Expenditure Budget Manual draft uploaded; comments invited by 15 September via email or fax from all formations.
The draft Expenditure Budget Manual published by EMC, DGHRD, is intended to guide field formations on fund management and budget planning throughout the financial year, consolidating updated guidelines and annexures. All CBEC budgetary authorities are invited to submit suggestions for changes or updates prior to final release, by the stated deadline, via the designated email or fax to the undersigned contact.

Aggregate Measurement of Support elimination urged to correct subsidy asymmetry and require developed countries to remove trade distorting farm supports.
Proposal urges elimination of Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS) by developed Members as a precondition for domestic support reform, highlighting that developed Members hold most AMS entitlements and provide concentrated, often large trade distorting subsidies on a few products while most developing Members are limited to de minimis allowances, producing a rule asymmetry that distorts competition and should be addressed before seeking reductions in developing country supports.

Guaranteed pension expansion drives broader coverage, emphasizing assured returns and regulator led outreach to unenrolled citizens.
Atal Pension Yojana promotes enrolment of uncovered citizens into a contributory pension scheme that provides an assured pension return and return of corpus to the nominee, while regulator led mobilization campaigns through banks and post offices seek to broaden pension coverage and transition the population toward retirement income security.

New Industrial Policy process promotes Make in India and technology adoption to build a global manufacturing hub.
A new Industrial Policy is being formulated to subsume the National Manufacturing Policy and make India a manufacturing hub by promoting Make in India and integrating IoT, artificial intelligence and robotics. The process uses a consultative framework of six thematic focus groups, a Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, online public consultation and stakeholder meetings to solicit inputs and refine policy measures.

Non-notification of repeal: stakeholders must pursue individual insolvency under existing enactments until Code provisions are notified.
The repeal provision of earlier insolvency statutes remains unnotified and Part III of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 addressing individual and partnership insolvency is also unnotified; accordingly, those Code provisions do not currently displace existing enactments, and stakeholders should pursue insolvency matters under the existing statutes and appropriate authorities rather than before the Debt Recovery Tribunals.

Ease of Doing Business report shows regulatory and infrastructure gaps hinder firms, especially labor intensive and large firms.
NITI Aayog released an Ease of Doing Business report from a survey of 3,500 manufacturing firms assessing state-level business regulations. It finds stronger economic performance correlates with better doing-business outcomes, while delays in land, environmental approvals, water and power shortages are concentrated in low-growth states. Younger firms report faster approvals and fewer obstacles; awareness and use of single-window systems is low. Labour-intensive firms face notable labour-regulation burdens and firms with over 100 employees often report longer approval times and higher compliance costs, indicating differentiated impacts by sector and firm size.

Consolidated FDI policy updates framework: entry routes, composite sectoral caps, instruments, procedures and reporting requirements.
The Consolidated FDI Policy (effective 28 August 2017) creates a unified regulatory framework defining eligible investors and investee entities, permissible instruments, two entry routes (Automatic and Government), sectoral caps counted on a composite direct-and-indirect basis, and detailed procedural, valuation, reporting and compliance requirements (Forms FC-GPR/FC-TRS, escrow, KYC). It lists prohibited sectors, specifies sector-specific caps and conditionalities (including security clearances and minimum capitalization), and prescribes competence, e-filing, monitoring and annexures to operationalize approvals, transfers, downstream investment calculations and violations reporting.

Rajaswa Gyan Sangam and GST transition: officers urged to ensure SAMPARK rollout and meet GST payment and filing deadlines.
The Chairman directed that SAMPARK be updated and deployed on a mobile platform with verified data submitted to DGTS within stipulated timelines, and reminded officers that July GST payment was extended to 25 August 2017 with GSTR-3B filing for TRAN I claimants due by 28 August 2017; officers must guide taxpayers, report procedural difficulties and system glitches requiring Board intervention, and adhere to prior administrative instructions.

JAM linkage enables Direct Benefit Transfer through biometric identity, bank accounts and mobile payments for improved welfare delivery.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana expanded basic deposit accounts and payment instruments for the poor while complementary insurance and micro credit schemes used those accounts to channel social protection. The operational mechanism links unique biometric identity to bank accounts and mobile devices under the JAM framework, enabling electronic authentication and reliable Direct Benefit Transfer of welfare payments through digital payment rails, reducing intermediated disbursement and improving targeting.

Rajaswa Gyan Sangam: full attendance required for all sessions and dinner; materials will be emailed, not on pen drives.
Directives require full participation in the 2nd Rajaswa Gyan Sangam, with attendees to remain for all sessions and the valedictory proceedings, and to attend the first evening dinner; the agenda is circulated and presentation materials will be emailed, not provided on pen drives.

Anti-dumping duty clarification: India says existing duties cover many imports and urges prudent use of trade remedies.
India denied plans for new anti-dumping duty measures on Chinese products, stating duties are already in force on 93 products following decisions over the prior five years; the Ministry noted numerous trade remedy investigations since 1994 with several still pending and urged prudent, regulation-based conduct of such investigations.

Right to Privacy affirmed under Article 21, prompting government to cite statutory Aadhaar safeguards and commit to data protection law.
The statement affirms Right to Privacy under Article 21 as part of personal liberty subject to constitutionally valid procedure; stresses restrictions must be fair, just and reasonable and balanced against legitimate State aims. It notes the Government provided parliamentary enactment and safeguards for AADHAR, welcomes the judgment as strengthening fundamental rights, and commits to enacting a comprehensive data protection law, asserting current legislation complies with the Court's tests.

IPR enforcement strengthened through coordinated agency cooperation and public awareness campaigns to curb piracy and promote commercialization.
A national initiative to strengthen IPR enforcement through capacity building and inter-agency cooperation, bringing together enforcement agencies, industry experts, legal professionals and students to share best practices, emphasise the role of rights holders, and promote coordinated action; paired with public outreach using animated anti-piracy videos and a social media campaign to raise awareness of the harms of piracy and support commercialization of IP.

Right to privacy requires state intrusions to meet legality, legitimate aim and proportionality while protecting data.
Informational privacy is an integral component of the constitutionally protected right to life and personal liberty; it includes control over personal data and intimate aspects of life. State invasion of privacy must satisfy a threefold test of legality, legitimate state aim, and proportionality, and any encroachment must be by law that prescribes fair, just and reasonable procedure. The state has both a duty to refrain from unjustified intrusions and a positive obligation to protect privacy, and technological change necessitates a robust data protection regime balancing individual interests with legitimate state concerns.

Mentor network initiative seeks volunteer leaders to guide students in school innovation labs, fostering future skills and mentorship.
The initiative establishes a national mentor network to connect volunteer leaders with school-based tinkering labs to teach design, computational thinking and other future skills; it invites corporates, professionals, academicians and students to commit weekly mentoring hours, provides for corporate adoption and institutional collaboration, and proposes mentor recognition through digital certificates and honour boards, with applications submitted online by a stated deadline.

Closure of loss-making CPSE approved, with voluntary retirement scheme and one-time grant to wind up operations.
Approval to close BWEL, a loss-making CPSE, was granted due to sustained poor performance and low revival prospects. The plan provides a voluntary retirement scheme for 626 employees at the 2007 pay scale and a one-time grant to cover the severance package and current liabilities. Implementation is to follow DPE time bound closure guidelines, with the objective of stopping further public financial support and effecting an orderly wind-up of operations.

Drug demand reduction and illicit trafficking prevention: bilateral MoU enables cooperation and information exchange to curb trafficking.
Approval is granted for a Memorandum of Understanding between India and Nepal establishing a bilateral framework for drug demand reduction and prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals. The MoU defines areas of cooperation, identifies competent authorities for implementation, and provides mechanisms for operational, technical and general information exchange, including sharing laws, procedures, best practices, and cooperation on prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

Mentor India campaign to connect leaders with Atal Tinkering Labs for weekly mentorship and future skills development.
Launch of Mentor India campaign to provide leadership mentoring for Atal Tinkering Labs under the Atal Innovation Mission, engaging leaders as enablers who commit one to two hours weekly to guide students (Class 6-12) in experiential learning of design thinking, computational thinking and other future skills using lab equipment such as 3D printers, robotics, electronics tools and Internet of Things sensors, with the Mission scaling a network of 900+ labs towards a larger national rollout.

Interoperability between recordkeeping agencies enables subscriber choice and streamlined portability of NPS accounts.
PFRDA-directed upgrades enabled interoperability between CRAs allowing annual CRA choice and shifting; introduced mobile and web features including Aadhaar seeding, OTP password reset, captcha-based contributions, bilingual apps, 'remember PRAN', online Tier II withdrawal to registered bank accounts, e-Sign via Aadhaar, a second payment gateway, and updated transactional messaging replacing Service Tax with GST. Enhancements also included transaction/holding statement access, PRAN dispatch notifications, missed-call balance enquiry, limited-access status checks without login, and strengthened grievance escalation to NPS Trust with specified escalation after unresolved thirty-day periods.

Intellectual property enforcement: introduce police IPR training modules and boost inter-agency coordination to curb counterfeiting.
Enforcement of intellectual property focuses on strengthening law enforcement capacity to prevent counterfeiting and piracy by introducing specialised IPR training modules in police training institutes and academies, promoting inter-agency coordination, experience-sharing among enforcement agencies, IP professionals and industry, and supporting technology and innovation protection through Technology and Innovation Support Centres.