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• North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said he is ending the suspension of nuclear and long-range missile tests put in place during talks with the US.


• Mr. Kim also said his country would soon introduce "a new strategic weapon".


• But he left a door open for dialogue, and said the scope of any testing would depend on the US's "attitude".


• The momentum of the past few years has stalled, as Washington refuses to lift sanctions until Pyongyang fully abandons its nuclear program.

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• A partial new US-China trade agreement will be signed in the middle of next month, US President Donald Trump said, announcing that he will also then travel to China for continued talks.


• "I will be signing our very large and comprehensive Phase One Trade Deal with China on January 15," Trump tweeted moments before Wall Street was due to open.


• "The ceremony will take place at the White House. High-level representatives of China will be present,"

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• The U.S. ambassador to Iraq and other staff were evacuated from their embassy in Baghdad for their safety, Iraqi officials said, as thousands of protesters and militia fighters outside the gate denounced U.S. air strikes in Iraq.


• U.S. planes had attacked bases belonging to an Iranian-backed militia, a move that risks drawing Iraq further into a proxy conflict between Washington and Tehran at a time when mass protests are challenging Iraq's political system.

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• Several thousand protesters attacked the US embassy in the Iraqi capital in anger at US air strikes that killed more than two dozen pro-Iran fighters at the weekend.


• A stream of men in military fatigues, as well as some women, marched through checkpoints that usually restrict access to Baghdad's high-security Green Zone.

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• Maharashtra minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday said party MLA Sangram Thopte, who was miffed at not getting a ministerial berth, has been pacified and assured that he will get his due. Mr. Thorat also dismissed rumors of unrest in the Congress over allocation of portfolios.


• Everyone cannot be accommodated as there is a three-party alliance government in the state, the Congress leader told reporters here. "I spoke to Sangram Thopte last night. The Congress is family and he will get his due," he said.

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• The third phase of India's mission to the moon, Chandrayaan 3, will aim for a launch by 2021, the chairman of the country's space agency said in a press conference today.


• "The government has approved the Chandrayaan 3 project. It will be based on the Chandrayaan 2. Work on the project is going on smoothly," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan told reporters.

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• The government primary and upper-primary schools in Uttar Pradesh will start the practice of holding parent-teacher meetings (PTM) in the New Year.


• According to the officials, the PTM would be held on the second of January, April, July, and October. If there is a holiday on the second, it would be held on the next working day.


• The headteacher would inform the parents about the PTM by writing in their children's notebooks two days in advance.

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• Chartered Accountants (CA) exams will be held from May 2 till May 18, 2020. The exam dates have been announced by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).


• Application process for admission to CA Foundation, Intermediate (IPC), Intermediate and Final examinations would be held from February 5 to February 26.

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• NEET 2020 application process has been extended. The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the exam, has decided to keep the registration facility open till 11.50 pm on January 6.


• Candidates who have not applied for the exam can do fill and submit their applications now. NEET would be held on May 3. The exam would be held in 11 languages including English and Hindi.

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• The common man has his eyes set on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's second Budget next month for relief in income tax, but an economic slowdown and a sharp reduction in corporate tax rates hint that she has very little flexibility to dole out a big largesse.


• Facing flak for not doing enough to revive a slowing economy in her maiden Budget presented on July 5, 2019, Sitharaman in September sprang a surprise by cutting tax paid by companies on profits they earn to their lowest. This dented the Centre's tax kitty by as much as Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

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• Investment in India's real estate sector is likely to rise by 5 percent to USD 6.5 billion (around Rs 46,000 crore) this year, driven mainly by huge demand for commercial office assets from IT firms, according to global property consultant Colliers.


• Last year, the real estate sector attracted an investment of USD 6.2 billion, up 8.7 percent from 2018 as foreign investors bought many office properties. Foreign funds accounted for about 78 percent of the total investments in 2019.

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• Frank Lampard is determined to do all he can to protect Callum Hudson-Odoi after the England forward was criticised on social media.


• The teenager struggled during Chelsea's 2-0 loss at home to Southampton on Boxing Day, his first start since October, and found himself being trolled as a result.


• But the 19-year-old turned in an improved display during a brief stint in last weekend's 2-1 win over Arsenal.

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• Sanjay Gupta, the editor-in-chief of ‘Jagran’ will be honored with “Lokmanya Tilak National Journalism Award” for his great contribution in the field of Journalism.


• The award was instituted by the Kesari-Maratha Trust and it will be conferred to Gupta on 4th January 2019 during the 139th foundation ceremony of ‘kesari’ newspaper started by Lokmanya Tilak.

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• Rohan Shah, a practicing counsel at the Supreme Court(SC) and various High Courts(HC), has appointed as India’s Representative and Governor on the board of Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) for a period of 3 years.


• The ERIA board meets once in every 6 months in Jakarta(Indonesia) & in Japan.