I-T dept notifies changes in rules valuing rent-free stay

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)

• It is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1963.
• The CBDT is a part of the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance.
• Functions:
  • Its functions include formulation of policies, dealing with matters relating to levy and collection of direct taxes, and supervision of the functioning of the entire Income Tax Department.
  • CBDT also proposes legislative changes in direct tax enactments and changes in rates and structure of taxation in tune with the policies of the Government.
• Historical Background:
  • The Central Board of Revenue, as the Department’s apex body charged with the administration of taxes, came into existence as a result of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924.
  • Initially, the Board was in charge of both direct and indirect taxes.
  • However, when the administration of taxes became too unwieldy for one Board to handle, the Board was split up into two, namely the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Central Board of Excise and Customs, with effect from 1.1.1964
  • This bifurcation was brought about by the constitution of the two Boards u/s 3 of the Central Boards of Revenue Act, 1963.
• Structure:
  • The CBDT is headed by Chairman and also comprises of six members, all of whom are ex-officio Special Secretary to the Government of India.
  • Member (Income Tax)
  • Member (Legislation and Computerization)
  • Member (Revenue)
  • Member (Personnel & Vigilance)
  • Member (Investigation)
  • Member (Audit & Judicial)
• The Chairman is the co-ordinating head, and each of the members has been assigned a specialized function.
• The Chairman and Members of CBDT are selected from Indian Revenue Service (IRS).

I-T dept notifies changes in rules valuing rent-free stay

Hat stones in abundance at archaeology site near Tirunavaya

• Hat stones, popularly called Thoppikkallu in Malayalam, are hemispherical laterite stones used as lid on burial urns during the megalithic period are fond here.
• The findings may throw light on the life and culture of people who lived in those parts more than 2,000 years ago.

Megaliths

• These were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative(non-sepulchral) memorials
• The former are sites with actual burial remains, such as dolmenoid cists(box-shaped stone burial chambers), cairn circles (stone circles with defined peripheries) and capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found mainly in Kerala).
• Non-sepulchral megaliths include memorial sites such as menhirs.
• In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age(1500 BC to 500 BC).
• In India, these are concentrated in the states of Maharashtra(mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Tirunavaya

• It is the land of ancient Mamankam.
• It is situated on the banks of Bharathapuzha river; it is a place of historical importance.
• In olden days, Mamankam a grand assembly of rulers was held once in 12 years here.

Pacific islands face risk of drowning as sea levels rising faster than expected

State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2022 report

• The sea level rise threatens low-lying islands such as Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands, which could face devastating floods over time, leading to the destruction of agricultural lands and habitable areas.
• The report also highlighted the occurrence of marine heatwaves in a large area northeast of Australia and south of Papua New Guinea over a period of more than six months.
• These heatwaves have had a significant impact on marine life and the livelihoods of local communities.
• Despite a decrease in the number of reported disaster weather events compared to 2021, the economic losses due to flooding and weather events have increased.

World Meteorological Organization

• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
• It is the UN system''s authoritative voice on the state and behaviour of the Earth''s atmosphere, its interaction with the oceans, the climate it produces, and the resulting distribution of water resources.
• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.
• Established in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the UN for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Currently it has a membership of 191 countries.
• Governance Structure:
  • Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress, which consists of representatives of all members. It meets at least every four years to set general policy and adopt regulations.
  • A 36-member Executive Council meets annually and implements policy.
  • The Secretariat, headed by a secretary-general appointed by the congress for a four-year term, serves as the administrative centre of the organization.

A strongly magnetic Wolf-Rayet star is expect

Magnetar

• A magnetar is an exotic type of neutron star, its defining feature that it has an ultra-powerful magnetic field.
• The field is about 1,000 times stronger than a normal neutron star and about a trillion times stronger than the Earth’s.
• Apart from ultra-powerful magnetic fields, magnetars also release vast amounts of energy in the form of flares, X-rays, and gamma-ray bursts.
• They are therefore associated with extreme events in the universe, making them perhaps the most bizarre objects in the cosmos next to black holes.
• The magnetic field of a magnetar may be caused by a neutron star’s interior – thought to be made up of neutrons, quarks and exotic states of matter such as Bose-Einstein Condensates – becoming a superconducting fluid.
• Thus, when the star rotates, it would behave like a huge dynamo, generating an immense magnetic field.

Supernova

• A supernova is the name given to the cataclysmic explosion of a massive star.
• They are the largest explosion that takes place in space.
• A star can go supernova in one of two ways:
  • Type I supernova: Star accumulates matter from a nearby neighbour until a runaway nuclear reaction ignites.
  • Type II supernova: Star runs out of nuclear fuel and collapses under its own gravity.
• It can emit more energy in a few seconds than our sun will radiate in its lifetime of billions of years.
• They''re also the primary source of heavy elements in the universe.
• On average, a supernova will occur once every 50 years in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way.

Wolf-Rayet stars

• These are massive stars that are near the end of their stellar evolution.
• They are typically more than 25 times the mass the Sun and lose this mass at a very high rate.
• They are a rare sight and are among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly-detectable stars known to scientists.

Government notifies norms for green hydrogen

Green Hydrogen Standard

• The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has decided to define Green Hydrogen as having a well-to-gate emission (i.e., including water treatment, electrolysis, gas purification, drying and compression of hydrogen) of not more than 2 kg CO2 equivalent / kg H2.
• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power shall be the Nodal Authority for accreditation of agencies for the monitoring, verification and certification for Green Hydrogen production projects.
• The scope of the definition encompasses both electrolysis-based and biomass-based hydrogen production methods.

Green Hydrogen

• Hydrogen gas(produced using industrial methods like electrolysis) can be used as a fuel and it does not release greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2) when it is burned. Hence, a potential clean alternative to fossil fuels.
• Green hydrogenis the name given to hydrogen gas that has been produced using renewable energy, such as wind or solar power, which create no GHG emissions.
• Globally, most of the hydrogen produced today is used in the refining and industrial sectors - to make ammonia for the fertiliser industry, in the steel industry.
• In a fuel cell (device that converts the energy of a chemical into electricity), hydrogen gas reacts with oxygen to produce electricity and water vapour.