New income-tax rules for non-resident cruise ship operators

Context: 

Recently, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the Income Tax (First Amendment) Rules 2025, making amendments to the Income Tax Rules 1962. 

Income Tax (First Amendment) Rules 2025

The amendment inserted Rule 6GB in the Income Tax Rules 1962.

Earlier, the Finance Act, 2024 had introduced a presumptive taxation regime for non-residents engaged in the business of operating cruise ships to promote investment and employment. 

The amendment outlines the conditions for the applicability of the presumptive taxation regime for non-resident cruise ship operators for Section 44BBC.

These provisions aim to standardize tax computation for non-resident cruise operators under specified conditions.

Under Rule 6GB, the conditions for availing the presumptive taxation regime, the non-resident ship operator shall – 

• Operate a passenger ship having a carrying capacity of more than 200 passengers or a length of 75 meters or more, for leisure and recreational purposes and having appropriate dining and cabin facilities for passengers.
• Operate such ship on scheduled voyages or shore excursions touching at least two sea ports of India or the same sea ports of India twice
• Operate such ship primarily for carrying passengers and not for carrying cargo
• Operate such ship as per the procedure and guidelines if any, issued by the Ministry of Tourism or Ministry of Shipping.

Stargate Initiative

Context:

Recently, the president of the USA announced the Stargate Initiative to expand U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Stargate Initiative

Stargate is a $500 billion initiative aimed at creating an AI infrastructure in the US over the next four years, of which $100 billion will be invested immediately in the first year. 

The initiative would include the construction of massive data centres and campuses across the US to support AI development.

The project also aims to accelerate the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). 

• AGI is the intelligence of machines that allows them to comprehend, learn, and perform intellectual tasks much like humans. 

The project backs US re-industrialisation and enhances USA’s national security capabilities. 

Softbank, Oracle, OpenAI, and MGX (AI investment firm) are the key stakeholders, with Softbank handling the financial aspect and OpenAI overseeing the operations. 

Masayoshi Son will be the chairman, and the technology partners include Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI.

The first phase includes the construction of data centres in Abilene, Texas and the goal is to construct 10 data centres initially, with plans to expand to 20 locations of about half a million square feet each.

Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) 2025

Context:

The Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports inaugurated the Khelo India Winter Games 2025 at NDS Stadium in Leh, Ladakh.

Khelo India Winter Games 2025

This fifth edition of the KIWG is hosted by the Union Territory of Ladakh (Leh) and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Gulmarg).

Sports under the KIWG 2025:

• Alpine Ski
• Ice Hockey
• Ice Skating 
• Nordic Ski
• Snow Boarding
• Skiing Mountaineering

The 1st Chapter of Winter Games 2025 involving two ice games (ice-hockey and ice-skating) is being held in UT of Ladakh from January 23-27, while the 2nd Chapter involving four snow games will be held in UT of J&K from February 22-25. 

KIWG 2025 Mascot: Sheen-E-She (Shan).

The Khelo India Scheme

Under this flagship Central Sector Scheme (launched in 2016-17), the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYAS) organizes the following National-level competitions to provide a platform for talented athletes to showcase their sporting and competitive skills.

• Khelo India Youth Games (first started in 2018)
• Khelo India University Games (first started in 2020)
• Khelo India Para Games (first started in 2023)
• Khelo India Winter Games (first started in 2020)

Army Hospital (R&R) performs India’s first-ever LVAD implantation 

Context:

Recently, Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi Cantt, successfully performed India’s first-ever Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) implantation using the HeartMate 3 device in a government institution.

More on the news: 

The procedure was conducted on a 49-year-old woman, who had been waiting for a heart transplant for over two years, currently, she is recovering well under medical supervision.

The HeartMate 3 LVAD is a state-of-the-art device that helps improve heart function and serves as a life-saving bridge for patients with end-stage heart failure.

• It is often referred to as a “mechanical heart”.

This breakthrough marks a significant achievement for the Armed Forces Medical Services, setting a new benchmark in advanced cardiac care.

‘Estimation and Measurement of India’s Digital Economy’ Report

Context:

Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has released a comprehensive report titled ‘Estimation and Measurement of India’s Digital Economy.’

More on the News

This report is an attempt to compile the first set of credible, comprehensible, and current estimates of India’s digital economy based on an internationally accepted framework. 

The estimates, in the report, are conservative due to the unavailability of data on 

(i) Smaller digital platforms, 

(ii) Digitalization of the informal sector and 

(iii) Digitalization of other traditional sectors such as health and logistics which are not included under new digital businesses.

With the estimates produced in this report, India will be among a handful of countries, and the first among developing countries, to have used the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) framework to produce the most up-to-date estimate for the size of its digital economy. 

The report also provides alternate estimates using the input-output approach advocated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). 

The report goes beyond the OECD approach to also include the digital share of traditional industries like trade, banking, financial services, insurance (BFSI) and education.

Key Highlights of the report: 

India's digital economy was 11.74% of the national income in 2022-23, equating to INR 31.64 lakh crore (USD 402 billion) in GDP.

The Report further projects that India’s digital economy will grow at nearly twice the rate of the overall economy, contributing almost 20% of the national income by 2029-2030. 

The digital-enabling industry (including ICT services, telecommunications, and electronics manufacturing) is the highest contributor by making up 7.83% of Gross Value Added (GVA).m

New digital industries, such as Big Tech and digital platforms, contribute nearly 2% of National GVA.

Digital contributions from traditional sectors like Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI), trade, and education (not covered by OECD but included in the estimates) account for 2% of National GVA.

• This shows that India’s digital economy is expanding beyond ICT industries into all sectors of the economy.

In 2022-23, the digital economy employed 14.67 million workers or 2.55% of India’s workforce.