Finance Commission engagement in Tripura to consult state and local bodies on fiscal devolution and development priorities.
Fifteenth Finance Commission will undertake a state visit to Tripura to engage with executive and local stakeholders on fiscal and development matters. The Commission will consult the Chief Minister, state Cabinet Ministers, State Government officials, Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, trade and industry representatives and political parties, and will inspect the Palatana Thermal Power Project to inform its assessment of infrastructure and state priorities.

Global economic partnership summit to drive investment, policy dialogue and sectoral collaboration through high-level exchanges.
Announcement of the 25th Partnership Summit in Mumbai as a government-organised platform for international and domestic economic engagement focused on investment, policy dialogue and sectoral collaboration. The two-day event, convened by central and state ministries with industry partners, will facilitate high-level exchanges, B2B meetings and thematic sessions on reforms, infrastructure, digital inclusion and sectoral opportunities including innovation, AI, agri-processing, health care, tourism, defence and renewable energy.

Terms of Reference for tax assistance formalise engagement of an Indian expert to build audit capacity in Eswatini.
Approval was granted for signing Terms of Reference to govern the engagement of a designated Indian expert under the Tax Inspectors Without Borders Programme to provide tax assistance to Eswatini. The TOR will formalise conditions of engagement, enabling delivery of technical assistance aimed at transferring audit know how, building audit capacity among Eswatini's tax auditors, and supporting dissemination of audit practices and knowledge products.

Single Window development cooperation to streamline administrative procedures and boost ease of doing business and facilitate investments.
Cabinet approval authorizes an MoU with Japan to develop and operationalize an Advanced Model Single Window across Central and State Governments, based on best practices, with measurable parameters and identification of obstacles, to streamline administrative procedures for business operations and facilitate investments.

Cross-border digital collaboration platform enables joint-venture operation to connect Indian IT providers with Chinese enterprises.
A cross-border digital collaboration platform connects Indian IT service providers with Chinese enterprises via a partnership between an Indian industry association and two municipal governments, operated by a designated joint venture that maintains localized portals as a boundary-less marketplace for sourcing IT solutions and promoting operational optimisation and best-practice adoption.

Divisible pool inclusion of cess and surcharge urged, affecting vertical devolution and fiscal transfers to states.
Discussion addressed bringing cess and surcharge into the divisible pool and for the Finance Commission to consider constructive impediments when determining vertical devolution, alongside support requests for a clean energy cess directed to coal-mining areas and proposals for a disaster management institute.

Financial devolution to all three PRI tiers urged, with property tax powers prioritized to enhance local revenue capacity.
The 15th Finance Commission recommended financial devolution to all three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies, stressed enhancing local revenue capacity as essential to viability, and urged addressing the prohibition on levying property tax by enabling property tax powers to improve fiscal self-sufficiency.

Partial withdrawal rights under NPS: limited withdrawals allowed, reduced eligibility period and removed inter withdrawal gap.
NPS subscribers may make up to three partial withdrawals from Tier I, each capped at twenty five percent of subscriber contributions (excluding employer contributions); the minimum tenure for partial withdrawal is reduced to three years and the minimum inter withdrawal gap is removed. Tier II withdrawals remain unrestricted. Central Government subscribers gain the right to choose any pension fund, change annually, and select among a government securities scheme or two life cycle funds with specified maximum equity caps; default public sector fund combinations apply if no choice is made.

Transport incentive schemes support eligible industrial units by subsidising freight for finished goods to promote regional industrialisation.
Transport incentive schemes provide targeted freight support to assist industrialisation in hilly, remote and inaccessible regions, covering the North Eastern Region (including Sikkim), Jammu & Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Eligible industrial units may claim incentives on carriage of finished goods by specified modes of transport - railways and railway PSUs, inland waterways, and scheduled airlines (with sea shipping for island territories) - for a fixed five-year period from commencement of commercial production. The Freight Subsidy Scheme, 2013 replaced the Transport Subsidy Scheme, 1971 and was discontinued effective 22.11.2016; registered units retain entitlement for their specified period.

FDI in e-commerce reiterated: prohibition on inventory based B2C models and on marketplaces influencing sale prices.
FDI in e commerce is confined to B2B activities; FDI is prohibited in inventory based B2C (multi brand retail) models. Marketplaces must not directly or indirectly influence sale prices, as such conduct would convert a marketplace into an inventory based model and circumvent FDI restrictions. The clarification applies only to marketplace operators, does not restrict types of products sold, and leaves sector specific FDI provisions for other areas (such as food product retail) unaffected.

Repayment of Government Stock due - holders must provide bank account details for electronic credit or tender securities in advance.
Repayment of 6.05% Government Stock 2019(Feb) is repayable at par on the effective date with no interest accrual from the scheduled repayment date; if a State holiday falls on that day, paying offices in that State will repay on the previous working day. Payment to registered holders under sub regs 24(2) and 24(3) of the Government Securities Regulations, 2007, will be by pay order with bank particulars or by electronic credit, and holders must submit bank account details in advance; absent such particulars, holders may tender duly discharged securities at designated paying offices 20 days before the due date.

E commerce policy framework remains under government consideration after task force draft and transfer of responsibility.
A Departmental think tank and Task Force prepared a draft stakeholder based national e commerce policy titled "Electronic Commerce in India: Stakeholder Recommendations Received for a National Policy Framework." Responsibility for matters related to e commerce was transferred administratively to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, and the draft policy remains under government consideration with no fixed timeline.

Trade with neighboring countries: 2017-18 land and sea trade flows summarized, highlighting corridor-specific exports and imports.
The release presents 2017-18 land-border trade flows with India's contiguous neighbours, listing exports, imports and bilateral totals by partner and reporting a consolidated land-border aggregate; it separately compares sea-port exports and imports to/from bordering countries with India's sea-port trade with all countries, and notes additional trade via air cargo complexes, inland container depots and Special Economic Zones, based on government trade database figures provided in a parliamentary written reply.