EDUCATION

Commercial coaching centres to pay service tax
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1
Commercial coaching and training centres will now have to pay service tax. The institutes which prepare applicants for board examinations, competitive examinations and those imparting postal coaching, have been brought under the ambit of service tax by the Central Excise Department.

Disclosing this, Mr G.S. Narang, Commissioner, Central Excise Commissionerate (Jalandhar), Chandigarh headquarters, today said as part of the exercise to widen the scope of existing levy of service tax , services like commercial coaching centres, technical testing and analysis centres, technical inspection and certification centres, maintenance and repair centres, business auxiliary services had been brought under the ambit of the service tax from July 1.

Authorised vehicle service centres, foreign exchange brokers, including money changers and forex dealers had also been covered under the service tax.

Under the category of business auxiliary services, the call centres, medical transcription centres, and commission agents had been exempted from this tax. A commission agent had been defined as a person who received an dispatched goods on behalf of principal consignment agents — who pay service tax under the category of clearing and forwarding agents.

The insurance agents and carrier and forward (C and F) agents do not fall under the category of business auxiliary services.

Mr Narang said under the category of commercial coaching centres, vocational training institutes, computer training centres, recreational training institutes, had been exempted from the service tax till February 20, 2004.

Religious places providing their land for holding of social and religious functions had also been exempted from service tax.

Kids from 13 schools take part in contest
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, August 1
An on-the-spot painting and essay-writing competition was organised at St. Soldier International Convent School here. As many as 705 students from 13 schools took part in the contest.

The competition was organised as part of the national environment campaign of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests by the Environment Protection Society.

Out of the 705 students who took part in the contest, 472 opted for the painting competition. As many as 235 students took part in the essay-writing contest.

Mr S.R. Chaudhry, president of the society, said his organisation wanted more students to take part in the essay-writing competition. He said a special committee would be constituted for judging the performance of students and the results would be declared within a month. A function would be organised on November 14 where the winners would be given prizes.

Rural flavour to NIFD annual extravaganza
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 1
The exhibition hall of the National Institute of fashion Designing was converted into a traditional village complete with the trademark Pipal tree and courtyard, as budding designers gave expression to their image of rural India. The theme for this annual exhibition was “Vivid India” this year. It was inaugurated in Sector 8 here today by comedian Jaspal Bhatti and wife Savita.

Students of textile and interior design had picked up themes from rural India like mirror-studded mud walls from Gujarat, huge murals with symbols from the rural life, traditional swings, traditional Punjabi household with charkha. To make things look realistic, students had even set up a bangle stall and a pottery corner.

However, the show was not without a contemporary touch, as the young interior designers had even setup a modern coffee bar inviting visitors with this message on a huge mural: “activate your brain and work hard, success is yours.”

Another contemporary design, “Apartment of the DJ”, presented the other side of India with bold furniture, partitions made of old CDs and records and musical instruments on the floor. The room speaks of the attitude of the new generation Indian.

The budding textile designers have used the techniques of block printing, tie-and-dye, batik, screen printing, embroidery, printing and yarn craft to design and create a variety of home furnishing, pots, lamps and furniture spanning the gulf between our cultural past and present.

The techniques employed by master weavers, dyers, printers and embroiders and handed down through generations have been used to create unique exhibits.

Students have used Indian textiles like rich Banarasi brocades, mirror work of Rajasthan and Gujarat, royal silks, finest muslin and exquisite jamavar as the base material.

The exhibition will conclude on Sunday.

Another term for Dean
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1
Not succumbing to student pressure, Panjab University has extended the term of Prof Nirmal Singh as Dean, Student Welfare.

In the wake of the ongoing student unrest over the “murderous attack” on Malwinder Singh Kang, president of the Panjab University Student Union, students had demanded the ouster of the Dean, alleging he had not acted despite reminders regarding brewing trouble on the campus.

The university has also extended the tenure of Prof M.L. Sharma as Dean, Alumni Relations, and Prof R.C. Sobti as Dean, Foreign Students.

COURTS

Hearing adjourned in corruption case
against Bhattal
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 1
The Punjab Agriculture Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, today appeared in a local court regarding charges of corruption and embezzlement of Rs 20 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund levelled against her. The UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, after hearing the arguments for more than an hour, adjourned the case for August 11 for arguments on framing of charges.

The FIR in this case was registered on May 22 last year at the Ferozepore Range on the complaint of Mr Balwant Singh Dhillon. Raising question over the jurisdiction of the UT court to entertain the case, Bhattal’s counsel argued that the Punjab Vigilance Department had not taken the appropriate permission before registering the case against Ms Bhattal. Therefore, he said, the court could not take cognizance of it.

“After the complaint was filed in Ferozepore, the initial trial was conducted at Bathinda, from where the case was transferred to Chandigarh Court,” he said. He also argued that a Punjab politician had also filed a PIL in a similar matter which had been dismissed.

Security to staff of Liquidator directed
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed security for the staff of the Provisional Liquidator in the Golden Forests case. Issuing the directions, Mr Justice Hemant Gupta asked the revenue authorities to co-operate with the staff by showing relevant documents.

Mr Justice Gupta asked the District Magistrates and Station House Officers to provide adequate security to the staff wherever the company’s properties were located. It may be recalled that former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court Justice R.N. Aggarwal was appointed Provisional Liquidator in the Golden Forests case by Mr Justice Gupta.

The Judge ruled that instead of winding up the organisation, the interest of the creditors, shareholders and the company would be served if a provisional liquidator was appointed. The Judge further asserted that the “Provisional piquidator would prepare a scheme for settlement of the investors’ claims especially keeping in view the interest of the small investors.”

CULTURE

The inmitable Rajeshwari comes calling
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1
Rajeshwari Sachdeva is waiting to repeat the magic of Sardari Begum, in which Shyam Benegal raised her to the best possible performance level. Having done the classic role with celebrated film makers like Benegal, Rajeshwari is now on treading a different route within the film world.

Experimenting with diverse genres, Rajeshwari heartily talked about her role in Priya Singh Paul’s “The Perfect Husband”, which is due for international release any day now. In fact, Rajeshwari, who was in the city to introduce a new game show she is hosting on Zee, has still not been able to get over the charm of Chandigarh, which was the prime shooting location for “The Perfect Husband” last year.

“The role is interesting and very different from those I have done. Priya has explored the issue of compatibility between couples through her film.”Parvin Dabbas of the “Monsoon Wedding” fame is playing the male lead in the film, along with Neha Dubey, who also featured in “Monsoon Wedding”.

Drifting from the films, Rajeshwari mentioned her third music album, which is ready for release. Largely folk in setting, it has many Punjabi songs, some folk songs from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Said Rajeshwari, “We have picked up original folk numbers and not tampered with their soul. The music has been arranged by Jayanta Pathak.”

Satisfied with the response to her maiden music album “Hulle Hulare”, which also brought to fore the dancing skills of this actress-singer, Rajeshwari said she had worked hard on the new album. “It’s pure nostalgia,” she said. In the city where she is shooting for Tide Khel Khel Mein on Zee, Rajeshwari mentioned her role as the anchor person. “This show is different as it does not require people to come to our sets. It sets a reverse trend, with the hostess going to the families and getting them to play fun games they have forgotten to play in their munda routine.”

Conceptualised by the highly popular team that earlier created “Baazi Kiski”, hosted by Ashutosh Rana, on Zee, “Khel Khel Mein” focuses on the charm of living and lifestyles of families as a whole. After shooting six episodes in Mumbai, Rajeshwari will be shooting five episodes in Chandigarh, beginning from tomorrow.

Sahney back with another melody
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, August 1
After giving hits like “Yaari Yaari,” “Kudi Kurmuri” and others, Punjabi pop singer Shankar Sahney is back with yet another album “Kede Yaar Nu”.

The album has eight songs. Music has been given by Babloo Mahindra and lyrics have been penned by Shankar Sahney, Sanjeev Anand, Sunny Mann, Dev Rishi, Pali Singh and Avtar Babb. The video for the title song has been directed by Bobby Khan and choreographed by Remo.

Known for his powerful stage presence, Shankar Sahney has contributed towards promoting Indian music in different parts of the world. Entertainment Channel B4U has recently bestowed on him the title of “Singer of the Nation.”

Shankar was trained in Kirana Gharana of Hindustani vocal by his father Prof Tej Bahadur Sahney. Since the age of five, Shankar has been performing for Doordarshan and radio.

He became an overnight singing sensation after his hit song “Machhli Hai Oye” in the early 90’s. He kept his popularity maintained with other hits like “Yaari Yaari”, “Kudi Kurmuri”, “Ek Mangaya Yaar” and the famous “Jat Luteya Gaya” number from Bollywood film Champion. He has done more than 1,000 shows in India and abroad and has a number of music and television awards to his credit.

New group set to redefine theatre
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 1
Theatre in the city might well be on the verge of renaissance. As the first “youthful” group dedicated purely to improvisional theatre takes birth in the city, the very elements of production and purpose of theatre are bound to undergo a change.

Structured with the aim of making theatre more entertaining than intellectual, Manch Tantra, the young, motivated group, has many exciting stories to tell. It boasts of no connections with established theatre directors of the region, nor does it intend to seek guidance from any of them. All it plans is to inspire theatre with freshness that has long been missing at least in this part of the region.

So now instead of seasoned directors ruling the roost with heavy theatre, the audience can also look forward to light presentations which stand the test of commerce with all their entertainment value.

In charge of the affairs in this game of novelty will be 17 youngsters, hailing from different colleges of the city, primarily DAV College, Sector 10, SD College, Sector 32 and Government College of Art, Sector 10. The best part is that there are no cut-out roles for any member. As Puneet Khanna, moderator in the team, informs.

“We are all here in the capacity of creators. For long, we have been associated with theatre. I have been a part of Abhinet’s “Agni aur Barkha” and some other productions. Most of the productions are high on intellectual content and low on entertainment value. We want to make theatre entertaining for the audience and to lift it to a pedestal where it can compete with films.”

The students are already on the job and that too in less than two months of the group’s birth. The first script for Manch Tantra has been conceptualised by Tahira Kashyap, a student of SD College, Sector 32. However, everyone in the group from Aayushman Khurana and Ravi Yuvaraj Panthi to Divya Sharma and Sukriti Vadera have contributed to this script.

As Ravi, who will play the male lead in the first production of Manch Tantra to be staged in mid August, says: “We are all writers, directors, technicians. So ours will be an original production. We are confident that we will splash the world of theatre with colours of entertainment with our very first presentation titled Socha Na Tha.”

Tahira speaks for her own story. “The play is about a pyre maker, who is in love with his profession. He is a perfectionist who had time for nothing else execpt work. Finally, he falls for a married woman.

The play is all about how the couple face life, with all its twists and turns and how the relationship finally matures,” she says.

In the choreographer’s role will be Aayushman Khurana, who recently cleared the first two stages of V popstars hunt. As far as music goes, everyone in the group is making melodies for the play that promises complete “masala”. Many group members are already members of SPIC MACAY.

Having the last laugh, Puneet says: “Our play will be no less than a film. The story has shades of love, pain, action, thrill and suspense. Gradually we will not have to fall back upon Rahul da Cunhas to entertain us.”