Published on August 18, 2025 · 2 minutes read

Stay updated with the latest current affairs crucial for UPSC CSE preparation. This post presents a concise news summary of 17 August 2025, covering key national and international developments.
📝 Researchers identify a new palm species
✅ Named as Phoenix roxburghii ⇒ Found on India’s eastern coast, Bangladesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Pakistan
✅ Previously, it was believed to be the same as the Phoenix sylvestris found in Kerala and Sri Lanka.
📝 The Income Tax Bill 2025
✅ Recently passed by the parliament in the ongoing monsoon session ⇒ Seeks to replace the Income Tax Act of 1961 ⇒ Shorter, more concise, and clearer.
✅ Key changes:
- Provisions of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and Alternate Minimum Tax (AMT) have been separated into two sub-sections.
- Taxpayers can now update their income tax returns up to 4 years from the end of the relevant assessment year ⇒ The period for which assessments could be reopened has been reduced to five years.
- Authorised tax officials will have the legal right to access the suspect’s social media, emails, investments, bank accounts, and other digital spaces and can override the access code to any computer system if the passwords are not provided.
📝 Some facts about plastics
✅ Thousands of chemicals of concern are present in each major plastic type, such as PVC, polyurethanes, PET, polyethylene and others ⇒ Most of these are synthetic and non-biodegradable.
✅ Ethylene, propylene, styrene and their derivatives are commonly used to make plastic.
✅ Ethylene and its derivatives, such as polypropene (PP), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) comprise the largest portion of downstream petrochemicals used in the plastic manufacturing.
✅ Plastic manufacturing requires a range of other chemicals, such as bisphenols, phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) ⇒ Used to produce food containers, drink bottles, teething toys, polyester, intravenous bags, cosmetics, paints, electronic components, adhesives and sealants.
✅ Exposure to chemicals used in plastic manufacturing is associated with adverse health effects, including certain cancers.
✅ Microplastics: Plastics smaller than 5 mm ⇒ Constituent elements of a variety of additives or plastic products ⇒ Linked to a wide range of health disorders.
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