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• US Defence Secretary Mark Esper has denied US troops are pulling out of Iraq, after a letter from a US general there suggested a withdrawal.


• The letter said the US would be "repositioning forces in the coming days and weeks" after Iraqi MPs had called for them to leave.


• Mr. Esper said there had been "no decision whatsoever to leave".

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• Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday announced he is ready to testify if subpoenaed in the Senate trial to convict or acquit President Donald Trump, who was impeached by the House of Representatives in December.


• “If the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify,” Bolton said in a statement.


• The Senate trial will determine if Trump should be removed from office, or not.

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• The US military told the Iraqi government American troops were preparing to pull out of the country but a top US general in Washington said the message was sent by "mistake".


• It came after a deadly American drone strike on Baghdad that killed senior Iranian and Iraqi military commanders, sparking fury in both countries with Tehran vowing "revenge".

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• Tehran should avoid "further violence and provocations", NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned, as tensions mount in the Middle East after US forces killed a top Iranian general.


• The warning came as the EU called an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss the fallout from the killing of Qasem Soleimani, head of Tehran's Middle East operations as commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force.

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• The Centre today approved the release of Rs 5,908.56 crore to seven states, including Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Assam, as assistance for the damage caused due to various calamities last year.


• The Home Ministry, in a statement, said the decision was taken at a meeting of a high-level committee (HLC), chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

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• The first edition of Khelo India University Games is scheduled to be held at the KIIT University in Bhubaneswar from February 22 to March 1, 2020.


• The launching ceremony of the event was held in Bhubaneswar on Monday where the logo and jersey were unveiled.

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• The ties between India and the US "have grown from strength to strength", Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in a phone call with US President Donald Trump, the government said in a statement this morning. PM Modi also gave New Year greetings to President Trump and his family, the government said.


• "The Prime Minister wished President Trump, his family and the people of the United States good health, prosperity and success in the New Year," it said.

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• The Assam government claimed that over three lakh "ghost children" were enrolled in state government schools under the previous Congress-led regime, suggesting a massive corruption scandal.


• In a press statement issued by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal's office, the government alleged that it has found that that the previous administration had shown these fake figures in government schools for embezzling public money in the name of textbooks, mid-day meals, uniforms for these non-existent students.

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• Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell has begun the online application process for MHT CET 2020.


• MHT CET will be conducted for admission to B.E./B.Tech. and B.Pharm/Pharm. D. courses. MHT CET scores will also be used to fill seats in B.Sc. (Honours) and B.Tech. courses in Agriculture for the academic year 2020-21.

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• Internet facility was on Monday provided to students for filling National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 forms in Awantipora town of Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district.


• "Internet facility provided to students for filling NEET 2020 forms," stated Awantipora District Police.

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• Ahead of the Union Budget presentation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 6 met top executives from corporate India to discuss issues facing the economy and measures needed to boost growth and create jobs.


• Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani, Tata group's Ratan Tata, telecom czar Sunil Bharti Mittal, billionaire Gautam Adani, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, and mining baron Anil Agarwal were among those who attended the meeting.

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• League One Shrewsbury could host European champions Liverpool in the FA Cup fourth round later this month as holders Manchester City take on Fulham. The Shrews host Bristol City in a third round replay next week with the winners earning the right to take on the runaway Premier League leaders. Chelsea also face lower league opposition as Frank Lampard's men travel to Championship side Hull. Manchester United and Tottenham could have a trip to Premier League opposition to contend with should they come through replays.

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• Rafael Nadal said a bright future awaits "amazing" young Norwegian Casper Ruud, who has proved a giant-killer at the ATP Cup despite being slammed as "boring" by Nick Kyrgios.


• The 21-year-old, a product of Nadal's tennis academy in Mallorca, has beaten top-20 players John Isner and Fabio Fognini to make his mark at the international teams tournament in Australia.


• Ruud was catapulted into the spotlight last year after Kyrgios threw a temper tantrum during their match at the Italian Masters, hurling a chair on to the court.

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• US linguists chose ‘they’ as their Word of the Decade. Ben Zimmer, head of the American Dialect Society who chairs the group’s New Words Committee.


• The society was founded in 1889 and dedicated to the study of the English language in North America.The most popular pick for the Word of the Year was “(my) pronouns”.

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• P R Seshadri, MD (Managing Director) and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Karur Vysya Bank has resigned from the position citing personal reasons, which was accepted by the Bank’s Board of Directors.


• Following the retirement of his predecessor K.Venkatraman on August 31, 2017. Mr.Seshadri took charge on September 1, 2017 as MD and CEO of the bank for a period of 3 years.