Morning Brief: 100% FDI In Retail; Aamby Valley Auction In June; Trump For Israel-Palestine Deal

Possible Terror Attack In Manchester: Two explosions at the Manchester Arena, the biggest indoor venue in the city, have left at least 19 dead and over 50 injured with fatalities expected to rise. The arena was hosting a concert by Ariana Grande - a 23-year-old American pop star who is currently on a European tour. The explosions are said to have taken place in the foyer area of the arena. BBC reports that the North West Counter Terrorism Unit is treating it as a possible terrorist incident.

100 Per Cent FDI In Multi-Brand Retail On The Cards: BJP which vehemently opposed the UPA government's policy of allowing 51 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail is now mulling allowing 100 per cent FDI in this segment. Modi government's policy will probably be different from the UPA's on two important aspects: Multinational supermarket chains won't be allowed to sell imported items and the policy won't be limited to select cities with population above 10 lakh.

A New Critic Of The GST Rates: Baba-Businessman Swami Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved doesn't seem to be very happy with the recently revealed GST rates. Under the new tax regime, the current levy on ayurvedic products is set to go up from current 5 per cent to 12 per cent. Patanjali Ayurved spokesperson SK Tijarawala has urged the government to review the rates for ayurved category "in the interest of the common man."

Aamby Valley Auction May Happen In June: Mint reports that the official liquidator of Sahara Group’s Aamby Valley City is ready to auction it in June which is estimated to be valued at Rs 43,000 crore. The Sahara group is claiming that the auction can not go through since it has submitted a post-dated cheque of Rs 1,500 crore to the Supreme Court which is set to hear the case on 19 June. However, the apex court has already ordered the auction on 17 April after Subrata Roy failed to deposit Rs 5,092.64 crore with Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Trump deviates from campaign rhetoric: US President Donald Trump arrived in Israel yesterday after a two day visit to Saudi Arabia where he received a grand welcome and the Kingdom's highest civilian honour. On landing in the Jewish homeland, Trump told PM Benjamin Netanyahu bluntly that if Israel really wants peace with its Arab neighbors, the cost will be resolving the generations-old standoff with the Palestinians, the New York Times reported. Trump also hinted that the peace deal is key to Israel's cooperation with the Sunni Arab world in countering Iran. During his presidential campaign, Trump had promised moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. However, for the newly minted statesman, this doesn't seem to be a priority anymore.

MUST READ OP-ED

An Unfulfilled Farm Manifesto: On agriculture, three years into the Modi government, while many steps have been taken to realise promises made in 2014, others have fallen by the wayside.

In Praise Of Mainstream Politicians: A hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners approach sells while campaigning but is problematic as a governing philosophy.

Rupee Strength Is Justified: The rupee’s near-term strength might be because Indian interest rates are still too high relative to that of other countries.

Swarajya Special

You Cannot Solve The Delay Problem Of Indian Courts Unless You Have A Way To Measure It: Having data on number of pending cases does not tell anything about what caused the delays in the first place. If the delays in Indian judicial process have to be addressed, a ‘delay’ must be defined and measured.

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Here's wishing you a productive day ahead!