Customs amendment: horological raw materials included for specified import treatment relating to manufacture of watch and clock components.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 61/94 (N.T.)-Customs by inserting a new sub-item adding horological raw materials for manufacture of component or part or both of wrist watches and clocks to the Rajasthan entry, thereby including those materials among goods recognised for specified appointments or customs treatment at the Jaipur airport.

Double taxation relief: Convention allocates taxing rights, limits source taxation and provides credits plus dispute resolution mechanisms.
Convention allocates taxing rights between India and Italy, applies to residents and specified taxes, and defines key terms including tax residence and enterprise. It establishes the permanent establishment criterion with inclusions, exclusions and profit attribution on an arm's length basis; allocates taxation for immovable property, business profits, air and shipping, dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains and personal services; and prescribes elimination of double taxation by credit or deduction, a mutual agreement procedure for disputes, and an exchange of information mechanism, with a protocol clarifying reservations and entry into force provisions.

Renewal of recognition granted to Ludhiana Stock Exchange for a further term under Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act.
SEBI granted renewal of recognition to Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association Limited under Section 4 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, following an application under Section 3 and Rule 7, for the period commencing 28 April 1996 and ending 27 April 1998 in respect of contracts in securities.

Exchange rate determination for export goods establishes official statutory conversion rates and supersedes the prior notification.
Determination of exchange rates for conversion of specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for export goods, issued under the authority of the Customs Act, fixes the rates set out in two appended schedules and declares those rates effective from the stated date, superseding the earlier notification and establishing the statutory rates for customs valuation and export-related conversions.

Exchange rate schedule prescribed for stamp duty and customs valuation, updating conversion rates for imported goods.
The Central Government prescribes exchange rates for specified foreign currencies to be used in converting into Indian currency and vice versa for calculating stamp duty and for purposes of the Customs Act insofar as they relate to imported goods; the rates are set out in two schedules (per one unit and per one hundred units) and supersede the earlier notification, taking effect from the stated effective date.

Customs exemption amendment clarifies that ultrasonic equipment includes A scan, B scan, pachy meter and cleaners.
The notification substitutes the prior entry in the annexed table to specify Ultrasonic equipment and its component types - A scan, B scan, pachy meter and cleaners - thereby clarifying the scope of the customs exemption for those medical devices.

Rescission of warehousing notification alters applicable warehousing regulation through executive exercise of customs rescission power.
The Central Government, invoking its power under section 61(1) of the Customs Act, 1962, has rescinded Notification No. 10/92 Customs (N.T.), dated 17 February 1992, relating to the warehousing period; the rescission is effected by Notification No. 22/96 Cus. (N.T.), dated 4 April 1996, removing the earlier regulatory provision.

Specification under section 80G: temple designated as place of public worship for tax-deduction purposes, limited to approved repairs.
Central Government notification specifies Sri Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple, Gunaseelam, Musiri Taluk, Trichy District, Tamil Nadu, as a place of public worship of renown for the statutory tax-deduction provision, and limits the specification's validity to repair and renovation works as approved by the competent Commissioner and to the financial extent authorized in that approval.

Appeal filing procedure for BIFR orders sets document, language and registration requirements for timely processing.
Procedure prescribes a detailed appeal filing regime: memorandum of appeal signed by appellant or attorney accompanied by certified copy of order, relied documents with index, respondents list, affidavit verifying memorandum and receipt of order, vakalatnama/power of attorney, separate application for condonation of delay, and ten extra copies; memorandum must be legible, typed or printed with facts in numbered paragraphs and consecutively numbered grounds.

Exemption for diplomatic telephone services: telegraph authority services to listed missions exempt from service tax with location and rank limits.
Exemption is granted for taxable telegraph authority services relating to telephone connections provided to the diplomatic missions listed in the Schedule, relieving those services from service tax under the Finance Act, 1994. The exemption is subject to mission-specific provisos limiting applicability to embassy buildings and ambassadorial residences, to official telephones only, to consulate general telephones at a specified location, or to members of the mission holding diplomatic rank. The Schedule and footnotes record subsequent insertions, substitutions and omissions; the notification was later rescinded.

Double taxation avoidance between India and the Philippines allocates taxing rights, limits withholding taxes, and mandates information exchange.
Bilateral Convention provides rules to prevent double taxation and fiscal evasion by allocating taxing rights between India and the Philippines, defining residence and permanent establishment, prescribing profit attribution and withholding tax limits on dividends, interest and royalties, permitting foreign tax credits (including treatment of incentive based exemptions), imposing non discrimination, and establishing mutual agreement and information exchange procedures subject to confidentiality and domestic law limitations.

Exemption for leave salary: government prescribes maximum limits for central employees retiring within specified periods.
The Central Government prescribes maximum exemption limits for the cash equivalent of earned leave salary payable to its employees on retirement under section 10(10AA)(ii), by specifying monetary ceilings in a Table tied to periods of retirement; the notification fixes the applicable ceiling for employees retiring within each stated period so that the tax exempt portion of leave salary is limited to the amounts listed.

Exchange rate determination for export goods: statutory conversion rates set for application in customs export transactions.
Determination of exchange rates for conversion of specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for export goods under the Customs Act, exercising powers under section 14(3)(a)(i); the Central Government supersedes the prior notification and fixes rates effective 1 April 1996, set out in Schedule I (per one unit) and Schedule II (per one hundred units) to be applied for export goods transactions and related customs processes.

Exchange rate conversion rules set for computing stamp duty and customs, fixing specified foreign currency rates for imported goods.
Prescribes fixed rates of exchange for specified foreign currencies to be used for conversion into Indian rupees and vice versa for calculating stamp duty and for section 14 of the Customs Act insofar as these relate to imported goods, superseding the earlier notification; rates are set out in Schedule I (per unit) and Schedule II (per 100 units) and take effect from the first day of April, 1996.

Delegation of adjudicatory authority: Commissioner of Customs-I Bombay empowered to adjudicate specified show cause notices against named importers.
The Central Government appoints the Commissioner of Customs-I, Bombay to exercise the adjudicatory powers of specified Commissioners of Customs and Central Excise for the purpose of adjudicating the particular show cause notices listed in the Table against the named importers; the appointment is limited to the cases and parties expressly specified and spans multiple ports and jurisdictions.

Designation of Ratnagiri Port for export loading clarifies permitted export cargo under amended customs notification.
The Central Government amended an existing customs notification to substitute the entry for Ratnagiri Port in Maharashtra, so that column (4) now specifies: "Loading of all marine products and cement for export," thereby clarifying the categories of goods authorised for loading for export under the notification.

Customs exemption amendment specifies Microwave Tube Research and Development Centre Bangalore as beneficiary for specified imports.
Amendment to a customs exemption notification substitutes the entry against item No. 52 in Notification No. 128/93-Customs to read "Microwave Tube Research and Development Centre, Bangalore," effected under the power of sub section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962 on grounds of public interest.

Section 35AC project specification extended and project cost increased, preserving eligible status for the health scheme.
Central Government under section 35AC amended the specification of Cipla Cancer and AIDS Foundation's scheme-(a) Hospice for terminally ill cancer patients and (b) Palliative Care Training Centre-extending its eligible-project status for a further two assessment years commencing 1997-98 and increasing the approved project cost from Rs. 200 lakhs to Rs. 230 lakhs, following the National Committee's recommendation under rule 11M(5) that the project was properly executed.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for construction project as eligible scheme following National Committee recommendation.
Central Government specified the construction of Phase I of Bhagwan Mahaveer Cancer Hospital and Research Centre, Jaipur, as an eligible project under section 35AC for a further two assessment years commencing from assessment year 1997-98, following a National Committee recommendation that the project was being executed properly; the specification names the project sponsor, location and records the estimated cost at thirteen crore eighty lakhs rupees.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for a specified rural development project, renewing its eligible-scheme status.
The Central Government specified the Ramkrishna Mission Sevashrama's Palli Unnayan Prakalpa - construction of a primary school building, a 2000 ft. kachha link road and provision of drinking water through tubewells - as an eligible rural development scheme for exemption under the income-tax provision and, following the National Committee's recommendation that the project was properly executed and likely to continue, extended the scheme's specified status for a further limited period commencing in the subsequent assessment year.