Rescission of clean energy cess notification removes prior notification while preserving prior actions under statutory powers.
The Central Government, under sub section (7) of section 83 of the Finance Act, 2010 and section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, rescinds Notification No.1/2015 Clean Energy Cess dated 1 March 2015 as necessary in the public interest, while preserving effects of things done or omitted before the rescission and recording the administrative file reference and signatory.

Infrastructure cess exemptions for specified motor vehicles permit nil or reduced levy subject to registration, refund and compliance conditions.
The notification exempts or reduces Infrastructure Cess on specified motor vehicle categories by prescribing Nil or reduced effective rates and attaching conditions under which manufacturers who pay cess at clearance may claim refund by taking credit in an Account Current and filing a verified claim with supporting proof of payment and registration certificates for vehicles subsequently registered as ambulances or taxis; officers must verify and determine refunds, and irregular or excess credits are recoverable as erroneously refunded excise duty.

Startup recognition: eligibility and certification required for tax benefits, portal registration and penalties for false documents.
A startup is an entity within five years of incorporation, below a prescribed turnover ceiling, and engaged in technology or IP driven innovation or significant improvement of products, processes or services; reconstructed or split businesses are excluded. Tax benefit eligibility requires certification by an Inter Ministerial Board. Recognition is granted via the Department's portal (or interim process) upon uploading prescribed documentary evidence, triggering a real time recognition number; verification revealing forged or improper documents attracts a capital linked monetary penalty with a statutory minimum. The notification is effective on Gazette publication.

Startup definition clarifies eligibility, recognition procedure, and penalties for obtaining recognition with false documentation.
An entity qualifies as a startup if within five years of incorporation, below the prescribed turnover ceiling, and engaged in technology or IP-driven innovation or significant improvement of products, processes or services; exclusions include reconstructions of existing businesses and activities lacking commercialization potential. Recognition requires portal-based application with prescribed documentary support or interim arrangements, issuance of a real-time recognition number, certification by an Inter-Ministerial Board for tax benefits, and a penalty for obtaining recognition through missing, different or forged documents.

Protected-system designation secures LRIT infrastructure through role-based access, limiting shipping companies to viewing their own vessels.
The LRIT system, including its facilities, information, assets, logistics infrastructure and dependencies at LRIT locations, is declared a protected system under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Role-based access is confined to authorised departments, designated LRIT officers and support staff, authorised managed service provider personnel, and authorised third-party vendors and partners. Shipping companies are limited to viewing rights for their own ships.

Gold monetisation scheme expands deposit and lending options, allowing banks to accept gold and remunerate deposits in cash or gold.
The Gold Monetisation Scheme links a Revamped Gold Deposit Scheme and Revamped Gold Metal Loan Scheme, permitting designated banks to open Gold Deposit Accounts in grams, accept bullion or jewellery after KYC and purity testing, and engage certified testing centres and licensed refiners. Deposits are available for distinct tenures with tenure-specific redemption and interest rules-short-term interest in gold grams set by banks; medium and long-term interest and bank fees set by the government and paid in rupees. Mobilised gold may be auctioned, credited to central bank reserves, used for coin minting, or lent to jewellers; prior tax exemptions apply and a Gold Reserve Fund captures the interest-borrowing spread.

Sovereign Gold Bond scheme enables government-issued gram-denominated gold bonds with tradability, interest, and market-linked redemption.
The Central Government establishes the Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme, 2016 issuing Government of India Stock denominated in grams of 999 purity gold, specifies eligible holders, subscription units and fiscal per-person limits, ties issue and redemption prices to the previous week's average market gold price, prescribes application, issuance and demat conversion procedures, sets fixed interest payable half-yearly with premature redemption after the fifth year and redemption at eight years, and provides for SLR eligibility, use as loan collateral, transferability, nomination, commission sharing and tax treatment mirroring physical gold.

Protected system status for the central identity repository confines role-based access to designated personnel and authorised operational partners.
The Central Identities Data Repository, its facilities, information assets, logistics infrastructure and dependencies are declared a Protected System under the Information Technology Act, 2000. Role-based access is authorised for designated officers and support staff, approved managed service provider personnel, authorised third-party vendors and their partners, and authorised business partners.

Polling rescheduling: fresh re-voting dates appointed for affected polling booths after natural calamity disrupted election logistics.
Polling at multiple Southern Region booths was postponed due to severe rains and flooding that disrupted delivery of election material. The Returning Officer, exercising powers under the election rules, appointed fresh dates for polling: re-voting for Chennai booths S022-S034 on 18th December and re-polling for the other listed Southern Region booths on 19th December, and communicated the change to candidates and affected voters.

Patents: Rules mandate electronic filing and Indian contact details, revise fees, and create an expedited examination route with conditions.
The amendments require electronically authenticated transmission and mandate that every person and patentee furnish an Indian postal address for service, an e mail and an Indian mobile number; patent agents must send all documents only by electronic transmission. Examination procedure changes allow withdrawal of examination requests before referral, prescribe order and timelines for referral and disposal, and create an expedited examination route (Form 18A) on specified grounds subject to corroborating evidence, claim limits and affidavit requirements. Fees rules are revised with a new detailed First Schedule, limited refunds, electronic payment options and non refundability of expedited fees.

Opium poppy licensing: eligibility, quality and cultivation limits determine access to government licenses and future eligibility.
Notification prescribes eligibility and licensing conditions for opium poppy cultivation including priority to prior cultivators meeting specified yields, restrictions against illicit cultivation and tendering adulterated or 'inferior' opium as determined by Government laboratories, limits on licensed area and plot numbers with allowance for leased land, a condonable small excess cultivation margin, and forewarning provisions that minimum qualifying yields, morphine content, plough-back practices and laboratory findings may affect eligibility for subsequent licensing; licensing remains subject to Narcotics Commissioner discretion and possible selection of fields for research or straw extraction.

Exclusive electronic Gazette publication replaces Government printing, while official digital records remain available for free public reference.
Exclusive electronic publication of the Gazette of India is instituted under section 8 of the Information Technology Act, 2000. Gazette content is to be published only through the official e-Gazette website. The Department of Publication must maintain records of electronically published notifications for reference. Government printing and sale of hard-copy Gazettes are to cease, and users may download the electronic Gazette free of charge.

Commencement of Section 132: government appoints date for provisions of Finance Act to come into force.
Central Government, exercising powers under the Finance Act, 2015, issues a statutory commencement notification appointing 29th September 2015 as the date on which the provisions of Section 132 of the Finance Act, 2015 shall come into force, thereby activating the section's legal effect from that appointed date.

Commencement of Finance Act provisions: Parts I (excluding Section 132) and II of Chapter VIII come into force on 28 September 2015.
The Central Government, exercising its statutory power to fix commencement dates, designates the effective date for the provisions of Part I (excluding a specified section) and Part II of Chapter VIII of the Finance Act; the notification cites its authority under the Act and records the administrative reference and issuing official.

Public holiday: second and fourth Saturdays designated as monthly bank holidays under Negotiable Instruments Act, nationwide application.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Negotiable Instruments Act, declares the second and fourth Saturday of every month as public holidays for banks in India, whether or not such banks are included in statutory schedules to banking legislation, and sets an operative commencement date for this monthly bank holiday regime.

Licensing authority for Calcium Carbide now vests in the District Magistrate, changing administrative licensing oversight.
The Calcium Carbide (Amendment) Rules, 2015 substitute the entry for Article 2 in the first Schedule of the Calcium Carbide Rules, 1987 by designating the District Magistrate as the authority empowered to grant licences. The amendment is made under the Petroleum Act, after publication of a draft and receipt of no public objections, and will take effect upon final publication in the Official Gazette.

Territory transfer under Land Boundary Agreement: commencement date appointed for acquisition and transfer under constitutional amendment.
The Central Government, invoking clause (b) of Section 2 of the Constitution (One Hundredth Amendment) Act, 2015, appoints the commencement date for acquisition of territories from Bangladesh and the corresponding transfer of those territories to Bangladesh pursuant to the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement and its Protocol, thereby fixing the day on which the territorial adjustments under the Amendment and the bilateral agreement become operative.

Commencement of Constitutional Amendment: government appoints the Act's coming into force under the enabling subsection.
Under the enabling provision of the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act, 2014, the Central Government, by notification of the Ministry of Law and Justice, appoints the specified date as the day on which the said Act shall come into force, thereby bringing the Amendment into operational effect pursuant to the Act's commencement clause.

De-reservation of small scale industry items removes specific products from exclusive reservation, effective on publication in the Official Gazette.
The Central Government amends the existing reservation notification under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act by omitting specified serial entries from Schedule III - List of Items Reserved for Exclusive Manufacture in Small Scale Sector, thereby removing those items from the reserved list; the amendment takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette and follows Advisory Committee recommendations.

Insurance regulation in Special Economic Zones allows insurers to operate with Authority approval and specified underwriting limits.
Rules permit regulated insurers to operate in a Special Economic Zone with prior Authority approval, restricting underwriting to classes specified by the Authority and requiring acceptance of business to follow the Authority's SEZ guidelines; SEZ insurers may accept cross-border insurance and re-insurance and Domestic Tariff Area entities may procure services from SEZ insurers on parity with international procurement subject to SEZ Act provisions.