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• US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that supports pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.


• The Human Rights and Democracy Act mandates an annual review, to check if Hong Kong has enough autonomy to justify its special status with the US.


• Mr. Trump said he signed the law "out of respect for President Xi [Jinping], China, and the people of Hong Kong".


• China's foreign ministry said it would take "firm countermeasures" - accusing the US of "sinister intentions".

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• China's foreign ministry summoned the US ambassador, urging Washington to refrain from applying a bill supporting Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement to "avoid further damage" to relations.


• Chinese vice foreign minister Le Yucheng lodged a "strong protest" with Ambassador Terry Branstad after US President Donald Trump signed the legislation into law.


• The passage of the bill comes as the world's two biggest economies are locked in negotiations to finalize a partial deal to soothe their trade war.


• "Le stressed that China strongly urges the US side to correct mistakes and change course," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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• A US judge delayed the planned Dec. 18 sentencing hearing of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn but did not set a new date.


• Judge Emmett Sullivan had been expected to put off sentencing after both Flynn, who has pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents, and the United States filed a joint motion to request the delay, citing the expected December release of the Justice Department inspector general's report on the FBI and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

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• Germany's Ursula von der Leyen vowed to step up the fight against climate change while expanding economic growth as EU lawmakers' granted final approval for the bloc's new executive she will lead from December 1.


• EU lawmakers confirmed von der Leyen as European Commission president along with her new team of 26 commissioners, with 461 voting in favor and 157 against.


• "We don't have a moment to waste any more on fighting climate change," von der Leyen told the assembly shortly before the vote in a speech delivered in English, French, and German. "It will need massive investment."

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• An uproar is expected in Parliament over BJP MP Pragya Thakur's remarks on Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.


• Her comments sparked outrage in Lok Sabha, where the opposition hit out at what it called the "BJP's deplorable hate politics."


• Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh has given a suspension of business under rule 267 in Rajya Sabha over the remarks.


• The BJP has condemned the remarks and said it does not support such statements. BJP working president JP Nadda also recommended Ms. Thakur's removal from the consultative committee on defence, to which she was recently appointed.

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• Ashok Khemka, an IAS officer who has been transferred about 50 times in his career, reacted strongly to his latest posting, saying the “reward for honesty is humiliation”.


• Haryana government issued a transfer order to 14 IAS officers, including Khemka.


• “Phir tabadla (transferred again),” the 1991-batch officer.

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• Mumbai’s transgender community members and rights activists have rejected the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019, passed by Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as discriminatory and said it will result in continued harassment of the community.


• Groups representing the community said the Bill violated the historic National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgment by the Supreme Court in 2014 that recognized transgenders' right to self-determination among others.


• According to the new law, the trans-community members need to approach a district magistrate to get their gender identity verified.

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• Newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will arrive here for a two-day visit during which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deepen strategic bilateral ties.


• Rajapaksa will arrive in India and a ceremonial reception will be held in Rashtrapati Bhawan in his honor.


• The same day he will hold talks with Modi and also call on President Ram Nath Kovind, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

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• Amid a heated debate, the Lok Sabha passed a bill that aims to ban electronic cigarettes even as health minister Harsh Vardhan said such a measure was necessary to protect the youth from a new intoxication being promoted by companies as a “fashion”.


• The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Bill, 2019, seeks to replace an ordinance issued on September 18.


• The statutory resolution moved by opposition members to oppose the ordinance was defeated by a voice vote. The House also rejected several amendments moved by opposition members.

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• Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) has released the recruitment advertisement for State Service Exam 2019.


• There are 199 vacancies available. The application process for Chhattisgarh State Services will begin at noon on December 6 and conclude on January 4, 2020.


• The selection process will be two tier - Preliminary exam, and Main exam and interview.

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• Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board (TNTRB) has announced recruitment of 1,060 Lecturers Government Polytechnic Colleges and Special Institutions.


• The Board has only released the recruitment advertisement and will announce the dates for application and examination soon.


• TN TRB will hold a computer-based examination for selection of candidates.


• For Lecturer post in engineering subjects, the applicant must have a Bachelor's Degree in the appropriate branch of Engineering / Technology / Architecture with not less than sixty percent of marks or equivalent.

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• Country's finance ministry wants the Reserve Bank of India to set up a fund to buy out stressed assets of the country's top 25 shadow lenders, a government source told reporters.


• The government has also asked the central bank to consider a one-time waiver to banks from classifying some real estate loans as bad loans, the government official, who declined to be named, said.

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• Abhishek Verma and Jyothi Surekha Vennam triumphed in the compound mixed pair event to fetch India's only gold at the Asian Archery Championships.


• They defeated Yi-Hsuan Chen and Chieh-Luh Chen 158-151. India finished with a gold, two silver, and four bronze.


• Verma did not have a good day initially as he missed the compound team gold medal by a single point to settle for a silver.

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• Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) today became the first Indian company to hit the ₹10 lakh crore milestone in market cap, after its shares rose to a record high of ₹1,581 apiece.


• The broader markets also hit a new high today. RIL shares have outperformed the market since the start of this year, surging nearly 40%.


• Investors were encouraged after Mukesh Ambani announced plans to cut the company’s net debt to zero in 18 months through measures including a stake sale in the oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco.


• Recently, its telecom arm Jio announced that it will increase tariffs in the next few weeks.

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• The Everstone Group said it has appointed Alok Oberoi, former partner at Goldman Sachs, as executive chairman in the private equity and real estate investors' latest attempt to beef up its top management.

In his role, Oberoi will be responsible to drive the group's overall strategy and governance, Everstone said in a statement.

• He will relocate to Singapore and work closely with Sameer Sain, co-founder, and CEO at Everstone Group.

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• Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray will take oath as the next Chief Minister of Maharashtra today. The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai this evening. Mr Thackeray will head the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government.


• The Shiv Sena has 56 MLAs, NCP 54 and Congress 44 in the 288-member Assembly in the state. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has given Uddhav Thackeray seven days' time till the 3rd of December to prove his majority on the floor of the House.

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• Clive James, the Australian writer and broadcaster known around the world for his dry wit, has died at the age of 80.


• Diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, the author and critic had movingly written about his terminal illness during the final years of his life.


• Born Vivian James in 1939, he moved to England in 1961 and rose to prominence as a literary critic and TV columnist.