International Current Affairs MCQs

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The United Kingdom (UK) has launched a New Variant Assessment Platform, which will be used to identify new variants COVID-19 viruses.
It uses genomics expertise possessed by UK and has been dedicated for use by countries which does not have sufficient resources for identifying the new Covid virus strains.

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India has the highest number of new cases of leprosy in the world annually.
India is followed by Brazil and Indonesia in the largest number of cases. In India, more new cases are reported from the rural belts of Bihar, Lakshadweep, Dadra and Nagar Haveli. January 31 is observed as World Leprosy Day.

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France has launched its first military exercise in space named “AsterX”. This exercise is intended to evaluate the country’s ability to defend its space assets and other defense equipment from an attack.
This is the first of its kind in Europe and has been code named in memory of the first French satellite.

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The Council of Europe accord, created in Istanbul, pledged to prevent, prosecute and eliminate domestic violence and promote equality.
Turkey President Tayyip Erdogan pulled Turkey out of an international accord designed to protect women. However, people who see the pact as key to combating rising domestic violence, have been expressing their concerns.

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Pakistan has successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile named Shaheen-1A.
The missile has a range of 900 kilometres with sophisticated and advanced guidance system. In February, Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile which can strike targets up to 290 km.

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BASIC countries or bloc of four newly industrialised nations has four countries namely Brazil, South Africa, India and China. BASIC was initiated by China in 2009.
The 30th session of the ministerial committee on climate change was held recently, which was chaired by India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. The BASIC nations asked the developed economies to provide climate finance to developing nations.

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Italy has recently launched its first ever mega food park project in India involving food processing facilities.
The pilot project “The Mega Food Park” was launched in virtual mode. A Letter of Intent was signed between the ICE Office in Mumbai and Fanidhar Mega Food Park, Gujarat. PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit the country in the coming days.

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The U.N Security council is to deploy six-month-old cease-fire agreement in Libya, which has been in political crisis, after the removal of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011
Libya is heading toward December elections after over ten years of political chaos. Libya’s transitional government welcomed the UNSC decision to deploy international monitors to watch the old cease-fire.

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Fighters of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) rebel group was formed in 2016. The group said to have crossed into Chad recently with the aim of overthrowing President Idriss Deby.
A day after provisional results of Deby being re-elected, the military announced that President, had died due to wounds suffered during a battle against the rebels.

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Yazidism is a monotheistic ethnic religion followed by Yazidis, whose population are estimated at around 7 lakhs around the world. They are a historically misunderstood group and are ethnically Kurdish in a majority.
Majority of the group are concentrated in northern Iraq, in and around Sinjar. Recently, the U.N team investigating atrocities in Iraq announced that it has found evidence that Islamic State extremists committed genocide against the Yazidi minority in 2014.