International News Affairs
- Today (4th June) is International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression.
- This day affirms the UN’s commitment to protect the rights of children.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi kick-started the final leg of his six-day, four-nationEuropean trip with a visit to France.
- He held bilateral talks with newly – elected French President Emmanuel Macron.
- The two world leaders discussed a wide range of issues including counter-terrorism, trade as well as the Paris climate agreement of 2015.
- India and France decide to cooperate in fight against terrorism and climate change.
- Modi invited Macron to visit India.
- Macron to visit India towards the end of this year for a meeting of the International Solar Alliance.
- Nepal Parliament is going to elect a new Prime Minister today.
- Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba likely to be elected.
National News Affairs
- Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today announced that women will soon be inducted in combat roles in the Army, the process for which has started.
- Currently, women are only allowed in medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army.
- Note : Most countries do not allow women in combat roles, with USA, UK and Germany being among the few who do.
Banking, Business & Economic Affairs
- Tax rates on various commodities under GST
- The GST Council today cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the states agreeing to roll out GST from July 1.
- The Council has fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in four tax brackets.
- The Council announced that Gold, silver, and processed diamonds will be taxed at 3% under GST.
- The tax slab for footwear below ₹500 has been fixed at 5%, while more expensive footwear will be taxed at 18%.
- Readymade garments will be taxed at 12%, while apparel costing below ₹1,000 will attract a tax of 5%.
- The Council has fixed the tax rate for biscuits at 18%.
- Yarn and fabric cotton will be under the 5% tax slab.
- Beedis will be put in the highest tax bracket at 28% without cess.
Science & Technology
- Elon Musk-led aerospace startup SpaceX successfully launched a used Dragon spacecraft for the first time in the company’s eleventh cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
- The mission marked the 100th launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which was also used for the first moon landing missions.
- Dragon is carrying instruments for first-ever neutron stars’ study by NASA.
- India test-fired its indigenously developed Quick Reaction Surface-to-Air Missile (QR-SAM)for the first time from Chandipur, Odisha today.
- The QR-SAM, developed jointly by DRDO and Bharat Electronics Ltd. for the Indian Army, is an all-weather, truck-mounted missile system with a range of 30 kilometres.
- It is intended to replace the Army and Navy’s ageing quick reaction air defence systems.
- The first ever developmental flight of the launch vehicle GSLV Mark III D-1 (GSLV Mk III D-1) will be held tomorrow by the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, and the 25-and-a-half hour countdown for the epoch making launch will begin at 3.58 pm today at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta.
- The most powerful ever rocket developed by the ISRO, will lift off the communication satellite GSAT-19 to a Geo-synchronous Transfer Orbit GTO in space, after its ignition at 5.28 hours on Monday.
Current Sports Affairs
- Indian shuttler Sai Praneeth won the Men’s singles title at the Thailand Open, defeating Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the final today.
- This is the first Grand Prix Gold win and second title in a row for Praneeth, who had won the Singapore Open earlier this year.
- Real Madrid became the first team to win back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles, defeating Juventus 4-1 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff today.