De Hindu editorial analysis: August 13, 2025

The Hindu editorial analysis

We understand the importance of reading the Hindu newspaper for improving reading skills, improving the understanding of passages, staying informed of current events, improving the writing of essays and more, especially for bankaspirants who have to concentrate on editorial articles for building vocabulary. This article investigates today’s editorial points, together with practice questions and important vocabulary.

Lok Sabha approves a new income tax account, gives tax officials more power

On Monday, the Lok Sabha approved a new version of the income tax account, 2025, good, aimed at making the old income tax law of 1961 shorter, easier and easier to understand. It is, however In income tax officials also grants larger powers, including the authority to violently open the personal e -mails of people and social media accounts.
The earlier version of the bill was introduced in February by the Minister of Union Finance Nirmala Sitharaman and was later sent to a Select Committee led by Baijayant Panda, who submitted its recommendations to the government on 21 July.
Based on these recommendations, the government withdrew the earlier account last Friday and introduced the updated bill (no. 2), 2025, in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The new account has approximately 2.59 lakh words, compared to 5.12 Lakh words in the old act of 1961. The chapters have been reduced from 47 to 23, and the sections lowered from 819 to 536. This was done to make the law easier.
To make things clearer, the number of tables in law has risen from 18 to 57, and the number of formulas from 6 to 46. Together with this, the bill changes the rules for search and seizure by tax officials.
According to the new law, if someone keeps his accounts or documents in electronic form, they must help authorized officers to gain access to them – including by giving passwords, pins or codes (regardless of what they are called).
If the person refuses to share these access codes, officers may break or bypass them to go into a computer system during a search and to take the required information from the digital data of the taxpayer.
The selected committee said that these powers are needed because important evidence is often found in electronic data, such as WhatsApp -Chats and E emails. They added that officers sometimes experience problems when passwords are not shared.
However, some members of the committee did not agree. Congress Member of Parliament Amar Singh said that this gives officials too much power and forces taxpayers to share all private data, including passwords, personal chats and other private information.
K. Premacrenran of the revolutionary socialist party called these rules unfair and probably abused. He said they violate the constitutional right of people on privacy, which was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy case.
Premachandran also said that the powers in the old law of 1961 were sufficient and that it is not necessary to give civil servants these extra rights about the private electronic communication and data of people.

Uttarkashi Flash Floods: 43 still missing, more than 1,300 saved in Dharali tragedy

Civil servants in Uttarkashi released a list on Monday 43 people still miss From the village of Dharali, which was hit by Flash floods on 5 August. They also shared another list of 1,308 people who are saved From different places.
Vinay Shankar Pandey, commissioner of the Garhwal region, stated that the missing persons 9 army personnel, 8 inhabitants of the village of Dharali, 5 people from nearby areas, 1 from the Tehri district, 13 from Bihar and 6 from Uttar Pradesh.
Moreover, 29 Nepalese workers from Dharali are also missing. Of these, 5 were contacted after the mobile network had been restored, which has given some lighting to rescue teams.
“We asked the contractors involved to give us the telephone numbers and other details of the workers they brought here,” said Mr. Pandey.
He added that in disasters such as the Kedarnath Tragedy 2013, many people who were reported as missing were later found safe. That is why they work to trace the killing of people from other states by collecting correct home addresses for verification.
Pandey said they would expect within a day or two definitive information about the missing people. Districts and states work together to confirm the status of each person.
Of the 1,308 rescued people, the majority were tourists who visited the Gangotri and Yamunotri temples as part of the Char Dham Yatra.

Supreme Court leads permanent removal of stray dogs from streets in Delhi

On Friday, the Supreme Court told the government of Delhi and the local authorities to immediately catch stray dogs, to keep them in special dog shelters (pounds) built in Delhi and never releases them in the streets.
A Bank of Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan warned that everyone who tries to prevent officials from conquering the dogs will be held to contempt the court to hinder legal orders.
The court told the authorities to collect stray dogs from every area, especially places where they could attack people. Civil servants can choose how to do this and can even create a special force if necessary.
The main goal is to erase all public spaces of stray dogs, and the court said that there should be no compromise in this task.
The case started after an increase in stray dog attacks on children, including babies. The court wondered if animal rights activists could return children who were lost due to rabid dog attacks to grieving parents.
Platicitor General Tushar Mehta, who represents the government, supported the decision and agreed that urgent action was needed to stop dog attacks.
Justice Pardiwala even referred to a scene from Western film The good, the bad and the uglySaying that there should be no talk in this situation – only quick action.
The court said that the stray dog problem is serious in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad. It called its order an important step to permanently remove this danger.
Justice Pardiwala also joked that he hoped that the order would not lead to stray dogs suddenly being converted into pets dogs at night, which means that the problem should really be solved, not just on paper.
The court ordered the Government of Delhi, municipal company of Delhi and the New Delhi municipal council to build enough dog shelters to keep at least 5,000 dogs within 6 to 8 weeks.
These hiding places must have enough staff to take care of the animals. All stray dogs must be sterilized and vaccinated according to the rules.
The court said that hiding places should be expanded in the future, so that people can walk without being afraid of being bitten. It made it clear that public safety, especially from children, comes first – emotions and opposition should not stop this.
CCTV cameras must have hiding places to ensure that dogs are not released or removed without permission. Detailed data from all caught dogs must be kept and shown to the court if requested.
The court warned that if a caught dog is released back on the street, the whole effort will be wasted and strict action will follow.
Everyone or a group that blocks dogs will have serious consequences.
The court also ordered that a helpline would be set up so that people can report dog attacks. Every dog bite case must be reported immediately and the authorities must take action quickly.
Every dog involved in such incidents must be caught, sterilized and vaccinated within four hours of receiving the complaint and may never be released in public areas.

Important questions

In the newly adopted income tax bill (no. 2), 2025, with how much has the total number of words reduced compared to the old income tax Act, 1961?
What specific powers are given to authorized officials in accordance with the new income tax, 2025 if a taxpayer refuses to share access codes with their electronic books or documents?
After the flash flames in the village of Dharali on 5 August, how many army personnel are admitted to the 43 people who are still missing?
In the efforts to save Uttarkashi flash flashes, what actions is Garhwal Region Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey who finds the missing Nepalese workers?
In his recent command of the stray dog problem in Delhi, which Deadline has set the Supreme Court for building hiding places that can contain at least 5,000 dogs?
According to the instructions of the Supreme Court on controlling dog bite incidents, what should authorities do with the dogs involved within four hours after receiving a complaint?

Important vocabulary

Authorized – officially given the power to act.
Circumvent – to prevent or go around a limitation or block.
Harmful – Show proof of involvement in misconduct.
Constitutional – Related to the basic laws and rights of a country.
Commissioner -A high -ranking government official who is responsible for an area.
Recovered – Back to an earlier good or working state.
Verification – the process of checking if something is true or correct.
Tragedy – A very sad or disastrous event.
Contempt – The crime not to obey or respect a court.
Hindering – Block or stop with something that happens.
Sterilized – Medically treated to prevent reproduction.
Obliged – officially ordered or required.