Independent oversight committee for product design mandates supervision of new and modified commodity contracts and reporting to exchange management.
Mandates an Independent Oversight Committee for Product Design to oversee new and modified commodity products and the ongoing review of approved contracts; to examine SEBI inspection observations on product design; and to assess adequacy of resources devoted to product design. Heads of departments handling these matters must report to the committee and the Managing Director, and may appeal exchange action to the committee within a period set by the governing board. Exchanges must amend bye-laws, inform members and publish the provisions, effective within thirty days.

Minimum Export Price applied to onion exports, permitted only on Letter of Credit, effective immediately until notified otherwise.
Export of onions under the specified ITC (HS) entries is permitted only on Letter of Credit (LC) and is subject to a Minimum Export Price (MEP) of US$ 700 F.O.B. per metric ton, effective immediately and valid until 20.02.2018; treating this public notice as a standing order for officers and staff and providing contact points for difficulties.

GST practitioner enrolment now uses Karnataka's online backend with staged document and field verification, then DSC approval.
Karnataka has implemented a Model-1 online back-end for enrolment of Goods and Services Tax Practitioners whereby applicants file FORM GST PCT-01 on the common portal, applications are received via API to the state NIC portal, and the Additional Commissioner (Revision & Recovery) acts as the Authorised Officer to issue enrolment certificates (FORM GST PCT-02). The workflow mandates JCCT-DGSTO document verification, optional ACCT-LGSTO/CTO-SGSTO field verification of professional address, consolidated recommendations to the Authorised Officer, DSC-based online approval or rejection, and system notifications with login credentials upon approval.

Online filing requirement mandates uploading offer documents and scheme/takeover/buyback filings to the SEBI intermediary portal.
Mandatory online filing requires draft offer documents, draft letters of offer, draft schemes of arrangement and filings for takeovers and buy backs to be uploaded to the SEBI Intermediary Portal; merchant bankers and recognized stock exchanges must simultaneously file physical and online copies during the transition and thereafter migrate to online only submissions, with portal access, user manual and helpline provided.

Electronic sealing requirement for container self sealing: mandatory for specified exporters, voluntary where readers exist.
Implementation of electronic sealing for container self sealing moves from voluntary adoption to phased mandatory use where Customs reader infrastructure is available. Entitled exporters with RFID e seals may opt in immediately; earlier mandatory compliance applies to exporters previously permitted self sealing, accredited economic operators, and those using supervised stuffing at specified locations. Exporters using officer supervision may continue until e sealing becomes mandatory at their port or ICD. Trade bodies are asked to inform members and consult the full circulars for operational details.

Manual GST refund filing for inverted duty, deemed exports and cash ledger balances permitted with procedural safeguards.
Manual processing of refund claims is authorised for inverted duty structure, deemed exports and excess electronic cash ledger balances while the portal refund module is unavailable. Claims must be filed in FORM GST RFD-01A (monthly, or quarterly for registrants filing GSTR-1 quarterly), only after furnishing the corresponding GSTR-1 details and filing GSTR-3B for the preceding period. Provisional refunds may be sanctioned on submission of a manual undertaking to repay any incorrectly sanctioned amount with interest. Specific statements of RFD-01A apply and refund orders must be communicated to the counterpart authority within seven working days.

Provisional Assessment special drive to finalize pending cases; submit required documents to task force and valuation branch
A special drive directs prompt finalization of provisional assessment of export Bills of Entry pending in DEEC (Group-7D), requiring importers, exporters and customs brokers to submit outstanding documents (including SVB orders and pending approvals) to the AC/CRC-II Section for entry in the Customs EDI system. A Special Task Force at DEEC is designated to receive submissions for non-SVB cases, monthly joint meetings with SVB will address SVB-related matters, and an awareness program and escalation channel to senior commissionerate officers are provided to facilitate disposal.

Customs jurisdiction redefined for Kerala: ports, airports and preventive divisions reassigned under preventive commissioner control.
Corrigendum reallocates customs jurisdiction within the Thiruvananthapuram zone by assigning specified airports, minor ports (including proposed Vizhinjam), ICDs and air cargo complexes to the administrative control of the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Cochin. It amends operational functions such as Self Sealing/Factory Stuffing, acceptance of undertakings/bonds and issuance of Procurement Certificates, and redefines the territorial composition and GST-range based boundaries of multiple Customs Preventive Divisions and CPUs, including insertion of new units and detailed coastal and marine jurisdiction delineations.

SION amendment updates input description to Styrene Monomer for specified entries while preserving input quantities.
Amendment to Standard Input Output Norms (SION) revises the description of the input at Sl. No. 2 in SION entries A1495, A1496 and A1497 to read "Styrene/Styrene Monomer" without any change in the prescribed quantities, issued under Paragraph 1.03 of the Foreign Trade Policy as a public regulatory update.

Out of scope non-food HS codes: revised list issued and items need not be referred to the food safety regulator for clearance.
Designation of specified HS codes for non-food items as out of scope of the food safety regulator is notified, with a revised Annexure listing affected HS codes and product descriptions; FSSAI has advised that those items should not be referred to it for clearance and the directions are to be implemented as a standing order for customs officers and staff.

Customs Punch Seal allowed for ISO tank container movements to warehouses subject to photographic verification and email reporting.
Customs permit use of Customs Punch Seal for ISO tank containers that cannot accept standard one-time-locks when moved from Customs stations to bonded warehouses. Warehouse custodians must photograph the punch seal and container number with a date-time stamp to verify integrity and email the image to the Bond Section for verification and record-keeping. The practice is temporary and will be replaced when suitable bottle seals for ISO tanks become available; operational issues must be reported to the designated Deputy/Assistant Commissioners.

Export container self-sealing allows approved exporters to use RFID e-seals after prescribed approval and documentation.
Customs Commissionerate, Noida assumes customs functions transferred from Central Excise/GST, establishing ten Export Promotion Circles. A self-sealing regime allows exporters, subject to GST registration and prescribed documentation, to obtain approval for stuffing and affixing tamper-evident RFID electronic seals at approved premises. Jurisdictional officers inspect premises and recommend to the Principal Commissioner, who grants permissions valid across applied stations; sealed containers remain subject to risk-based examination and tampering triggers mandatory inspection and alternative sealing procedures.

Strategic investor participation in InvITs and REITs requires binding subscription agreements, escrowed payment, disclosure and temporary lock-in.
Strategic investors may subscribe to InvIT and REIT public issues for not less than 5% and not more than 25% of the offer, under a binding unit subscription agreement specifying subscription price which must be deposited in a special escrow account before opening the public issue. The strategic investor price shall not be less than the public issue price; if the public price is higher the investor must pay the difference within two working days, while no refund is provided if the public price is lower and allotment occurs at the agreed subscription price. The unit subscription agreement is disclosable in the offer document and units allotted to strategic investors are locked-in for 180 days from listing.

Customs Area declaration approving custodian and customs cargo service provider status for a Container Freight Station under customs supervision.
The premises of M/s. Prompt Terminals (P) Ltd., Tuticorin CFS at Survey No. 24/3 are declared a Customs Area for unloading, de-stuffing and Customs examination of FCL imports and for Customs examination, stuffing/loading and sealing of export cargo under Customs supervision. M/s. Prompt Terminals is approved as Custodian under Section 45(1) and as Customs Cargo Service Provider under Regulation 10 HCCAR 2009 to receive, store, deliver, dispatch and handle imported and export goods in the declared area, subject to specified procedural circulars and notices.

Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) authorization for AECC&I; agency added to FTP appendices as issuing authority.
The Director General of Foreign Trade, exercising powers under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020, authorises M/s Asian Exporters' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AECC&I) to issue Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential) and adds the agency to Appendix 2E (List of Agencies Authorized to issue Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential)) at Serial No.32 (Maharashtra), thereby enlisting AECC&I as a recognised issuing authority under the FTP 2015-2020.

Certificate of Origin authorization updated by administrative change to an issuing agency's registered office address.
Amendment updates the registered office location of the India Industries Association in the List of Agencies Authorized to issue Certificate of Origin (Non-Preferential), made under paragraph 2.04 of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020; the Director General of Foreign Trade records the new address and confirms that the Public Notice notifies this administrative change for the IIA as an authorized issuing agency.

GST treatment of catering services: exempt if provided by eligible educational institutions; third-party supplies taxable if input credit not taken.
If catering services are provided by an educational institution that meets the notification definition for educational establishments, such catering is exempt from GST. If the supply of food or drink in a mess or canteen is provided to the educational institution by a third party, that supply is treated as a taxable service to the institution at the reduced rate, provided the institution has not taken input tax credit on goods and services used in supplying the service.

25th GST Council decisions: provisional IGST settlement, invoice level return transition review, e Way Bill rollout and law amendment directives.
The Council approved provisional settlement of Rs. 35,000 crore from accumulated IGST to be split equally between Centre and States (States' share distributed pro rata on 2015 16 collections); ratified listed notifications, circulars and orders; directed staged transition toward an invoice upload/acceptance return model with the Nilekani proposal to be examined by the Group of Ministers; kept composition threshold at Rs. 1.5 crore in law; notified national e Way Bill portal rollout with a February 2018 trial and informal waiver of intra State penalties for that month; authorised Section 172 removal of difficulty orders limiting transitional credit and excluded unspecified cesses from transition.

Discontinuation of EP copy of shipping bill: exporter copy signed by customs accepted for specific ANF applications.
Routine printing of the EP copy of the Shipping Bill will be discontinued; for shipments from EDI ports no hard copy is required for export obligation discharge and the Exporter Copy of the Shipping Bill, duly signed by Customs, may be submitted in lieu of the EP copy for specified ANF applications.

Authority for Advance Ruling constituted under West Bengal GST, deemed central AAR and office established in Kolkata.
An Authority for Advance Ruling has been constituted under the West Bengal GST framework and is deemed to be the Authority for Advance Ruling under the Central GST; the State government has established its office at 14 Beliaghata Road, Kolkata, functioning from the fourth floor of Annex Building III, as notified and communicated by the Commissioner, State Tax, West Bengal.