Subject: President's Message
Dear
Esteemed Colleagues,
By the time you read this message, we will all
be free from the hectic schedule of audit assignments and have some good time
to celebrate the festivals of Durga Pooja, Id-ul-Fitr and Deepawali. I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy
and joyous Durga Pooja, Id-ul-Fitr and Deepawali, and wish
that the festivals may bring you and your family Happiness, Peace and
Prosperity.
Centre of Excellence at Jaipur - A Proud Moment
You
will recall that in my first communication to you in March 2008 issue, I had
articulated my dream of making CAs a class of
matchless professionals and of setting up the Centres
of Excellence with the same objective in mind, where training by way of about
three-month residential courses involving management and communication skills
could be provided. I am delighted to inform you that the foundation stone of
the ICAIs first residential Centre of Excellence has
been laid at Jaipur by the Union Minister of
Corporate Affairs Shri. Prem
Chand Gupta. Chief Minister of Rajasthan Smt. Vasundhara Raje as Chief Guest
graced the auspicious occasion along with a galaxy of other luminaries of our
country. It is a dream come true and that too within such a short span of time.
I can assure you that work on this project will go on at a very fast pace and
we should be in a position to inaugurate the Jaipur
Centre of Excellence by next year.
This
Centre of Excellence, spread over an area of 25 acres, has been planned to be a
landmark in the field of education, training and research in accountancy in
CPT
Online Examination
Another
of my dream projects was to hold CPT online examination in order to make
Chartered Accountancy in
However,
candidates, who opt for the online examination, shall not be eligible to appear
at the paper-pencil examination. Once this archetype is conducted successfully,
we can look forward to conducting CPT online examination on a regular basis in
future.
Convocation
for Successful CAs
In my
last communication, I had said that we were planning to start organizing
convocations at all our regional headquarters twice a year to give away the
Certificate for passing CA Final Examinations, Certificate of Membership and
Certificate of Practice. We have now finalised the
dates. The first convocation will be held on November 2, 2008, in
Landmark
Initiative in Public Finance
You
will recall that as a part of our new drive to use chartered accountants
expertise to address various issues relating to public finance, both at central
and state levels, we had set up a new committee, Public Finance Committee of
the Council at the centre level and also for each of the states to analyze and
review public finance, budgetary expenditure, welfare schemes and the end use
of funds. It is indeed gratifying to observe that this Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) initiative has made important headway over the past few
months and the Institute is fast joining hands with central and state
governments in implementing economic policies and
assisting them to ensure greater accountability and improve the quality of
deployment of public money.
Leaders
like CA. K. Rahman Khan, Deputy Speaker, Rajya Sabha, Shri
Yashwant Sinha, former
Union Minister for Finance, and Shri Rupchand Pal, Chairperson, Committee on Public Undertakings
& Member, Standing Committee of Finance of the Parliament of India, have
lent their active support to this initiative by visiting the Institute and
participating in the deliberations of the Committee. The other dignitaries who
we have approached for the purpose include Governor of Karnataka CA. Rameshwar Thakur, Governor of
Assam S.C. Mathur, Governor of Andaman & Nicobar
Mr. Bhopinder Singh, Finance Minister of West Bengal
Mr. Aseem Das Gupta, Chief Minister of Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi, Chief Minister of
Mizoram Mr. P.U. Zoramthanga, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Mr. Madhu
Koda, Chief Minister of Meghalaya Dr. Donkupar Roy, Chief Minister of Delhi Mrs. Sheila Dikshit.
The
Committee has also been conducting a study in
insurance and risk management in Kerala on request by the State
Insurance Department.
I
firmly believe that chartered accountants can prove
to be immensely useful in this initiative in public finance. This will both be
a challenge as well as an opportunity. Let each one of us take this up as part
of our obligation to society.
Imbibing
Best International Practices
While
there have been worldwide initiatives by international accounting bodies for
speedy convergence with International Financial Reporting Standards, the
Auditing & Assurance Standards Board cannot lag far behind. Convergence
with the international auditing standards is a membership obligation for us, as
we are the founder member of the International Federation of Accountants
(IFAC). The Auditing & Assurance Standards Board (AASB) is already in the
process of issuing a revised draft of auditing and assurance standards, in line
with those of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB)
under its Clarity Project. These revised standards will reflect the
contemporary thinking of the international auditing profession. By December
2008, we shall have almost all the revised auditing standards aligned with
those issued by IAASB.
National
Debate Competition: An ICAI Initiative
As part
of Diamond Jubilee Celebrations this year, it has been decided to organise a National Debate Competition for students of
classes XI and XII in different parts of the country. The purpose of this
debate is to create awareness among students about their career and the various
options available to them. The Debate Competition has already started
creating a stir among the participant who are becoming aware of the economic
and educational issues of our country. I do not believe in direct teaching, but
in creating a system that actuates learning. Here I would like to recall Einsteins words who in effect said
that genuine knowledge originated from direct experience and extensive
interaction. The debate competition is being conducted at three levels
starting from the Branch level to the Regional level followed by a mega All
India Level.
I am
quite enthusiastic about the Competition which besides creating awareness about
the CA profession among students will help sensitise
them to topical issues and create awareness among them on societal and other
national concerns.
ICAI
Awards
Chartered accountants working in industry
have proved themselves to be the Valued Trustees of World Class Financial
Competencies, Good Governance and Competitiveness. They are playing a
significant role of value addition to the corporate world and in turn helping
the economic development of the country. In order to recognise
the exemplary contribution of those members in industry who have demonstrated
excellence in their professional lives, and have created value to their companys stakeholders on a sustainable basis, the Institute
plans to honour them and give away the awards on the
25th of January 2009 at Mumbai. The awards are in three categories, viz.
Business Achievers, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Professional Achievers.
The awards recognise the achievements of outstanding CAs whose personal lives, professional achievements, and
community service exemplify the objectives of their alma mater.
It will also be a very special occasion for the awardees because perhaps the
highest recognition for a man is to be honoured by
his or her alma mater. I would urge our members in industry to participate in
this programme. Details of the programme
are published elsewhere in the Journal.
Vision
2021
As you
may be aware, the Institute is working on Vision 2021. The issues presently
being considered pertain to the size of taxation, consulting and audit services
and their scope in the next decade, the changing profile and growth of the
profession, segmentation and emerging structural models in Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs), etc. The results of the primary
research conducted on opportunities and challenges pertaining to service
products of the profession; its segmentation to match the economic indicators
and the role of regulatory regime in the country in 2021 are being examined.
The analysis is in progress. Under study are the impact of indicators and
influencers on the economic scenario of 2021 to anticipate prevailing
opportunities and challenges in the year 2021 in line with the Indian economy
becoming a developed economy by then and
Making
CA Fraternity a Close-knit Family
In my
last communication, I had shared with you in- formation about the new
initiatives being taken to improve services to members and students. I am happy
to say that the impact of these new initiatives has been beyond our
expectations. In just 15 days of starting the facility of creating email in
their own name by members and students, more than 12,000 members and more than
17,000 students have obtained such email ids. Besides, a large number of
members have updated their data relating to their professional and residential
addresses, telephone and mobile numbers and email ids etc online. These steps
will help in bringing each member and student closer to the Institute and
increase their involvement and participation in the Institutes activities. The
response to the e-newsletter for members abroad has also been very good. The
information provided therein will help in generating a feeling of belongingness
among all our brothers and sisters! settled abroad.
May I
take this opportunity to request you all to share your thoughts, expertise and
areas in which you specialise including the areas of
concern by writing articles for the Institutes journal! Members who are settled
abroad could share their experiences in that particular country including the
opportunities available to Indian members and also what needs to be done if one
is looking for opportunity in that country. Similarly, members in industry
could share their experience of that industry, issues concerning that industry
and also the opportunities for members. These initiatives could in my opinion
go a long way in making the chartered accountant fraternity a closely knit
family where each member cares for others and therefore shares his or her ideas
with them.
Help
Flood Victims
It is a
matter of deep sadness that a tragedy has struck the states of Bihar &
Orissa and we need to do all we can to alleviate misery and provide help to the
needy. Particularly the Kosi floods have rendered lakhs of people homeless, hungry and diseased besides
destroying crops, cattle and property worth millions of rupees.
I
request all colleagues, firms of Chartered Accountants and students to come
forward and donate generously to reduce human misery. You may contribute online
at ICAI website www.icai.org or send in your contribution, by way of Demand
Draft/Cheque drawn in favour
of 'The Secretary, ICAI (Bihar Flood Relief Account)' to The Secretary, The
Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India, ICAI Bhawan, Indraprastha Marg,
Friends,
I have been trying my best to address issues that concern all of us. Yet there
may still be areas which in your opinion need to be attended to. Please
therefore send in all your suggestions, big and small, so that I can consider
and implement them. In fact, many of the initiatives taken up so far by me have
been the result of suggestions received from esteemed colleagues like you.
May the
festive season bring in lots and lots of good cheer and prosperity for you and
your family ! May love of people for people grow
in such trying times as these ! May humanity emerge a winner.
CA. Ved Jain
October
1, 2008