The New Pension Bill

The Rajya Sabha passed the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Bill, which will help extend pension cover to more citizens of the country through PFRDA's New Pension Scheme (NPS).

• The main objective of the bill is to help extend pension cover to more citizens of the country through PFRDA's New Pension Scheme (NPS). Currently just 12 percent of the workforce in the country has any formal pension or social security plan.

• The passage of the Pension Bill will make Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) a statutory authority. Earlier it had a non-statutory status.

• The Pension Bill would also provide subscribers a wide choice to invest their funds, depending on their capacity to take risk. A subscriber seeking minimum assured returns can opt for schemes providing minimum assured returns, as may be notified by the PFRDA.

• NPS is a defined contribution scheme and is based on the principle that 'you save while you earn'.

• The provisions of the Pension Bill will not apply to Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) subscribers. EPFO funds will be continued to be managed by the government.

• The Pension Bill allows foreign direct investment in the country's pension sector, the latest attempt by the government to attract more capital flows. Overseas investors can own stakes of up to 26% stake in domestic pension funds, or such percentage as may be approved for the insurance sector, whichever is higher etc.

• NPS was opened up for all citizens of the country including unorgnised sector workers, on voluntary basis, with effect from 1 May 2009.

• To encourage workers from the unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement via NPS, the government launched the co-contributory pension scheme titled "Swavalamban Scheme" of NPS in the Budget of 2010-11. 

India's tax-to-GDP ratio one of the lowest

At 15.5 per cent, India has one of the lowest tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratios. India has around 35 million taxpayers. Among G20 countries, India had the third-lowest tax base, before Mexico and Indonesia. The property tax-to-GDP ratio in India is only 0.48 per cent. France and the UK, it is 4.3 per cent and 4.21 per cent, respectively. For China, it is 1.7 per cent. Wealth tax in India is only 0.007 per cent of GDP, while it is 0.89 per cent in France.

In 2011-12, the tax-GDP ratio stood at 5.5 per cent for direct taxes and 4.4 per cent for indirect taxes.

Definition Tax-to-GDP ratio: 

This ratio is the total government tax collections divided by the country's GDP. Some countries, like Sweden, have a high tax-to-GDP ratio (as high as 54%). Other countries, like India, have a low ratio. When tax revenues grow at a slower rate than the GDP of a country, the tax-to-GDP ratio drops. Taxes paid by individuals and corporations often account for the majority of tax receipts, especially in developed countries.

Customs and duties paid by users of goods and services also make up a portion of tax receipts. (Investopedia)

ISRO replaces Thaicomm in CCTNS project

What is CCTNS Project?

The Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) aims at creation of a nation-wide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled sophisticated tracking system around 'investigation of crime and detection of criminals' formally launched by the GOI in Jan 2013. It will share data of crimes and criminals among 14,000 police stations across the country.

The Rs 2,000 crore project, approved in 2009, spans across all the 35 states and Union Territories.

Fully sponsored by the Government of India under the national e-Governance Programme. 

So basically,

Aim of CCTNS = efficient, effective and  transparent policing through e-governance. 

Okay, so now what happened?

1. The CCTNS is a group of some 820 VSATs (two-way ground satellite systems) that will be networked by a satellite.
2. BSNL was the original agency in charge.
3. BSNL had only some 400 VSATs.
4. For remaining (820-400=420! Oops, lucky number :D), BSNL ordered IPSTARs (that are VSATs by Thaicomm- a Thai communication company, which is also providing services in almost a dozen nations, including Pakistan and China)

Our Intelligence agency did some homework and said that "CCTNS data is going to be highly sensitive. Using a foreign satellite to relay this data = ramifications on the national security environment"

Now, GOI, has decided that ISRO is going to provide the remaining number of VSATs.

--End of News--

Sources: Press Information Bureau , The Hindu