RESEARCH

The awareness about the just-launched New Pension Scheme is abysmally low. That is unfortunate because the NPS may turn out to be the best long-term investment product From May 2009 onwards, Indians have had access to another investment avenue to plan for retirement in the New Pension Scheme (NPS). The scheme had been in the pipeline for at least five years but it finally took shape in 2007-08. Although the government was pushing for the scheme after a law providing statutory backing to the regulator was enacted, the Left parties, which were supporting the UPA government, did not allow the passage of the Bill. So, last year, the government decided to go ahead by allowing the NPS Trust to enter management agreements with fund managers. What benefits does the NPS offer? Who is eligible? Business Standard provides a ready-reckoner. Who can join the New Pension Scheme? Any Indian citizen between 18 and 55 years. At present, only tier-I of the scheme, involving a contribution to a non-withd

The Indian tour and travel industry is by and large unaffected by the global economic downturn _________________________________ MoneyLIFE Bureau & Surajit Dasgupta _________________________________ H as the economic slowdown decided to leave the tourism industry alone? Or are things looking good because, as the song says, everybody wants a summer holiday? It is a bit of both. Outbound tourism is booming. The worldwide economic slowdown has seen many countries offering never-before discounts and incentives to attract international tourists; this has meant a big increase in foreign travel. Ashwini Kakkar, executive vice chairman of Mercury Travels says, “Actually, outbound travel is doing even better than last year. Because of the fall in prices internationally, a holiday in Bangkok is cheaper than a holiday in Kulu. So where would you go? You can get a great five-star property at Bangkok for $40 a night, while in Kulu, you can’t get it even at $200 a night because of limited avail

... even as India votes for advertised 'truth' _______________ Surajit Dasgupta _______________ R ight wing economists must welcome a UPA Government minus the left. Let’s hope the Congress does not betray its ally, the Trinamool Congress, to shake hands with the socialists who still have some more seats with them than their rival if both Kerala and West Bengal are counted, despite the rout the communists have faced in both the states. Let us hope that 2009-10 sparkles as brilliantly in contrast to 2008-09 as 1991-92 had sparkled in contrast to 1990-91. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's first job in hand is economic reforms, held hostage by communists for five long years. Let us also rejoice the defeat of a bundle of confusions, aka the BJP, which failed miserably to read the pulse of the nation as, egged on by an obscurantist behemoth called the RSS, it clung on to a non-performing asset — a promised Ram temple in Ayodhya — in these gloomy times of economic slowdown and unemp

UDF is likely to sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, thanks to a negative vote for the CPI(M)-led dispensation's governance in the state ______________________________ Arun Lakshman | Thiruvananthapuram ______________________________ T he opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) led by the Congress is expected to make major headways in the Indian state of Kerala in the general elections with the front to take at least 13 seats out of the total of 20 with the ruling LDF led by the CPI(M) to contend with 7 seats or even less. While the BJP, the BSP and the NCP will give stiff fights to both the camps in some seats, eventually the seats would be shared between the two major fronts. The Congress camp is bubbling with enthusiasm with all the senior leaders of the party from the union defence minister AK Antony to the state PCC president Ramesh Chennithala sharing with the press their expectation as high as that of 18 seats. However, a trip through Kerala by this correspondent sugg

... as Prachanda-led Maoists see the country's president have a truck with India ____________ Nithin Sridhar ____________ N epal is again in news. After gaining prominence in 2005 and finally becoming Prime Minister in 2008, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Comrade Prachanda, Chairman, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), finally stepped down on 4 April 2009 after a spat with the country's President Ram Baran Yadav over the issue of the sacking of Army Chief Gen Rukmangad Katawal. The drama started to unfold at 9:30 am on 3 May when a high-level meeting of five coalition partners was held at the prime minister's residence. The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML), the second largest party in the coalition, and Sadbhavana walked out of the meeting. At 10:15 am, Lt General Kul Bahadur Khadka met with the prime minister. Later at 11 am, Gen Katawal met with the Prime Minister. At 12 pm, the cabinet sacked Katawal. Later at 10:30 PM, President Yadav se

The report carrying her clarification on Rahul Gandhi's MPhil raises more questions than answers Dear Prof Alison Richard, I am a Delhi-based journalist investigating the academic credentials of Rahul Gandhi, the Indian National Congress candidate contesting from the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, for the Lok Sabha elections 2009. I would like to get a detailed confirmation of your interview with Press Trust of India, the report of which was carried by The Times of India , IBN and Zee News . Recently, they (a newspaper and two television news channels respectively) carried an identical story (the web pages of IBN and Zee News do not give PTI the credit) in their respective websites, saying you, in the capacity of the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, have confirmed that Rahul Gandhi (son of former/late Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi) received the postgraduate degree of MPhil on Development Studies from your esteemed university. The three web pages are