Tax exemption challenge prompts notice to government and event organiser over entertainment and luxury tax for a major sporting event.
A public interest litigation challenged a state government's decision to grant tax exemption from entertainment and luxury taxes to a private event organiser; the court issued notices to the government and the organiser and directed them to file written explanations justifying the exemption.

Excise enforcement expansion to intensify action against illicit liquor and ganja trade with a new range and circle office.
A new Excise range will be established at Nedumbassery under the Ernakulam Deputy Excise Commissioner to enhance surveillance and counter illegal liquor and ganja trade; it will include a circle office and is expected to begin functioning within the year. The current Deputy Commissioner's and circle offices in Kochi will be relocated to rented premises during demolition of the Kacheripady unit and replaced by a multi-storey building, for which a construction fund of 15 crore has been allocated and completion is projected in two to three years.

Wholesale Price Index movement signals rising inflationary trend with higher primary articles and fuel and mixed manufactured product pressures.
Wholesale Price Index for All Commodities (base 2004 05=100) for September 2011 rose month on month with the annual rate of inflation remaining elevated; Primary Articles (notably Food and Non Food Articles) and Fuel & Power were principal contributors while Manufactured Products showed mixed movements across subgroups.

Certification of XBRL financial statements: practitioners must confirm fair presentation against audited records under prescribed taxonomy.
Practitioners must certify that XBRL financial statements fairly present, in all material respects, the audited financial statements in accordance with the MCA prescribed taxonomy. Management remains responsible for preparing XBRL instance documents and for controls over taxonomy selection, mapping/tagging, completeness, accuracy and structure. Certification is distinct from an audit opinion; practitioners should perform examination of rendered XBRL against source documents, validate using MCA tools, review error logs, obtain management representations, document the engagement, disclose significant unrectified exceptions in the certificate, and may rely on third party providers subject to appropriate procedures.

Wholesale price inflation for primary articles and fuel & power rises, signaling persistent elevated annual inflation and sectoral price pressures.
Wholesale price movements for the week ended 1 October 2011 show weekly increases in Primary Articles driven by Food Articles (fruits, vegetables, select cereals and pulses) while Non Food Articles declined; Fuel & Power rose due to higher petroleum related component prices. Both major groups recorded elevated point to point annual inflation, and annexures provide item level indices, week over week changes, build up from financial year start and six week trend data for monitoring sectoral price pressures.

Full foreign direct investment for new pharma ventures continues; existing firms face conditional, approved-entry with strengthened competition oversight.
Policy continues to permit full foreign direct investment for newly established pharmaceutical ventures to promote manufacturing capacity, technology acquisition, and sector development, while inbound investment into existing firms is allowed only for a limited transitional period subject to prior approval by the designated investment approval authority; competition oversight will be strengthened to review mergers and acquisitions and balance public health concerns with investment attraction.

Geographical indication registration requires prescribed forms, representation affidavit, territorial map, standards and inspection details.
Applications for registration of a geographical indication must be on prescribed forms with fee and an affidavit of representation, identify how the indication links goods to the territory by quality, reputation or other characteristic, and include three certified copies of the class of goods, a territorial map, particulars of the indication's appearance, and details of standards, inspection mechanisms, special human skill, and the association representing producers; homonymous indications require differentiating particulars; the Registry acknowledges receipt by returning an additional representation with the application number.

FDI in pharmaceuticals: greenfield investments allowed; brownfield requires approval while competition regulator readies oversight framework.
Greenfield pharmaceutical projects will be permitted under the automatic route to expand manufacturing and technology; brownfield investments will be allowed via FIPB approval for a transitional six month period while the CCI formulates enabling regulations for merger oversight, after which oversight will proceed under competition law to balance public health safeguards and investment attraction.

Bilateral trade target seeks to expand commerce, with visa facilitation and support for ongoing trade negotiations.
India and the Czech Republic elevated their Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation to ministerial level and agreed to pursue a bilateral trade target of US dollar two billion by 2012. The Indian minister urged a liberalised long term business visa regime recommended by apex business chambers; the Czech side agreed visa issues will be discussed alongside an Investment Incentive Act. The Czech minister offered support for ongoing India-EU trade negotiations and both sides identified cooperation opportunities in IT, pharmaceuticals, textiles and energy.

Legal heir DSC filing: heirs can obtain authorization to file a deceased taxpayer's return after submitting identification and death certificate.
Where a taxpayer has died, the legal heir must obtain a Digital Signature Certificate in the heir's own name and send an email to the designated e filing addresses identifying the deceased and the heir (name, PAN, date of birth) with a scanned death certificate; on receipt, the e filing administrator will enable the legal heir to file the deceased's return using the heir's DSC.

Due date extension for ITR-V submission: filing deadline extended to later of 31.10.2011 or 120 days from upload.
The due date for submission of ITR-V for the specified assessment year has been extended to the later of 31.10.2011 or 120 days from the date the return was uploaded, making the filing deadline contingent on the upload date for electronic returns and adjusting the compliance timeline for affected taxpayers.

Wholesale price inflation for primary articles and fuel & power remains elevated, with mixed weekly commodity movements.
Wholesale Price Index movements for the week ending 24 September 2011 show Primary Articles slightly down at index 202.4 with point to point inflation 10.84 percent; Food Articles rose on higher prices for inland fish, gram and several staples while Non Food Articles declined due to falls in raw silk, raw cotton and certain oilseeds. Fuel & Power remained unchanged at index 169.4 with point to point inflation 14.69 percent. Annexures provide build up from financial year start, year on year rates and six week trend series for key commodities.

Comprehensive economic cooperation negotiations pursued to expand bilateral trade, diversify commerce, and promote investment through sectoral cooperation.
Ministers met to advance bilateral trade and economic cooperation through constructive II CECA negotiations, aiming to expand and diversify trade and stimulate investment. They reviewed two working groups on Trade and Investment Forum and Trade Facilitation and Resolution, supported early operationalization of an Indonesia India CEO Forum, and welcomed a Memorandum of Understanding on technical cooperation for aluminium smelter and coal based thermal power projects between East Kalimantan Province and an Indian aluminium company.

E filing of Service Tax Returns: register on ACES, prepare ST 3 online or via Excel, and ensure status shows filed.
Service Tax Return e filing requires ACES registration with T PIN and password, preparing ST 3 via the RET menu or an Excel utility, saving or amending before submission, and ensuring the return status shows FILED in ACES; submitted returns produce a unique acknowledgement and may be revised once within ninety days.

Trade deficit rises as imports outpace exports, widening external imbalance for the April-August review period.
India's merchandise trade in August 2011 recorded substantial year on year growth in exports and imports in dollar and rupee terms, with cumulative April-August flows also rising notably. Both oil and non oil imports increased, and imports grew faster than exports overall, producing a larger merchandise trade deficit for April-August compared with the prior year; provisional tables set out dollar and rupee values and growth percentages for exports, imports and the trade balance.

Simplification of visa rules to enable liberal business travel and boost bilateral trade and integration under SAFTA.
Simplification of visa rules and establishment of a liberal business visa regime to facilitate business movement is the primary commitment, to be concluded by November, linked to expanded bilateral commerce and regular high level visits. Pakistan's provision of non discriminatory market access as most favoured nation treatment and enforcement of SAFTA obligations are identified as essential for trade expansion and regional integration. Infrastructure and sectoral cooperation, including the Attari Wagah Integrated Check Post, are prioritized to support the trade agenda.

Wholesale price inflation in primary articles and fuel & power rose, reporting higher weekly and year on year inflationary trends.
Weekly wholesale price review (WPI base 2004-05) for 17 September 2011 reports a week-over-week rise in Primary Articles driven by Food Articles and mixed movements in Non-Food Articles and Minerals; point-to-point annual inflation for Primary Articles exceeds ten percent. Fuel & Power also rose weekly due to higher petroleum and refined product prices despite a decline in industrial electricity, with a materially higher year-on-year inflation rate. Annexures give build-up from end-March, 52-week averages, and six-week inflation trends for key groups and commodities.

Index of Eight Core Industries shows 3.5% growth in August 2011; coal down 15.3%, electricity up 8.9%.
The Index of Eight Core Industries (weight 37.90% in IIP) was 138.45 in August 2011 with monthly growth of 3.5% and cumulative April-August 2011-12 growth of 5.3% (vs 6.1% in 2010-11). Sectoral monthly changes: Coal -15.3% (cumulative -2.4%), Crude Oil +1.6% (cumulative +6.1%), Natural Gas -5.3% (cumulative -8.9%), Refinery Products +3.9% (cumulative +4.7%), Fertilizers +4.3% (cumulative +1.2%), Steel +7.7% (cumulative +9.3%), Cement +7.2% (cumulative +2.8%), Electricity +8.9% (cumulative +9.3%).

Credit enhancement permissions for foreign equity holders allow support for infrastructure debt without prior central bank approval.
The policy permits specified direct and indirect foreign equity holders to provide credit enhancement through capital market instruments for domestic infrastructure companies and Infrastructure Finance Companies, and states that no prior regulatory approval will be required for such credit enhancements, with implementing instructions issued in a follow-up circular.

SBI lending rates: schedule sets varying interest terms by loan type, tenure and concessions for students and locales.
SBI lending rates are provided as a year by year schedule effective on specified April dates, categorised by loan product and tenure. The schedule sets differentiated interest terms across housing loan tenure bands, car loans with amount and term subbands, two wheeler, education (separate slabs by loan size), personal loans, and ESOP subscription loans. Footnotes clarify amount thresholds, metro/urban versus rural applicability, and targeted concessions such as reductions for girl students and scheme specific concessions.