Good Morning, Swarajya Readers!



Here’s what you need to know today.



After two successive droughts, a good news for farmers and policymakers. According to Skymet, a private weather forecaster, Southwest monsoon is going to hit the coast of Kerala by 28 or 30 May, a couple of days earlier than usual. State forecaster, IMD had earlier forecast above-normal rainfall with a 94% probability. The monsoon is likely to move faster in the eastern parts as compared to the western parts.



The Union Government clarified yesterday that derivatives will be exempt from capital gains tax under the revised India-Mauritius tax treaty. It is significant because derivatives account for 90% of all equity trading in India and there’s no reason to assume that the proportion is any different for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) trading in India, says Mint. Some experts believe the treaty also doesn’t cover debentures, however, this is not yet confirmed.



A new Aviation policy is likely to be approved by the Cabinet next week, regarding which a cabinet note has been moved by the Civil Aviation Ministry. The chief proposals of the new policy include doing away partially with the 5/20 rule allowing new airlines to fly abroad, the introduction of more regional flights and a new formula for granting bilateral flying rights.



The CBI on Thursday examined former ISRO chief G. Madhavan Nair, in connection with the allegations of corruption in the Antrix-Devas Multimedia deal case. When the allegations surfaced in 2011, the then UPA government had cancelled the agreement under which Antrix, ISRO’s marketing arm, was to provide 70 MHz of S-band spectrum to Devas.



The Election Commission on Thursday announced that polls to 57 Rajya Sabha seats across 15 states will be conducted on 11 June. Though the BJP will gain and the Congress see its strength wane, the latter is still expected to remain the largest party in the upper house. The former is expected to clinch 18 seats but will also see 14 retirements, thus giving it a gain of just four.



Brazil’s Senate voted Thursday, 55-22, to impeach President Dilma Rousseff after a months-long fight. Vice President Michel Temer will take over as acting president. The Senate has 180 days to conduct a trial and confirm her removal from the office. Ms Rousseff is accused of using illegal accounting tricks to hide ballooning deficits.



Op-eds You Shouldn’t Miss



Deterioration in Indian political discourse: Though, AAP has no monopoly on crass language and third-rate political rhetoric. Many specimens in other parties behave similarly. But the combatants in AAP are led from the very top.



Jaitley Tells SC, ‘Get Off My Turf’; He Must Get Parliament To Do The Same: What is needed now is a unanimous resolution from the Parliament against judicial overreach.



Renewables Are Not Enough: Zero-carbon power, though hugely important, is insufficient, because electricity currently accounts for only 20% of global energy consumption. Broader changes to the global energy system are needed.



Bankruptcy Code Needs Two Cheers; But Don’t Expect Miracles Too Soon: Still, huge gaps in infrastructure, information and regulatory frameworks remain. Let’s reserve the last cheer for later, when these are filled.



Swarajya Special



It’s Time Govt Admitted It Doesn’t Know How To Run Air India: Govt says Air India made an “operational” profit of ₹8 crore. What it didn’t tell is that: Operational profit and net profit are two different things. In fact, AI has cost exchequer ₹34,689 crore in last 6 years alone; ₹8 crore profit is due to low fuel prices. As soon as they start to go up, losses will mount.



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