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Here’s what you need to know today.



An Income Tax probe into arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari’s transactions has unearthed evidence that points to his links with Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra. Papers seized from Bhandari’s premises reveal a trail of emails between Vadra and his assistant on the one hand and the arms dealer’s aide on the other regarding the purchase of the London house for approx. Rs 19 crore. The emails also suggest that renovation work was carried out on the property before it was sold.



Commerce and Industry Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman has once again iterated her ministry’s stand that it’s not in favour of Apple selling refurbished phones in India. But she is okay with waiving off the mandatory 30 per cent local sourcing norms for Apple Inc’s single-brand retail plan. This is strange because letting Apple sell used phones is not discriminatory but waiving off sourcing norms is since other smartphone makers like Xiaomi and LeEco are also seeking an exemption.



The Centre is planning to bring a new legislation in the next session of Parliament to close a regulatory loophole that has made it possible for fraudsters to dupe millions of savers. Sahara is a case in point, which duped its investors of Rs 37,000 crore under deposit plans later ruled illegal. The aim is to stop such scams in future.



India is all set to join the US Global Entry Program ahead of the Indo-US Homeland Security dialogue in July. This will ensure expeditious, hassle-free immigration to the US for pre-approved, low-risk Indians through automated kiosks at select American airports. The July dialogue is also expected to see inking of a pact on the exchange of real-time terrorist screening information between the two countries.



As promised in the Union Budget earlier this year, the government has issued a notification to raise the threshold limit of PF withdrawals for deduction of tax (TDS) from existing Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000. The provision will come into effect from 1 June.



Union Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad says his government may soon start e-Commerce service to deliver Ganga Jal from Haridwar and Rishikesh to the people at their doorstep through India Post. Last year, India Post had sold water from Godavari river during the auspicious Pushkaram period.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-nation tour next week, starting 4 June. He will visit Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, USA and Mexico. In the US, Modi will address the joint session of the Congress.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss



Measuring MUDRA’s Success: The government should measure the success (or failure) of its interventions by the extent of reduction in informal employment, the rise in formal employment and the extent of mobility of firms to medium and large sizes.



The Right To Intervene: Humanitarian intervention has often been used as a pretext for regime change. A short history of the global community’s struggle to agree on the ground rules.



Regional India, global South Asia: As other powers engage South Asian nations, Delhi must deal with a changing Subcontinent.



Diagnosing India’s Growing Health Problem: The reasons for this state of affairs are both resource-related and systemic.



Swarajya Special



Why Karnataka Govt Has Asked Ola And Uber To Halt Operations: KT Rama Rao has been trying to pull companies from Bengaluru into Hyderabad. He should relax . Siddaramiah is doing that job and then some.



We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!