Reimbursement of allowances for board members on foreign tour aligned with Joint Secretary entitlement rates.
The rules are amended to entitle the Chairperson and other non-government servant members of the Quality Review Board to reimbursement of lodging, travelling allowance, daily allowance and other allowances while on foreign tour at the same rates as are admissible to a Joint Secretary to the Government of India, effective on publication in the Official Gazette.

Eligibility expansion in securities rules broadens recognised institutional participants to include insurers, pension funds and primary dealers.
Amendment to rule 8 broadens referenced items from (a)-(k) to (a)-(n), substitutes item (c) to recognise insurance companies registered under the Insurance Act, omits former item (d), and inserts three new categories: the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees' Provident Fund, pension funds regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, and Standalone Primary Dealers authorised by the Reserve Bank of India. The amendment is titled the Securities Contracts (Regulation) (Amendment) Rules, 2014 and comes into force on publication in the Official Gazette.

Anti-dumping duty on Nonyl Phenol extended with specified producer-specific and residual import rates, payable in domestic currency.
Imposes definitive anti-dumping duties on Nonyl Phenol (tariff item 2907 13 00) from Chinese Taipei after a review found continued dumping and likely injury to domestic industry; prescribes producer/exporter-specific per-metric-ton duty amounts and higher residual rates for other suppliers, applies for five years from publication, and requires payment in Indian currency using Government-specified exchange rates with the bill-of-entry date as the relevant date.

Anti-dumping duty extension continues import duty on caustic soda from Korea after statutory review under Customs Tariff Act powers.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub-sections (1) and (5) of section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act and rule 23 of the relevant rules, amends Notification No. 95/2011-Customs by substituting the earlier expiry date in paragraph 2 with a new date, thereby extending the anti-dumping duty on caustic soda originating in or exported from the Republic of Korea for a further period.

Exchange rate determination sets new conversion rates for foreign currencies for import and export from mid-January, affecting customs valuation.
Determination of exchange rates for conversion between listed foreign currencies and Indian rupees for customs valuation, effective 17 January 2014, superseding the earlier notification; Schedule I provides unit rates with separate entries for imported and export goods, while Schedule II provides rates per one hundred units for currencies so quoted, and these prescribed rates apply for computations under the relevant customs provision except as to prior completed acts.

Anti-dumping duty continuation for caustic soda imports from China extended, maintaining the existing duty in force for one year.
Extension of anti-dumping duty on caustic soda originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China by inserting a paragraph in the principal notification to continue the existing duty for a further one-year period, the Central Government acting under the Customs Tariff Act and applicable administrative rules to preserve the notification's force until the stated terminal date.

Deduction under section 80D: Contributory Health Service Scheme of Department of Space notified for tax deduction eligibility.
The Central Government has notified the Contributory Health Service Scheme of the Department of Space for the purposes of clause (a) of sub section (2) of section 80D of the Income tax Act, 1961, such notification applying for the assessment year 2014 15 and subsequent assessment years so that contributions to the named scheme qualify for deduction under that provision.

Transmission of Settlement Commission records ensures Commissioner receives all material and evidence when applications proceed or abate.
The amendment to Rule 44CA expressly includes the Annexure and the statements within the rule's scope and substitutes sub rules to require transmission of records: where an application is not invalidated or is allowed to proceed, all material and other information produced by the assessee before the Settlement Commission must be sent to the Commissioner to enable his report; where proceedings abate, the Commission must send all material and other information produced by the assessee and the results of any enquiry held or evidence recorded in the course of proceedings to the Commissioner.

Fixation of tariff values updated for specified imported goods, substituting Tables 1-3 to set new customs valuation rates.
CBEC amends Notification No. 36/2001-Customs (N.T.) by substituting TABLE-1, TABLE-2 and TABLE-3 to fix tariff values in US dollars for specified imported commodities, stating benchmarks generally per metric tonne and for gold and silver per unit weight, and listing commodity-specific valuation figures for vegetable oils, brass scrap, poppy seeds, areca nuts and precious metals.

Rescission of SEZ notification removes IT sector-specific zone designation while preserving actions taken before rescission.
The Central Government rescinds the sector-specific SEZ notification for the IT SEZ at the specified villages pursuant to the SEZ Act and Rules following the developer's proposal and approved denotification, while preserving acts done or omitted prior to rescission.

Special Economic Zone rescission removes notification for a sector-specific engineering SEZ, preserving prior acts and omissions.
The Central Government rescinds the notification establishing the sector-specific Special Economic Zone for engineering at the specified villages in District Gurgaon, covering 103.0154 hectares, on the developer's proposal to denotify the area, exercised under the SEZ regulatory framework, except as regards things done or omitted to be done before such rescission.

Rescission of SEZ notification: central government cancels sector specific biotechnology SEZ following approved denotification request.
Pursuant to the developer's approved request, the Central Government, exercising powers under the proviso to the relevant rule of the Special Economic Zone Rules, formally rescinds the earlier notification for the sector specific biotechnology SEZ, subject only to protection of acts done or omissions made prior to rescission.

Search and seizure procedure for securities regulation: delegated rules set operative safeguards and documentation for enforcement actions.
Establishes a statutory framework prescribing procedures for search and seizure in relation to securities market regulation, made under the regulator's powers under the securities law; it authorizes conduct of search and seizure operations and sets procedural safeguards, documentation requirements, and custody and inventory obligations for seized material to operationalise enforcement and evidence-preservation mechanisms.

Grant-in-aid exemption: central government grants and interest to Orissa State AIDS Control Society exempt subject to conditions.
Notification designates the Orissa State AIDS Control Society for tax recognition of amounts received as grants-in-aid from the Central Government and interest earned thereon, subject to conditions that the Society does not engage in commercial activity, that its activities and the nature of the specified income remain unchanged during the financial year, and that it files its return of income as prescribed; grants must be received and applied according to prevailing rules and regulations.

Service tax amendment broadens territorial language to include country, expanding the notification's territorial scope.
Amendment substitutes the phrase "district, State or zone" with "district, State, zone or Country" in entry 11, item (a) of the opening paragraph of Notification No.25/2012, thereby broadening the notification's territorial descriptor under the service tax framework.

Amendment to SEZ notification replaces two listed entries, specifying new managing director appointments.
The Central Government, exercising powers under the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005, amends notification S.O. 2327(E) dated 10th October, 2011 by substituting the entries at Sl. No. 5 and Sl. No. 6 to record specified Managing Directors for CII Guardian International Ltd. and SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd., respectively.

SEZ Authority membership amended to replace two CSEZ Authority members under governing notification.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry amends notification S.O. 2327(E) dated 10th October, 2011 by substituting the entries at Sl. No. 5 and 6 in the list of CSEZ Authority members with Shri P. K. Koshy, Managing Director, CII Guardian International Ltd., and Shri N. Jehangir, Managing Director, SFO Technologies Pvt. Ltd., by notification S.O. 111(E) dated 9th January, 2014.

Collective investment scheme registration required for arrangements deemed CIS; must dematerialize units, use non-cash subscriptions and follow KYC.
Any scheme or arrangement deemed to be a collective investment scheme under the proviso to section 11AA must apply for registration as a Collective Investment Management Company in Form A; schemes regulated or prohibited under other laws are excluded. The Collective Investment Management Company must enter into a depository agreement for dematerialization of units, accept subscription monies only through non cash banking channels, and comply with Board specified KYC norms. Existing schemes at commencement are deemed existing collective investment schemes and must apply for provisional registration as specified in regulation 5.

Restitution from disgorged amounts prioritised for identifiable investors harmed by securities-law violations, subject to a seven-year claim bar.
Disgorged amounts and accrued interest credited to the Investor Protection and Education Fund shall, where the Board deems fit, be utilised solely for restitution to eligible and identifiable investors harmed by securities-law violations; remaining monies after earmarking may be applied for other Fund purposes, and no claim against disgorged amounts in a specific case shall be admissible after seven years from the date the Board invited claims for disgorgement.

Settlement of administrative and civil proceedings establishes procedure and terms for resolving SEBI regulatory matters extrajudicially.
Provides a regulatory framework prescribing the terms and procedure for settlement of administrative and civil proceedings under the securities laws, enabling SEBI to resolve enforcement matters through negotiated settlements that define obligations, conditions and processes for concluding proceedings without formal adjudication or litigation, and grounding the scheme in SEBI's statutory powers under the SEBI Act, the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act and the Depositories Act.