Misc. Test – 09

  1. Pakistan received the Mobile Health Unit donated by the State of Palestine to use in the remote areas of the country providing healthcare to people at their doorsteps, on 28th January, 2020.

  2. The first United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) synthesis report is titled: “Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies” and is based on evidence from global environmental assessments. (Published in February 2021) 

  3. Kosovo’s Parliament declared independence from Serbia on 17th February 2008, nine years after NATO conducted a 78-day airstrike campaign against Serbia to stop a bloody crackdown against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. Israel recognised Kosovo as an independent state after Pristina and Belgrade signed an agreement at the White House, USA on September 4th, 2020. Kosovo and Israel formally established diplomatic ties on February 1st, 2021.

  4. On December 6th, 2017, then-US President Donald Trump announced the United States recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and ordered the planning of the relocation of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. On 18th December 2017, the UN Security Council resolution calling for the withdrawal of the recognition was vetoed by the United States, for a tally of 14–1. The US embassy was officially opened in Jerusalem on May 14th, 2018.  

  5. Pakistan’s five-member bench of the Supreme Court on 10th February, 2021 banned execution of people with mental illness and commuted death sentence to life imprisonment.

  6. Pakistan formally joined the Madrid System to protect Pakistani trademarks in 124 member countries. On February 24th, 2021, Pakistan deposited its instrument of accession to the Madrid Protocol with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)’s Director General, making it the 108th member of the Madrid System.  The headquarter of the WIPO is located in Geneva, Switzerland.

  7. Senate Chairman Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani inaugurated the tourist safari train at Golra Railway Station, Islamabad on February 22, 2021.

  8. In the United States, the New York State Assembly passed a resolution on 5th February 2021 calling on the Governor of New York to recognise the day as “Kashmir American Day”.

  9. The first American who received a COVID-19 vaccine is a nurse named Sandra Lindsay from Queens, New York on December 14th, 2020.

  10. David Cornwell, known to the world as John le Carre, the author of spy thrillers like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, died on 12th December 2020, aged 89. He died after a short illness in Cornwall, south-western England. MI-6 is the foreign intelligence agency of  the Britain.

  11. The two countries (Iran and Afghanistan) marked the opening of their first shared railway network on December 10th, 2020. The train route so far links the Iranian city of Khaf with the Afghan town of Rozanak about 150 kilometres away, but is scheduled to be expanded to reach Herat, Afghanistan’s third largest city. The $75 million project began in 2007, with Iran funding construction on both sides of the border as part of its development assistance to Afghanistan.

  12. On December 9th, 2020, the Brussels-based EU DisinfoLab in an investigation, titled Indian Chronicles, the group exposed another Indian network that aims to reinforce pro-Indian and anti-Pakistan (and anti-Chinese) feelings in India. Last year, the Brussels-based EU DisinfoLab had uncovered a vast network of 265 coordinated fake local media outlets in 65 countries serving Indian interests, as well as multiple dubious think tanks and NGOs.

  13. The United States on 8th December 2020 designated Pakis­tan, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turk­m­enistan, Nigeria, Nor­th Korea, Myanmar and Eritrea as “countries of part­ic­ular Concern” (CPC) under its International Religious Freedom Act.

  14. The World Bank on April 1st, 2020 approved a $700 million additional financing for 250km transmission line of the Dasu Hydropower Project to be completed by December 2023. The 4,320MW hydropower project is being constructed by Wapda on the Indus upstream of Dasu town in Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The project will be completed in two stages — each stage having a generation capacity of 2,160MW.

  15. Skateboarding, sport climbing, surfing and breaking were confirmed as additional sports proposed Paris 2024 Olympics on 7th December 2020. Breaking is a competitive form of breakdancing.

  16. On December 6th, 2020, Zena Wooldridge  from England was elected as the new World Squash Federation.

  17. In December 2020, Philanthropist and humanitarian Bilquis Edhi was declared the ‘Person of the Decade’ and the most impactful person of the first two decades of the 21st century, along with UN rapporteur on human rights Prof Yanghee Lee and the US ethicist Stephen Soldz by the Impact Hallmarks [IH], an international web-based organisation. 

  18. Prof Dr Aurangzeb Al Hafi of was listed among “Top of the Top Ten” over his three scientific discoveries in 2020 by the Impact Hallmarks [IH].

  19. Paolo Rossi was an Italian professional footballer who played as a forward. He died of Lung cancer on 9th December 2020.

  20. China successfully powered up its nuclear fusion device ‘HL-2M’ tokamak, nicknamed the Artificial Sun, for the first time on 4th December 2020.

  21. South Africa had their first tour to Pakistan since 2007 – they played two Tests and three T20Is between January 26 and February 14, 2021.

  22. Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa was honoured by the Bahrain Order (first class) award by the country’s crown prince Salman bin Hamad bin lsa Al Khalifa. Bajwa visited Bahrian from January 6-8, 2021.

  23. Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 8, 2021 approved a Decision Support System for Inflation (DSSI) to record and monitor prices of essential commodities in 17 major cities.

  24. England Women will tour Pakistan for the first time in October 2021 to participate in a two-match Twenty20 International series in Karachi on Oct 14 and 15 and compete in three One-day Internationals, on Oct 18, 20 and 22.

  25. Pakistan on January 7th, 2021 successfully tested an indigenously developed extended-range guided Multi-Launch Rocket System (MLRS). Fatah-1 can carry the conventional warhead and it has a range of 140 kilometres.

  26. The Army Strategic Forces Command (ASFC) on February 3, 2021 cond­ucted the ‘training launch’ of nuclear-capable ballistic mis­sile Ghaznavi as part of its annual field training exercise. Ghaznavi (Hatf-III) is a solid-fuel, road mobile, surface-to-surface ballistic missile that has a range of up to 290km.

  27. Shaheen-III is a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 2,750 kilometres, which makes it capable of reaching the farthest point in India’s northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Pakistan conduct its successful flight test on January 20, 2021. Shaheen-III is also the longest-range missile to have been developed in the country.

  28. The Pakistan International Airlines announced its decision to operate cargo flights to Saudi Arabia to boost exports on 24th December 2020.

  29. The Turkish contractors have initiated legal proceedings against the Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) management for ‘forcibly’ taking over their machinery on 24th December 2020.

  30. Cricketer Fakhar Zaman made honorary lieutenant by Pakistan Navy on December 28th, 2020. Zaman became the first Pakistani to score a double century in an ODI and had a record opening partnership of 304 runs in 2018. He also became the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in just 18 one-day internationals in the year 2018. He made another world record by amassing 512 runs in five consecutive ODI series. In the National T20 Cup 2020, he was declared the best player and batsman.  

  31. (مرکزی رویتِ ہلال کمیٹی) Markazi Ruet-e-Hilal Committee was established in 1974. Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad, Khateeb of Lahore’s famous Badshahi Mosque, was appointed as the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee (RHC) chairman on 30th December 2020 and replaced Mufti Muneebur. Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony is under: Noor-ul-Haq Qadri

  32. Pakistan captain Babar Azam was named the Most Valuable Cricketer of the Year in the PCB awards on 1st January, 2021.

  33. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on 30th December 2020 formally announced serial production of the most advanced variant of JF-17 Thunder Block III – a 4.5-generation aircraft with far more advanced technology than IAF’s Rafael jets.

  34. Five Pakistanis who made a name in sci-tech in 2020. (26th December 2020)

  35. Sonia Shamroz Khan became the first-ever woman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa posted as district police officer (DPO) on January 1st, 2021

  36. The Punjab Police InformationBranch (PPIB), a news wing madeon the pattern of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has been established by Punjab Police. Deputy Inspector General (operations) Sohail Akhtar Sukhera has been appointed as its official spokesperson on January 5th, 2021.

  37. Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 8th, 2021 launched the Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) in Islamabad.

  38. The first female secretary-general of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) Manizeh Zainli announced to step down on expiry of her contract on 30th December 2020

  39. Meezan Bank Ltd (MBL) was declared the Best Bank of Pakistan for the calendar year 2020 in 5th Pakistan Banking Awards on 8th January 2021; UBL was declared the ‘Best Digital Bank’ for 2020.

  40. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari inaugurated a ‘Labour City’in Sukkur, on January 18th, 2021.

  41. The Foreign Ministers of Pakistan, Turkey and Azerbaijan held the second Pakistan-Turkey-Azerbaijan Trilateral Meeting on 13th January, 2021 in Islamabad. The first round of Trilateral Meeting was held in Baku in November 2017.

  42. Malaysian authorities seized Pakistan’s Boeing 777 aircraft on January 15th, 2021 after a court allowed an application by the plane’s lessor, Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited, to keep it grounded pending the outcome of a $14m lease dispute with PIA in a United Kingdom court. Dublin-based AerCap is the world’s largest aircraft lessor.

  43. Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 11th, 2021 launched the country’s first instant digital payment system called “Raast” to include the poor segments of society in formal economy. It has been developed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in collaboration with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Karandaaz, Pakistan.

  44. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) on January 9th, 2021 announced the winner of the first I.A. Rehman Research Grant. 

  45. Rohan Kumar, a student of 9th class of district Tharparkar, arranged 118 elements of periodic table in just three minutes and in 30 seconds and he now aims at to breaking the world record of Pakistani girl Natalia Najam, who arranged the same within two minutes and 42 seconds. (January 2021)

  46. Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the fourth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development on January 25th, 2021. He also provided a five-point agenda.

  47. The left-arm spinner Nauman Ali became the oldest Pakistani to take five wickets on Test debut with a figure of 5-35 that dashed South Africa’s hopes of winning the first Test in Karachi.

  48. The Pakistan Army was ranked the 10th most powerful in the world out of 133 countries on the Global Firepower index 2021. The United States military was ranked the most powerful armed force in the world, closely followed by Russia and China.

  49. Pakistani born Saima Mohsin became the first Muslim woman federal prosecutor after she was named as the acting US attorney for Michigan’s Eastern District by the Joe Biden administration. (January 2021)

  50. The second Type-054 AP frigate of the Pakistan Navy, out of an order for four warships, was launched in China on January 31st, 2021.

  51. The panel of three judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court on January 28th, 2021 ordered to release Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the principal accused in the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

  52. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoITT) and its tech innovation arm Ignite (National Technology Fund) on 9th February 2021 launched Pakistan’s first national investment platform called PakImpactInvest.

  53. Justice (r) Sheikh Azmat Saeed, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, was appointed chairman of the inquiry committee constituted to investigate the Broadsheet matter, on January 21st, 2021. Pakistan’s federal cabinet had on January 1st, 2021 approved a payment of $28.7 million in damages to a US-based asset recovery firm called Broadsheet LLC.

  54. The World Wildlife Day is marked on 3rd March. The theme for 2021 was: ‘forests and livelihood’.

  55. Operation Legend in July 2020 was a federal law enforcement operation in the United States initiated by the administration of President Donald Trump. The operation was named after four-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was shot and killed in Kansas City, Missouri, on June 29, 2020.

  56. Five Egyptian women were given sentence of 2 years in prison for TikTok dance videos on July 28th, 2020.

  57. The 36th edition of the biannual ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit 2020 was held via video conferencing in Hanoi, Vietnam on June 26th, 2020. The theme of the Summit was “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN”.

  58. The 3M22 Zircon is a scramjet powered maneuvering anti-ship hypersonic cruise missile, successfully tested by Russia in October 2020.

  59. Micheál Martin is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who has been elected as Ireland’s new prime minister, replacing Leo Varadkar since June 2020 and as Leader of Fianna Fáil since January 2011. Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth president of Ireland since November 2011.

  60. Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi Congress Party has been as President of Malawi since June 2020.  Malawi declared state of disaster as two ministers (Transport Minister Sidik Mia and Local Government Minister Lingson Berekanyama) died of COVID-19 on January 12th, 2021.

  61.  
  62. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on February 25th, 2021 decided to keep Pakistan on its ‘grey list’, with the country’s status set to be reviewed next at an extraordinary plenary session in June 2021. The announcement was made by FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer in Paris, France on the outcomes of the FATF’s four-day virtual plenary meeting. Three out of 27 [points] needed to be fully addressed by Pakistan.  The FATF during its plenary kept North Korea and Iran as the only two countries on its blacklist and Morocco, Burkina Faso, Senegal and the Cayman Islands were added to the grey list. With the four additions, the list had 19 countries and territories that FATF said were only partially fulfilling international rules for fighting terrorism financing and money laundering.

  63. US President Joe Biden nominated a Pakistani-American, Dilawar Syed, to serve as the deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) on March 4th, 2021.

  64. Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo on March 1st, 2021 became the world’s first recipient of a coronavirus vaccine from COVAX, a global scheme to procure and distribute inoculations for free for poorer countries. Ghana was the first country to receive vaccines from COVAX, led by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Some 145 participating economies are set to receive 337.2 million doses by mid-year – enough to vaccinate a little more than 3 percent of their combined populations. Sudan became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to receive vaccines via the COVAX Facility

  65. Fareed Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. His recent book is: “Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World”.

  66. On the invitation of Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister Imran Khan undertook a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka from 23-24 February 2021. This was his first visit to Sri Lanka after assuming office. Pakistan and Sri Lanka have maintained close, cordial and mutually supportive relations since 1948.

  67. Pakistan Day parade will be held March 23rd, 2021 with the motto ‘Aik Qaum Aik Manzil’ [One nation, one destination].

  68. The 16th Cholistan Desert Rally 2021 was kicked off on February 11 to February 14, 2021 at Derawar Fort in the Cholistan region some 100 kilometres away from Bahawalpur. Sahibzada Sultan won; Mir Nadir Magsi remained on second position.

  69. Pakistan’s first wind energy power plant was inaugurated at Jhimpir, Sindh in December 2012.

  70. German Chancellor Angela Merkel (of Christian Democratic Union of Germany party) was elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2009, 2013 and 2018. She is the first woman to be elected chancellor. In October 2018, Merkel announced that she would stand down as Leader of the CDU at the party convention, and would not seek a fifth term as Chancellor in 2021. The 2021 German federal election for the 20th Bundestag is expected to be held on 26 September 2021. Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a German politician serving as President of Germany since 19 March 2017.

  71. Pakistan’s first web series  on breast cancer awareness – titled, Abhi Nahi  – will be released on the internet in April 2021. It is written by renowned writer Haseena Moin, who is also a breast cancer survivor. One in nine women in Pakistan is either suffering from breast cancer or is at the risk of developing it. About 77pc of invasive breast cancer occurred in women above the age of 50 years but if diagnosed early the survival rates approach 90pc. As of 2020, out of all types of cancers, 28.7pc of new cases were breast cancer alone. Pakistan’s first short-form digital media platform, called RINSTRA, was launched on December 2, 2020.

  72. Sindh Assembly passed the Hindu Marriage Bill 2016 on 15th February, 2016 becoming the first assembly of Pakistan. On September 26, 2016, the Hindu Marriage Bill was unanimously passed in Pakistan’s National Assembly.

  73. China is the world’s largest contributing country to CO2 emissions—a trend that has steadily risen over the years—now producing 10.06 billion metric tons of CO2. (as of October 2020)

  74. The world’s oldest known artwork was found in Indonesia in December 2019.

  75. NED University to complete 100-year journey this year in the last week of December 2021. The academic journey of the varsity was started in 1921, previously known as the Prince of Wales Engineering College, located on James Strachan Road in the Old City Area. 

  76. Over the years, Fethullah Gulen became a centrist political figure in Turkey prior his there being as a fugitive. Since 1999, Gülen has lived in self-exile in the United States near Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania.

  77. The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

  78. The 15 July 2016 coup d’état attempt was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan is from Justice and Development Party (AKP). Muharrem Ince, who was the main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) presidential candidate in 2018 elections, resigned on Feb. 8, 2021.

  79. The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022 which is the first time the competition will be held in the Middle East. The FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be hosted across the three North American countries, will be the first 48-team FIFA World Cup in history. Canada, Mexico, and the US were chosen to host the FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 13 in 2018 during the 68th FIFA Congress in Moscow. 

  80. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were chosen as Time magazine’s 2020 Person of the Year in December 2020.

  81. On March 18th, 2014, Crimean and Russian officials signed the Treaty of Accession of the Republic of Crimea to Russia.

  82. The Baikonur Cosmodrome, also called Tyuratam, is the world’s first and largest operational space launch facility.  This is located in present-day Kazakhstan. This has been the launch site for Soviet and Russian space missions since the beginning of space exploration in 1957. The first satellite and the first human flew into space from there. Both Sputnik 1 (the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957) and Vostok 1 (the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first manned spaceflight in history) were also launched from there.

  83. In Russia, all males are liable for one year of compulsory military service up to the age of 27. (as of April 2019)

  84. The United States was the largest exporter of major arms from 2015-2019, delivering 76 percent more materiel than runner-up Russia, according to the study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute think tank. 

  85. On August 31st, 2020, the president of Pakistan promulgated the Pakistan Islands Development Authority Ordinance whereunder the two islands, the Bundal and Buddo islands, both in the coastal waters of Karachi, were placed under federal control and jurisdiction. The ordinance enables the establishment of the Pakistan Islands Development Authority by the federal government with its head office at Karachi (Section 4).

  86. The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.

  87. Irakli Garibashvili is the current Prime Minister of Georgia since February 22, 2021. Salome Zourabichvili is a former French diplomat who currently serves as the 5th President of Georgia, in office since December 2018.

  88. Israel launched “green pass” for people with vaccination certificate in February 2021.

  89. Pakistan and the World Bank on May 18th, 2020 signed two loan agreements worth of $371 million to finance projects in agriculture and social sectors.

  90. Zero Discrimination Day is an annual day celebrated on 1st March each year by the United Nations (UN).

  91. Charlotte Edwards, the former England captain, has become the first female president of the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) after being elected as Graham Gooch’s successor in the role. (26th February, 2021)

  92. The 13th BRICS Summit will be held under India’s Chairship in 2021, and it will be the third time India will host the BRICS Summit after 2012 and 2016. The theme for India’s Chairship for 2021 would be ‘BRICS @ 15: Intra-BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation, and Consensus’

  93. The Moneychangers is a 1975 novel written by Arthur Hailey. The plot revolves around the politics inside a major bank.

  94. The Voice Across the Border is written by Mehtab Ali Shah. This book presents panorama of problems faced by the people of Pakistan in general, and the Sindh province in particular. 

  95. The Interpretation of Dreams is an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud. Freud was a late 19th and early 20th century neurologist. He is widely acknowledged as the father of modern psychology and the primary developer of the process of psychoanalysis. In his book, the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation, and discusses what would later become the theory of the Oedipus complex.

  96. The name Istanbul derives from the Greek word which means “in/to the city.” In the 1930’s the Turkish Postal Service created a law officially declaring the sole name be Istanbul.
  97. Cristiano Ronaldo was named player of the century at the Dubai Globe Soccer Awards (in December 2020).

  98. Formally the Future Investment Initiative (FII), it is widely being described as “Davos in the desert”. The informal name derives from the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting that is held in Davos, Switzerland.  FII is an initiative that was first undertaken by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman in 2017. The fourth edition was held on January 27-28, 2021 in a multi-hub format for the first time amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with host Riyadh.

  99. Saudi Arabia in 2017 announced the launch of an independent economic zone on the Red Sea in the cross-border city in the Tabuk Province of northwestern Saudi Arabia. This is three times the size of Cyprus and with a half a trillion dollars in projected investments. The zone, dubbed Neom, covers an uninterrupted coastline of nearly 470 kilometres (290 miles) 

  100.  Women in Saudi Arabia can now take up arms and enter the military as of February 22, 2021. The kingdom said in 2019 it would allow women to leave the country without permission from a male relative. Saudi Arabia in 2018 also allowed women to drive the wheel.

  101. Jasmine Harrison of North Yorkshire, England, became the youngest woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. The 21-year-old swimming woman rowed from Spain and arrived in Antigua after a 70-day journey. (February 2021)