Exemption under section 35AC extended for rural infrastructure project; project re specified as eligible scheme for additional period.
The Central Government specifies that the repair and construction of buildings and purchase of equipment at Thava by Gram Nirman Kelvani Mandal Thava qualifies as an eligible project for exemption under section 35AC, and, following the National Committee's recommendation under rule 11M(5) of the Income tax Rules, the Government extends the specification for a further three year period commencing from the stated assessment year.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for hospital construction and running following national committee recommendation for further period.
The Central Government, under the Explanation to section 35AC and on the National Committee's recommendation under the Income-tax Rules, specifies the construction and running of a hospital at Mount Abu by Global Hospital and Research Centre as an eligible project for a further three-year period commencing with the stated assessment year; the notification records the applicant's details, the estimated project cost and a separate corpus fund and notes that the project is likely to extend beyond six years and is being executed satisfactorily.

Project eligibility under section 35AC extended after National Committee recommendation, allowing continued tax-exempt charitable construction.
The Central Government specified the construction and furnishing of Shakuntia Devi Mahila Mahavidyalaya and Balika Inter College at Kaimganj by Chandra Prakash Public Charitable Trust as an eligible project under section 35AC, initially for three years beginning with assessment year 2000-2001, and, following a recommendation by the National Committee under rule 11M(5) that the project was being executed properly, extended the specification for a further two years commencing from assessment year 2003-2004.

Tax exemption under section 35AC: central government approves institutions and specifies deductible project costs for charitable schemes.
The Central Government, under section 35AC, approves specified institutions and designates eligible projects or schemes for each, prescribing the maximum project cost allowable as a deduction and fixing the assessment years for which the approval applies. Certain approvals are subject to compliance conditions such as maintaining beneficiary records, ensuring access for economically weaker sections, and filing Chartered Accountant certification that prescribed beneficiary proportions received free benefits. Claimants must restrict claims to the eligible project descriptions, respect the maximum deductible limits, and meet the procedural certification and recordkeeping requirements within the notified time periods.

Certificate requirement for Special Economic Zone undertakings: specified Form No. 10CCABA required for section 80HHC compliance.
The amendment inserts sub rule (2A) in Rule 18 BBA mandating that the certificate required under the proviso to sub section (4) of section 80HHC, when furnished by an undertaking in a Special Economic Zone, must be in Form No. 10CCABA; the Appendix is likewise updated to insert Form No. 10CCABA and to amend Form No. 10CCAC to cover sales to undertakings in Special Economic Zones.

Medical certificate requirement for disability deduction: file prescribed certificate with return; temporary certificates have limited validity.
Claimants must furnish with their income-tax return a medical authority certificate in the prescribed form and pursuant to notified guidelines for disability evaluation; where the disability is temporary and reassessment is required, the certificate is valid only for the assessment years spanning the certificate's stated validity. The amendment substitutes the prior certification rule and omits the separate rule previously governing certification procedures.

Amendment to Income-tax schedules: substitution of specified jurisdictional entries, effective on Gazette publication.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, exercising powers under section 120, substitutes specified serial numbers and entries in Schedule I of notifications S.O. 733(E) and S.O. 734(E) dated 31 July, 2001, thereby revising the designation and jurisdictional allocation of Income-tax authorities for the listed entries; other contents remain unchanged and the notification takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.

Exchange Rate Determination fixes official conversion rates for specified foreign currencies to be used in export valuation and customs processing.
The Board, exercising powers under the cited provision of the Customs Act, supersedes an earlier notification and prescribes the rate of exchange for specified foreign currencies in two schedules (per unit and per one hundred units) to be used for export valuation and customs procedures.

Exchange rate determination sets prescribed foreign currency conversion rates for imported goods effective from 1 October 2003.
The Board determines fixed conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for import valuation, effective 1 October 2003, superseding the prior notification of 26 August 2003. Two schedules are provided: Schedule I sets rupee equivalents per one unit for listed currencies; Schedule II sets the rupee equivalent per one hundred units for Japanese yen, and those rates are to be used for customs import valuation and clearance.

Customs notification amendment reassigns the designated proper officer to Commissioner of Customs (Import and General) at New Customs House.
Amendment substitutes the designated proper officer in Notification No.66/2002-CUSTOMS (N.T.) by replacing "Commissioner of Customs, Air Cargo Unit, New Customs House, IGI Airport, New Delhi" with Commissioner of Customs (Import and General), New Customs House, New Delhi, enacted by the Central Board of Excise and Customs under its statutory powers and made prospective without affecting prior actions.

Special economic zone designation: Manikanchan SEZ specified under Central Excise Act, defining location and boundaries.
The notification designates the Manikanchan site as a special economic zone under clause (iii) of Explanation 2 to the proviso to sub section (1) of section 3 of the Central Excise Act, 1944, and records the project location, plot details, approximate land extent, and boundary references to define the SEZ area.

Special Economic Zone designation: Boranada area in Jodhpur declared SEZ under Central Excise Act, specifying land parcels.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Central Excise Act, designates Boranada in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, as a Special Economic Zone and specifies its geographic extent by listing the village, total area and the constituent land parcels (khasra numbers).

Excise duty exemption for cotton waste cleared by export oriented undertakings prevents recovery for the specified practice period.
Under Section 11C of the Central Excise Act the Government records a prevalent practice of non-levy of excise duty on cotton waste (Heading 52.02) cleared by hundred per cent Export Oriented Undertakings and sold in India during the period commencing 23 July 1996 and ending 28 February 1997, and directs that the duty which would have been payable but for that practice shall not be required to be paid in respect of such cotton waste on which duty was not levied during that period.

Sub-broker registration reforms require exchange recognition, infrastructure proof and mandated tripartite agreements ensuring contractual privity.
Amendments require sub-broker applicants to demonstrate adequate infrastructure and obtain exchange recognition; stock exchanges must forward Form B with the broker's recommendation (Form C) and the exchange recognition letter (Form CA) to the Board for registration. Stock brokers and sub-brokers must enter into Board-specified agreements, including a tripartite agreement creating privity between the stock broker and the sub-broker's client. Stock brokers are prohibited from dealing with unregistered sub-brokers, directors of a stock broker cannot act as sub-brokers to the same broker, and recordkeeping obligations for physical and dematerialized securities are expanded.

Post Office Monthly Income Account: interest rate reduced from 5% to 3.50%, effective on Gazette publication.
The Central Government substitutes the figure and words "5 per cent" in rule 10 of the Post Office (Monthly Income Account) Rules, 1987 with "3.50 PER CENT." The amendment, titled the Post Office (Monthly Income Account) (Second Amendment) Rules, 2003, is made under the Government Savings Banks Act and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Anti dumping duty imposed on caustic soda imports to address dumping and material injury, with specified calculation rules.
Imposition of a final anti-dumping duty on Sodium Hydroxide imported from the Republic of Korea and the People's Republic of China, based on DA findings of dumping and material injury to the domestic industry. The government prescribed duties by reference to tariff headings, product specifications, countries, producers and exporters, calculated as the difference between specified benchmark amounts and the landed value, payable in Indian currency, effective from the provisional duty date, with defined rules for landed value and exchange rate determination.

Corrigendum to Customs Tariff Notification amends numbering to correct a published reference in the government gazette.
Correction to Notification No. 142/2002-Customs: on page 6, line 47, replace "(11)" with "(10)" in the originally published Gazette text; the corrigendum cites the Gazette publication details and file reference for the administrative record.

Appointment of adjudicating authority permits Commissioner Jamnagar to adjudicate specified show cause proceedings for M/s RSI Limited.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Jamnagar to act as Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad for the purpose of adjudicating matters relating to the Show Cause Notice issued to M/s RSI Limited by the Commissioner of Customs, Ahmedabad.

Anti-dumping duty on copper clad laminates imposed provisionally, with country and producer specific CIF based duty rates.
Provisional anti-dumping duty is imposed on Copper Clad Laminates (7410 21 00) of specified thicknesses and NEMA grades, originating in or exported from listed Asian countries, based on a preliminary finding of exports below normal value causing material injury. Duties are set as percentages of CIF export price to India, vary by country of origin/export and producer, are payable in Indian currency, and are effective until 18 March 2004. Exchange rates for duty calculation are those notified by the Ministry of Finance, with the bill of entry date as the relevant date.

National advisory committee on accounting standards constituted to advise government on formulation and adoption of accounting policies.
The Central Government constituted the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards under section 210A of the Companies Act, 1956 to advise on formulation and adoption of accounting policies and standards. The notification prescribes the Committee's advisory remit, lists membership categories and nominated representatives from professional bodies, regulators, industry chambers and academia, specifies each member's tenure as set out in the notification, and states that the constitution takes effect from publication in the Official Gazette.