From new Indian Railways train timings to GST anniversary, here are some of the most important news events scheduled for today. Before you start your day, take a look at the major events in the country that are likely to make headlines today. From new Indian Railways train timings to GST anniversary, here are some of the most important news events scheduled for today.

1. Govt to celebrate second anniversary of GSTtoday

The government will organise an event on Monday to celebrate the second anniversary of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout. The event will be addressed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her deputy Anurag Thakur. To be held in Ambedkar Bhawan in New Delhi, the event will be attended by senior officers of the central and state tax authorities. There will be a presentation on the two years of GST and the road ahead for the indirect tax regime, according to an official notification. 

2. Railways changes timing of trains in western zone and eastern zone starting today

The timings of 24 trains have been reshuffled in the new Western Zone Time Table, which will come into effect from July 1 (Monday) onwards. Among these are Mumbai-Pune Sinhagad Express (11009), LTT-Manmad Express (12117), Mumbai-Nagpur Sewagram Express (12139), Mumbai-Chhapra Antyodaya Express (15102), Mumbai-Kanyakumari Express (16381), LTT-Lucknow AC Express (22121), Mumbai-Gorakhpur Antyodaya Express (12598), LTT-Faizabad Express (22103), Kolhapur-Mumbai Koyna Express (11030). In the new time table of Eastern Railway which will come into effect from July 1, there is a bonanza for passengers, with the introduction of new trains and new stoppages, regularisation and extension of trains, etc.

3. No-trust motion against Tamil Nadu Speaker today

Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker P Dhanapal indicated that the DMK's resolution seeking his removal might be taken up on July 1 during the ensuing session of the House. The Opposition party had moved the resolution on April 30 against the Speaker, after he served notices on three pro-Dhinakaran AIADMK MLAs for alleged anti-party activities earlier that day.

4. Fund transfers via RTGS, NEFT to cost less from today

The Reserve Bank of India said it would waive all charges on fund transfers through popular RTGS and NEFT systems from July 1 and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers from the same day. The Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) is meant for large-value instantaneous fund transfers while the National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) System is used for fund transfers of up to Rs 2 lakh. The country's largest bank SBI charges between Re 1 and Rs 5 for transactions through NEFT and between Rs 5 and Rs 50 for RTGS route.

5. Centre to charge ASF from today; Air travel may become costlier

Air travel will become a bit costlier as the Ministry of Civil Aviation has decided to increase the aviation security fee (ASF) from Rs 130 to Rs 150 for each Indian passenger from July 1 onwards, according to an official document. For international passengers, the ASF will be increased from $3.25 to $4.85 from next month, the document stated. 

6. SBI to offer repo rate-linked home loans from today

The State Bank of India (SBI) said it would offer repo rate-linked home loans from July 1. It also announced a reduced interest rate on cash credit account and to overdraft customers with limits of over Rs 1 lakh from July. The current repo-linked lending Arate (RLLR) for cash credit and overdraft customers is 8 per cent. "The benefit of reduction in repo rate by 25 bps (basis points) by RBI has been passed in its entirety to CC/OD customers (limits above Rs 1 lakh) banking with us, with effect from 1 July 2019," an SBI statement said.

7. Sri Lanka plans month-long military exercise from today

The Sri Lanka Army said it would hold the largest military exercise in July to coincide with 10 years of the end of the island nation's 30-year civil conflict between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels. The army in a statement said the month-long military exercise will begin on July 1 with the participation of over 5,000 soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.

8. Sebi to start second phase of UPI process for retail investors from today

The second phase of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mechanism as an alternative for retail investors to buy shares in a public issue will be effective from July 1. In a circular on Friday, Sebi said with the implementation of the second phase, the existing process of submitting bid-cum-application form with intermediary and the movement of application forms from intermediaries to self-certified syndicate banks for blocking funds will be discontinued. Instead, "for such applications only the UPI mechanism would be the permissible mode," it added.

9. Food businesses have to comply with new FSSAI packaging norms

Food businesses need to comply with new packaging regulations that bar use of recycled plastics and newspapers to wrap food articles by today, regulator FSSAI said. The new regulations prohibit packaging material made of recycled plastics including carry bags for packaging, storing, carrying or dispensing articles of food. 

10. 46-day Amarnath yartra to begin today

The 46-day long annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas will begin on Monday, a Jammu & Kashmir Raj Bhavan official said. The decision was taken at the 36th meeting of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) which met at the Raj Bhavan under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik, he said. The SASB manages the annual pilgrimage on the traditional Pahalgam route in Anantnag district and the shorter, Baltal track, in Ganderbal.

11. M&M to hike price of its range of personal vehicles by up to Rs 36,000 from today

Auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) said it would hike price of its range of personal vehicles by up to Rs 36,000 across models with effect from July 1. "This price increase is due to the implementation of AIS 145 safety norms across all passenger vehicles in India," the company said in a BSE filing.

12. Karnam Sekar to take over as MD, CEO of Indian Overseas Bank from today

The government said Karnam Sekar, MD and CEO of the erstwhile Dena Bank, will take over as MD and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank from July 1. His term will end in June next year. He will work as officer on special duty and whole-time director with IOB till the end of June this year. Also, R A Sankara Narayanan, former MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank, will move to Canara Bank in the same position. His term will end in January 2020. 

13. SpiceJet to start flights on Guwahati-Dhaka route from today

SpiceJet announced that it would start flights on the Guwahati-Dhaka-Guwahati route from July 1 onwards under the central government scheme UDAN International. The July 1 flight from Guwahati to the Bangladesh capital would be the first to fly under the UDAN International scheme, which seeks to enhance air connectivity between Indian states and selected international destinations with the help of government subsidies

14. Sessions court to hear Muzaffarnagar riots eyewitness killing case today

A court sent the murder case of an eyewitness in a Muzaffarnagar riots case to the sessions case for hearing on July 1. Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Gautam sent the murder case against six accused to the sessions court for hearing and asked them to appear before it on July 1. Ashfaq, who was an eyewitness in the murder case of his two brothers, was shot dead in Khatauli town of Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district in March this year.

Source:business-standard