Assignment of Show Cause Notice assigned for adjudication under the Customs Act to the designated adjudicating authority.
The Central Board assigns the Show Cause Notice concerning M/s Cortel India to the Commissioner of Customs at the Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad for adjudication, relying on powers conferred by the Notification issued under section 4 of the Customs Act and thereby designating that commissionerate as the Common Adjudicating Authority; copies are sent to the issuing unit, the local commissionerate, the receiving commissionerate, and the board's electronic mailbox to effect administrative transmission.

Assignment of Show Cause Notice transfers adjudication of a customs non tariff case to the designated adjudicating authority.
The Board, invoking the customs statutory framework, assigns the Show Cause Notice dated 27.05.2014 issued against M/s Malhotra Electronics Pvt. Ltd. by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Delhi Zonal Unit, to the Commissioner of Customs at NOIDA for the purpose of adjudication, effecting an administrative transfer of adjudicatory responsibility and directing service copies to relevant offices and the Board web administrator.

Assignment of adjudication: show cause notices reallocated to Commissioner of Customs for adjudication under Customs law.
The Commissioner of Customs (Import & General), IGI Airport, New Delhi is designated as the Common Adjudicating Authority to adjudicate specific show cause notices issued by an investigative revenue authority; the order transfers adjudicatory responsibility for the named notices to that Commissioner and circulates the assignment to relevant revenue and customs offices for further action.

Customs amendment authorises an additional inland location for defence-related unloading and loading of imported and export goods.
The notification inserts item (f) Hindon, Ghaziabad into the table of Notification No. 61/94 Customs (N.T.), authorising unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods or any class of such goods related to the Ministry of Defence, Government of India, thereby expanding authorised ICD/LCS/port operations under the principal notification. The amendment is time limited and issued under clause (a) of sub section (1) of section 7 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Tax deduction eligibility: approved institution and social welfare project qualified for specified deductible cost across a three year approval period.
Notification approves Rashtriya Seva Samithi's health and welfare project for specified disadvantaged groups in designated districts and specifies the estimated project cost, the maximum amount eligible as a deduction under the Income Tax deduction provision, and a three financial year period of approval commencing with 2013-14 through 2015-16, with no deduction available for the already lapsed initial year.

Deduction under Section 35AC: notification lists approved institutions and projects with specified deductible costs during the approval period.
Notification under Section 35AC lists seventeen institutions approved by the National Committee, specifies for each the eligible project or scheme, records the estimated project cost and the maximum amount of that cost allowable as a deduction under Section 35AC, and fixes the period of approval as three financial years commencing with 2014-15. The Table covers projects in housing, medical care and research, vocational training, education, agro-horticulture and rural health services, and a later substitution amended one listed cost figure.

VAT exemption granted to Embassy of the Russian Federation and its officials and families, excluding locally recruited staff.
Amendment adds the Embassy of the Russian Federation to the Sixth Schedule, making the VAT Refund facility available to that Embassy and to its officials and members of their families, while explicitly excluding locally recruited staff irrespective of citizenship; the change is effected under the Commissioner's powers pursuant to section 103(2) of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004.

Pending company filings: incomplete applications filed earlier may, on submission, be disposed under prior Companies Act rules.
Pending applications or forms filed before these amendment rules but not disposed for want of information or documents shall, upon submission of the required information or documents to the satisfaction of the authority, be disposed of in accordance with the rules made under the Companies Act, 1956.

Companies Amendment narrows 'a director' in rule 3 to exclude independent directors upon publication under Companies Act.
The Central Government amends the Companies (Specification of definitions details) Rules, 2014 by inserting the words 'other than an independent director' after 'a director' in rule 3; the amendment, made under delegated powers from the Companies Act, takes effect upon publication in the Official Gazette.

Exchange rate determination updated: prescribed conversion rates for foreign currencies for imports and exports now in force.
Determination under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, prescribing rupee conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for import and export goods, effective from 18th July, 2014. Schedule I lists per-unit rates for each currency for imports and exports; Schedule II lists rates per 100 units for specified currencies. The notification supersedes the earlier cited notification except as to prior actions.

De-notification of SEZ land follows statutory procedure, reducing the designated SEZ area after required approvals and recommendations.
The Central Government, invoking the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Special Economic Zones Act and rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, de-notifies 2.17 hectares of the Chelembra SEZ after satisfaction of sub-section (8) of section 3 requirements, State no-objection, and Development Commissioner recommendation, reducing the SEZ to a resultant area of 10.35 hectares and specifying the affected parts of survey number 2/220.

Tariff value fixation updated under Customs Act powers, establishing revised valuation benchmarks for specified imported commodities.
CBEC, exercising powers under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, amends Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE 1, TABLE 2 and TABLE 3 with revised tariff value schedules. The new tables set fixed US dollar tariff values for specified imported goods-including edible oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and gold and silver where related notification benefits apply-to serve as customs valuation benchmarks.

De-notification of SEZ land reduces zone area following central approval and state no objection, altering notified parcels.
The Central Government de-notifies 8.56 hectares from the Special Economic Zone proposed by M/s. Shyamaraju and Company (India) Private Ltd. at Kundalahalli, Bangalore, reducing the SEZ area from 21.76 hectares to 13.20 hectares under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and SEZ Rules, 2006. The action follows the company's proposal, a prior letter of approval for de-notification, the State Government's no objection, and the Development Commissioner's recommendation, and the notification lists the affected survey parcels with resultant area adjustments.

Statutory appointment under the Delhi VAT Act: administrative member named, appointment subject to pending judicial review.
The Lt. Governor, invoking sub section (1) of section 73 of the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, appoints Sh. Diwan Chand as Member (Administrative) of the Delhi Value Added Tax Appellate Tribunal for a tenure of three years from date of joining, with the appointment expressly made subject to the final judgment in the writ petition filed by the Sales Tax Bar Association.

Appointment under Value Added Tax Act: Member (Judicial) designated for three-year term, subject to pending writ challenge.
Appointment under the Value Added Tax Act by gubernatorial notification names Sh. Madhu Sudan Wadhwa as Member (Judicial) of the Delhi Value Added Tax Appellate Tribunal for a three-year term from joining, conditioned on the final judgment in a pending writ petition by the Sales Tax Bar Association; notification dated 11 July 2014.

Interest accrual and reinvestment: revised NSC interest schedule and encashment values effective from start of financial year.
Amendments prescribe a year by year interest accrual schedule for certificates purchased on or after the start of the financial year, require accrual of interest to holders with accruals up to the fourth year deemed reinvested and aggregated with face value, set a specified maturity amount for the Rs.100 denomination, and add an encashment valuation Table for certificates encashed after three years with amounts inclusive of interest after discount adjustment, applicable proportionately to other denominations.

National Savings Certificates: five year maturity, annual interest accruals with reinvestment, and tiered early encashment rates.
The amendment sets a five year maturity period for National Savings Certificates purchased on or after 1 April 2014, prescribes annual interest accruals for a Rs.100 denomination with accrued interest through year four deemed reinvested and aggregated with face value, and specifies proportionate rates for other denominations. It also provides a tiered table fixing amounts payable on encashment after three years but before maturity, and substitutes transitional date references so purchases between 1 April 2013 and 1 April 2014 remain under prior rules.

Post Office Monthly Income Account: 8.4% interest for deposits made on or after April 1, 2014.
The Central Government amends rule 8(1) of the Post Office (Monthly Income Account) Rules, 1987 by inserting clause (l) prescribing 8.4 per cent per annum in respect of deposits made on or after the 1st day of April, 2014, and declares the amendment to be deemed to have come into force on 1 April 2014.

Resident private limited company may seek advance customs rulings, clarifying eligibility under the advance-ruling framework.
Specification designates resident private limited company as eligible to obtain advance rulings on customs matters; "private limited company" and "resident" adopt the statutory meanings from company and income-tax law respectively for the purpose of identifying eligible applicants.

Baggage allowance amendments raise monetary limits and revise cigarette and tobacco quantity thresholds for duty exemptions.
The amendment revises Appendix A monetary thresholds by substituting higher figures in item (ii) for clause (a) and for clauses (b) and (c), and replaces Annex I item 3 with a provision specifying limits on cigarettes, cigars and tobacco for baggage purposes; the rules commence on publication in the Official Gazette.