Dear Friends, |
The great Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo believed in the purposefulness of evolution-life has evolved from matter and then mind has from life. We have been evolving for ages by responding to our respective environments. Evolution always had a purpose to make us better. Our life has a purpose too. The whole human existence has a purpose. It is evident that the sense of responsibility has inspired and given us a purpose to act, grow and develop. That is to say, behind all development in the past, there has been a sense of responsibility. |
Chartered Accountants need to continue being ever-awake and ever-creative, and we must feel competent like a soul. Like Garuda, we have to be patient but alert and focused. Then, along with this, the sense of responsibility that we have towards our present and future generations will complete us. In the interest of our nation in particular and overall humanity in general, our fraternity will have to feel competent in this sense. |
Progressive and Growth Oriented Union Budget 2015-16 |
I am sure this progressive and growth-oriented Union Budget 2015-16 will pave the way for an emergence of economically vibrant India. The Hon’ble Union Finance Minister has purposely kept his second Union Budget away from the populist measures while keeping his targets realistic. With the commitment to tax reforms and fiscal consolidation, this Union Budget has set the stage for the implementation of Goods and Service Tax (GST) in the country. The Budget aims at achieving the fiscal prudence. We as Chartered Accountants, with multi-dimensional professional competence will continue to act as a catalyst for the economic development of our country. Thus, we can facilitate inclusive growth, good governance and reforms, and help the Government in achieving the broader objectives of the Union Budget. |
Futuristic Rail Budget 2015-16 |
One among us, Union Railway Minister CA Suresh Prabhu presented the Rail Budget with more emphasis on policy reforms. Being a chartered accountant, he has endeavoured to serve the larger social and economic needs of the country. The Hon’ble Union Railway Minister extended a passenger - and consumer-friendly budget with a promise to bring in faster trains and better skilled personnel. |
Moving towards GST Implementation |
We must agree that the Goods and Service Tax (GST) today is being viewed as one of the biggest tax reforms in India, which will integrate State economies and boost overall growth. As such, the implementation of GST is high on the new government’s agenda as announced in the Budget Speech. On our part, we the Indian accountancy professionals are convinced about the immense benefits of GST and committed to facilitate its smooth roll-out. We have already offered our support to the Government in clearing the path for its implementation in India. We propose to organise training and awareness programmes for Excise and Service Tax officials across the country in this regard. |
New Important Bills |
The Parliament has passed two important Bills, Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 and Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2015 which will usher in an era of transparent e-auction of different mineral blocks. This will result in competitive bids for allocation of minerals. This will boost the country’s output of these minerals. |
ICAI to Adopt Ind AS and Lead by Example |
The Council of the Institute has decided in principle to adopt the Ind AS, Indian Accounting Standards converged with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) from the financial year 2016-17. Accordingly, the previous year 2015-16 will be recast next year and the opening balance sheet as at 1st April 2015 will be prepared. |
Putting Indian Chartered Accountants on Global Pedestal |
The ICAI proactively promotes its qualification overseas and strives to strengthen its relationship with the international bodies and global standard-setters. Along with the ICAI immediate past-President CA. K Raghu, I visited New York to attend the IFAC Board meeting in the first week of March. The IFAC Board reviewed its strategy plan for 2016-18, discussed the role of each of the IFAC Committees and formed a new Public Interest Committee. |
Taking Chairmen of Regional Councils and Branches Along |
Recently, I along with the Vice President had a meeting with all the Regional Council Chairmen, Office Heads, Secretaries of Committees, and Head of Sections of the Institute in New Delhi. With an objective to promote amicability and a sense of unity among all regions and the headquarters, the meeting was held to showcase the profession’s collective power. I utilised this opportunity to learn from the experiences and expectations shared by all the regions. I also used this opportunity to share the broader aspects of the ICAI Vision, Mission and Action Plan (2015-16) with all of them. This meeting will both inspire and enable all Regional Councils and the Institute to work in a uniform direction. |
Profession to Support PSUs’ CSR Initiative |
In a recent meeting with the Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy CA. Piyush Goyal, he repeated his commitment of PSUs towards their corporate social responsibility (CSR). He referred to those PSUs which are governed by the Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy. The Hon’ble Union Minister had earlier requested us to take up the verification and audit of the amount spent as part of our own CSR on pro bono basis. Already, we have received acceptance from about 500 members in response to our appeal/notification. We are committed to provide all logistical support in this activity. I request all my professional colleagues to ensure that their firms are duly empanelled for this purpose. |
Online Branch Building Inauguration- A Green Approach |
I am very happy to inform that we have added a new green chapter to our Institute’s history. I along with the Vice-President of the Institute inaugurated the new ICAI Bhawan of the Saharanpur Branch of CIRC via electronic mode on 12th March 2015. This is the first such inauguration of any Branch Building of ICAI. We addressed the entire gathering at the ICAI Bhawan at Saharanpur using the Google Hangout programme. Central Council members from the Central Region CA. Shyam Lal Agarwal, CA. Anuj Goyal and CA. Mukesh Singh Kushwah were present at Saharanpur on this historic occasion. Such initiatives will go a long way in saving time as well as our natural resources. |
Membership Restoration for Empowerment |
ICAI Membership is a prerogative, as it serves as a privilege to the members to connect to their roots. Besides the designation CA, the Institute’s journal, newsletters, regular updates, professional publications, etc., this membership also provides the members an opportunity to participate in its training programmes, workshops, etc. |
Guidance Note on Audit of Banks Available |
I am now happy to inform you that the 2015 Guidance Note on Audit of Banks that had been uploaded on the ICAI website after the ICAI Council’s approval, is now available in print too at the Regional Councils and Branches of the Institute. I would also like to share the information that we have constituted an online expert panel to respond to the technical queries of our members relating to bank branch audits, which will be open till 11th April, 2015. Guidance Note on Reporting on Frauds under Section 143(12) of the Companies Act, 2013 is also available on the ICAI website for the use of our members. |
Draft New Scheme on Education and Training to be Strengthened |
As I had informed earlier that we had exposed the New Proposed Scheme on Education and Training for public comments till February 2015. We have decided to extend this exposure till 31st March, 2015, since we have been receiving a good response. We are already in receipt of more than 400 comments. We will also hold outreach meetings in all regions and decentralised offices to get a wider response from our fraternity. I sincerely hope that this review exercise will help us in strengthening this Scheme and making this more contemporary and effective. |
Campus Placement for Newly-Qualified CAs |
We have been organising campus placement programme for the newly-qualified chartered accountants at 20 centres across the country during February-March 2015. The first phase of this programme was concluded successfully at 14 smaller centres with about 393 offers already made to those Chartered Accountants by prominent companies of India. We, however, expect more such offers from other companies too at these smaller centres. More than 5,500 candidates had registered for this programme. The second phase of this progamme will be organised at six bigger centres namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, and this is also expected to be very successful for the newly-qualified Chartered Accountants |
Growing Professional Presence |
Indian chartered accountants known for their professional competence and ethical conduct have raised the bar of accountancy profession with their dignified presence across the globe. With 5 Regional Councils, 147 Branches and 27 Foreign Chapters, we are constantly increasing our sectoral and geographical ambits globally. At the home front too, it is heartening to acknowledge that the membership strength is 2,33,544 and active student strength is 8,54,362. A total of 60,753 CA firms are registered with the Institute (out of which 18,651 are partnership and 42,102 are proprietary firms, as on 28th February 2015. |
CA. Manoj Fadnis President, ICAI New Delhi, March 22, 2015 |
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