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• Tariffs on those Chinese goods have risen to 25% from 10%, and Beijing has vowed to retaliate.


• The move comes as high-level officials from both sides are attempting to salvage a trade deal in Washington.


• Only recently, the US and China appeared to be close to ending months of hostilities.

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• Maya Bay, on the island of Phi Phi Leh, was temporarily closed last year after a sharp rise in the number of visitors had severely damaged the environment.


• Before the closure, up to 5,000 tourists were visiting the bay every day, causing most of its corals to die.


• Authorities have now the extended the ban on visits by two years to give more time for Maya Bay's ecology to recover.

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• The “Wise Honest,” North Korea’s second largest cargo ship, was detained in April 2018 as it traveled toward Indonesia.


• It’s now in the process of being moved to American Samoa, Justice Department officials said. The U.S. said that it has seized a North Korean cargo ship that was used to violate international sanctions, a first-of-its kind enforcement action that comes amid a tense moment in relations between the two countries.


• The “Wise Honest,” North Korea’s second largest cargo ship, was detained in April 2018 as it traveled toward Indonesia. It’s now in the process of being moved to American Samoa, Justice Department officials said.

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• South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) had a comfortable lead with nearly half of national election votes counted but much lower support than it received during the last parliamentary and presidential contests.


• Corruption allegations from Opposition parties appeared to have hurt the governing party.


• With returns from 46% of South Africa’s voting districts tallied, the ANC had 57% of the vote, according to results announced by the Electoral Commission. The party won 62% of the vote in the 2014 election.

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• A strong 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit southern Japan, the US Geological Survey said, but Japanese authorities said there was no tsunami threat.


• The quake struck at 8:48 am (2348 GMT Thursday) in Pacific waters nearly 40 kilometres (25 miles) east-southeast of Miyazaki city at a depth of 24 km, according to the agency.


• The Japan Meteorological Agency said there were no worries about tsunami damage.

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• The Supreme Court will hear the politically sensitive Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case and may take up the report of the mediation panel tasked with exploring the possibility of an amicable settlement of the decades-old issue.


• The panel was constituted by the top court on March [latex]8^{th}[/latex].


• A notice posted on the apex court’s website said that the constitution bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi would assemble at 10.30 am to take up the matter.

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• The officials, both of whom asked not to be named, clarified that there is no case or terror charge against any of these preachers as of now but that “they are being watched”.


• Central intelligence and security agencies which have been tasked to look for possible Islamic State modules in Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the wake of the April [latex]21^{st}[/latex] suicide bombings in Sri Lanka have identified over two dozen radical Islamic preachers in these two states who are spreading venom in the name of religion and their speeches and motivating young people to join the jihad or holy war, two top counterterrorism officials said.

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• Addressing bread-and-butter issues such as electricity and roads has been among the big achievements of the National Democratic Alliance government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.


• “On a related note, you may have observed an interesting phenomenon in this election,” Modi said in the second part of an interview with Hindustan Times (part 1 was carried and featured his views on the political situation and other issues).

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• Indian Navy participated with the navies of the US, the Philippines and Japan in their first joint naval exercise in the disputed South China Sea, where China is flexing its muscle.


• The vessels included Indian destroyer INS Kolkata and tanker INS Shakti, a guided missile destroyer from the US Pacific Fleet, Japanese aircraft carrier Izumo and the Philippines patrol vessel Andres Bonifacio, the US Navy said in a statement.

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• The Supreme Court questioned a proposal by the Assam government to quickly throw open 1,000 foreigners’ tribunals all over the northeastern State to try suspected illegal immigrants.


• A Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it looked like the State government hatched the plan without bothering to conduct a “basic study” of how to carry it out.


• This, especially when the deadline for publishing the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) looming large.

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• India will decide on oil imports in the face of US sanctions according to its national interests but it is expected New Delhi will not ignore a reliable energy supplier such as Tehran, Iranian ambassador Ali Chegeni said.


• The development of Iran’s Chabahar port by India is exempted from the US sanctions and work on the project is proceeding but the American measures could have long-term impacts on the project, Chegeni said in an interview.


• With the US ending exemptions for sanctions on Iranian oil imports on May [latex]2^{nd}[/latex], India had been expecting an extension of the six-month exemption granted last November but the US has been non-committal.

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• BJP president Amit Shah has covered almost 296 Lok Sabha constituencies in a long-drawn-out campaign since January.


• He spoke on the party’s prospects, campaign issues and arithmetic.


• We will, in comparison to 2014, increase our seats, improve our margins of victory and also expand in terms of the areas that we represent.

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• The overdependence of local banks on overseas branches through less standardised instruments limits the scope of trade-credit operations.


• Banks need to expand their global banking relationship and shift towards globally accepted trade finance instruments instead of indigenous instruments (such as letter of undertaking/ letter of credit), according to a Reserve Bank of India paper.

Source: Click Here

• Indian Overseas Bank’s (IOB) net loss for the quarter ended March [latex]31^{st}[/latex], 2019, narrowed by 45 per cent to ₹1,985 crore, against ₹3,607 crore recorded during March [latex]31^{st}[/latex], 2018.


• In a press statement, the company attributed the loss in FY 19 to NPA provisioning.


• Asset quality of the bank improved during the quarter.


• Gross NPA during the quarter ended March 2019 stood at ₹33,398 crore (21.97 per cent of the total advances), against ₹38,180 crore (25.28 per cent) recorded during the same period last year.

Source: Click Here

• PNB Housing Finance reported a 51 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit to ₹379.77 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2019.


• The company’s net profit stood at ₹251.58 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2017-18.

Source: Click Here

• Second seed Ankita Raina sailed past Yue Yuan of China 6-2, 6-3 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $60,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Luan, China.


• It was the second victory for Ankita over the Chinese, whom she had beaten in 2016 in a $50,000 event in Quanzhou with an identical margin.


• In the quarterfinals, the 175th ranked Ankita will play Eudice Chong of Hong Kong.

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• Jemimah Rodrigues is one of the rising superstars of women’s cricket. A gifted batter, she can take any attack apart, relying more on timing than power.


• The 18-year-old did that in style at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here night. Riding on her brilliant, unbeaten 77 off just 48 balls, Supernovas, in a must-win game, defeated Velocity by 12 runs and entered the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge.

Source: Click Here

• Former aiming for their maiden final, while the Chennai side is a veteran of seven appearances in the summit clash.


• When the dust around gripping IPL Eliminator finally settles, it is the Rishabh Pant show that will live on in the memory.


• On a tacky, slow pitch, where other batsmen struggled for timing as the game wore on, Pant decided there was only one way he was going to approach the contest.

Source: Click Here

• Israel honoured Lt. Gen. (retd) Jack Farj Rafael (JFR) Jacob, who negotiated the historic surrender of Pakistani troops in Dhaka after the 1971 Bangladesh’s liberation war, with a plaque on the Wall of Honour at the Ammunition Hill.


• Lt. Gen. Jacob, who passed away in 2016 at the age of 92, was one of the most prominent members of India’s relatively small Jewish community, serving as a Lieutenant General in the Indian Army and later as a Governor of two Indian states-Goa and Punjab.

Source: Click Here

• Digital marketing platform SEMrush reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most-followed politician in the world on social media with a total audience of 110.9 million on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.


• Former US President Barack Obama was ranked first with 182.7 million followers.


• US President Donald Trump, who has 96 million followers, is the second-most followed politician on the American online news and social networking service, Twitter.

Source: Click Here

• Former Supreme Court judge, KS Radhakrishnan has been appointed as a member of Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT) for a term of 4 year.
  
• Headquarter of the CSAT is in London. He had earlier served as a Supreme Court judge from November 2009 to May 2014.


• He has also served as the Chief Justice of the High Courts of Gujarat and J&K.

Source: Click Here

• Amazon entrepreneur Jeff Bezos has unveiled a mock-up of a new lunar lander spacecraft that aims to take equipment and humans to the Moon by 2024.


• The unmanned, reusable Blue Moon vehicle will carry scientific instruments, satellites and rovers.


• It will feature a new rocket engine called BE-7 that can blast 10,000lb (4,535kg) of thrust.


• "It's time to go back to the Moon, this time to stay," said Mr Bezos.

Source: Click Here

• The first chronicler of India’s partition and a Sikh historian, Kirpal Singh passed away at his home in Chandigarh after a brief illness.


• He had retired as professor and head of the department of Punjab Historical Studies in Punjabi University, Patiala.


• Last year, Punjab Government had appointed him as the Chairman of Experts Oversight Committee to look into the mistakes and distortions of Sikh history in the textbooks of Class XI and XII in Punjab School Education Board.

A. Odisha B. Chhattisgarh C. Madhya Pradesh D. Jharkhand Answer: B

A. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) B. Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) C. Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) D. None of these Answer: A

A. Bengaluru B. Kochi C. Mumbai D. New Delhi Answer: B

A. Raj Kumar Barthwal B. John Joseph C. Pranab Kumar Das D. Susanta Kumar Panda Answer: C

A. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai B. Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi C. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Hyderabad D. None of these Answer: C

A. Japan B. Greece C. Qatar D. Brazil Answer: C

A. Corporate B. Varuna C. Konkan D. Group Sail Answer: D

A. Mumbai B. New Delhi C. Bengaluru D. Kolkata Answer: A

A. Shaktikanta Das B. N.K. Singh C. Anoop Singh D. Ajay Narayan Jha Answer: B

A. 12.24% B. 12.54% C. 13.24% D. 13.54% Answer: C

A. Mphasis B. Infosys C. Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) D. None of these Answer: C

A. Gaya, Ladakh, Jammu, and Kashmir B. Vijay Pur, Samba, Jammu, and Kashmir C. Nowshera, Rajouri, Jammu, and Kashmir D. Zangla, Kargil, Jammu, and Kashmir Answer: A

A. Joseph Deiss B. Tijjani Mohammad Bande C. John William Ashe D. None of these Answer: B

A. Axis Bank B. HDFC Bank C. Karnataka Bank D. ICICI Bank Answer: C

A. AJIT B. CLIPPER C. MARIAH D. RIGEL Answer: A

A. Asus B. OnePlus C. Samsung D. None of these Answer: C

A. Finland B. India C. Portugal D. Bangladesh Answer: C

A. Protobothrops arunachalensis B. Trimeresurus arunachalensis C. Borneensis arunachalensis D. Tibetans arunachalensis Answer: B

A. South China tiger B. Caspian tiger C. Siberian Tiger D. Bengal Tiger Answer: D

A. Thoppil Mohamed Meeran B. Rajam Krishnan C. Balakumaran D. Tamilvanan Answer: A

A. Catholic Church B. United Nations C. Hollywood D. Indian Film Industry Answer: A

A. Indonesia B. Singapore C. Mauritius D. Maldives Answer: B

A. Himachal Pradesh B. Meghalaya C. Arunachal Pradesh D. Uttarakhand Answer: C

A. Cosmopolitan B. Bloomberg C. Forbes D. TIME Answer: D

A. United States B. Ireland C. India D. China Answer: B

A. Alia Bhatt B. Sonali Bendre C. Dia Mirza D. Sushmita Sen Answer: C

A. 3 months B. 2 months C. 1 month D. 5 months Answer: A

A. Uttar Pradesh B. Jharkhand C. Odisha D. Bihar Answer: D

A. 60 B. 30 C. 50 D. 40 Answer: A

A. West Bengal B. Odisha C. Andhra Pradesh D. Chhattisgarh Answer: D

A.Ministry of Finance B.Ministry of Women and Child Development C.Ministry of Defence D.Ministry of New and Renewable Energy Answer: D

A.Japan B.Singapore C.India D.China Answer: B

A.4% B.3% C.2% D.1% Answer: C