Arrest and detention powers: clarifies Income-tax Act provisions exist but are used sparingly; press claims unauthorized.
Clarifies that press reports announcing arrests of wilful tax defaulters were unauthorised; the Income-tax Act provides for arrest and detention by Tax Recovery Officers for non-compliant defaulters, but those powers are exercised extremely sparingly.

Government securities auction with reserved non competitive allotment and electronic E Kuber bidding, eligible for when issued trading.
Sale by auction of four re issued central government stocks will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India through price based multiple price auctions; up to five percent of each notified amount is reserved for eligible individuals and institutions under the Scheme for Non Competitive Bidding Facility; competitive and non competitive bids must be submitted electronically via the Reserve Bank's E Kuber system within specified windows; results and payment dates are fixed; the stocks will be eligible for When Issued trading per RBI guidelines.

Small savings interest rates unchanged for the next quarter across designated government savings schemes, per official notification.
Quarterly notification sets scheme-specific interest rates and compounding/payment frequencies for government small savings instruments, listing each instrument with its effective rate for the applicable quarter and applying those rates according to each scheme's compounding or payout terms; covered instruments include savings and time deposits, recurring deposits, Senior Citizens Savings Scheme, Monthly Income Account, National Savings Certificate, Public Provident Fund, Kisan Vikas Patra (with stated maturity tenor), and Sukanya Samriddhi Account.

Taxpayer Services: facilitation focused administration adopting technology and widening the tax base while accelerating dispute resolution.
Facilitation and digitisation are to be central to tax administration, combining enhanced taxpayer services and outreach to non filers to widen the tax base. Operational priorities include readiness for GST, expansion of digital infrastructure, paperless assessments, standardisation of processes, exchange of information, targeted dispute resolution, and consolidation of circulars. Administrative actions call for capacity building, integrated customs risk management and single window facilitation, strengthening the Authorised Economic Operator scheme, infrastructure upgrades, secure official email allocation for assessors, and incentives for e assessment.

Money laundering enforcement prompting prosecutions, asset attachment and expedited auctions to recover funds for investor restitution.
Enforcement and recovery measures address alleged offences and payment defaults at NSEL through anti money laundering prosecutions, administrative penalties and show cause notices, and multiple asset attachments and auctions to realize proceeds for investor restitution. Parallel regulatory actions include merger proceedings subject to court restraint, directed inspections of broker books, proposals to augment investigative and judicial resources, and an emphasis on interagency coordination to expedite penalty recovery and refund of investors following due procedure.

Automatic exchange of information: India and Switzerland agree timetable for bilateral CRS implementation and information sharing.
India and Switzerland agreed to negotiate a reciprocal bilateral arrangement to implement Automatic Exchange of Information under the Common Reporting Standard, with technical experts to meet before mid September 2016 and a view to concluding an agreement subject to parliamentary procedures; once signed, the arrangement would enable automatic receipt of financial account information of residents held in the other jurisdiction. The Secretaries also welcomed proposed Swiss amendments to permit cooperation on requests based on data obtained in breach of Swiss law and committed to enhanced administrative assistance under the Swiss Indian Double Taxation Agreement.

Tariff value revised for specified edible oils, metals and agricultural commodities; customs valuation adjusted for import duty purposes.
Central fiscal authority substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of a prior customs notification with updated schedules that prescribe revised tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods, including various palm and soybean oils, palmolein, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and specified gold and silver entries when certain notification benefits are availed; these substituted tables serve as the benchmark values used in customs valuation and import duty calculation for the listed commodities.

Double Taxation Avoidance Convention amendment invites stakeholder submissions on implementation and consequential issues affecting cross-border investment.
A Working Group has been constituted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, led by the Joint Secretary (FT&TR II) and including departmental officers and representatives of SEBI, custodians, brokerage firms and fund managers, to examine consequential issues arising from amendments to the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention between India and Mauritius; stakeholders are invited to submit comments electronically to the designated email address by the prescribed deadline for the Group's consideration.

Foreign Direct Investment approvals and referrals: FIPB cleared ESOP and investing-company proposals and recommended a reverse-merger acquisition.
Two FDI proposals were approved by FIPB: grant and exercise of ESOPs to non-resident employees of a pharmaceutical company, and approval for a company to act as an investing company for certain dormant or software-related subsidiaries. One proposal was recommended to CCEA for approval concerning an acquisition and reverse merger via share swap. Three proposals were deferred for further clarification and seven were rejected; one proposal was found not to lie before FIPB. Affected sectors include pharma, investing company transactions, telecom, power exchange, trade and distribution, publishing, NBFC, IT/ITES and wholesale trading.

Tariff value notification updated: substituted tables set tariff values for specified oils, metals, and commodities for customs valuation.
Central Board of Excise & Customs has amended the tariff-value schedule by substituting three tables into the existing customs notification, listing tariff values in US dollars for specified imported goods including specified palm oils, crude soyabean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and valuation entries for gold and silver where certain notification benefits are availed, with the substituted tables replacing TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 of the prior notification for application in customs valuation and import procedures.

Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement amendments prompt Working Group to examine consequential issues and report within three months.
A Working Group has been constituted, chaired by the Joint Secretary (FT&TR-II), to examine consequential issues arising from amendments to the India-Mauritius Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement; it includes departmental officers and representatives of securities regulators, custodians, brokerage firms and fund managers and must submit a consolidated report to the central tax authority within three months.

Tax administration conference advances taxpayer services and e governance reforms with coordinated senior revenue engagement.
A two day conference of senior CBDT and CBEC officials focuses on reviewing performance and coordinating initiatives to strengthen taxpayer services, e governance (including paperless assessments), business process standardisation, exchange of information with foreign jurisdictions, investigation of undisclosed foreign assets, and litigation and dispute management, supplemented by ministerial engagement and expert panels on service orientation and social media use.

Infrastructure financing secures loan to upgrade state roads and strengthen road safety planning and institutional capacity, promoting local jobs.
ADB and the Government executed a sovereign loan to upgrade designated state roads to two lane standards, finance pavement and ancillary works, develop a road safety master plan, and build the institutional capacity of the State Highways Authority of Jharkhand to manage design, safety and maintenance, with environmental and social measures and state counterpart funding to meet the project's total cost.

Public Sector Bank performance review to assess credit growth, financial inclusion and implementation of government financial schemes.
A quarterly administrative review will examine the operational and credit performance of Public Sector Banks for 2015-16, focusing on credit growth and sectoral flows to agriculture, insurance and micro and small enterprises, and on implementation of government financial inclusion schemes including Stand Up India, MUDRA, PMJJBY, PMSBY and APY. The meeting will also consider stalled projects, remedial measures, housing loan delivery, MSE credit and financial literacy, with CEOs of PSBs, financial institutions and senior finance ministry officials in attendance.

Tariff value revision updates notified for palm oils, soyabean oil, metals, seeds, nuts, gold and silver
Central Board of Excise & Customs, under sub-section (2) of section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) to prescribe revised tariff values for specified goods including crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, palmolein variants, crude soyabean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and certain forms of gold and silver used for customs valuation.

General Anti Avoidance Rule guidance invited to clarify implementation and solicit stakeholder inputs on common transactional structures.
The notice invites stakeholder inputs to inform a Guidance Note on the General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) under Chapter X-A of the Income-tax Act, 1961, effective from assessment year 2018-19 and operationalised by Rules 10U-10UC. Submissions must avoid hypotheticals and, for real-world structures, describe commonly occurring sectoral arrangements, identify the specific provision in question, explain the doubt with supporting facts, and follow prescribed electronic or postal channels.

Customer Rights enforcement urged; banks must strengthen grievance redress, suitability checks and controls against mis selling and cyber fraud.
Banks must embed and operationalise a Charter of Customer Rights into board approved Customer Rights Policies subject to regulatory monitoring; designate and delineate roles for PCCOs, nodal officers, and Internal Ombudsmen to ensure prompt grievance redress and root cause remediation; and remediate systemic risks including mis selling of third party products, electronic banking frauds and misuse of accounts through stronger monitoring, periodic inspection of sales practices, technology enabled grievance systems and compliance with KYC and fair charging norms.

IBRD loan agreement enables urban water supply modernization, advancing city-wide continuous piped water access and institutional reform.
Execution of IBRD loan and project agreements designates KUIDFC as implementing agency for a Karnataka Urban Water Supply Modernization project to provide city-wide continuous piped water and strengthen city-level service delivery through four components: capital investment, institution building, technical assistance, and project management. Initial implementation covers Hubballi-Dharwad with provision for other eligible cities to join.

Public debt management: FY16 borrowings revised down; long dated issuances, T bill repayment and low rollover risk noted.
Quarterly debt and cash management for Jan-Mar 2016 revised FY16 gross and net market borrowings to Rs. 5,85,000 crore and Rs. 4,40,608 crore; Rs. 84,000 crore of dated securities were issued in Q4 with auctions per the calendar, a long weighted average primary issuance maturity (15.74 years) and a cut off yield around 7.89-7.90%. Treasury bill issuance followed the calendar, net T bill repayment occurred amid a surplus cash position, outstanding public debt marginally decreased to Rs. 5,573,332 crore, weighted average maturity of outstanding dated stock was 10.50 years, and rollover risk was characterised as low.

Indirect transfer taxation: rules for determining fair market value and reporting by Indian concern invited for comment.
Income from transfer of a foreign company or entity's share or interest is deemed to accrue in India where that interest derives its value substantially from assets located in India; valuation requires computing fair market value of Indian and global assets under prescribed rules, applying a threshold that Indian asset FMV comprises at least half of total asset FMV. Separately, the Indian concern through which the foreign entity holds assets must comply with prescribed reporting requirements; draft rules and forms have been published for public comment.