Export of non-Basmati rice now permitted under Food Aid Programme and under bilateral trade agreement with Maldives.
The Central Government amended a prior notification to permit export of non-Basmati rice by Public Sector Undertakings and other government organizations under the Food Aid Programme, and to permit export of non-Basmati rice under the bilateral trade agreement with the Maldives, effective immediately.

Tax-free bonds set conditions on tenure, interest floor, commission caps and registration requirements for issuers.
The Central Government authorised specified public sector entities to issue tax-exempt secured redeemable non-convertible bonds in FY2011-12 within allocated aggregate limits, subject to conditions: ten- or fifteen-year tenure; mandatory Permanent Account Number for subscribers; interest rates no less than specified floors relative to Government Security yields (with a less stringent floor for public issues); capped commission rates for public and private placements; and a requirement that bondholders register their name and holding with the issuer for the tax benefit to apply.

Companies General Rules amendment substitutes Form 5 for notices on consolidation, division and share capital increases, effective 25 September 2011.
Amendment to the Companies (Central Government's) General Rules and Forms, 1956 substitutes a new Form 5 as the prescribed notice for consolidation, division, increases in share capital or number of members; the amendment is made under sub-section (1) of section 642 read with section 61OB of the Companies Act, 1956 and takes effect on 25 September 2011.

Prosecution authority: SFIO officers authorised to file and conduct prosecutions under the Companies Act by notification.
Authorization designates named officers of the Serious Fraud Investigation Office as empowered to file and conduct prosecutions under the Companies Act, 1956, conferring on those investigation officers the statutory authority to initiate complaints and pursue criminal proceedings for company law violations.

Registrar processing time limited for filed company documents; prompt registration required unless higher authority approval is necessary.
The Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2011 substitute Regulation 17(6) to require that, except where approval from a competent authority is required, the Registrar shall not keep any filed document pending for approval, registration, recording or rejection for more than sixty days from the date of filing; sub regulation (8) is omitted.

Drawback rules amendment narrows eligible tariff headings and reduces claim period to one month from publication.
Amendment to the Drawback Rules 1995 substitutes the tariff headings listed in rule 3(1) proviso (v), rule 6(4) and rule 7(5), limiting them to headings 0401-0406, 1006 and 3501, and replaces the period "two months" with "one month" in rule 13(4); the rules are effective from publication in the Official Gazette.

Drawback rates for exports prescribed; schedule, Cenvat distinctions and exclusions, effective 1 Oct 2011, superseding prior rates.
Central Government determines rates of duty drawback as specified in the annexed Schedule, with rates expressed ad valorem or per unit and caps, applicable subject to classification aligned to the Customs Tariff First Schedule, procedural compliance under the Drawback Rules, distinctions for Cenvat availed or not, exclusions for goods from warehouses, duty free schemes, EOUs and SEZs, inclusions for packing, composite article treatment by net content, and provision for individual fixation where goods are not covered.

Resident public limited company specified as class under section 28E, with definitions of public company and resident clarified.
Specification of resident public limited company as a class of persons for the purposes of clause (c)(iii) of section 28E of the Customs Act, 1962. The notification clarifies that "public limited company" uses the Companies Act definition and includes a private company becoming public by statutory conversion, and that "resident" uses the Income-tax Act definition insofar as it applies to a company.

Anti-dumping duty amendment removes specified table entries, narrowing scope of duties on rubber chemicals from China.
Amendment to Notification No. 133/2008 omits S. No. 4, S. No. 5 and S. No. 6 and their corresponding Table entries that applied anti dumping duties on certain rubber chemicals from China, effected under section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act and rules 18 and 20 of the Anti dumping Rules; the amendment is prospective and does not disturb prior actions or omissions.

Anti dumping duty continuation on Rubber Chemical PX 13: modified import duties applied to goods from Korea RP.
The Central Government, following a mid term review finding continued dumping and likely recurrence of injury, imposes anti dumping duty on Rubber Chemical PX 13 (6PPD) from Korea RP at specified INR per kilogram rates, differentiated by producer/exporter combinations (including a specific rate for Kumho Petrochemicals Company Ltd.), effective from publication until 4 May 2013; exchange rate for calculations to follow notifications under the Customs Act with the bill of entry date as the relevant date.

Anti dumping duty imposed on Morpholine imports from specified countries, with provisional, differentiated rates and a six month term.
Imposition of anti-dumping duty on Morpholine (sub heading 29333917) from China PR, the European Union and the United States follows preliminary findings of dumped exports causing material injury. The Central Government prescribes provisional, differentiated duties per kilogram in US dollars for named producers/exporters and residual categories, payable in Indian currency; exchange rate conversion follows Government notifications under section 14 of the Customs Act, and the duty is effective for up to six months from Gazette publication.

Export of onions permitted subject to Minimum Export Price and specific variety conditions under amended foreign trade policy.
Exports of onions are permitted with product classification under Chapter 7: onions in powder form are free, while other onion exports are subject to Special Tariff Entries and Minimum Export Price conditions, with higher MEPs for specified varieties; the prior prohibition is withdrawn and the notification amends previous export restrictions.

Research and Development Cess payment and recordkeeping required to secure service tax exemption on technology transfers.
The notification substitutes the prior wording to require that the amount of Research and Development Cess payable on transfer of technology is subject to conditions: the cess must be paid within six months from invoice (or from credit entry for associated enterprises) and, additionally, the exemption is available only if the cess is paid at or before payment for the service; records linking the invoice or credit entry to the cess payment challan must be maintained.

Research and Development cess condition: exemption tied to timely payment and maintenance of linking records for transfer-of-technology services.
The Service Tax exemption for consulting-engineer services on transfer of technology is conditioned on payment of the Research and Development Cess payable under section 3 of the Research and Development Cess Act, 1986 and on maintaining records linking the invoice or credit entry to the cess payment challan. The cess must be paid within six months of the invoice or, for associated enterprises, the date of credit, and the exemption is available only if the cess is paid at or before payment for the service.

Deeming provision in Customs law confirms preexisting assessment powers for customs officers, validating past assessments.
The Act inserts a deeming provision declaring that persons appointed as officers of Customs before 6 July 2011 are deemed to have and always have had the power of assessment and to have been the proper officers for the purposes of the statutory assessment provision, notwithstanding any contrary court, tribunal or authority orders, thereby validating their prior assessment acts.

DFTP concessions expanded, increasing duty-free benefit levels for Least Developed Countries under amended customs notification.
Amendment revises concession rates under the DFTP scheme for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) by substituting the opening clause percentage from forty percent to twenty percent and replacing multiple percentage entries in Appendix I, Table column (4) with higher specified figures, thereby altering the tariff concession levels applicable to eligible LDCs under the existing notification.

Customs exchange rate update: Swiss franc conversion rates amended for import and export, effective from the notified amendment.
Substitutes the Schedule-I entry for Swiss franc to prescribe distinct rates of exchange for one unit of Swiss franc for imported goods and for exported goods, replacing the earlier Serial No.9 entries in Schedule-I; the amendment is made under statutory authority and is effective from the notified date for application in customs transactions.

Service on foreign parties deemed sufficient if sent to last known address of their authorised representatives in India.
The amendment deems service of an order on a foreign party resident outside India to be sufficiently served if a copy is delivered, tendered, or sent by post to the last known address of that party's authorised representative(s) resident in India when the foreign party appears by such representative(s).

Common adjudicating authority assignment: show cause notice reassigned for adjudication by Commissioner of Customs (Preventive) Amritsar
The Board assigns Show Cause Notice DRI F.No.856(30)Ldh/2007/Pt-V dated 22.09.2010 concerning M/s Raghu Exports (India) Pvt. Ltd. and others to the Commissioner of Customs, Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Amritsar, for the purpose of adjudication, effectuating an administrative transfer under the notification framework of the Customs Act and providing a distribution list for notice and service.

Tariff value fixation sets US dollar per tonne benchmarks for palm oils, soybean oil, brass scrap and poppy seeds.
Fixation of tariff values under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962 by substituting the Table in Notification No. 36/2001-Cus (N.T.) to specify tariff values in US dollars per metric tonne for listed goods including Crude Palm Oil, RBD Palm Oil, Palmolein variants, Crude Soyabean Oil, Brass Scrap (all grades) and Poppy seeds, with several palm oil entries noted as unchanged.