Common adjudicating authority designated to consolidate adjudication of customs show cause notices concerning VVF Limited and associated parties.
The Commissioner of Customs (Adjudication), Mumbai is appointed as a common adjudicating authority under the Customs Act to exercise the powers and duties of two specified Commissioners of Customs for the purpose of adjudicating show cause notices relating to M/s. VVF Limited and others issued by the investigating unit; the appointment consolidates adjudicatory responsibility for those specified proceedings.

Common adjudicating authority appointed to adjudicate show cause notices concerning M/s Krishna Hengyuan Machines and others.
A senior customs official is designated as the common adjudicating authority to exercise the powers and duties of specified import adjudicating officers, consolidating competence previously vested in separate import commissioners. The appointment is limited to adjudication of matters arising from the Show Cause Notice and related proceedings concerning M/s Krishna Hengyuan Machines Private Limited and others issued by the investigative unit.

Special Economic Zone designation for IT/ITES creates notified SEZ area and approval committee, with deemed ICD/Port status appointed.
Notification designates a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for IT/ITES at Vengadu and Pennalur villages, Tamil Nadu, listing constituent survey numbers and parcels totaling 11.885 hectares, confirms grant of letter of approval for development, and constitutes an Approval Committee composed of specified ex officio central officials, two state nominated officers and a developer representative; it also appoints a day in 2009 on which the zone shall be deemed an Inland Container Depot/Port under the Customs Act, 1962.

Anti-dumping duty on Titanium dioxide anatase imports from China maintains differential duty to offset dumped imports' landed value.
Definitive anti-dumping duty is imposed on Titanium dioxide, Anatase grade from the People's Republic of China as a differential amount equal to the Table-specified foreign-currency benchmark per metric tonne minus the assessable "landed value" of imported goods; the measure covers specified tariff headings and origin/export permutations, applies for five years from Gazette publication unless earlier revoked or amended, is payable in Indian currency, and uses the government-specified exchange rate with the bill-of-entry date as the relevant date for exchange determination.

Customs port appointment: Malpe authorised to export ships manufactured by Tebma Shipyards under Customs Act powers.
Amendment to a customs notification under Section 7(1)(a) adds at Malpe an explicit entry permitting the export of ships, vessels or any class of such goods manufactured by M/s. Tebma Shipyards Limited, creating a manufacturer specific export authorization at that port.

Special Economic Zone rules updated to require fortnightly approvals, authorised challans, export repair limits, and identity card controls.
Amendments empower the Central Government to prescribe guidelines for SEZ development and require the Approval Committee to meet fortnightly. State Trading Enterprise restrictions do not apply to SEZ manufacturing units, while iron ore exports remain conditionally regulated. Goods sent out for repairs must return within a prescribed period and replacements do not qualify for export incentives. Units must repay drawback or duty credit for goods destroyed except when procured against foreign exchange. Movements between SEZ areas must use pre authenticated serially numbered challans. Identity cards for entrepreneurs and regular employees are issued in Form K for a fixed term and must be surrendered on cessation of employment or loss of Letter of Approval.

Customs duty exemption for refined sugar permits nil basic duty subject to eligibility, bond, refinement proof and APEDA-registered contracts.
The notification inserts a nil basic duty concession for refined or white sugar imported up to a specified aggregate quantity within the prescribed period and counts earlier exempted imports for that aggregate. It replaces Annexure conditions: qualifying importers include sugar factories and refineries; other importers must produce a contract with a refinery, furnish a bond, and secure a Central Excise certificate within three months proving refinement, failing which differential duty is payable. It also requires APEDA registration of the import contract for concession eligibility.

Research exemption under section 35(1)(iii) subject to separate accounts, auditor's report and certified donation statement.
Approval is granted to the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, for the purposes of section 35(1)(iii), read with rules 5C and 5E, from assessment year 2008-09 as an 'other institution' partly engaged in research, subject to utilisation of sums for social science research, research by faculty or enrolled students, maintenance of separate books of account and an auditor's report furnished by the income-tax return due date, and a separate auditor-certified statement of donations and amounts applied to research.

Research institution approval granted subject to scientific-use, audit and reporting obligations and withdrawal for non-compliance.
The Eye Research Foundation, Chennai, is approved as an approved research institution in the category of 'other institution', subject to conditions: sums received must be used for scientific research; research must be carried out by faculty or enrolled students; separate books of account for research receipts and expenditures must be maintained and audited by a qualified accountant with the audit report furnished by the income-tax return due date; and an auditor-certified statement of donations and amounts applied for research must accompany the audit report. Approval may be withdrawn for failures in accounting, audit, reporting, genuine research activity, or compliance with applicable rules.

Fixation of tariff values - substituted schedule sets per tonne values for specified oils, brass scrap and poppy seeds.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, substitutes the Table of tariff values in Notification No. 36/2001-Cus (N. T.), prescribing tariff values per metric tonne for specified categories including Crude Palm Oil, RBD Palm Oil, Palmolein variants, Crude Soyabean Oil, Brass Scrap (all grades) and Poppy seeds, with most values indicated as unchanged.

Tax exemption approval for an educational and sports society on condition of ongoing statutory compliance.
Approval is granted to Diganter Shikha Evam Khel Kood Samiti, Village-Todi Ramjanipura, Jagatpur, Jaipur, as meeting the criteria for exemption under section 10(23C)(vi) of the Income tax Act for assessment years 2008 09 and onwards, exercised by the Chief Commissioner of Income tax, Jaipur, subject to the society's continued conformity with the statutory conditions and applicable rules; the notification also records a correction to the institution's name.

Special Economic Zone inclusion: additional land incorporated into existing IT SEZ at Gwal Pahari under SEZ Act.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Special Economic Zones Act and SEZ Rules, notifies inclusion of additional land parcels totalling 0.8236 hectares at Gwal Pahari, Gurgaon, as part of the existing sector specific IT Special Economic Zone. The notification lists the specific village, mustatil/killa (survey) identifiers and area for each parcel, reflecting satisfaction of statutory requirements and prior grant of a letter of approval for development and operation.

Empowerment of officers: authorised to exercise entry, search and seizure under tobacco control law for enforcement purposes.
The Central Government authorises designated officers across Customs and Central Excise, Sales Tax, Health, Transport, Labour, Industry, Food and Drugs, Home Affairs and Police to exercise enforcement powers under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, and specifically confers the power of Entry, Search and Seizure on officers meeting specified rank criteria.

Commencement of tobacco control provisions: specified advertising and trade restrictions under the Act are brought into force.
The Central Government, under sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003, appoints a commencement date for specified provisions. Clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 12, clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13, and sections 15, 17, 18, 32 and 33 are declared to come into force on that date, thereby activating provisions on prohibition of advertising and regulation of trade, production, supply and distribution of tobacco products.

Anti-dumping duty on Carbon Black imposed for imports from specific countries with country- and producer-specific rates.
Provisional anti dumping duty is imposed on Carbon Black used in rubber applications imported from Australia, China PR, Russia and Thailand with country-, producer- and exporter-specific rates per kg (priced in US dollars but payable in Indian currency), effective up to the stated expiry; exchange rate for conversion is the Ministry of Finance rate on the bill of entry date; exclusions (except serial no. 1) cover grades N880, N990, N991 and semi conductive grades.

Anti-dumping duty imposed on imported polypropylene from Oman, Saudi Arabia and Singapore, with specified producer-based rates.
The Central Government, based on the designated authority's preliminary finding of dumping, substantial dumping margins and material injury, imposes provisional anti-dumping duties on polypropylene (heading 3902) from Oman, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. A table prescribes specific duty rates per metric tonne in US dollars tied to country of origin/export and named producers/exporters, with nil or specified rates for certain combinations and higher rates for others. Duties are payable in Indian currency; exchange rate is as notified under section 14 of the Customs Act, with the bill of entry date as relevant. The duty is effective until 29 January 2010.

Approval under section 10(23C)(vi) confers tax-exempt recognition to Singhania University, subject to rule 2CA compliance
Singhania University, Pacheri Badi, Distt. Jhunjhunu, is approved under the tax-exemption provisions of sub-clause (vi) of clause (23C) of section 10 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 read with rule 2CA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, for assessment year 2009-10 and onwards, subject to the institution's conformity with and compliance to those statutory provisions and rule 2CA.

Exchange rate determination for customs: specified import and export conversion rates set for listed foreign currencies.
Determination under section 14 prescribes distinct import and export exchange rates for listed foreign currencies, superseding the prior notification and applying prospectively. Schedule I provides per-unit rupee equivalents for multiple major currencies with separate import and export columns; Schedule II provides the rupee equivalent for one hundred units of Japanese Yen, to be used for customs valuation and clearance until further change.

Investment by Indian financial services entities abroad allowed subject to profit, registration, regulatory approvals and capital adequacy compliance.
The amendment to Regulation 7(1) permits an Indian party in the financial services sector to invest abroad provided it has earned net profit in the preceding three financial years from such activities, is registered with the Indian regulatory authority, has obtained approvals from concerned regulatory authorities in India and abroad for the activity, and has complied with prudential capital adequacy norms prescribed by the Indian regulator.

Special Economic Zone inclusion notified for additional land at Nagpur MIHAN SEZ under SEZ Act and Rules.
Central Government notifies inclusion of an additional 18.75 hectares in the multi product Special Economic Zone at Nagpur (MIHAN) under the second proviso to sub section (1) of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006, comprising specified survey/khasara parcels in Shiwangaon village as listed in the Table, thereby adding those parcels to the SEZ area.