Electoral trust approval process standardized: applicants must file Form A with checklist and mandated compliance documents.
Applicants seeking approval as an Electoral Trust must file Form A in duplicate with a duly filled and signed checklist and supporting documents to the jurisdictional CIT/DIT and send a copy of the checklist to Member(IT), CBDT by the prescribed date. The checklist requires organizational details, PAN verification, confirmation of registration as a Section 25 company with the words 'electoral trust' in its name, an affidavit that the sole object is distribution to eligible political parties, and submission of registration certificate, memorandum and articles, member details, source of initial capital, accounts for relevant years, and undertakings to comply with sub-rules (2) to (15) of Rule 17CA including record-keeping, audit, receipt issuance, contribution restrictions, distribution rules, and intimation of shareholder changes within thirty days.

Disclosure of political contributions: companies must report transfers to electoral trusts or make statutory disclosures for direct donations.
Companies that remit amounts to an Electoral Trust Company need only disclose in their accounts the amount released to the Electoral Trust Company and are not required to make the disclosures under section 182(3). Companies contributing directly to political parties must make disclosures as specified in section 192(3) of the Companies Act, 2013. Electoral Trust Companies must disclose amounts received from other companies/sources and the amounts they contribute to political parties as required by section 182(3).

Risk Management System enables self-assessed import clearances with selection for targeted assessment and post-clearance audit.
Activation of the Risk Management System at Adani Hazira Port implements an ICES/ICEGATE driven process where electronically filed Bills of Entry are risk evaluated: compliant self assessed B/Es may be cleared Out of Charge after duty payment without officer assessment or examination, while selected B/Es are routed for assessment and/or examination on risk criteria, random sampling or specific intelligence. The system replaces concurrent audit with targeted assessment and a Post Clearance Audit function; ACP importers receive facilitation but remain subject to CCRs, random checks and PCA selection.

Temporary entry passes for shipping line and CFS staff require documented application, countersignature, renewal and surrender obligations enforced.
Issuance of temporary entry passes requires application to the Deputy Commissioner (Preventive General) with employer ID copy, three photographs, and a countersignature from MANSA leadership for shipping agents or an Authorized Signatory for CFSs; CFS applicants must also provide residential address proof. Passes are issued by the CHS Section for a limited term, renewable before expiry upon submission of the prior pass. Employer associations and CFS management must inform Customs and ensure surrender of passes upon employee expulsion or termination, and applications per employer are limited.

Confidentiality in anti dumping investigations: dual submissions and good cause justification, with agency discretion on disclosure and hearings.
Parties in anti dumping investigations must submit confidential information in two versions: a Confidential set and a Non Confidential Version (NCV) replicating the confidential filing with confidential portions indexed, blanked or summarized. Claims of confidentiality require a good cause statement demonstrating disadvantage from disclosure consistent with the Anti Dumping Agreement criteria. The authority will assess claims case by case, may reject unwarranted confidentiality and disregard un authorized information, and requires advance NCV submission for public hearings; annual accounts are generally non confidential absent detailed justification.

Special audit fees under Section 58A set by turnover slabs; conveyance capped and TA/DA not payable, billing procedure mandated.
Fees for CA/CA firms conducting special audits under Section 58A of the DVAT Act are set by turnover slabs, with service tax additionally payable. Local conveyance is reimbursed when the auditor's Delhi office is more than eight kilometres from the auditee, capped at ten percent of the audit fee. TA/DA is not payable for visits outside Delhi. Auditors must submit bills to the Zonal Additional/Joint Commissioner for verification and onward submission to the Additional Commissioner, Special Audit.

Work distribution for foreign tax assigns policy, DTAA, exchange of information, APAs and OECD coordination across two joint secretaries.
The CBDT revised the FT&TR Division work distribution assigning JS (FT&TR I) responsibility for international taxation policy, transfer pricing, APAs, DTAA and exchange of information matters for North America and Europe, FATCA and automatic exchange issues, BEPS/OECD coordination, unilateral APAs, MAPs and specified Income tax Act subjects; and assigning JS (FT&TR II) responsibility for corresponding policy inputs and DTAA, AEI, MAPs, bilateral APAs, multilateral liaison, capacity building, foreign training, dispute resolution and other specified Income tax Act subjects for Asia, Australia/Pacific, Africa and South America, plus FIPB and other assigned foreign tax matters.

Line of Credit terms require majority sourcing from India and set LC/disbursement timelines with FEMA compliance.
Exim Bank extended a Line of Credit to the Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic to finance eligible goods, services, machinery and consultancy from India for storage dam and irrigation projects, requiring at least 75 percent of contract value to be supplied from India and allowing up to 25 percent procured externally. The agreement sets LC/disbursement timeframes for project and supply contracts, mandates GR/SDF declaration of shipments, disallows agency commission under the LOC while permitting exporter-paid commission from own resources or EEFC after realisation subject to AD Category I compliance, and is issued under provisions of FEMA.

Gold import authorisation: sequencing relaxed for earlier permits; SEZ/EOU and trading houses may import for export only.
Authorisations for gold imports must be utilised solely for export purposes and diversion to domestic use is prohibited; sequencing of imports before exports will not be insisted upon for authorisations issued prior to the earlier circular. Entities in SEZs and EOUs and recognised trading houses are permitted to import gold exclusively for exports, and exports fulfilling AA/DFIA obligations do not qualify for the 20:80 scheme.

Export compliance for finished leather: samples, provisional bonds and laboratory testing determine duty and shipment finalisation.
Customs at the Air Cargo Complex will draw representative samples of consignments declared as finished leather, provisionally assess shipping bills, require exporters to execute a provisional bond and pay testing charges, forward samples to a notified testing laboratory with triplicate test memos and maintain a sample register; on receipt of the laboratory report Customs will finalize the shipping bill and close the bond if confirmed as finished leather, otherwise export duty will be applied and further action taken.

Agri-Infrastructure Incentive Scrip compliance required; deficient applications risk summary rejection unless promptly rectified by deadline.
Requirement to rectify deficiencies in applications for the Agri-Infrastructure Incentive Scrip under the Foreign Trade Policy is reiterated for the specified half year. Exporters notified of deficiencies must cure the defects within the prescribed rectification window; failure to do so will result in summary rejection of the application and cessation of further correspondence.

Risk Management System requirements: exporters must complete shipping bill fields accurately or consignments may be selected for examination.
The Risk Management System requires exporters and Custom House Agents to furnish complete, field specific information in shipping bills-including factory stuffing and seal type and claims under reward schemes-at the submission stage. Omissions or entry of such particulars in inappropriate fields can result in consignments being selected for examination despite prior Central Excise inspection; exporters and CHAs are therefore directed to provide full details in the designated declaration fields to avoid processing delays and amendments.

WCO Certificate of Merit nominations sought for customs and private sector contributors, with justification and vigilance clearance required.
Nominations are requested for the WCO Certificate of Merit for Customs officers and private sector representatives, to be accompanied by a justification/proposal and, for customs officers, a vigilance clearance certificate; submissions must be emailed to the Joint Secretary (Customs), CBEC, by the prescribed deadline for Board consideration.

Cash settled 10 year interest rate futures launched with two underlying designs, defined settlement mechanics, position limits and margin rules.
Introduction of cash settled Interest Rate Futures on the 10 year Government of India security with two underlying designs (single coupon bond or notional basket based bond), mandatory disclosure of selection and weighting criteria, submission of contract specifications and risk management frameworks to SEBI, pilot launch, specified contract size (2000 bonds), trading hours, serial monthly tenors up to three months, daily and final settlement methodologies with NDS OM and FIMMDA fallbacks, expiry rules, cash settlement in INR, prescribed position limits at client, trading member and exchange levels, price band rules with limited expansions, and margining based on 99% one day VaR plus additional margins.

Gross direct tax collection growth reported, with corporate and personal income tax increases driving higher net revenue.
Gross direct tax collection increased during April-November of the fiscal year, with corporate tax collections rising and personal income tax collections growing by a larger proportion; net direct tax receipts also improved. The release additionally notes modest growth in Securities Transaction Tax receipts and a higher growth rate in Wealth Tax receipts, presented by the Central Board of Direct Taxes as interim revenue performance for the period.

Standardized Rights and Obligations document mandated to replace BO-DP agreements, harmonizing demat account opening and requiring client acknowledgement.
A mandatory common Rights and Obligations document replaces existing Beneficial Owner Depository Participant agreements, must be provided to beneficial owners with acknowledgement, and any conflicting clause in voluntary or existing documents that dilutes DP responsibility or conflicts with governing rules and regulations is void; depositories must notify DPs, implement the change for new clients within the prescribed timeframe, amend bye laws and report implementation.

Unlisted company overseas capital raising allowed with conditional two-year exemption from domestic listing, subject to jurisdiction and disclosure rules.
Unlisted companies may raise capital abroad without prior or subsequent domestic listing for an initial two year period subject to conditions: listing only on exchanges in IOSCO/FATF compliant jurisdictions or those with SEBI agreements; filing returns to SEBI for PMLA and complying with SEBI disclosure requirements; adherence to the FDI policy; use of proceeds for retiring overseas debt or operations abroad including acquisitions; and if not so utilised, remittance to India within 15 days with funds parked only in RBI recognized AD category banks.

Updated illustrative format for Statement of Assets and Liabilities required in offer documents effective for filings after the circular date.
SEBI prescribes an illustrative format for the Statement of Assets and Liabilities in offer documents, updating the Schedule VI presentation to align with the revised Schedule VI and Schedule III formats. Annexure A provides a multi year tabular disclosure of Shareholders' Funds, Non Current Liabilities, Current Liabilities, Non Current Assets and Current Assets with specified subitems and totals. The revised format is applicable to all draft and final offer documents filed with the Board on or after the circular date; the circular will be rescinded upon formal amendment of the SEBI (ICDR) Regulations.

Valuation of consumed excisable goods set above cost; related party and inter connected sales attract prescribed transaction value rules.
Rule 8 now prescribes that excisable goods consumed by the assessee in production or manufacture are valued at a fixed mark up over cost of production or manufacture. Rules 9 and 10 are rephrased so that where whole or part of excisable goods are sold to or through specified related persons or inter connected undertakings, such goods are valued as the normal transaction value or determined by the methods set out in the Rules.

External Commercial Borrowings for infrastructure projects allowed for holding companies and CICs to fund SPVs under conditions.
Holding companies and Core Investment Companies regulated by the Reserve Bank may raise External Commercial Borrowings for project use in SPVs in the infrastructure sector, provided the SPV is dedicated to the project, proceeds fund fresh capex or approved refinancing, and are used within three years of the SPV's Commercial Operations Date. Proceeds must be held in a separate escrow account and monitored by AD Category I banks, with an undertaking from the SPV against alternate funding for that capex. CICs must keep outside liabilities, including ECB, within 2.5 times adjusted net worth and, if below the asset threshold, raise ECB on a fully hedged basis.