The Chamber News

Chetan Shah and Manoj Shah
Hon. Jt. Secretaries

Through this column, we communicate with you about, and keep you abreast with, the events and the happenings that take place at the CTC. The events that have taken place from the previous issue of the Income Tax Review up to 25th January, 2008 as also some of the important future events, are as hereunder –

1. Admission of new members

The following are the new members who were admitted in the Managing Council Meeting held on January 25, 2008.

A.	(I)  ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
1	BLUE CROSS LABORATORIES LIMITED	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
2	HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
3	LOTUS INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT CO. PVT. LTD.	(TYPE III- TEN YEARS)
4	BENNETT, COLEMAN & CO. LTD.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR )
5	VENTURA SECURITIES LTD.	(TYPE II- FIVE YEARS)
6	UTI SECURITIES LTD	(TYPE II- FIVE YEARS)
7	SATCO SECURITIES & FINANCIAL SERVICES LTD.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
8	CROMPTON GREAVES LTD.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
9	MAJMUDAR & CO.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
10	SINTEX INDUSTRIES LIMITED	(TYPE II- FIVE YEARS)
11	THE BHARAT CO-OPERATIVE BANK LTD.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
12	ASSOCIATED LAW ADVISERS	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
13	ANAND RATHI SECURITIES LTD.	(TYPE II- FIVE YEARS)
14	CAPGEMINI CONSULTING INDIA PVT. LTD.	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
15	VARROC ENGINEERING PRIVATE LIMITED	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR)
A.	(II)  ASSOCIATE MEMBERS {DELHI CHAPTER}
1	KHIWANI & COMPANY	(TYPE I- ONE YEAR )
B.	(I)  ORDINARY MEMBERS
1	MS. KASAT SHARADA SHAILESH	ADVOCATE
2	SHRI NAGDA RAHUL RATANSHI	CA
3	SHRI ROY SUDEEP	ITP
4	SHRI CHHEDA JIGAR CHUNILAL	CA
5	SHRI SAH SAMEER SUNIL	ADVOCATE
6	SHRI SAMPAT BHARAT V.	ITP
7	SHRI SHARMA PRATEUSH	ADVOCATE
8	SHRI SHENOY KISHOR S.	ITP
B.	(II) ORDINARY MEMBERS {DELHI CHAPTER}
1	SHRI SHARMA RAMKUMAR	ADVOCATE
2	SHRI BINDAL VINOD KUMAR	CA
3	SHRI JAIN DEEPAK	CA
4	SHRI AGGARWAL KAILASH	CA
5	SHRI DHINGRA VINOD KUMAR	ADVOCATE
6	SHRI GUPTA V. P.	ADVOCATE
7	SHRI ARORA SUNIL	CA
8	SHRI MALHOTRA SWARNJIT SINGH	ADVOCATE
9	SHRI KWATRA MAN MOHAN	CA
10	SHRI GUPTA ARUN KUMAR	CA
11	SHRI SISTANI BARINDAR SINGH	CA

2. Past Events

1. Study Circle Meeting

The Study Circle Meeting was held on January 24, 2008 on the subject New Search Provisions – Section 153 (a), 153 (b) and 153 (c) and related penalties provisions”. The meeting was led by CA Rajesh Shah.

2. Study Group Meeting

The meeting was held on January 28, 2008 on the subject recent Judgments under Direct Taxes’. Shri Subhash Shetty, Advocate discussed the case laws.

3. Indirect Tax Study Circle Meeting

The IDT Study Circle meeting was held on February 21, 2008 on the subject “Recent Important Judgments on Service Tax”. The meeting was chaired by Shri Parag Vyas, Advocate and was led by CA Kalpesh Shah.

4. Unveiling the Vision Statement & Release of CD of Income Tax Review (2002-07)

The function of Unveiling the Vision Statement by Shri S. E. Dastur, Sr. Advocate, & Release of CD of Income Tax Review (2002-07) by Shri Y. P. Trivedi, Sr. Advocate was held on 30th January, 2008. The function was well attended by Past Presidents and members of the Chamber.

5. Amita Memorial Lecture

A Lecture Meeting was held under the auspices of Amita Memorial Trust and jointly with BCAS on 31st January, 2008. Shri Haribhai Kothari spoke on the subject “Recognising God”. The response was very good for the lecture.

6. 31st Residential Refresher Course – 7-10 February, 2008

The 31st Residential Refresher Course was held from 7-10 February, 2008 at MOUNT ABU, a hill station tucked away in a cozy corner of the Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan. 134 delegates attended the RRC out of which 19 delegates were from outstation. We thank all the members for making the RRC a grand success. All the members enjoyed the cool climate of Mount Abu. A talk by Dadi Jankiji and lecture on “Self Management for Excellence” by Usha Ben at Brahamakumari’s Iswariya Vishwa Vidyalaya was very well appreciated by the delegates. The three papers discussed and Brains Trust Session on Direct Taxes & Service Tax was also well appreciated by the delegates.

7. The 36 hours 2nd Service Tax Orientation Course closes with a Bang !

The 2nd Service tax Orientation Course consisting of 36 hrs – 18 sessions of 2 hrs each spread over 6 weeks in January – February, 2008 commenced on 5th January, 2008 and closed with a bang on 16th February, 2008. Mr. M. Dwivedi – Chief Commissioner of Central Excise inaugurated the programme and very much appreciated the programme design and content. He also accepted some of the suggestions from the Indirect Taxes Committee of CTC.

This course was designed to provide a thorough grounding on the law and practice of service tax through the medium of classroom type teaching by eminent faculty and to equip its participants with the knowledge in the Law and Practice of Service Tax. The admissions were restricted to 80 seats but due to the overwhelming response 95 persons were accommodated. The participants consisted of eminent Advocates and Chartered Accountants practicing in the field of Service Tax as also youngsters. Almost 50%-60% of the participants were from the Corporate Sector. Further, almost 60% of the participants were non-members.

The course dealt with all the important topics e.g. Import & Export of Services, Valuation, Classification, Input Credit, Procedures and most of the important services. It had a wide variety of dedicated faculties with knowledgeable Chairman chairing the session. The faculties [speaker and chairman] who addressed the participants numbered about 30. The idea of Group Discussions was introduced for the first time in such a type of course. The first Group Discussion session was after 8 sessions and another towards the end led by group leaders. Throughout the course the participants were vibrant and highly interactive. Inspite of working days [Tuesdays] the attendance was by and large about 75-80%.

The course had a ceremonious closing on 16th February, 2008 with the feedback from participants and Valedictory Address by Mr. Ashish Chandan - Additional Commissioner of Service Tax. This session was also attended by some members of Indirect Taxes Committee and the Managing Council.

The feedback from the participants were excellent-one and all appreciated the programme design, academic content and course materials. They also appreciated the quality of faculties and the interactive style of the sessions instead of it being a monologue by the speaker. The idea of distributing the course material in advance, sending the material again by e-mail and also the reminder of the meetings by SMS was very much appreciated. The concept of having group discussions was highly appreciated. It also brought out 8 Group discussion leaders who took the initiative. The Group Discussion was very interactive discussion with excellent quality. The queries of the Group Discussions were distributed one week in advance.

The Additional Commissioner of Service Tax, Mr. Ashish Chandan in his Valedictory Address was very much enthralled by the enthusiasm of CTC, its organizers and the vibrant participants. He commended the CTC for organizing such a wonderful and informative programme and espousing the cause of knowledge and information to the assesses through professionals. He said that the participants must have derived great value from the course and would carry a wealth of knowledge and information. All in all he was very much impressed by the length and quality of the course. Infact he expressed a desire that he and his department would also like to attend such programmes as participants. The participants and the CTC members were also very much impressed by his valedictory session.

The President in his concluding address commended the Indirect Taxes committee of the Chamber for planning and organizing this programme. He appreciated the efforts for conducting this long programme with great finesse and efficiency.

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. A.R.Krishnan Chairman, Indirect Tax Committee. There after the participation certificates were given to all the participants who attended a substantial number of sessions

8. Seminar on Shares & Securities (Delhi Chapter of CTC)

Delhi Chapter of CTC organized a seminar on Shares & Securities on 19th January, 2008 at Delhi. The seminar was inaugurated by Shri R. V. Iswar, Vice President, ITAT, Delhi. CA. Bhavesh Vora, CA. Sanjay Parikh, Shri Ajay Vohra, Shri Y. K. Kapoor addressed the delegates. It was very well attended.

3. Forthcoming Events

1. The Corporate Committee has planned a Two Days Seminar on “Mergers & Acquisitions” on February 22nd and 23rd, 2008. Please refer CITC News of February, 2008 or visit website on www.citcindia.org for further details.

2. Full Seminar on TDS has been organized by the Education Course Committee on March 15, 2008. Please refer CITC News of January, 2008 or visit website on www.citcindia.org. for further details

3. Half day Workshop on “Finance Bill – 2008 “Indirect Tax Provisions – Mainly on Service Tax” is organized by Indirect Taxes Committee on March 15, 2008. The speakers are CA & Adv. Vipin Kumar Jain, and CA A.R. Krishnan.
   D) Half Day Seminar on “Special Economic Zone” is organized by the Direct Taxes Committee on April 19, 2008. Further details will be announced in the next CITC News visit website on www.citcindia.org.

4. Half Day Workshop on "Finance Bill, 2008" is organized by the Direct Taxes Committee jointly with Western India Regional Council of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on Saturday, 8th March, 2008 between 9.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. at J. S. Lodha Auditorium, ICAI Bhawan, 27, Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Mumbai – 400 005 (WIRC Office Building) The Speakers are CA. Kishore B. Karia, Mr. Saurabh Soparkar, Advocate. The fees of the Workshop is Rs. 300/- for members.