Supplemental visa fee increase prompts trade dispute, with claims challenging visa fees and numerical limits.
The statute increases supplemental fees for L-1 and H-1B visas for companies meeting a specified employee-mix threshold, raising per-visa levies and affecting firms with visa-dependent workforces. The affected country pursued consultations under the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism challenging the measures as to visa fees and numerical allocation of H-1B visas, while the United States contends the law applies uniformly to all companies irrespective of origin.

Undisclosed income declarants face 30% tax, 33% cess, 10% penalty and 25% deposit under PMGKY.
The Bill substitutes section 115BBE to tax income falling under sections 68-69D at a high rate with remaining tax computed on reduced total income; strengthens search-related penalty section 271AAB by adding 30% and 60% penalty bands depending on admission and compliance; inserts section 271AAC imposing a 10% penalty on tax computed under clause (i) of section 115BBE for determined unexplained incomes (with limited exceptions); and establishes PMGKY allowing voluntary declarations with 30% tax, 33% cess, 10% penalty and a 25% deposit into a non interest deposit scheme, subject to exclusions and procedural conditions.

Social welfare system focus: enhanced education and healthcare provisions to strengthen services for children, women and seniors.
The Government proposes an extensive social welfare system prioritising improved education and strengthened healthcare for children, women and senior citizens, with rising resource allocations prompting calls for policy reforms and timely implementation. Stakeholders urged increased budgetary allocations for education and health, filling vacancies of doctors, nurses and teachers, strengthening DIETs and school sanitation, focused healthcare for vulnerable workers, monitoring mechanisms for scheme implementation, and higher taxation on tobacco for public health.

Telecommunication sector achievement report highlights Make in India progress and sectoral regulatory and policy milestones.
Telecommunication sector achievement report under the Make in India initiative is a government press release summarising sectoral progress, capacity-building, infrastructure expansion, and regulatory developments aimed at promoting manufacturing and services investment in telecommunications and recording implementation milestones and policy measures taken to support the initiative.

Make in India automotive sector achievement report released, outlining sectoral initiatives, policy achievements and future objectives.
Release of the Make in India Automotive Sector Achievement Report by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry announces government-assessed progress, policy measures, and sectoral initiatives aimed at promoting investment, manufacturing capacity, and technology adoption in the automotive industry.

Industrial policy update: Make in India textile and apparel achievement report outlines sectoral promotional and regulatory measures.
Announcement of a sectoral achievement report detailing implementation, performance and promotional measures under the Make in India initiative for the Textile & Apparel sector, communicating governmental monitoring of sectoral objectives and summarizing policy driven interventions to boost manufacturing, exports and competitiveness.

Trade Facilitation in Services proposal seeks to ease cross-border services trade while preserving developing countries' policy space.
Trade facilitation in services is proposed as a WTO initiative to remove barriers and operationalise measures that facilitate cross-border services trade. The initiative foregrounds the development dimension, seeks to preserve policy space for developing countries, and prioritises implementation of Bali and Nairobi Ministerial Decisions. India circulated a Concept Note and a subsequent detailed communication outlining the rationale and possible constituent elements of a Trade Facilitation in Services Agreement, aiming to create a services counterpart to the goods Trade Facilitation Agreement and to identify negotiable elements for future ministerial outcomes.

Insolvency professional registration and exam framework established; entity recognition allowed with joint and several liability.
The regulations set a framework for registration, regulation and oversight of insolvency professionals, prescribing eligibility through Limited or National Insolvency Examinations, transitional registration without exam for experienced designated professionals with limited validity, and Board publication of exam syllabus and criteria. They allow recognition of insolvency professional entities where a majority of partners or whole time directors are registered professionals and permit use of entity resources subject to joint and several liability for acts or omissions.

Digital transformation enables cashless transactions and online booking at public trade fairs, expanding ticketing and exhibitor services.
The fair implemented a digital transformation by introducing an online space-booking system with payment gateway integration, expanding online ticketing to all event days, and deploying a mobile application providing exhibitor contacts, floor plans, product search and navigation. Cashless infrastructure was established through bank-supplied point-of-sale terminals and digital wallet partnerships to enable electronic payments and support small enterprises and exhibitors.

International maritime cooperation advances port development and shipbuilding collaboration through government MOUs and technical licences.
A series of Memoranda of Understanding and agreements establish frameworks for port development, utilization and management, maritime transport cooperation, and shipbuilding collaboration; Cochin Shipyard Limited concurrently entered into technical collaborations, service agreements and licensing arrangements with foreign firms to obtain designs, construction partnerships, technical services and patented technology for specialized vessels, thereby enabling technology transfer and capability-building in the domestic maritime sector.

Administration of Copyright Act transfer prompts amendment to Board terms and initiates appointments process.
Administration of the Copyright Act was transferred to the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion and the department amended sub rule (1) of rule 3 of the Copyright Rules to revise the terms and conditions of office for the Chairman and Members of the Copyright Board; procedural steps for appointing a Chairman and advertising vacancies for two Members have been taken, with the Board's establishment projected in the next financial year.

Central financial non-assistance policy: industry support limited to scheme-based incentives processed by ministries, states decide locations.
The Central Government generally does not provide direct financial assistance for setting up industries; instead, financial and non-financial incentives are available only under defined Sectoral and Spatial Plan Schemes administered by Ministries (including special packages for difficult areas, NEIIPP, transport/freight subsidies, IIUS/MIIUS, and ILDP). Project proposals are received and processed by the concerned Ministries under scheme parameters, and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion does not centrally maintain production details of specific industrial establishments.

Special and differential treatment urged in WTO talks; India presses subsidy, public stockholding and safeguard implementation.
India seeks enhanced protections for developing countries in WTO talks, pressing for special & differential treatment and prioritized implementation of Ministerial decisions on fisheries subsidies, public stockholding for food security, and an agricultural special safeguard mechanism while coordinating with developing-country coalitions. India has also defended its domestic safeguard investigations into aluminium and steel as consistent with the WTO safeguard mechanism.

BRICS trade promotion: inaugural Trade Fair facilitated cross-border business engagements and B2B partnerships among member nations.
The inaugural BRICS Trade Fair in New Delhi, organised under India's BRICS Presidency, served as an interactive business engagement to promote trade and investment among BRICS nations by showcasing technologies, goods and services, facilitating B2B meetings and exploring joint venture opportunities; it was not a consumer sales event and immediate revenue for participating Indian firms was not quantifiable, and the decision on future fairs rests with the next Presidency.

Cash withdrawal at petrol pumps via debit card-enabled POS expands to ease currency shortage, with staged nationwide rollout.
Public sector oil retailers and a public bank enabled cash dispensing at selected petrol pumps via SBI POS machines against debit-card swipes, subject to a per-person daily withdrawal cap, with an initial set of outlets operational and a planned staged expansion with banks and oil companies; the facility continues beyond a noted date when certain high-denomination notes were accepted, and petroleum product supply at pumps remains uninterrupted.

Ban on unregulated deposit schemes proposed, with enhanced depositor protection and public consultation to refine scope and enforcement.
The revised draft proposes a statutory framework to prohibit unregulated deposit schemes and enhance protection of depositors' interests, addressing gaps in oversight of deposit taking activities through prohibitory measures, depositor safeguards, and administrative or legislative tools. The draft is the product of prior review including an Inter Ministerial Group report and has been reissued for public consultation to refine scope, definitions, enforcement mechanisms, and institutional roles.

Trade facilitation portal enables an e marketplace and information sharing to ease bilateral commerce between India and Iran.
Launch of a bilateral online trade facilitation portal to support commerce between India and Iran. The Hind Iran portal, a joint initiative of STC and Douman Queshm, is intended to disseminate information relevant to Indo Iran trade and provide an electronic marketplace to bridge communication gaps and improve market access for buyers and sellers.

Mutual Agreement Procedure yields coordinated resolutions and first bilateral APA terms, strengthening cross-border tax dispute resolution.
The Competent Authorities under the bilateral Mutual Agreement Procedure and Advance Pricing Agreement process agreed to resolve 66 transfer pricing MAP cases and 42 treaty-interpretation MAP cases covering various international transactions and PE/profit attribution issues, and reached terms for the first-ever bilateral APA between India and the USA, reflecting strengthened cooperation to facilitate cross-border investment and dispute resolution.

Demonetisation cash limits imposed daily exchange and withdrawal caps to manage currency replacement and bank cash flows.
The demonetisation of specified high-denomination notes led to concentrated deposit inflows and cash-exchange activity within a seven-day period; banks reported substantial cash withdrawals in the same interval. Customer-facing transactional constraints were implemented: a daily cash exchange limit for the withdrawn notes, a daily ATM cash withdrawal limit, and a weekly consolidated cap on cash withdrawals (covering ATMs and over-the-counter withdrawals against slips or cheques) to manage currency replacement and short-term cash flow.

Business reform assessment framework to prioritize key reforms and embed beneficiary feedback for outcome-based state rankings.
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion convened a workshop to develop a new business reform assessment framework, proposing an embedded beneficiary feedback mechanism, greater weight to key reforms, and measurement of quality of service to industry. The framework focuses on outcome-based evaluation-timelines for clearances and administrative costs for permits/NoCs-and recommends grouping States/UTs by per capita income while enabling high-performing States to guide lower-performing jurisdictions.