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In a major step aimed at easing taxpayer grievances, CBDT on Friday announced that assessees filing I-T returns online will no longer have to send the paper acknowledgement by post as a new Aadhaar-based electronic verification code has been launched to authenticate this document. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the apex policy making body of the I-T department, has introduced a new column in the ITRs for 2015-16 where an e-filer can provide his Aadhaar number which will have to be authenticated on the official website of the department via a One Time Password (OTP). “A new EVC, ie. Electronic Verification Code, has been included as the new mode to verify e-returns. The facility will soon be hosted on the website of the e-filing link of the department. The taxpayers no longer need to send the ITR-V paper document to the CPC in Bengaluru, thus ending the cumbersome process which was robbing the e-filing of its ease and fun,” a senior I-T officer told PTI. The procees, as e

Urban air pollution, especially in Delhi, has reached alarming levels and raised severe health concerns among residents. It arises from a combination of prosperity, poverty and policy failures. Poverty-related pollution comes from biomass burning. Some of it is already reducing due to the spread of LPG, as far as cooking fuels are concerned. However, garbage burning is prevalent when solid waste management is poor and composting of garden and tree waste is not enforced. The transport sector is a major source of urban air pollution, particularly in Delhi, where the number of vehicles has multiplied several fold over the last two decades. The drop in pollution levels that we saw in the early years of the millennium due to the shift to CNG shows the importance of vehicle emissions in Delhi’s air pollution. This gain has been wiped out due to the subsequent phenomenal increase in vehicle population. Clearly, another technology infusion that can lead to a severe drop in pollution is desper