World in Focus (AUG-SEP 2022)

National & International With MCQs

Aug. 16: The Punjab Assembly unanimously passed the Punjab Prohibition of Interest on Private Loan Bill, 2022, a bill to impose a ban on private business of usury.
Aug. 16: UAE President Mohammad bin Zayed bestowed his country’s highest civil award, “Order of Zayed,” on Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa (COAS Gen. Bajwa).
Aug. 16: The 2021 Global Hunger Index jointly compiled by Welthungerhilfe and Concern Worldwide, ranked Pakistan 92 among 116 countries with a score of 24.7, declaring its hunger levels ‘serious’.
Aug. 17: The 21st Session of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between Pakistan and Iran was held in Islamabad.
Aug. 17: The British government signed a new agreement with Pakistan which will see the return of criminals and immigration offenders from London to Islamabad.
Aug. 17: Renowned cartoonist and animator Irshad Haider Zaidi passed away.
Aug. 17: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabinet approved the establishment of biosphere reserve in the province.
Aug. 17: The Punjab government formally notified Gujrat as the 10th division of the province.
Aug. 17: Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi expanded Rescue 1122 service to all Punjab tehsils.
Aug. 18: COAS Gen Bajwa and Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Michael E. Kurilla discussed, at a meeting at GHQ, Pakistan-US military training exchange programme.
Aug. 18: Pakistan signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Iran in the fields of maritime, museum and information broadcasting.
Aug. 18: PPP’s Syed Mehdi shah took oath as sixth governor of Gilgit Baltistan.
Aug. 19: The federal government appointed Jameel Ahmad as the new governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Aug. 19: The federal government appointed Lt-Gen (retd) Hamood-uz-Zaman the defence secretary.
Aug. 19: Brig (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar was re-elected as president of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) unopposed.
Aug. 19: The government appointed Nadeem Javaid as Chief Economist of Pakistan for a period of two years.
Aug. 19: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (PMSS) launched a Rs37.2 billion Flood Relief Cash Program to provide Rs25,000 cash assistance each to 1.5 million families across the flood-hit areas of the country.
Aug. 19: The Ministry of Commerce and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) unveiled a comprehensive National Priority Sectors Export Strategy for Pakistan to achieve the country’s ambition of growing its trade.
Aug. 20: Nayyara Noor, one of the most accomplished singers in Pakistan, often called Bulbul-e-Pakistan, passed away.
Aug. 20: PMSS directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately suspend collection of fixed sales tax through electricity bills from small traders and retailers.
Aug. 21: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) retained its seat in the NA-245 by-election.
Aug. 21: The Sindh government declared 23 districts of the province calamity-hit areas.
Aug. 21: Pakistan beat the Netherlands in the third and final One-day International to clean sweep the three-match series.
Aug. 22: The government promulgated an ordinance to slap an additional Rs36 billion tax on cigarettes, Rs2 billion on tobacco processing and reduced levies on transport vehicles.
Aug. 22: The federal cabinet gave approval to the Pakistan Army-Qatar agreement on providing security assistance in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
Aug. 22: The KP government declared an emergency in flood-hit areas of Dera Ismail Khan, Upper Chitral, Lower Chitral, and Upper Kohistan districts.
Aug. 22: The Federal Government notified appointment of Captain (r) Muhammad Usman as chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Aug. 23: The first meeting of the National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) was held.
Aug. 23: A Pakistani student, Misha Pervez received the bronze medal in the Global Finals of Teeneagle English competition which was held in London.
Aug. 24: Qatar’s Diwan-e-Emiri confirmed that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) aims to invest $3 billion in Pakistan.
Aug. 25: PMSS announced resumption of departmental sports.
Aug. 25: The FIA established eight police stations to check money laundering in major cities throughout the country.
Aug. 26: Peshawar High Court (PHC) suspended a notification of the provincial government to authorise an administrative officer for lodging cases against the leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement.
Aug. 26: The induction ceremony of PNS TAIMUR, second of four Type 054-A/P multi role frigates, was held at PN Dockyard, Karachi.
Aug. 26: Pakistan appointed Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani as new ambassador to Afghanistan vice Mansoor Ahmad Khan.
Aug. 26: Pakistan’s Fatima Sana was selected by the International Cricket Council (ICC) among its hundred percent Cricket Superstars.
Aug. 27: The most sophisticated radar system known as Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) started working in Peshawar to gather atmospheric clouds, aerosols, temperature, humidity and other data concerning CPEC area.
Aug. 27: Renowned poet and scholar of Sindhi language Imdad Hussaini passed away.
Aug. 28: Pope Francis called on the international community to help flood-hit Pakistan.
Aug. 29: The IMF Executive Board revived the stalled programme and approved the combined 7th and 8th reviews and release of $1.1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
Aug. 29: Pakistan hockey legend Manzoor Hussain Junior died. He was 65.
Aug. 30: Pakistan and the United Nations jointly launched the “2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan (FRP)” seeking Rs 35.8bn ( $160.3m) focusing on the needs of 5.2 million people.
Aug. 31: Pakistan received a $1.16 billion loan installment from the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility.
Aug. 31: The Balochistan government declared 32 out of the total 34 provincial districts ‘calamity-hit’.
Sept. 01: Abrarul Haq was removed as Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
Sept. 01: President Arif Alvi appointed Sardar Shahid Ahmed Laghari as the new PRCS chairman for three years.
Sept. 02: After completion of the 7th and 8th reviews and revival of stalled Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program for Pakistan, the IMF released its staff report which states that amid a tense political landscape, programmed fiscal adjustment was undone and several keys EFF commitments were reversed.
Sept. 02: PMSS announced Rs3 billion rehabilitation grant for flood-affected people in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Sept. 02: CM Balochistan Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo appointed Senator Samina Mumutaz Zehri as focal person in Karachi to coordinate and mobilize private donations for flood victims in Balochistan.
Sept. 02: Pakistan Petroleum Limited appointed Abid Ashfaque Malick acting managing director and chief executive officer of the company.
Sept. 02: The SC barred politicians from inscribing their names on government lands.
Sept. 03: PMSS established National Flood Response Coordination Centre (NFRCC) to better articulate and synergise flood relief efforts.
Sept. 03: The authorities in Karachi recovered a highly-expensive vehicle, Bentley Mulsanne, which was stolen from London and then shipped to the port city.
Sept. 04: The Ismaili Imamat announced a donation of $10 million (Rs2.193 billion) to the Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund.
Sept. 04: CM KP Mahmood Khan approved the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Climate Change Policy 2022.
Sept. 05: A US Congressional delegation (CODL) — led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and comprising Congressmen Tom Souzzi and Al Green — called on PMSS at the PM House.
Sept. 05: CM Punjab Pervaiz Elahi appointed British Pakistani Makhdoom Syed Tariq Mahmood-ul-Hassan as Vice Chairperson of the Punjab Overseas Commission.
Sept. 05: The Punjab government designated Mian Aslam Iqbal as senior minister of the provincial cabinet.
Sept. 06: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) called for environmental justice from the global community.
Sept. 06: In its latest report “Narrowing the Disaster Risk Protection Gap in Central Asia,” the ADB said that Pakistan urgently needs to enhance the current disaster-risk finance approach as risk-retention mechanisms are insufficient to cover the losses associated with even the most frequent of flood and earthquake events.
Sept. 06: Pakistan & East Africa Connecting Europe (Peace) Cable International Network Co. Ltd completed the construction of a submarine cable infrastructure, providing connectivity from Karachi to Marseille, France.
The Peace cable is a 15,000 km submarine cable from Pakistan to France, extended from Pakistan to Singapore for an additional 6,500 kms, with main trunk landing in Singapore, Pakistan, Kenya, Egypt and France and branches to the Maldives, Malta, Cyprus, etc. This submarine cable adds an ultra-fast, high capacity, low latency and redundant connectivity to Pakistan’s international connectivity. The Pakistan-Egypt segment connects Karachi and Zafarana, Egypt, and has total length of 5,800 kms. The connectivity from Pakistan to France is now fully completed and ready for service.
Sept. 07: Ayesha Zehri was promoted as Balochistan’s first female deputy commissioner.
Sept. 07: The Government of Pakistan and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signed an advance loan agreement worth $1.6 million for “Lahore Water and Wastewater Management Project”.
Sept. 07: Pakistan German Future Summit was organized in Berlin to promote connections and collaboration between Pakistani startups and German companies.
Sept. 08: Pakistan dropped seven places in the Human Development Index, ranking 161 out of 192 countries in the 2021-2022 HDI.
Sept. 08: The ECP postponed the by-polls in 13 constituencies of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, owing to the engagements of security personnel and other departments in flood-related rescue and relief activities.
Sept. 08: The Biden administration approved the possible sale of F-16 aircraft sustainment and related equipment to Pakistan for a cost of 450 million dollars.
Sept. 08: A delegation headed by US State Department Counselor Derek H. Chollet called on COAS Gen Bajwa at the GHQ.
Sept. 08: The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Pakistan.
Sept. 08: Hunaid Lakhani, the founder and chancellor of Iqra University, passé away.
Sept. 08: An MoU was signed between Punjab Police and Jiangsu Public Security Department of China under which both departments will work together to protect constitutional rights of each other’s citizens, investors, national institutions and official interests in their areas.
Sept. 09: PMSS appeared before the IHC in a case related to missing persons.
Sept. 09: COAS Gen Bajwa and US Secretary of Defense General Lloyd James Austin had a telephonic conversation.
Sept. 09: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community to boost assistance to Pakistan as it needed massive financial support for rescue-and-relief efforts in the wake of widespread devastation caused by the recent floods.
Sept. 11: Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan to win their sixth Asia Cup cricket title.
Sept. 12: The government launched the ‘Digital Flood Dashboard’ of the National Flood Response Coordination Center (NFRCC), in a bid to ensure transparency in the relief- and-rehabilitation efforts in flood-hit areas.
Sept. 13: PMSS appointed eight more special assistants, including four PPP MNAs.
Sept. 13: Islamabad formally wrote a letter to Kabul for locating reporting and arresting, Maulana Masood Azhar, the founding head of the banned Jaish E Mohammad (JEM).
Sept. 13: 10-year-old Musa Tanveer became the first Pakistani to have been awarded YouTube’s ‘Diamond Play Button’.
Sept. 13: The third regional seminar for the parliaments of the Asia-Pacific region on Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was held at the National Assembly Hall in Islamabad.
Sept. 14: PMSS waived the electricity bills of flood-affected areas for two months all over the country.
Sept. 14: The Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Local Government Bill 2021 under which the local bodies polls will be held on party basis.
Sept. 14: Pakistan veterans cricket team downed New Zealand to win the inaugural Over 60s Cricket World Cup.
Sept. 15: Dr Shahbaz Gill finally got bail from the IHC in the sedition case.
Sept. 15: CM Punjab fixed property transfer fee at one percent across the province.
Sept. 15: Asad Rauf, the former ICC elite panel umpire from Pakistan, died.
Sept. 15: PMSS met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Aug. 16: FIFA suspended India’s football association because of “undue influence from third parties”.
Aug. 16: The Biden administration announced that it will not release $3.5 billion in frozen Afghan funds, citing the discovery of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri in Kabul.
Aug. 17: President Joe Biden signed Democrats’ landmark climate change and healthcare bill into law.
Aug. 17: A Saudi court sentenced Salma al-Shehab to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity.
Aug. 17: Israel and Turkey announced the resumption of full diplomatic ties.
Aug. 18: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye met his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Lviv.
Aug. 18: Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, an award-winning Somali poet who was revered as the “Shakespeare of Somalia,” and was better-known by his pen name Hadraawi, died aged 79.
Aug. 19: The US Defence Department announced a $775 million package of defence equipment for Ukraine.
Aug. 19: Canada nominated Michelle O’Bonsawin as the first Indigenous person to serve on its Supreme Court.
Aug. 19: The fifth Islamic Solidarity Games, which were held in Konya, Turkiye, came to a close.
Aug. 20: Nicole Theriot assumed responsibility as the consul general of the US Consulate General Karachi.
Aug. 20: Greece concluded 12 years of European Union fiscal surveillance that was imposed in return for bailouts after a crushing debt crisis.
Aug. 20: The Philippines’ Princess Mary Superal secured her first ever international golf title: the Simone Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia.
Aug. 22: A Saudi court sentenced former Imam of the Grand Mosque Sheikh Saleh al-Taleb to 10-year imprisonment.
Aug. 22: Caroline Garcia won the ATP and WTA Cincinnati Masters.
Aug. 23: The Indian Air Force sacked three officers for the accidental firing of a cruise missile into Pakistan.
Aug. 24: President Joe Biden announced that most US university graduates still trying to pay off student loans will each get $10,000 in relief.
Aug. 24: The first US ambassador to Sudan in 25 years, John Godfrey, took up his post.
Aug. 24: Germany inaugurated a railway line powered entirely by hydrogen.
Billed as a “zero emission” mode of transport, the trains mix hydrogen on board with oxygen present in the ambient air, thanks to a fuel cell installed in the roof. This produces the electricity needed to pull the train.
Aug. 24: Thailand’s Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha from office.
Aug. 24: A meeting of the Council of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s member states was held in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan.
Aug. 24: A British-Belgian teenager Mack Rutherford became the youngest person to fly solo around the world.
Aug. 24: President Biden announced nearly $3 billion in military aid, the biggest US package so far on Kyiv’s Independence Day.
Aug. 25: The head of Japan’s National Police Agency Itaru Nakamura announced his resignation after an investigation confirmed “shortcomings” in the security plans for former prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Aug. 26: A two-week negotiating session on a treaty to protect the high seas wrapped up.
Aug. 27: Russia prevented the adoption of a joint declaration following a four-week UN conference on a nuclear disarmament treaty.
Aug. 27: Slovakia signed a deal under which fellow Nato states the Czech Republic and Poland will police its skies.
Aug. 27: Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn in as India’s Chief Justice, though he will hold the post for 74 days as he is due to retire in Nov.
Aug. 27: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged $30 billion over three years for Africa in a virtual address to a development conference in Tunis.
Aug. 28: Two US warships – the USS Antietam and the USS Chancellorsville – sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
Aug. 28: Danish badminton ace Viktor Axelsen won his second world title while Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi retained her title in women’s singles.
Aug. 29: The British overseas territory of Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities.
Aug. 30: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, died in Moscow aged 91.
Aug. 30: Indian industrialist Gautam Adani became the world´s third-richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the first time an Asian has ranked in the top three.
Aug. 30: Camilo Guevara March, the eldest son of communist revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara, died aged 60.
Aug. 31: The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that Earth’s concentration of greenhouse gases and sea levels hit new highs in 2021, showing that climate change keeps surging ahead despite efforts to curb emissions.
Aug. 31: EU foreign ministers agreed to suspend a 2007 visa facilitation deal with Russia but stopped short of a wider visa ban as requested by some member states.
Aug. 31: Sri Lanka reached a preliminary agreement with the IMF for a bailout.
Aug. 31: War crimes prosecutors in The Hague urged judges to rule promptly on their request to resume investigations into atrocities in Afghanistan.
Aug. 31: Russian energy giant Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Germany on a major pipeline.
Aug. 31: Several Israeli strikes hit Aleppo airport in northern Syria.
Sept. 01: The chairman of Russia’s Lukoil oil giant, Ravil Maganov, died.
Sept. 01: Poland estimated the financial cost of World War II losses to be 1.3 trillion euros (dollars) and said it would “ask Germany to negotiate these reparations”.
Sept. 01: Rosmah Mansor, wife of Malaysia’s ex-premier Najib Razak, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and given a $216 million fine.
Sept. 01: The World Indoor Athletics Championships that were scheduled for China next year were postponed until March 2025.
Sept. 01: IAEA team made their first visit to Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine.
Sept. 02: An Iranian naval flotilla briefly seized two American military unmanned research vessels in the Red Sea.
Sept. 02: A Myanmar junta court sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years in jail “with hard labour”.
Sept. 02: India surpassed Britain to become the world’s fifth largest economy.
Sept. 02: G7 industrialised powers vowed to “urgently” move towards implementing a price cap on Russian oil imports.
Sept. 02: Russia scrapped a deadline to resume flows via a major gas supply route to Europe after saying it had discovered a fault in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline during maintenance.
Sept. 02: India debuted its first locally-made aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, one of the world’s biggest naval vessels at a length of 262 metres,
Sept. 03: The United States announced a $1.1 billion arms package for Taiwan, — the largest for Taiwan approved under President Joe Biden’s administration.
Sept. 03: United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres named former Kyrgyzstan president Roza Otunbayeva as the UN’s new special representative for Afghanistan.
Sept. 03: Zimbabwe stunned Australia for the first time in Australia when they beat it by three wickets in the third ODI at the Riverway Stadium.
Sept. 04: Cyrus Mistry, the 54-year-old former chairman of Indian conglomerate Tata Sons, died in a road accident.
Sept. 04: The recently developed Covid-19 vaccine by China’s CanSino Biologics Inc. was approved by the country’s drug regulator for emergency use as a booster.
Sept. 04: Former US president Barack Obama was awarded an Emmy for narrating his Netflix documentary series ‘Our Great National Parks’.
Sept. 04: Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz nominated Major General Herzi Halevi as the country’s next army chief.
Sept. 05: Britain’s new Conservative leader Liz Truss was confirmed as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s successor.
Sept. 05: Chileans emphatically rejected a proposed new constitution to replace the one adopted during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.
Sept. 06: The EU’s executive outlined plans for raising more than 140 billion euros ($140 billion) to cope with an energy crisis that has increased the prospect of winter fuel rationing, corporate insolvencies and economic recession.
Sept. 06: The US said it was setting up an outside, professionally-run fund to manage $3.5 billion in Afghanistan’s reserves, concluding it cannot trust the Taliban leadership with the country’s money.
Sept. 06: Liz Truss officially became Britain´s new prime minister, at an audience with head of state Queen Elizabeth II.
Sept. 07: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent, close to weapons-grade, has grown to enough, if enriched further, for a nuclear bomb.
Sept. 07: French judges dropped a case against French peacekeepers deployed during Rwanda’s 1994 genocide who were accused of being complicit in massacres.
Sept. 07: Albania broke diplomatic ties with Iran over an alleged cyberattack against the government this summer.
Sept. 07: Full gender equality will take almost 300 years to achieve at the current rate of progress, the United Nations warned in a report.
Sept. 07: The US military tested an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the second in less than a month after a previous launch was delayed twice.
Sept. 08: Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history and an icon instantly recognisable to billions of people around the world, died. She was 96.
Sept. 08: Charles, Prince of Wales, who at 73 was the oldest heir apparent in British history, became the king immediately after the Queen’s death.
Sept. 08: New British Prime Minister Liz Truss froze domestic fuel bills for two years.
Sept. 08: PM Liz Truss selected a cabinet where for the first time a white man will not hold one of the country’s four most important ministerial positions.
Sept. 08: The European Commission’s satellite monitor revealed that the summer of 2022 was the hottest in Europe’s recorded history, with the continent suffering blistering heatwaves and the worst drought in centuries.
Sept. 08: A United Arab Emirates firm signed a contract with Afghanistan to manage air traffic across the country as the Taliban authorities seek to expand international flights.
Sept. 09: The US announced sanctions on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister Esmail Khatib.
Sept. 09: North Korea passed a law declaring its readiness to launch preventive nuclear strikes. The move effectively eliminates the possibility of denuclearisation talks, with leader Kim Jong Un saying the country’s status as a nuclear state is now “irreversible”.
Sept. 10: Swiss authorities announced that they have selected Nordlich Lagern, a site in northern Switzerland not far from the German border, to host a deep geological storage repository for radioactive waste.
Sept. 10: Cate Blanchett won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival.
The best actor award was given to Ireland’s Colin Farrell for his part in the tragicomedy The Banshee Of Inisherin while All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.
Sept. 10: Charles III was officially proclaimed king.
Sept. 10: Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz claimed his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open, becoming the youngest man to ascend to the world number one ranking.
Sept. 11: Spanish writer Javier Marias, whose work has been translated into more than 40 languages in nearly 60 countries, died.
Sept. 11: Iga Swiatek won the third Grand Slam title of her career with a maiden victory at the US Open, defeating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in straight sets.
Sept. 12: President Joe Biden issued an executive order boosting the US biotech sector as part of his Cancer Moonshot initiative, which invokes the national effort to land a man on the Moon 60 years ago.
Sept. 13: Armenia and Azerbaijan reported nearly 100 troop deaths in their worst fighting since a 2020 war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Sept. 13: Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and the father of the French New Wave, died.
Sept. 14: Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced her resignation after an unprecedented right-wing and far-right bloc narrowly won the election.
Sept. 15: Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer announced retirement.
Sept. 15: Joao Lourenco was sworn in for a second term as President of Angola.

International

1. On Aug. 16, FIFA suspended ______ football association because of “undue influence from third parties”.
(a) India’s              (b) China’s
(c) Pakistan’s          (d) UAE’s

2. On Aug. 17, Israel and ______ announced the resumption of full diplomatic ties.
(a) Syria                 (b) Turkiye
(c) Jordan              (d) Sudan

3. On Aug. 19, x______ nominated Michelle O’Bonsawin as the first Indigenous person to serve on the country’s Supreme Court.
(a) New Zealand          (b) Barbados
(c) Canada                  (d) Australia

4. The fifth Islamic Solidarity Games were held in ______, Turkiye.
(a) Ankara           (b) Istanbul
(c) Izmir              (d) Konya

5. The current Consul General of the US Consulate General Karachi is _____.
(a) Derek Chollet         (b) Panfilo Marquez
(c) Donald Blome        (d) Nicole Theriot

6. On Aug. 20, ______ concluded 12 years of European Union fiscal surveillance that was imposed in return for bailouts after a crushing debt crisis.
(a) Latvia                (b) Malta
(c) Greece             (d) Iceland

7. On Aug. 24, John Godfrey, the first US ambassador to ______ in 25 years, took up his post.
(a) Sudan            (b) Syria
(c) Ecuador           (d) Lebanon

8. On Aug. 24, ______ inaugurated a railway line powered entirely by hydrogen.
(a) China             (b) Germany
(c) Italy                (d) Norway

9. On Aug. 24, ______ Constitutional Court suspended Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha from office.
(a) Thailand’s       (b) Cambodia’s
(c) Vietnam’s          (d) Mongolia’s

10. On Aug. 24, a meeting of the SCO’s Council of Defence Ministers was held in Tashkent, the capital of ______.
(a) Turkmenistan     (b) Uzbekistan
(c) Azerbaijan          (d) Tajikistan

11. On Aug. 24, a British-______ teenager Mack Rutherford became the youngest person to fly solo around the world.
(a) American    (b) Australian
(c) Belgian      (d) German

12. On Aug. 27, ______ signed a deal under which fellow Nato states the Czech Republic and Poland will police its skies.
(a) Moldova      (b) Latvia
(c) Iceland         (d) Slovakia

13. On Aug. 27, Uday Umesh Lalit was sworn in as India’s Chief Justice but for only ______ days before his retirement falls due in November.
(a) 50               (b) 60
(c) 67               (d) 74

14. On Aug. 29, the British overseas territory of ______ finally joined the official list of British cities.
(a) Cayman Islands     (b) Bermuda
(c) Gibraltar               (d) Cayman Islands

15. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, died in Moscow aged 91 on ______.
(a) Aug. 29          (b) Aug. 30
(c) Aug. 31          (d) Sept. 01

16. The first Asian to be counted among the top three richest persons in the world is ______.
(a) Gautam Adani           (b) Mukesh Ambani
(c) Cyrus Mistry                (d) Ratan Tata

17. On______, Camilo Guevara March, the eldest son of communist revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara, died.
(a) Aug. 28           (b) Aug. 29
(d) Aug. 30         (d) Aug. 31

18. Caracas is the capital and largest city of ______.
(a) Cambodia          (b) Venezuela
(c) Brazil                  (d) Cuba

19. On Sept. 01, Rosmah Mansor, wife of ______ ex-premier Najib Razak, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and given a $216 million fine.
(a) Indonesia’s         (b) Turkiye’s
(c) Malaysia’s         (d) Singapore’s

20. On Sept. 01, the World Indoor Athletics Championships that were scheduled for ______ next year were postponed until March 2025.
(a) USA                     (b) Switzerland
(c) Mexico                (d) China

21. India has surpassed ______ to become the world’s fifth largest economy.
(a) France                (b) Japan
(c) Germany            (d) Britain

22. On Sept. 02, India debuted its first locally-made aircraft carrier INS ______ that is one of the world’s biggest naval vessels at a length of 262 metres,
(a) Shakti                (b) Sagar
(c) Vikrant             (d) Prithvi

23. On Sept. 03, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres named former ______ president Roza Otunbayeva as the UN’s new special representative for Afghanistan.
(a) Iranian              (b) Kyrgyz
(c) Mongolian        (d) Turkish

24. On Sept. 03, ______ stunned Australia for the first time in Australia when they beat it by three wickets in the third ODI at the Riverway Stadium.
(a) Zimbabwe         (b) Bangladesh
(c) New Zealand       (d) Afghanistan

25. On Sept. 04, former US president ______ was awarded an Emmy for narrating his Netflix documentary series ‘Our Great National Parks’.
(a) Barack Obama    (b) Bill Clinton
(c) Donald trump       (d) George W. Bush

26. On ______, Liz Truss officially became Britain´s new prime minister, at an audience with head of state Queen Elizabeth II.
(a) Sept. 05                (b) Sept. 06
(c) Sept. 07                (d) Sept. 08

27. On Sept. 07, ______ broke diplomatic ties with Iran over an alleged cyberattack against the government this summer.
(a) Oman                   (b) Albania
(c) Armenia                (d) Azerbaijan

28. Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch in British history died on ______ at 96.
(a) Sept. 05               (b) Sept. 06
(c) Sept. 07               (d) Sept. 08

29. On Sept. 08, Charles, Prince of______, became the king immediately after the Queen’s death.
(a) Sussex                  (b) Waterloo
(c) Windsor                (d) Wales

30. On Sept. 09, ______ passed a law declaring its readiness to launch preventive nuclear strikes.
(a) Ukraine                (b) Russia
(c) North Korea       (d) Israel

31. On Sept. 10, ______ teenager Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest man to become the world number one.
(a) Danish                  (b) Spanish
(c) Australian             (d) Swiss

32. On ______, Spanish writer Javier Marias, whose work has been translated into more than 40 languages in nearly 60 countries, died.
(a) Sept. 11               (b) Sept. 12
(c) Sept. 13                 (d) Sept. 14

33. On Sept. 13, Jean-Luc Godard, one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century and the father of the ______ New Wave, died.
(a) French                 (b) German
(c) Italian                   (d) American

34. On Sept. 14, ______ Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced her resignation.
(a) Dutch                    (b) Swedish
(c) Norwegian            (d) Belgian

35. On Sept. 15, ______ tennis legend Roger Federer announced retirement.
(a) German                (b) Dutch
(c) Swiss                   (d) Serbian

36. British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has been laid to rest at ______.
(a) Cornhill in Ipswich            (b) Winchester Cathedral
(c) Wellington Arch                (d) Westminster Abbey

37. Yen is the currency of ______.
(a) Brazil                       (b) Argentina
(c) Thailand                  (d) Japan

38. The equipment that is used specifically to hand off to teammates in relay races is ______.
(a) Racket              (b) Stick
(c) Baton              (d) Ball

39. The first UN peacekeeping mission was established in May______.
(a) 1946                (b) 1948
(c) 1950                (d) 1954

40. The largest planet in our solar system is ______.
(a) Saturn            ‎ (b) Venus
(c) Uranus            (d) Jupiter

National

1. On Aug. 16, the ______ Assembly unanimously passed a bill to impose a ban on private business of usury.
(a) GB               (b) Punjab
(c) KP                (d) AJK

2. On Aug. 16, ______ President bestowed his country’s highest civil award, “Order of Zayed,” on Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.
(a) Qatar              (b) Kuwait
(c) UAE               (d) Bahrain

3. On Aug. 16, the 2021 Global Hunger Index ranked Pakistan ______ among 116 countries with a score of 24.7.
(a) 79                (b) 92
(c) 104              (d) 112

4. On Aug. 17, the 21st Session of the Joint Economic Commission between Pakistan and ______ was held in Islamabad.
(a) Iran            (b) Turkiye
(c) Russia         (d) China

5. On Aug. 17, ______ signed a new agreement with Pakistan which will see the return of criminals and immigration offenders from that country to Islamabad.
(a) Britain          (b) Canada
(c) Germany        (d) Switzerland

6. On Aug. 17, the Punjab government formally notified Gujrat as the _____ division of the province.
(a) 9th            (b) 10th
(c) 11th          (d) 12th

7. Aug. 18: PPP’s Syed Mehdi shah took oath as ______ governor of Gilgit Baltistan.
(a) Fourth       (b) Fifth
(c) Sixth         (d) Eighth

8. On Aug. 19, the federal government appointed ______ as the new governor of the SBP.
(a) Jameel Ahmad          (b) Yaseen Anwar
(c) Tauqir Shah                 (d) Murtaza Syed

9. On Aug. 19, the government appointed ______ as Chief Economist of Pakistan for two years.
(a) Ubaid Khan               (b) Mian Aslam
(c) Reza Baqir                 (d) Nadeem Javaid

10. On ______, Nayyara Noor, one of the most accomplished singers in Pakistan who was often called Bulbul-e-Pakistan, passed away.
(a) Aug. 17                     (b) Aug. 18
(c) Aug. 20                    (d) Aug. 22

11. On ______, the federal cabinet gave approval to the Pakistan Army-Qatar agreement on providing security assistance in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
(a) Aug. 20                     (b) Aug. 22
(c) Aug. 24                     (d) Aug. 26

12. Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced the resumption of departmental sports on ______.
(a) Aug. 25                 (b) Aug. 26
(c) Aug. 27                   (d) Aug. 28

13. On Aug. 26, Pakistan appointed Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani as new ambassador to ______, vice Mansoor Ahmad Khan.
(a) Afghanistan           (b) China
(c) Russia                       (d) Turkiye

14. On Aug. 31, Pakistan received a ______ loan installment from the IMF under the Extended Fund Facility.
(a) $1.06 billion             (b) $1.16 billion
(c) $1.86 billion             (d) $2.06 billion

15. On Sept. 01, ______ was removed as Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and was replaced with Shahid Laghari.
(a) Ali Tareen               (b) Aleem Khan
(c) Abrarul Haq         (d) Malika Bokhari

16. On ______, PM Shahbaz Sharif established National Flood Response Coordination Centre to better articulate and synergise flood relief efforts.
(a) Aug. 31                   (b) Sept. 01
(c) Sept. 02                  (d) Sept. 03

17. On Sept. 03, the authorities in Karachi recovered a highly-expensive vehicle, Bentley Mulsanne, which was stolen from ______and then shipped here.
(a) New Delhi              (b) New York
(c) Geneva                   (d) London

18. On Sept. 05, a US Congressional delegation, which was led by Congresswoman ______ called on PM Shahbaz Sharif at the PM House.
(a) Emma Thomson                     (b) Ilhan Omar
(c) Sheila Jackson Lee               (d) Ayanna Pressley

19. On Sept. 05, the Punjab government designated ______ as senior minister of the cabinet.
(a) Murad Raas                 (b) Aslam Iqbal
(c) Raja Basharat               (d) Ali Qureshi

20. The Peace cable is a 15,000 km submarine cable from Pakistan to ______.
(a) France                      (b) Turkiye
(c) Belgium                     (d) Afghanistan

21. The Peace cable is extended from Pakistan to ______ for an additional 6,500 kms.
(a) Singapore                (b) China
(c) UAE                            (d) Sri Lanka

22. The Pakistan-Egypt segment of the Peace cable connects Karachi and_____, and has a total length of 5,800 kms.
(a) Alexandria                 (b) Zafarana
(c) Cairo                          (d) Sharm El Sheikh

23. On Sept. 07, Ayesha Zehri was promoted as ______ first female deputy commissioner.
(a) GB                              (b) KP
(c) Balochistan’s            (d) AJK

24. On Sept. 07, Pakistan-German Future Summit was organized in ______.
(a) Karachi                (b) Islamabad
(c) Bonn                    (d) Berlin

25. Pakistan has dropped seven places in the Human Development Index, ranking ______ out of 192 countries in the 2021-2022 HDI.
(a) 147                 (b) 154
(c) 161                (d) 187

26. On ______, the Biden administration approved the possible sale of F-16 aircraft sustainment and related equipment to Pakistan for a cost of 450 million dollars.
(a) Sept. 05                     (b) Sept. 06
(d) Sept. 07                     (d) Sept. 08

27. The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Pakistan on ______.
(a) Sept. 05                  (b) Sept. 06
(d) Sept. 07                  (d) Sept. 08

28. On Sept. 11, ______ defeated Pakistan to win their sixth Asia Cup cricket title.
(a) Sri Lanka                (b) India
(c) Bangladesh              (d) Afghanistan

29. The final of the Asia Cup 2022 was played on Sept. 11 at ______.
(a) Dubai                  (b) Sharjah
(c) Ajman                   (d) Abu Dhabi

30. On Sept. 13: PM Shahbaz Sharif appointed ______ more special assistants, including four PPP MNAs.
(a) 5                   (b) 8
(c) 10                 (d) 11

31. On Sept. 13, the 10-year-old Musa Tanveer became the first Pakistani to have been awarded YouTube’s ______ Play Button.
(a) Silver              (c) Diamond
(c) Golden           (d) Platinum

32. On Sept. 13, the third regional seminar for the parliaments of the Asia-Pacific region on Achieving the SDGs was held in ______.
(a) Shanghai            (b) Tokyo
(c) Bangkok             (d) Islamabad

33. On Sept. 14, the ______ Assembly passed a bill under which the next election for local bodies will be held on party basis.
(a) Sindh                  (b) Balochistan
(c) KP                       (d) Punjab

34. On Sept. 14, Pakistan veterans cricket team downed ______ in the final to win the inaugural Over 60s Cricket World Cup.
(a) India                    (b) Australia
(c) New Zealand     (d) West Indies

35. Asad Rauf, the former ICC elite panel umpire from Pakistan, died on ______.
(a) Sept. 11                (b) Sept. 12
(c) Sept. 14                (d) Sept. 15

36. Balochistan was made a province in______.
(a) 1970                   (b) 1973
(c) 1985                    (d) 1988

37. The founder of Dawn newspaper was ______.
(a) ZA Suleri              (b) Hameed Niazmi
(c) Javed Mir             (d) Quaid-i-Azam

38. The Siachen conflict between Pakistan and India broke out in ______
(a) 1948                 (b) 1965
(c) 1965                 (d) 1984

39. PM Shahbaz Shrif met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on ______.
(a) Sept. 12                 (b) Sept. 13
(c) Sept. 14                 (d) Sept. 15

40. Natural gas was discovered at Sui, Balochistan, in ______.
(a) 1948                (b) 1949
(c) 1950                (d) 1952