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Top Events on June 1: India is all set to witness various political, legal, cultural, and sports events today. The polling for the Lok Sabha elections will end on Saturday as the final phase begins, while 42 assembly seats will go to polls in Odisha for the assembly elections 2024. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail in the excise policy case also ended on Saturday, and he sought a 7-day extension on health grounds.

India's growth surged to 8.2% in FY24, riding a better-than-expected 7.8% expansion in the March quarter on the back of robust manufacturing, provisional estimates released on Friday showed, underscoring the country's status as the world's fastest-expanding major economy. This is the highest annual growth since FY17, excluding the 9.7% post-Covid rebound in gross domestic product (GDP) in FY22 after the 5.8% contraction in FY21. The advance estimate released in February had pegged FY24 growth at 7.6%. Economists and government expect the high growth to continue though tepid private consumption remains a concern. The data comes ahead of the final phase of polling on Saturday.

heatwave and extreme weather conditions in most parts of the country have taken a toll on restaurants, pubs and bars across Indian cities, with outlets reporting an up to 40% dip in sales and footfalls. Businesses that thrive on al fresco, or open-air dining, and those present in high street locations are among the worst hit, industry insiders said. The impact is most visible during the lunch hours when the usual hustle and bustle have given way to mostly empty tables. The lunch business is “almost next to nil”, said Priyank Sukhija, chief executive of First Fiddle Restaurants that operates outlets of brands such as Lord of the Drinks, Miso Sexy, Diablo, Tamasha and The Flying Saucer Café.

GlobalLogic has seen a significant increase in its India business because of the growing number of global capability centres (GCCs) in the country, the IT engineering firm’s top executives said. The number of GCC clients the company has in India rose to 36 in the last fiscal year from 15, in a period also marked by 90℅ growth in its GCC business where it provides niche IT engineering services to these hubs of multinationals, chief executive Nitesh Banga and India head Piyush Jha told ET.

ambush shooting death of a Minneapolis police officer has stunned a department that has struggled to fill its ranks since the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing turmoil. Officer Jamal Mitchell's death Thursday came days after the fourth anniversary of Floyd's killing by a city officer, which sparked sometimes violent unrest across the country and forced a reckoning with police brutality and racism. Minneapolis became ground zero for the “defund the police" movement, and while that didn’t succeed in eliminating the city's police department, the force remains well below full strength.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markel’s recent visit to Nigeria may have been successful but it has only raised several questions about its purpose, protocol and other matters. While the visit was a PR success, it may have created tense moments for the members of the British diplomatic service and the security establishment. It is well known that such visits generally tend to create diplomatic incidents in the host country if they aren’t handled properly. Prince Harry and Meghan Markel, who were working royals before they decided to step down in 2020, visited countries at the invitation of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Since they aren’t part of any of the royal duties anymore, the officials from the FCO heaved a sigh of relief. If otherwise, it would have given the local British diplomatic establishment which is an Embassy/High Commission, a headache as it becomes their responsibility to handle all issues arising from protocol, security, media and planning the entire visit.

Rings of Power Season 2' is coming but there is news that may disappoint some fans. According to ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, Nazanin Boniadi will not be returning in Season 2. The actor who played the role of Bronwyn was a pivotal combatant when the Orcs led a deadly assault on the village of Tirharad, trying to protect many of the villagers. Season 1 saw Bronwyn fiercely defending her son. Her son is Theo, a character played by Tyroe Muhafidin. Season 1 also saw her fledging romance with Elf Defender Arondir, a character played by Ismael Cruz Cordova.

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said that its intervetion led to the arrest of 23 accused persons in Rajasthan for allegedly selling girls, mostly minors on stamp papers for physical abuse and sexual assault in various parts of the country and abroad. The NHRC observed that given the registration of cases involving the selling of girls in some communities in the recent past, it appears that the practice is still continuing unabated. It has said that this practice requires to be curbed forthwith in totality and stringent steps be taken by all the stakeholders.

A new study by the United Nations children’s agency says developing resilient energy systems to power health facilities in Pakistan could avert over 175,000 deaths by 2030

Vermont has become the first state to enact a law requiring fossil fuel companies to pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other extreme weather

Cricket World Cup 2023 were surrogate promotion of smokeless tobacco brands, according to a study that has called for a complete ban on promoting tobacco products in all sports. According to the study conducted by a group of experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Vital Strategies, of the total 41.3 per cent surrogate advertisements of smokeless tobacco (SLT) brands, 39.9 per cent were telecast during India's matches and 37.8 per cent during matches featuring one or both teams from South Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Cardamom was the main product promoted through such advertisements. «Two SLT brands, Vimal and Kamla Pasand, contributed to the surrogate SLT advertisements. While the promotion of the Vimal brand was entirely led by prominent Bollywood celebrities, former cricketers led the surrogate advertisements for Kamla Pasand,» the study that was published in the British Medical Journal in May said.

India’s expanding defence role and partnerships in Indo-Pacific region will likely further contribute to the increasingly competitive nature of India–China relations, pointee out International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), leading international think tank in its recent report. The 11th edition of the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment (APRSA) released on the occasion on Shangrila Dialogue beginning on Friday in Singapore noted, “For India, being a ‘preferred security partner through defence partnerships, from combined exercises to arms transfer, increases its regional presence, which in turn enhances its influence with Asia-Pacific countries while countering Beijing’s regional influence. India’s defence engagement is and will continue to be focused on the Indian Ocean region, although it is working to increase its presence in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. India’s expanding defence role and partnerships will likely further contribute to the increasingly competitive nature of India–China relations.’’ It may be noted that India has stepped up its maritime security partnership across SE Asia including deputing Navy ships to the region regularly.

Inflation ticked up to an annual 2.6% in Europe in May

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is pushing back against some NATO proposals that would allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets within Russia

Mexico’s outgoing leader has rapidly built a train system looping around the country’s southern Yucatan Peninsula

Saudi Arabia says it will sell a second sliver of stock in its state oil giant Aramco worth billions of dollars, its first tranche since its initial public offering back in 2019

An unpopular government with a reputation for constant infighting

SEOUL—China’s panda diplomacy isn’t looking so cuddly all of a sudden. Beijing is accused of mistreating Fu Bao, a recently returned female panda from South Korea. The 4-year-old panda has a following in South Korea akin to a pop star, with merchandise, online fan groups and even birthday billboards.

southwest monsoon had advanced into the remaining parts of the Bay of Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and Sikkim. The monsoon has set in over Kerala in southern India today.“Conditions are favourable for the southwest monsoon to advance further into some more parts of the central Arabian Sea, the remaining parts of the south Arabian Sea, the Lakshadweep area, Kerala, some parts of Karnataka, some more parts of Tamil Nadu, and the Southwest Bay of Bengal during the three days," the weather office said.This year, the southwest monsoon marked an early entry Thursday, two days ahead of schedule.

India's space ambitions: Market forces are with us Agnikul Cosmos has just demonstrated that it is no longer a matter of playing catch-up as the Agnibaan launch vehicle is cutting-edge in terms of technology. The engine is semi-cryogenic, meaning it uses a mixture of extremely cold fuel (liquid oxygen) and normal-temperature fuel (kerosene or aviation turbine fuel). Semi-cryogenic rocket engines are even trickier than fully cryogenic ones, which use a mix of very cold fuels.

suspended MP Prajwal Revanna on Friday was remanded to SIT custody for seven days till June 6 in the ongoing probe in the obscene videos case. Prajawal Revanna who was brought to the CID office in Bengaluru after he landed at Kempegowda International Airport is likely to face a probe by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked in his household. He returned to India from Berlin, Germany, nearly a month after leaving the country on a diplomatic passport and was immediately taken into custody.