EPFO works on plan to introduce ATM card facility for withdrawal of funds

RETIREMENT FUND body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is working towards rolling out a facility that will allow members to withdraw funds from their corpus through an ATM card. The ATM-card type withdrawal from the EPFO, which would be subject to a certain ceiling, is likely to be rolled out by the middle of next year, officials said. The EPFO is working towards improving its IT infrastructure under EPFO 3.0, the first phase of which would end in December and is expected to be completed in June 2025. 

India-UAE's common goal to preserve, promote stability, security of our regions, says Jaishankar

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Minister S Jaishankar Friday said India and UAE have common interest in preserving and promoting the stability, security and prosperity of both the region. He also said enhancing defence and security cooperation between the two nations will contribute to this goal.

"The two sides held discussions to expand our strategic partnership in several areas, including defence, emerging technologies, nuclear energy, polar research, critical minerals and renewable energy, among others," an official statement from the MEA said. 

Simultaneous polls Bill: Amendments in effect from date to be notified by President

THE CONSTITUTION amendment Bill meant to introduce 'one nation, one election' effectively proposes implementing simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies by 2034 at the earliest, if the present and the next Lok Sabha complete their five- year terms. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Ninth Amendment) Bill, 2024, which was approved by the Cabinet Thursday and is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha soon, says the provisions of the amendment would come into effect on an "appointed date", which the President will notify on the first sitting of the Lok Sabha after a general election. 

No One Voice, please

ON DECEMBER 12, the Union Cabinet ap- proved a controversial proposal to implement simultaneous elections across India, involving all three tiers of elections, namely, the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and local bodies. This is in pursuance of the recommendations of a high-level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind, which submitted its report on the "One Nation, One Election" plan this September. The committee, established on September 2, 2023, worked for 191 days and submitted an 18,626-page report on March 14, 2024. According to the report, suggestions were invited from the public and 21,558 responses were received, with 80 per cent supporting simultaneous elections. 

Places of politics

When we the people, gave to ourselves this Constitution of India, we embraced certain fundamental tenets which are the foundation of our Republic. That is why the pre- amble to our Constitution secures for citizens, liberty of thought, expression, be- lief, faith and worship along with the commitment to promote among citizens fraternity, assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the nation. What this means is that a citizen of this country has the liberty, which is an inalienable right, of his or her belief, in his or her faith. The right to worship, in accordance therewith, is embedded in our cultural traditions. This applies to all religions practised in India, forming the bedrock of our multi- cultural society. December 6, 1992, was a day of triumph for many but perceived as a tragedy for those who espoused a particular faith. To calm the turbulent waters and to put an end to future acts of constitutional vandalism, Parliament in 1991 had decided to enact the Places of Worship (Special Provisions), Act 1991 ("Act of 1991"). In essence, it stipulated that the character of the places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, would not be altered.

Poised for a quantum leap

JAMES CARVILLE, THE campaign strategist of Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential elections said, famously, "The economy, stupid", a phrase that turned the tables on George HW Bush's re-election and sent Clinton to the White House. Today, it should be "The technology, stupid". The world has entered the era of frontier technologies, of tech haves and have-nots. The real race is no longer about shadowy GDP figures, which can be interpreted differently based on varied indices. For example, if you take the GDP in real terms, the US is ahead of China by at least $10 trillion. However, the GDP adjusted to purchasing power parity (PPP) will place China ahead of the US by about $4 trillion.

Switzerland suspends MFN status to India in tax avoidance agreement

IN WHAT could potentially im- pact Swiss investments in India and higher taxes on Indian companies operating in Switzerland starting January 1, 2025, Bern has suspended the Most Favoured- Nation (MFN) clause in the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) that India and Switzerland entered originally in 1994 and amended in 2010, a statement released by the Swiss government dated December 11 showed. This decision follows a ruling by the Indian Supreme Court last year, which determined that the DTAA cannot be enforced unless it is notified under the Income Tax Act. As a result, Swiss companies such as Nestlé face higher taxes on dividends. The Supreme Court ruling effectively overturned a Delhi High Court order that had ensured companies and individuals were not subject to double taxation while working in or for foreign entities.

Germany's TKMS pitches for naval manufacturing, export hub in India

GERMAN NAVAL shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) sees significant potential for India to emerge as a naval vessel manufacturing hub due to its substantial cost advantage vis-à- vis Europe and a resurgence in demand for naval defence equipment in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war and other re- cent geopolitical conflicts. The company is also pitching the proposition as a strategic collabo- ration between Germany and India to limit China's influence in naval equipment supplies, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. According to TKMS CEO Oliver Burkhard, the German company would want to build submarines and other naval vessels in India for exports jointly with its partner- the state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders (MDL)-if the com- bine bags the contract for manufacturing six new diesel-electric submarines from the Indian Navy.

Sebi proposes allowing retail participation in algo trading

THE SECURITIES and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Friday proposed to review the existing regulatory framework on algorithmic trading (algo trading) to facilitate participation of retail investors. Algo trading refers to orders generated using automated execution logic. Such trading pro- vides significant advantages of timed and programmed order execution. At present, algo trading is limited to institutional investors, who have Direct Market Access (DMA) facility. 

How Railways (Amendment) Bill could impact the national transporter

AMID THE heated arguments between the government and opposition inside the Parliament, Lok Sabha, on December 11, passed the The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The Bill seeks to repeal the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 and incorporate its provisions into the Railways Act, 1989. The establishment of the rail- way network was started as a branch of the Public Works Department before independence. When the network expanded, Indian Railways Act, 1890, was enacted to enable proper functioning of different railway entities. 

HOW A DISTANT GALAXY PROVIDES A PEEK INTO NASCENT MILKY WAY

NASA'S JAMES Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spotted a distant galaxy which gives a peek at what the Milky Way might have looked like in its infancy. The galaxy, named Firefly Sparkle due to its gleaming star clusters resembling the bioluminescent bugs (a group of fireflies is called a "sparkle"), is located some 13 billion lightyears away. Given that the Big Bang - the cosmic event that initiated the cosmos- occurred approximately 13.8 billion years ago, Firefly Sparkle, as we observe it to- day, is an infant galaxy formed in the im- mediate aftermath of the beginning of everything. Researchers say the galaxy, still in the process of assembling, is estimated to have formed 100-400 million years before its evolutionary stage. 

First 'ice-free' day in Arctic could occur before 2030: why does it matter?

THERE IS a chance, albeit small at the moment, that the Arctic Ocean may see its first ice-free day-when its waters have less than one million square km of sea ice - before 2030, a new study estimated. As humans continue to emit heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) at unprecedented levels, the probability of this happening is ever increasing. Authored by Céline Heuzé from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and Alexandra Jahn from the University of Colorado Boulder (USA), the study 'The first ice-free day in the Arctic Ocean could occur before 2030' was published in the journal Nature Communications on December 3. In the last 40 years, Arctic sea ice has been melting at the rate of 12.6% each decade, a pace of decline unmatched in at least the last 1,500 years, according to a 2023 report in the MIT Climate Portal.