Dy CM Dr Nirmal Singh delivering valedictory speech on conclusion of two-day Business Research Conference by Kathua campus on Thursday.
Dy CM Dr Nirmal Singh delivering valedictory speech on conclusion of two-day Business Research Conference by Kathua campus on Thursday.
Devotees including former Minister Gulchain Singh Charak, performing Aarti of holi Chhari at Purmandal shrine.
Devotees including former Minister Gulchain Singh Charak, performing Aarti of holi Chhari at Purmandal shrine.
A salesman showcasing Running and Tennis apparel of Lotto’s Spring Summer Collection at Jammu.
A salesman showcasing Running and Tennis apparel of Lotto’s Spring Summer Collection at Jammu.
Prominent Urdu poets from all over India participating in poetic meet by Radio Kashmir Jammu on Thursday.
Prominent Urdu poets from all over India participating in poetic meet by Radio Kashmir Jammu on Thursday.
Medal winners of 35th National Games posing alongwith Governor N N Vohra during felicitation function at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Thursday.
Medal winners of 35th National Games posing alongwith Governor N N Vohra during felicitation function at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Thursday.
Dy CM Dr Nirmal Singh and others releasing a publication at inaugrual of two-day national seminar at SKUAST Jammu on Thursday.
Dy CM Dr Nirmal Singh and others releasing a publication at inaugrual of two-day national seminar at SKUAST Jammu on Thursday.
Winners posing along with dignitaries during concluding function of Rural Sports Mela at Surankote in Poonch.
Winners posing along with dignitaries during concluding function of Rural Sports Mela at Surankote in Poonch.
SSP Jammu Uttam Chand along with young peddlers and other dignitaries during inaugural ceremony of TT Tournament at Stag Academy in Jammu.
SSP Jammu Uttam Chand along with young peddlers and other dignitaries during inaugural ceremony of TT Tournament at Stag Academy in Jammu.
MF houses want tax sops for pension products on lines of NPS
MUMBAI, Mar 19: Mutual fund houses have said that tax benefits for retirement solutions should be provided on the lines of the New Pension System (NPS) as they are planning to enter pension funds sector in a big way.
The Budget has made an additional tax break of Rs 50,000 into the NPS investment under section 80CC(D) of the Income Tax Act.
Currently, three MF houses, out of a total of 45, are having products in the pension segment and they are UTI MF, Franklin Templeton and the recently launched retirement product by Reliance Mutual Fund.
While Franklin is working on another retirement solution, Kotak Mutual Fund is also keen to come up with a retirement product, according to market sources.
Franklin currently has only one retirement fund – the Franklin India Pension Plan. Its asset under management (AUM) under its 15-year old retirement fund is around Rs 400 crore. The company is working on coming up with one more pension product in near future.
“Retirement solution is an extremely important segment as this is a significantly large asset class,” Franklin Templeton Investments India president Harshendu Bindal told last night on the sidelines a Morningstar fund awards event.
“Tax benefits given to the existing retirement products are under the category of section 80C only. But the problem is that section 80C is a very limited category where you are buying several financial products. We have demanded the tax benefit on the lines of NPS, which was announced in the Budget,” he said.
On his company’s future plans, Bindal said, “We are working on such a retirement product where a person can stay invested until his entire working life and hence we call it a life stage retirement plan.”
Kotak Mutual Fund is also planning a retirement product.
“We are working on a retirement solution. But, it needs to get approved by the trustees,” Kotak Mutual Fund managing director Nilesh Shah said.
“We do need retirement products as a large section of the country’s population is not having any retirement solution at present,” he added. (PTI)
US begins destroying its largest cache of chemical weapons
DENVER (US), Mar 19: The US Army has begun destroying the nation’s largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons, using explosives to rip open a container of mustard agent inside a sealed chamber and then flooding it with another chemical to neutralise it.
It was the first few pounds of 2,600 tons of mustard agent that will be destroyed at Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado, most of it contained in about 780,000 shells.
“Everybody’s really excited, but we’re being cautious, making sure all the procedures are followed exactly,” said Bruce Huenefeld, manager of the first destruction process to get underway at the depot yesterday.
Mustard agent can maim or kill by damaging skin, the eyes and airways. It’s being destroyed under a 1997 international treaty banning all chemical weapons. It will take four years to destroy the Pueblo stockpile.
Another 523 tons of mustard and deadly nerve agents are stored at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. Blue Grass isn’t expected to start destroying its weapons until 2016 or 2017, finishing in 2023.
The destruction process is safe, officials said.
Most of Pueblo’s stockpile will be dismantled and neutralised in a highly automated USD 4.5 billion plant built at the depot.
About 1,400 damaged shells and a dozen metal bottles of mustard agent are considered unsuitable for that plant. They’ll be opened with explosives and neutralised in the sealed chamber, which sits inside an airtight structure near the larger automated plant.
The metal bottles contain mustard that was extracted from the shells for testing.
A single bottle was the first container to be opened and neutralised yesterday. Crews were waiting for the neutralisation to finish before draining the chamber, rinsing it and then removing the remains of the bottle.
Once all the bottles are destroyed, crews will start work on the damaged shells, depot spokesman Thomas Schultz said.
The automated plant isn’t expected to begin work until December or January. Design and construction have taken years, and final testing and training are underway.
Mustard agent is a thick liquid, not a gas as commonly believed. It has no colour and almost no odour, but it got its name because impurities made early versions smell like mustard. (AGENCIES)