A study circle on FEMA was conducted on January 18, 2003. The speaker was Mr. Vimal Kishore, FCA. The study circle was attended by over 30 participants. The speaker elaborately discussed the provisions of FEMA and the recent policy announcements regarding relaxation of the Government policy in this respect. The talk was highly appreciated by everybody present and infact there were suggestions to hold series of talks on FEMA in the future seminars as well. A CPE credit of 1 hour has been granted by the CPE committee.

It was a proud moment for the Branch on this day when in our own premises ‘Shikar’, the Indian Tri-color was unfurled for the very first time. The Executive was present on the occasion and we are happy to apprise the members that even Sh. N.R.Goel, senior member of the Doon Income Tax Bar Association was also present on the occasion and expressed his desire to celebrate the Republic Day and the Independence Day jointly with all bars as an expression of solidarity. We wish that on the Independence Day, each and every member should turn out to express our patriotism towards our motherland.

In the ongoing series of activities conducted by the Branch, the members and students flexed some of their muscles in a Cricket Match organized for the benefit of the Members and the Students, at the Scholars Home School Ground. It was a reversal of fortunes for the Students, having lost to the Members on an earlier occasion. They completely outplayed the Members in a one-sided contest, as if the memories of their last encounter were fresh in their minds. They struck back like a wounded tiger to level the score. The Students won by a thumping margin of Seven Wickets. Chasing a victory target of 167 runs in 25 overs, the Students made a mockery of the Bowling Attack by romping home in the 17th over itself. It was only fitting that most prizes went the Student’s way. Man of the Match : Mr. Vinay Abrol – Student Best Batsmen : Mr. Vikas Gupta – Member Best Bowler : Mr. Ankit Mathur – Student Best Fielder : Mr. Gautam Kapoor – Student The Winners Trophy, Runners-Up Trophy and the prizes were distributed by Mr. Verendra Kalra, Chairman of the Branch.

The Dehradun Branch of the Central India Regional Council (CIRC) of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) organized a seminar on tax deduction at source (TDS) on 21st May 2003, at Shikahr. The seminar was organized jointly with The Income Tax Department. This was the first time that the Chartered Accountants hosted a seminar with active participation of the income tax officials. The program was attended by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Shri Ashwini Kumar Luthra, Commissioner of Income Tax Shri M.P Sharma , Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) II Shri A. K Mehrish, Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) II Dr. H C Jain . Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Luthra appreciated the joint academic endeavor of the Chartered accountants and income tax officials . He said that law relating to TDS had assumed great significance over a period of time and highlighted the fact that a large percentage of total direct tax is collected via the TDS route. The Chairman of the Dehradun branch of CIRC of ICAI , Mr. Naveen Kumar Gupta gave the welcome address. Background material covering important provisions of law, recent judicial pronouncements and circulars issued by the CBDT was also released by the Chief CIT. The Material was prepared by a team of Chartered Accountants headed by Mr. Verendra Kalra, who also presented a technical paper at the seminar. Mr. S. K Matta deliberated on the penalty provisions relating to TDS. From the income tax Department side, Ms Neeta Agarwal , ACIT (TDS) highlighted the normal omissions that are made by the assesses in the TDS return and also lapses in compliance with statutory provisions. The technical session concluded with an open question hour session, wherein the Queries from the floor were resolved by the Income Tax officials. Shri Ajay Khattak, Secretary, Dehradun branch , proposed the vote of thanks. The program was co-ordinated by Shri Vimal Kishore.

The sporting rivalry between the members and the students resumed at the Scholars home ground on May 18, 2003, after the exams got over. But it seemed, that the rustiness had not got over. The students gave an insipid performance with both, the bat as well as the ball. This could also be partly attributed to their overconfidence on their last victory over the members. In a one sided contest, the members won by a huge margin of 9 wickets. The students won the toss and elected to bat first. Some early dismissals caused some jitters and the innings could never really recover with some serious resistance coming only from Rohit Ghildiyal, best batsman, scoring valiant 63 runs and was the last wicket to fall. The students could muster only 148 runs. Mr. Saurabh Arora, Best bowler, and Mr. R.P. Easwaran, Captain, excelled with the ball. The Members started on a bright note and though they lost their Captain early, they were always in control. A combination of some excellent batting from Mr. Prashant Kochar, Man of the Match and Mr. Saurabh Arora, alongwith some poor bowling saw the members through with quite a few overs to spare. The various awards were adjudged by Mr. Naresh Narang, FCA, and were given away by the Chairman of the Dehradun Branch, Mr. Naveen Gupta.