Import licence requirement for live poultry permitted on recommendation of the Department of Agriculture, imposing conditional import authorisation.
The ITC (HS) classification for live poultry entries is amended so that import is permitted against a licence on the recommendation of the Department of Agriculture & Co-operation, conditioning import clearance on departmental endorsement and reflecting a public-interest trade-control measure under the export-import policy framework.

Import exemption conditions for fuel injection parts require use undertakings and Central Excise certificates confirming manufacture use.
The amendment grants conditional concessional treatment for specified fuel injection equipment parts and related machinery when imported for manufacture, warranty or after sales service purposes up to the stated cut off date. Importers must furnish an undertaking that the goods will be used for the Table specified purposes; for parts in categories (A), (B) and (C) they must produce, within a period specified by the Assistant Commissioner of Customs, a certificate from the Assistant Commissioner of Central Excise confirming use, and for category (D) goods they must not sell or dispose of them for two years and must similarly produce the Central Excise certificate within the specified period.

Capital gains reinvestment under Section 54EA permits investment in specified company shares subject to a fixed retention period.
Specification under Section 54EA designates shares to be issued by M/s. Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited as eligible for reinvestment of long term capital gains. The notification authorises issuance within one year up to the stated ceiling, conditions eligibility on investment of proceeds arising under the head "Capital gains" from transfer of long term capital assets, and provides that if the allotted shares are transferred within a three year retention period the initial investment shall be chargeable to tax as capital gains under sub section (2).

Capital gains reinvestment: specified shares issuance allows exemption subject to multi-year transfer clawback and tax chargeability.
Notification specifies that Infrastructure Development Finance Company Limited will issue specified shares within one year in an aggregate amount set out in the notification; investment in those shares qualifies only when made out of long-term capital gains. If the assessee transfers the allotted shares within seven years of allotment, the initial investment becomes chargeable to tax under the head Capital gains in accordance with the statutory provision.

Exemption for advertising and courier services extended by amending notification to include additional countries for UN-related services.
Amendment expands the service tax exemption for advertising and courier agencies providing services to the UN or international organisations by inserting additional country entries into the Schedule of Notification No. 44/98-Service tax (via Notification No. 47/98-Service tax dated 1-4-1998), adding Sl. Nos. 57-65 to identify jurisdictions covered by the exemption.

Commencement of Central Excise Rules amendment: amended notification to come into force on May first under section 37.
The amendment substitutes sub clause (2) of clause 1 of Notification No. 7/98 Central Excise (N.T.) to fix the date on which the amended provisions shall come into force, promulgated under the authority of section 37 of the Central Excise Act, 1944.

In-house R&D approval: Secretary DSIR designated authority; separate audited accounts and formal approval required to claim deduction.
The amendments designate the Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research as the prescribed authority to approve company in-house R&D facilities for tax deduction purposes; applications must be in Form 3CK, approvals issued in Form 3CM and reports forwarded in Form 3CL. Approvals require that the facility not be limited to non-scientific activities, that separate accounts be maintained and annually audited and submitted by 31 October, and that assets for the facility cannot be disposed of without prior approval. An agreement and specified documentary submissions are mandated for claiming the deduction.

Exchange rate determination under Customs Act sets conversion rates for specified foreign currencies for export goods.
Central Government prescribes conversion rates for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for export goods under section 14(3)(a)(i) of the Customs Act, superseding a prior notification; the applicable rates are listed in two schedules-one giving rates per single unit and the other per one hundred units-and the notification specifies the date from which these rates apply.

Exchange rates for imported goods set for stamp duty and customs valuation, superseding prior notification and prescribing listed currency rates.
Prescribes official rates of exchange for specified foreign currencies to govern calculation of stamp duty under the Indian Stamp Act and valuation under section 14 of the Customs Act for imported goods; supersedes prior Notification No. 17/98 and fixes that, with effect from 1st April, 1998, the conversion rate for each currency listed in Schedules I and II shall be the rate shown opposite that currency.

Removal of mineral oil between warehouses amended to add new specified locations and expand listed transfer points.
Amendment to Notification No. 266/67-C.E. adds Nandesari (Gujarat) and Manmad (Maharashtra) to paragraph 2, clause (1) and substitutes in paragraph 3, clause (a) the words "Gummalladoddi and Kattubadipalem" with "Gummalladoddi, Kattubadipalem, Koyali and Mumbai", expanding specified locations for removal of mineral oil products between warehouses under Chapter VII.

Entity name amendment: correction to ITC (HS) licensing note updates corporate name and location in export-import classifications.
The Government amends licensing note No. (2) of Chapter 48 in the ITC (HS) classifications, replacing "Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai" with "Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Ltd., Bangalore" to correct the corporate name and location for licensing and classification purposes, issued under the Foreign Trade Act and Export-Import Policy authority in the public interest.

Approval as Housing Finance Company grants section 36(1)(viii) recognition for specified assessment years subject to compliance.
Central Government approval designates Character Housing Finance Ltd., Anand, as a housing finance company for purposes of the Income-tax provision on housing loan deductions for the specified assessment years, subject to the condition that the company conforms to and complies with the statutory requirements of that provision.

Appointment of adjudicating authority designates a commissioner to adjudicate specified customs show cause notices involving named importers.
The Central Government appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Air Cargo), Delhi to be the adjudicating authority under sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962 for specified show cause notices listed by importer and original issuing authority, transferring adjudication of those particular matters to the designated commissioner.

Exemption under section 35AC: hospital centre project specified as eligible for further assessment years following government notification.
The Central Government specified the Hospital Centre at Trivandrum of Ramakrishna Math as an eligible project for tax exemption, extending its recognition for a further period of three assessment years commencing from the assessment year 1999-2000, following a National Committee recommendation that the project was being properly executed; the notification records the project's estimated cost as rupees fifty-six lakhs.

Exemption under section 35AC: Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust's rural welfare projects specified as eligible for three assessment years.
The Central Government specifies the Running of Multifarious Rural Welfare projects by Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra as an eligible project or scheme under section 35AC, fixing eligibility to three assessment years commencing with assessment year 1998-99 and formally approving an enhanced estimated project cost following the National Committee's recommendation.

Exemption under section 35AC: Helpage India projects for elderly and leprosy care specified as eligible for further tax benefit.
Central Government specifies Helpage India's scheme-medical care for old persons and leprosy patients, provision of homes for the aged, rehabilitation of destitute old women and conducting eye camps-as an eligible project under the income-tax exemption framework, extending eligibility for a further three assessment years commencing with the assessment year 1999-2000, following the National Committee's recommendation and noting the project's estimated cost.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for specified charitable construction project, allowing continued eligibility for a further period.
The Central Government re-specifies the construction of an overhead tank, Nurses Training School with hostel and doctors' quarters at Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kankhal, Hardwar, UP as an eligible project for exemption under section 35AC, following a recommendation by the National Committee that the project is being executed properly, and authorises its eligibility for a further three assessment years commencing from the assessment year 1999-2000 by Notification S.O. 219(E).

Notification amendment under section 35AC deletes a location qualifier, altering the notification's territorial wording.
Central Government amends the earlier notification issued under the Explanation to section 35AC, deleting the words "at Mumbai, Maharashtra" from the entry at Serial No. 14, column 3 of S. O. No. 862(E), thereby altering the notification's territorial wording on the recommendation of the National Committee.

Section 35AC exemption extended for equipment and furnishing of specified eye hospital, eligible for further three assessment years.
The Central Government, under sub-section (1) read with clause (b) of the Explanation to section 35AC of the Income-tax Act, specifies the equipment and furnishing project of Dr. S. R. K. Malik Memorial Eye Hospital of MMR Research and Eye Care Foundation as an eligible project or scheme for a further period of three assessment years commencing from the assessment year 1999-2000, following a recommendation by the National Committee that execution was satisfactory and an earlier specification for an initial three-year period.

Tax exemption under section 35AC extended for Ankleshwar rural development project, allowing continued eligible deductions.
Central Government specified the development and extension of educational, medical and sports facilities in 50 villages around Ankleshwar as an eligible project under section 35AC, extending its eligibility for a further period of two assessment years commencing from the assessment year 1999-2000, and identifying the project scope and estimated cost.