Income tax notice prompts minister to affirm legal reply and cooperate after complaints triggered departmental scrutiny.
Receipt of a Income Tax notice by a state minister activates procedural engagement: he confirmed service of the notice, said it followed complaints, sought time to prepare a formal response, and stated he will reply legally, deny any pressure, and cooperate with the inquiry while clarifying his position.

Tariff uncertainty and pending major corporate earnings weigh on market sentiment, keeping indices in a narrow trading range.
Markets opened lower as investors awaited the start of earnings season, led by a major IT company's results, and remained cautious due to tariff-related uncertainty. The report notes that ongoing trade pact negotiations and recent tariff correspondence from a foreign administration influenced sentiment, while resilient global markets and continued fund inflows provided support at the lower end of the recent trading range.

Money laundering allegations challenged after tax department called loan a sham, defendants dispute ED prosecution.
Defendants challenge the ED's money laundering prosecution arising from a complaint alleging AJL asset usurpation for a loan, citing the tax department's finding that the loan was a sham with monies never transferred; they assert the ECIR was registered without a certified predicate complaint, that documents on repayment and interest were suppressed, and that the complaint fails to show generation of proceeds or lawful grounds to pierce corporate or vicarious liability.

Real-time intelligence sharing urged for wider police adoption and training to enhance crime control and proactive database use.
NATGRID directed state police to expand engagement and proactive use of its real-time intelligence database for crime control, urging greater numbers of active users and district-level adoption. The agency offered dedicated training, regular feature enhancements and feedback sessions to improve utilisation, highlighted recent increases in queries, and described the platform as aggregating over twenty data categories to support interagency detection of terror, organised crime, financial crime, counterfeiting and narcotics.

Tax benefits under the National Pension System now apply to the Unified Pension Scheme, aligning pension tax treatment accordingly.
Tax benefits under the National Pension System shall apply mutatis mutandis to the Unified Pension Scheme as an option within NPS; UPS was introduced as an option for new recruits and by one time option for existing Central Government employees covered under NPS, and PFRDA has notified regulations to operationalise UPS under the NPS framework.

Tax parity for Unified Pension Scheme: NPS tax provisions now apply to UPS elections, aligning retirement tax treatment.
Tax benefits available under the National Pension System are extended to central government employees who elect the Unified Pension Scheme as an option under NPS, with the finance ministry directing that NPS tax provisions apply mutatis mutandis to UPS. The UPS was notified as an option under NPS and operationalised by PFRDA regulations to provide comparable tax relief and a one-time option mechanism for covered employees.

Enforcement of ban on banned tobacco products undermined as prohibited items remain accessible, prompting calls for stronger inspections.
Enforcement of the ban on gutka, pan masala and scented supari is being undermined by widespread illicit availability and weak regulatory implementation, with continued sale and consumption in public and government premises. The legislator attributes non-compliance to inadequate deterrence and insufficient regulatory manpower, calls for increased sanctioned strength for enforcement officers, entry checks at institutional premises, and action against celebrity endorsements that promote harmful products, framing these steps as necessary to uphold institutional dignity and public health protection.

Quashing of criminal proceedings sought against alleged passport and PAN offences in election-related affidavits; judgment reserved.
The High Court reserved judgment on petitions seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against Mohammad Abdullah Azam Khan: one alleging a passport obtained with an incorrect date of birth that conflicts with educational certificates, and the other alleging possession and use of two PAN cards with inconsistent numbers in an election affidavit and tax returns. The PAN-related FIR charges criminal conspiracy, use of forged documents, forgery for cheating, forgery of valuable security, and cheating; the petitions seek setting aside the ongoing trials in the Rampur MP/MLA court.

Taxpayer education and services platform launched to provide interactive tax literacy, grievance redressal, stakeholder engagement and facilitation.
A public Taxpayer Hub was established in Chandigarh to provide tax-related education, services and interactive engagement, featuring interactive kiosks, grievance redressal camps, stakeholder engagement, school outreach for tax literacy, and officers acting as facilitators rather than enforcers, using outreach tools such as street plays and short films to promote voluntary compliance and assist taxpayers with queries and complaints.

Reservation for persons with disabilities enables a woman with speech, hearing and visual impairments to secure government employment.
A woman with concurrent speech, hearing and visual impairments was appointed as a Class IV government employee in the Commercial Tax Department after selection on merit under a special recruitment drive for persons with disabilities; she communicates using Tactile Sign Language and is learning workplace duties while receiving recognition from advocacy groups for inclusion and reservation implementation.

GST collections growth reflects strengthened compliance and enforcement measures, increasing state revenue and tightening anti-evasion actions.
Punjab reported a pronounced increase in net Goods and Services Tax collections in June 2025 attributed to enhanced compliance through data-driven inspections and strengthened field enforcement. The State Intelligence and Preventive Unit uncovered schemes involving bogus billing and Input Tax Credit fraud and suspicious e-way bill generation, yielding substantial preliminary tax liabilities. Concurrently, the government outlined legacy debt repayment requirements, planned borrowings to meet redemption obligations, and investments in the Guarantee Redemption Fund and Consolidated Sinking Fund to bolster fiscal resilience.

Tenure extension of tax board chair grants short-term contract reappointment with recruitment rule relaxation and re-employment terms.
The executive order reappoints the tax board chair on a contractual basis for a defined period or until further orders, made in relaxation of the Recruitment Rule and on the usual terms and conditions applicable to re-employed Central Government officers, thereby enabling administrative continuity in tax governance.

Digital transformation of official statistics enhances data dissemination and cybersecurity to support timely, quality data for policymaking.
National statistical administration has advanced a digital transformation prioritising Data Dissemination and public-facing data collection through multiple portals, dashboards, and a forthcoming mobile application to expand access to official statistics. The programme identifies and pilots emerging-technology use cases with international collaboration to integrate proven tools into the statistical production system. Implementation follows a phased strategy that currently focuses on dissemination and collection, paired with strengthened Cybersecurity measures-including a Chief Information Security Officer and external expertise-to protect data integrity while planning subsequent enhancements to processing and timeliness of outputs.

Statistics Day celebration highlights National Sample Survey contributions and launches publications, coin, app, and awards recipients.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will mark Statistics Day under the theme 75 Years of National Sample Survey by holding an inaugural session with senior officials, releasing statistical publications and commemorative items, launching the GoIStat mobile application, awarding the Prof. C.R. Rao National Award in Statistics, and conducting a technical session on frontier technologies and official statistics, including felicitation of data visualization hackathon winners.

Export facilitation expands market access as India flags off first rose scented litchi consignment to Gulf markets.
APEDA facilitated the inaugural refrigerated export of premium rose scented litchi from Pathankot to Gulf markets, coordinating with the Department of Horticulture, a retailer, and a local grower to expand market access for FPOs, FPCs and individual farmers through cold chain shipment and regional production linkages.

Due application of mind in tax scrutiny: queries must be specific and justified, with supervisors ensuring compliance.
Assessing officers must issue only relevant, specific and justified scrutiny queries grounded in the taxpayer's circumstances, exercising due application of mind; assessment unit heads bear direct responsibility for the legal quality of notices and orders. Regional heads must supervise through periodic interactions, monthly reviews against selection criteria for scrutiny, and submission of monthly quality updates to ensure compliance and avoid irrelevant queries.

Project monitoring via PMG urged to expedite intergovernmental resolution of mega infrastructure project issues and improve investment climate.
Project monitoring via the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) was directed to expedite resolution of issues across multiple mega infrastructure projects in Jharkhand, Sikkim, Nagaland, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh through enhanced central-state and inter-ministerial coordination; the Secretary, DPIIT, urged proactive use of PMG, institutional strengthening, and state measures to prioritize and support both public and private projects, with detailed reviews of Patratu Thermal Power Station Expansion, Dibang Hydropower Project, Kohima Bypass Road, and a private GeoEnpro Petroleum Limited project.

Production Linked Incentive Scheme strengthens domestic manufacturing and export competitiveness while emphasising quality skilling and infrastructure reform.
The review of the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme stressed achieving self-reliance and export competitiveness by resolving infrastructure bottlenecks, prioritising quality skilling, and preparing a five-year roadmap for investments and disbursements. The scheme, implemented across multiple priority sectors, has mobilised significant investment, production and employment, and disbursed cumulative incentives to sectors including electronics, IT hardware, bulk drugs, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, telecom products, food processing, white goods, automobiles and components, specialty steel, textiles and drones. Sectoral outcomes noted include higher pharma exports and domestic value addition, strengthened bulk drugs capacity, boosted local procurement in food processing, MSME participation, and growth in textile exports.

Combination approval: acquisition of Aakash Educational Services by Manipal entities cleared under merger control; detailed order to follow.
The Combination Approval concerns the acquisition of equity shares in Aakash Educational Services Limited by Manipal Health Systems Private Limited and Manipal Education and Medical Group India Private Limited, both resident Indian acquirers, by purchase from an individual shareholder. The acquirers operate in healthcare services and management consultancy respectively. The Target provides coaching and preparatory educational services across multiple class levels and competitive tests through classroom, online, distance and hybrid delivery. The Competition Commission of India has approved the combination and a detailed order will follow.

Merger control: competition authority approves Bain Capital acquisition structure in Manappuram group, subject to detailed order.
The Competition Commission approved a proposed combination under which Bain Capital-controlled investment vehicles will acquire equity in MFL via private placement and convertible warrants, trigger and conduct a mandatory open offer under applicable takeover regulations for a portion of MFL's expanded voting capital, and implement a downstream acquisition of MAFL by MFL; a detailed order will follow.