Appointment under Customs Act: Joint Commissioner empowered to exercise import adjudication powers for specified show cause proceedings.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under the Customs Act, appoints the Joint Commissioner of Customs (Import Sea), Chennai to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the Joint Commissioner of Customs (Import), Nava Sheva solely for adjudicating the show cause proceedings arising from the notice addressed to M/s. Krithika and Priyanka Technologies issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

Appointment of adjudicating authority to hear show cause notices in a customs import investigation and exercise delegated powers.
An Additional Commissioner of Customs at ICD Tughlakabad, New Delhi is appointed to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of specified Additional Commissioners of Customs at Chennai (Sea Cargo) and Nhava Sheva for adjudicating show cause notices relating to M/s Krishna Impex International and others, arising from the Directorate's investigation, under powers conferred by the Customs Act.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority: Joint/Additional Commissioner empowered to adjudicate DRI show cause notice against Ripple Enterprises.
The Joint/Additional Commissioner of Customs (Imports), ICD Patparganj, New Delhi is appointed to exercise the powers and discharge duties of the Joint/Additional Commissioners at ICD Tughlakabad, Air Cargo Complex Delhi, and Jawaharlal Nehru Customs House, Nhava Sheva, exclusively for adjudicating the show cause notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ahmedabad Zonal Unit, dated 31 May 2010 concerning M/s Ripple Enterprises and others, pursuant to powers under the Customs Act.

Appointment of Commissioner of Customs to exercise adjudicatory powers for specified show cause notices under Customs Act.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, invoking its power under the Customs Act, appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Ports), Kolkata to exercise the adjudicatory powers and duties of the Commissioner of Customs (Imports), NCH, Mumbai and the Additional Commissioner of Customs (Import), JNCH, Mumbai for adjudication of proceedings arising from a Show Cause Notice issued to M/s Fine Enterprises and others by the Additional Director General, DRI Ahmedabad Zonal Unit.

Adjudicating authority: Commissioner of Customs, Kandla to adjudicate DRI show cause proceedings against Frost International and others.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Kandla to exercise the powers and duties of the Commissioner of Customs (Import) and Commissioner of Customs (Export), New Customs House, Mumbai, for adjudicating matters arising from a show cause notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ahmedabad Zonal Unit to M/s. Frost International Limited and others, with the administrative file reference noted for identification.

Customs duty exemption: Nil duty prescribed for specified goods under earlier notification, subject to existing conditions.
The amendment inserts S. No. 70A in notification No. 20/2006-Customs to prescribe Nil customs duty for goods specified against S. No. 270A of notification No. 21/2002-Customs, with the exemption expressly subject to the conditions specified for those goods under notification No. 21/2002-Customs, effected under the powers of section 25(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Customs exemption changes: Raw silk and SPMCIL machinery import duty adjustments with conditional eligibility notification
The notification inserts Serial No. 164A granting nil duty on raw silk of grade 3A and above subject to new Condition 5C, and inserts Serial No. 270A permitting concessional import of specified machinery, spares and consumables for security paper and banknote manufacture and processing by SPMCIL at the stated standard rate with no additional duty. Condition 5C restricts the raw silk concession to imports by the National Handloom Development Corporation up to an aggregate annual quantity and requires a certificate from a Ministry of Textiles officer not below Joint Secretary.

Public shareholding requirement increased for listed companies; public sector firms must offer and maintain minimum public stake within specified timelines.
Amendments insert a definition of public sector company and modify rules on public shareholding: companies listing securities must increase public shareholding to prescribed minimums within SEBI-specified periods and manners; public sector companies must offer and allot a specified portion of each equity class or convertible debentures to the public and maintain a separate minimum public shareholding floor with transitional compliance timelines; listing requirements generally apply to public sector companies except as otherwise provided or permitted by SEBI.

De-notification of Special Economic Zone area reduces notified SEZ area after government approval under SEZ Act.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Special Economic Zones Act and the SEZ Rules, approved a developer's proposal to denotify a specified survey-identified portion of a sector-specific SEZ for information technology at Hi-tech City, Madhapur, after finding statutory conditions satisfied, and accordingly amended the notified area to reflect the resultant reduced extent.

SEZ de-notification: area removed from footwear SEZ after statutory approval under SEZ Act and Rules.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Special Economic Zones Act and the SEZ Rules, approves a developer's proposal to de-notify specified parcels from a sector-specific footwear SEZ at Mambattu after satisfaction of statutory eligibility and related requirements, and identifies the de-notified survey numbers and corresponding areas.

Prohibition on wheat export narrowed to allow specified wheat exports to Bangladesh through Food Corporation of India.
The general prohibition on export of wheat is modified to exempt export of two lakh metric tonnes of wheat to Bangladesh through the Food Corporation of India, substituting the existing paragraph 2.10 of Notification No. 40/2009-2014; the amendment is effected under the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act, 1992 and relevant Foreign Trade Policy provisions, has immediate effect, allocates the notified quantity to specified public sector exporters, and leaves other provisions of the original notification unchanged.

Export prohibition exemption for non-basmati rice permits limited parboiled shipments to Bangladesh from Central Pool through FCI.
The ban on export of non-basmati rice is exempted to allow a specified quantity of parboiled non-basmati rice to be exported to Bangladesh from the Central Pool at prevailing economic cost through the Food Corporation procurement mechanism, to be executed by designated public sector undertakings under an allocation scheme, with all other notification provisions remaining unchanged and the amendment effective immediately.

Customs port appointment: Dhamra designated for unloading specified imported coals and limestone and for loading iron ore for export.
The notification designates Dhamra as a customs port in the Table for the State of Orissa, specifying permitted operations at that port as the unloading of imported coking coal, thermal coal and limestone, and the loading of iron ore for export.

Section 80G specification: Archery Association of India designated under proviso to clause (c) for specified assessment years.
The Central Government, invoking the proviso to clause (c) of sub section (2) of section 80G, specifies Archery Association of India, New Delhi, as the association for the purposes of that clause for the assessment years 2010-2011 to 2012-2013 by formal notification, thereby fixing the entity's administrative status under the Income tax statutory framework for the stated temporal scope.

Special Economic Zone designation enables a sectoral engineering zone and deems it an Inland Container Depot under customs law.
Notification designates a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for engineering at designated survey areas in Villages Surwadi and Nandal totaling 101.25 hectares, following grant of letter of approval under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 for development, operation and maintenance. It constitutes an Approval Committee with specified ex officio members and special invitee for zone administration, and declares the zone to be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act, 1962; the notification was later rescinded as recorded.

Sector specific Special Economic Zone designation enables an Approval Committee and deems the zone an Inland Container Depot.
The Central Government notifies a sector specific Special Economic Zone for electronics hardware, software and IT enabled services at specified parcels in Machenahalli and Nidige totaling 14.5736 hectares, constituting an Approval Committee under Section 13 for purposes of Section 14 with designated ex officio members and special invitee, and declares the SEZ deemed to be an Inland Container Depot from 4 August 2010 under the Customs Act.

Rescission under Special Economic Zones Act revokes a prior government notification, updating SEZ administrative instruments.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub section (1) of Section 11 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, rescinds the earlier notification S.O. 454(E) dated 23rd February, 2010 by issuing notification S.O. 1899(E) dated 3rd August, 2010; the instrument is issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (Department of Commerce) with file reference F.2/432006-EPZ and signed by the Joint Secretary.

Section 80-IB scheme notified under development control regulations with slum development exclusions and mandatory renotification.
The Board notifies the scheme in Regulation 33(10) of the Development Control Regulation for Greater Mumbai, read with the TPB notification of 3 June 1992, as the scheme for the purposes of section 80-IB(10), subject to exclusions of Category VII slum development and clause 7.7 joint-development slum provisions, and requires that any amendment to the scheme be re-notified; the notification is effective from its publication.

ISPM-15 compliance required for wood packaging in exports, making export permissible subject to phytosanitary standards.
Exports of goods using wood packaging materials, including plant and plant products packed with pallets, dunnage, crating, packing blocks, drums, cases, load boards, collars and skids, are permitted only subject to compliance with ISPM-15 phytosanitary treatment and marking requirements as inserted in Table A of Schedule 2 to the ITC HS classification.

Appeals jurisdiction realignment changes bench allocation and appellate routes for specified service tax commissioners in administration.
Amendment substitutes Sl. No. 35 in the 2007 Service Tax notification to reallocate commissioner jurisdictions and appellate routes, designating Commissioner of Service Tax-II and Commissioner of Service Tax-I as the entries for the slot, mapping Commissioner of Central Excise, Raigad to both its own commissioner and Commissioner of Service Tax-II, and identifying Commissioner of Central Excise (Appeal), Mumbai Zone - II as the appellate forum.