Bill soon on independent pension regulator
New Delhi: The proposed Pension Fund Regulator and Development Authority (PFRDA) may soon become a reality, with the Government saying that it would introduce suitable legislation in Parliament to provide a regulatory framework for the new pension scheme (NPS), which also provides for a separate pension fund regulator.

This is in keeping with the announcement made in the Union Budget 2004-05.

The independent regulator will also have the responsibility of regulating, promoting and ensuring the orderly growth of the pension market, an official communiqué here said. It may be recalled that a defined contribution pension scheme had been introduced with effect from January 1 for Central Government employees recruited on or after that date (except Armed Forces, in the first stage), replacing the existing defined benefit pension system.
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Indirect tax collections up 9.5 per cent
New Delhi: The Centre's indirect tax collections have increased by 9.5 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal at Rs.59, 452 crore compared with Rs.54,292 crore achieved in the same period last year.

While customs collections during April-August 2004 stood at Rs.19, 793 crore (growth rate of 4.2 per cent), the excise collections in the same period stood at Rs.35, 563 crore (7.8 per cent). Service tax collections stood at Rs 4,095 crore during April-August 2004.

For 2004-05, the Centre has budgeted customs collections at Rs.54,250 crore. In the case of excise duties, the target has been pegged at Rs.1,09,199 crore. Direct tax collections had recorded a 46 per cent growth in the first five months of the current fiscal at Rs.21, 187 crore against Rs.14, 528 crore in the same period last year.
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ISRO chief: World's first satellite for education launch on Sept.20
Hyderabad: The Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr G. Madhavan Nair, has announced that ISRO has not abandoned its lunar mission. Instead, he said, the first phase is planned for 2007-08 with an investment outlay of Rs.380 crore.

According to Dr Nair, the lunar mission was primarily aimed at understanding the moon better and to explore the possibilities of exploiting its minerals. In this area, advanced countries such as the US and Japan were already in the race.

Dr Nair said ISRO would put into orbit the world's first satellite for education on September 20 from the spaceport of Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh on board the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Edu-Sat is the first satellite exclusively for education to provide greater impetus to distance education programme, thereby making the countrywide virtual classroom a reality, he said.

The education exclusive satellite has been specially configured to meet the growing demand for interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country through audio-visual medium employing Direct-To-Home quality broadcast.

The satellite would have multiple regional beams covering different parts of India, five Ku-band transponders with spot beams covering five regions of the country, a Ku-band transponder with its footprint covering the Indian mainland region and six C-band transponders with their footprints covering the entire country.

The IRSO chief asserted that the country today has not only achieved self-reliance but also reached a stage where countries such as Korea, Germany and Belgium countries, to launch their satellites, were using the indigenously developed GSLVs.
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