Government to issue biometric PAN cards:

Government to issue biometric PAN cards:

The government has decided to issue biometric PAN cards to taxpayers across the country to weed out the problem of duplicate and fake ones.

The decision was taken recently by the finance ministry, in the wake of a comptroller and auditor general (CAG) report that asked the income tax department to ensure that a single tax payer was not issued multiple cards.

The proposed new biometric permanent account number (PAN) Cards would bear the income tax assessee’s fingerprints (two from each hand) and prints from the face.

Not mandatory:

There could be an option for existing PAN card holders to opt for the biometric cards, but it may not be mandatory, a senior official in the I-T department said.

The finance ministry and the IT department had put on hold the biometric PAN card project last year to avoid duplication with the unique identification numbers to be issued by the unique identification authority of india (UIDAI), chaired by Nandan Nilekani.

“The biometric PAN card project is on again. The step will be very important when it comes to stopping the misuse of this vital identity document,” top sources in the finance ministry said.

The biometric PAN card was proposed by the then finance minister P.Chidambaram in 2006 to counter the problem of duplicate PAN cards uncovered during the IT department’s searches, and raids by policies and other enforcement agencies.

The CAG reports for 2010-11 on direct taxes, tabled in parliament recently, has revealed that 958 lakh (95.8 million) PANs were issued up to march 2010, but IT returns filed in the last fiscal were only 340.9 lakh (34.09 million).

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A single use toilet:

A single use toilet:

A Swedish entrepreneur is planning peepoo , a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet, which may help millions of urban slum dwellers in developing countries.

The bag, which is currently undergoing field trials in india and Kenya, is the brainchild of Anders wilhelmson, an architect and professor in Stockholm.

Once used, the bag can be knotted and buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer, killing off diseases-producing pathogens found in faeces.

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According to wilhelmson, he has drawn inspiration to design the biodegradable toilet from Kenyan slum-dwellers who collect their excrement in a plastic bag and dispose it of by flinging it, calling it a “flyaway toilet’ or a “helicopter toilet”

The Swedish entrepreneur has patented the bag and he plans to sell it for about 2 or 3 cents each comparable to the cost of an ordinary plastic bag.

European royals feel the common touch:

While not first in line to succeed, prince william’s marriage to Kate Middleton will see the couple join a host of young royals, all of whom have chosen to marry commoners, as they prepare to inherit the thrones of Europe.

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Sweden: Crown Princess Victoria marries her personal trainer, Daniel westling, at Stockholm Cathedral in june 2010, on 34^th anniversary of her parents’ marriage.

Norway: Crown prince Haakon marries single mother Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby in August 2001, at Oslo cathedral.

Denmark: Crown Prince Frederik marries Australian marketing consultant Mary Donaldson in may 2004 at copenhegan cathedral. They met at Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Spain: Felipe, Prince of Asturias, marries TV journalist and divorcee Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano in may 2004 at Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral.

Netherlands: Prince Willem-Alexander marries Argentinian investment banker maxima Zorreguieta in February 2002, he will become netherlands’ first male monarch since 1890.

Belgium: Prince Philippe marries Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz in December 1999. Mathilde is in line to become Belgium’s first native-born queen consort.

Monaco: Albert II, ruling Prince of monaco, will wed former south African swimmer Charlene Wittstock in july this year.