Appointment of Adjudicating Authority designates Kandla Customs adjudicator to hear the show cause notice against KLJ Polymers.
Designation under section 5(1) of the Customs Act appoints the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner of Customs (Import), Custom House, Kandla, to act as the adjudicating authority and exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the specified Additional/Joint Commissioners for adjudicating matters arising from the show cause notice issued to M/s KLJ Polymers and Chemicals Ltd by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Zonal Unit, Ahmedabad.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointment centralises adjudication of show cause notices against Sanam Exports with the designated customs officer.
The Additional Commissioner of Customs at the Inland Container Depot, Tughlakabad, New Delhi is designated as the Common Adjudicating Authority to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the named Additional Commissioners for the purpose of adjudicating specified show cause notices issued against M/s Sanam Exports, centralising adjudicatory responsibility for those proceedings.

Common Adjudicating Authority designated to centralize adjudication of show cause notices relating to Aparna Lace Crafts and others.
Appoints the Common Adjudicating Authority by directing the Commissioner of Customs, New Custom House, IGI Airport, New Delhi to exercise the powers and discharge duties of specified Customs officers for the purpose of adjudicating the Show Cause Notice issued to M/s Aparna Lace Crafts and others by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Zonal Unit, Delhi, under sub section (1) of section 5 of the Customs Act, 1962.

Common Adjudicating Authority appointed to consolidate adjudication of a revenue intelligence show cause notice against M/s Surgiplus.
A Common Adjudicating Authority is designated to consolidate adjudication of a show cause notice relating to M/s Surgiplus; the Joint Commissioner or Additional Commissioner of Customs (Port Import), Chennai is authorised to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the listed customs adjudicators for that specific matter.

E-payment mandate for VAT collection: banks designated as government treasuries enable electronic tax deposits under DVAT.
Notification designates Oriental Bank of Commerce and Vijaya Bank as appropriate Government Treasuries for deposit of Value Added Tax dues under the DVAT Act, effective immediately, subject to conditions including timely remittance to the RBI DVAT Account, interest on delayed remittances at bank rate plus a margin, deployment of on-line computerized collection counters with department-specified software and MIS/electronic reporting, and compliance with the Information Technology Act. Payments through these banks must be made via the Department's electronic portal, with specified exemptions for certain government contractees.

Tariff value fixation: revised import values for vegetable oils and metals under customs notification, affecting valuation.
The Central Board of Excise & Customs, exercising powers under the Customs Act, has substituted TABLE 1 and TABLE 2 of Notification No. 36/2001 Customs (N.T.) to fix tariff values in US dollars for specified imports. TABLE 1 sets per metric tonne tariff values for crude palm oil, RBD palm oil, palmolein variants, crude soyabean oil, brass scrap and poppy seeds; TABLE 2 sets tariff values for gold and silver where certain notification benefits apply. The amendment is effected by Notification No. 08/2013 Cus. (N.T.), dated January 23, 2013.

Increase in basic customs duty on crude edible oils implemented by substituting specified tariff entries with higher duty rates.
Amends Notification No. 12/2012 Customs by substituting revised entries in column (4) of the tariff table for S.No.51 (clauses (A),(B),(C) of item II), S.No.55, S.No.57, S.No.62 and S.No.65, thereby increasing the basic customs duty applicable to specified crude edible oils as effected by Notification No. 02/2013 Customs dated 23 January 2013.

Freight subsidy scheme ensuring reimbursed transport costs for eligible industries, subject to registration and compliance requirements.
The Freight Subsidy Scheme, 2013 provides defined reimbursement of transport costs for eligible industrial units located in specified areas, subject to registration, environmental compliance and exclusion by a negative list. Subsidy entitlements run for five years from commercial production with special additional entitlement for MSMEs after substantial expansion. Reimbursement rates and calculation rules vary by area and mode of transport, with ceilings tied to notional movement from designated rail heads or ports. District Industries Centres, State Level Committees and designated nodal agencies administer registration, verification, recommendation and electronic disbursement, with prescribed documentary checklists and periodic audits to prevent misuse.

Constitution of Regional Committee under Employees Provident Fund Scheme: appointments and multi-year terms take immediate effect.
Constitution of a Regional Committee for Tamil Nadu under the Employees Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, superseding the earlier notification; it specifies the Committee's composition including Chairman, official members, employer and employee representatives, additional members and a non-official Central Board member. The Additional Central Provident Fund Commissioner (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) is appointed Secretary. Members and Chairman serve a three-year term from gazette notification and continue until successors are notified; the notification is effective immediately.

Investment Advisers Regulations enacted under statutory powers to establish a regulatory regime for investment advisers, published as official notification.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India promulgated the Investment Advisers Regulations, 2013 pursuant to powers conferred by the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, issuing the regulations by official notification and publishing them in the Gazette of India as the statutory instrument to govern investment advisory activity.

Assignment of adjudication: Show cause notice by revenue intelligence assigned to Commissioner of Central Excise for adjudication.
The Board assigns the Show Cause Notice issued by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in the matter of M/s. Allanasons Limited and others to the Commissioner of Central Excise (Adjudication), New Delhi, under the customs notification empowering reassignment, thereby transferring adjudicatory responsibility to that adjudicating authority for disposition of the customs non-tariff proceedings.

Appreciation Certificate for specially distinguished service awarded under the departmental awards scheme to listed customs officers.
An administrative notification grants Appreciation Certificates for a "Specially distinguished record of service" to specified officers across the Customs & Central Excise Department and the Directorate of Enforcement, listing recipients by grade and posting. The awards are conferred pursuant to clause (a)(ii) of Para 1 of the Scheme governing the grant of awards to departmental officers and staff, as published in the Gazette and amended.

Effective rate of duty revised: notification substitutes specified tariff entries to impose 4% and 6% duties on listed items.
The Central Government amends the principal customs notification to revise the effective rate of duty for specified tariff items by substituting new percentage entries: S. Nos. 116 and 318 (column (5)) replaced with 4%, S. No. 321 item (i) (column (4)) replaced with 6%, and S. Nos. 323 and 328 (column (4)) replaced with 6%.

Duty on gold bars revised to specify rates for manufactured gold and silver dore bars under excise notification.
Substitutes the tariff entry for gold bars to impose specified excise rates on gold bars (other than tola bars) bearing manufacturer's engraved serial number and metric weight manufactured from gold ore or concentrate, gold dore bar, or silver dore bar; defines gold dore bar and silver dore bar as dore bars with metal content not exceeding 95% and requires an assay certificate for silver dore bars showing composition.

Rupee corporate bond access expanded: long term foreign investors and central banks allowed repatriable purchases within regulatory limits.
The Second Amendment, 2013 to the FEMA transfer/issue regulations amends Schedule 5 by removing references to lock-in periods from specified clauses, substituting language to subject dated Government Securities to terms, conditions and limits as stipulated by regulators, and adding a provision allowing long-term investors and foreign central banks to purchase rupee denominated corporate bonds on a repatriation basis within regulatory limits.

Customs amendment removes Namkhana from Land Frontiers of Bangladesh list, altering designated ICD/LCS port entries.
Amendment removes the entry for Namkhana from the Table in notification No. 63/1994 Customs (N.T.) for the Land Frontiers of Bangladesh by omitting serial number (38) in columns (3) and (4) against serial number 2, thereby altering the list of designated border points.

Foreign investment in Asset Reconstruction Companies limited under government route, caps on sponsor and FII holdings and SR investment.
Amendments limit non-resident investment in Asset Reconstruction Companies to the Government Route as FDI, define ARCs under SARFAESI registration, cap sponsor and individual FII shareholdings in ARCs, permit FIIs to invest in Security Receipts subject to an aggregate FII ceiling per tranche, and require compliance with SARFAESI conditions for individual investments above prescribed thresholds.

Exchange rate determination sets prescribed foreign currency conversion rates for import and export customs valuation effective mid-January.
Determination of rate of exchange for specified foreign currencies into Indian rupees for customs purposes, effective 18th January 2013 under section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962, superseding the earlier notification of 3rd January 2013. The notification prescribes distinct conversion rates for imported and export goods in Schedule I (per unit) and Schedule II (per 100 units) for use in customs valuation, and records substitution and corrigendum entries for the Japanese Yen.

Exemption from mandatory electronic payment permits government contractees to pay DVAT offline via TDS cheques at designated bank branch.
Certain TAN-holder contractees from Central, State, Union Territory and local government entities are exempted from mandatory electronic payment of tax, interest, penalty or other amounts under the Delhi Value Added Tax Act, 2004; the Commissioner authorizes the Punjab & Sind Bank branch at Vyapar Bhawan, New Delhi to accept TDS cheques from those contractees who choose to pay in offline mode.

Commencement date: Delhi Value Added Tax Amendment Act designated to come into force by executive notification.
Exercising the power under sub section (3) of section 1 of the Delhi Value Added Tax (Fourth Amendment) Act, 2012, the Lieutenant Governor appoints a specific date as the day on which the Amendment Act shall come into force; the notification is issued by the Finance (Revenue 1) Department for publication in the Delhi Gazette Extraordinary.