Exemption for maintenance services where billing and payment occurred before the statutory cutoff preserves tax-free treatment.
Exemption applies to the portion of taxable services for maintenance or repair of goods or equipment (excluding motor vehicles) under contracts entered before the statutory cutoff, provided the bill or invoice for that portion is raised and the value is received from the customer prior to the cutoff date; the exemption relieves that portion from service tax and came into force on the commencement date, later being rescinded by a subsequent notification.

Exemption for educational coaching services where training is an essential part of accredited curriculum, excluding fees paid directly by trainees.
Tax exemption applies to services by commercial training or coaching centres when such training forms an essential part of another institute's course or curriculum leading to a certificate, diploma, degree or educational qualification recognized by law; exemption is not available where charges are paid directly by the trainee to the coaching centre.

Service tax exemption for commercial training by specified institutes removes levy under statutory provision for qualifying training services.
Exempts taxable services for commercial training or coaching when provided by a vocational training institute, a computer training institute, or a recreational training institute, relieving those services from service tax under the applicable statutory levy. Definitions clarify that vocational training imparts employable skills, computer training covers software or hardware coaching, and recreational training covers activities such as dance, singing, martial arts and hobbies. The exemption operates for the notification's stated operative period as amended by a subsequent notification.

Service tax exemption for call centre and medical transcription services removes tax liability on those client-facing services.
Exempts taxable services provided by a call centre or a medical transcription centre to a client from service tax under the Finance Act, 1994. A call centre is defined as a commercial concern providing assistance, information or contacting customers for sales, telemarketing, payments and related activities using telephone, leased lines, satellite links, mail, fax, web chat and information systems for monitoring and recording on behalf of another person; a medical transcription centre transcribes medical records. The notification took effect on its commencement date and was later amended and rescinded.

Service tax commencement appointed by government notification under section 66(2) to fix the levy's effective date.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub-section (2) of the Finance Act, 1994, by Notification No. 07/2003-ST dated 20/06/2003 appoints a specific date as the date from which the levy of service tax under section 66(2) will be effective, thereby statutorily fixing the commencement of that levy.

Export facilitation of petroleum products: permitted under drawback when payment is received in domestic currency and routed through specified land stations.
The amendment adds a clause allowing Indian Oil Corporation to export petroleum products to Nepal Oil Corporation under drawback when payment is received in Indian currency and exports occur only through specified land customs stations; it also substitutes the notification's conditional introductory words to expressly cover exports under clauses (a), (aa) and (b), made under the authority of sub section (2) of section 76 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Service tax credit rules correction replaces a specific clause reference with the broader sub section reference to fix an internal drafting error.
A corrigendum to Notification No. 5/2003 (Service Tax Credit Rules) replaces the phrase "clause (ee) of sub-section (2)" with "sub-section (2)", correcting the internal reference in the original Gazette notification.

Commencement date amendment: income tax amendment rules now commence from 6th September instead of 1st April.
The Income tax (Ninth Amendment) Rules, 2003 substitute the commencement provision in the Income tax (Twenty third Amendment) Rules, 2002 so that the earlier amendments shall come into force on the sixth day of September, 2002 instead of being deemed to have come into force on the first day of April, 2002.

Foreign investment transfer restrictions clarified; bonus shares repatriability, FC GPR reporting and prior permission conditions revised for non residents and NRIs under FEMA
Amendments add an NRI definition, permit bonus shares to non resident shareholders only if original shares were acquired per applicable rules and subject bonus shares carry the same repatriability conditions; require companies issuing rights or bonus shares to report within thirty days in Form FC GPR; revise transfer rules so non residents may transfer to non residents generally while NRIs/OCBs may transfer only to other NRIs/OCBs, subject to prior Central Government permission where the transferee has prior ventures or tie ups in the same or allied field, with exceptions for specified international financial institutions and the IT sector.

Appointment of Whole Time Member: Central Government appoints Shri A.K. Batra to SEBI under statutory authority.
Central Government appoints Shri A.K. Batra as whole time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India under the powers conferred by sub section (1) of Section 4 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, read with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Terms and Conditions of Services of Chairman and Members) Rules, 1992, by official notification dated 17th June 2003.

Appointment of whole time Member under statutory authority formalizes an SEBI membership through ministry notification.
Central Government appoints Shri T.M. Nagarajan as a whole time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India under statutory appointment authority, pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act and the Terms and Conditions of Service Rules, with the appointment communicated by a Ministry of Finance notification.

Anti-dumping duty rescission on Ferro Silicon: government withdraws prior notification while preserving prior actions.
The Central Government, exercising powers under section 9A(2) of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 read with rule 13 of the Anti-dumping Rules, 1995, rescinds Notification No. 78/2002-Customs imposing anti-dumping duty on Ferro Silicon from South Africa and Macedonia, while preserving a savings provision for actions taken or omissions occurring prior to the rescission.

Excise notification amendment removes a qualifying condition for tax treatment of mineral oil for aircraft, changing eligibility.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, exercising powers under sub-rule (3) of rule 19 of the Central Excise Rules, 2002, amends Notification No. 42/2001-Central Excise (N.T.) by omitting condition (iv) in paragraph 1, thereby removing that qualifying requirement governing mineral oil products for consumption on board an aircraft.

Exemption from NCCD for cars for physically handicapped persons subject to certification and a five-year non-disposal affidavit.
Exemption from National Calamity Contingent Duty is provided for cars for physically handicapped persons for transport of up to seven persons including the driver under tariff heading 8703, subject to certification by an authorized officer that the goods are capable of use by physically handicapped persons and an affidavit by the buyer that the car will not be disposed of for five years.

Excise duty reduction for cars for physically handicapped now requires certification and a multi-year non-disposal affidavit.
Reduction of excise duty for cars intended for physically handicapped persons is effected by amending the principal Central Excise notification to a lower tariff rate. The annexure condition is substituted to require (i) certification by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Secretary in the Department of Heavy Industries that the goods are capable of use by physically handicapped persons; and (ii) an affidavit by the buyer undertaking not to dispose of the car for a period of five years after purchase.

Depository portfolio limits relaxed for high net worth stock brokers; higher threshold exempts them from aggregate holding caps.
The amendment to regulation 19 exempts stock brokers with a minimum net worth of ten crores from the limits on the aggregate value of the portfolio of securities of beneficial owners held in dematerialized form through them, and substitutes the prior monetary figure in a related sub clause with Rupees ten crores.

Tax exemption under section 35AC extended, project cost ceiling increased and donation balance utilisation queried.
The Central Government specified the CRY Supported Development Project by CRY, DDA Slum Wing Barat Ghar as an eligible project under section 35AC for a further three-year period and amended the original notification to increase the maximum allowable project cost; the National Committee recommended the extension and cost enhancement while requesting details on how any balance from donations will be utilised.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for Vaso Arogya Mandal hospital project by central government for a further term.
Central Government specifies continued eligibility under the Income-tax Act for Vaso Arogya Mandal's hospital project-construction, equipment purchase and operation at Vaso, Nadiad-following a National Committee recommendation, extending the project's eligible period for a further three years from assessment year 2004-2005, with an estimated cost of forty-two lakhs.

Tax exemption under section 35AC extended for eligible charitable building and welfare project, maintaining continued tax eligibility.
Central Government specified extension of tax exemption under section 35AC for the construction and running of an Old Age Home, Dhyan Yoga Kendra and Ayurvedic Dispensary at Village Bhagdevar, Mirzapur, executed by Brahmavetta Shree Devaraha Hans Baba Trust, following a recommendation by the National Committee and stating the estimated project cost in the notification.

Tax exemption under section 35AC: government specified extension for a rural welfare project enabling continued donor relief.
The Central Government specified the scheme of running rural welfare projects in health care, education, sports and cultural activities at Jankikund and Anandpur by Shri Sadguru Seva Sangh Trust as an eligible project under section 35AC, following a National Committee recommendation under rule 11M(5). The specification extends the project's eligibility for a further three year period commencing with assessment year 2004 2005, identifies the implementing trust and locations, and records the estimated corpus fund, thereby enabling income tax exemption claims in accordance with the statutory renewal mechanism.