Tariff value fixation sets customs valuation benchmarks for specified imported edible oils, metals, seeds and areca nut.
The notification amends Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 to prescribe tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods, including categories of edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nut, and specified forms of gold and silver, thereby fixing benchmark values for customs valuation and determining applicability of existing concessional entries.

Scrip-wise reporting required only for grandfathered long-term capital gains to enable correct computation and verification.
No statutory requirement exists to furnish scrip-wise details in the return for short-term capital gains or business income from share trading; scrip-wise reporting in the return is required only for computing long-term capital gains on listed shares/units eligible for the grandfathering mechanism introduced by the Finance Act, 2018, because per-scrip comparison of cost, sale price and market price as of the cut-off date is necessary for correct computation and departmental verification.

Undisclosed cash transactions trigger search and seizure, exposing shell-company loans and unaccounted real estate receipts under probe.
Income-tax authorities carried out search and seizure operations at multiple premises of a group active in trading, edible oil production, real estate and tea estates, uncovering evidence of transactions outside regular books, unaccounted cash expenses, cash advances and cash-paid interest, and cash injected into shell companies then advanced as loans to a real estate company. Seized digital and handwritten records indicate cash loans, out-of-books receipts for bookings, out-of-books payments to contractors and fictitious payments, suggesting understated project costs; investigations and examination of advances and cash dealings are ongoing.

Faceless Appeals: online finalisation of income tax appeals eliminating physical interface and enabling e-hearings and orders.
Faceless Appeals creates an end-to-end electronic adjudication process for income tax appeals-e allocation, e communication of notices with Document Identification Numbers, e verification/enquiry, e hearing and e issuance of appellate orders-using data analytics and AI under a dynamic jurisdiction model to promote objective, transparent, and accountable disposal of appeals, while excluding specified categories such as serious fraud, major tax evasion, sensitive/search matters, international tax and Black Money Act cases.

Additional borrowing permission tied to One Nation One Ration Card reform enables states to access extra market borrowings.
The Department of Expenditure authorised additional Open Market Borrowings for five States after they implemented the One Nation One Ration Card system: Andhra Pradesh (2,525 crore), Telangana (2,508 crore), Karnataka (4,509 crore), Goa (223 crore) and Tripura (148 crore). This allocation forms part of a 2 percent of GSDP additional borrowing framework for 2020-21, in which 1 percent is contingent on four specified reforms (0.25 percent weight each) and the remaining 1 percent is disbursed in two 0.50 percent instalments, the first of which was released as untied borrowing in June 2020.

Startup regulatory and tax incentives sustain investment and liquidity by easing finance, compliance and ESOP treatment.
Support measures for recognised startups during the pandemic focus on finance, regulatory ease and tax relief. The Fund of Funds channels capital to SEBI-registered AIFs and is managed by SIDBI, which reports continuation of private AIF investments. SIDBI schemes provide targeted loans, concessional MSME financing for Covid-related activities and healthcare soft loan windows. Regulators enacted reforms to ease capital raising and compliance, including RBI foreign investment permissions, SEBI easing for Angel Funds and AIFs, MCA procedural relaxations and SPICe+ incorporation streamlining. Tax measures align startup eligibility, capital gains exemptions, ESOP treatment and loss carry forward rules to support investment and liquidity.

Investment facilitation through central coordination and project development cells to fast-track domestic and foreign investments.
Make in India advances manufacturing and services through sectoral action plans, investment outreach and facilitation to attract domestic and foreign investment. The Government supplements schemes with infrastructure planning, fiscal and liquidity measures, procurement policies, Phased Manufacturing Programmes and Production Linked Incentives. Central coordination and investor handholding are supported by an Empowered Group of Secretaries, Project Development Cells in line ministries and an investment facilitation agency; the administering Department coordinates interactions but does not maintain consolidated records of line ministries' sectoral programmes.

Simplified company incorporation via integrated web-form reduces procedures and consolidates registrations for new companies seamlessly.
Deployment of the SPICe+ web form integrates ten services - including name reservation, incorporation, DIN allotment, PAN, TAN, EPFO, ESIC, profession tax registration, bank account opening and GSTIN allotment - allowing either staged (Part A then Part B) or combined filing with on screen submission and real time validation, thereby reducing procedures and time for starting a business.

Public debt management: lower government security yields and larger dated securities issuance reshaped liabilities and market liquidity.
The quarterly report records increased dated securities issuance, lower weighted average yields on primary issuances, and shorter weighted average maturities for new issuances. It notes issuance of cash management bills, a special open market operation, and substantial liquidity absorption by the central bank. Public debt remains the principal component of total liabilities with a significant share of securities having short residual maturities, a concentrated ownership pattern among banks and insurers, and dominant trading share for dated securities in the secondary market.

Unexplained cash investments and transactions trigger tax searches probing undisclosed income and potential Section 269SS breaches.
Searches uncovered extensive cash-based unexplained investments and unsecured loans treated as prima facie non-genuine, unexplained foreign education expenses, an unregistered trust with taxable receipts, and a restrained bank locker suggesting undisclosed income. Separate searches in a jewellery business revealed lack of books, an undeclared bank account with large deposits, alleged non-payment of capital gains, and cash receipts on lease and sale transactions prima facie violating Section 269SS, with buyer source of funds and other expenditures under further investigation.

Investment facilitation framework creates empowered coordination and project development cells to fast track investible projects and approvals.
The government established an investment facilitation framework by constituting an Empowered Group of Secretaries to coordinate timely clearances and attract investments, and approved Project Development Cells in ministries to create investible projects with necessary approvals, land allocation and detailed project reports, while identifying issues for escalation to the Empowered Group.

Industrial promotion measures strengthen MSME credit guarantees and incentives to boost domestic manufacturing and investor facilitation.
Fiscal, regulatory and facilitation measures target domestic manufacturing and investor ease: the Atmanirbhar Package with MSME credit guarantees, subordinate debt, Fund of Funds, timely receivable clearance and domestic procurement preference; corporate tax reductions and PLI schemes to incentivise manufacturing; customs duty rationalisation under Phased Manufacturing Programme. Institutional facilitation includes liberalised automatic-route FDI, Empowered Groups, Project Development Cells, and a centralized Investment Clearance Cell, while the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and the National Infrastructure Pipeline are identified as systemic supports.

Corporate tax reform and targeted incentives to spur investment, market stability, and employment through tax and regulatory relief.
Corporate tax reform lowered statutory rates for existing and new domestic companies, introduced a concessional tax option for newly incorporated manufacturers that forgo other exemptions, and reduced the Minimum Alternate Tax for companies availing incentives. The amendments exempted specified capital gains and qualifying announced buy backs from an enhanced surcharge, expanded allowable CSR expenditures to include incubators and public research institutions, and were paired with structural measures supporting MSME financing, investment liberalisation and infrastructure policies to promote growth and employment.

Faceless assessment expands to faceless appeals and a taxpayers charter to streamline and modernise direct tax compliance.
Government reforms focus on reducing taxpayer authority interface through the Transparent Taxation platform, comprising Faceless Assessment with team based assessment and dynamic jurisdiction, extension of faceless disposal of appeals by Commissioners (Appeals), and a Taxpayers Charter to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability in direct tax administration.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme expands collateral-free concessional loans, enhancing liquidity and credit access for MSMEs.
Aatma Nirbhar Bharat measures deploy targeted credit, liquidity and refund instruments to support farmers, NBFCs, HFCs, MFIs, MSMEs and businesses. Key instruments include a NABARD emergency working capital facility and a Structured Finance & Partial Guarantee for unrated NBFCs/MFIs; a Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme enabling portfolio purchases by banks; a Special Liquidity Scheme using an SPV to provide market liquidity to NBFCs/HFCs/MFIs; and the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme offering collateral-free concessional loans with government guarantee. Income tax and corporate tax refunds were expedited as part of liquidity support.

Taxpayer outreach webinars clarify CPC ITR filing, grievance, refund and rectification procedures amid transition to upgraded processing platform.
Outreach webinars by CPC ITR and Regional Councils of ICAI will provide uniform, moderated presentations by senior CPC ITR officers on advanced return processing technology, error free filing practices, grievance redressal, post processing and rectification procedures. The sessions will cover operational issues that generate demands or delays-legal heir and amalgamation matters, refund adjustments, fraudulent PAN/TAN issues, NRI refund procedures, bank account pre validation and refund reissue processes-and explain enhancements as CPC transitions from CPC 1.0 to an upgraded CPC 2.0 platform.

Infrastructure financing for regional transit supports transit-oriented development and value capture financing to boost municipal revenues.
ADB provided sovereign financing to construct electrified tracks, signaling, multimodal hubs and accessible stations for the Delhi-Meerut RRTS, coupled with institutional support requiring adoption of high-level technologies, multimodal integration, and operational standards; the project promotes transit-oriented development and value capture financing, envisages PPP instruments and a smart-technology platform, and is supplemented by grants for universal access, training for women and persons with disabilities, and resilience and building information modeling innovations.

Infrastructure financing supports climate-resilient road upgrades and mandated allocation of maintenance contracts to women-led groups.
The Governments of India and Himachal Pradesh and the World Bank executed a loan agreement to finance the Himachal Pradesh State Roads Transformation Project, conditioned on institutional reforms, engineering and nature-based measures for climate and disaster resilience, road safety through a Safe Systems approach, and operational measures including reorganising road agencies and establishing emergency response systems. Contracting provisions require that one-third of maintenance contracts be awarded to women-led Self-Help Groups, and financing supports logistics improvements for horticulture and tourism corridors. The IBRD loan matures in 15 years with a five-year grace period.

Loan resolution framework: lenders must adopt board approved policies and roll out resolution schemes to support stressed borrowers.
Implementation and oversight of the loan resolution framework for COVID-19 related stress was directed, with emphasis on lenders adopting Board-approved resolution policies, identifying eligible borrowers and proactively reaching out to them. Lenders were instructed to implement sustained resolution plans for revival of every viable business, ensure that COVID-19 distress does not adversely affect creditworthiness assessments, publish updated FAQs in multiple languages, and roll out resolution schemes by 15th September, 2020 in compliance with RBI timelines.

Undisclosed income and benami transactions exposed, triggering forensic review of cross LoC trade, returns and asset restraints.
Searches uncovered substantial undisclosed income, unaccounted assets, and documentary evidence suggesting benami transactions and breaches of the suspension on cross LoC trade; findings include non filing or materially understated returns, multiple PANs, unexplained cash and travel related expenditures, and a restrained locker pending further forensic examination.