Articles covered:

• Government slashes windfall tax on crude petroleum (The Hindu)
• What is light-emitting diodes and why are they prized as light sources? (The Hindu)
• PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the new campus of National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN) in Andhra Pradesh (All India Radio News)
• Exercise Ayutthaya (The Print)
• Argentine superstar Lionel Messi once again bags The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award (All India Radio News)
• Thiruvalluvar Day (Press Information Bureau)

Government slashes windfall tax on crude petroleum:

Context: The government has cut the windfall tax on domestically-produced crude oil to ₹1,700 per tonne from ₹2,300 per tonne with effect from January 16.

• The tax is levied in the form of a Special Additional Excise Duty (SAED).
• According to an official notification, SAED on the export of diesel, petrol and jet fuel or ATF has been retained at nil.
• The new rates are effective from January 16.
• India first imposed windfall profit taxes on July 1, 2022, joining a growing number of nations that tax supernormal profits of energy companies.
• The tax rates are reviewed every fortnight based on average oil prices in the previous two weeks.

Windfall tax:

• Windfall taxes are designed to tax the profits a company derives from an external, sometimes unprecedented event— for instance, the energy price-rise as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• These are profits that cannot be attributed to something the firm actively did, like an investment strategy or an expansion of business.
• The United States Congressional Research Service (CRS) defines a windfall as an “unearned, unanticipated gain in income through no additional effort or expense”.
• Governments typically levy a one-off tax retrospectively over and above the normal rates of tax on such profits, called windfall tax.
• One area where such taxes have routinely been discussed is oil markets, where price fluctuation leads to volatile or erratic profits for the industry.
• Rationale behind the imposition of windfall tax:
  • Redistribution of unexpected gains, when high prices benefit producers at the expense of consumers;
  • To fund social welfare schemes;
  • As a supplementary revenue stream for the government;
  • As a way for the Government to narrow the country’s widened trade deficit.

What is light-emitting diodes and why are they prized as light sources?

Diodes:

• A diode is an electronic component about 5 mm wide. It has two points of contact, or terminals, called its anode and cathode.
• A diode’s primary purpose is to allow current to flow in only one direction. It achieves this using a p-n junction.
• A p-n junction is made of two materials laid next to each other. One material is a p-type material: its primary charge-carriers are holes. The other is an n-type material: its primary charge-carriers are electrons. You’re familiar with electrons: they are ‘places’ inside atoms that carry negative charge. A hole denotes a ‘place’ in an atom or a group of atoms where there could be an electron but isn’t. Thus, a hole is an electron placeholder but without the electron, so it has a positive charge.
• A p-n junction is an interface where the surface of a p-type material and the surface of an n-type material meet. At this interface, electrons can pass easily from the n-type material to the p-type material but can’t go the other way. This asymmetry creates the diode’s ability to allow current to pass in only one direction.
• Wire attached to the p-type material is called the diode’s anode; that attached to the n-type material is the cathode. These are the diode’s two terminals.
• When the two materials are first placed next to each other, some electrons move from the n-side to the p-side until there is a layer, between the two sides, where there are neither (free) electrons nor holes present.
• When a suitable voltage is applied across the diode, more electrons are encouraged to flow from the n-side to the p-side, implying an electric current flowing from the p-side to the n-side, i.e. from the anode terminal to the cathode terminal. But if the voltage is reversed, current won’t flow in the opposite direction.

What is an LED?

• An LED is a diode that emits light. Inside the diode’s p-n junction, the electrons have more energy than the holes. When an electron meets and occupies a hole, it releases energy into its surroundings. If the frequency of this energy is in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, the diode will be seen to emit light. The overall phenomenon is called
• The energy of a wave is proportional to its frequency. So making sure the light emitted by an LED is visible light is a matter of making sure the electron-hole recombination releases a certain amount of energy, not more and not less. This is possible to achieve thanks to the band gap.

What is the band gap?

• Particles like electrons can only have specific energy values. They can occupy only particular energy levels. When a group of electrons comes together in a system – say, in a collection of atoms like a small piece of metal – they’re required to follow some rules. One of them is that no two electrons can occupy the same energy level at the same time.
• These electrons generally prefer to have lower energy, and thus prefer to occupy the lowest available energy level. If that level is taken, they occupy the next available level.
• Sometimes they can acquire more energy, tear free from their atoms, and flow around the material. In these circumstances, we say the material is an electrical conductor. When the electrons don’t have enough energy to flow around, the material is an insulator.
• Electrons can acquire such extra energy when an electric field is applied to the material. The field will accelerate the electrons and energise them, and the electrons will be ‘kicked’ from lower to higher energy levels.
• In some materials, there is an energy gap between these lower and higher levels – i.e. between when the electrons can’t and can flow around the material. An electron can’t have an amount of energy that would place it in one of these levels. It’s the reason why electrons in these materials can’t conduct an electric current unless they receive a minimum amount of energy – the energy required to jump across this gap. This gap is called the band gap.
• In LEDs, the energy emitted when an electron and a hole recombine is the energy of the band gap.
• By carefully choosing the materials that make up the p-layer and the n-layer, researchers can engineer the composite p-n junction to have a band gap that corresponds to visible light. Electron-hole recombination can be triggered by passing an electric current through the diode, which creates the electric field that ‘kicks’ the electrons.

What are the advantages of LEDs?

• LEDs were more efficient than incandescent bulbs and fluorescent lamps. Per watt of power consumed, LEDs can produce up to 300 lumens (amount of visible light emitted per second) versus incandescent bulbs’ 16 lumen and fluorescent lamps’ 70 lumen. Together with their greater durability and light contrast, LEDs’ advantages translated to higher cost savings and less material waste.
• LEDs have several applications in industry, consumer electronics, and household appliances: from smartphones to TV screens, from signboards to ‘feeding’ plants light in greenhouses, from barcode scanners to monitoring air quality.
• LEDs can also produce a variety of colours or emit energy at higher and lower frequencies; LEDs can be ‘embedded’ in skin; and organic LEDs emit more light (albeit by a different mechanism).
• Researchers are also exploring more efficient LEDs made of materials called perovskites.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the new campus of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics (NACIN) at Palasamudram in Sri Satya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh:

• National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN), under the administrative control of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, is the apex institution of Government of India for capacity building in the field of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics.
• NACIN is the apex training institute established to train the Officer trainees of Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Indirect Taxes) and also imparts in-service training for all officers and cadres under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
• NACIN is also contributing immensely in international capacity building in the areas of Customs, Drug Law Enforcement and other Indirect Tax related issues by way of training and exchange of other capacity building resources with partner countries.

The functions of NACIN:

NACIN will undertake training and other capacity building activities in the field of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics, including-

• Induction training of directly recruited Group A officers
• Specialised and periodic training to in-service officers,
• Induction training to Gr-B and C officers,
• Training to State/UT and other stakeholders in the area of indirect taxation,
• Management and soft skills training for overall professional and personal development of officers,
• International cooperation and training activities in Customs, Narcotics, and other allied areas,
• Any other capacity building activity as may be assigned by CBIC from time to time, besides carrying out the normal administrative and establishment functions.

The Indian Navy and Royal Thai Navy (RTN) conducted a maiden bilateral exercise, named ‘Ex-Ayutthaya’:

• The Indo-Thai Bilateral Exercise ‘Ex-Ayutthaya’ translates to ‘The Invincible One’ or ‘Undefeatable’, and “symbolises the significance of two of the oldest cities, Ayodhya in India and Ayutthaya in Thailand, the historic legacies, rich cultural ties and shared historical narratives dating back to several centuries,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.
• The exercise between the two navies was conducted from December 20 to 23 last year.
• The Indian Naval ships Kulish and IN LCU 56 participated in the inaugural edition of the exercise.The Royal Thai Navy side was represented by His Thai Majesty’s Ship (HTMS) Prachuap Khiri Khan, according to the statement.
• The 36th edition of the India-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai CORPAT) was also conducted along with the maiden bilateral exercise.
• Moreover, the Maritime Patrol Aircraft from both navies participated in the sea phase of the exercise.
• By holding such bilateral exercises, both navies have taken a step towards boosting operational synergy and progressively increasing exercise complexity.
• The conduct of the maiden IN-RTN bilateral exercise along with Indo-Thai CORPAT is a testimony to the growing bilateral relations between the two maritime neighbours and has strengthened interoperability between the two navies.

Argentine superstar Lionel Messi once again bags The Best FIFA Men’s Player Award:

• Argentine superstar Lionel Messi has once again bagged The Best FIFA Men’s Player.
• The announcement was made at the Best FIFA Football Awards ceremony in London.
• Messi came out on top in the voting leaving behind the other finalists, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe. This is the 3rd time in the last 4 years that Messi has got the award.
• Spain and Barcelona striker Aitana Bonmati were bestowed with the Best FIFA Women’s Player Award.
• Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola won the Best Men’s Manager award while England coach Sarina Wiegman claimed the award for the Best Woman Coach for a record fourth time.
• Manchester City stopper Ederson won the Best Men’s Goalkeeper while Mary Earps, the Manchester United and England No. 1, won the Women’s Goalkeeper award in the ceremony in London.

• Tiruvalluvar is known as one of the most prominent literary figures in Tamil culture. He is the author of Thirukkural, the most important book in Tamil literature.
• Born in the humble surroundings of Mylapore, Tiruvalluvar’s story is something of a rags-to-riches tale. He lived during the time of the Tamil classical age, the Sangam period. He is known as a philosopher, sage, and poet.

About Thirukkural:

• Tirukkural (Tamil: “Sacred Couplets”) also called Kural, is a classic Tamil text written by Thiruvalluvar, believed to have lived sometime between the 2nd century BCE and the 5th century CE.
• It has had an immense influence on Tamil culture and life.
• It is a collection of 1,330 couplets (kurals) that offer timeless wisdom on various aspects of life, including ethics, governance, love, and spirituality.
• Thirukkural is divided into three main sections or books: Aram (Virtue), Porul (Wealth), and Inbam (Love).
  • Each section covers a wide range of topics and imparts moral, ethical, and practical guidance to the readers.
  • The couplets are composed in a concise and poetic form, making them easily memorable and quotable.
  • Aram: It discusses virtues such as righteousness, truth, gratitude, and compassion. It emphasises the importance of leading a righteous life and upholding moral values in all circumstances.
  • Porul: It provides insights into worldly affairs, including governance, economy, and friendship. It offers wisdom on topics like wealth management, administration, and the value of good company.
  • Inbam: It delves into the complexities of human emotions, love, and family life