NATIONAL

June 16: The US House of Representative rejected 2 amendments aimed to cut the Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan.

June 16: Punjab police completed operation Zarb-e-Aahan .

June 18: The 10th annual edition of the Global Peace Index found Pakistan as the 11th least peaceful country on the planet.

June 19: The government terminated 10,000 Lungi Holders and suspended around 10,000 more for one year.

June 22: Pakistan completed a 500-kilometre-long trench along the porous Pak-Afghan border.

Balochistan’s border with Afghanistan runs for 1,165km, and authorities plan to excavate a trench along its length. The trench will be dug from Chagai district to Zhob district.

June 23: President Mamnoon Hussain and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, held a delegation-level meeting in Tashkent on the sidelines of 16th summit of SCO.

June 24: AJK’s Rs73.5 billion deficit budget for FY 2016-17 was presented in the Assembly.

June 24: Senior Minister Haji Muhammad Akbar Taban presented Rs 43.7851 billion budget for FY 2016-17 in the GB Legislative Assembly.

June 24: Pakistan became a full member of SCO after signing Memorandum of Obligations (MoOs).

June 24: The Pakistan Railways management sealed the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club in a bid to recover Rs2.16 billion in dues.

June 26: Nearly 50 clerics affiliated with Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat issued a fatwa (edict) that marriage with a transgender person is lawful.

The fatwa said a transgender person having “visible signs of being a male” may marry a woman or a transgender with “visible signs of being a female” and vice versa. But, a transgender carrying “visible signs of both genders” may not marry anyone.

June 26: The ‘Ranking Web of World Hospitals’, revealed the best public sector hospital in Pakistan ranks 5,911 in the world.

June 27: The PPP filed a petition with the ECP seeking the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and four members of his family from the various legislatures of the country.

June 28: Access UK, formerly known as the Online Application Service, was launched in Pakistan for customers applying for UK visit visas.

Access UK enables customers to apply and pay for all visa and immigration products online. The new system makes the process more convenient, quicker and easier for customers to apply, book an appointment and pay for their application using the standard or priority service.

June 29: The German government, through its KfW Development Bank, provided a grant of six million euros to Pakistan for monitoring over 5,000 melting glaciers in northern parts of the country.

June 29: Rabab Ali, a seven-year-old girl filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court challenging the use of fossil fuels and blaming that both the federal nad provincial governments had violated the public’s trust and the youngest generation’s fundamental right to life, ensured in the constitution, through exploitation and continued promotion of fossil fuels, in particular dirty coal.

June 30: The Gilgit-Baltistan election tribunal declared the recent GB Council’s elections as illegal.

July 05: Honouring renowned philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi, the DHA renamed Beach Avenue on Seaview as Abdul Sattar Edhi Avenue.

July 05: The government closed three important projects Waseela-i-Rozgar, Waseela-i-Haq and Waseela-e-Sehat .

July 10: Google honoured Abdul Sattar Edhi by putting his name and his years of birth and death on front of its Pakistani page.

July 11: Umar Mansour, the mastermind of the APS Peshawar massacre, was killed in a drone strike in Afghanistan.

July 11: A C-130 aircraft of the PAF won the Concours D’ Elegance trophy Air Tattoo Show 2016 at Royal Air Force Base Fair Ford, UK.

Over 50 nations with 200 aircraft competed for the coveted trophy; however, PAF’s C-130 stole the show with Zarb-e-Azb theme colours.

July 15: On the recommendations of a five-member cabinet committee KP Chief Minister Pervez Khattak ordered the closure of all ongoing inquiries against the Provincial Civil Service officers.

July 15: A team of two French mountaineers scaled Tirich Mir, the highest mountain of the Hindu Kush range.

July 15: The Executive Board of the NAB closed the investigations against Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, pending before it since 2001.

Transfers & Appointments

June 16: Atiqur Rehman was re-appointed as registrar of the IHC for a six months.

June 28: The LHC Chief Justice, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

June 28: Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was administered the oath as Chief Justice of the LHC. Soon after taking oath, he announced to take drastic steps to bring reforms along with self-accountability in the judicial system.

June 29: The ECP appointed Musarrat Khan and Tanveer Zaki as provincial election commissioners of KP and Sindh, respectively.

July 01: Ms Uzma Adil was appointed as Chairman Ogra.

July 03: Air Marshal Asad Abdur Rehman Khan Lodhi was appointed as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, PAF.

Economy

June 20: The ADB signed an agreement with the Pakistan government for a $100 million loan to build the remaining 64-kilometre section of M4 motorway connecting Shorkot and Khanewal.

June 22: A consortium of 16 banks arranged Rs100 billion sukuk for the Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower Project, the country’s biggest-ever funds mobilisation for a public sector entity.

June 22: The World Bank approved financing worth $1.02 billion to support the deepening of Pakistan’s economic reforms and to strengthen the capacity of Sindh to deal with natural disasters.

June 23: Government of Pakistan and World Bank signed financing agreement of $500 million IDA Development Policy Credit (DPC) for competitiveness and growth.

June 28: The ADB approved a $600 million loan programme to help Pakistan roll out major structural reforms to improve the performance and financial sustainability of its public sector enterprises.

July 11: The federal government introduced a tax reduction of 2 per cent for Shariah-compliant listed companies through Finance Act 2016.

July 12: The KSE-100 index rose by 663.66 points, or 1.73 per cent, to an all-time high of 39,031.62.

Legislation

June 22: The National Assembly passed the Finance Bill 2016-17.

June 29: The government granted registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan another six-month extension.

July 13: The Punjab government through The Punjab Restriction on Employment of Children Ordinance, 2016, banned employment of children and restricted the recruitment of adolescents, 15 to 18 years of age, for hazardous occupations and processes.

June 28: The Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue approved Re-consideration of the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) (Amendment) Bill 2016.

Energy

June 27: OGDCL discovered gas in its exploratory well Thal West 01, located in Sukkur district of Sindh.

July 01: Turkey’s Global Energy Infrastructure Ltd (GEIL) and Qatargas signed agreement of about $22 billion for import of LNG to Pakistan for 20 years.

Sports

June 26: Islamabad Winners won the 1st OGDCL 5-A Side Hockey Tournament.

People in News

Sarah Ahmad

June 24: Sarah Ahmad, a young Microsoft Student Partner from UET, Lahore, was awarded the title of MSP Hero, one out of 2 in Middle East & Africa region by Microsoft.

Mariyha Tareen

July 05: Mariyha Tareen became first-ever Pakistani student to obtain a Master’s degree in class of 2016 from prestigious New York Academy of Art.

Attshan Ali Abbasi

July 11: A 24-year-old Pakistani Attshan Ali Abbasi broke a current world record of “fastest time to recite the names of all countries of Asia & Middle East in only 1 Breath (12 sec)”.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

July 13: Famous Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the prestigious Oxford University for his contribution to music.

Wasim Akram

July 14: Former Pakistan captain and Lancashire fast bowler Wasim Akram was honoured by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) with an Honorary Fellowship.

Misbah-ul-Haq

July 14: Pakistan’s skipper Misbah-ul-Haq completed a superb century at Lord’s, becoming the oldest player to score a hundred in 82 years.

Obituaries

June 18: Former MPA Bashiruddin Salar, the first head or ‘Salar’ of militant wing of Khaksar Tehrik, died.

June 19: An MPA of PTl from Taxila, Mohammad Sadeeq Khan, died.

June 19: Prominent archaeologist, educationist and columnist, Prof Fidaullah Sehrai, died. He was 88.

June 22: Renowned qawwal Amjad Sabri was shot dead in Karachi.

June 26: An encyclopedia of Indian and Pakistani film songs, and a renowned TV personality Muhammad Naseer, more popularly known as Naseer Bhai, passed away.

July 03: A distinguished short story writer and former Adab-e-Latif editor, Zakaur Rehman, passed away at 76.

July 08: Abdul Sattar Edhi, the founding chief of the Edhi Foundation and the country’s icon of charity and welfare work, passed away, leaving behind a rich history of dedication, contribution and struggle to improve the lives of the poor and the underprivileged, regardless of their beliefs, ethnicity and backgrounds.

July 08: Javed Akhtar, the former Pakistan spinner and international umpire, died. He was 75.

July 11: Veteran Seraiki nationalist Syed Hassan Raza Bokhari, popularly known as Razu Shah, died.

July 12: Agha Nasir, one of the pioneers of television in the country, died. He was 79.

Agha Nasir was a legend in television and radio broadcasting. He shepherded PTV through its early days and made it a real national institution.

July 14: Seraiki intellectual, writer, rights activist and Hirrak Development Centre chief executive officer Zafar Lund was shot dead in Kot Addu. He was 55.

 INTERNATIONAL

June 16: Croatia’s government fell after the PM, Tihomir Oreskovic, lost a confidence vote in parliament.

June 17: A special court in Gujarat handed life sentence to 11 Hindu zealots and lesser terms to 13 for the massacre of 69 Muslims on February 28, 2002.

June 18: Egypt’s former president Mohamed Mursi was handed another life sentence.

June 20: The number of refugees and others fleeing their homes worldwide has hit a new record, spiking to 65.3 million people by the end of 2015, the United Nations said.

June 21: The ICC sentenced former Congolese VP Jean-Pierre Bemba to 18 years in jail, handing down its toughest penalty ever.

June 21: An Egyptian court quashed a government decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.

June 22: India successfully launched a rocket carrying 20 satellites, setting a new national record.

June 23: The NSG failed to reach consensus on India’s membership. The countries that opposed India’s application include China, Russia, Brazil, Austria, New Zealand, Ireland and Turkey.

June 23: Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the head of the country’s leftist FARC rebels agreed on a ceasefire & rebel disarmament deal.

June 23: Volkswagen agreed to pay $10 billion to settle a US civil case over its diesel emissions-cheating scandal.

June 24: Britain voted to leave the European Union, dealing the biggest blow since WWII to the project of forging greater unity in the continent.

June 23: The US Supreme Court blocked President Barack Obama’s bid to shield millions of migrants from deportation.

June 26: Iraqi forces took the Islamic State group’s last positions in Fallujah.

June 27: India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), an exclusive club of countries controlling exports in missile technology. The MTCR was established in April 1987 by the G7 countries. Its membership has now reached 35.

June 27: According to a United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund report titled ‘A Fair Chance for Every Child’, unless the world focuses on the plight of disadvantaged children, 69 million children will die of preventable diseases by 2030, which is the deadline for achieving the SDGs.

The report further says that 167 million children will live in poverty by 2030 and 750 million women will have been married off as children.

June 27: The US Supreme Court struck down a Texas law placing a raft of restrictions on abortion clinics.

June 27: Israel and Turkey announced to normalize ties after a long rupture.

June 28: Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Sweden were elected to serve a 2-year stint on the UN Security Council.

June 28: A newly discovered helium gas field in Tanzania was hailed as a “game changer” by scientists and the company hoping to exploit it.

Helium is a rare gas used in medical scanners, scientific research, spaceships, weather balloons and telescopes and it is thought that world consumption is far outstripping production, raising concerns of a global shortage.

June 29: An audacious attack, blamed on the Islamic State group, rocked Ataturk Havalimani (Ataturk airport) leaving 41 people dead.

June 29: Iraq secured a $2.7 billion US loan to finance the buying of ammunition and maintenance of tanks and fighters in the fight against IS.

June 29: Russian President Putin lifted restrictions on travel to Turkey after mending ties with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

June 29: China’s top internet regulator, Lu Wei who was named as one of the world’s 100 most influential people last year by Time magazine and who oversaw a severe tightening of internet freedoms, stepped down.

June 30: Authoritarian firebrand Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the Philippines’ president.

June 30: UN war crimes judges threw out an appeal by two former top Bosnian Serb officials against their conviction, upholding a 22-year jail term imposed for their roles in “ethnic cleansing” during the 1990s conflict.

June 30: India test-fired a new surface-to-air, medium range missile (MR-SAM), developed jointly with Israel.

June 30: The Netherlands became the first country in the world to implement a nationwide long range (LoRa) network for the Internet of Things.

July 01: The White House released a report claiming that US drones killed only 64 to 116 civilians in 473 strikes launched between Jan 20, 2009 and December 31, 2015.

July 01: Austria’s highest court ordered a rerun of the country`s presidential election.

July 01: India’s first locally-built combat aircraft “Tejas” officially took to the skies, 33 years after it was cleared for development. The aircraft has been made by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.

India’s fighter aircraft fleet, made up of a mix of Russian, British and French planes, is down to 33 squadrons as against the air force’s requirement of 45 to face Pakistan and China.

July 01: The Pentagon’s ban on transgender people serving openly in the armed forces was lifted.

July 02: In an attack on Western-styled Holey Artisan Bakery cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh nearly 20 hostages were slaughtered, as claimed, claimed by IS.

July 02: The UNGA adopted a resolution on the UN Global Counterterrorism Strategy with the aim of securing peace and prosperity for succeeding generations.

July 03: Linda Burney, a former teacher, made political history by becoming the first indigenous woman elected to the lower house of Australian parliament.

July 04: Suicide bombers struck Saudi Arabia’s three cities. The explosions targeted the security headquarters of the Mosque of the Prophet (PBUH) in Madina, Shia worshippers in Qatif and US diplomats in Jeddah.

July 05: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reshuffled his cabinet and expanded it with 17 new faces.

July 05: Braving intense radiation, a Nasa spacecraft reached Jupiter after a five-year voyage to begin exploring the king of the planets.

July 08: The United States announced to deploy 1,000 troops to Poland as part of broader Nato efforts to reassure former Communist eastern member states fearful of a more assertive Russia.

July 08: After a long wait, Chilcot Report on Iraq War came out. The report concluded that Tony Blair’s justification, planning and handling of the War was a catalogue of failures.

July 09: North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

July 10: Protesters and government forces in Indian-Held Kashmir (IHK) clashed as anger over the death of an influential pro-independence leader, Burhan Wani, boiled over, leaving more than 40 people martyred.

July 10: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declared victory in a marathon national election.

July 11: Pope Francis named Greg Burke, a former Fox News correspondent, to lead the Vatican press office and appointed Paloma Garcia Ovejero as the tiny state’s first-ever female deputy spokesperson.

July 12: An int’l tribunal ruled against China’s claims that it had “historical rights” in the South China Sea .

July 14: In a first for Gulf states, Kuwait set a minimum wage at 60 dinars ($200) a month and also granted domestic staff a raft of other rights for its domestic workers.

July 15: A faction of Turkey’s military launched a coup bid to oust President Erdogan. The bid was foiled by people who took to streets in multitudes.

July 15: A Tunisian man ploughed a truck into Bastille Day crowds killing at least 84.

July 15: Donald Trump announced Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his choice to be his running mate.

July 15: Some 263 million children worldwide, nearly one in 10, do not go to school, posing a daunting hurdle to the UN’s  efforts to educate all children by 2030, the UNESCO reported.

Elections & Appointments

June 16: Oscar-winning actor Anne Hathaway was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women.

June 20: Afghan lawmakers approved Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai as head of NDS and Abdullah Habibi as new defence minister.

June 22: The Maldives’ president Yameen Abdul Gayoom appointed Abdulla Jihad as a new vice president.

June 27: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg appointed Rose Gottemoeller as the next Deputy Secretary General. ‎ Gottemoeller, the first woman to hold this key post, replaces Ambassador Alexander Vershbow from the US, who took up his position in February 2012.

Economy

June 18: California became the sixth largest economy in the world, surpassing France.

June 24: The China-backed AIIB approved its first four loans totalling over half a billion dollars.

Sports

June 19: Nico Rosberg sailed away to an easy victory in European Grand Prix.

June 26: Australian motorcycle racer Jack Miller won Assen MotoGP.

June 26: Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami claimed Moto2 victory at the Assen Grand Prix in the Netherlands.

June 26: The Slovak star Dominika Cibulkova beat Karolina Pliskova to claim her first career title on grass at the WTA Eastbourne event.

June 27: Lionel Messi announced abandoning Argentina national team.

June 27: Australia beat West Indies in the final of the triangular one-day international series.

July 01: Saudi Arabia was elected as ICC’s 39th Associate Member.

July 02: Australia’s Cate Campbell smashed the long-standing women’s 100m freestyle world record.

July 09: Serena Williams matched Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Grand Slam singles titles by beating Angelique Kerber in the Wimbledon final.

July 10: Andy Murray beat Milos Raonic for his second trophy at the All England Club in Wimbledon.

July 10: Portugal won their first European Championship title after Eder gave them a 1-0 victory over France in extra-time .

Obituaries

June 16: A British lawmaker Jo Cox died after being shot and stabbed multiple times.

June 22: Jack Fuller, who joined the ‘The Chicago Tribune’ as a 16-year-old copy boy, went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing and ultimately presided over the Tribune Company’s $8 billion acquisition of Times Mirror in 2000, died. He was 69.

June 23: Former UN General Assembly president John Ashe died at  61.

June 30: Alvin Toffler, the celebrated author of “Future Shock,” died at 87.

July 02: Yves Bonnefoy, France’s most famous contemporary poet and celebrated translator of Shakespeare whose poems were translated into 30 languages, died at 93.

July 03: Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor, writer and Nobel Peace laureate (1986) who worked to keep alive the memory of Jews slaughtered during World War II, died aged 87.

July 02: Jack Taylor, the founder of Enterprise Rent A Car, died at age 94. Jack started his career as a salesman at a St. Louis Cadillac dealership in 1957.

July 04: Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami died at the age of 76.

July 05: Michel Rocard, a former French prime minister who embodied a pragmatic, market-friendly element in the Socialist Party, died. He was 85.

July 09: The New York Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent, Sydney Schanberg, who chronicled the Khmer Rouge’s brutal rise to power in Cambodia in the 1970s, died at 82.

People in News

Ajit Singh Singhvi

June 23: After a 47-year-long battle, Ajit Singh Singhvi, a retired IAS officer, was awarded a gold medal by Rajasthan University for securing the first position in LLB examination. The 81-year-old Singh had passed LLB exam in 1969 and secured highest marks in aggregate but was given the second position reportedly to allow a college to maintain its merit track record.

Rose Gottemoeller

June 27: Rose Gottemoeller, a career US diplomat, became the first woman to hold the post of NATO Deputy Secretary General.

Milos Raonic

July 08: Milos Raonic became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final.

Places in news

Warsaw, Poland

8-9 July: The 27th formal meeting of the heads of state and heads of government NATO was held in Warsaw, Poland.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

July 14-16: The 11th edition of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit 2016 was held at Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

MCQs

National

1. ______ is the chairman of the 12-member Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and members of the ECP.
(a) Abid Sher Ali    (b) Pervaiz Malik
(c) Daniyal Aziz    (d) Pervaiz Rashid

2. As per the 10th annual edition of the Global Peace Index, Pakistan is the ______ least peaceful country.
(a) 4th        (b) 7th
(c) 11th        (d) 15th

3. M4 motorway connects Shorkot and ______.
(a) Faisalabad    (b) Khanewal
(c) Sargodha    (d) Chiniot

4. On June 21, the British High Court in London ruled in favour of Pakistan in a case concerning the ownership of £35 million of funds of the ______ Nizam of Hyderabad.
(a) 5th        (b) 7th
(c) 8th        (d) 9th

5. Balochistan’s border with Afghanistan runs for ______.
(a) 1,165km    (b) 1,245km
(c) 1,335km    (d) 1,465km

6. The trench along the Pak-Afghan border in Balochistan will be dug from ______ district to Zhob district.
(a) Chaman    (b) Kalat
(c) Chagai    (d) Kila Abdullah

7. The National Assembly passed the Finance Bill 2016-17 on ______.
(a) June 22    (b) June 26
(c) June 28    (d) June 29

8. On ______, Pakistan was elected unopposed to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Board of Governors for the term 2016-2018.
(a) June 22    (b) June 24
(c) June 26    (d) June 28

9. Pakistan became a full member of SCO after signing Memorandum of Obligations (MoOs) on ______.
(a) June 20    (b) June 24
(c) June 28    (d) June 30

10. On June 26, at least 50 clerics affiliated with ______ issued a fatwa that marriage with a transgender person is lawful.
(a) Tanzeem Ittehad-i-Ummat
(b) Tanzeem-i-Islami
(c) Wifaq-ul-Madaris
(d) Tanzeem-i-Salafia

11. On June 27, OGDCL discovered gas in its exploratory well Thal West 01 which is located in ______ district.
(a) Thatta    (b) Badin
(c) Larkana    (d) Sukkur

12. On June 28, the UK Visas and Immigration Service launched ______ for those applying for UK visit visas.
(a) Visit UK    (b) Access UK
(c) UKVIS        (d) Welcome UK

13. On June 29, the ______ government, through its KfW Development Bank, provided a grant of six million euros to Pakistan.
(a) German    (b) French
(c) Indonesian    (d) Canadian

14. On June 29, the ECP appointed Musarrat Khan and Tanveer Zaki as provincial election commissioners of______, respectively.
(a) KP and Punjab
(b) KP and Sindh
(c) Sindh and Balochistan
(d) Punjab and Balochistan

15. On July 01, Global Energy Infrastructure Ltd. of Turkey and ______ announced signing of about $22 billion agreement for import of LNG to Pakistan for 20 years.
(a) Chinagas    (b) Qatargas
(c) LUKOIL     (d) Rosneft

16. On July 01, ______ was appointed as Chairman OGRA.
(a) Musarat Khan    (b) Mansoor Ali
(c) Uzma Adil    (d) Ijazul Ahsan

17. On ______, the government closed Waseela-i-Rozgar, Waseela-i-Haq and Waseela-e-Sehat programmes.
(a) July 05    (b) July 08
(c) July 09    (d) July 10

18. A C-130 aircraft of the PAF that won the Concours D’ Elegance trophy Air Tattoo Show 2016 in UK was in ______ theme colours.
(a) PAF        (b) Pakistan Flag
(c) Pak Army    (d) Zarb-e-Azb

19. Through Finance Act 2016, the federal government introduced a tax reduction of ______ for Shariah-compliant listed companies.
(a) 2 percent    (b) 3 percent
(c) 4 Percent    (d) 5 percent

20. On July 13, famous Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the prestigious ______ University.
(a) Princeton    (b) Oxford
(c) Preston    (d) Cambridge

21. On July 14, former Pakistan captain ______ was honoured by the University of Central Lancashire with an Honorary Fellowship.
(a) Imran Khan    (b) Waqar Younis
(c) Sarfraz Nawaz  (d) Wasim Akram

22. Tirich Mir is the highest mountain of the ______ range.
(a) Suleiman    (b) Hindu Kush
(c) Salt        (d) Karakoram

23. The incumbent Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court is ______.
(a) Justice Shahid Javed
(b) Justice Ijazul Ahsan
(c) Justice Manzoor Malik
(d) Justice Mansoor Ali Shah

International

1. Gujarat riots in which Hindu zealots massacred 69 Muslims occurred on February 28, ______.
(a) 2001        (b) 2002
(c) 2003        (d) 2004

2. On June 16, Oscar-winning actor Anne Hathaway was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for ______.
(a) UNDP        (b) Unicef
(c) UNESCO    (d) UN Women

3. On June 18, California became the sixth largest economy in the world, surpassing ______.
(a) France    (b) South Korea
(c) Mexico    (d) Japan

4. According to the United Nations, the number of refugees and others fleeing their homes worldwide  by the end of 2015 was ______.
(a) 60.8 million    (b) 62.9 million
(c) 65.3 million    (d) 68.1 million

5. On June 20, Afghan lawmakers approved ______ as new defence minister of the country.
(a) Masoom Stanekzai
(b) Abdullah Habibi
(c) Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi
(d) Zalmay Wardak

6. On June 21, an ______ court quashed a government decision to hand over two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia.
(a) Iraqi        (b) Iranian
(c) Omani    (d) Egyptian

7. Yameen Abdul Gayoom is the president of ______.
(a) Maldives    (b) Malaysia
(c) Bangladesh    (d) Nepal

8. FARC is a guerrilla movement operating in ______.
(a) Somalia    (b) Colombia
(c) Vietnam    (d) Venezuela

9. On June 23, ______ agreed to pay $10 billion to settle a case over its diesel emissions-cheating scandal.
(a) Ford        (b) Porsche
(c) Wartburg    (d) Volkswagen

10. Fallujah is a city in ______.
(a) Iraq        (b) Syria
(c) Lebanon    (d) Jordan

11. The Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal and voluntary partnership among 35 countries, was established in April ______ by the G7 countries.
(a) 1987        (b) 1988
(c) 1990        (d) 1993

12. The deadline for achieving the SDGs is ______.
(a) 2020        (b) 2030
(c) 2035        (d) 2050

13. On June 27, NATO appointed Rose Gottemoeller of ______ as its Deputy Secretary General.
(a) US        (b) UK
(c) Germany    (d) Belgium

14. On June 28, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and ______ were elected to serve a two-year stint on the UN Security Council.
(a) Norway    (b) Israel
(c) Sweden    (d) Turkey

15. Ataturk Havalimani (Ataturk airport) is located in ______.
(a) Antalya    (b) Ankara
(d) Istanbul    (d) Konya

16. ______ is a rare gas used in medical scanners, scientific research, spaceships, weather balloons and telescopes.
(a) Argon    (b) Neon
(c) Chlorine    (d) Helium

17. On June 29, ______ secured a deal for a $2.7 billion US loan to finance the buying of ammunition and maintenance of tanks and fighters used in the fight against IS group.
(a) Iraq        (b) Iran
(c) Jordan    (d) Lebanon

18. On ______, President Putin lifted restrictions on travel to Turkey after mending of the bilateral ties.
(a) June 27    (b) June 29
(c) June 30    (d) July 01

19. On June 30, Rodrigo Duterte was sworn in as the president of ______ for a six-year term.
(a) Philippines    (b) Taiwan
(c) Singapore    (d) Hong Kong

20. On June 30, India test-fired a new surface-to-air, medium range missile (MR-SAM), developed jointly with ______.
(a) Japan        (b) Switzerland
(c) Israel        (d) South Korea

21. On July 01, India’s first locally-built combat aircraft ______ officially took to the skies.
(a) Rafale    (b) Tejas
(c) Garv        (d) Vishnu

22. ______ is the king of the planets.
(a) Venus    (b) Saturn
(c) Mercury    (d) Jupiter

23. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) is the news agency of ______.
(a) Spain        (b) Germany
(c) Australia      (d) The Netherlands

24. Dadaab Camp, the world’s largest refugee camp, is located in ______.
(a) Kenya     (b) Iran
(c) Pakistan    (d) Nigeria

25. BND is the foreign intelligence agency of ______.
(a) Australia    (b) Japan
(c) Spain        (d) Germany

26. In science lexicon, an aeon is a period of ______.
(a) 1,000 years    (b) 1 million years
(c) 1 billion years    (d) 1 trillion years

27. On July 12, ______ became the first woman Chief Justice of Nepal.
(a) Kalyani Shrestha
(b) Nirjala Nagendra
(c) Sushila Karki    
(d) Mridula Upadhyaya

28. The Amr ibn al-Aas Mosque is located in ______.
(a) Egypt        (b) Saudi Arabia
(c) Iran        (d) Qatar

29. The theme of United Nations World Population Day 2016 was ______.
(a) Investing in teenage girls
(b) Equality empowers
(c) Be counted: say what you need
(d None of these

Sports

1. On June 26, ______ won the 1st OGDCL 5-A Side Hockey Tournament.
(a) Karachi Sharks
(b) Quetta Warriors
(c) Islamabad Winners
(d) Faisalabad Falcons

2. On May 16, ______ became the youngest-ever Formula One winner.
(a) Nico Rosberg    (b) Max Verstappen
(c) Louis Hamilton    (d) Daniil Kvyat

3. On June 27, Lionel Messi of ______ announced abandoning the national team.
(a) Portugal    (b) Argentina
(c) Spain         (d) Brazil

4. On July 01, ______ was elected as ICC’s 39th Associate Member.
(a) China     (b) Afghanistan
(c) Kuwait    (d) Saudi Arabia

5. On July 02, ______ Cate Campbell smashed the long-standing women’s 100m freestyle world record.
(a) Ireland’s     (b) England’s
(c) Australia’s    (d) Austria’s

6. ______ won the 2016 Women’s Singles Wimbledon Championship.
(a) Venus Williams
(b) Serena Williams
(c) Simona Halep
(d) Angelique Kerber

7. ______ won the 2016 Men’s Singles Wimbledon Championship.
(a) Rafael Nadal    (b) Andy Murray
(c) Milos Raonic    (d) Novak Djokovic

8. On July 10, ______ national football team won the 2016 UEFA European football championship.
(a) France’s     (b) Portugal’s
(c) Germany’s     (d) Spain’s

Obituaries

1. Prominent archaeologist, educationist and columnist, Prof Fidaullah Sehrai, died on ______.
(a) June 16    (b) June 18
(c) June 19    (d) June 24

2. John Ashe, who died on June 23 was a former President of ______.
(a) World Bank    (b) IMF
(c) ECB        (d) UNGA

3. On July 02, Yves Bonnefoy, ______ most famous contemporary poet and translator of Shakespeare, died.
(a) France’s    (b) Sweden’s
(c) Lebanon’s    (d) Norway’s

4. Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor and a Nobel laureate who died on July 03, won Nobel Peace Prize in ______.
(a) 1968        (b) 1974
(c) 1982        (d) 1986

5. On July 04, acclaimed ______ filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami died.
(a) Pakistani     (b) Indian
(c) Iranian    (d) Syrian

6. Pakistan’s most revered philanthropist and humanitarian, Abdul Sattar, passed away on ______.
(a) July 06    (b) July 08
(c) July 10    (d) July 12

7. On July 12, Agha Nasir who was one of the pioneers of ______ in the country breathed his last.
(a) Radio        (b) Film
© Social media    (d) Televisio