Appointment of Competent Authority: Commissioners of Customs (Appeals) in four major ports designated under FEMA for enforcement functions.
The Central Government, exercising powers under sub section (2) of section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, appoints the Commissioner of Customs (Appeals) in Delhi, Mumbai I, Kolkata and Chennai to be Competent Authorities under the Act, delegating statutory authority for FEMA administration and enforcement to those Commissioners.

Customs exemption for petroleum operations under the Marginal Field Policy expanded to include specified goods subject to specified conditions.
A new tariff entry (serial 359A) grants nil duty treatment for goods in List 13 used in petroleum operations under the Marginal Field Policy, subject to Condition 44; the ANNEXURE amends Condition 44 clauses (a), (b)(i) and (c)(i) to include the Marginal Field Policy and specifies commencement on or after the fourteenth day of October, 2015 for clause (a).

De-notification of Special Economic Zone reduces SEZ area following statutory approvals and prescribed procedural requirements.
The Central Government, satisfied that statutory conditions were fulfilled, exercised powers under the second proviso to sub-section (1) of section 4 of the Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 read with rule 8 of the SEZ Rules, 2006, to de-notify specified survey parcels totaling 50.60.7 hectares from the sector-specific SEZ, resulting in a revised SEZ area of 54.15.3 hectares; the action followed State approval and the Development Commissioner's recommendation.

Selection committee redesignation to Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee with appointment panel to include three outside experts.
The amendment to rule 3(5) substitutes the phrase "a Search-cum-Selection Committee" with "the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointments Search Committee" and replaces "three experts" with "three outside experts", altering the nomenclature of the appointment body and specifying that the expert members must be external.

Expansion of eligible qualifications: adding ACMA and FCMA broadens who may perform customs brokerage work.
Modifies Regulation 5(f)(ii) of the Customs Brokers Licensing Regulations, 2013 by substituting the qualification list 'CA/MBA/LLB' with 'CA/MBA/LLB/ACMA/FCMA', thereby adding ACMA and FCMA to the categories of professionals eligible to handle customs brokerage work.

Export duty on iron ore pellets reduced to nil, amending the customs exemption notification and replacing the prior rate.
Amendment substitutes a Nil export duty rate for iron ore pellets in the customs exemption Table by replacing the earlier percentage entry at the specified serial position, effected under the government's power to amend notifications in the public interest, thereby modifying the tariff treatment of iron ore pellets for export.

Local office establishment at Jammu expands SEBI investor protection, grievance redressal, and financial education jurisdiction in the State.
SEBI established a Local Office at Jammu under the administrative control of its Northern Regional Office to perform regulatory functions including investor protection, facilitation of investor grievance redressal, financial and investor education, and other assigned duties, with responsibilities extending to the territorial jurisdiction of the State of Jammu & Kashmir.

Basic excise duty increase on petrol and diesel implemented, amending notification to raise per litre rates effective January second.
Amendment increases the Basic Excise Duty rates for petrol and diesel by substituting revised per-litre entries in the Table of Notification No.12/2012-Central Excise for the specified serial numbers and item entries, enacted under section 5A(1) of the Central Excise Act as a public interest measure and effective from 2 January 2016.