Exchange rate determination for conversion of foreign currencies to Indian currency for customs and stamp duty purposes.
The Central Government, invoking the Indian Stamp Act and the Customs Act, supersedes the prior notification and determines official exchange rates to be used for calculating stamp duty and for the purposes of section 14 of the Customs Act in relation to imported goods. Two appended schedules prescribe the mandated conversion figures - Schedule I per one unit of foreign currency and Schedule II per one hundred units - to be used as the official rates from the stated commencement date.

Adjudicating authority appointment: Commissioners designated to hear specified show-cause notices under the Customs Act.
Central Government appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Port), Kolkata to act as Commissioner of Customs for the Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad and Jawahar Custom House, Nhava Sheva for adjudication of specified show-cause notices relating to M/s. Perfect Micro (P) Ltd. and others originating from a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence communication, thereby directing the proper officer responsible for those adjudications under the Customs Act.

Appointment of Adjudicating Authority to adjudicate show-cause notices arising from revenue intelligence in a customs matter.
The Central Government designates the Commissioner of Customs, Jaipur to act as the Commissioner of Customs at the Inland Container Depot for the limited purpose of adjudicating specified show-cause notices arising from revenue intelligence investigations, thereby transferring adjudicatory responsibility to the designated Commissioner for that matter.

Appointment under Customs Act enables adjudication of export import policy violation show cause notices against a specified company.
The Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Bhubaneswar II is appointed to perform the adjudicatory functions of Bhubaneswar I under Section 4 of the Customs Act, 1962 for show cause notices concerning alleged export and import policy violations by M/s Archean Granites Ltd., Chennai, effecting a formal substitution of the proper adjudicating officer for those specific matters.

Special Economic Zone approval enables developers to obtain exemption under section 80-IA upon government agreement.
The scheme establishes development, approval and governance of Special Economic Zones to promote export oriented infrastructure and units, requiring project reports and State commitments on environment, utilities, tax and administrative delegations; the Board of Approval considers proposals and the Department of Commerce issues a letter of permission to developers, which is treated as the agreement for claiming exemption under section 80 IA of the Income tax Act, subject to compliance and possible withdrawal for breaches.

Amendment to Income-Tax Notification updates tax authorities' jurisdictional schedule, altering commissioner designations, effective upon publication.
The amendment substitutes specified entries in Schedule-I of S.O. 733(E) (serial nos. 6, 8, 11, 23, 28, 50, 51, 76, 77, 81) with updated Chief Commissioner and Commissioner designations, headquarters and jurisdictions, and inserts new serial nos. 86-95 with their corresponding offices. Other provisions of the notification remain unchanged. The amendment takes effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Schedule I amendment updates Income tax Investigation office designations in Mumbai and is effective upon Gazette publication.
Amendment to Schedule I substitutes entry 2 to list the offices under the Director General of Income tax (Investigation), Mumbai: Commissioner of Income tax (Central), Mumbai II; Commissioner of Income tax (Central), Mumbai III; Commissioner of Income tax (Central), Mumbai IV; Commissioner of Income tax (CIB), Mumbai; Director of Income tax (Investigation), Mumbai I; Director of Income tax (Investigation), Mumbai II, with the remainder of S.O. 734(E) unchanged and the amendment effective from Gazette publication.

Customs valuation amendment updates sub heading references in valuation rules, changing clause citations and triggering effect on publication.
The amendment substitutes, in the Schedule to the Customs Valuation (Determination of Price of Imported Goods) Rules, 1988, the Schedule sub headings captioned "Rule 4(2)(a)(iii)" and "Rule 4(2)(b)" with "Rule 4(2)(e)(iii)" and "Rule 4(2)(f)" respectively. The Rules are made under section 156 of the Customs Act, 1962, and come into force on publication in the Official Gazette, further amending the Principal Rules of 1988 and its subsequent notifications.

Customs amendment adds sub foreign post offices in SEZ and EPZ to the notification list under section 7 powers.
The Central Government, exercising clause (b) of section 7 of the Customs Act, 1962, amends Notification No. 63/94 Customs (NT) by inserting two items into the Table against serial number 8 (All Countries) in column (3), namely a Sub Foreign Post Office in the Special Economic Zone Complex, Cochin, and a Sub Foreign Post Office in the Noida Export Processing Zone (NEPZ), Noida, thereby extending the notification's enumeration of covered postal units.

Tax exemption under section 10(23C) conditionally approves an institute's charitable status for specified assessment years.
Approval under section 10(23C) conditionally recognizes Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani as eligible for income-tax exemption for the specified assessment years, subject to the institution's conformity with the substantive requirements of the cited clause and the procedural conditions of the relevant rule.

Corrigendum corrects an earlier government notification by replacing a personal name and changing 'Trust' to 'Hospital'.
Corrigendum amends a prior Gazette notification by directing that the entry "Ramakant" be read as "Raman Kant" and that "Trust" be read as "Hospital," specifying the corrections to the printed columns of the notification.

Customs exemption for biotechnology imports: duty-free clearance for qualifying pharma/biotech units subject to R&D-use and procedural conditions.
Amendment adds exemption entry 337A allowing duty-free import of specified research and laboratory equipment by pharmaceutical and biotechnology units that meet the prescribed export turnover threshold and have an R&D wing registered with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Condition 74A requires imports to be for R&D, limits annual import value relative to prior-year exports, mandates a Joint DGFT certificate of export and prior imports, installation within six months certified by Central Excise, and a seven-year non-transfer restriction.

Validity of annual advance licence limited to inputs required for manufacture of specified export product group under Handbook of Procedure.
The amendment narrows the annual advance licence's scope so the licence permits import only of inputs required for the manufacture of the export product that is covered under the same export product group specified in the Hand Book of Procedure, Volume II of the Export and Import Policy, replacing the earlier broader reference to standard input-output norms.

Investment ceiling exemption: SEZ units may use EEFC account balances to fund foreign security investments beyond the limit.
The Second Amendment clarifies that the ceiling of US $50 million does not apply to financial commitments by a unit located in a Special Economic Zone where the investment is made out of balances held in its EEFC account maintained under the foreign currency accounts regulations, creating a source of funds based exemption within Regulation 6.

Research approval requires institutions to maintain separate research accounts and file annual returns and audited research accounts.
Approval is granted to the Centre for Development of Telematics as an institution under sub section (1) of section 35, subject to maintaining separate books for research (except for associations), furnishing an annual return of research activities to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and submitting audited annual accounts and audited income and expenditure accounts for the research activities to the designated income tax exemption and tax authorities by the annual due dates stated in the notification.

Research approval under section 35: association must maintain records, file annual return and submit audited research accounts.
Approval is granted to the Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology as an Association under sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Income-tax Act for research exemption, subject to maintaining separate books of account for research (unless exempt for associations), filing an annual return of research activities with the Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research by 31 May, and submitting audited annual accounts and audited income and expenditure accounts for research to specified tax and DSIR authorities by 31 October each year.

Recognition criteria for status holders updated: turnover thresholds plus MOU-based physical export targets determine eligibility.
Amendment prescribes turnover-based eligibility and MOU-linked export obligations for recognition: manufacturing companies and industrial houses meeting specified annual manufacturing turnover thresholds in the preceding licensing year qualify as Star Trading House or Super Star Trading House on signing a prescribed Memorandum of Understanding to achieve specified physical export targets within one year or three years. Similarly, project exporters and domestic service providers meeting specified turnover in the preceding licensing year qualify as Export House or International Service Export House upon signing the prescribed Memorandum of Understanding to meet the current physical export requirements over the prescribed one-year or three-year period.

Anti-dumping duty extension on acrylonitrile butadiene rubber continued pending review under Customs Tariff Act procedural rules.
The Central Government, under sub-sections (1), (5) and (6) of section 9A of the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 and rule 23 of the Anti-dumping Rules, amends Notification No. 91/2001-Customs to extend the continuance of final anti-dumping duty on Acrylonitrile Butadiene Rubber originating in or exported from Korea and Germany by substituting the previously stated expiry date in paragraph 2 with a later expiry date, pending results of the review investigation.

Tax exemption for a notified charitable trust requires exclusive application of income and specified investment, reporting, and dissolution conditions.
Notification recognizes Bala Mandir Kamaraj Trust, Chennai as a notified charitable institution under clause (23C)(iv) of section 10 for assessment years 1999-2000 to 2001-2002, conditional on exclusively applying or accumulating income for its objects; restricting investments to forms permitted under Section 11(5) (except certain voluntary contributions); treating business income as excluded unless incidental with separate books; filing returns regularly; and transferring surplus assets on dissolution to a like charitable organization.

Managerial remuneration ceilings set for companies with no or inadequate profits; require committee approval and shareholder disclosures.
Amendment to Schedule XIII establishes three remuneration bands for managerial personnel in years of no or inadequate profits, conditioned on Remuneration Committee approval and absence of debt repayment defaults; higher bands and excess payments additionally require a shareholder special resolution with prescribed disclosures and, where effective capital is negative or ceilings are exceeded, prior Central Government approval. The Remuneration Committee must comprise at least three non executive independent directors and consider financial position, industry trends and appointee credentials; "negative effective capital" is defined as effective capital below zero. The amendment is effective on Gazette publication.