vietnam ruling Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected as the president for 3rd 5-year term on 31st January, 2021. Nguyễn Xuân Phúc has been serving as the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

On 29th June 2020, Balochistan Liberation Army militants attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi with grenades and by firing indiscriminately. At least three security guards and a police sub-inspector were killed, while seven people were injured during the attack.

11 coal miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community were executed by unidentified attackers in the Mach coal field area in Bolan district, some 100km from Quetta. The attack was claimed by the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

Sindh became the first province in the country to make phase-wise Covid-19 vaccination plan on December 18th, 2020.

‘Women Power Run’, the first-ever all women five-km race organised by the Born2Run Pakistan in Karachi’s DHA on December 6th, 2020.

Bill introduced by Republican Congressman Andy Biggs on the first day of the 117th Congress to terminate designation of Pakistan as Major non-NATO ally. (4th January, 2021).

South Korea has frozen over $9 billion an Iranian funds under the US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program (reported on January 5th, 2021).

The world’s oldest python’s fossils found in the UNESCO World Heritage Site ‘Messel Pit’ in Germany and are about 47 million years old. (Reported on 16th December, 2021)

Pakistan, 3 other countries (Afghanistan, Myanmar and Bangladesh) need $2.8bn humanitarian response funding, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) on 2nd January, 2021.

Pfizer Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation, founded in 1849 and headquartered in New York, United States. India’s drug regulator on January 1st, 2021 approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Pakistan approved payment of $28.7 million in damages to the UK-based asset recovery firm Broadsheet LLC on 2nd January, 2021.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on January 1st, 2021 approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use. It is the first vaccine to be added to the UN organisations` Emergency Use Listing (EUL). The UK becomes first country to use AstraZeneca vaccine.

Pakistan`s captain in all three formats, Babar Azam, was declared as Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year and also clinched the title of White-ball Cricketer of the Year 2020 as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on January 1st, 2021.

The acting captain of Pakistan Test team in New Zealand, Mohammad Rizwan was declared as Test Cricketer of the Year 2020.

In the women`s section, all rounder Aliya Riaz was named as the Women`s Cricketer of the Year while 19-year-old Fatima Sana was chosen as the Women`s Emerging Cricketer of the Year.

The 17-year-old Test fast bowler Naseem Shah won the Emerging International Cricketer of the Year.

The Sindh government for the first time proposed Rs2,000 per 40kg price for 2020-21 for wheat.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been named as the ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Decade. He has an incredible record to date in the format, having amassed 89 wickets in 48 games.

India’s captain Virat Kohli on December 28th, 2021 headlined the ICC top honours for the decade, winning the Sir Garfield Sobers award for the best male cricketer of the past 10 years. Kohli was also picked for the ODI Cricketer of the Decade award.

Australia has changed its national anthem in a bid to reflect 60,000 years of Indigenous history on 1st January 2021.

Emma Alam, a young girl from Pakistan won the 29th World Memory Championships global finals, beating more than 300 competitors from all over the world. The World Memory Championships was founded in 1991 by world-renowned Tony Buzan and Raymond Keene.

In 1981, the GCC was established by charter. It is made up of six member states – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar – and headquartered in Riyadh. Qatar hosts the region’s largest US military base and Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Kazakhstan abolished the death penalty, making permanent a nearly 20-year freeze on capital punishment in the Central Asian country on January 2nd, 2021.

South Sudan regained its right to vote in the UN General Assembly on 11th February, 2021 after paying part of its debts to the organization. Juba had to pay a minimum of $22,804 dollars to regain the possibility of participating in a ballot.

During the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, he was acquitted by the Senate on February 13, 2021, with 57 senators voting in favour of conviction and 43 voting against. The impeachment began on February 9, 2021.

Gen Min Aung Hlaing is a Burmese army general who has served as Chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar since February 2021, a position which makes him the country’s de facto leader. He has also been the commander-in-chief of Defence Services since March 2011.

On January 31, 2021, Stardust 1.0 was launched from Loring Commerce Centre in Maine, US, a former military base, becoming the first commercial space launch powered by biofuel, which is non-toxic for the environment as opposed to traditionally used rocket fuels.

Jacinda Ardern has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. She declared victory in New Zealand’s general elections on 17th October, 2020, securing a second leadership term. New Zealand usually has a general election every 3 years.

The Asia Pacific Advanced Networks (APAN) 51st meeting – APAN51 was hosted by the Pakistan Education & Research Network & Higher Education Commission of Pakistan virtually on 1 – 5 February, 2021.

Maritime transport is the backbone of international trade and the global economy. Around 80 per cent of global trade by volume and over 70 per cent of global trade by value are carried by sea and are handled by ports worldwide.

Pakistan received the geographical indication (GI) tag for its Basmati rice on January 26, 2021.

Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act is a scholarship law of the constitution of the United States that was originally introduced by the 113th United States Congress on November 19, 2020.

Aman-2021, a biannual maritime naval exercise by the Pakistan Navy, was carried out from February 11th to 16th at the Pakistan Navy dockyard Karachi in Arabian Sea. Participants from the naval forces of 45 countries took part. Aman’s motto was ‘Together for Peace’.

China sold 50 armed drones to Pakistan in December 2020.

India held an online exam on ‘gau vigyan’ (cow science) on February 25, 2021.

A Boeing 737 passenger plane – Sriwijaya Air- was carrying 62 people, crashed into the the Java Sea after take-off from Indonesia’s capital Jakarta on 9th January, 2021.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane – the A320 Airbus – from Lahore to Karachi, with an estimated 99 people onboard, crashed in Karachi’s Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport on May 22, 2020.

The Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) was launched at the IEA Ministerial Meeting in 2017 to provide independent and cutting-edge technical support to governments.

UK opened special visa route for Hong Kong residents to become citizens on January 31, 2021.

The EU and China agreed to complete the negotiations on investment protection and investment dispute settlement within two years, on January 14th, 2021.

Japan to launch the first wood-based satellite by 2023 to reduce space debris, reported on January 1st, 2021.

The storming of the United States Capitol was a violent attack against the 117th United States Congress at the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021.

India will chair the crucial Taliban and Libya sanctions committees and the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN Security Council during its tenure as non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN body, reported on January 8th, 2021.

Archaeologists discovered the world’s oldest known animal cave painting in Indonesia – a wild pig – believed to be drawn 45,500 years ago, on January 14th, 2021.

India started the ‘world’s biggest’ vaccination drive on January 16th, 2021.

Former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan was voted the world’s best captain in a survey conducted by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Twitter on 12th January, 2021.

Iran’s Supreme Leader on January 8th, 2021 banned the government from importing COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and the United Kingdom.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on January 3rd, 2021 released its three-year performance report, showing a total recovery of Rs487 billion. The total recovery of NAB, since its inception in 1999, is said to be Rs714bn.

Pakistan scripted history on 14th February evening as they defeated South Africa in the final T20I of the three-match series by 4 wickets to register 100th win in the shortest format of the game. Pakistan became the first men’s team to reach a century of T20I victories.

South Africa’s military changed its dress policy to allow Muslim women to wear hijabs with their uniforms on 28th January, 2021.

New Zealand, Vietnam topped in the COVID-19 performance index, according to the performance index by Lowly Institute on January 28th. 2021. Pakistan at 69th place for its performance in containing the COVID-19 outbreak.

Facebook Inc. appointed Henry Moniz as its first-ever Chief Compliance Officer on February 2nd, 2021.

SpaceX tops ISRO’s record, launches 143 satellites in first dedicated rideshare for SmallSats. (26th January, 2021)

In January 2021, K2 became the final eight-thousander to be summited in the winter; the mountaineering feat was accomplished by a team of Nepalese climbers, led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.

Hungary approved China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, making it the first country in the European Union to do so. The country became also the first in the EU to approve the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

The United Arab Emirates plans to offer citizenship to a select group of foreigners, the first Gulf Arab nation to formalize a process aimed at giving expatriates a bigger stake in the economy. (30 January, 2021)

China on January 20th, 2021 announced 28 top officials under the former US President Donald Trump.

France organized, in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank, a ‘One Planet Summit’ for biodiversity on January 11, 2021 in Paris.