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• China, one of the world's biggest users of plastic, has unveiled a major plan to reduce single-use plastics across the country.


• Non-degradable bags will be banned in major cities by the end of 2020 and in all cities and towns by 2022.


• The restaurant industry will also be banned from using single-use straws by the end of 2020.


• China has for years been struggling to deal with the rubbish its 1.4 billion citizens generate.

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• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson used his first official meeting with Vladimir Putin to warn the Russian leader not repeat the 2018 chemical attack that almost killed former spy Sergei Skripal.


• Downing Street said Johnson told the Kremlin chief on the sidelines of a summit on the Libya crisis in Berlin that ties between Moscow and London would not return to normal until Russia ended its "destabilizing" activities.

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• Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment minster warning that those who want to make the country a rubbish bin of the world can “dream on.”


• Shipments of unwanted rubbish have been re-routed to Southeast Asia since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018, but Malaysia and other developing countries are fighting back.

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• US State Department said it has designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hassan Shahvarpour, Khuzestan Province’s Vali Asr Commander, for his involvement in “gross violations of human rights against protestors during the November protests in Mahshahr, Iran”.


• A statement from the US States Department informed that General Hassan Shahvarpour was designated yesterday for his involvement in gross violation of human rights.

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• Soft-spoken, unassuming, yet resolute, 59-year-old BJP leader from Himachal Pradesh, Jagat Prakash Nadda, is a man known generally to maintain a low profile, but that has not stopped his ascent to the top in the boisterous world of Indian politics as he is set to take over as the president of India’s ruling BJP.


• Underneath a soft exterior, Nadda hides doughty perseverance, an unflinching commitment to ideology and shrewd organizational skills that have ensured his rise, say party leaders who have seen him over the years.

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• India’s richest 1 per cent hold more than four-times the wealth held by 953 million people who make up for the bottom 70 per cent of the country’s population, while the total wealth of all Indian billionaires is more than the full-year budget, a new study said.


• Releasing the study ‘Time to Care’ here ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), rights group Oxfam also said the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up 60 percent of the planet’s population.

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• The government is considering a proposal of the commerce ministry to reduce the permitted quantity of tax-free foreign liquor and cigarettes purchased from a duty-free shop in line with the practice followed by countries such as the United States, China, South Korea and Singapore, two officials with direct knowledge of the matter said, requesting anonymity.


• The officials said the proposal was part of the larger exercise to curtail the import of non-essential goods into the country.

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• Following the renaming of Uttar Pradesh’s Mughalsarai railway station in 2018, Centre in a notification issued changed the name of the railway division as well from Mughalsarai to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Railway Division.


• The names of other Railway offices in this Division, bearing the name “Mughalsarai”, may also be changed accordingly, the notification said.

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• A group of 16 underprivileged students from Bhadarwah in Jammu and Kashmir embarked on a 10-day ‘Bharat Darshan’ tour to Kolkata sponsored by the CRPF, officials said.


• The tour was flagged off by District Development Commissioner of Doda district, Sagar Dattaray Doifode from community hall Kotli, they said. The students will visit different areas of Kolkata to know the tradition and culture of the people living there, they said.

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• Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi has released the hall ticket for class 12th board examination on its official website. School authorities can visit the official website to check download the admit card for class 12th students.


• As per the examination schedule released on January 17, the class 12th board examination will be conducted from February 22 to March 30, 2020.


• Students appearing in the examination are advised to bring their hall tickets to their allotted examination center or else they won’t be entertained.

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• Indian shares backed down from record highs hit in early trade, as earnings from top valued companies failed to impress investors, and refiner Indian Oil Corp Ltd slumped to a 15-month low.


• The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.39% to 12,304.5 by 0503 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.35% at 41,799.97. The Nifty and Sensex had touched fresh peaks at 12430.5 and 42,273.87, respectively, in early trade.

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• The Bank of Japan's negative interest rate policy has had little positive impact on the economy and prices, over half of economists surveyed by Reuters said.<


• The views underline the mounting challenges facing the central bank is trying to fire up inflation to its 2% target, as years of ultra-loose monetary policy and near-zero rates have had only modest success at the cost of eroding financial institutions' margins.

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• Roger Federer swatted aside Steve Johnson to race into the Australian Open second round Monday as he kickstarted his bid for a 21st Grand Slam title in immaculate style.


• The ageless Swiss great, 38, said ahead of the tournament that he had low expectations at the year's opening Grand Slam after missing the warm-up ATP Cup to spend more time with his family.

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• Serena Williams blitzed the first set in 19 minutes as she launched her quest for a 24th Grand Slam title with a quickfire demolition of Anastasia Potapova at the Australian Open.


• The 38-year-old American, wearing a lilac dress and matching trainers, and sporting heavily decorated fingernails, powered past the Russian teenager 6-0, 6-3 in 58 minutes.

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• Parasite shocked the Screen Actors Guild Awards by landing the night's top prize, a historic win which thrusts the South Korean black comedy into Oscars contention.


• The critical smash hit film overcame the language barrier to win outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, the SAG equivalent of a best film Academy Award.

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• Virat Kohli has set the record for scoring most international runs by an Indian captain, achieving the feat during his 89-run knock against Australia in the third ODI.


• The 31-year-old, who has scored 11,208 international runs as captain, overtook the previous record held by MS Dhoni (11,207 runs). Kohli has played 199 innings as captain, while Dhoni had played 330.

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• Elon Musk's SpaceX simulated a successful emergency landing in a dramatic test of a crucial abort system on an unmanned astronaut capsule, a big step its mission to fly NASA astronauts for the first time as soon as this spring.


• A Crew Dragon astronaut capsule launched at 10:30 am and softly splashed down about 19 miles (32 km) off the coast of Cape Canaveral in Florida about eight minutes later, after ejecting itself from a rocket that cut off its engines 12 miles (19 km) above the ocean to mimic a launch failure.