Renewal of recognition granted to a clearing corporation, subject to SEBI compliance conditions and regulatory oversight.
SEBI granted renewal of recognition to National Securities Clearing Corporation Ltd. under Regulation 12 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Stock Exchanges and Clearing Corporations) Regulations, 2012, exercising powers under section 4 read with sub section (4) of section 8A of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, for the one year period commencing 3rd October, 2016 and ending 2nd October, 2017, subject to stated conditions and any conditions SEBI may prescribe; the Clearing Corporation must comply with conditions specified by SEBI.

National Savings Certificates: five year maturity, specified annual interest accruals per Rs.100, and graded encashment values.
Certificates purchased on or after 1st October 2016 have a five year maturity; a Rs.100 certificate matures to Rs.146.93 and interest accrues annually at specified rupee amounts (8.00; 8.64; 9.33; 10.08; 10.88), with accrued interest at each year end through the fourth year deemed reinvested and added to face value. Encashment before maturity but after three years is valued under graduated bands for Rs.100 (122.50; 126.72; 131.08; 135.59) with proportionate amounts for other denominations. Transitional references to the earlier 1st April 2016 cutoff are replaced to reflect the new effective date.

Post Office Monthly Income Account: 7.7% per annum interest for deposits made on or after 1 October 2016.
The amendment inserts clause (n) into rule 8(1) of the Post Office (Monthly Income Account) Rules, 1987, fixing the interest rate at 7.7 per cent per annum for deposits made on or after 1 October 2016; the rules are made under section 15 of the Government Savings Banks Act, 1873 and are deemed to have come into force on 1 October 2016.

Service tax exemption for educational institution transportation suspends retrospective liability for the period of prior non-levy practice.
Central Government directs that service tax payable under section 66B on transportation services provided by educational institutions to students, faculty and staff during the specified prior period, which was not levied due to a generally prevalent practice, shall not be required to be paid, pursuant to powers under section 11C of the Central Excise Act read with section 83 of the Finance Act.

Fixation of tariff values set for specified imports, updating customs valuation for listed commodities and metals.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs amends Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 to fix tariff values for specified imports: edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds and areca nuts (per metric tonne), and gold and silver (per unit) where specified notification benefits are availed, thereby updating the valuation basis for customs purposes.

Income Computation and Disclosure Standards adjustments required in audit reports, with specified itemised format and ICDS disclosures.
The amendment to Form 3CD, clause 13, Part B requires auditors to indicate whether adjustments are needed to profits/losses to comply with Income Computation and Disclosure Standards and, if so, to quantify increases, decreases and net amounts across specified ICDS items and provide prescribed headwise disclosures.

Income Computation and Disclosure Standards require specified accounting rules for taxpayers using the mercantile system for computing business and other income.
Notification under section 145(2) prescribes Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS) for computing income under "Profits and gains of business or profession" and "Income from other sources". The ICDS apply to assessees following the mercantile system of accounting, excluding individuals and HUFs not required to have accounts audited under section 44AB, and are effective for assessment year 2017-18 onwards. The Annexure lists ten ICDS topics including accounting policies, inventory valuation, construction contracts, revenue recognition, tangible fixed assets, foreign exchange effects, government grants, securities, borrowing costs, and provisions and contingent liabilities.

Rescission of Income Computation and Disclosure Standards notification withdraws earlier ICDS order, preserving actions taken before rescission.
The Central Government, exercising the power under sub-section (2) of section 145 of the Income-tax Act, rescinds the earlier ICDS notification S.O. 892(E) dated 31st March, 2015, and includes a savings provision preserving actions done or omitted before rescission.

Basic customs duty retention extended to 31st March 2017 for ghee, butter and butter oil.
Substitutes the terminal date in the proviso to Notification No.12/2012 Customs so that the basic customs duty treatment for ghee, butter and butter oil continues by replacing the earlier 30th September date with 31st day of March, 2017, thereby extending the application of the notification for that period.

Backward area notification designates specified Andhra Pradesh districts as backward areas under sections 32 and 32AD, enabling tax benefits.
The Central Government notifies Anantapur, Chittoor, Cuddapah, Kurnool, Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram as backward areas under the relevant provisions of the Income tax Act; the notification is effective from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette.

Audit, issue of Show Cause Notice and Adjudication amended to substitute entries in central excise notification.
The Board amends Notification No. 30/2014-Central Excise (N.T.) by substituting, in the TABLE, column (4) entries against serial numbers 1-7 with the operative description Audit, issue of Show Cause Notice and Adjudication, thereby consolidating the procedural measures applicable to those entries under the notification.

Adjudicatory limits for service tax notices updated to allocate notice-issuing authority by officer rank and value thresholds.
Replaces the Table in the Service Tax notification to allocate authority for issuing notices specifying amounts of service tax or CENVAT credit by officer rank: Superintendents up to a lower threshold (with exclusions), Assistant/Deputy Commissioners up to an intermediate threshold, Joint/Additional Commissioners for amounts above the intermediate threshold up to a higher cap, and Commissioners without limit.

Krishi Kalyan Cess reporting added to Form ST 3, requiring dedicated payment, adjustment and CENVAT credit entries in the return.
The Service Tax Rules amendment updates Form ST-3 to add Krishi Kalyan Cess reporting and payment lines across multiple parts, expands taxpayer categories, inserts Part DB to record modes of Krishi Kalyan Cess payment and adjustments, adds arrears/interest/penalty lines, and revises Parts I and J to require detailed monthly/quarterly disclosure of exempted/non-exempted activity and CENVAT credit balances including opening, receipt, utilisation and closing balances for Krishi Kalyan Cess.

Notified goods designation under securities contracts regulation establishes listed commodities as subject to the statutory notified goods framework.
Notification designates a comprehensive list of commodities as notified goods under clause (bc) of section 2 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956, after consultation with the securities regulator. The Schedule lists categorized commodities-Cereals and Pulses; Oilseeds, Oilcakes and Oils; Spices; Metals; Precious Metals; Gems and Stones; Fibres; Energy; Sweeteners; Plantation; Dry Fruits; and Others-thereby defining the scope of goods subject to the statutory concept of notified goods.

Surety or security amendment clarifies acceptable guarantee forms for concessional removal rules of goods under duty concession scheme.
Amendment inserts the words "or security" after "surety" in rule 4(5) of the Central Excise (Removal of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty for Manufacture of Excisable and Other Goods) Rules, 2016, thereby broadening the allowable forms of guarantee for removals under the concessional duty regime without changing other provisions of the Rules.

Service tax non-levy on Yoga instruction by registered charitable entities suspends past liability for a defined historical period.
The Central Government directed that the service tax payable under section 66B on services by way of advancement of Yoga provided by entities registered under section 12AA for the period from 1 July 2012 to 20 October 2015 shall not be required to be paid, relying on powers under section 11C of the Central Excise Act read with section 83 of the Finance Act, noting a generally prevalent practice of non-levy during that period.

Restoration of confiscated property requires public notice and claimant submissions; pro rata relief may be ordered.
Rules set a restoration procedure for confiscated property: a claimant is one who acted in good faith and suffered a quantifiable loss; the Special Court must publish notice calling claimants to submit claims; where property is insufficient, restoration may be ordered on a pro rata basis according to each claimant's share of loss; claims are subject to a strict filing period with limited discretionary extension; interpretive questions are referred to the Central Government.

Appointment of Assistant Commissioner-cum-VATO to assist VAT administration under Delhi VAT Act effective on joining.
Pursuant to clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section 66 of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004 read with rule 47 of the Delhi VAT Rules, the Lt. Governor appoints the named officers as Assistant Commissioner-cum-VATO, effective from their dates of physical joining, to assist the Commissioner of Value Added Tax in administering the Act; the notification is issued in the name of the Lt. Governor and promulgated by the Deputy Secretary (Finance).

Companies' rules: listed companies must report promoter/top-ten share changes of 2% within fifteen days and provide e voting.
The Amendments require transfer of member particulars from registers under the Companies Act, 1956 into the new register in Form MGT-1, remove filing "in duplicate," change timing language, require listed companies to file Form MGT-10 for promoter and top-ten shareholding changes of two percent or more within fifteen days, substitute Form MGT-6, omit certain procedural sub-rules, and mandate e voting facilities for listed companies and companies with at least one thousand members with specified exemptions.

Customs Act amendments remove specified provisos and sub paragraphs, narrowing prior exemption notifications.
Section 25(1) authorises the Central Government to amend exemption notifications. The notification omits a phrase in 104/2009-Customs that cross referenced certain sub paragraphs and a proviso of two April 2015 exemption notifications. Independently, the April 2015 notifications are amended by deleting one sub paragraph in one notification and deleting the proviso to a sub paragraph in the other, thereby narrowing the conditional scope of those exemptions.