Mutual recognition of travel documents advanced to enable cross-border acceptance of testing and vaccine certificates for safer travel.
India's Sherpa engagement secured support for mutual recognition of travel documents including testing and vaccine certificates and endorsed extensive COVID-19 immunization as a global public good. India pressed for protection of small and marginal farmers and conservation of local food cultures for food security; urged long-term concessional climate finance and access to sustainable technology; backed extension of the Debt Service Suspension Initiative and warned against premature withdrawal of recovery support. It also pushed international tax alignment for multinational profits, advanced anti corruption cooperation, and promoted gender-responsive and data governance measures.

Trade fair reopening at Pragati Maidan expands venue and reserves initial days for business with COVID protocols.
India International Trade Fair will be held at Pragati Maidan from November 14 to 27, 2021, with the initial days reserved for business visitors and later days open to the public. The organisers expanded the exhibition area following the new Convention Centre, allocated multiple halls, and established a help desk for booking assistance. Participation includes over 2,000 domestic and international exhibitors, numerous States, central ministries, commodity boards, PSUs and private companies. The event will observe COVID 19 safety protocols and operate daily during stated visiting hours.

Public procurement reform enables faster project execution via strict payment timelines, electronic measurement books and QCBS selection.
The Department of Expenditure guidelines reform public procurement and project management by prescribing strict timelines for payments, timely ad hoc releases to improve contractor liquidity (especially for MSMEs), mandating Electronic Measurement Books for progress recording, permitting alternative contractor selection methods, and allowing Quality cum Cost Based Selection (QCBS) as a transparent alternative to the traditional L1 evaluation, following consultations led by the CVC and monitored as a specified campaign.

Model Tender Documents for public procurement enable standardized, customizable e procurement templates aligned with procurement policy.
Model Tender Documents (MTDs) have been released as soft, customizable guiding templates for procurement of goods and non consultancy services to standardize tender documentation, facilitate e procurement adoption, align with policies like Micro and Small Enterprise support, Make in India and start up benefits, incorporate best practices developed after two stage consultation, and are accompanied by a Guidance Note to assist procuring officials.

Integrated urban flood management funded by international loan to build resilient infrastructure and strengthen municipal preparedness.
A loan agreement finances an integrated urban flood management project in the Chennai Kosasthalaiyar basin to establish climate resilient flood protection infrastructure-including construction and rehabilitation of stormwater drains, channel improvements, pumping station upgrades, catchpits for groundwater recharge, and disaster relief camp rehabilitation-alongside measures for sustainable operation and maintenance of drainage systems.

Agribusiness loan expands financing and infrastructure for farmer organizations, enhancing post harvest capacity and market access.
A multilateral loan finances the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET) Project to expand access to finance for Farmer Producer Organizations and Value Chain Operators through matching grants and financial intermediation, upgrade and construct post harvest storage and processing facilities, and provide technical assistance for market linkages, crop based centres of excellence, and capacity building to reduce food losses and increase incomes for small and marginal horticulture producers.

Project readiness financing advances urban mobility project preparation and climate resilient planning for Aizawl, enabling prioritized transport investments.
The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank provided a Project Readiness Financing loan to prepare the Aizawl Sustainable Urban Transport Project by developing a Comprehensive Mobility Plan, conducting due diligence and feasibility studies, preparing detailed project reports and designs, integrating climate resilience and gender inclusiveness, and strengthening the state's Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation Department capacity for pre implementation and project preparation.

Search and seizure expose suppression of income and undisclosed cash and assets in regional business groups.
Search and seizure operations in two business groups revealed suppression of income via bogus intra group transactions, extensive cash sales and undeclared scrap and property investments in a manufacturing group, and in an education/immigration services group receipt of high value package payments largely in cash, use of employee bank accounts to receive and withdraw funds, and declaration only of commission income. Searches detected substantial unaccounted income and resulted in seizure of cash, gold and jewellery; investigations continue.

Search and seizure uncover extensive unaccounted income and property-linked cash transactions, prompting ongoing tax investigations.
Search and seizure operations at a Nashik land-aggregation business recovered notarized land agreements, documents and digital evidence of large cash-based property acquisitions; substantial unaccounted cash was seized from private vaults and several bank lockers were placed under prohibitory orders. Parallel searches of investors, mainly wholesale agricultural traders, produced records of large cash investments in land, and aggregate unaccounted income exceeding reported thresholds has been detected, with evidentiary material under further examination in ongoing tax investigations.

Monetary Policy Committee keeps policy repo rate at 4% and retains accommodative stance to support growth.
The MPC decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 4.0 per cent, maintain the reverse repo at 3.35 per cent and MSF/Bank Rate at 4.25 per cent, and continue an accommodative stance as long as necessary to revive and sustain growth while ensuring CPI inflation is guided toward the medium term target of 4 per cent within a +/- 2 per cent band. This followed review of macroeconomic projections, surveys and risks; headline inflation has moderated but core inflation and fuel prices remain elevated, and real GDP recovery is uneven though projected at 9.5 per cent for 2021 22. All members voted to keep the repo rate unchanged; one member recorded reservations on the accommodative stance.

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme issues four tranches with prescribed eligibility, tenure, pricing, tradability and tax treatment.
Issuance of the Sovereign Gold Bond 2021-22 is scheduled in four tranches from October 2021 to March 2022; bonds will be issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government and sold through designated banks, SHCIL, CCIL, recognised stock exchanges and post offices. Eligibility is limited to resident individuals, HUFs, trusts, universities and charitable institutions; tenor is eight years with exit after the fifth year. Minimum investment is 1 gram, annual caps apply, issue and redemption prices are based on the three day simple average of 999 purity gold prices, interest is paid at a fixed semi annual rate, bonds are tradable and convertible to demat, interest is taxable while redemption gains for individuals are exempt with indexation available.

Search and seizure uncover tax-evasion via accommodation entries, hawala transfers and bogus expenses, prompting further investigation.
Search and seizure operations of two corporate groups uncovered suspected tax-evasion: the digital marketing group used accommodation entries, hawala-mediated cash transfers, inflated expenditures, under-reported revenue, misclassified personal expenses and purchases of vehicles in others' names; the solid waste management group booked bogus bills and sub-contracts, with detection of unaccounted property and seizure of cash and jewellery, and investigations continue.

Under-invoicing and customs evasion exposed; shell entities and hawala channels used to move value and acquire properties.
Search and seizure operations uncovered widespread under-invoicing of imported electronics and wrongful description of goods via shell entities, with sales routed as out-of-books cash transactions and payments to foreign consigners effected through hawala channels; proceeds were concealed through property acquisitions, bogus rental income and loans, and foreign deposits, and unaccounted cash was seized pending further investigation.

Unaccounted income exposure: search operations uncover suspected benami transfers and dubious fund flows prompting asset seizures and probe.
Search and seizure operations against two real estate groups uncovered prima facie unaccounted income and alleged benami transactions facilitated via bogus share premium, suspicious unsecured loans, unsubstantiated advances and collusive arbitration, with funds used to acquire various assets; investigations and asset-linked seizures are ongoing.

E-verification via Aadhaar OTP enables processing of income-tax returns and facilitates timely refund issuance.
The Department's revamped e-filing portal has recorded extensive uptake with over two crore returns filed and substantial e-verification, largely via Aadhaar-based OTP, which enables commencement of return processing and issuance of refunds; the portal also supports one-time DSC registration, broad statutory form submission, e-PAN allotment, faceless proceedings with video-conferencing, and urges taxpayers to view Form 26AS and file outstanding returns for processing.

Undisclosed income uncovered through searches revealing bogus purchases, inflated labour costs and accommodation entries, prompting further probe.
Searches of three Bengaluru contractor groups uncovered suppression of income through bogus purchases, inflated labour expenses, sham sub contracting in names of unconnected individuals, and accommodation entries from paper companies; physical and digital evidence plus unaccounted cash and valuables were seized, substantial undisclosed income was detected and partly admitted by the entities, and investigations continue.

Unaccounted income uncovered after searches leads to seizure and further investigation into chit fund and retail group.
Searches uncovered undisclosed income and asset concealment in two investigations: an unauthorised chit fund operation transacting predominantly in cash with unreported commission, dividends and interest, and a garments retailer manipulating sales through software to suppress revenue and divert cash into investments and lavish expenditures. Collateral and property documents, promissory notes, post dated cheques, cash and significant quantities of gold were seized; associates admitted unaccounted investments and substantial undisclosed income has been detected. Investigations are ongoing to trace unreported receipts, assets and transactional records.

Cash seizure prompts tax probe into pharmaceutical group's alleged bogus purchases, inflated expenses and undisclosed income.
Income-tax search and seizure operations on a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical group uncovered cash and documentary digital evidence including data from SAP/ERP and a second set of books; seizures include multiple bank lockers and unexplained cash with preliminary estimates of substantial unaccounted income under further investigation.

Search and seizure uncover extensive undisclosed income and use of shell companies to conceal taxable receipts.
Search and seizure operations across multiple locations uncovered extensive undisclosed income and concealment mechanisms. One group in cement manufacturing generated unaccounted income through out-of-books sales, bogus expenses and use of paper/shell companies to launder funds, with evidence of bogus loans, fictitious commissions, bogus share premiums, and undeclared offshore accounts and purported tribal creditors. A second group executing railway contracts showed undisclosed investments in land and properties, numerous sale deeds without corroborated source of funds, and documents evidencing significant cash property transactions. Seizures included unaccounted cash and prohibitory orders on several bank lockers; investigations continue.

Search and seizure uncover syndicate facilitating land allotments and clearances, with digital evidence and assets seized; investigations continue.
A coordinated search and seizure operation targeted a syndicate of businessmen, middlemen and public-office holders in Maharashtra, yielding documentary summaries, back-dated records, voluminous digital evidence and a secret hideout. Recovered materials show systematic cash receipts and disbursements tied to facilitation of land allotments, clearances, tenders and postings, with payments recorded under code names and routed through cash couriers; physical seizures included cash, jewellery and restrained lockers, and forensic analysis of seized digital data is ongoing.