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• 50 nations in, AIIB takes shape: The AIIB is expected to focus on infrastructure development in Asia. Unlike the existing International Monetary Fund and World Bank, it is unlikely to restrict lending on political considerations. India is the second largest shareholder with 7.5 % of the voting rights. China retains 26% of the voting rights and veto powers for certain key decisions.

• India’s tech stars shifting abroad: Excessive red tape in processes such as early-stage investing and mergers and acquisitions is forcing promising start ups in India to shift overseas. Giants like Flipkart and InMobi have already shifted base to Singapore.

• Foreign law firms to start operating in India: The Centre will in a phased manner soon open up India’s non-litigious services and international arbitration legal services to foreign law firms.

Editorial/Opinion

• A model for India: The US Supreme Court’s decision allowing same sex marriages has been celebrated throughout the world, because  is the expectation that other nations too would follow suit. If not in recognising same-sex marriages, then at least in ending open discrimination of the gay community. That community’s long battle for equal rights has reached its logical conclusion there.

• Facing up to global troubles:  Economists have to look at ways to protect the Indian economy from undue influences of the external markets. India should focus on obtaining FDI rather than get unduly worried about FII, which will have its ebb and flow depending on the environment outside.

• Emulating the U.S.’s rainbow moment: The lessons from the reasoning given by the judges in Obergefell v. Hodges (the case that allowed same sex marriages), if correctly applied, ought to reverberate across the world, including here in India, where we continue to deny even their most basic freedoms to the LGBT community .

• Teaching the poor to behave: By shifting the burden of poverty alleviation from the state onto the poor themselves, behavioural economists are ignoring the structural causes of poverty. They are also erasing the behaviour of the owners of capital from the poverty debate.

National

• Households using PDS double in seven years: The proportion of Indian households using the Public Distribution System has nearly doubled over the last seven years.  This is chiefly being attributed to the improved functioning of the service.

• MEA opens doors to IR experts as consultants: This is aimed at reducing the work pressure on the understaffed Indian Foreign Service officers, especially their research work.

• Centre seeking solution to WTO subsidy cap issue: India is striving to arrive at a permanent solution on the issue of Minimum Support Prices to farmers. The World Trade Organisation does not want MSPs because high MSPs encourage farmers in India to keep producing crops, and foreign food grains do not manage to find that big a market to penetrate.

• MSP hike can boost pulses production: Hiking the MSP of pulses significantly is a sure method to ensure their cultivation will become more attractive to farmers. On 17th June, the Centre had sharply increased the minimum support price for pulses by up to Rs. 275 a quintal to boost domestic output and check price rise.

• Centre may tweak IIM Bill:  The Human Resource Development Ministry is considering doing away with some contentious clauses that may infringe on the autonomy of the IIMs. A meeting with the heads of the IIMs could be called.

International/ World Affairs

• Greece shuts down banks: The Greek Prime Minister has requested the EU to extend the bailout until the referendum on June 5.

Economy/Business

• Greek turmoil hits global markets: The euro zone’s banking index has fallen 5.5 per cent, with the worst falls for Portuguese, Spanish and Italian lenders. All three Wall Street indices have fallen. Britain’s top share index has also fallen.

• Centre fears capital outflows: The Greek crisis could have an indirect impact on India by way of its impact on the Euro. If suddenly the yields on euro bonds go up, investors will be likely to withdraw money from India to put in money there resulting in an outflow of money from India.

• New textiles policy aims at 35 million jobs: The Central government will unveil a new national textiles policy next month that seeks to create 35 million new jobs by attracting foreign investments. The Centre is also considering setting up modern apparel garment manufacturing centres in each of the seven North-East States.