NATIONAL

Feb 17: With the appointment of Naveed Ahsan as non-statutory member from Punjab, the constitution of the ninth National Finance Commission got completed.

The Commission is constituted under Article 160 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 with Federal Finance Minister as its chairman and includes four provincial finance ministers and four technical members. In the 9th NFC, non-statutory members are: Naveed Ahsan (Punjab), Saleem Mandviwalla (Sindh), M. Ibrahim Khan (KP) and Kaiser Bengali (Balochistan).

Feb 18: According to a report by the London-based news agency Reuters, in 2015, Pakistan hanged 324 people and was ranked third worldwide in terms of executions.

Feb 19: Pakistan officially lifted sanctions on Iran and decided to revive economic and commercial relations with the neighbouring country.

Feb 19: Pakistan lodged an FIR, in Gujranwala police station, against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot airbase in India.

Feb 20: A new organisation, Pakistan Airways, was registered as a ‘premium service subsidiary’ of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

Feb 21: The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) celebrated its 20th Raising Day at its headquarters in Rawalpindi.

Feb 22: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) database revealed that Pakistan was the tenth largest arms importer in the world in 2015 while Saudi Arabia was the leading arms importer in the world, followed closely by India.

Feb 24: The historic Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Bill 2015 was passed by the Punjab Assembly. The Law provides, for the first time in the history of the country, comprehensive protection to women against a range of crimes.

Feb 24: Many personal belongings of Quaid-e-Azam were acquired from the locker of his sister, Fatima Jinnah, on the court’s order, and shifted to Flagstaff House in Karachi.

Feb 26: Spain and Italy managed to climb Nanga Parbat for the first time in the winter season.

Feb 29: The Council of Common Interests decided to postpone the population and housing census.

Feb 29: Pakistan was declared winner in Global Innovation Competition 2016 held in Accra, Ghana.

Mar 02: The ride-hailing behemoth Uber launched its service in Pakistan, initially from Lahore city.

Mar 03: Heaping scorn on MQM supremo Altaf Hussain, former Karachi Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal ended his decades-long association with the MQM to launch a new political party.

Mar 05: The US government issued a formal notification for the sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan.

Mar 07: The Senate approved two resolutions seeking enhancement in the profit rate on saving schemes and a review of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960. It asked the government to review the Indus Waters Treaty 1960 inserting new provisions enabling Pakistan to get more water for its rivers.

Mar 08: Shahbaz Taseer, a son of slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, was recovered after being held by kidnappers for over four years, from Kuchlak area of Balochistan.

Mar 10: Saudi Arabia announced to provide $122 million in financial assistance to Pakistan for development projects in various fields.

Mar 10: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif rejected the proposal to increase the CSS exam age limit.

Mar 11: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and COAS General Raheel Sharif attended a military parade held at the conclusion of the North Thunder exercise wherein contingents from 20 Muslim countries took part.

Mar 15: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the setting up of a completely autonomous Punjab Agriculture Food and Drug Authority.

Business & Economy

Feb 18: The FBR withdrew the facility of sales tax zero-rating on electricity and gas, allowed to three textile units in Karachi.

Feb 22: A report by Transparency International revealed that Pakistan is among top 10 countries whose nationals have benefited from the “golden visa” scheme offered by the United Kingdom (UK). 62 Pakistani nationals invested at least £2million (Rs301 million) each in the UK to get the UK’s Tier-1 Investors Visa also dubbed as golden visa between 2008 to 2015.

Feb 22: The Europe Business Assembly (EBA) nominated Sundar Industrial Estate (SIE) for the ‘Best Enterprise’ award and invited Punjab Industrial Estates Development and Management Company (PIEDMC) Chairman SM Tanveer to receive the ‘Manager of the Year’ medal.

Elections, Transfers & Appointments

Feb 18: The KP government took the ministry of home and tribal affairs back from Mehmood Khan and gave him the charge of ministry of sports, culture, archaeology, museums and youth affairs.

Feb 19: AJK High Court Chief Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal took oath as the AJK chief election commissioner (CEC).

Feb 19: DG Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Syed Imran Gardezi, was appointed as federal secretary for information and broadcasting.

Feb 29: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, for the second time, extended the tenure of DG Intelligence Bureau (IB) Aftab Sultan for another two years.

Feb 29: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting removed PTV Managing Director Muhammad Malik. Secretary Information Imran Gardezi was given additional charge of the post.

Mar 03: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved postings of Azhar Ali Chaudhry as Secretary Board of Investment, Azmat Ranjha as Secretary Ministry of Commerce, Rizwan Bashir as Secretary Ministry of Information Technology, and Arbab Shahzad as Secretary SAFRON.

March 04: Senior PML-N leader Iqbal Zafar Jhagra took oath as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor.

Mar 06: The United Nations appointed Prof Dr Attaur Rahman as chairman of the UN committee on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Mar 12: The federal government appointed Allah Dino Khawaja as the new IGP Sindh in place of Ghulam Hyder Jamali.

Education

Feb 23: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) issued annual rankings of the universities which declared Iqra University Karachi as the best business university in Pakistan.

The Lahore School of Economics and the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi secured the next two positions in the business universities category.

Feb 24: For further development of research culture in all disciplines of Social Sciences, the HEC announced the establishment of Social Sciences Council of Pakistan (SSCP).

Mar 12: The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) announced that after 2018 it would not accredit those institutions which failed to switch to the five-year Legum Baccalaureus (LLB) course.

Sports

Feb 16: The 12th South Asian Games, hosted in the Indian cities of Guwahati and Shillong concluded. Pakistan could win only 12 gold medals in the Games.

Feb 23: Islamabad United lifted the inaugural Pakistan Super League (PSL) trophy by defeating Quetta Gladiators.

People in News

Dr Umar Saif

Feb 17: Chairman PITB and Vice Chancellor of Information Technology University (ITU) Lahore, Dr Umar Saif, was included in the list of “The 500 Most Influential Muslims”, for 2016.

Ahmer Bilal Soofi

Feb 22: Noted Pakistani lawyer and international law expert Ahmer Bilal Soofi was elected as the chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Expert Advisory Committee in its 16th session in Geneva.

Ahsan Iqbal

Feb 25: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Reform, Ahsan Iqbal, was appointed the UNDP’s ‘champion minister’ from the Asia Pacific region.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

Feb 29: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the only Pakistani to win two Oscars. This time, she won an Oscar for her documentary ‘A Girl in the River — The Price of Forgiveness’, about honour killings in Pakistan.

Barrister Mehmood Mandviwalla

Mar 10: Barrister Mehmood Mandviwalla was unanimously elected as the next president of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Law (SAARCLAW).

Eiza Abid

Mar 11: Eiza Abid, a 15-year-old participant from Pakistan, won a children’s poster competition held by the United Nations Human Rights Office. Children were asked to paint what freedom meant to them.

Haider Ali & Mohammad Awais

Mar 12: Two paralympic athletes of Pakistan, Haider Ali and Mohammad Awais, clinched gold and silver medals respectively at the 2016 IPC Athletics Asia Oceania Championships in Dubai.

Places in News

Lahore

Feb 21: The fourth edition of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF-2016) concluded at Lahore’s Avari Hotel.

Obituaries

Feb 23: Former federal minister, Lala Nisar Mohammad Khan, passed away at 86.

Feb 25: Habib, one of the highest ranking artistes of film industry, passed away. He was 76.

Feb 29: Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, was executed.

Mar 05: Famous Seraiki folk singer Naseer Mastana of the “Mastana-Parwana duo” died. He was 65.

INTERNATIONAL

Feb 16: US President Barack Obama and leaders of Southeast Asian nations discussed regional security issues during a summit — the first ASEAN-only summit — held in the US.

Feb 17: The World Health Organization released its initial response plan to the Zika virus outbreak, launching a funding appeal for the $56 million (50 million euros) operation.

The unprecedented outbreak of the virus, first discovered in Uganda in 1947, has become a global concern.

Feb 19: France’s Christine Lagarde, was officially named to a second five-year term as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Feb 22: India and Saudi Arabia are the world’s largest buyers of weapons, while the United States and Russia are the largest exporters, according to a report issued by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Feb 22: One of the Britain’s largest newspaper publishers, Trinity Mirror, which publishes the left-leaning Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror tabloids, announced to launch a new national daily, The New Day, the first of its kind for 30 years.

Feb 22: Cuban President Raul Castro ordered 9,000 army troops to help stave off the Zika virus.

Feb 23: Advanced biofuels made from non-food biomass, also known as second generation biofuels, have become a commercial reality, a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concluded.

Feb 24: Indian cabinet approved a $150 million project to develop the strategic Iranian port of Chabahar.

Feb 24: The social network ‘Facebook’ launched “Reactions”, an extension of the “Like” button.

Feb 25: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was released from prison.

Feb 26: Beijing overtook New York as the city with the highest number of billionaires for the first time, a new report by China-based firm Hurun said.

Feb 28: Parliamentary elections were held in Iran by which President Rouhani won an emphatic vote of confidence and his reformist partners secured surprise gains.

Mar 02: An Emirates Airbus A380 touched down in New Zealand, completing what is believed to be the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight. The service from Dubai to Auckland covered 8,824 miles.

Mar 02: The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a sanctions resolution against North Korea.

Mar 03: New York opened the most expensive train station in the world, on the site of the World Trade Center which was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks.

Mar 05: The main faction of the Taliban rejected to join the peace process.

Mar 05: The Philippines impounded a North Korean vessel in response to tough new UN sanctions on the country.

Mar 06: According to a new report released by the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS), almost 16 million girls between the ages of six and 11 will never get the chance to enrol in primary school compared to about 8m boys, if current trends continue.

For example, in Pakistan 2.9m adolescent girls, or 53pc of those of lower secondary school-going age, are out of school, compared to 43pc of such boys (2.6m).

Mar 08: International Women’s Day 2016 was celebrated around the world with the theme ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality’.

Mar 08: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles.

Mar 09: Macedonia closed its border completely to illegal migrants after Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia announced tight new restrictions on migrant entry.

Mar 10: The 12-day ‘Northern Thunder’ manoeuvres — the region’s biggest-ever military exercises — in which 20 nations from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, participated, concluded.

Mar 10: The US Senate rejected by two-thirds vote a resolution to block the proposed sale of eight F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.

Mar 10: The United States and Canada agreed joint steps to fight climate change, including cutting methane emissions from oil and gas operations and signing last year’s Paris climate deal “as soon as feasible.”

Mar 10: North Korea flouted UN resolutions by launching two ballistic missiles toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Mar 11: India shut down its Kakrapar atomic power station in Gujarat after a leak was detected in the heat transport system.

Mar 11: Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Indian Parliament, passed the Aadhaar Bill that seeks to give legal sanction to the unique identification number programme or “Aadhaar” as a single window to distribute subsidy and other direct benefit transfers.

Mar 12: A Google-developed computer programme took an unassailable 3-0 lead in its match-up with a South Korean Go grandmaster marking a major breakthrough for a new style of “intuitive” artificial intelligence (AI).

The city’s STX France shipyards began building the $1.1bn mammoth for US shipbuilder Royal Caribbean International (RCI) in September 2013.

Mar 14: Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria.

Mar 14: The German government approved several arms export deals with countries in the Middle East, including delivery of 23 Airbus helicopters to Saudi Arabia.

Economy

Feb 17: The Developing Eight (D-8) countries agreed to implement the much-awaited preferential trade agreement (PTA) from July 1, 2016.

Feb 17: Russia filed a lawsuit against Ukraine at London’s High Court in connection with a $3 billion Eurobond debt.

Feb 24: The US won a ruling against India at the WTO regarding the rules on the origin of solar cells and solar modules.

Mar 11: The European Union and Cuba inked an agreement in Havana to normalise relations, paving the way for the 28-member bloc to establish full economic cooperation and aid with the Communist-run Caribbean island.

Elections & Appointments

Feb 20: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was elected for a fifth term.

Feb 27: Gianni Infantino, the former UEFA general secretary, was elected as president of FIFA.

Mar 15: Myanmar’s parliament elected Htin Kyaw, a close friend and confidant of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, as president of the country. He is the first head of state in Myanmar since the 1960s who does not hail from a military background.

Science

Feb 17: Japan’s space agency announced to have successfully launched the ASTRO-H satellite, a space observation satellite developed in collaboration between the agency, Nasa and other groups, tasked with studying mysterious black holes.

Sports

Feb 20: New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum broke the world record for the fastest Test century by achieving the feat on just 54 balls. The record was previously held jointly by Sir Vivian Richards and Misbah-ul-Haq.

Feb 20: American World Cup alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn won a record 20th World Cup trophy.

Feb 24: Australia crushed New Zealand in the second Test to sweep the series 2-0 and go to the top of the world rankings.

Mar 06: India beat Bangladesh to win the Asia Cup Twenty20 at the Sher-i-Bangla stadium.

Mar 08: Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova, the highest-paid woman in sports, failed a drug test at the Australian Open.

Mar 10: The United States defeated Germany 2-1 to win the inaugural She Believes Cup.

Mar 13: Opener Tamim Iqbal became the first Bangladeshi to score a century in Twenty20 internationals.

Mar 13: Lin Dan earned his sixth All England badminton title by defeating Chinese teammate Tian Houwei in the final.

People in News

Taylor Swift

Feb 16: American Singer Taylor Swift made history when she became the first woman to win the top Grammy twice.

Places in News

Rancho Mirage, USA

Feb 16: The first Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)-only summit was held in Rancho Mirage, a resort city in Riverside County, California.

Mumbai, India

Feb 18: A week-long “Make in India” fair closed with $222 billion in investment pledges, but thin attendance by foreign firms at the event means many are unlikely to actually happen.

Kathmandu, Nepal

05-06 Mar: The 13th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Law (SAARCLAW) and the 10th Chief Justice Conference were held in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Jakarta, Indonesia

Mar 06-07: The 5th Extraordinary Summit of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef was held in Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Obituaries

Feb 16: Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali died at 93.

Feb 17: Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, one of the Arab world’s most prominent political commentators and a former adviser to Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, died aged 92.

Feb 18: India’s oldest living classical vocalist Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan passed away.

Feb 18: Andy Ganteaume, the former West Indies and Trinidad & Tobago wicketkeeper-batsman, died at 95.

Feb 19: American novelist Harper Lee, famous for her masterpiece “To Kill a Mockingbird”, died aged 89.

Feb 20: Umberto Eco, the Italian author and academic, who delighted readers worldwide with his best-selling medieval thriller, “The Name of the Rose,” died at 84.

Feb 21: Sheikh Imam bin Hussain bin Ali Zainul Abidin, the assistant caretaker of the shrine of Holy Prophet (PBUH), passed away at the age of 76.

Feb 24: Nabil Maleh, the father of Syrian cinema, died. He was 79.

Mar 03: Former New Zealand cricket captain Martin Crowe died at 53.

Mar 05: Veteran Sudan Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, one of the fiercest critics of President Omar al-Bashir’s government, died aged 84.

Mar 05: Pat Conroy, the writer of best-selling novels such as “The Great Santini” and “The Prince of Tides,” died at the age of 70.

Mar 06: Nancy Reagan, the former actress and the wife of former US President Ronald Reagan, died at age 94.

Mar 08: Raymond Tomlinson, the computer programmer who in 1971 invented email as it is known today and in the process transformed the “at” (@) sign from a sparely used price symbol to a permanent fixture in the lives of millions of computer users around the world, died. He was 74.

Mar 08: Thanat Khoman, a Thai diplomat and statesman who helped found the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, died. He was 101.

Mar 09: Legendary British record producer George Martin, who turned the Beatles into the best-selling band in history, died aged 90.

Mar 10: Harold H. Saunders, a diplomat who helped draft the Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978, died. He was 85.

Mar 11: Former Argentina soccer captain Roberto Perfumo died at the age of 73.

Mar 15: Anita Brookner, the author and art historian who won the 1984 Booker Prize for fiction, died at the age of 87.

MCQs

National

1. The National Finance Commission is constituted by the President under Article ______ of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973.
(a) 135        (b) 160
(c) 200A        (d) 270AA

2. The National Finance Commission consists of ______ members, including its ex officio chairman i.e. Federal Minister for Finance.
(a) 5        (b) 7
(c) 9        (d) 12

3. According to a Reuters’ report, Pakistan, in 2015, was ranked ______ worldwide in terms of executions.
(a) First        (b) Second
(c) Third    (d) Fourth

4. Pakistan officially lifted sanctions on Iran on ______, 2016.
(a) Feb 18    (b) Feb 19
(c) Feb 20    (d) Feb 22

5. On Feb 19, Pakistan lodged an FIR, in ______ police station, against the alleged attackers of the Pathankot airbase in India.
(a) Sialkot    (b) Gujranwala
(c) Lahore    (d) Bahawalpur

6. On Feb 19, ______ took oath as the new chief election commissioner of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
(a) Sardar Attiqur Rehman
(b) Mian Gul Aurangzeb
(c) Mehmood Ahmad Abbasi
(d) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal

7. On Feb 19, ______ was appointed as federal secretary for information and broadcasting.
(a) Syed Imran Gardezi    
(b) Mehmood Khan
(c) Ahmer Bilal Soofi
(d) Qamar Mansoor

8. On Feb 20, a new organisation namely______ was registered as a ‘premium service subsidiary’ of PIA.
(a) Pakistan Air    
(b) Pakistan Airways
(c) Green Air    (d) Orient Airways

9. The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) is headquartered at ______.
(a) Islamabad    (b) Quetta
(c) Rawalpindi    (d) Karachi

10. On Feb 22, the Europe Business Assembly (EBA) nominated ______ Industrial Estate (SIE) for the ‘Best Enterprise’ award.
(a) Sundar    (b) Kot Lakhpat
(c) Hyderabad    (d) Hattar

11. According to SIPRI database, Pakistan was the ______ largest arms importer in the world in 2015.
(a) 9th        (b) 10th
(c) 11th        (d) 12th

12. The Social Sciences Council of Pakistan (SSCP) was established on ______.
(a) Feb 24    (b) Feb 26
(c) Feb 27    (d) Feb 28

13. The Flagstaff House, a museum dedicated to the personal life of Quaid-i-Azam, is located in ______.
(a) Ziarat    (b) Karachi
(c) Islamabad    (d) Quetta

14. On Feb 26, ______ and Italy managed to climb Nanga Parbat for the first time in the winter season.
(a) Germany    (b) Spain
(c) Belgium      (d) Russia

15. On Feb 29, Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer in ______, was executed.
(a) 2011        (b) 2012
(c) 2013        (d) 2014

16. On ______, Governor Rafiq Rajwana signed the Protection of Women Against Violence Bill into law.
(a) Feb 28     (b) Feb 29
(c) March 01    (d) March 03

17. The current Director General of Intelligence Bureau is ______.
(a) Shoaib Suddle    (b) Aftab Sultan
(c) Khawar Khan    (d) Farrukh Sultan

18. On Feb 29, Pakistan won the Global Innovation Competition 2016 held in Accra, the capital of ______.
(a) Ghana    (b) Mozambique
(c) Algeria     (d) Chad

19. The ride-hailing behemoth Uber has its headquarters in ______.
(a) Philadelphia    (b) San Francisco
(c) Geneva    (d) New York City

20. Uber was founded as “UberCab” by Travis Kalanick and ______ in 2009.
(a) Evelyn Rusli    (b) Garrett Camp
(c) Dan Amira    (d) Ryan Graves

21. On Mar 06, the United Nations appointed ______ as chairman of the UN committee on Science, Technology and Innovation.
(a) Dr Attaur Rahman
(b) Ahsan Iqbal
(c) Dr Umar Saif
(d) Dr Samar Mubarakmand

22. The World Bank-backed Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 between India and Pakistan was signed by Pakistani President Ayub Khan and Indian Premier ______.
(a) Lal Bahadur Shastri
(b) Jawaharlal Nehru
(c) Gulzari Lal Nanda
(d) Indira Gandhi

23. On March 08, Shahbaz Taseer, a son of slain Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, was recovered from Kuchlak area of ______.
(a) Khyber PK    (b) Balochistan
(c) FATA        (d) Gilgit-Baltistan

24. On Mar 10, ______ announced to provide $122 million in financial assistance to Pakistan.
(a) Russia    (b) China
(c) Japan    (d) Saudi Arabia

25. On Mar 12, the federal government appointed Allah Dino Khawaja as the new IGP ______.
(a) Punjab    (b) Balochistan
(c) Sindh    (d) Khyber PK

26. Legum Baccalaureus is the other name of ______ degree.
(a) PhD Law     (b) LLB
(c) MBBS        (d) LLM

27. National Museum of Pakistan is located in ______.
(a) Karachi    (b) Lahore
(c) Bahawalpur    (d) Rawalpindi

28. Blind dolphin, also known as Bhulan, is found only in River______.
(a) Hub         (b) Chenab
(c) Lyari        (d) Indus

International

1. On Feb 16, the first Asean-only summit was held in Rancho Mirage, a resort city in ______, USA.
(a) New York     (b) California
(c) Ohio        (d) New Jersey

2. ______ is NOT a member of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation.
(a) Pakistan    (b) Turkey
(c) India        (d) Bangladesh

3. On Feb 17, ______ space agency launched the ASTRO-H satellite tasked with studying mysterious black holes.
(a) Canada’s      (b) Japan’s
(c) Britain’s     (d) China’s

4. Zika virus was first discovered in 1947 in ______.
(a) Uganda    (b) Gambia
(c) Brazil    (d) Zimbabwe

5. On Feb 19, ______ Christine Lagarde, was officially named to a second 5-year term as managing director of the IMF.
(a) Germany’s    (b) Italy’s
(c) France’s    (d) Luxemburg’s

6. On Feb 20, Yoweri Museveni was elected as President of ______ for a fifth term.
(a) Ghana    (b) Kenya
(c) Uganda    (d) South Africa

7. As per the latest report issued by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India and ______ are the world’s largest buyers of weapons.
(a) Turkey    (b) China
(c) North Korea    (d) Saudi Arabia

8. SIPRI, an independent int’l institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament was established on May 06, ______.
(a) 1963 ‎    (b) 1966
(c) 1969        (d) 1970

9. On Feb 22, UK’s Trinity Mirror announced to launch a new national daily namely ______.
(a) Sunday Brit    (b) The New Mirror
(c) Daily Mirror    (d) The New Day

10. Capital of Cuba is ______.
(a) Pinar del Río    (b) Havana
(c) Guantánamo    (d) Matanzas

11. On Feb 24, Indian cabinet approved a $150 million project to develop the strategic Iranian port of ______.
(a) Bushehr    (b) Abadan
(c) Bandar Abbas    (d) Chabahar

12. Advanced biofuels which are made from non-food biomass, are also known as ______ biofuels,
(a) 1st Generation    (b) 2nd Generation
(c) 3rd Generation    (d) 4th Generation

13. On Feb 24, the US won a ruling against ______ at the WTO regarding the origin of solar cells and solar modules.
(a) India    (b) Pakistan
(c) Mauritius     (d) China

14. The social network ‘Facebook’ launched “Reactions” an extension of the “Like” button, on ______.
(a) Feb 16    (b) Feb 20
(c) Feb 24    (d) Feb 28

15. ______ is the city having the highest number of billionaires in the world.
(a) Geneva    (b) New York
(d) Rome    (d) Beijing

16. On Feb 27, ______ was elected as the president of FIFA.
(a) Gianni Infantino
(b) Sepp Blatter
(c) Michel Platini    (d) Tokyo Sexwale

17. The Islamic Consultative Assembly is the parliament of ______.
(a) Nigeria    (b) Iran
(c) Bangladesh    (d) Afghanistan

18. WAM is the official news agency of ______.
(a) UAE        (b) Zimbabwe
(c) Syria         (d) Palestine

19. Qantas Airways is the flag carrier airline of ______.
(a) India        (b) Canada
(c) New Zealand    (d) Australia

20. On Mar 02, an Emirates Airbus A380 reached ______, completing the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flight.
(a) United States    (b) New Zealand
(c) Sudan    (d) Australia

21. The 5th Extraordinary Summit of OIC on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Shareef was held in ______.
(a) Riyadh    (b) Kuwait City
(c) Jakarta    (d) Kuala Lumpur

22. Putrajaya is a federal territory of ______.
(a) Malaysia    (b) Brunei
(c) Maldives    (d) Indonesia

23. ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality’ was the theme of this year’s ______.
(a) Global Family Day
(b) World Day of Social Justice
(c) International Women’s Day
(d) World Teachers’ Day

24. In the 12-day ‘Northern Thunder’ manoeuvres which concluded on March 10, ______ nations from the Middle East, Africa and Asia, participated.
(a) 18        (b) 20
(c) 22        (d) 34

25. The Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt were signed in ______.
(a) 1964        (b) 1968
(c) 1978        (d) 1984

26. Lok Sabha is the Lower House of ______ parliament.
(a) Indian    (b) Bangladeshi
(c) Bhutanese    (d) Maldivian

27. On Mar 11, the EU and ______ inked an agreement to normalise relations.
(a) Venezuela    (b) Iran
(c) Cuba        (d) N. Korea

28. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his armed forces to start pulling out of Syria on ______.
(a) March 08    (b) March 10
(c) March 12    (d) March 14

29. On Mar 15, Myanmar’s parliament elected ______ as president of the country.
(a) Aung San Suu Kyi
(b) Htin Kyaw
(c) Thanat Khoman
(d) Yoweri Museveni

30. India’s Kakrapar atomic power station is located in ______.
(a) Maharashtra    (b) Punjab
(c) Hyderabad    (d) Gujarat

31. The father of modern astronomy Nicolaus Copernicus belonged to ______.
(a) Poland    (b) Italy
(c) Germany    (d) Russia

Sports

1. The 12th South Asian Games were held in ______.
(a) Bhutan    (b) Nepal
(c) India        (d) Maldives

2. In the 12th South Asian Games, Pakistan won ______ Gold Medals.
(a) 10        (b) 12
(c) 16         (d) 34

3. ______ won the first edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
(a) Quetta Gladiators
(b) Islamabad United
(c) Karachi Kings
(d) Peshawar Zalmi

4. The world record for the fastest Test century is held by ______.
(a) Sir Vivian Richards
(b) Sir Garry Sobers
(c) Misbah-ul-Haq
(d) Brendon McCullum

5. The final of the Asia Cup Twenty20 2016 was played at the Sher-i-Bangla stadium in ______.
(a) Tongi     (b) Mirpur
(c) Chittagong    (d) Dhaka

6. The first Bangladeshi batsman to score a century in Twenty20 internationals is ______.
(a) Nafees Ali        (b) Shakibul Hassan
(c) Tamim Iqbal  (d) Mehmudullah

Obituaries

1. Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who died on Feb 17, was a former adviser to ______ president Gamal Abdel Nasser.
(a) Lebanese    (b) Syrian
(c) Egyptian    (d) Indonesian

2. On Feb 19, American novelist Harper Lee, famous for her masterpiece ______ died.
 (a) To Kill a Mockingbird
(b) The Name of the Rose
(c) The Pilgrim’s Progress
(d) Robinson Crusoe

3. Sheikh Imam bin Hussain bin Ali Zainul Abidin, the assistant caretaker of the shrine of Holy Prophet (PBUH), passed away on _____.
(a) Feb 21    (b) Feb 25
(c) Feb 27    (d) Feb 29

4. On Mar 03, former captain of _____ cricket team, Martin Crowe, died.
(a) England    (b) Australia
(c) New Zealand    (d) S. Africa

5. Mumtaz Qadri, who gunned down former Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer, was executed on ______.
(a) Feb 24     (b) Feb 29
(c) March 01    (d) March 11

6. Nancy Reagan, the wife of former US President Ronald Reagan, was previously a(n) ______.
(a) US Senator    (b) Cheerleader
(c) Scientist     (d) Actress

7. On Mar 08, Thanat Khoman, a ______ diplomat and statesman who helped found the ASEAN, died.
(a) Chinese    (b) Nepalese
(c) Thai        (d) Indonesian