GST Council moves to end arrest power
NEW DELHI, 9 October — Section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, the one that lets an officer arrest, has been deleted . That is the first line under “ease of doing business” in the recommendations of the 57th GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and released by the Ministry of Finance. The release is careful to say that nothing in it has legal force until the notifications, circulars and amendments follow. It is equally careful to list what those will do.
Two refunds that did not exist before are created. Accumulated input tax credit on input services under an inverted duty structure becomes refundable for credit taken from 1 November 2026. Credit on capital goods, whether for exports or inverted duty, becomes refundable for credit taken from 1 April 2027, paid out over 60 months. The turnover cap in rule 89(4)(C) is removed, and the ₹1,000 minimum now applies to the combined refund rather than to each head.
At a glance
Power of arrest: section 69 CGST Act to be omitted
Prosecution threshold: ₹1 crore to ₹5 crore of tax
General penalty, section 125: ₹25,000 to ₹10,000
No show-cause notice: tax below ₹10,000 (CGST, SGST, IGST and cess together)
Refund acknowledgment: 15 days to 10 days; 90% automatic provisional sanction on zero-rated and inverted-duty claims
Input-services ITC refund: credit from 1 November 2026 · Capital-goods ITC refund: credit from 1 April 2027, over 60 months
Late-fee waiver: turnover up to ₹5 crore, return filed within the due month
What India gains
A GST that can no longer arrest, that prosecutes only above ₹5 crore, and that returns nine-tenths of an exporter’s refund without an officer’s signature.
India targets 10pc share of global 6G patents
NEW DELHI, 9 October —India aims to hold at least a tenth of the world’s 6G patents and standards, Union Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani told a round table of chief technology officers. He was speaking on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress, “The last decade was Digital India,” he said. “Our goal is to make the next decade an Intelligent India.”
At a glance
Target: at least 10% of global 6G patents and standards (MoS Communications, 8 October 2026)
TTDF: about 136 projects, about ₹500 crore
5G base stations: almost 5.6 lakh; people connected: more than a billion
Bharat 6G Alliance: 5 new MoUs, 10 global and 2 domestic already, 17 collaborations in all; 9 white papers
What India gains
A stated share of the intellectual property of 6G, and a research fund already paying for the work.
India becomes World’s No.2 seafarer supplier
NEW DELHI, 9 October — The number of Indian seafarers has gone from 1.27 lakh to 3.23 lakh over twelve years. This has resulted in India becoming the world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 12% of the global workforce, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal.
The women’s figure is smaller and steeper. Active women seafarers rose from 1,599 in 2021 to 7,033 in 2025, 4.4 times in four years.
At a glance
Indian seafarers: 1.27 lakh to 3.23 lakh over twelve years; rank 5th (2015) to 2nd; more than 12% of global workforce
Women seafarers: 1,599 (2021) to 7,033 (2025); Mission 20% by 2030
Port capacity: 1,561 to 2,817 MTPA · Cargo: 1,052 to 1,668 million tonnes · Inland waterways: 29 to 218 million tonnes
Container vessel turnaround, median: 35 hours to 23 hours
What India gains
Nearly two lakh more Indians employed at sea in twelve years, and ports with room to grow into.
BharatNet reaches 28.700 Gram Panchayats
NEW DELHI, 9 October — Under the Amended BharatNet Programme, 55,780 km of optical fibre had been laid and 28,700 gram panchayats have been connected, This was released by the Department of Telecommunications during a round table of State IT ministers and secretaries during the India Mobile Congress.
At a glance
Amended BharatNet, August 2026: 55,780 km OFC laid; 28,700 gram panchayats upgraded and connected; target 1.5 crore fibre connections
Digital Bharat Nidhi, 31 August 2026: 25,367 towers; 35,771 villages and locations
RoW Rules 2024 (from 1 January 2025): 67 days general; 7 days special projects; 36 States/UTs on the central portal; 34 with orders to local bodies
SASCI 2026-27: ₹4,000 crore earmarked
What India gains
Twenty-eight thousand panchayats on fibre and thirty-five thousand villages under a tower, with a seven-day permission clock for the rest.
India’s $9 billion space economy set for fivefold leap
VARANASI, 9 October — India’s space economy is about $9 billion and is projected to reach $45–46 billion in eight to ten years, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh.
At a glance
Space economy: about $9 billion now; $45–46 billion projected in 8–10 years
Nuclear capacity target: 100 GW by 2047
GERD: about ₹46,000–47,000 crore in 2013-14; about ₹2–2.5 lakh crore now (year not stated)
What India gains
Engineers who build rockets in Hyderabad rather than Houston, by the minister’s own account of why the sector was opened.
India collects Rs 9.68 crore from biodiversity access
NEW DELHI, 9 October— Between 1 April and 30 September 2026 the National Biodiversity Authority received ₹9.68 crore under the access and benefit-sharing framework of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, as amended in 2023, according to the Ministry of Environment. Of that, ₹9.56 crore was for access to biological resources and ₹11.24 lakh came with applications for intellectual property rights.
At a glance
ABS receipts, 1 April–30 September 2026: ₹9.68 crore; access to resources ₹9.56 crore; IPR applications ₹11.24 lakh
By sector: agriculture ₹7.16 crore; food and beverages ₹1.59 crore; animal husbandry ₹62.01 lakh; AYUSH ₹0.21 crore; red sanders ₹0.06 crore; cosmetics ₹0.04 crore
Since 2008: about ₹278 crore realised; more than ₹200 crore disbursed
What India gains
A price on the use of its genetic resources, paid by companies in five countries, with seven-tenths of it already passed on.
Sitharaman heads to Singapore to deepen investment ties
SINGAPORE, 9 October — Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is in Singapore from 9 to 11 October will meet President Tharman hanmugaratnam, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong to hold one on one conversations. Singapore is India’s largest source of foreign direct investment, with cumulative inflows of about $194.68 billion from April 2000 to March 2026.
Ranchi gets Rs 119 crore impetus for agricultural biotech
RANCHI, 9 October— Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated facilities worth ₹119 crore at the ICAR–Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology at Garhkhatanga, Ranchi. A administration-and-school building, the Birsa Munda multipurpose hall, the Jaipal Singh Munda sports complex and a next-generation breeding facility, with the foundation of a guest house.
