1) States agree to GST rollout from July 1
•The GST (Goods and Services Tax) Council has cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the States agreeing to the July 01st 2017 rollout of the tax. Transition rules have been cleared and everybody has agreed for a July 1 rollout,” according to Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac.
•The GST Council last month fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax brackets of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has chaired the 15th meeting of the GST Council, which is scheduled to decide on the tax rate of six items, including gold, textiles and footwear.
2) NASA to Launch First-Ever Mission to Study Neutron Stars
•NASA is set to launch the world's first mission devoted to studying rapidly spinning neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe.
•The US space agency plans to launch the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, aboard SpaceX CRS-11, a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, now rescheduled to be launched aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday.
•The SpaceX cargo resupply mission was earlier scheduled for launch on Thursday. The launch was aborted due to bad weather.
•About a week after its installation aboard the International Space Station as an external attached payload, this one-of-a-kind investigation will begin observing neutron stars - objects containing ultra-dense matter at the threshold of collapse into black holes
3) Gold costlier under GST; apparel, biscuits, footwear cheaper
•Apparel up to Rs 1,000, biscuits and footwear will get cheaper, while gold will get slightly costlier from next month as the Centre and states, excepting West Bengal, resolve to roll out GST from July 1.
•The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, today decided to tax packaged and branded food items at 5 per cent, tendu leaves at 18 per cent and bidi at the highest rate of 28 per cent. Unlike cigarettes, there will be no cess on bidi.
•While biscuits will be taxed at a flat rate of 18 per cent, footwear costing up to Rs 500 will be levied a 5 per cent GST and for those above this would be taxed at 18 per cent.
•In the textiles category, silk and jute fibre have been exempted, while cotton and natural fibre and all kinds of yarns will be levied a 5 per cent GST. Man-made fibre and yarn will, however, attract a 18 per cent tax rate.
•All categories of fabric will attract a 5 per cent rate. Man-made apparel up to Rs 1,000 will attract a 5 per cent tax, lower than the existing 7 per cent. Those costing above Rs 1,000, will continue to attract 12 per cent.
•Gold will become slightly costlier as the current incidence is 2 per cent and after "extensive debate" the Council proposed to tax gold and gold jewellery at 3 per cent.
4) Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer first Indian to be inducted in ITTF URC
•Ganeshan Neelakanta Iyer, the only assigned competition manager of International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), has become the first Indian to be nominated as a member of the Umpires and Referees Committee (URC).
•Following the AGM of the world table tennis body early this week, the Board of Directors of various committees met on the sidelines of the ongoing World Championships and handpicked the best in the business for the job. Ganeshan’s term as URC member is for a period of two years and can be extended.
•In another first, Ganeshan has also been recommended as the Technical Commissioner from the Asian Continent to ITTF and his term will be for a period of four years.
•Ganeshan is also the chairman of the South Asian Federation technical committee and a member of the Technical Committee of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation.
5) Vizianagaram bags MGNREGA national award
•The Ministry of Rural Development has selected Vizianagaram as one among the 17 districts across the nation for the MGNREGA annual award for effective implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act during 2015-16.
•The award would be presented at the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sammelan to the district programme coordinator and District Collector on June 19 in New Delhi.
6) Real Madrid first to win back-to-back UEFA Champions League titles
•Unsurprisingly, it was Cristiano Ronaldo who found himself at the centre of attention in both wins. A year ago, he buried the winning penalty kick to set off the wild celebrations. This time around, he scored a brace to lead Real Madrid to not just their second straight Champions League title, but their third in four seasons.
