Disposal of seized valuables: amendment expands listed precious items permitted for disposal including gold, silver, and gemstones.
Amendment updates the Schedule to the customs notification to substitute entries expressly listing gold in all forms and silver in all forms, including bullion, ingot, coin, ornament and crude jewellery, and adds a new Schedule item covering diamonds, precious and semi-precious stones, thereby expanding the categories of valuable seized goods authorised for disposal under the notification.

Anti-dumping investigation into lovastatin imports for alleged dumping and injury; interested parties invited to submit information.
Initiation of an anti-dumping investigation into imports of lovastatin from China PR following a petition by the sole domestic producer asserting standing; prima facie evidence shows normal value in China PR exceeds export price to India, indicating dumping, and domestic injury is alleged via increased imports, lower import prices and adverse domestic indicators. The Authority initiates investigation for 1 July 1996-30 June 1997, requests prescribed submissions from interested parties within the time limit, provides a public file of non-confidential evidence, and warns it may rely on facts available if cooperation is withheld.

Permissible ports and airports routing rules for advance licence imports amended to specify designated entry and exit points.
Condition (iv) of Notification No. 31/97-Customs is substituted to provide that "the imports and exports are undertaken through" specified sea ports, airports and Inland Container Depots, thereby prescribing the named maritime ports, civil airports and ICDs as the permissible points for import and export movements under the exemption for Advance Licences issued after 1-4-1997.

Authorized ports for Advance licence imports: specified sea ports, airports or inland container depots mandated by the amendment.
The Central Government amends condition (iv) of Notification No. 30/97 Cus to require that imports and exports under Advance Licence with Actual User Condition be undertaken only through the specified sea ports, listed airports or listed Inland Container Depots, naming the authorized locations for compliance with the notification.

Amendment to permitted ports clarifies eligible sea ports, airports and ICDs for advance licence exemptions.
Amendment to condition (iv) of Notification No. 149/95 Customs replaces the earlier proviso with a new, specific list of authorised sea ports, airports and Inland Container Depots through which imports and exports must be undertaken to qualify for the advance licence exemption, thereby defining the exclusive gateways applicable to that exemption regime under the statutory authority.

Exemption against VBAL clarified to specify eligible seaports, airports and inland container depots for import-export routing.
Amendment under section 25(1) of the Customs Act substitutes the condition in Notification No.148/95-Cus to specify eligible points for the VBAL exemption: listed seaports (Bombay, Calcutta, Cochin, Kakinada, Kandla, Mangalore, Marmagao, Madras, Nhava Sheva, Paradeep, Tuticorin, Visakhapathnam), airports (Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bombay, Calcutta, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Madras, Srinagar, Trivandrum, Varanasi) and Inland Container Depots (Agra, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Delhi, Faridabad, Gauhati, Guntur, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jalandhar, Kanpur, Ludhiana, Moradabad, Nagpur, Pimpri (Pune), Pitampur (Indore), Tirupur, Varanasi).

Advance Licence port authorisation restricts permitted sea ports, airports and ICDs for imports and exports under the licence.
The amendment replaces condition (iv) to specify the authorised points for imports and exports under advance licences: particular sea ports, particular airports and particular Inland Container Depots are designated as the permitted routes through which goods under such licences must be imported or exported, thereby clarifying and restricting the points of entry and exit for the exemption under the notification.

Exemption under VBAL Scheme: permitted ports, airports and ICDs for imports and exports amended to specified locations.
Amendment revises condition (iv) of Notification No. 79/95-Customs under section 25(1) of the Customs Act, substituting the provision to require that imports and exports under the VBAL Scheme be undertaken only through the specified sea ports, airports and Inland Container Depots listed in the substituted text.

Authorization to sit for licensing examinations: regular licence holders may nominate an employee, partner or director to appear additionally.
The amendment substitutes regulation 9(5) to allow holders of a regular licence under regulation 10 to authorise one employee, partner or director to appear for the examination referred to in sub regulation (1) on their behalf, in addition to the agency person who has passed that examination.

Recognition renewal of Vadodara Stock Exchange under securities contracts law grants statutory extension after regulatory satisfaction.
Recognition is granted to Vadodara Stock Exchange Limited to deal in contracts in securities following its statutory renewal application and compliance with the relevant procedural rule, the regulator being satisfied that renewal served the interests of trade and the public, and issuing a time bound three year recognition order under its statutory powers.

Double taxation avoidance: India Sweden tax treaty allocates taxing rights and sets residence, PE and information exchange rules.
The Convention creates a reciprocal framework to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion between India and Sweden by allocating taxing rights, defining residents and taxes covered, and setting rules on permanent establishment, attribution of profits, and specific sourcing rules for dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains and personal services. It prescribes methods of relief (credit and related provisions), non discrimination, mutual agreement procedure for disputes, exchange of information with confidentiality safeguards, and collection assistance, together with entry into force, transitional timing and termination provisions.

Special Import Licence valuation rule for spice imports revised; cooperative and trading entities exempted from SIL surrender.
Imports of cassia, cinnamon, cloves and tejpat are permitted against a Special Import Licence (SIL), with the surrendered SIL c.i.f. valuation required to be set at a multiple of the c.i.f. value of the imported goods; however, certain cooperative and trading entities may import these items without surrendering an SIL.

Exchange rate declaration fixes official foreign currency rate for customs valuation, affecting import valuation from the effective date.
Amendment to Notification No. 62/97-NT-Cus. substitutes the Schedule I entry for the U.S. dollar, setting the official rate of exchange for one unit of that foreign currency at the substituted figure and specifying the effective date from which that rate applies for customs valuation of imported goods pursuant to the cited statutory provisions.

Corrigendum to Merchant Bankers Regulations corrects terminology to public financial institution and fixes form reference sequencing.
Corrigendum substitutes the term "Public Financial Institution" for "Financial Institution" in para 2(e), new regulation 13A, and corrects para 2(g)(i) in Form B by changing the figures "II/III/V" to "II/III/IV", thereby rectifying terminology and cross reference errors in the Merchant Bankers amendment.

Port unloading authorisation: Ranpar Port authorised to unload specified petrochemicals including Liquefied Petroleum Gas and monomers.
The Central Government amends Notification No. 62/94 (NT)-Customs to substitute the Ranpar Port entry, authorising unloading at Ranpar Port of ethylene, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride monomer and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

Exemption under section 35AC: school for mentally retarded children specified as eligible project, extended for three assessment years.
The Central Government, acting under the Income-tax Act and on the National Committee's recommendation, specifies the Sabarkantha Charitable Trust's school for mentally retarded children as an eligible project or scheme, extending that specification for a further three assessment years commencing from assessment year 1999-2000, and confirms the project's approved estimated cost of rupees four lakhs sixty thousand.

Tax exemption for specified rural welfare project extended and approved project cost increased under Section 35AC.
Specification under Section 35AC designates the maintenance scheme of Shri Sathya Sai Gramin Jagriti Seva Sadan-a multi-dimensional rural welfare project including health care, education, sports, spiritual activities and vocational training-as an eligible project for tax exemption, and the Central Government extends the project's eligibility for an additional three assessment years while increasing the approved project cost following the National Committee's recommendation.

Tax exemption under section 35AC extended for hospital maintenance project, preserving eligibility for donor deductions.
The Central Government, under sub-section (1) read with clause (b) of the Explanation to section 35AC, specifies maintenance of S. J. Patel Sarvajanik Hospital at Paliad, carried out by Gramya Vikas Mandal, Paliad, as an eligible project or scheme for a further period of three assessment years and enhances the estimated project cost to the revised amount, following a recommendation under sub-rule (5) of rule 11M of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

EPCG scheme exemption broadened to include poultry, extending concessional import benefits to horticulture and floriculture products.
Amendment to the EPCG scheme import exemption expands the list of exempted goods by substituting the proviso to include poultry alongside horticulture and floriculture products, effected by executive action under the Customs Act to modify the prior notification without altering other scheme terms.

EPCG Scheme exemption expanded to expressly include poultry alongside horticulture and floriculture imports.
The Central Government amended Notification No. 111/95-Customs to substitute wording in the proviso of its first paragraph so that the list of goods eligible for import exemption under the EPCG Scheme now expressly includes poultry in addition to products of horticulture and floriculture.