From The President

Dear Esteemed Readers,

This year’s Deepawali was remarkable, with President Barrack
Obama visiting India. There were many firsts associated with his visit. He is
the first US President to visit India in his initial term, first to spend so
much time in India, first to visit Mani Bhavan in Mumbai and the first US
president to say "Jai Hind" in the Indian Parliament. Tonnes of paper have been
used up by newspapers and hundreds of hours of discussions have been aired by TV
channels in analysing what were the takeaways for India on Obama’s visit. In my
view, the biggest takeaway for India is President Obama provoked us to realise
our own intrinsic strength, as he rightly regarded India as the "rising global
power".

He said: "India is an ancient civilisation of science and
innovation. A fundamental faith in human progress. This is the sturdy
foundation upon which you have built ever since that stroke of midnight, when
the Tricolour was raised over a free and independent India. And despite the
skeptics who said that this country was simply too poor, too vast, too diverse
to succeed, you surmounted overwhelming odds and became a model to the world.
India has succeeded, not in spite of democracy; India has succeeded because of
democracy."

I think this revelation is the biggest-ever gain for India.
Is it not an irony that outside observers can perceive our strength better than
us? I am reminded of Dr. Abdul Kalam who said, "Why are we in India so
embarrassed to recognise our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a
great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to
acknowledge them. Why? India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that
unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength
respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an
economic power." The Indian leadership must recognise this and negotiate
with other nations from a position of strength; be it talks with neighbours or
trade negotiations with other countries of the world.

After the stupendous success of the Commonwealth Games, India
broke its own performance record at the 16th Asiad Games in Guangzhou, ranking
6th and bagging 64 medals, including 14 gold.

However, with the dazzling opening and spectacular closing,
together with a record win of 416 medals including 199 gold, China proved that
it is simply super in playing games as well as organising them. The major
reasons for such a poor performance by India in contrast with a one billion plus
population are the lack of good sports facilities and recognition of merit.
Consequently, parents do not encourage children opting for a sports career. A
majority of our sports persons are part-timers, with some other main occupation,
resulting in a lack of professionalism. The handful of people pursuing sports as
their career become victims of corruption and red-tapism. I hope that the way
the states have started competing with each other in good governance; they will
compete in sports as well. If corporate India patronises sports in a big way, a
lot can still be achieved.

The recent results of the Assembly elections in Bihar have
proved that "Good Governance is Good Politics". Earlier, Governments in Gujarat
and Chhattisgarh returned to power, surmounting anti-incumbency sentiments, by
securing positive votes as a reward for development and good governance. The
restraint shown by people, post the Ayodhya verdict, and the use of the Right

to Information Act to unearth scams and bring accountability in administration
shows that people are rising above the politics of caste, creed and religion.
The people of India are interested in peace and prosperity.

We are living in an era of scams. Each day a new scam
surfaces — bigger than the preceding one. First CWG, then Adarsh, 2G spectrum,
Cidco Land deal and now, "loan-mela" by LIC Housing Finance and others.

In a path breaking development, India has revised its
bilateral tax treaty with Switzerland whereby Indian authorities would be able
to obtain information about account-holders in Swiss banks from January 2011.
Under the revised pact, India will be able to obtain information not only in
case of tax frauds, but also in cases of tax evasion.

In respect of activities by the Society last month, members
can refer to the section "Society News". Nonetheless, the more notable amongst
them were the number of webinars on XBRL, the first ever three-day intensive
study course on XBRL from 12th to 14th November 2010, and the two-day course on
Direct Taxes Code on 26th and 27th November 2010. All the programs elicited
overwhelming participation.

The DTC course began with homage to the people who lost their
lives in the ghastly terror strike on Mumbai on 26th November 2008. A lot needs
to be done not only to heal the wounds of those who were afflicted but also to
prevent their recurrence. The solution is aptly found in the BCAS logo which
reads, "uk Ò¸ke pLrh txzr" meaning "the vigilant have no fear". We must be
vigilant not only in making our leaders accountable and working towards safety
and security of the masses but also by contributing our might in helping them
achieve this. Then and only then we would be able to see India as dreamt by the
great poet Rabindranath Tagore who wrote:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards
perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country
awake

Let this be our prayer and motto for the ensuing decade.

Last but not the least, season’s greetings and best wishes
for a prosperous 2011!

Regards,

Mayur Nayak