Exemption under section 35AC extended for a specified tribal rural development scheme, preserving its eligible status for three more years.
The Central Government, on the National Committee's recommendation and under powers conferred by the Income-tax statute and rules, specifies the Manipur Shifting Cultivators' Development Association's scheme for construction of houses, community hall, school buildings, hospital, indoor stadium, animal sheds, purchase of furniture and running of rural welfare schemes for tribals of Munpi Village as an eligible project. The project's eligibility for exemption is extended for a further three years commencing with the financial year 2005-2006, without any change in the approved estimated cost.

Tax exemption under Section 35AC extended to kidney hospital project, eligible for a further three-year period.
The Central Government specified the construction, equipment purchase and running expenses (corpus fund) for a kidney hospital at Anand Marg, Jamnagar by Shree Anandabava Netra Chikitshalaya as an eligible project under Section 35AC for a further three years commencing from the financial year 2005-2006, following a recommendation by the National Committee and without any change in the approved estimated cost including the corpus fund.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital project, preserving approved cost and corpus fund.
The Central Government specifies continuation of the tax exemption under section 35AC for land development, construction, equipment, furnishing and running of Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital at Rajkot by Prashanti Medical Services and Research Foundation, extending its status as an eligible project or scheme for three years commencing from financial year 2005-2006, on the National Committee's recommendation and without change to the approved estimated cost and corpus fund.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for Dakshinaya Institute project, confirming continued eligibility for three further financial years.
The Central Government re specifies the Dakshinaya Institute project as an eligible project under section 35AC, extending tax exemption eligibility for a further three years for construction, purchase of equipment, furnishing and running of the institute, without any change in the approved estimated cost, following recommendation by the National Committee under rule 11M.

Exemption under section 35AC: Sanjivani Trust's social welfare scheme specified as eligible for a further extension.
Exemption under section 35AC is applied to Sanjivani Trust's project for medical care, food for needy patients, educational materials, uniforms and scholarships; following the National Committee's recommendation that the scheme is properly executed, the Central Government specified the scheme as an eligible project for a further three year period commencing with the financial year 2005 06 without change to the approved estimated cost and corpus fund.

Exemption under section 35AC extended for the specified school and hostel project, granting eligibility for a further three year period.
The Central Government specifies the construction of Dev Sangha National School and Hostel at Bompass, Deoghar by Dev Sangha Seva Pratisthan as an eligible project under section 35AC for a further three year period commencing with financial year 2005 2006, without change in the approved estimated cost, following a recommendation by the National Committee under sub rule (5) of rule 11M of the Income tax Rules, 1962.

Nidhi company regulation updated: new business permissions, capital ratio timelines, governance, KYC requirements and auditor limits.
The notification amendments permit compliant Nidhi companies to carry on insurance broking, locker services and member advisory work with regulatory approval, provided mortgage and jewel loan income remains at least 80% of gross income. They reset deadlines for achieving a net owned fund to deposits ceiling of 1:20 according to existing ratio bands, require RBI 'know your customer' documentary evidence for new depositors, allow post office deposits in the company's name, reduce a specified interest percentage to five per cent, limit continuous directorship to ten years, and bar reappointment of auditors after five continuous years.

Provisioning requirement for Nidhi companies: staged income reversal and NPA provisions, mandatory disclosure and auditor certification.
Amendment requires staged provisioning for income reversal and NPAs for loans outstanding as on 31-3-2002: 50% of pre-tax profit for 31-3-2006 and 31-3-2007, with the remaining unprovided balance to be recognised equally over the four years from 31-3-2008 to 31-3-2011. Entities may exceed these provision limits. Accounts for 31-3-2006 and subsequent years must disclose the total provision required, amounts provided and remaining balance; the statutory auditor must certify that the note gives a true and fair view.

Export carton labelling requirement mandates product name, origin, APEDA plant registration and exporter details on meat exports.
The amendment inserts Note 7 into Chapter 2 of Table B of Schedule 2 of the ITC(HS), mandating that cartons for exported meat must compulsorily show the name of the product, country of origin, APEDA plant registration number and name of the exporter, thereby creating a binding labelling and identification requirement for meat export consignments.

Target Plus Scheme abolition removes export entitlements under FTP amendment, effective April 2006, by DGFT notification under trade law.
Target Plus Scheme stands abolished for exports, effective from 1 April 2006, by amendment to the Foreign Trade Policy, 2004-2009. Paragraph 3.7 and subparagraphs 3.7.1-3.7.8 are deleted, removing the scheme's operative provisions. The amendment is made under powers of the Foreign Trade (Development & Regulation) Act and paragraph 1.3 of the Foreign Trade Policy, recorded in a DGFT notification dated 31 March 2006.

Income exemption for institutional receipts: recipients' receipts not includible if conditions on application, investment, business and filing requirements are met.
Notification under Section 10(23C)(v) excludes from a recipient's total income any amount received on behalf of Delhi Catholic Archdiocese, New Delhi for the relevant assessment years, subject to conditions: application or limited accumulation of income for institutional objects (with accumulation beyond fifteen percent limited to five years), permitted modes of investment under section 11(5), exclusion of business income unless incidental with separate books, regular filing of returns, and transfer of surplus on dissolution to a similar organization.

Adjudication appointment: notification substitutes designated Customs and Central Excise authorities to adjudicate specified show cause notices.
Board amends a prior Customs notification by substituting the Table entries against the specified serial entry to designate the Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Ranchi; Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Lucknow; and Customs (Preventive) Patna and Lucknow as the authorities empowered to adjudicate the specified show cause notice, exercising statutory delegation for transfer of adjudicatory functions.

Adjudicating Authority appointment transfers commissioner to adjudicate specified show cause notice under customs law, centralised administrative designation follows.
The Central Board of Excise and Customs, under sub section (1) of section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962, appoints the Commissioner of Customs, Customs House, Amritsar, to act as Commissioner of Customs, Kandla, Gujarat for the purpose of adjudicating matters arising from the show cause notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence dated 31 March 2005 to M/s Vikas Industries and others.

Customs amendment: substitution clarifies permitted operations as unloading of imports and loading of exports under notification.
The notification amends Notification No. 12/97-Customs (N.T.) by substituting, against serial number 5 item (i) in the Table, the column (4) entry with "Unloading of imported goods and loading of export goods." The amendment is issued under the powers of Section 7(1)(aa) of the Customs Act, 1962 and operates as a further modification to the non-tariff notification applicable to ICDs, LCSs and ports.

Fixation of tariff values updates import valuation for specified edible oils and brass scrap under customs Act authority.
Exercising powers under Section 14(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, the Board substitutes the Table in Notification No.36/2001 Cus (N.T.) with a revised Table prescribing tariff values (US$ per metric tonne) for specified goods, including crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, palmolein variants, crude soybean oil and brass scrap (all grades).

Extension of exemption notification date: customs exemption period extended for an additional year under section 25.
Amendment substitutes the terminal date in paragraph 2 of Notification No. 89/2005-Customs, directing that the earlier terminal date be replaced by the later terminal date, effected by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act as necessary in the public interest.

Electronic return filing criteria clarified: tax deposited in a later assessment year will not determine e-return obligation.
The notification narrows the assessment-year reference so that only Assessment Year 2003-2004 is relevant for deciding a dealer's electronic return filing obligation; tax deposited during the subsequent assessment year shall not constitute a criterion for requiring electronic return filing.

Zero coupon bond notification: new rules require pre issue approval, investment timetables and compliance for tax recognition.
New rules require issuers to apply in Form 5B for notification of zero coupon bonds, supply corporate or trust documentation, and secure Central Government notification only after meeting conditions: prescribed long term bond life, dual registered investment grade ratings, listing arrangements, and issuer undertakings to invest proceeds according to specified timetables. The Government may reject or withdraw notification for non compliance, and issuers must file annual accountant certificates confirming investments; notified bonds must list particulars such as name, life, issue schedule, redemption amount, discount and number of bonds.

Restriction on worn clothing imports; SEZ units permitted limited resale into domestic market under CIF value cap.
Worn clothing and other worn articles (Exim Code 63090000) are classified as restricted imports and made subject to an Import Licensing Note; a new note permits Special Economic Zone units to sell up to fifteen percent of the CIF value of their previous year's imports into the Domestic Tariff Area, creating a CIF value capped resale entitlement under the Foreign Trade Policy framework.

Approval under Section 35(1)(ii) granted to Institution of Engineers subject to separate research accounts and auditor certification requirements.
Approval under Section 35(1)(ii) is granted to The Institution of Engineers (India) as an Institution for donor deductions for scientific research, subject to maintaining separate accounts for research, submitting audited Income & Expenditure accounts for approved research to the Commissioner/Director (Exemptions) by the return due date or within ninety days of the notification, and furnishing an auditor's certificate specifying amounts eligible for donor deduction and certifying that expenditure was for scientific research.