World in Focus (AUG-SEP 2021)

National & International With MCQs

Aug. 16: Dr Khawar Jameel, a son of Dr Jameel Jalibi – the shining star of Urdu literature – established “Dr Jameel Jalibi Research Library” in memory of his father.
Aug. 16: The government promoted Air Commodore Muhammad Ikramul Haq Noor to the rank of Air Vice Marshal.
Aug. 16: Prime Minister Imran Khan (PMIK) launched the first phase of Single National Curriculum for students from grade one to five.
Aug. 16: Chief of the General Staff of the Saudi Armed Forces, General Fayyadh bin Hameed Al-Rowailly, called on PMIK and Chief of the Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa (COAS Gen Bajwa), separately.
Aug. 16: Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice (CJ) Gulzar Ahmed administered oath of the office to Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar as judge of the SC.
Aug. 16: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, inaugurated an environment friendly e-taxi for northern areas of the country.
Aug. 17: Rawalakot Hawks won the inaugural Kashmir Premier League (KPL) title by defeating Muzaffarabad Tigers in the final.
Aug. 17: The president appointed Justice Umer Ata Bandial, senior most judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the acting chief justice of Pakistan.
Aug. 17: Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry was elected as the 28th president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
Aug. 17: Justice Mushir Alam of the Supreme Court declared illegal and unconstitutional a PPP-era law called Sacked Employees (Reinstatement) Ordinance Act, 2010, under which a number of people were employed or promoted.
Aug. 18: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) won a landmark case at the Supreme Court of England after five judges unanimously ruled that Pakistani national airliner was right to use lawful act under economic duress on a British Pakistani travel agent while enforcing a new contract for sales of tickets to Pakistan in 2012.
Aug. 18: Pakistan was ranked 153rd among the 193 countries surveyed in the 2020 UN E-Government Development Index (EGDI) report.
Aug. 20: The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC), Athar Minallah, suspended the allotment of plots to judges of the high court and subordinate judiciary on lower prices through balloting in sectors F-14 and F-15.
Aug. 20: Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad was appointed as the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Aug. 20: Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri was appointed as the High Commissioner to Australia.
Aug. 21: Former CJ of the Federal Shariat Court Riaz Ahmad Khan died. He was 69.
Aug. 22: Pakistan’s 15-year-old Imaad Ali became the world Youth Scrabble Champion for the second time, the first in the world to have done so.
Aug. 24: Pakistan received $2.75 billion from the IMF under its new Special Drawing Rights allocation.
Aug. 24: Pakistan conducted a successful test-flight of indigenously-developed Fatah-1 (Guided Multi Launch Rocket System), capable of delivering conventional warhead.
Aug. 24: SAPM on Finance and Revenues, Dr Waqar Masood, tendered his resignation.
Aug. 24: The government removed Chairman FBR Asim Ahmed replacing him with Dr Ashfaque Ahmed.
Aug. 24: Pakistan managed to level the series by 1-1 after defeating West Indies by 109 runs in the second test.
Aug. 24: The Ministry of Water Resources notified the appointment of retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain as the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) chairman for a second consecutive term of five years.
Aug. 25: The opening ceremony of the third Pakistan-Kazakhstan Joint Military Exercise “Dostarym III” was held at the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC), Pabbi.
Aug. 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned PMIK and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and discussed efforts to counter threats emanating from Afghanistan and setting up of an inclusive government there.
Aug. 25: PMIK inaugurated the country’s first ‘Smart Forest’ in the Rakh Jhok area of Sheikhupura — the first of its kind being equipped with technology sensors and surveillance systems.
Aug. 26: A 15-member AJK cabinet took oath.
Aug. 26: The Supreme Court dismissed the suo motu notice, taken by Justice Qazi Faez Isa on an application regarding harassment of journalists and held that the CJP is the sole authority for invoking the original jurisdiction enshrined in the Constitution under Article 184(3).
Aug. 26: Qazi Musarrat Hussain, a member of the Pakistan hockey team which won country’s first ever Olympic medal (silver) in any sports at the 1956 Olympics, breathed his last.
Aug. 26: The Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2021-30 with the focus on pursuing renewable and nuclear energy projects.
Aug. 27: PMIK launched the ‘Roshan Apna Ghar’ scheme for nonresident Pakistanis who can purchase or obtain financing for a house in the country through Roshan Digital Account.
Aug. 27: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin unveiled short-, medium and long-term economic programme for 14 key sectors to ensure sustainable growth.
Aug. 27: Renowned educationist, feminist and human rights activist, Rubina Saigol, passed away.
Aug. 27: The district administration Faisalabad set a new record of planting 100,000 saplings in one go.
Aug. 29: Veteran politician M. Hamza died of Covid-19. He was 92.
Aug. 30: COAS Gen Bajwa briefed a delegation comprising members of the Parliamentary Kashmir Committee and Defence Committees of the Senate and National Assembly, that visited the General Headquarters (GHQ).
Aug. 30: First time in the history of Malakand division, a Women Police Station was setup in Swat district to resolve issues of women on priority basis.
Aug. 31: The Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) issued an order to declassify all government reports that are more than 20 years old.
Aug. 31: A consortium of four Pakistani oil companies was awarded exploration rights for Offshore Block-5 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the first time the UAE’s biggest energy producer granted a concession to firms from Pakistan.
Aug. 31: Pakistani microfinance pioneer and a development worker, Mohammad Amjad Saqib, was declared as one of the winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
Sept. 01: Veteran Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Geelani passed away after a prolonged illness. He was 92.
PMIK announced that the Pakistan flag will fly at half mast and the country will observe a day of official mourning.
Sept. 01: The first China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project in the power evacuation and transmission sector, the 660kV High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Matiari-Lahore transmission line, started commercial operations.
Sept. 02: Pakistan Navy inducted its first modern Long Range Maritime Patrol twin-engine jet aircraft.
Sept. 02: As the family was preparing for the last rites of Syed Ali Geelani, a heavy contingent of the occupation forces raided his residence in Srinagar, harassed the family members and snatched Syed Ali Geelani’s dead body.
Sept. 02: Veteran politician and the first chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, died at the age of 93.
Sept. 02: KP government gave representation to a Hindu woman in Dispute Resolution Council (DRC) by appointing Mala Kumari, a 28-year old, master degree-holder from Kurram District.
Sept. 03: Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Babar Sidhu took over as president of the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF).
Sept. 03: Athlete Haider Ali made history by winning a gold medal in the discus throw competition at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games, becoming the first Pakistani to do so.
Sept. 03: Vice Admiral Faisal Rasul Lodhi was appointed as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff (VCNS).
Sept. 04: Pakistan’s premier wrestler and the world’s beach wrestling king, Mohammad Inam Butt, won the Beach Wrestling World Series which was held in Rome.
Sept. 04: During a telephone call with Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, PMIK once more stressed the need for the international community to engage with the Afghans.
Sept. 04: Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen Faiz Hameed visited Kabul to meet with the Taliban representatives and discuss matters related to safe evacuation of foreign nationals, border management and security in the region.
Sept. 05: Pakistan hosted a virtual meeting of the special representatives or envoys of the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan. Special Representative for Afghanistan Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq chaired the session with the participation of China, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Sept. 06: PMIK appointed former federal finance secretary, Dr Kamran Ali Afzal, the new chief secretary and Punjab Safe Cities Authority (PSCA) director general, Additional IGP Rao Sardar, the new Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Punjab.
Sept. 07: Olympian Jahangir Butt, one of the stalwarts of the golden era of Pakistan hockey, passed away. He was 78.
Sept. 07: The first auction of the Walton Airport land was made successful in the second attempt as the Lahore Central Business District Development Authority (LCBDDA) managed to fetch Rs21.588 billion from the sale of five plots.
Sept. 07: Pakistan Army reshuffled four three-star generals, posting Lt. Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza as the new Corps Commander Rawalpindi. He would replace Lt. Gen Azhar Abbas who has been appointed as Chief of the General Staff in his place. Lt. Gen Waseem Ashraf, who was serving as Commander of Strike Corps Multan, has been given assignment of Director General Joint Staff Headquarters. He would be replaced by Lt. Gen Muhammad Chiragh Haider as Corps Commander Multan who was serving as DG Joint Staff Headquarters.
Sept. 07: The cargo ship stuck off at Karachi beach finally started floating after 48 days.
Sept. 07: One of legends of the golden era of Pakistani film music Wazir Afzal passed away. He was 87.
Sept. 08: Index provider MSCI Inc. downgraded Pakistan to a frontier market for no longer meeting the emerging market’s classification standards for size and liquidity.
Sept. 08: The 25th meeting of the National Command Authority (NCA) was held under the chairmanship of PMIK at Strategic Plans Division Headquarters.
Sept. 08: All Parties Hurriyat Conference appointed Masarrat Aalam Butt as its new Chairman along with Shabbir Ahmad Shah and Ghulam Ahmad Gulzar as Vice Chairmen.
Sept. 08: The first-ever EU-Pakistan Business Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises was launched.
Sept. 09: Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta of the Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) was awarded the 2021 Roux Prize, a US$100,000 award for turning evidence into health impact.
Sept. 09: Three rear admirals of Pakistan Navy (PN) – Vice Admiral Imran Ahmed, Vice Admiral Naveed Ashraf and Vice Admiral Owais Ahmed Balgrami – were promoted to the rank of vice admiral.
Sept. 09: The Apex Committee of the National Action Plan (NAP) decided to set up a national crisis information management cell to ensure timely, correct and smooth flow of information about internal security issues.
Sept. 09: Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist of international fame and a great human being, departed for the eternal abode.
Sept. 09: Qatar’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Joseph Burns visited Islamabad to discuss the latest situation in Afghanistan besides other issues.
Sept. 09: The former federal secretary Sajjadul Hasan passed away.
Sept. 10: Addressing the 243rd Corps Commanders’ Conference in Rawalpindi, COAS Gen Bajwa reiterated Pakistan’s firm commitment to peace, and said that constructive engagement and sustained humanitarian support by the international community was imperative for enduring peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Sept. 11: Punjab’s Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan resigned.
Sept. 11: DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed hosted intelligence chiefs of regional countries – Russia, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – in Islamabad to discuss the Afghan situation.
Sept. 11: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar announced that ‘the general elections of 2023 will be held as per new census.
Sept. 12: Azeem Sarwar, one of the icons of broadcast media in Pakistan, breathed his last.
Sept. 12: Pakistan presented to world capitals and all world organizations a dossier proving how India was violating all international and humanitarian laws to bring about demographic change in the Indian Illegally Held Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K).
Sept. 12: Cantonment board elections were held across Pakistan. A total of 1,569 candidates stood for elections in 219 wards of 42 cantonment boards.
Sept. 13: The latest study tiled ‘The Missing Third: An out-of-school of Pakistani 5-16 year olds’, conducted by the Pak Alliance for Math and Science on the out-of-school children (OOSC), revealed that over 20 million children between the ages of 5 and 16 years are out of school in Pakistan.
Sept. 13: The Inter-Provincial Education Ministers Conference (IPEMC) decided to pass all students of grade 10 and 12.
Sept. 13: Former Australian batsman Matthew Hayden and ex-South Africa pacer Vernon Philander were appointed Pakistan coaches for T20 World Cup in UAE.
Sept. 13: President Arif Alvi addressed the joint sitting of the two Houses of parliament. The presidential address to the Parliament also marked the beginning of the fourth parliamentary year of the sitting National Assembly.
Sept. 13: Former federal secretary and distinguished intellectual and columnist Dr Safdar Mahmood passed away.
Dr Safdar was best known for his scholarly book ‘Pakistan Kyun Toota’ on the breaking away of East Pakistan and the making of Bangladesh. Dr Safdar was the recipient of Pride of Performance for his outstanding contributions in the field of history. He penned one dozen books reviewed by Pakistani and foreign press and are widely quoted by foreign and Pakistani authors and research scholars.
Sept. 14: Balochistan MPAs moved a no-confidence motion against Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani.
Sept. 14: Shaheed Allah Buksh Soomro (SABS) University of Art, Design and Heritage, Jamshoro, signed MoUs with Toledo city of USA, to collaborate in education, art, culture, economic and social sectors.
Sept. 14: The federal cabinet rejected a proposal to give 10 percent ad hoc relief in the basic salaries of the Senate chairman and deputy chairman, National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker and members of the parliament.
Sept. 14: PMIK, during a telephone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressed that close coordination and consultations between Pakistan and Russia on the evolving situation in Afghanistan are of crucial importance.
Sept. 14: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was awarded the best Islamic stock exchange award by Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) for the year 2021.
Sept. 14: Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin announced more than 32 percent increase in the issue price of wheat from Rs1,475 to Rs1,950 per 40kg for release to mills.
Sept. 15: In an interview with CNN, PMIK strongly advocated incentivising Taliban’s new government with a view to ending the current crisis and warned against trying to control Afghanistan from outside and insisted the country was on a historic crossroad.
Sept. 15: Telenor Pakistan was awarded Rs1.36 billion contract by the Universal Service Fund (USF) to provide mobile broadband 4G services in Chaghi and Nushki districts of Balochistan
Sept. 15: The government officially awarded additional spectrum to Ufone.

Aug. 16: Malaysia’s prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin resigned and his government collapsed.
Aug. 16: Zambian business tycoon and veteran opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema scored a landslide victory in the presidential elections.
Aug. 16: The Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking control of the presidential palace in Kabul.
Aug. 16: American Kevin Kisner won a record-tying six-man playoff and capture the Wyndham Championship.
Aug. 16: Ryann O’Toole captured her first LPGA title.
Aug. 16: Daniil Medvedev won the ATP Toronto Masters.
Aug. 16: The 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO wrapped in Fuzhou, capital of China’s Fujian province, with a total of 34 new sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Aug. 16: Poland recalled its ambassador to Israel after the latter downgraded diplomatic ties with the former.
Aug. 17: The Taliban’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar returned to Afghanistan following the group’s takeover of the country.
Aug. 17: The Afghan Taliban vowed to respect women’s rights, forgive those who resisted them and ensure a secure Afghanistan.
Aug. 18: The Facebook removed user accounts linked to the Taliban spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid.
Aug. 19: Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including Kill Bill, died. He was 82.
Aug. 20: China passed a sweeping privacy law aimed at preventing businesses from collecting sensitive personal data.
Aug. 20: Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was deputy premier in the last government, was appointed by the king as Malaysia’s next prime minister.
Aug. 22: Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced to step down in November.
Aug. 22: US country rock pioneer Don Everly, who was the surviving half of the Everly Brothers, died aged 84.
Aug. 22: Former prime minister of Afghanistan and Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar said India should focus on its internal issues instead of issuing statements about the future of Afghanistan.
Aug. 22: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said Afghanistan should never again be allowed to shelter “terrorist organisations”, and called for an inclusive dialogue to resolve the crisis following the Taliban takeover.
Aug. 22: Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist won the Women’s British Open, her third major title.
Aug. 23: India’s capital New Delhi opened its first “smog tower” aimed at reducing air pollution
Aug. 23: Iran resumed fuel exports to Afghanistan, following a request from the new government of Taliban.
Aug. 23: The US imposed new sanctions on the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces of Eritrea, Filipos Woldeyohannes, over Ethiopia’s deadly Tigray conflict.
Aug. 24: Japan’s Emperor Naruhito declared the Tokyo Paralympics open.
Aug. 24: During her visit to Singapore, US Vice President, Kamala Harris, accused China of intimidation in disputed Asian waters, seeking to rally regional allies.
Aug. 24: Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to its “hostile actions”.
Aug. 24: Papua New Guinea banned flights from India indefinitely.
Aug. 25: Iran’s parliament approved almost all new President Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet choices, enabling him to start working in earnest with his government.
Aug. 25: The World Bank announced to suspend aid to Afghanistan.
Aug. 26: Russia fined Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp for failing to store the data of Russian users on local servers.
Aug. 26: British regulators fined a Chinese state-owned broadcaster £200,000 ($274,000, €233,000) for failing to comply with fairness and privacy rules.
Aug. 26: The Taliban and Northern Alliance agreed to refrain from attacks against each other.
Aug. 26: At least 60 Afghans and 12 US service members were killed in explosions at the Kabul airport.
Aug. 26: Former England captain Ted Dexter, one of England’s greatest-ever cricketers, died aged 86.
Aug. 27: Sirhan Sirhan, the man convicted of shooting dead Robert F. Kennedy – the younger brother of slain president John F. Kennedy – was granted parole.
Aug. 28: Scientists discovered what is believed to be the world’s northernmost landmass — a yet-to-be-named island north of Greenland that could soon be swallowed up by seawaters.
Aug. 28: Iraq hosted a regional conference aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East while emphasising the Arab country’s new role as a mediator. Among the attendees were archenemies Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rivalry has often played out in Iraq and other countries, including Yemen and Lebanon.
Aug. 29: Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw set a new world record for the women’s half marathon of one hour three minutes and 44 seconds, taking 18 seconds off the previous record time.
Aug. 29: Jacques Rogge, who spent 12 years as president of the International Olympic Committee, died at the age of 79.
Aug. 29: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen emerged as the winner of the rain-ruined Belgian Grand Prix, the shortest race in Formula One history – all 14 kilometres of it.
Aug. 30: China banned written exams for six- and seven-year-olds, as part of sweeping education reforms.
Aug. 30: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
Aug. 30: The two-decade-long US-led war in Afghanistan officially came to a close as the final military plane departed the international airport in Taliban-ruled Kabul.
Aug. 30: The UN Security Council adopted a resolution requiring the Taliban to honour their commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan.
Aug. 31: President Joe Biden mounted a fierce defence of his exit from Afghanistan as the “best decision for America,” the day after the US military withdrawal celebrated by the Taliban as a major victory, saying it was in the US national interest.
Aug. 31: Dale Steyn, South Africa’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker, announced his retirement from all cricket.
Aug. 31: Sri Lanka declared a state of emergency over food shortages as private banks ran out of foreign exchange to finance imports.
Aug. 31: Taliban took control of the Kabul airport following the withdrawal of the last US troops, marking the end of the 20-year war.
Sept. 01: In a report on the state of social protection globally, the UN’s International Labour Organisation said that 4.1 billion people were living without any social safety net of any kind.
Sept. 01: Bangladesh earned their maiden Twenty20 International victory against New Zealand.
Sept. 02: Taliban spokesman for their political office in Qatar, Sohail Shaheen, said the Taliban has the right to raise voice for Muslims anywhere, including in Kashmir.
Sept. 02: Taekwondo made its Paralympic debut in Tokyo.
Sept. 02: Ireland slapped Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service with a record fine for breaching EU data privacy laws.
Sept. 02: In a World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international scoring record by scoring his 110th goal, to move ahead of former Iran striker Ali Daei.
Sept. 03: Turkey imposed a fine of 1,950,000-lira ($235,000, €200,000) on Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service for failing to sufficiently protect user data.
Sept. 04: Indian batsman Rohit Sharma scored his first Test century outside his home country.
Sept. 04: President Joe Biden directed the Justice Department to declassify documents related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Sept. 05: Singer Sarah Harding, whose group Girls Aloud was one of Britain’s most successful female bands, died aged 39.
Sept. 05: Home favourite Max Verstappen won the first Dutch Grand Prix since 1985.
Sept. 05: A Myanmar photographer, who remained unnamed for security reasons, scooped the Visa d’Or for News, the most prestigious award handed out at the “Visa Pour L’Image” festival in Perpignan, southwestern France.
Sept. 05: Army putschists in Guinea arrested the president and staged a coup.
Sept. 05: Tokyo bade a colourful farewell to the Paralympics.
Sept. 06: Actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, one of postwar French cinema’s biggest stars and whose charismatic smile illuminated the screen for half a century, died aged 88.
Sept. 06: Nasa confirmed that its Perseverance rover succeeded in collecting its first rock sample on Mars.
Sept. 06: Taliban fighters announced the capture of the Panjshir valley, the last pocket of resistance to their rule.
Sept. 06: John Watkins, who had been the world’s oldest living Test cricketer, has died in Durban (South Africa) at the age of 98.
Sept. 07: South Korea test-fired a homegrown submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) which is believed to be a variant of the country’s Hyunmoo-2B ballistic missile, with a range of around 500-km.
Sept. 07: The Taliban announced veteran Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund as the leader of their interim cabinet, while giving key positions to some of the movement’s top officials. No woman was included in the interim set-up.
Sept. 07: Sri Lanka hammered South Africa by 78 runs in the third one-day international to clinch the series 2-1.
Sept. 07: El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept bitcoin as legal tender.
Sept. 07: The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said the average surface air temperature in June-August was close to 1.0°C above the 1991-2020 average, making it the hottest in its dataset. The previous warmest summers, 2010 and 2018, were 0.1°C cooler.
Sept. 08: Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) postponed the 3rd Asian Youth Games for a year.
Sept. 08: Bangladesh defeated New Zealand in the fourth Twenty20 international to seal the five-match series 3-1.
Sept. 08: Russia’s emergencies minister Yevgeny Zinichev died trying to save a filmmaker who slipped from a cliff during training exercises in the Arctic.
Sept. 08: A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that the Chinese government was ready to maintain communication with new government and leaders in Afghanistan.
Sept. 08: Zebulon Simentov, Afghanistan’s last Jew who lived in a dilapidated synagogue in Kabul, left the country.
Sept. 08: The last surviving assailant of the November 2015 attacks in Paris appeared in court at the start of a historic trial over the night of horror that sent shockwaves through France.
Sept. 08: A statue of a Confederate general, General Robert E. Lee was removed in Richmond, the Virginia city.
Sept. 09: Chinese authorities ordered gaming giants Tencent and NetEase to cut content that is breeding “effeminacy”.
Sept. 09: President Emmanuel Macron offered an emotional farewell to Jean-Paul Belmondo who helped define French identity for six decades.
Sept. 09: The US Navy’s Fifth Fleet launched a new task force in the Gulf, incorporating drones and artificial intelligence.
Sept. 09: The IOC punished North Korea’s Tokyo Games no-show by suspending their National Olympic Committee until the end of 2022.
Sept. 09: Morocco’s long-ruling Islamists suffered a crushing defeat in parliamentary elections.
Sept. 09: Leaders of the five-nation BRICS club (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) called for settling the situation in Afghanistan through peaceful means.
Sept. 09: Ford Motor Co. announced to stop making cars in India, becoming the latest automaker to leave the major growth market dominated by Asian rivals.
Sept. 10: Lionel Messi scored a hattrick to overtake Pele as the top international goal-scorer in South American history.
Sept. 10: Russia completed the construction of Nord Stream 2, a subsea pipeline to Germany.
Sept. 10: The African Union suspended Guinea after a coup in the West African country.
Sept. 10: Russia and Belarus kick-started joint military drills Zapad-2021.
Sept. 10: Denmark became the only European nation with no Covid curbs.
Sept. 10: Legislators from around the world met in Vienna, Austria for the First Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Sept. 10: US President Joe Biden and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping talked for the first time in seven months.
Sept. 10: A Lebanese government was formed under Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, ending a 13-month impasse.
Sept. 11: Libyan parliament speaker Aguila Saleh ratified a law governing the country’s upcoming presidential election.
Sept. 11: Veteran Indian sports administrator Raja Randhir Singh took over as head of the Olympic Council of Asia.
Sept. 11: It emerged that the United States has removed its most advanced missile defence system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia, even as the kingdom faced continued air attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Sept. 11: Morocco’s King Mohammed VI named businessman Aziz Akhannouch to lead a new government.
Sept. 12: Penelope Cruz took home the best actress award at the Venice Film Festival, for her role in “Parallel Mothers”.
Sept. 12: Philippines actor John Arcilla was the surprise choice for the best acting award at the Venice Film Festival.
Sept. 12: Iran and the UN atomic agency announced the IAEA will keep up surveillance of Tehran’s nuclear activities.
Sept. 12: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi became the first foreign leader to visit and meet with Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi since he took office in August.
Sept. 12: Britain’s Emma Raducanu completed a Grand Slam by becoming the US Open champion.
Sept. 12: McLaren’s D. Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix.
Sept. 12: Daniil Medvedev foiled Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam bid with a straight sets victory in the US Open final.
Sept. 12: Australia’s Samantha Stosur and China’s Zhang Shuai won the US Open women’s doubles title.
Sept. 14: Emily Claire Hari, a transgender woman, who led a militia called The White Rabbits, was sentenced to 53 years in prison for bombing a Minnesota mosque in 2017.
Sept. 14: The painter Charlotte Johnson Wahl, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s mother, died at the age of 79.
Sept. 14: Russia fined Facebook and Twitter 21 million rubles and five million rubles, respectively.
Sept. 14: South Africa defeated Sri Lanka in the third Twenty20 international to sweep the series.
Sept. 14: Double Olympic champion Yuriy Sedykh, whose world record for the hammer still stands, died at the age of 66.
Sept. 15: US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison announced to form a new trilateral partnership, AUKUS, a major step toward countering China.
Sept. 15: South Korea successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile, becoming only the seventh country in the world with the advanced technology.
Sept. 15: Iran demoted its chief nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araghchi, and replaced him with Ali Bagheri, a protege of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi.
Sept. 15: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed a new-look cabinet to revamp his Brexiteer government.
Dominic Raab was moved to the lesser role of Justice Secretary but will retain the title of Deputy Prime Minister. He was replaced by International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who has brokered a series of deals since Britain’s full exit from the European Union in January. She became only the second female foreign secretary in British history.
Sept. 15: The UN announced to withdraw Gabon’s 450-strong peacekeeping contingent from the Central African Republic over sexual abuse.

1. Dr Jameel Jalibi was a shining star of the literature of _______ language.
   (a) Urdu (b) Sindhi
   (c) Balochi (d) Punjabi

2. On Aug. 16, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the first phase of Single National Curriculum for students from grades ______.
   (a) 1-3 (b) 1-5
   (c) 1-8 (d) 1-12

3. On ______, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar was administered the oath of the office as a judge of the Supreme Court.
   (a) Aug. 14 (b) Aug. 15
   (c) Aug. 16 (d) Aug. 17

4. On Aug. 17, Rawalakot Hawks won the inaugural Kashmir Premier League title by defeating ______ in the final.
   (a) Bagh Stallions (b) Mirpur Royals
   (c) Kotli Lions (d) Muzaffarabad Tigers

5. On Aug. 17, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry was elected as the ______ president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
   (a) 28th (b) 29th
   (c) 30th (d) 31st

6. Pakistan has been ranked ______ among the 193 countries surveyed in the 2020 UN E-Government Development Index report.
   (a) 147th (b) 153rd
   (c) 159th (d) 163rd

7. The incumbent Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court is ______.
   (a) Justice Babar Sattar
   (b) Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani
   (c) Justice Athar Minallah
   (d) Justice Aamer Farooq

8. On Aug. 20, ______ was appointed the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
   (a) Nabeel Munir (b) Sabir Ahmed
   (c) Raza Bashir (d) Asim Iftikhar

9. On Aug. 20, former Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez was appointed Pakistan’s High Commissioner to______.
   (a) Australia (b) United Kingdom
   (c) India (d) Canada

10. On Aug. 22, Pakistan’s 15-year-old Imaad Ali became the world Youth Scrabble Champion for the second time, becoming the ______ in the world to have done so.
    (a) First (b) Second
    (c) Third (d) Fourth

11. On ______, Pakistan conducted a successful test-flight of indigenously-developed Fatah-1 (Guided Multi Launch Rocket System), capable of delivering conventional warhead.
    (a) Aug. 22 (b) Aug. 23
    (c) Aug. 24 (d) Aug. 25

12. On Aug. 24, Lt Gen (retd) Muzammil Hussain was appointed the chairman of Water and Power Development Authority for a second consecutive term of ______ years.
    (a) Three (b) Four
    (c) Five (d) Seven

13. On Aug. 24, the government appointed ______ the Chairman of Federal Board of Revenue.
    (a) Sultan Khan (b) Asim Ahmed
    (c) Kamran Ali (d) Ashfaque Ahmed

14. The Joint Military Exercise “Dostarym III” has been held between the armies of Pakistan and ______.
    (a) Tajikistan (b) Kazakhstan
    (c) Azerbaijan (d) Turkey

15. On Aug. 25, Pakistan’s first ‘Smart Forest’ was inaugurated in the Rakh Jhok area of ______.
    (a) Jhelum (b) Rawalpindi
    (c) Sheikhupura (d) Chakwal

16. Renowned educationist, feminist and human rights activist, Rubina Saigol, passed away on ______.
    (a) Aug. 24 (b) Aug. 25
    (c) Aug. 26 (d) Aug. 27

17. On Aug. 27, the district administration ______ set a new record of planting 100,000 saplings in one go.
    (a) Faisalabad (b) Lahore
    (c) Peshawar (d) Gujranwala

18. COAS Gen Bajwa briefed a delegation comprising members of Parliamentary Kashmir Committee and Defence Committees of the Senate and National Assembly at GHQ on ______.
    (a) Aug. 29 (b) Aug. 30
    (c) Aug. 31 (d) Sept. 01

19. On Aug. 30, first time in the history of Malakand division, a Women Police Station was setup in ______ district to resolve issues of women on priority basis.
    (a) Lower Dir (b) Buner
    (c) Swat (d) Bajaur

20. On Aug. 31, a consortium of four Pakistani oil companies was awarded exploration rights for Offshore Block-5 in ______.
    (a) Qatar (b) Saudi Arabia
    (c) Kuwait (d) UAE

21. Dr Mohammad Amjad Saqib, one of the winners of the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s equivalent to the Nobel Prize, is the head of ______.
    (a) Akhuwat (b) Aman
    (c) Al-Khair Trust (d) Darul Sukun

22. Veteran Hurriyat Leader Syed Ali Geelani passed away at the age of 92 years on ______.
    (a) Aug. 30 (b) Aug. 31
    (c) Sept. 01 (d) Sept. 02

23. The 660kV High-Voltage Direct Current Matiari-Lahore transmission line, the first CPEC project in the power evacuation and transmission sector, started commercial operations on ______.
    (a) Aug. 31 (b) Sept. 01
    (c) Sept. 02 (d) Sept. 03

24. Veteran politician and the first chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Attaullah Mengal, died on ______.
    (a) Aug. 30 (b) Aug. 31
    (c) Sept. 01 (d) Sept. 02

25. Pakistan Squash Federation is headquartered in ______.
    (a) Islamabad (b) Karachi
    (c) Peshawar (d) Lahore

26. The sport in which Pakistani Athlete Haider Ali won a gold medal – his country’s first – at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games was ______.
    (a) Taekwondo (b) Discus throw
    (c) Archery (d) Swimming

27. On Sept. 04, Pakistan’s Inam Butt won the Beach Wrestling World Series which was held in Rome, the capital of ______.
    (a) Sweden (b) Austria
    (c) Italy (d) Netherlands

28. On Sept. 06, former federal finance secretary, Dr Kamran Ali Afzal, was appointed the new chief secretary of ______.
    (a) Sindh (b) Balochistan
    (c) KP (d) Punjab

29. On Sept. 07, _______ was appointed the Pak Army’s Chief of the General Staff.
    (a) Lt. Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza
    (b) Lt. Gen Azhar Abbas
    (c) Lt. Gen Waseem Ashraf
    (d) Lt. Gen M. Chiragh Haider

30. On Sept. 07, ______ was named as the Chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference to fill the seat that fell vacant due to the sad demise of Syed Ali Geelani.
    (a) Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai
    (b) Masarat Alam Bhat
    (c) Yasin Malik (d) Mishal Malik

31. The cargo ship that stuck off at Karachi beach for 48 days was named ______.
    (a) Thalassa (b) COSCO
    (c) Hang Tong 77 (d) Hapag-Lloyd

32. One of the legends of the golden era of Pakistani film music, Wazir Afzal, passed away on ______.
    (a) Sept. 04 (b) Sept. 05
    (c) Sept. 06 (d) Sept. 07

33. On Sept. 08, the first-ever EU-Pakistan Business Forum for Small and Medium Enterprises was launched in ______.
    (a) Islamabad (b) Brussels
    (c) Karachi (d) Rome

34. On Sept. 11, Director-General ISI, Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, hosted intelligence chiefs of regional countries – Russia, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and ______– in Islamabad.
    (a) Tajikistan (b) Uzbekistan
    (c) Azerbaijan (d) Kyrgyzstan

35. In the cantonment board elections, which were held across Pakistan on September 12, the party that bagged most seats was ______.
    (a) PML-N (b) PPP
    (c) PTI (d) JUI-F

36. On Sept. 13, former Australian batsman Matthew Hayden and former ______ pacer Vernon Philander were appointed Pakistan coaches for T20 World Cup in UAE.
    (a) English (b) New Zealander
    (c) West Indian (d) South African

37. Former federal secretary and distinguished intellectual and columnist Dr Safdar Mahmood passed away on ______.
    (a) Sept. 13 (b) Sept. 14
    (c) Sept. 15 (d) Sept. 16

38. President Arif Alvi addressed the joint sitting of the two Houses of parliament, which also marked the beginning of the fourth parliamentary year of the sitting National Assembly, on ______.
    (a) Sept. 12 (b) Sept. 13
    (c) Sept. 14 (d) Sept. 15

39. The famous book on the breaking away of East Pakistan and the making of Bangladesh “Pakistan Kyun Toota” was written by ______.
    (a) Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri
    (b) Lt Gen Ihsan Ul Haq
    (c) Dr Jameel Jalibi
    (d) Dr Safdar Mahmood

40. On Sept. 14, ______ Stock Exchange was awarded the best Islamic stock exchange award by Global Islamic Finance Awards for 2021.
    (a) Lahore (b) Karachi
    (c) Pakistan (d) Islamabad

1. On ______, the Taliban declared the war in Afghanistan over after taking over the presidential palace in Kabul.
   (a) Aug. 14 (b) Aug. 15
   (c) Aug. 16 (d) Aug. 16

2. On Aug. 16, the 44th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO was held in Fuzhou, capital of ______ Fujian province.
   (a) Japan’s (b) Vietnam’s
   (c) China’s (d) Cambodia’s

3. The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO has inscribed ______ new sites on the World Heritage List.
   (a) 30 (b) 34
   (c) 38 (d) 51

4. On Aug. 19, ______ actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, died.
   (a) Japanese (b) Chinese
   (c) American (d) Thai

5. On Aug. 20, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was deputy premier in the last government, was appointed ______ prime minister.
   (a) Myanmar’s (b) Indonesia’s
   (c) Maldives (d) Malaysia’s

6. On Aug. 22, ______ beleaguered Prime Minister Stefan Lofven announced to step down in Nov.
   (a) Estonia’s (b) Denmark’s
   (c) Sweden’s (d) Spain’s

7. On Aug. 23, India’s city of New Delhi opened its first “smog tower” aimed at reducing air pollution.
   (a) Bengaluru (b) New Delhi
   (c) Kolkata (d) Mumbai

8. On Aug. 23, ______ resumed fuel exports to Afghanistan, following a request from the new Taliban government.
   (a) Iran (b) Russia
   (c) Saudi Arabia (d) Qatar

9. On Aug. 23, the US imposed new sanctions on Filipos Woldeyohannes, the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces of ______.
   (a) Ethiopia (b) Chad
   (c) Gambia (d) Eritrea

10. The Tigray conflict, an ongoing civil war, is in ______.
    (a) Eritrea (b) Somalia
    (c) Ethiopia (d) Kenya

11. On Aug. 24, ______ severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to its “hostile actions”.
    (a) Oman (b) Algeria
    (c) Saudi Arabia (d) UAE

12. On Aug. 24, ______ banned flights from India indefinitely.
    (a) Papua New Guinea
    (b) Egypt
    (c) Morocco (d) Sweden

13. On Aug. 25, the World Bank announced to suspend aid to ______.
    (a) Kenya (b) Ethiopia
    (c) Eritrea (d) Afghanistan

14. On Aug. 26, former ______ captain Ted Dexter, one of his country’s greatest-ever cricketers, died.
    (a) Australia (b) South Africa
    (c) England (d) West Indies

15. On Aug. 28, ______ hosted a regional conference aimed at easing tensions in the Middle East.
    (a) Bahrain (b) Iraq
    (c) Oman (d) Kuwait

16. On Aug. 29, ______ Yalemzerf Yehualaw set a new world record for the women’s half marathon of one hour three minutes and 44 seconds.
    (a) Ethiopia’s (b) Kenya’s
    (c) Bulgaria’s (d) Chad’s

17. On Aug. 29, Jacques Rogge, who served as the president of the International Olympic Committee from 2001 to ______, died.
    (a) 2004 (b) 2008
    (c) 2012 (d) 2013

18. On Aug. 30, ______ banned written exams for six- and seven-year-olds, as part of sweeping education reforms.
    (a) Finland (b) Switzerland
    (c) China (d) Japan

19. Benny Gantz is the current Defence Minister of ______.
    (a) France (b) Israel
    (c) Germany (d) UK

20. Max Verstappen, who has won the Belgian Grand Prix 2021, drives for ______.
    (a) Red Bull (b) Honda
    (c) Toyota (d) Ferrari

21. On ______, the last military plane departed the Hamid Karzai international airport in Taliban-ruled Kabul, marking the official end of the two-decade-long US-led war in Afghanistan.
    (a) Aug. 26 (b) Aug. 27
    (c) Aug. 29 (d) Aug. 30

22. On Aug. 31, Dale Steyn, ______ all-time leading Test wicket-taker, announced his retirement from all cricket.
    (a) Australia (b) England
    (c) South Africa’s (d) New Zealand

23. On Aug. 31, ______ declared a state of emergency over food shortages as private banks ran out of foreign exchange to finance imports.
    (a) Haiti (b) Sri Lanka
    (c) Afghanistan (d) Yemen

24. The headquarters of the UN’s International Labour Organisation is located in______.
    (a) Geneva (b) Paris
    (c) Addis Ababa (d) Tokyo

25. On Sept. 01, ______ earned their maiden Twenty20 International victory against New Zealand.
    (a) Australia (b) Ireland
    (c) Sri Lanka (d) Bangladesh

26. Taliban’s spokesman for their political office in Qatar is ______.
    (a) Zabiullah Mujahid
    (b) Naeem Wardak
    (c) Sohail Shaheen
    (d) Muhammad Hanif

27. On Sept. 02, Cristiano Ronaldo broke the men’s international scoring record, which was held by Ali Daei of ______, by scoring his 110th goal.
    (a) Morocco (b) Iran
    (c) England (d) Egypt

28. The Turkish lira was introduced in ______ during the Ottoman reign.
    (a) 1844 (b) 1850
    (c) 1856 (d) 1864

29. On Sept. 05, Sarah Harding, a member of a popular ______ music group Girls Aloud, died.
    (a) German (b) American
    (c) Australian (d) British

30. On Sept. 05, Visa d’Or for News was awarded to a photographer from ______, who remained unnamed for security reasons.
    (a) Afghanistan (b) Yemen
    (c) Myanmar (d) Syria

31. On Sept. 05, army putschists in _____ arrested the country’s president Alpha Conde and staged a coup.
    (a) Iraq (b) Guinea
    (c) Ghana (d) South Sudan

32. On Sept. 06, Nasa confirmed that its ______ rover succeeded in collecting its first rock sample on Mars.
    (a) Perseverance (b) Curiosity
    (c) Dusty (d) Opportunity

33. On Sept. 06, ______ John Watkins, who had been the world’s oldest living Test cricketer, died.
    (a) England’s (b) West Indies’s
    (c) New Zealand’s (d) South Africa’s

34. On Sept. 07, ______ became the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.
    (a) Austria (b) Japan
    (c) El Salvador (d) Latvia

35. On Sept. 08, Zebulon Simentov, ______ last Jew who lived in a dilapidated synagogue, left the country.
    (a) Pakistan’s (b) Afghanistan’s
    (c) Iran’s (d) India’s

36. On Sept. 09, the IOC punished ______ Tokyo Games no-show by suspending their National Olympic Committee until the end of 2022.
    (a) North Korea’s (b) Russia’s
    (c) Iraq’s (d) Belarus’s

37. On Sept. 10, Russia completed the construction of Nord Stream 2, a subsea pipeline to______.
    (a) France (b) Italy
    (c) Norway (d) Germany

38. On Sept. 10, ______ became the only European nation with no Covid curbs.
    (a) Norway (b) Sweden
    (c) Denmark (d) Poland

39. The First Global Parliamentary Summit on Counter-Terrorism, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, was held in ______.
    (a) Washington DC (b) Vienna
    (c) Toronto (d) Canberra

40. The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia announced to form a new trilateral partnership, AUKUS, on ______.
    (a) Sept. 12 (b) Sept. 13
    (c) Sept. 14 (d) Sept. 15