Finance Commission recommendations concluded and signed, to be submitted, presented and tabled with accompanying government response.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission finalized and signed a Report containing recommendations for 2021-22 to 2025-26, to be submitted to the President, presented to the Prime Minister, and tabled in Parliament by the Union Finance Minister along with a Government Action Taken Report. The Commission was constituted under Article 280 read with the Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951, and prepared the Report following wide-ranging consultations with Union and State governments, local governments, former commission members, experts, advisory bodies, academic institutions and multilateral organisations.

Faceless Assessment implements anonymised, technology led customs assessment with five hour processing targets and national assessment centres.
Faceless Assessment routes electronically filed Bills of Entry to designated Faceless Assessment Groups and National Assessment Centres to perform anonymised, nationally coordinated customs assessments aimed at reducing physical interface, increasing uniformity and specialisation, and achieving a five hour assessment target. Institutional roles allocate assessment to FAGs, local documentary and physical functions to Port Assessment Groups and Turant Suvidha Kendras, and preserve procedural safeguards for re assessment, speaking orders and provisional assessments. Key enablers include ICEGATE/ICES e filing, SWIFT single window, e SANCHIT, ICETRAK, e OOC/e Gatepass, automated queuing and dashboards for performance monitoring and grievance management.

Third-party food safety audits authorized: accreditation enables NPC to conduct independent audits and warehouse inspections nationwide.
NPC has been accredited by the national accreditation board to perform inspections and audits in food safety audit and scientific storage of agricultural products, following establishment of an Inspection Division. The accreditation authorises NPC to act as an independent third-party auditor of food business operators, including storage warehouses, under the food safety auditing regulatory framework and to conduct warehouse inspections under the applicable warehousing rules.

Finance Commission mandate: final report process continues, drawing on predecessor insights despite pandemic fiscal challenges.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission, operating under its mandate to produce a final report for the 2021-26 award period, remains on course to meet the prescribed deadline and held a virtual consultation with former Finance Commission Chairmen to draw on prior frameworks and institutional insights amid the fiscal challenges posed by the Covid 19 pandemic.

Multilateral trading system protections urged to support trade recovery and cooperation among SCO members post pandemic.
India hosted the 19th SCO meeting of ministers for foreign economy and trade stressing enhanced intra regional trade and investment for post pandemic recovery. Four instruments were adopted: a Covid 19 response Statement on cooperation for access to medicines and trade facilitation; a Statement supporting a rules based Multilateral Trading System; a Statement on Intellectual Property Rights cooperation including legislative and enforcement information sharing; and an Action Plan to implement an MOU to stimulate MSME cooperation via information exchange, events, research and capacity building.

Depository receipts listing permitted in GIFT IFSC, allowing issuance and secondary trading subject to prescribed disclosure and home-jurisdiction compliance
IFSCA permits listing of Depository Receipts on GIFT IFSC exchanges by companies listed in FATF compliant jurisdictions, enabling capital raising through issuance and allowing DRs already listed elsewhere to be traded in GIFT IFSC without fresh public offerings. The framework prescribes essential disclosure requirements-financial statements, material or price-sensitive information, shareholding pattern, change of depository and corporate actions-while requiring continued compliance with home-jurisdiction corporate governance and disclosure obligations and mandating publication of home-jurisdiction disclosures to GIFT IFSC exchanges.

Form 27 compliance eased: single or joint filings, agent submissions, extended filing period, and streamlined priority translations.
Amendments permit a single Form 27 for one or multiple related patents, joint Form 27 filings by co owners, authorized agents to file on behalf of patentees, disclosure of approximate revenue/value accrued, extended filing time after the financial year, and no requirement for filings covering partial financial years; the Controller retains information seeking powers. Rule 21 amendments waive submission of priority documents available in the WIPO digital library but require verified English translations when priority validity is material to patentability.

Equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines urged through a TRIPS waiver to improve global medical supply availability.
India urges multilateral action to secure timely and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and medicines, supporting the TRIPS waiver proposed by India and South Africa to assist countries with limited manufacturing capacity and seeking a decision by MC12. The intervention prioritises a permanent solution on Public Stockholding for food security at MC12, a multilateral initiative for easier cross-border movement of health care professionals under mode 4, and fisheries subsidy negotiations that address industrial overfishing, apply the Polluter Pays principle, and preserve Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries.

Bullion exchange regulation creates a single regulated framework for bullion spot and derivative trading, enabling an integrated trading ecosystem.
The Authority approved regulations establishing a regulated Bullion Exchange ecosystem-covering functions, obligations, ownership and governance of the exchange and clearing corporation, rights and obligations of depositories, participants and beneficial owners, and registration of vault managers-to enable transparency, traceability and standardisation of bullion contracts and market intermediaries.

Startup ecosystem resilience and international collaboration driving innovation, scaling, and inclusive entrepreneurship during pandemic.
India's startup ecosystem has responded to the pandemic with agile digital solutions and expanded EdTech access; government measures - national awards, incubators, investor engagement, capital mobilisation and corporate partnerships - are framed as supporting innovation, scaling and monetisation. The SCO Startup Forum is presented as an international platform to share best practices, deepen cross border collaboration and broaden market exposure, with explicit emphasis on promoting women entrepreneurs.

Circular economy hackathon invites students and startups to develop cross border technology solutions and post event development support.
Launch of India-Australia Circular Economy Hackathon (I-ACE) by AIM and CSIRO to develop technology solutions across four themes-packaging waste, food supply chain waste, plastic waste reduction, and recycling energy metals and e waste-inviting shortlisted students, startups and MSMEs from both countries, selecting two winners per theme (one student and one startup/MSME) from each country, providing post hackathon development opportunities and awards, and emphasizing cross border research and scalable frugal innovation.

Income tax ITR AY 2020 21 instructions: eligibility, e filing/verification, schedules, deductions and validation rules.
Instructions for AY 2020 21 ITR forms define user eligibility and exclusions, mandate e filing and specified verification modes, require annexure less submission, and set precise, schedule level reporting rules for salary, house property, other sources, capital gains, exemptions and Chapter VI A deductions. They itemise deduction ceilings and special windows for certain investments, require completion of detailed schedules (80G, 80D, CG, VIA, DI, TDS/TCS/IT, AMT, PTI, CFL etc.), and impose exhaustive cross check and Category A validation rules to ensure internal consistency and statutory compliance.

Memorandum of Understanding for capacity building in accounting between ICAI and CPA PNG to strengthen professional standards.
Approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Certified Practising Accountants Papua New Guinea to strengthen accounting, financial and audit capacity in PNG by holding technical events, cooperating on corporate governance, quality assurance, forensic accounting and CPD, sharing professional information and examination modules, instituting student and faculty exchanges, and offering short-term professional courses.

Cross-border listing of REITs and InvITs permitted, enabling listing and private placements on GIFT IFSC subject to home-law compliance.
IFSCA permits REITs and InvITs incorporated in FATF compliant jurisdictions to list on GIFT IFSC stock exchanges, allows InvITs to raise funds via private placements, and authorises IFSC registered trusts to invest in assets within IFSC, India and other foreign jurisdictions. Entities already listed in permissible jurisdictions or India may also list and trade on IFSC exchanges, subject to compliance with their home jurisdiction laws and IFSC exchange listing requirements.

Productivity linked bonus approval for non gazetted central employees enables immediate disbursement tied to prior-year performance.
Cabinet approval authorises payment of the Productivity Linked Bonus (PLB) and an ad-hoc (non-PLB) bonus for 2019-2020 to specified categories of non-gazetted central government employees, identifies beneficiary pools across departments, specifies aggregate beneficiary counts and overall budgetary implications, links payments to preceding-year performance, and directs immediate disbursement timed before major festival seasons.

Foreign Direct Investment liberalization increases inflows by simplifying entry conditions and enhancing investor facilitation measures.
Government policy measures prioritize Foreign Direct Investment liberalization, investor facilitation, and simplification of sectoral entry conditions to encourage non debt capital inflows. The summary links these reforms and ease of doing business initiatives to reported increases in aggregate and equity FDI volumes over recent comparative periods, treating monetary trends as indicators of the regulatory effect without creating new statutory obligations.

Kisan Credit Card expansion boosts concessional farm credit access and extends interest subvention to allied agricultural sectors.
Expansion of the Kisan Credit Card scheme via a saturation drive broadens access to concessional short-term agricultural credit for farmers, including fisheries and dairy, by increasing sanctioned credit limits and extending eligibility to animal husbandry and fisheries. The scheme's financial mechanism combines an interest subvention with a prompt repayment incentive to lower the effective cost of working capital, and raises the ceiling for collateral-free agricultural lending, thereby modifying borrower qualification parameters and credit delivery norms.

Pension regulator AUM milestone: NPS and APY assets cross landmark, driven by subscriber growth recently during pandemic
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority reports that AUM through the National Pension System and Atal Pension Yojana has exceeded the five trillion threshold, driven by substantial subscriber and corporate enrolments and growth in government and non government employee participation, while the regulator has implemented multiple digital and KYC based onboarding and lifecycle service measures including OTP/eSign, Offline Aadhaar onboarding, third party onboarding after KYC, e nomination and e exit to streamline access and administration.

Demerger and strategic disinvestment approved to separate operations and enable sale of government stake to a strategic buyer.
Cabinet granted in-principle approval for the demerger of Nagarnar Steel Plant from NMDC and for strategic disinvestment of the demerged company by selling the Government's entire stake to a strategic buyer. The demerger precedes and runs in parallel with the disinvestment, aiming to allow NMDC to focus on mining, create separate management accountability and clearer financial visibility, and enable existing NMDC shareholders to hold proportional shares in the demerged entity; the transaction is described as tax neutral for capital gains.

Acquisition of control: approval for majority share purchase in CG Power by Tube Investments enabling change in corporate control.
Approval concerns Tube Investments acquiring more than fifty percent of CG Power's equity, effecting a change of control that combines TIIL's engineering and industrial business verticals with CG Power's power systems and industrial systems operations, and the Commission's detailed order will follow.