Legal representation during DG summons: advocates may accompany summoned persons under strict procedural limits and misconduct sanctions.
Regulation 46A permits an Advocate to accompany a person summoned by the Director General only upon prior written request with a Vakalatnama or Power of Attorney, and subjects the Advocate to restrictions on proximity and communication during the person's examination; misconduct may be reported by the DG to the Commission, which may debar the Advocate and direct referral of a complaint to the relevant State Bar Council.

Vocational education regulation framework establishes a new council to recognize, monitor and discipline training and assessment bodies.
National Council for Vocational Education and Training is constituted as the central regulatory body for vocational education and training, subsuming the existing National Council for Vocational Training and the National Skill Development Agency. The Council is entrusted with development, quality improvement and regulation of vocational education and training, including recognition and monitoring of awarding bodies, assessment agencies, skill related information providers and training bodies. The Resolution also sets out the Council's composition, appointment process, tenure, powers to frame guidelines, enter into recognition agreements, conduct inspections and audits, and regulate grievance redressal, fees, accounts and reporting.

Selection Committee composition updated for Assistant General Manager deputation, altering member roles and appointment procedure.
Amendment revises the deputation Selection Committee for the Assistant General Manager post in the Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority to consist of the Chief Executive Officer as Chair, the General Manager as member, and a Director/Deputy Secretary from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs as member, formalising the panel inserted into the Schedule to the 2017 Rules and taking effect on publication in the Official Gazette.

Customs exemption amendment updates GST registration, wastage rules for jewellery, re import conditions, and adds specified machinery list.
Amendment updates Notification No. 52/2003-Customs to reflect GST registration in place of Central Excise Rules, revises cross references to contemporary customs notifications and the Foreign Trade Policy, removes Central Excise designations, modifies duty payment language to reflect exemption viability, prescribes allowable wastage for jewellery manufacture per the Handbook of Procedures, restates re importation time limits for repair/reconditioning with a one year re export requirement, adds Annexure VII enumerating specified machinery and apparatus, and includes integrated tax and compensation cess among leviable duties where applicable.

Central Excise duty exemption expansion for specified inputs and capital goods, prioritising Fourth Schedule classification and export use.
Amendment revises Central Excise notifications to expand and recast duty exemptions by referencing the Fourth Schedule to the Central Excise Act, 1944 and substituting Annexure A and Annexure B item lists covering captive power plants, spares, fuels, lubricants, consumables, capital equipment, packaging, agricultural inputs and specified raw agricultural products. It removes references to additional duty statutes, confines exemption to excise duty under section 3 of the Central Excise Act, updates rule and policy cross references, and replaces older scheme nomenclature with the Duty Free Import Authorisation Scheme.

General bond obligation for export oriented units secures duty free removals, provisional assessments and enforcement of export obligations.
Form B 17 prescribes a General Bond for EOUs and specified park units as security for duty free procurement, duty free removal for export, limited domestic removals for repair or testing, and provisional assessments. The bond obliges compliance with Customs and Central Excise law, maintenance of prescribed accounts, proof of arrival, fulfillment of export obligations, payment of duties, penalties and interest on demand, and permits recovery from deposited securities or sureties where duties are not satisfactorily accounted for.

Designation of Special Courts enables listed trial courts to exercise jurisdiction under securities and depository laws in their territories.
The Central Government designates specified existing trial courts as Special Courts under the securities and depositories regulatory framework, after obtaining High Court concurrence, and allocates territorial jurisdiction so that the listed courts will exercise statutory jurisdiction in the named States and Union Territories.

Anti-dumping duty on uncoated copier paper imports imposes margins based on landed value differences to regulate trade.
Imposes a definitive anti-dumping duty on uncoated copier paper (heading 4802) from Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, calculated as the difference between the landed value and specified reference amounts in the notification table. Duty applies to specified origins, exports, producers and exporters, is payable in Indian currency, and is effective for three years unless earlier amended, with a specified extension for certain entries. "Landed value" is the assessable value under the Customs Act excluding certain duties, and exchange rates are those notified with the bill of entry date as the relevant date.

De-notification of SEZ area reduces the designated zone following statutory procedure under the SEZ Act and state approval.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the Special Economic Zones Rules, 2006, de-notifies an area of 7.111 hectares from the Sector Specific SEZ at SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centres, Sriperumbudur Taluk, following the developer's proposal, State Government approval and the Development Commissioner's recommendation, resulting in a reduced aggregate SEZ area and identifying the specific survey parcels removed.

SEZ de-notification reduces designated SEZ area, altering land allotment and regulatory status under Special Economic Zones framework.
De-notifies 3.963 hectares of the Sector Specific SEZ at SIPCOT Industrial Area, Sriperumbudur, yielding a resultant SEZ area of 146.921 hectares, under the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 4 of the SEZ Act, 2005 and rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, 2006, following developer proposal, State Government approval, and Development Commissioner recommendation; the specific survey numbers and hectare allocations for the deleted parcels are set out in the notification.

Cost records amendment: Unit of Measurement for Customs Tariff headings mandated and CRA-4 filing window extended.
Amendments revise the Non-regulated Sectors Table to substitute and insert tariff headings and sector descriptions, expand "Paper" to "Pulp and Paper," correct terminology, permit companies with AGM extensions to file Form CRA-4 within the extended period for filing financial statements, and require that the Unit of Measurement (UOM) for each Customs Tariff Act Heading correspond to the UOM in the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, added to Form CRA-I and Note (3) of Form CRA-3.

TDS return deadline in FORM GSTR-7 extended for specified months; consolidated later due date announced for deductors.
Extension of the time limit for furnishing the return required to be filed by persons who deduct tax at source in FORM GSTR-7; the Commissioner, under the Telangana Goods and Services Tax Act and Rules, has extended the statutory deadline for returns for October to December to a single later date, applying to registered persons obligated to deduct tax at source, while all other filing and compliance requirements under the Rules remain in force.

Public sector undertaking exemption: supplies between PSUs excluded from the notification's scope, effective from the stated date.
A proviso is added to the earlier notification providing that nothing in the notification shall apply to the supply of goods or services or both from a public sector undertaking to another public sector undertaking, whether or not a distinct person, with effect from the stated effective date, thereby exempting inter-PSU supplies from the notification's applicability.

GST Practitioner Examination requirement: mandatory certification introduced, with NACIN conduct, biannual tests and pass criteria enforced.
Rule 83A mandates that enrolled GST practitioners must pass a NACIN conducted computer based multiple choice examination within a prescribed period, with NACIN setting schedules, registration, fees, centres, syllabus (Annexure A), fifty percent qualifying marks, no negative marking, rules on unfair means, disqualification, result declaration and representation procedures, and limited relaxation powers. Rule 142A requires uploading summaries of pre existing law demands to the common portal in FORM GST DRC 07A for recovery under GST and prescribes FORM GST DRC 08A for subsequent modification or rectification, with a substituted FORM GST PMT 01 ledger and related form amendments.

Settlement Proceedings Regulations establish a framework for negotiated resolution of securities law contraventions through prescribed procedures.
The Settlement Proceedings Regulations, 2018 establish a regulatory framework authorising negotiated resolution of securities law contraventions by specifying the terms and procedural steps for initiating, considering and concluding settlements, and coordinate settlement processes under the principal securities, contracts and depositories statutes to give uniform legal effect to such settlements.

Tariff value fixation updates benchmark import values for edible oils, metals, and agricultural commodities under customs rules.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, under section 14(2) of the Customs Act, substitutes TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 of the principal notification to prescribe specific tariff values in US dollars for listed imported goods, including edible oils, crude soybean oil, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts, and per-unit values for gold and silver when certain notification benefits are availed, thereby updating the benchmark tariff values used for customs valuation and import administration.

Import policy revised: Gold dore imports restricted while other unwrought gold remains free subject to RBI regulations.
Amendment to import policy for HS code 7108 12 00 provides that other unwrought forms of gold are Free subject to RBI Regulations, while import of Gold Dore is expressly classified as Restricted, thereby requiring compliance with the restricted import regime and applicable RBI conditions.

Export of gold religious idols now permitted with mandatory valuer examination, remittance realisation, confirmed orders and manufacturer verification.
Amendment permits export of gold religious idols (gods and goddesses) meeting carat eligibility, subject to 100% examination by an Approved Government Valuer, realisation of foreign remittance within three months, submission of a confirmed export order before export, a required distinction from moulded gold articles, and allowance only to actual manufacturers; existing permissions for gold jewellery and certain findings remain unchanged.

Service tax exemption for right of way grants by local authorities prevents retrospective recovery for specified period.
The Central Government directs that service tax payable under the charging provision on services by way of granting of right of way by local authorities, as defined for telegraph purposes, for the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2017 shall not be required to be paid, and the direction applies only to actions or omissions before the commencement of the Central Goods and Services Tax regime.

Exemption from registration for casual suppliers of specified handicraft inter state supplies subject to turnover and compliance.
The State Government specifies categories of casual taxable persons exempted from registration for inter State supplies of specified handicraft and artisan products (listed with HSN codes) when predominantly handmade. The exemption is conditional on availing the referenced Integrated Tax notification and that aggregate supplies do not exceed the registration turnover threshold under section 22. Exempted persons must obtain a Permanent Account Number and generate e way bills under rule 138. The notification is effective from 15 October 2018.