Deduction under section 35AC: government notifies approved institutions and eligible projects with fixed deductible cost ceilings.
Notification under section 35AC lists approved institutions and their eligible projects or schemes, specifies estimated project costs (including corpus funds where noted), and fixes the maximum amount of cost allowable as a deduction under section 35AC. The Table in the notification ties each named institution to specified activities and quantified cost ceilings and indicates the financial years during which the deduction entitlement applies, with most approvals covering three financial years commencing 2010-11 and one entry covering two years.

Exemption from additional customs duty for specified airline-imported printed and promotional materials when brought by designated foreign carriers.
Exempts printed ticket stocks, airway bills, printed materials bearing the importing airline's insignia (including baggage tags), and publicity material for free distribution from the whole of the additional customs duty and the integrated tax specified in the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act when imported into India by a designated airline named in the Schedule and registered or incorporated in a specified country.

Anti-dumping provisional assessment on bus and truck radial tyres from named exporter pending review, subject to security and retrospective duty.
Provisional assessment of anti-dumping duty is imposed on imports of Bus and Truck Radial Tyres exported by M/s. Shandong Hawk International Rubber Industry Company Limited from China PR pending a new-shipper review; customs may require security or guarantee to cover any deficiency, and importers will be liable to pay any definitive duty recommended on review retrospectively from the date of initiation.

Anti Dumping Duty corrigendum updates tariff description, removing PTN from listed items to clarify classification.
Note 4 after the duty table in Notification No. 125/2010-Customs is revised to replace the phrase "Routers, PTN, PDSN" with "Routers, PDSN", removing the reference to PTN and effecting a textual correction to the notification.

Special Economic Zone notified for electronic hardware and IT, constituting an Approval Committee and deeming it an Inland Container Depot.
Notification designates a sector specific Special Economic Zone for electronic hardware, software, information technology and IT-enabled services at Knowledge Park-V, Greater Noida, records prior approval for its development, operation and maintenance, constitutes an Approval Committee with specified ex officio members and special invitees for administration, and declares that the SEZ shall be deemed an Inland Container Depot under the Customs Act from the appointed date.

Special Economic Zone designation for gems and jewellery enables notified area, approval committee and customs depot status.
Notification designates a sector-specific Special Economic Zone for the Gems and Jewellery sector at Village Bhondsi, Tehsil Sohna, District Gurgaon, Haryana, identifying specific land parcels totaling 10.4550 hectares. The Central Government constitutes an Approval Committee composed of specified ex officio central officials, nominated state officers and a developer representative to oversee approvals for the SEZ. The notification also declares the SEZ area to be deemed an Inland Container Depot/Port under the Customs Act, conferring customs-related status on the notified zone from the appointed commencement date.

Exemption under section 35(1)(ii): approval subject to use-for-research, separate audited accounts, and certified donation statement.
Approval under section 35(1)(ii) is granted to the institution subject to conditions: sums must be used for scientific research; research must be conducted 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 submitted to the tax authority by the income-tax return due date; and a separately certified statement of donations and amounts applied for research must accompany the audit report. Approval may be withdrawn for failures to maintain accounts, furnish required reports, cease genuine research activity, or otherwise fail to comply with the statutory conditions and rules.

Export restriction on cotton yarn: exports allowed only under licence with prior contract registration and customs verification.
Export of cotton yarn under tariff codes 5205, 5206 and 5207 is restricted and permitted only under licence; export contracts must be registered with the Directorate General of Foreign Trade prior to shipment and Customs shall clear consignments only after verifying such registration. Transitional FTP provisions do not apply, but exporters with Textile Commissioner registration on or before 1 December 2010 may export within their registered quantity and contract validity; expired registered contracts confer no export rights.

Prohibition on onion exports imposes an immediate ban on most varieties; select varieties remain exportable under licence.
The Central Government, relying on the Foreign Trade Act and FTP para 2.1, has prohibited export of all varieties of onions listed at Sl. No. 44 of Table B of Schedule 2 of the ITC(HS). The ITC(HS) entry treats onions in various forms and distinguishes general onions as prohibited, while Bangalore Rose and Krishnapuram onions are restricted and exportable only under licence subject to a Minimum Export Price; transitional FTP arrangements are not applicable.

Customs duty amendment: revised exemption quantity and differentiated duty rates for specified rubber import tariff items.
Amendment to Notification No.21/2002 adds a proviso permitting goods specified at new serial 491B to qualify under the notification if imported by the stated cut-off date, and inserts entries 491A and 491B in the Table: 491A grants a limited aggregate exemption for specified tariff items subject to a concessional duty rate for the remainder of the financial year; 491B applies to all other imports of those items and prescribes a differentiated duty rate mechanism.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority: Commissioner of Central Excise, Salem to adjudicate show cause notice matters issued by DRI.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs appoints the Commissioner of Central Excise, Salem to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the Commissioner of Customs, Tuticorin for adjudicating matters arising from the show cause notice issued to Shri R. Ramaraj and others by the Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Chennai Zonal Unit, under section 4(1) of the Customs Act, 1962.

Foreign VC registration now mandates minimum capital commitment and supporting investor documents and contact details.
Form A now requires firm commitment letters from investors showing an aggregate minimum capital commitment, financial statements of the applicant and the investors who provided such commitments for the preceding financial year, and the names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of all directors and of all investors who furnished firm commitment letters.

Service tax exemption for general insurance services under specified agricultural insurance schemes removes tax liability for those scheme-related services.
The Central Government exempts taxable services relating to general insurance business provided under the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme and the Modified National Agricultural Insurance Scheme from the whole of service tax leviable thereon, on grounds of public interest, applying to services implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Deferment of effective date: service tax amendment delays implementation of rail goods transport change to April.
The Government, under powers conferred by the Finance Act, substitutes 'January 2011' with 'April 2011' in paragraph 3 of Notification No.09/2010-Service Tax, deferring the implementation date of the amendment relating to transport of goods by rail.

Exemption for rail goods transport extended by amending the service tax notification to defer its expiry date.
This amendment to Notification No.08/2010-Service Tax substitutes 'January 2011' with 'April 2011', thereby extending the temporal coverage of the exemption for specified activities relating to transportation of goods by train; it is issued under sub section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 and published as Notification No.56/2010-Service Tax.

Exemption for transport of goods by rail extended until April 2011 under Finance Act statutory authority.
The Central Government, using its power under section 93(1) of the Finance Act, 1994, amends Notification No.07/2010-Service Tax by substituting the word and figures 'January 2011' in paragraph 2 with 'April 2011', thereby extending the temporary service tax exemption for the transport of goods by rail.

Service tax exemption for management, maintenance or repair expanded to include bridges, tunnels, dams, airports, railways and transport terminals.
The notification substitutes the phrase "management, maintenance or repair of roads" with "management, maintenance or repair of roads, bridges, tunnels, dams, airports, railways and transport terminals", expanding the category of services eligible for exemption. The amendment is made under sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 by modification of Notification No. 24/2009-Service Tax.

Service tax exemption for packaged software where excise or customs duties paid, subject to invoice declaration.
The taxable service of supplying packaged or canned software is exempt from service tax provided the value of the software has been determined under the statutory valuation mechanism and the appropriate duties of excise or appropriate duties of customs have been paid by the manufacturer, copyright holder or importer as applicable, and the service provider declares on the invoice that no amount in excess of the declared retail sale price has been recovered from the customer.

Rescission of exemption for imported packaged software removes prior duty-paid service tax relief while preserving past acts.
The Central Government rescinds Notification No. 17/2010 which had exempted import of packaged software where customs duty had been paid; rescission is effected under powers granted by the Finance Act and applies prospectively, except that things done or omitted before the rescission remain unaffected.

Rescission of exemption for software where excise duty was paid removes prior notification's tax relief.
The Central Government, invoking powers under the Finance Act, rescinds Notification No. 02/2010 that exempted software where excise duty was paid, effective from the present instrument while excepting actions done or omitted before such rescission.