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ICAI and its members

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1. Some Ethical Issues

The Ethical Standards Board of ICAI has given answers to some Ethical Issues on pages Page 760 to 762 of the C. A. Journal for December, 2014. Some of these issues are as under:

i) Issue:
Whether a member can appear on television/Radio or give lectures at Forums?

Response:
Council direction under Clause(7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the C.A. Act prescribes that a member may appear on television/Radio or give lectures at forums and may give his name and describe himself as chartered accountant. Special qualifications or specialised knowledge directly relevant to the subject matter of the programme may also be given. But no reference should be made, in the case of practicing member to the name and address or services of his firm. What he may say or write must not be promotional of him or his firm but must be an objective professional view of the topic under consideration.

(ii) Issue: Whether a Chartered Accountant in practice can use expression like Income tax Consultant, Cost Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost Consultant or a Management Consultant?

Response:
Council direction under Clause (7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the C.A. Act prescribes that it is improper for a Chartered Accountant to state on his professional documents that he is an Income tax Consultant, Cost Accountant, Company Secretary, Cost Consultant or a Management Consultant, whereas it is permitted to mention his degrees.

(iii) I ssue: Whether a Chartered Accountant/Firm is permitted to use logo on letter-heads, stationery, etc.?

Response:
The use of logo/monogram of any kind/form/style/design colour etc whatsoever on any display material or media e.g. paper stationery, documents, visiting cards, magnetic devices, internet, signboard by the Chartered Accountant, firm of Chartered Accountants is prohibited. Use or printing of member/firm name in any other manner tantamounting to logo /monogram is also prohibited. However, a common CA logo has been allowed to the members, provided it is used in the correct manner within terms of the Council guidelines.

(iv) Issue:

Whether a Chartered Accountant in practice can engage in any business or occupation other than the profession of Chartered Accountancy?

Response:
In terms of Clause (11) of Part I of First Schedule to the C.A. Act a Chartered Accountant in practice is not permitted to engage himself in any business or occupation other than the profession of Chartered Accountants.

However, there are the following exceptions to it: (i) A Chartered Accountant can be a Director of a Company (not being a Managing Director or Whole – Time Director), provided he, or any of his partners or the firm in which he is a partner is not Auditor of such Company.

(ii) A Chartered Accountant in practice may engage in any business or occupation with the permission granted in accordance with a Resolution of the Council. Appendix-9 of the Chartered Accountants Regulations, 1988 contains the above resolutions under two heads (A) permission granted generally and (B) permission to be granted specifically.

(v) Issue:
If a member is a partner in more than one firm, is it permissible to print the names of all the firms on visiting cards, letter-heads, stationery etc.?

Response:
There is no violation under Clause (7) of Part I of the First Schedule to the C.A. Act.

2. EAC Opinion Determination of Stage of Completion in Construction Contracts

Facts:
A company incorporated under Companies Act, 1956, is a state public sector undertaking (PSU) and is a wholly owned by the Government of Odisha. The company is an unlisted public company.

The company has stated that since the company has been incorporated specifically for execution of projects of Home Department of the Government of Odisha, it does not participate in tender for obtaining orders from various Government departments.

Further, the company has stated that the revenue is recognised on the basis of contracts executed by the company, which are in the nature of fixed price contracts. Since the company is executing more than 2,000 projects at a time, it is not practically possible for the company to estimate the contract cost to complete the balance work and calculate the stage of contract completion as on the balance sheet date. Furthermore, since there is no correlation between the estimated cost and actual cost of execution, it is not practically feasible to derive the outcome of such huge number of projects unless and until the projects are completed and handed over to the user departments.

Query:
On the basis of the above, the company has sought the opinion of the EAC as to whether the accounting procedure followed by the company for recognition of revenue and expenditure, which is as per Para 31(a), 31(b) and 32 of AS 7 is in conformity with AS 7 or not.

EAC Opinion:
The Committee notes from the Facts of the Case that the company, on the basis of inquiry received from the various Government departments, submits estimates for each project separately as per Odisha Public Works Department (OPWD) Schedule of Rates (SoR). The estimates are submitted after including cost of materials, labour, other overheads and supervision charges which includes its profit margin.

The Committee further notes from the Facts of the Case that the Company has stated two reasons for it not being able to measure the outcome of the project reliably. Firstly, it is stated that the company is executing large number of projects due to which it is not practically possible to estimate the contract cost to complete the balance work and calculate the state of completion as on the balance sheet date. Secondly, it is stated that since there is no correlation between the estimated cost and actual cost of execution due to estimates being based on SoR, it is not practically feasible to derive the outcome of such huge number of projects unless these are completed and handed over to the user departments.

As far as the first reason for not measuring the outcome of the project reliably due to practical difficulties of having large number of projects is concerned, the Committee notes that AS 7 identifies certain situations/conditions wherein, in fixed price contracts, it can be stated that the outcome of the project cannot be estimated reliably. The Committee notes that as per AS 7 in case of fixed price contracts, ordinarily, the company would be able to estimate the outcome of the contract reliably.

Therefore, it should recognise the contract costs and revenue based on stage of completion of the contract. The Committee also notes that as per the provisions of AS 7, stage of completion of a contract can be determined either by reference to the contract costs incurred or by reference to physical completion of the contracts using survey of work performed or completion of a physical proportion of the contract work method. The Committee is of the view that only practical problems due to large number of projects cannot be considered as a ground for not being able to estimate the outcome of the contract reliably as even in large number of projects where the stage of completion is being determined by reference to contract cost incurred, the company, on the basis of estimates of various costs, such as, labour, materials, etc. would generally be able to reasonably estimate the outcome of various projects. However, for this purpose, in order to overcome the practical difficulties, due to number of projects, the company should develop an effective reporting system from all the projects to obtain the data for determining the stage of completion as per AS 7.

As far as the second reason of no correlation between the estimated cost and actual cost of execution of the contract, the Committee is of the view that although for submission of an estimate for a project to the Government departments, it might be essential for the company to use the rates given in Sor, for the purposes of implementation of AS-7, estimates should be based on the costs expected to be incurred on the project and should also be revised from time to time depending on the changes in the circumstances. The Committee is of the view that for this purpose, the company should develop an effective budgeting system so as to have the reliable data available for estimating the outcome of the contracts at any stage and for determining the stage of completion. the Committee is of the view that a proper budgeting and reporting system is not only required from the angle of implementation of aS 7 but it also necessary to effectively manage various contracts.

The  Committee further  notes that the company has  stated that the amount of surplus or deficit in a particular project is not included in the revenue of that project, during a particular year, unless and until the project is completed and handed over to the user departments. On the basis of above, the Committee is of the opinion that accounting procedure followed by the company is not in accordance with the requirements of aS 7.

[Pl. refer page nos. 791 to 797 of the C. a. journal – december, 2014]

3 ICAI news
(Note:  Page numbers given below are from the C.A. journal for december, 2014)

(a)    ICAI geared up for IFRS convergence new/revised ind aS converged with ifrS will be notified by December end by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. ICAI has already started a nation wide exhaustive exercise to train the members in the new indian accounting Standards and foresee a global demand of indian Cas with IFRS expertise. New ind as can be applied voluntarily from 2015-16 and will be made compulsory from 2016-17 (P. 746-747)

(b)    Guidance Note on reporting on internal financial Controls would be available shortly at offices of Regional Councils of ICAI. However, on a representation made by ICAI, the MCA  has amended rules for Chapter 10 (audit and auditors)  of  the  Companies act,  2013  and  reporting on internal financial Control  u/s. 143(3)(i) has been deferred for one year i.e., upto 31st march,2015. (P.747)

(c)    Report on Campus Placement Programme – August – September – October, 2014

Brief summary of the Campus Placement Programme _ august – September – october, 2014.

Particulars

Campus august

– September – october, 2014

Number of Candidates Registered

4,809

Number of Candidates shortlisted

4,208

Number of Interview Teams

154

Number of Organizations

86

Number of jobs offered

1,019

Number of jobs Accepted

953

Percentage
of jobs offered vis-a vis short- listed candidates

24.22%



Top CTC offered for domestic posting

Sl no.

Company name

Job offered

CtC offered (InR Per annum)

1

ITC
Limited

7

17,00,000

2

Coca-
Cola India Inc

6

15,00,000

3

ITC
Limited

6

14,00,000

4

Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd.,

10

12,50,000

5.

Cairn India Limited

6

11,00,000

Highest Salary offered for international Posting was rs. 24,00,000/- (p.a) to 4 Candidates. (P. 866-877)

(d)    Secretary of ICAI

Shri T. Karthikeyan who served the iCai for 37 years retired as Secretary on 31-10-2014. our best wishes to Shri Karthikeyan for a healthy and peaceful retirement.

Shri V. Sagar has been appointed as acting Secretary of iCai. our best wishes to him for a successful term in office (P.749)

(e) ICAI President elected as Member of IFAC Board: Shri  K.  Raghu,  ICAI  President  has  been  elected  as  a member of the Board of international federation of accountants (IFAC) on 7th november, 2014. He will hold this office for a period of 3 years. Our Greetings and best wishes to Shri K. raghu for this achievement.   We wish him a successful term of office. (P.750).

Cancerous Corruption

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“BJP defending communalism with nationalism.
Congress defending corruption with secularism. India living with
corruption as nationalism.”
– Ranvir Shorey.
Actor

Anti-Corruption Bureau of Maharashtra:

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) plans to set up regional and zonal
offices across the city and state, following its success in trapping
many bribe-seeking government officials recently. Its office is in a
remote place at Pochkhanawala Road in Worli, and is not easily
accessible. The registration of complaints online has not helped much.
The ACB sources said the home department is likely to approve the plan
soon. If all goes according to plan, the ACB, like the Mumbai police
commissionerate, in the initial stages will be able to set up at least
four regional offices in the South, Central, North-West and North-East
Mumbai.

• The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on 17th July launched
four mobile vans that will transverse the city and encourage citizens to
register corruption cases on the spot. Home minister R. R. Patil
flagged off these vehicles at the ACB’s Worli office.

The vans,
each manned by four cops, will be deployed in four regions of the city.
The south region van carrying banners with anti-corruption slogans shall
move in the areas of Mantralaya, the Bombay High Court, the old custom
house, sessions and other metropolitan courts, Public Works Department,
BMC, state and city police headquarters etc.

Director-General of
Police (ACB) Praveen Dixit said, “Our motto is to reach out to more
people who are compelled to pay bribes. Generally, people avoid
approaching us, but if we are at their doorstep we feel it would make a
lot of difference.” Additional CP, Vishwas Nangre-Patil said that on the
first day there was a good response from the public.

• A deputy
collector, a public works executive engineer, a senior police
inspector, and a principal of a leading college were among the 508
public servants trapped by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in 375 graft
cases in the first four months of 2014. Significantly, in the entire
last year; the ACB had arrested 281 erring officials in 216 cases.
According to ACB records, the highest number of erring officials caught
this year was from the State Home Department (87), followed by Revenue
Department (79), Municipal Corporations (25), State Electricity
Distribution Company (16) and land records (11). More shocking was the
fact that a few senior police inspectors were caught taking bribes in
the police station itself. Admitting that the data was worrying, Mumbai
Police Commissioner, Rakesh Maria said he was determined to end the
menace. “I had a meeting with all deputy, additional and joint police
commissioners, and have drafted a comprehensive action plan to take on
the erring officials. The results will be visible in a time-bound
period,” he said. “We have prepared a list of the erring officers. We
will counsel them and take action against them. But if there is no
improvement, we ourselves will submit the list to the ACB for further
action.”

• In the above connection, it is interesting to note
what Mr. Julio Rebeiro, Chairman of Public Concern for Governance Trust
wrote in July to Mr. Pravin Dixit. Same is reproduced hereunder:


Graft Busters: Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) directorgeneral Pravin
Dixit has analysed every case registered by them under the Prevention of
Corruption Act. Significantly, his report on department-wise analysis
and the bribe details has been uploaded on the ACB’s website. Dixit
analysed the data of 36 departments and found that even for a minor
task, a bribe of Rs. 3 lakh is sought. In the civic body, one does not
get an NOC without paying off clerical staff, even for an early hearing
before the minister of state for revenue one has to shell out a bribe.
There was scope for graft in deletion or addition of names in the ration
card. The bribe amount was small, but alterations were not made without
greasing the staffer’s palm. From Dixit’s investigation, it has been
established beyond doubt that without coughing up money, even routine
work was not possible for a common man. According to the graft
investigator, in the departments of home, revenue, public health, public
works, law and judiciary, finance, urban development, energy, transport
or education, kickbacks were the norm. Dixit has done his job, if
bureaucrats study the report and amend the existing procedure for
obtaining routine certificates, it will be a huge relief for the aam
aadmi.

“Our intern, Rafael Pereira has helped to devise a
complaint in a Whatsapp format to facilitate anybody with a mobile
internet connection to make a complaint to the ACB whenever one comes
across an instance of corruption. The web based application may also
prove to be an attraction for the youth who are mostly electronic-savvy
and make them involved in the anti-corruption campaign.

We, at
the Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT), are ready to bear the
cost of the server and in collaboration with The Bombay Coding Company,
will be able to produce the application free of cost to ACB, in public
interest.

Hope we can start work on this application right away with your final nod.”

Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index 2013: Corruption remains a global threat:

• The Corruption Perceptions Index, 2013 serves as a reminder that the abuse of power, secret dealings and bribery continue to ravage societies around the world.

The
Index scores 177 countries and territories on a scale from 0 (highly
corrupt) to 100 (very clean). No country has a perfect score, and
two-thirds of countries score below 50. This indicates a serious,
worldwide corruption problem.

The world urgently needs a renewed
effort to crack down on money laundering, clean up political finance,
pursue the return of stolen assets and build more transparent public
institutions.

“It is time to stop those who get away with acts of
corruption. The legal loopholes and lack of political will in
government facilitate both domestic and cross-border corruption, and
call for our intensified efforts to combat the impunity of the corrupt.”

– Huguette Labelle, Chair, Transparency International

• Hereunder 10 countries with highest score:


Corruption and Media:
Research has shown that free and vibrant media is associated with lower corruption and a better response from governments.

Rudiger
Ahrend of the London School of Economics investigated connections
between corruption, human capital and press freedom in 30 countries. He
convincingly shows that lower level of press freedom is associated with
higher level of corruption throughout the world. The interesting part of
the finding was that mere increase in educational levels does not lead
to reduction in corruption. Corruption falls only in cases where higher
levels of education among the electorate are accompanied by increase in
freedom of press. In fact, a standalone increase in education sometimes
leads to increased corruption as the educated elite collude with
nefarious elements in society.

The above conclusions are not based on mere existence of negative correlations between freedom of press and corruption. Careful academic studies control for the influence of other factors that can influence both variables under study. For example, it is possible that some countries are less corrupt because of cultural reasons. It is possible that such countries also have a free press. Thus the driving force behind lesser corruption may be the dominant culture.

To control for such influences researchers use country fixed effects, which take care of all time invariant factors that are common to a country. it is possible that corruption gets reduced only during a year or so due to some event, such as the Anna Hazare movement. Such influences are taken care of by using time invariant effects. researchers also control for the impact of time varying factors such as economic growth, openness to trade, etc. After controlling for the influence of all these factors, they robustly estimate that increased press freedom is associated with lower levels of corruption.

Corruption Charge Against The Judge of The Bombay high court:
In a first of its kind courtroom drama, a defendant leveled allegations of corruption against a Bombay high Court judge, and asked her to recuse herself from the matter. The incident occurred during the hearing of the case between the Kuwaiti Royal family and film producer Sanjay Punamiya, pertaining to ownership of a Marine Drive flat. Punamiya’s advocate told the court that he was allegedly promised a favorable order if he coughed up rs. 25 lakh, and that he has filed a complaint against the judge with Chief justice of HC, CBI, among others and hence she should not hear the case.

Justice Roshan Dalvi, who was hearing the case, however, refused to relent and said that she will continue hearing the case. she asked for a copy of the complaint that Punamiya’s lawyers OD Kakade and Nilesh Ojha had filed against her. She then went through the nine-page complaint, while counsels representing faisal essa, former Kuwaiti consul- general and caretaker of the property waited.

The complaint alleged that Punamiya met justice dalvi’s husband shamim dalvi in march through another lawyer, and alleged that he was promised a favorable order in the case to be heard by justice dalvi if paid the amount. the meeting allegedly took place on 19th april in shamim dal- vi’s office at Yusuf Building in Fort. “Shamim Dalvi told the applicant (Punamiya) that he will have to pay an amount to get a favourable order.”

It is now reported:
Film producer sanjay Punamiya, who is facing contempt proceedings after he accused the Bombay high Court justice roshan dalvi of corruption, has once again tendered an unconditional apology to the judge, and has also submitted an assurance that he will not make such allegations against the high Court judges.

Placing  the  contempt  proceedings  before  Chief  justice mohit shah, justice dalvi noted that apologies tendered by Punamiya and his lawyers were “unacceptable,” that the affidavit filed by them shows “aggravated contempt.” She also noted that Punamiya and his lawyer had made “false unsubstantiated, scandalous and contemptuous allegations about the court’s integrity.”

Punamiya, now represented by senior counsel Pradeep sancheti, told a high Court division bench of Chief justice Mohit Shah and justice M. S. Sonak that he wanted to submit an affidavit withdrawing the allegations.

The  bench  drew  the  attention  of  sancheti  to  the  provisions of section 13(b) of the Contempt of Courts act, 1971, which provides that in any contempt proceeding, truth would be a valid defence if the court is satisfied that the allegations were true and in public interest.

Chief justice shah and justice sonak noted: “the appellant (Punamiya) wants to unconditionally withdrew the allegations set out in his letter/representation dated 5th may, 2014 and that he wishes to tender unconditional apology to this court with an assurance that he would not indulge in making such allegations against this court or any of the judges of this court.”

[All the above stories and information have been excerpt- ed from various press reports.]

ICAI and its members

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1. Some Ethical Issues
The Ethical Standards Board of ICAI has given answers to some Ethical Issues on pages Page 37 – 38 of C. A. Journal for July, 2014. Some of these issues are as under:

(i) Issue:
Whether a firm can obtain an assurance engagement at a significantly lower fee level than that charged by the predecessor firm or quoted by other firms?

When a firm obtains an assurance engagement at a significantly lower fee level than that charged by the predecessor firm, or quoted by other firms, the threat created will not be reduced to an acceptable level unless;

(a) The firm is able to demonstrate that appropriate time and qualified staff are assigned to the task; and
(b) A ll applicable assurance standards, guidelines and quality control procedures are being complied with.

(ii) Issue:
When does the situation for Potential Conflict arise?

When the responsibilities to an employing organisation and the professional obligations to comply with the fundamental principles are in conflict, the situation of potential conflict arises for the Professional Accountant in service.

(iii) Issue:
What is the distinction between the two schedules to the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949?

The two schedules are distinguished on the basis of gravity of misconduct and quantum of punishment for the misconduct, the second schedule pertains to a comparably graver misconduct and higher punishment.

(iv) Issue:
Can a member in practice render Management Consultancy and other services?

Yes, however, the areas covered under the Management Consultancy and other services have been summarised by the Council, appearing in the Code of Ethics, 2009 Edition.

(v) Issue:
Whether a member in practice is permitted to undertake the management of NRI funds?

No, a member is not permitted to undertake such assignment because the same is not covered under “Management Consultancy and Other Services” permitted to be rendered by the practicing members of the Institute.

(vi) Issue
Can a Chartered Accountant provide “Portfolio Management Services’ (PMS) as part of CA practice?

No, the Explanation to Clause (xix) of the definition of ‘Management Consultancy and other Services’ expressly bars the activities of broking, underwriting and Portfolio Management.

2. EAC Opinion
Accounting Treatment of Dividend Declared by Mutual Fund in Debt Fund Scheme under Dividend Re-Investment Plan.

Facts
A company (hereinafter referred to as ‘the company’) is a Maharatna Central PSU engaged in mining of coal having touched a production of 452 million tones during the 2012- 13 fiscal year. The company is a direct holding company of nine subsidiaries out of which eight are registered in India and the ninth one is registered in Mozambique.Two of its direct subsidiaries have further three and two sub-subsidiaries, respectively. Further, there are few joint ventures and associate companies which also form part of group accounts. The consolidated turnover of the company for the year 2012-13 was Rs. 88,281 crore with profit before tax of Rs. 24,979 crore. The main object of the company is to produce or otherwise engage generally in the production, sale and disposal of coal and its by products.

The company has stated that the company and its subsidiaries have surplus funds which are invested in bank Fixed Deposits (F.Ds) as well as in mutual funds (debt fund scheme). While the bank Fixed Deposits are shown under the Note ‘cash & bank balances,’ the investment in mutual fund is shown under the Note ‘current investments’ in the balance sheet. The term of the mutual fund is dividend re-investment plan which signifies that the dividend accruing on daily basis of Net Assets Value (NAV) of the scheme as on the date of declaration of dividend, results into increase in the number of total units held by the company.

Query:
In the above background, the company has sought the opinion of the EAC as to whether the dividend declared on a daily basis and credited in the form of additional units in the mutual fund account under debt fund dividend reinvestment plan should be recognised as revenue income as on the date of balance sheet in the final accounts of the company even if the same has not been redeemed/ encashed. If yes, the value at which such recognition is to be made? Or the present conservative practice of the company of not recognising the dividend declared and re-invested in the mutual fund–dividend re–investment plan on the balance sheet date due to non-encashment of such additional units be continued?

Opinion:
In view of the requirements of paragraph 13 of AS 9, the Committee notes that dividend income should be recognised at the time when the unit holder’s right to receive the payment thereof is established. The Committee is of the view that the right to receive is established when dividend is declared. In the extant case, the Committee notes from the Facts of the Case that dividend is declared on a daily basis and credited to the account of the company, which is represented by units determined on the basis of NAV per unit under initial investment of the units. This is reflected in the mutual fund account statement of the company. The Committee also notes from the Dividend Policy under one of the Schemes in the Key Information Memorandum, which is provided by the querist for the perusal of the Committee, that such reinvestment option was available in respect of a liquid fund wherein payout option on a periodic basis was also available. Thus, dividend was realisable both in cash or in kind, i.e., in the form of units of the fund as per the option exercised by the investor. The Committee is further of the view that nature of dividend would not change due to opting for reinvestment of dividend. Change in the value of reinvested units as a function of market price is a separate risk from the risk of investor’s right to receive the dividend. Accordingly, the Committee is of the view that the present practice of the company to defer the dividend declared and re-invested in the mutual fund scheme till the actual redemption of units and realisation of cash is not correct, rather it should be recognized as and when right to receive the dividend is established.

As regards the value at which dividend and investment should be recognised, the Committee is of the view that revenue from dividend should be recognised at the value of dividend received. Similarly, investments should be recognised at the issue price on the date of acquisition of each unit of mutual fund. With regard to any decline in the value of investments occurring subsequently due to market risks involved in mutual fund, viz., fluctuations in the NAV vis-à-vis interest rates etc., the Committee is also of the view that since current investments are carried at lower of cost and fair value, such decline/impairment in value of investment would be recognised while valuing the investments at the reporting date.

(Pl. Refer page nos. 65 to 67 of the C. A. Journal – July,2014)

3. I CAI News i) The following Campus Placement Programme for newly qualified C.As. has been organised by the ICAI during the months of August and September, 2014 (P. 119)

ii) Instructions to Members (P. 124) (a) A ppointment of Auditor of Government/Deemed Government Company:

As per relevant provisions of section 139 of the Companies act, 2013, the auditors of a government/ deemed government Company  are  to  be  appointed  by the Comptroller and auditor general of india, therefore it is instructed that members should not take up the statutory audit of any government/deemed government Company without getting the appointment letter issued by the O/o C & AG.

(b)    The hon’ble President of india addressed the iCai international Conference held in Kolkata in november, 2013. the gist of his address: (P.117)

In present times, we live in a world which offers a vista of opportunities for those who can handle the accompanying serious challenges. The subprime crisis and Eurozone crisis had adversely impacted the global economy including the BRICS nations. The same have reinforced of role of accounting professionals in discharging their responsibility to create public trust. Ethical standards would result in fruitful communication to stakeholders. a highly robust framework was required in the accounting/auditing/financial reporting, Psu accounting and accounting innovation. The ICAI has a big role to play in furthering india’s economic growth by providing inputs to the government in various fields as well as effective implementation of schemes such as mgrega.

Cancerous Corruption

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SRA Scam
An RTI request sent in July this year by the High Court Advocate Manoj O. Singh has revealed what could possibly be another big scam in the already chequered history of the Slum Redevelopment Authority.

Singh, who represents Samala Narsaiyya Ramulu and Narsavva Konka, who live in a slum near Worli Naka, wanted to check with the SRA as to why certain names had been included in a massive redevelopment project when the list was revised in 2012.

The SRA’s response said that in 2013, they had received a letter from the Brihanmumbai Electrical Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), saying that many of those who had been included in the second list had electric supply to their homes and establishments dating before 1995 turned out to be based on a forged letter.

Now, the state housing minister Prakash Mehta has ordered an inquiry into the matter.

The mystery letter
This particular SRA project concerns three slum pockets now merged into one — Shiv Ganesh and Shiv Sainath Cooperative Housing Societies — near Worli Naka with 753 residents. Singh claims that the builder, Om Omega Shelters, falsely hiked the number of dwellers eligible under Development Control Rule 33 (10), in order to claim a larger building area. As per rules, the more the number of slum dwellers a builder rehabilitates in a new construction for free, the greater the FSI he gets to build a new building on the same land, which he is allowed to sell in the open market. Singh estimates that, in this case, Om Omega Shelters has managed to get somewhere close to 10,000 square feet extra, by including names of nearly 100 dwellers in the revised list.

Showing Sunday Mid-day the RT I responses he received, Singh states that the SRA revised its original 2009 list prepared by BMC (which included nearly 500 eligible slum dwellers from the above mentioned co-operative societies), based on a letter from the BEST, which said that the new names were eligible.

Corruption Charge:
A government official cannot be convicted under corruption charges merely on the basis of recovery of bribe money and it is essential to prove that he had demanded money, the Supreme Court has ruled.

A bench of Chief Justice H. L. Dattu and Justices V. Gopala Gowda and Amitava Roy said the proof of demand is an “indispensable essentiality” for establishing an offence of bribe and acquitted an assistant director of technical education department of Andhra Pradesh despite allegedly being caught red-handed for taking Rs. 500 bribe in 1996.

“The proof of demand of illegal gratification, thus, is the gravamen of the offence under Sections 7 and 13(1) (d) (i) & (ii) of the Act and in absence thereof, unmistakably the charge therefore, would fail. Mere acceptance of any amount allegedly by way of illegal gratification or recovery thereof …… would thus not be sufficient to bring home the charge under these two sections of the Act,” it said.

The court said mere recovery of money would not prove the charge and it has to be proved that the accused had demanded the bribe and had voluntarily accepted the money.

“Mere possession and recovery of currency notes from an accused without proof of demand would not establish the offence. It has been propounded that in the absence of any proof of demand for illegal gratification, the use of corrupt or illegal means or abuse of position as a public servant to obtain any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage cannot be held to be proved,” the court said.

Preventing Corruption etc. at BCCI:
Mr. Shashank Manohar, after taking charge as the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) listed out the issues that he would take up immediately and carry out certain reforms within the next 2 months. One of them is prevention of corruption.

Preventing corruption:
BCCI will lay down norms and take forward measures to prevent corruption. There will be programmes to educate players. Board will meet govt. officials to see if it can get certain investigative agencies.

Accountability:
Accounts of all state associations, have their own internal auditors. A system to be introduced by which accounts of all affiliated units would be reviewed by an independent auditor appointed by BCCI, after which further money would be released to these associations.

Transparency:
There is grievance that the Board is not transparent and everything is kept under wraps. For this, BCCI will put the constitution and all rules on its website and expenditure beyond Rs.25 lakh will be listed so that people are aware of the spending. There are two powers vested with the president. At the AGM, there is a chairman’s vote and a casting vote. Manohar will not exercise the right of the chairman’s vote at the AGM till the constitution is amended.

Criminals in Bihar Polls:
First phase:
22% candidates face serious criminal charges.
130 candidates have serious criminal cases pending against them.
174 candidates have criminal cases.

Second phase:
142 candidates declare criminal charges.

Third phase:
27% candidates have criminal cases.
Of 808 candidates, 215 have criminal record.

levitra

Lecture Meeting

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Topic : I mportant Income-tax decisions of 2014
Speaker : H iro Rai, Advocate
Date : 29th January 2015
Venue : Walchand Hirachand Hall, Indian
Merchants Chamberr

The Speaker started with Supreme Court decisions, dealing first with the case of Sanjeev Lal vs. CIT 365 ITR 389 wherein exemption u/s. 54F was denied by the AO on the grounds that the final sale was delayed and purchase of new house was more than one year prior to date of actual sale. The Court held that certain rights passed even on agreement for sale, and on a liberal interpretation of the exemption provision, the sale could have been regarded as having taken place at the time of agreement to sell. The circumstances of litigation which caused the delay in completion of sale were beyond the assessee’s control, and could not be the basis for denying the eligibility of exemption u/s. 54F to the assessee if the assessee fulfilled the other conditions specified in section 54F. This principle can also be applied for claiming benefit u/s. 54.

The speaker then threw light on a wealth tax decision in Amrit Banaspati Co. Ltd. vs. CWT 365 ITR 515 (SC). The Assessing Officer (AO) found that the valuation declared by the assessee on the basis of capitalisation of municipal rateable value was very low compared to the market value of the property; so also the sale value as per agreement was much higher than value as per municipal rateable value. The Supreme Court held that it was a case where it was not practicable to apply rule 3, due to the very low valuation as compared to the fair market value. The valuation of property was, therefore, held proper under rule 8(a) i.e. as per fair market value.

In the case of CIT vs. Tip Top Typography 368 ITR 330 (Bom HC) the Assessing Officer (AO) noticed that the rent received by the assessee on letting out commercial premises along with car parking was nominal and the circumstantial evidence indicated that the fair market value was higher. Therefore, AO obtained instances of the rental amount prevailing in the market in the area and confirmed that the property was not covered by the Rent Control Act. On the basis of such comparable instances, the annual letting value as provided u/s. 23(1)(a) was determined at a much higher figure.

The Bombay High Court held that the market rate in the locality is an approved method for determining the fair rental value but it is only when the Assessing Officer is convinced that the case before him is suspicious, determination by the parties is doubtful, that he can resort to enquire about the prevailing rate in the locality. The municipal rateable value may not be binding on the Assessing Officer but that is only in cases of afore-referred nature. AO cannot brush aside the rent control legislation if it is applicable to the premises in question. Accordingly, the AO had to undertake the exercise contemplated by the rent control legislation for fixation of standard rent. Further the court held that if AO desires to undertake the determination himself, he would have to go by the Maharashtra Rent Control Act, 1999. Merely because the rent has not been fixed under that Act does not mean that any other determination and contrary thereto can be made by the AO.

Due to the above two decisions of Amrit Banaspati Co. Ltd. and Tip Top Typography, assessees owning more than one house could face problems in assessment if the assessing officer has reason to believe that the value adopted by assessee is very low or absurd, resulting in the assessing officer adopt the fair market value of the property for the wealth tax or of the rent for income tax purpose.

The Supreme Court in the case of Himatsingka Seide Ltd.,(2014) 266 CTR 141 gave a four liner decision affirming the decision of Karnataka High Court [CIT vs. Himatsingka Seide Ltd. (2006) 286 ITR 255] wherein the High Court held that unabsorbed depreciation should be adjusted against income of export oriented business, and the taxpayer cannot adjust unabsorbed depreciation against other income, so as to take exemption from payment of tax even for other income, as section 10B is an exemption section and not a deduction section.

On a similar issue, the Bombay High Court in the case of CIT vs. Black & Veatch Consulting (P.) Ltd. (2012)348 ITR 72 held that the brought forward unabsorbed depreciation and losses of the unit, the income of which is not eligible for deduction u/s. 10A, cannot be set off against the current profit of the eligible unit for computing the deduction u/s. 10A. It may be noted that the said decision of the Bombay High Court was cited before the apex court in the case of Himatsingka Seide Ltd.,(2014) 266 CTR 141.

However, the department has started taking the view that deduction u/s. 10A or 10B should be availed by the assessee only after setting off unabsorbed depreciation and unabsorbed business loss, if any, incurred by assessee.

In Vodafone India Services Private Limited vs. UOI & Others 368 ITR 1, the Bombay High Court held that issue of shares at a premium by Vodafone India in favour of its AE did not give rise to any “income” from an International Transaction, as income would not include capital receipts unless specifically stated in the income tax act, and therefore, there was no need to invoke Transfer Pricing provisions. A decision has been taken by the Government not to challenge this decision further before the Supreme Court, and this decision has therefore attained finality.

In the case of CIT vs. Nayan Builders 368 ITR 722, Bombay High Court upheld the decision of tribunal wherein tribunal held that since the High Court admitted the appeal filed by assessee, substantial questions of law were involved. Accordingly penalty u/s. 271(1)(c) of the Incometax Act, 1961 imposed by the Assessing Officer was cancelled. Based on the said decision, if an assessee finds any appeal admitted by the high court covering similar issue as that of assessee, then relying on the decision of Nayan Builders, the assessee can plead that penalty u/s. 271(1)(c) cannot be levied.

The next issue was whether a foreign company deductee can claim that since tax was deductible at source, even though no tax was actually deducted at source, no interest u/s 234B can be levied. In the case of DIT (IT) vs. Alcatel Lucent USA, Inc (264 CTR 240), the Delhi High Court held that it seems inequitable that an assessee, who accepted the tax liability at first appellate stage after initially denying it, should be permitted to shift the responsibility to the Indian payers for not deducting the tax at source from the remittances, after leading them to believe that no tax was deductible. Further, it held that the assessee must take responsibility for its volte face and once the liability to tax is accepted, all consequences follow and same cannot be avoided. It also held that the present case is one where equitable considerations should prevail in the interpretation of section 234B otherwise, it would not merely result in injustice and the purpose of the provision would also not have been achieved.

However, in the case of DIT (IT) vs. NGC Network Asia LLC [2009] 313 ITR 187, where the revenue preferred an appeal contending that the assessee was liable to pay advance tax even on the amount which had not been deducted at source u/s. 195. The Bombay High Court relying on the decision of CIT vs. Sedco Forex International Drilling Co. Ltd. [2003] 264 ITR 320 (Uttaranchal) held that where the deductor has failed to deduct tax, the shortfall attributable to non-deduction of tax at source cannot be the deductee’s fault, so as to be the subject matter of interest u/s. 234B.

Given both opposite decisions i.e. favourable and unfa- vourable to assessee, in case the Supreme Court upholds the decision of delhi high Court in case of alcatel Lucent, USA, which was unfavorable to the assessee, then this would result into a large number of litigations, as there are many cases pending with huge amounts involved in similar matters.

The next interesting issue discussed by the speaker was whether there could be disallowance of payments u/s. 40(a)(ia) of the income-tax act on account of short deduction of TDS. In such cases, there are different views, one being that the deduction not being in accordance with law, the entire payment could be disallowed. The second view is that disallowance should be proportionate to short deduction. The third view is that there need be no disallowance when there is short deduction. It was this third view, which was adopted by the high Court in CIT vs. S. K. Tekriwal [2014] 361 ITR 432 (Calcutta high Court). The high Court had not given its detailed reasoning, but reproduced the tribunal order, which took the view that though the short deduction may attract proceedings under section 201, disallowance u/s. 40(a)(ia) is not possible, when there is a bona fide short deduction. However the matter is not free from doubt, and one should probably await finality either from the Supreme Court or by way of clarification on the disallowance in such situations.

In the case of Mitsubishi Corporation India Pvt. Ltd vs. DCIT 166 TTJ 385 (2014), the assessee made certain payments to its associated enterprise. Such payments were disallowed by the ao u/s. 40(a)(i). the delhi tribunal, applying the non-discrimination clause, held that Second proviso to section 40(a)(ia) is also required to be read into section 40(a)(i), in cases where related payments are made to the tax residents of japan, as long as the japanese tax residents have taken into account the payments made to them by indian residents without deduction of tax at source in their computation of income, paid interest thereon and have filed the related income tax returns u/s. 139(1) in india, the payments so made by the indian enterprise cannot be disallowed in the hands of indian enterprise.

W.e.f. a.y. 2015-16, disallowance u/s. 40a(ia) is reduced to only 30% instead of previous 100% disallowance. according to the Speaker, since section 40a(i) has not been amended on similar lines, the non discrimination clause could be invoked as in the case of mitsubishi Corporation.

Dealing with a few tribunal decisions, in the case of Zaveri & Co. (P.) Ltd. vs. CIT 32 ITR (T) 50, ITAT Ahmedabad held that fixed deposit receipts taken for obtaining Letter of Credit for purchases, on which interest was earned by the assessee, an SEZ unit, were business assets of the assessee acquired in the course and for the purposes of its business. Hence, interest income earned on fixed deposit had to be assessed as business income of the assessee while calculating benefit u/s. 10AA of the Income tax act.

The last decision quoted by the speaker was on the current issue of bogus purchases. itat mumbai, in the case of Shri Rajeev G. Kalathil vs. DCIT 67 SOT 52, held that Purchases cannot be termed as bogus by the ao merely because the supplier was listed as a hawala dealer by the VAT authorities. In the said case, CIT(A) held that the transactions were supported by proper documentary evi- dences, that the payments made to the parties by the assessee were in confirmation with bank certificate, and the mere fact that the supplier was shown as defaulter under the Maharashtra VAT Act could not be sufficient evidence to  hold  that  the  purchases  were  non-genuine.  The ao had not brought any independent and reliable evidence against the assessee to prove the non-genuineness of the purchases, and there was no evidence regarding cash received back from the suppliers. The addition made by the ao was deleted by the CIT(a). On further appeal by department, hon’ble mumbai tribunal upheld the order of CIT(a).

The    meeting    ended    with    a    vote    of    thanks    to the Speaker.

Cancerous Corruption

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The world over, it is now realised that containing
Corruption in the business practices enhances the value of the business
enterprise and its business activities.

UN Global Compact
Network, India is the top rank NGO spreading the above findings.
Hereunder is the article printed in their publication released in Mumbai
on 6th February, 2015 (Where BCAS was a business partners and
incidentally, Nitin Shingala was one of the panelists on session on
discussion) titled:

BUSINESS CASE FOR ANTI-CORRUP TION

Section 1
Foreword
Dinesh K. Sarraf
President, Governing Council,
UN Global Compact Network India,
Chairman & Managing Director,
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC)

The
idea of anti-corruption entered into international development
discourse in the 1990s, defining corruption as a major global problem,
being “sand for the wheels of commerce” and affecting development
negatively. On one level, it can refer to the risk of taxpayers’ money
in Government’s projects being fraudulently spent or stolen. On another
level, it can refer to corruption within a country’s financial structure
and institutions including that in the private sector, with the
negative impact that this has on economic growth of the country.

Corruption
retards the pace of development and impedes developmental activities.
It not only suppresses the economic growth by driving up costs, but also
undermines the sustainable management of the environment and natural
resources and results in criminal activity, malfunctioning state
institutions and weak governance.

With the evolution of
economies, mandate of the businesses have moved from being profit-making
entities to socially responsible organisations. Over the past few
years, clean business has emerged as one of the primary objectives of
the organisations. One of the most efficacious recommendations for
business practice to tackle corruption has been found within the ambit
of Collective Action. The idea is simple – get companies working
together with their competitors and other stakeholders to create
decisions that are driven by economic considerations and not by corrupt
transactions.

Global Compact Network India (GCNI), in furthering
the UNGC’s 10th principle on Anti-Corruption, implemented the
Collective Action Project (CAP) from 2011-2014. This project, in a
phased manner, took up pressing corruption issues in the Indian context,
in the spheres of public procurement, bribery and fraud, supply chain
transparency and sustainability, transparency in sports and sports
related hospitality, and facilitated businessacademia dialogue in the
country.

Over the past few years, clean business has emerged as
one of the primary objectives of the organisations. One of the most
efficacious recommendations for business practice to tackle corruption
has been found within the ambit of Collective Action.

In its
first series of Pan-India consultation conducted during 2011-2012 titled
‘Ethical Business for Profitability’, CAP partnered with academicians,
civil society, chambers of commerce, and international business councils
to share their best practices which were being followed in various
sectors. This consultation resulted in CAP India’s first publication
“Raising the Bar through Collective Action: Anti-corruption Efforts in
Action in India”.

CAP conducted its second series of pan-India consultation in the second half of 2012 titled Turning Down the Demand: Cutting off the Supply – Collective Efforts to reduce Corruption in India.
The main aim of the consultations was to examine innovative ways in
which corruption could be tackled and explore ground realities that are
not factored in while constructing Anticorruption policies. The
consultations provided recommendations that became part of the second
CAP India publication – a study that showcased trends of private sector
fraud and bribery in the last fifteen years in India. This third and
final publication of CAP Project presents the Business Case for
Anticorruption in India. Many companies and business entities have
shared their practical experiences in this publication as to how they
have been investing in getting their processes and procedures in order,
so that businesses could be graftfree; and to ensure transparency in
their supply chain and procurement mechanism, irrespective of the size
of the business. I am sure this publication will be a very useful
reference for many new as well as existing business entities.

UN GLOBAL COMPAC T 10TH PRINCIPLE:

Olajobi Makinwa
Head, Transparency and Anticorruption Initiatives, United Nation Global Compact

The journey so far and the way ahead

The
world is now a global village. While the world is shrinking,
traditional roles and responsibilities of business and governments are
shifting and merging. The interconnectedness of roles and
responsibilities are much more pronounced than ever before. Private
investment, thriving entrepreneurship and vocational training are more
needed today. In a globalised world, the private sector is expected to
do much more in areas that used to be the exclusive domain of the public
sector. away from the public relations realm to a strategic one handled
at the highest levels of the company. Longterm financial success is now
seen to go hand-in-hand with environmental stewardship, social
engagement and effective governance for sustainable development. Bribery
and corruption is no longer accepted as a way to conduct business. The
current demand for transparency, integrity and accountability is
consistent all over the world. Businesses and governments, more than
ever before, are daily asked to conduct business with integrity,
openness, accountability and transparency. It is a just call. The costs
of doing business otherwise are known and such costs are no longer
accepted; it is a task that has to be embraced and a task that has to be
done. There is definitely a business case for anti-corruption and all
businesses, big or small, global or local, have to come together to set a
new path for all to take. The stage is set and is irreversible. It is a
global movement of creating a sustainable and inclusive global economy.
We therefore need to join hands to work towards reducing, if not
eliminating bribery and corruption in conducting business. There is no
other way.

Long-term financial success is now seen to go
hand-inhand with environmental stewardship, social engagement and
effective governance for sustainable development. Bribery and corruption
is no longer accepted as a way to conduct business. The current demand
for transparency, integrity and accountability is consistent all over
the world.

The United Nations Global Compact (Global Compact)
was launched in the year 2000 amidst the emerging debate on
globalisation. Business was and continues to be recognised as a key
stakeholder and driver in the international sustainable development
framework. The Global Compact, a multi-stakeholder initiative is the
world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative with more
than 8,000 business participants from developed, emerging and developing
countries. It has 80 local networks. With its ten universal principles
related to human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption and
other platforms, the Global Compact calls on business to make
environmental, social and governance issues as important as financial
bottom lines. The adoption of the UN Convention against Corruption
(UNCAC) in 2003 led to the addition of the 10th Principle against
Corruption to stem the tide against corruption.

The year 2014 was a watershed as it marked ten years of business working collectively with the Global Compact, to work against corruption in all its forms including extortion and bribery.

Since its inception, the Global Compact’s  role  has  been that of a facilitator and a convener. It convenes international actors – government, business, investors, civil society and  academia  –  at  a  common  platform  to devise and discuss ways to further the corporate sustainability agenda and take concrete action. It is a platform for continuous improvement. Activities of the 10th Principle against Corruption manifest this convening role as well as action platform of the Global Compact in  a  most  comprehensive  manner.  The  10th  Principle globally advances its objectives through a working group comprising of anti-corruption champions from business, civil society, academia and international organisations, including the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), transparency international, the World economic Forum’s Partnering against Corruption initiative, and Global Compact local networks. With the crucial interplay between global and local, the 10th Principle working group provides continuous guidance to the Global Compact’s anti-corruption   related   activities.   The   working   group meets regularly to identify priority work and discuss topics of relevance as well as issues that will help companies to embrace and embed anticorruption in their operations.

Over the years, various task forces comprising of members of the working group have developed a number of important generic tools and resources to guide companies in the fight corruption. Companies adopt the tools and resources taking into account their own specificities. the   Global   Compact   tools   and   resources   include Global  Compact-  transparency  international  reporting Guidance on the 10th principle against corruption, a Guide for anti-Corruption risk assessment and Fighting Corruption in Sports Sponsorship and hospitality. others are un Global Compact/UNODC e-learning tool on the unCaC and the upcoming guidance on Whistle-Blower policies and Collective action in Practice, to name a few.

Corruption is one of the biggest impediments to any economic  or  social  development.  the  evil  impacts  of corruption are widely known. Private to private corruption is indeed a challenge. Small and medium enterprises bear the brunt of corruption with no leverage to fight back. The private sector can be a victim and can be a perpetrator of corruption. It is therefore of utmost importance for every effort to eliminate corruption to be done collectively. A company’s lone action, while important, may not be sufficient to fully deal with the challenges of bribery and corruption  especially  where  it  persists.  That  is  why  an african adage that says “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far,  go together” is apt. One can do a  lot by oneself but one can do the impossible with a great team. It is with this realisation and to multiply the effects of individual corporate action against corruption, companies are joining hands with like-minded companies and organisations to improve the way they conduct business and promote transparency. This type of partnership among multiple interested parties with common challenges and common objectives to turn the tide against a common foe, in this case bribery and corruption, is referred to as Collective action.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far,   go together” Collective action can create a more stable business climate by enhancing access to markets and allowing companies to save revenue and profits that would otherwise be lost to bribery. Collective action-led solutions arrived at by multiple stakeholders have more credibility, ownership, acceptance and their implementation is more sustainable. But collective action is indeed not easy. It requires many things, the most important is trust among companies, which is difficult to secure. This is the dilemma. Global Compact Collective action projects in 5 countries are bold initiatives that have taken the bull by its horn by laying the foundation for solid collective efforts to address corruption challenges in the 5 countries.

The 5 countries collective action projects were launched in   january   2011   to   engage   critical   stakeholders   in concerted efforts to eliminate corporate corruption. the 5 collective action projects were launched in Brazil, Egypt, india, nigeria and South africa with support from the Siemens Integrity Initiative. The 5 projects have been working with local businesses, governments, civil society and academia in these countries to create an enabling environment for dialogue, discussion and action against corruption. By facilitating ongoing dialogue between the private and public sector, the projects set the stage and offered an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders to explore how collective action can create incentives for ethical business performance, and to discuss areas for further improvement. the Global Compact has proved to be the best incubator for these collective action initiatives.

Global Compact has leveraged these projects worldwide by disseminating information, raising awareness, calling for partnerships and collaborations through all possible mediums. These 5 collective action projects conclude in january 2015. however, the spark of action that has been ignited has the potential to shine brightly and incessantly with the commitment from business – whether local or global – and all key players in the international arena.

Brazil
Egypt
 India
 Nigeria
South africa

Collective action provides a framework for a coalition    of like-minded stakeholders (industry peers, committed government officials & policy makers, civil society academics, and business associations) to act together for a common cause.

Business    case    For    anti- corruption in India

Ms. Shabnam Siddiqui
Project Director,
UN Global Compact network india

According to World Bank estimates 0.5% of india’s Gross domestic Product (GdP) is lost due to corruption every year. in 2014 india ranked 134 on ease for Business index and 179 in terms of ease of Starting a Business amongst 189 nations in the world, the ranking being based on parameters such as dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

Correspondingly efforts on anti-corruption have taken a front seat since the past couple of years. The beginning of 1990s saw several international organisations introducing anti-corruption  instruments  to  make  the  functioning  of businesses clean. With globalisation and business opportunities spread across  the  globe,  companies have to follow norms of several countries. Some of the strong global anticorruption convention and legislation, mentioned below, have led businesses to introduce anti- graft initiatives in their working across the world. however india still lags behind.

OCED Anti-Bribery  Convention  (officially  Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in   international   Business   transactions)   adopted   in 1997, prohibits bribery of foreign officials, enhanced collaboration between law enforcement authorities of signatory countries and ban on tax deductibility of bribes to foreign public officials. These elements were borrowed by the other international legal instruments which were introduced after this convention namely united nations Convention against Corruption and UK Bribery act. Though  india  is  yet  to  ratify  the  OECD  anti-Bribery Convention, similar to the features of the convention, india has drafted Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill, 2011 which is pending in Parliament.

the UK Bribery act on the other hand came into force in 2011 and is applicable to all companies registered in uK, its subsidiaries, as well as all non-uK companies trading in uK stock exchange. the Bribery act criminalises both the payment and receipt of a bribe and in the first of its kind of initiative the dealings with funds received as a result of bribery, could constitute a separate money laundering offense. The uniqueness of the act comes from the fact that it outlaws the facilitation payments that are permitted by several european countries.2  in the indian context,  as yet, no case has been registered under the U K Bribery Act or any action taken to cater to its requirements. However, a large number of big indian conglomerates come under the purview of this new act which has all essential features of united nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) which India ratified in May 2011.

Finally, the tough global act, which has reaped the maximum gains vis-à-vis penalties, is the Foreign Corrupt Practices act (FCPA), a US legislation which prohibits United States companies and their employees, officers, directors and agents from paying or promising to pay bribes to foreign officials, political parties, candidates or their conduits to obtain or retain Business. The provisions of FCPA demand a comprehensive Compliance Program, along with a due diligence process for companies. In the last five years, the top ten cases of financial penalties under FCPA have fetched penalties to the tune of USD
4.4 billion4. FCPA, in the recent times, had incidence on the business operations in india wherein in march 2011, Wal-Mart, US Retail giant signed a joint venture with Bharti enterprises, an indian conglomerate to set up its stores in india. However, cases of bribery were reported. if charged guilty Wal-mart could have been penalized under the FCPA. Finding issues with the joint venture, Wal-mart in april 2014, decided to enter in the indian market alone5 and suspended its joint venture, loosing around 150 million in the course of three years.

The Bribery act criminalises both the payment and receipt of a bribe and in the first of its kind of initiative the dealings with funds received as a result of bribery, could constitute a separate money laundering offense.

Thus  with  the  increasing  extra  territorial  reach  of  the Foreign Corrupt Practices act of the US and the UK Bribery act, UNCAC compliance and reporting, OECD anti-Bribery Convention, Partnering against Corruption initiative of World economic Forum, and anticorruption Working groups of un Global Compact and Business 20, there is a larger emphasis on corporate governance, transparency, responsibility and accountability.

Even as companies are exposed to multi-jurisdictional laws and regulations, compliance and its monitoring have become an existential issue for most companies. India is trying to address the issue of corruption by making legislative changes, ratifying international conventions and adopting technology in its administrative functioning. However, merely rules and regulations will not address the issue. It is important that the business stakeholders are committed and come together to participate in the fight against corruption.

Business case for anti-corruption

the indian general election of 2014, fought on the plank of good governance and transparency, gave Mr. Narendra modi, the current Prime minister of india, a mandate for ensuring a clean and transparent governance agenda,   a mandate that has triggered a new-found urgency in  the efforts of corporate india to curb corruption in their operations.

Hong Kong-based mini vandePol, who heads the global compliance practice at international law firm Baker & Mckenzie observes that “Over the past five years, Indian companies politely listened when we spoke of tackling bribery and other compliance risks and told us that we don’t understand how things get done with the indian bureaucracy….Since the recent elections won on the premise of being corruption-free, a lot  of  companies  are interested in starting afresh on building robust compliance systems to tap more markets and rope in new foreign investors.”6mini vandePol, has received advisory mandates  from  over  a  dozen  Indian  firms  in  the last six months from sectors such as defence, manufacturing and it.

Within the changing national and global scenario Global Compact network india proposes the Business Case for anticorruption in india. A business case for anticorruption assists in four ways: reduces legal liability, increases business opportunity, enhances company reputation and boosts the morale and trust of company personnel.

With the increasing extra territorial reach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices act of the US and the UK Bribery act, UNCAC Compliance and reporting, OECD anti-Bribery Convention, Partnering against Corruption initiative of World economic Forum, and anticorruption Working groups of un Global Compact and Business 20, there is a larger emphasis on corporate governance, transparency, responsibility and accountability.

Printed with the permission of Shabnam Siddiqui, Project director of UN Global Compact network india.

ICAI and its members

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1. Disciplinary Cases

(i) Case of RA
(Reported in Disciplinary Cases Vol-II – Part II published by ICAI – P.39)

The CIT (DR) made a complaint against the member that the company of which he was the Auditor had not made provision of wealth tax payable by the company. According to the complainant, the vacant land belonging to the company was valued by the valuer at Rs. 111 crore and the wealth tax liability worked out to a figure which was more than the net profit disclosed in the accounts. The auditor had not qualified the Audit Report on this issue.

The defence of the member was that the valuation report was neither obtained by him or by the company. It was obtained by a sister concern of the company and the member was not aware of the same when he gave the Audit Report. The book value of the land was only Rs. 11.74 lakh and the valuer had valued the land at Rs. 111 crore without giving any basis. Further, the member had relied on the management representation to the effect that the land was subject to numerous litigations and there were restrictions for construction. Therefore, the management was of the view that no wealth tax was payable.

The Disciplinary Committee (DC), after consideration of the facts of the case, has taken the view that there could be difference of opinion on the question of valuation of an asset and the same in no way can be construed to be a lack of due diligence or gross negligence. On this basis the member was held to be Not Guilty of Professional or other Misconduct.

(ii) Case of SSR
(Reported on Page 1 of Disciplinary cases published by ICAI Vol – II, BoD – Part II)

In this case the complaint was that the Member had accepted Tax Audit assignment of the company in which the complainant was the Auditor in earlier years without communicating with the complainant. The defence of the Member was as under:

(i) T he complainant who had conducted Tax Audit in earlier years had declined to continue Tax Audit for the year under complain.

(ii) The company had informed the complainant that they were searching a new firm of auditors for Tax Audit. The management informed the member that they had taken consent of the outgoing auditors for appointment of the Member as Tax Auditor.

(iii) The member had taken oral consent of the complainant for his appointment as Tax Auditor. He was informed that no fees of complainant were outstanding. He also submitted that he was not aware that written consent of the complainant was required to be taken.

The Board of Discipline (Board) noted that during the course of proceedings the complainant had made a request for withdrawal of the complaint. The Board also noted that the member had accepted his mistake with respect to non–communication with previous auditor in writing due to ignorance of the relevant provisions of C.A. Act. The Board held that although there was a technical flaw on the part of the member, yet considering the fact that the member had taken oral consent of the complainant, which fact was accepted by the complainant, and the complainant had made a request to withdraw the complaint, the benefit should be given to the member. On this ground it was held that the member was not guilty of professional or other misconduct.

(iii) Case of JCD.
(Reported on P.150 of Disciplinary cases published by ICAI VoL – II – BoD – Part II)

In this case the complainant firm was statutory auditors of the company for last 10 years. The complainant was also Tax Auditors of the company for all these years. For the year 2010-11 the complainant firm had completed Tax Audit and the same was not finalised because some points were pending compliance by the company. Since there was no compliance up to 25-09-2011, the complainant contacted the company when he was informed that the company had obtained the Tax Audit Report from another auditor. The complaint was that the member had accepted the Tax Audit assignment without prior communication with the complainant.

During the course of hearing before the Board, the complainant submitted that he had discussed the matter with the Member and as a good gesture, he wanted to withdraw the complaint. The Board noted that there was some miscommunication regarding the receipt of communication by the complainant from the Member which appears to have been sorted out. On this basis the Board held that the member was not guilty of professional or other misconduct.

2. Financial Report Review Board (FRRB)

In the publication of ICAI “Study on Compliance of Finance Reporting Requirements” following observations have been made by FRRB.

(i) Para 29 of AS-6 (Depreciation Accounting) (P.49)
In one case the accounting policy regarding depreciate was stated as under:

“In case of ‘X’ unit and ‘Y’ unit depreciation is calculated at straight line method and in all other units the WDV method has been followed.”

FRRB has referred to Para 29 of AS – 6 and observed that although the company has disclosed the depreciation methods adopted by it but the rates of useful life of such units are not disclosed. Being silent on this aspect cannot be construed that depreciation is charged at specified rates. Hence the above disclosure was not in accordance with the requirements of AS-6

(ii) Para 1 and 3.2 of AS-6 (P.50)
In the published accounts of some companies FRRB noticed that no depreciation on “Leasehold Land” was provided.

FRRB has taken the view, relying on Para 1 and 3.2 of AS-6, that Leasehold Land has limited useful life and, as such, it should be amortised as required by AS-6. In the above cases, this was not done and therefore the Depreciation Accounting was not in compliance with AS-6.

(iii) Para 28 of AS-6 (P.52)
In the case of a company, while accumulated depreciation for each class of assets was disclosed, the depreciation provided for the year against each item of asset has not been separately disclosed.

Referring to Para 28 (ii) of AS-6, FRRB has observed that under AS-6 “total depreciation for the period for each class of assets” should be disclosed. In this case, although accumulated depreciation was disclosed, no disclosure of depreciation for the year for each class of asset was not made. Thus the mandatory requirement of AS-6 was not complied with.

3. Applicability of Tax Rate in Quarterly Financial Results.

Facts:
A Central Public Sector Undertaking Company (Listed Company) is engaged in mining of bauxite, manufacturing of alumina and aluminium, generation of power in captive power plant for use in smelter plant and selling alumina and aluminium both in domestic and international market. Paid up share capital of the company is Rs.1,288.62 crore out of which 81.06% shares are held by the Government of India and 18.94% are held by the Public. As per the provisions of clause 41 of the Listing Agreement, the quarterly un-audited financial results are to be furnished to stock exchanges and be published in newspapers.

While computing the quarterly financial results, the company considers provision for tax expense by considering the computed taxable income upto that period based on the applicable tax rate for the said financial year.

The principles for recognition and measurement of tax expense are laid down in paragraph 29 (c) of AS 25 which states that the tax expense in each interim period is to be recognised based on the best estimate of the weighted average annual income tax rate expected for the full financial year.

As per the practice followed by the company consistently, at every quarter ending day, actual tax expense is provided based on the financials/ performance upto that period.

Query
In the above background, the Company has sought opinion of the EAC on the following issues:

(i)    Whether the principles mentioned in AS 25, particularly, the principles for recognition and measurement of tax expense as laid down in paragraph 29(c) of AS 25 would apply to unaudited quarterly financial results prepared to comply with clause 41 of Listing agreement which are subject to limited review by the statutory auditors.

(ii)    Whether the existing practice of recognising provision for tax expense by considering the computed taxable income for the relevant period based on applicable tax rate is in contravention of the provisions of AS 25.

EAC opinion:
After considering, clause 41(IV)(f) of the Listing Agreement and paragraphs 1, 2, 27 and 29 of aS 25, the Com- mittee noted that clause 41 of the Listing agreement specifically requires that quarterly and year to date results should be prepared in accordance with the recognition and  measurement  principles  laid  down  in  AS  25.  The Committee also noted that the Guidance note on applicability of aS 25 to interim Financial results, issued by the ICAI does not lay down any new accounting principle and is only providing guidance on the application of a mandatory Standard (viz. AS 25). Therefore, the Committee is of the view that the company should follow the requirements of aS 25 as explained in the Guidance note and should apply the recognition and measurement requirements as contained in paragraph 29 (c) of AS 25 to the interim financial results presented under clause 41 of the Listing agreement. Thus, whether or not the Guidance note is binding or is recommendatory in nature is not relevant as the relevant requirements of the Standard are binding on the company. The Committee further noted that paragraph 29(c) of AS 25 requires that income tax expense should be recognised in each interim period based on the best estimate of the weighted average annual income tax rate expected for the full financial year.

The Committee also noted from the Facts of the case that while computing the quarterly financial results, the company considers provision for tax expense by considering the computed taxable income upto that period based on the applicable tax rate for the said financial year. On the basis of the above, the Committee is of the view that the accounting practice of the company to provide for tax expenses at the quarterly/interim period results based on the applicable tax rate for the said financial year would be correct provided such tax rate is the rate that would be applicable to the expected total annual earnings of the company for the whole year, that is, the estimated average annual effective income tax rate. In this regard, the Committee has pointed out that the tax expense for each interim period is not to be determined on the basis of average of estimated annual tax expense rather it is to be determined on the basis of estimated average annual effective income tax rate applied to the portion of income earned in the interim period. Thus, if in an interim period, there is a profit but in other interim periods, there are losses resulting into nil taxable income for the financial year, tax expense in each interim period will be provided for by applying estimated average annual effective income tax rate to the income (profit or loss) of those interim periods. In other words, if there are profits in the first quarter, the company has to provide tax liability in the first quarter at the appropriate estimated average annual effective income tax rate, which would get reversed in subsequent quarters if there are losses. For the purpose of calculating the estimated average annual effective income tax rate, guidance may also be taken from the Guidance note on measurement of income tax expense for interim Financial reporting in the Context of AS 25, issued by the ICAI.

The existing practice of recognising provision for tax expense by considering the computed taxable income for the relevant period based on applicable tax rate for the said financial year would be correct provided such tax rate is the rate applicable to the expected total annual earnings of the company for the whole year, that is the estimated average annual effective income tax rate.
[Pl. refer page nos.  1092 to 1095 of the C.A. journal – February, 2015]

4.    ICAI News
(Note: Page Nos. given below are from CA Journal for February 2015

Group

no. of
candidates appeared

no. of
candidates Passed

Percentage
of Pass

Both

36,254

2,983

8.23

Gr. I

64,972

15,208

23.41

Gr. II

66,552

6,830

10.26


(i)    November, 2014 Final examination results (P.1158)

First Rank    : Vijendra Aggarwal, Gurgaon (69.75%)
Second Rank : Ms. Pooja R. Parekh,ahmedabad (69.50%)
Third Rank    : Santosh P. Nankani, nandubar(69.13%)
Ms. nikita Goel, howrah (69.13%)

(ii)    November, 2014 iPCC Examination

Group

no. of
candidates appeared

no. of
candidates Passed

Percentage
of Pass

Both

47,795

2,963

6.20

Gr. I

1,23,488

17,603

14.25

Gr. II

1,04,435

15,982

15.30

(iii)    CPT Examination – december 2014 (P.1157)

Gender

appeared

Passed

Percentage

Male

63,541

9,060

14.26

Female

37,416

5,820

15.55

Total

1,00,957

14,880

14.74

(iv)    late Shri rameshwarji Thakur

One of our former Presidents, Shri Rameshwarji Thakur, passed away on 15th january 2015 at the age of 86.  He was our President in 1966-67. He was also a Freedom Fighter and an active member of our profession. He held the prestigious positions as union minister of State and later as Governor of madhya Pradesh, odisha, andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. We all condole his death and pay our respectful homage to the departed soul. We pray that the departed soul may rest in peace.

(v)    New chapters of ICAI (P.1043)
Following new oversees chapters of iCai have been established in February, 2015.

(a)    24th Chapter at Vancouver (Canada)
(b)    25th Chapter at Bangkok (thailand)
(c)    26th Chapter at dar es Salam (tanzania)

(vi)    revision in rates of Stipend to Articled assistants:

By notification dated 23-01-2015 issued by ICAI the rates for stipend payable by Chartered accountants to their articled Assistants have been revised as under:-

normal Place of Service of
articled assistants

Stipend
payable p.m

 

 

First Year (`)

Second

Year (`)

remaining

Period (`)

(a)

Cities/Towns
with Population of above 20 Lacs

2,000

2,500

3,000

(b)

Population
be- tween 4 Lacs

and 20 Lacs

1,500

2,000

2,500

(c)

Population
below 4 Lacs

1,000

1,500

2,000


(vii)    Our New President and Vice-President:

ICAI Council has elected Shri Manoj Fadnis (Indore) as President and Shri Devaraja Reddy M (Hyderabad) as Vice-President for the year 2015-16. Our greetings and best wishes to both for a successful term of office.

ICAI and its Members

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1. Disciplinary Cases Disciplinary Committee (DC) of ICAI has decided the following cases and held the concerned members as guilty of professional or other misconduct. These cases are reported in the publication of ICAI “Disciplinary Cases” VOL-1. Page Nos. given below are from this Book. The names of members are not given in order to maintain confidentiality.

(i) Case of Mr. A.J.

In this Case, member has been held to be guilty of professional misconduct in respect of following four charges.

(a) Member accepted the position as auditor of NCP Ltd (Company) for 2006-07 without first communicating with the previous auditor in writing. In this case the member was appointed as auditor by the company on 01-10-2006. The member stated that he had informed the previous auditor about this fact by letter dated 14-08-2007 Under Certificate of Posting. This was considered by DC as not sufficient communication.

(b) The member accepted the appointment as auditor of the Company without first ascertaining from it whether the requirements of sections 224/225 of the Companies Act have been complied with. The DC found that the member could not establish whether these provisions were complied with.

(c) The member failed to exercise due diligence and was grossly negligent in the conduct of his professional duties while carrying out the Audit for 2006-07. The DC has noted that there were serious mistakes and grave irregularities in the Financial Statements audited by the member. The member could not produce his working papers to explain his view point.

(d) The member accepted the appointment as Auditor of the Company although payment of the undisputed audit fee of the previous auditor was outstanding. The DC has found that the undisputed audit fees payable to previous auditors were outstanding. No satisfactory evidence for payment of the outstanding fees was produced by the Member.

The D.C. has, after due consideration of the submissions of the Member, awarded punishment by way of removal of the name of the Member from the Register of Members for a period of one year. (DC- Pages 57-66).

(ii) Case of Mr.MKJ

In this case the complaint against the member was that he accepted Tax Audit assignment of a partnership firm without first communicating with the previous Tax Auditor. Further, the complainant (previous Tax Auditor) had stated that the member accepted the tax audit although his undisputed audit fees were outstanding.

The D.C. found that the member sent letter to the previous auditor Under Certificate of Posting. Although this was not sufficient compliance with the requirement for communication, the member could prove that the Postal Department had delivered the letter of communication to the previous auditor. Therefore, this charge was not proved.

However, the D.C. has held that the member was aware of the fact that undisputed audit fees of the previous auditor was outstanding and no satisfactory evidence were produced as to why this was not paid. Therefore, on this count the member was held to be guilty of professional misconduct.

The D.C. has issued a letter of caution to the member advising him to be more careful in future in complying with the provisions of C.A. Act and Code of Ethics. ( DC Pages 74 – 81).

(iii) Case of Mr.S.A.

In this case, the member was found guilty of professional misconduct in respect of the following charges.

(a) The member accepted position as Auditor of Six Entities without communicating with the previous auditor in writing. The defence of the member was that he had verbally communicated with previous auditor and no objection was raised. This was not accepted as proper communication by D.C.

(b) The second charge was that the member accepted the audit of six entities although audit fees and other fees for Tax consultation due to previous auditor was outstanding. The member could not produce any evidence for the payment of outstanding fees. The D.C. held that the member was not required to ensure payment of fees for Tax consultation but as regards outstanding Audit Fees due to the outgoing auditor no effort was made to clear the same.

The D.C. held the member guilty on both counts and awarded the punishment of Reprimand to the Member.

2. Some Ethical Issues

The Ethical Standards Board of ICAI has given answers to some Ethical Issues as under on Pages 1008 – 1010 of the CA Journal for January, 2014.

(i) Issue No: 1:

Appointment of another Auditor at Adjourned A.G.M without Special Notice.

If any annual general meeting is adjourned without appointing an auditor, no special notice for removal or replacement of the retiring auditor received after the adjournment can be taken note of and acted upon by the company. In terms of section 190(1) of the Companies Act, 1956, special notice should be given to the Company at least fourteen clear days before the meeting in which the subject matter of the notice is to be considered. The meeting contemplated in section 190(1) undoubtedly is the original meeting.

(ii) Issue No: 2:

Charge of Fees by C.A in practice based on percentage of Turnover.

In terms of Clause (10) of Part I of First Schedule to the C.A. Act, it is not permitted for a Chartered Accountant or a firm of Chartered Accountants to charge fees on a percentage of turnover, except in the circumstances provided under Regulation 192 of the CA Regulations, 1988.

(iii) Issue No:3:

Whether a member in practice can be a director of company?

A member in practice is permitted generally to be a Director simpliciter in a Company provided he is not a Managing Director or Wholetime Director and is required to attend only the Board Meetings of the company and not paid any remuneration except sitting fees for attending the meetings.

(iv) Issue No: 4:

Whether a Chartered Accountant in practice is entitled to accept teaching assignment?

A Chartered Accountant in practice is allowed to accept teaching assignment in university, affiliated colleges, educational institution, coaching organisation, private tutorship, provided the direct teaching hours devoted to such activities taken together do not exceed 25 hours a week.

(v) Issue No: 5:

Undercutting Fees:

It is now possible for a C.A. in practice to accept a position as Auditor previously held by some other C.A. in such conditions as to constitute undercutting.

3. Rotation of Auditors:

ICAI had successfully objected to the introduction of the system of Rotation of Auditors for the last over six decades. Several Commissions and Parliamentary Committees had agreed that rotation of Auditors was not in the interest of the Accounting Profession as also for the Corporate Sector. Inspite of this, provision for rotation of auditors has now been introduced by enactment of new section 139 of the Companies Act, 2013.

Detailed procedure for Rotation of Auditors as contained in section 139 has been stated in November, 2013 (Page 107), issue of B.C.A. Journal. Briefly stated, a firm of Chartered Accountants cannot continue as auditor of listed companies and other specified companies for more than 10 years. This period for sole proprietary concern is five years. After the expiry of this period, the same audit firm or its associate cannot be reappointed for a period of 5 years.

As stated earlier, the system of Rotation of Auditors u/s. 139 is to be applied only in Cases of Listed Companies and other Companies as may be prescribed by Rules. It may be noted that Draft Rule 10.3 provides that this system of Rotation of Auditors will apply to all Public and Private Companies, other than Small Companies and One-Person Companies. This provision is very harsh and almost of all Small and Medium sized Audit Firms will lose their medium sized Audit Clients. If a reference is made to section 149(4) it will be noticed that the requirement for appointment of Independent Directors on the Board of Companies applies to Listed Companies and other companies as notified by Rules. Draft Rule 11.2 provides that this requirement will apply to any Public Company having (i) paid-up capital of Rs.100 cr. or more, or (ii) Turnover of Rs. 300 crore or more or (iii) Aggregate Loans, Deposits etc. exceed Rs. 200 crore. There are similar other sections where similar powers are given to the government and the Draft Rules have equated Listed Companies with large Public Companies. ICAI should suggest that Draft Rule 10.3 should provide that the system of Rotation of Auditors should apply, besides listed Companies, to only large Public Companies having paid up capital exceeding Rs. 100 crore or so.

The Draft Rule 10.4(4)(i) is the most damaging rule in as much as it provides that for the purpose of rotation the period for which the auditor is holding office as auditor prior to commencement of the New Act shall be taken into account for calculating the period of 5 or 10 years. If this is implemented the existing small and medium sized Audit Firms will lose almost all their Audit Clients. They will cease to be auditors in almost all the companies where they have been auditors for 5 or 10 years during the next 3 years. This will put their Audit Staff, Articled Assistants and others in the most precarious position. Most of these firms will have to close down their Audit Practice. In some cases such firms will have to adopt unhealthy practice of canvassing for audit work. ICAI should strongly represent for amendment of this Draft Rule 10.4 (4) (i) so that it is specifically provided that period prior to enactment of section 139 is not counted for the limit of 5 or 10 years for reappointment of statutory auditors. It may be noted that Explanation below section 149
(11)    dealing with Independent Directors who can hold office for 10 years specifically provides that the period prior to enactment of the section is not to be considered for counting the period of 10 years.

4.    EAC Opinion:

Recognition of Distribution Network Acquired in a Business Acquisition as an Intangible Assets

Facts:

Company X (Company) was incorporated in February, 2011 as a wholly owned subsidiary of company Y. During the year 1st April, 2011 to 31st March, 2012, the company X acquired a business from company Z, an unrelated party, on a slump sale basis for an arm’s length consideration. Company Z is a leading manufacturer of kitchen appliances. The acquisition of business has led to company X becoming a leading player in this segment. As part of the acquisition, company X has acquired a large network of distributors, service centres, service points, retailers and manufacturing points.

The company operates through different channels, such as, the distributors, retailers, direct dealers, etc. More than 80% of the sales in the past were effected through the network of distributors (The distribution network).

The management of company X engaged a valuer to carry out the purchase price allocation. The intangible assets identified by the valuer for the purchase price allocation included brands and the distribution network. As per the valuation report, the distribution network was identified as an intangible asset and considering the time period over which the current distribution network was expected to contribute to the revenue of company X, the economic life of the distribution network was considered to be indefinite. However, the agreement appointing the distributor was valid till 31st March, 2012 and was renewable on mutual terms.

Query:

The querist has sought the opinion of the Expert Advisory Committee as to whether the distribution network acquired as part of the business acquisition in the case of the Company qualifies for recognition as an intangible asset as per AS 26.

EAC Opinion:

After considering paragraphs 6.1, 6.2 and 31(a) of AS 26 the Committee is of the view that for recognition, an intangible asset, even if acquired as part of a business purchase, should meet both the definition and recognition criteria specified in AS 26. The Committee notes from the Facts of the Case that the distribution network, being an arrangement for the marketing of the company’s product, is a non-monetary item without physical substance held for the purpose of supply of goods. Further, it appears from the Facts of the Case, that the existence of the distribution network is a factor for the acquisition of the business. So, while allocating the purchase consideration the valuer is able to identify the distribution network separately and also assign a value to it. This indicates that (i) the distribution network is identifiable; (ii) it is probable that future economic benefits attributable to the distribution network will flow to the company; and (iii) the cost of acquisition of the distribution network can be measured reliably.

Further, considering paragraphs 16 and 17 of AS 26 the Committee is of the view that the key terms of the distribution agreement mentioned by the querist indicate that the distribution network is controlled by the company at the time when it acquires the business, but the distribution agreement is valid only upto 31st March,2012 and the exchange (market) transactions for the same or similar distribution network are not available. In other words, there does not appear to be any control on distribution network either through legally enforceable rights or in any other way beyond 31st March,2012.

Hence, distribution network acquired as part of the business acquisition in the Company’s case qualifies for recognition as an intangible asset as per AS 26 only upto 31st March,2012.

[Refer page nos. 1038 – 1044 of C. A. Journal – January, 2014]

5.    ICAI  news:

(Note : Page Nos. given below are from C.A. Journal for January, 2014)

(i)    Empanelment of CA Firms on C& A.G. Panel for the year 2014-15

Applications are invited online from the firms of Chartered Accountants who intend to be empanelled with the office of C & A.G. for appointment as auditors of Government Companies/Corporations for the year 2014-15. The format of application will be available on the website www.saiinida.gov.in from 1st January, 2014 to 15th February, 2014. (P. 1118)

Campus Placement Programme – February – March, 2014

The Committee for Members in Industry of the ICAI is organising Campus Placement Programme for newly qualified Chartered Accountants at various centers all over India. Campus Placement Programme will be organised at various centres viz. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi and Pune from 17th February, 2014 to 15th March, 2014. (For details refer Page 1122)

Cancerous Corruption

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Modi government & Corruption:
An opinion poll conducted by Times Now to mark one year of the NDA regime has given thumbs down to the Narendra Modi government on price rise and its promise to bring back black money, but has hailed it for curbing corruption while disagreeing with the Congress charge that it was a ‘Suit Boot Ki Sarkaar’.

The poll result: 52.3% say that the Modi Government has curbed the corruption while 40.7% say NO.

BJP President, Amit Shah on Corruption:
Illicit money is a consequence of corruption. Many feel the government is disproportionately focused on the symptoms, neglecting the root cause.

Not a single scam has happened during our tenure. That shows there’s no corruption. Here’s an example: Under the UPA, 229 mines were handed over to corporate houses just on the basis of loyalty. There were big industrialists of their party also. Spectrum was handed out cheaply. Out of those 229 mines, the government auctioned 20, which ensured Rs. 2 lakh crore in government coffers. We auctioned one third spectrum, compared to UPA, and got over Rs. 1 lakh crore. This shows how transparently this government works.

Transparency and Accountability:

Preamble to RTI Act states:
AND WHEREAS democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Government and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed;

In the above context, an article written by Mr. A. N. Tiwari, former Central Information Commissioner is interesting and relevant. Excerpt therefrom:

Administration has a vital bearing on a country and its people. In ancient India right from Vedic Days, it has been avowed objective of administration to be responsive, transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. These factors could be regarded as the touchstone of any administrative set up.

Transparency makes sure that people know exactly what is going on and what is the rationale of the decisions taken by the Government or its functionaries at different levels. Accountability makes sure that for every action and inaction in government and its consequences, there is a civil servant responsible and accountable to the government, the society and the people.

Different dimensions of Transparency:

Transparency is to be ensured in different dimensions namely,

i. Openness in public dealings.

ii. Right to information relating to service delivery process.

iii. Right to information relating to criteria and their applications.

iv. Right to information to public expenditure/contracts.

v. Enactment relating to Right to information.

vi. Code relating to access to information.

vii. Openness in the cost of the project, quality standard etc.

The growing power of Information Technology has opened up possibilities which did not exist previously. The rapid processing and dissemination of information is allowing closer scrutiny of administrative action.

The question arises as to what are the concomitants of a transparent administration. These could be:

i. Accountability

ii. Effective and speedy public grievances redressal system.

iii. Empowering elected local bodies in rural and urban areas and decentralised delivery of services.

iv. Review of laws, regulations and procedures.

v. Right to information.

vi. Access of the public to information from public offices and creation of facilitation counters.

vii. Code of ethics for public service.

viii.Tracking corruption and cleaning the administration. Governments are in the business of politics and power and some times in the business of diplomacy. However, the primary responsibility for securing transparency in administration lies and will continue to lie on the people themselves. A vigilant and well informed public opinion, people’s participation in administration and development, an honest media are essential for promoting a transparent and efficient administrative system.

Estonia:
Viljar Lubi, Estonia’s envoy, spoke with Indrani Bagchi about why net neutrality is vital for India, how startup strengthen democracy – and how the internet helped Estonia tackle corruption.

Excerpt:
Estonia had a huge corruption problem in the early 1990s – now Estonia is the least corrupt country in Central or Eastern Europe. Technology made a huge difference with e-governance.

My only recommendation is to implement Digital India. Estonia’s working closely with India. We are happy to help. Today’s cutting-edge technology will be ancient in five years. Technology will have to constantly evolve.

levitra

Cancerous Corruption

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Mr. Stephen Covey: The lower the GDP, the higher the corruption index and India’s low GDP matches its high corruption.

Meaning of corruption
‘Cor’ means ‘Serious’ ‘Rupt’ means ‘Ruptured’. ‘Corrupt’ means ‘Seriously Ruptured’. When the system is seriously ruptured, that is ‘CORRUPTION’

Meghnad Desai (A prominent economist and Labour peer) writes: Corruption is not a microeconomic behaviour or a two player’s game but microeconomic structural distortion which connects several parts of the political economy.

Dilip Bobb, Group Editor, special projects and features of the Indian Express opines: The five sectors in which bribery and other corrupt practices are most persuasive include government and public sector; infrastructure and real estate; metals and mining; aerospace and defence; power and utilities.

The question is, does good governance translate into controlling corruption in developing economies? A recent World Bank report looked at various aspects to do with governance. One was whether good governance and anti corruption are the same thing. Governance is defined as traditions and institutions by which authority in a country is exercised for common good.

He writes “The truth is that, like death and taxes, corruption is almost a given in the Indian context and has been for many decades regardless of which government was in power.

Citizens hope that the new decisive government that India now has will contain corruption substantially if not eliminate it completely.

The latest 2014 survey commissioned by FICCI among corporates in India identifies corruption, bribery and corporate frauds as the most important risks, ahead of industrial disputes and unrest as well as political instability. Corruption was listed at the fourth place in similar survey FICCI did last year. India suffered losses of `36,400 crore due to corruption in the 12 months to September, 2013, says a survey by EY (Ernst and Young) and FICCI, excluding large corruption scandals – 2G, CWG etc.

The World Bank and IMF have some suggestions on how to tackle the menace of corruption:

a. Publicly black listing firms that have been shown to bribe in public procurement and “publish – what – you – pay” by multinationals competing for major contracts

b. E ffective implementation of freedom of information laws, (RTI in India) with easy access for all to government information

c. Disclosure of actual ownership structure and financial status of companies, media houses and domestic banks

d. Transparent (Web based) competitive procurement procedures

e. Country governance and anti corruption diagnostics and public expenditure tracking surveys

Sumant Sinha wrote in the Economic Times some time before:

The time has come for us to take our country back. Take it back from those who are either incompetent or corrupt and frequently both, from those who think nothing of exploiting others, from those who have either narrow sectarian or casteist views, from those who only think about furthering their own vested interest, from those who believe that spending time in jail on corruption charges is an act of valour to be redeemed once out on bail, from those who hobnob with such people and still state that their personal integrity is untarnished, from those who do not understand what it means to lead this great nation with its great culture and people, from the corrupt bureaucrats who have submitted themselves willingly to corruption around them, from the corruption inducing businessmen in India for whom making money at the expense of everything else is the only mantra, from the petty civil servant who has long back lost the concept of civil service and so on.

Citizens believe that the time has now come for India to redeem itself.

A recent study in Financial Times shows that relatives galore of Chinese politicians have become millionaires. The “princelings”, as children of top Chinese politicians are called, have riches that dwarf comparable Indian princelings.

Chetan Bhagat in the Times of India of 16.05.2014 listed the five areas towards which the new Government’s effort should be focused. One of them is:

Go after corruption. It bothers Indians and needs to be fixed. However at present, it also churns the wheels of our economic system.

Draconian measures or finger pointing will solve nothing. It might bring the country to a halt. You don’t solve a blood contamination disease by cutting of the arteries of the heart. You make the blood pure again, one small transfusion at a time.

You don’t want all the IAS officers or cops to stop working. You don’t want them to be corrupt either. Hence incentive structures, laws, and mind sets and empowerment all need to be looked at. Indians don’t want corruption to be solved in one week; they just want a leader with genuine intent to solve it. You have your time, but fix it.

The recently announced election results will bring this state of reality

A statement of Barack Obama :
We need to keep up the fight against corruption, which stifles innovation and is one of the biggest barriers to job creation and economic growth around the world.

levitra

ICAI and its members

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Disciplinary Cases:
The Disciplinary Committee (DC) of the ICAI has decided on some cases about professional or other misconduct. These are reported in the publication “Disciplinary Cases” Vol -1. The page numbers given below are from this book. The names of the members are not given, in order to maintain confidentiality.

(i) Case of RBK:
In this case, the Bank had complained that the member has issued financial statements to 97 persons from the same place. The Bank had given loans to these persons on the basis of these statements. On inspection by the Bank, it was found that these persons had no business activity or source for repayment of loans.

During the inquiry, the DC found as under:
(a) T hat the member had issued projection statements which were signed by him without putting any date;
(b) T hat the projection statements did not disclose the exact years and instead stated years I, II, III, IV and V, creating ambiguity for the reader about the years for which projections were given;
(c) T hat in a number of cases, the member had issued two/three projection statements for the same individual certifying different figures;
(d) T hat the basis on which the said statements were issued were not disclosed by the member.

The explanation given by the member was that he had issued the certificates based on the information given by the parties. He could not produce any documents on which reliance was placed.

The DC also noticed that the Branch Managers who gave the advances had not made any inquiries about the capacity of the parties and loans were sanctioned without authority.

On the basis of the above, the DC held that the member allowed his name to be used in the projection statements, giving the impression that he vouches for the accuracy of the information. It also held that he failed to carry out his duties in a diligent manner and failed to obtain sufficient information for expression of his opinion. Therefore, the DC held the member guilty of professional misconduct under clauses (3), (7) and (8) of Part I of the Second Schedule to the C.A. Act.

The DC further noted that all the loans were given in contravention of the prescribed rules of the Bank and some officials at the Branch Level were involved in it. Moreover, all loans were recovered by the Bank and all accounts were closed. In view of this, the DC has taken a lenient view and awarded punishment by way of “Reprimand” to the Member (pages 126-134).

(ii) Case of R.P.R:
In this case, R.P.R. had conducted the Audit of a Cooperative Housing Society for the years 2003 to 2007 and given one Audit Report for all the four years. The allegation against him was that the Income & Expenditure Account for any of the years was not prepared and only the Balance Sheet as at 31-03-2007 was attached to the Audit Report. It was further alleged that the notes to the Audit Report were highly damaging. Therefore, he could not have stated that the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Society.

During the inquiry by DC the member explained as under:-

(a) T hat he prepared the Balance Sheet and Audit Report for the limited purpose of addressing litigation amongst the members of the Society;
(b) T hat he had relied on the audit done by the previous auditor and followed in the period covered under the Audit;
(c) That he had pointed out the deficiencies in his report by way of Annexure to the report;
(d) That no Income & Expenditure Account was prepared as the Project was under construction;
(e) T hat he had carried out the assignment to the best of his ability. However, he admitted that due to lack of experience, there could be some technical mistakes, but the same could not be said to be due to negligence on his part. He further stated that there was no malafide intention. It was admitted that he had not done audit of similar works earlier and therefore there could be some mistakes.

The DC noted that there were several mistakes in conducting the Audit and the member had not followed Auditing Standards i.e. AAS-28. Further, the member had admitted that there were mistakes in giving Audit Report due to lack of experience of similar audit. Therefore, the D.C held that the member was guilty of professional misconduct under clauses (7), (8) and (9) of Part I of the Second Schedule to the C.A. Act.

Looking to the facts of the case, the DC awarded punishment of “Reprimand” as the DC found that the mistakes were of technical nature and that the member had also shown remorse for his mistakes in the written representation (page 67 to 73).

2. Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB)

ICAI has constituted FRRB with the objective to improve the Financial Reporting Practices. Observations of FRRB after examining the Accounting Policies followed by Companies in their published financial statements have been published in the publication “Study on Compliance of Financial Reporting Requirements” Vol – II. Some of the observations of FRRB are given below. Page numbers. given below are from this publication.

(i) AS-2 (Inventory Valuation)
In the Annual Reports of some Companies, the accounting policy for valuation of Inventories simply states that Raw Materials, Stores and W.I.P are valued at the lower of cost and the net realisable value.

Observation of FRRB
: It may be noted that Companies have disclosed the policy for Valuation of Inventories, but they have not disclosed the cost formula used for Valuation of Inventories, which is required to be disclosed as per Para 26(a) of AS-2 (Page 11-12)

(ii) AS-2 (Inventory Valuation)
From the Schedule of “Inventories” given in the Annual Reports of some Companies, it has been noted that Inventories were described “As taken, Valued and Certified by the Management”.

Observation of FRRB: I t may be noted from the clarification given in the Guidance Note on “Audit of Inventories” that the use of the expression “As valued and certified by the Management” may lead the users of Financial Statements to believe that the auditor merely relied on the management’s certificate without carrying out any other appropriate audit procedures to satisfy himself about the existence and valuation of Inventories. Further, use of this type of wording indicates that there is a disclaimer for Inventories which should be avoided (page 12).

(iii) AS-2 (Inventory Valuation)
From the Schedule of Current Assets given in the Annual Report of a Company, it is noted that stock-in-trade also includes the stock of DEPB Receivables as well as Plant and Machinery retired from active use.

Observation of FRRB:
It may be noted that under Para 4 of AS-2, Inventories include finished goods, WIP, Raw Materials, Consumables, Loose tools etc. Therefore, DEPB Receivable should be treated as part of Loans and Advances and Plant & Machinery retired from active use should be included as part of Fixed Assets. Hence, they should not be included in Inventories (page 16-17).

3. Some of the Ethical Issues:
The Ethical Standards Board has given answers to some Ethical Issues on Pages 1612-1614 of C.A, Journal for May, 2014. Some of these issues are as under:-

(i) What is the Conceptual Framework Approach?
It is a framework that requires a professional accountant to identify, evaluate and address threats to compliance with the fundamental principles, rather than merely comply with a set of specific rules.

Professional accountants are required to apply this conceptual framework to identify threats to compliance with the fundamental principles, to evaluate their significance and, if such threats are other than clearly insignificant, then to apply safeguards to eliminate them or reduce them to an acceptable level such that compliance with the fundamental principles is not compromised.

(ii)    What are the threats involved while complying with the fundamental principles?

Compliance with the fundamental principles may potentially be threatened by a broad range of circumstances.  these  are  (a)  Self-interest  threats  (b) Self-review  threats  (c)  advocacy  threats  (d)  familiarity threats and (e) intimidation threats.

(iii)    What are the available safeguards that may eliminate or reduce the threats at an acceptable level?

Safeguards that may eliminate or reduce such threats to an acceptable level fall into two broad categories, viz.,
(a) Safeguards created by the profession, legislation or regulation; and (b) Safeguards in the work environment.

(iv)    What is Ethical Conflict resolution?
Ethical conflict resolution means to resolve a conflict in the application of Fundamental Principles while evaluating compliance with the fundamental principles.

4.    EAC Opinion
Accounting treatment of Subsequent expenditure on technological Upgradation/Improvements on Capital Assets:

Facts:

T company is a wholly-owned Government of india enterprise incorporated in the year 1965 with the main objective of setting up cement plants in deficit areas to cater to the needs of that area and other neighbouring States.  The  company   has  stated  that  though  it  is  the only Government of india enterprise in the country in the cement sector, its market share is less than 1% of the total market share in the country, thereby leading to severe competition from private entrepreneurs in the market. the company has one of its cement factories in one of the districts of Andhra Pradesh, that was commissioned in  the  year  1987.  The  plant  has  been  in  operation  for more than 25 years after its commissioning and most of its major equipments have outlived their lives.

Now the company having been declared sick by  the Bifr in the year 1996, due to erosion of its net worth,  no technological upgradation/modernisation could take place as was called for the cement industry due to fast technological changes. however, normal maintenance was carried out to keep the plant running. as many new cement plants with higher capacity and latest technology have been set up by private entrepreneurs in the vicinity of the plant of the company in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, the company had been facing severe competition from private entrepreneurs in the industry and the company  is finding difficulty to operate the plant economically without modernisation/technology upgradation.Therefore, in place of changing the vital equipments with latest technology which entails substantial investment, the company made an endeavour to upgrade/improve icertain equipments with certain amount of expenditure with a view to increase the standard efficiency of the  vital equipments, increase its useful life and reduce the operating cost to the extent  possible. The company has, therefore, undertaken modernisation/upgradation of vital equipments, keeping energy efficiency and environment friendly technology in mind, to increase their standard performance with increase in overall productivity and standard operating efficiency of the plant.

Query:

In view of the above, the opinion of the eaC of ICAI is sought on the following issues: (a) Whether the cost of above modifications/upgradation/improvements can be capitalised along with the cost of concerned equipments and depreciation charged accordingly; or (b) Whether the cost of above modifications/ upgradations/improvements should be amortised/depreciated over a period of 10-15 years as the benefit of the above works would result in further increase in useful life of the equipments by not less than 10 years.

Opinion:

After considering paragraph 23 of Accounting Standard (aS) 10, ‘accounting for fixed assets’, the  Committee is of the view that expenditure on fixed assets subsequent to their installation may be categorised into (i) repairs and (ii) Improvements or betterments.   repairs, implies “the restoration of a capital asset to its full productive capacity after damage, accident, or prolonged use, without increase in the previously estimated service life or capacity”. it frequently involves replacement of parts. On the other hand, betterment is defined as “ … an expenditure having the effect of extending the useful life of an existing fixed asset, increasing its normal rate of output, lowering its operating cost, or otherwise adding to the worth of benefits it can yield. The cost of adopting a fixed asset to a new use is not ordinarily capitalised unless at least one of these tests is  met.  A betterment is distinguished from an item of repair or  maintenance  in that the latter has the effect of keeping the asset in   its customary state of operating efficiency without the expectation of adding future benefits.

Thus,  the  Committee  is  of  the  view     that  normally, expenditure on repairs, including replacement cost necessary to maintain the previously estimated standard of performance, is expensed in the same period. Similarly, the cost of adopting a fixed asset to a new use or modernisation of such asset without actually improving the previously estimated standard of performance is also expensed.

Accordingly, in the view of the Committee, only such expenditure that add new fixed asset units or that have the effect of improving the previously assessed standard of performance , e.g., an extension in the asset’s useful life, an increase in its capacity, or a substantial improvement in the quality of output or a reduction in previously assessed operating costs are capitalised. The  Committee is of the view that ‘previously assessed standard of performance’ is not the actual performance of the asset at the time of repair/improvement etc., but the standard performance of the same asset in its original state.

From  the  facts  of  the  case,  the  Committee  notes  that it has been stated that the expenditure has resulted in increased productivity, reduced operating costs and also enhanced the life of the equipments. however, the Company has not informed whether the increase in productivity or enhancing the life is beyond the previously assessed standard of performance of the concerned equipments. It is only the increase beyond the standard of performance of the concerned equipment in their original state, which is treated as betterment and related expenditure is capitalised.

After considering paragraph 23 of AS 26, the Committee is of the view that if the above upgradation/modernisation results into an increase in the useful life of the concerned asset the unamortised depreciable amount of the concerned asset along with  the  expenditure  incurred on upgradation/modernisation should be charged over the revised remaining useful life subject to the useful life implicit from the specified rates as per Schedule XIV to the Companies act, 1956. The Committee wishes to point out that such depreciation should be charged with reference to the ‘useful life’ and not with reference to ‘physical life’ of the asset.

ICAI and its members

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1. Disciplinary Cases Disciplinary Committee (DC) of ICAI has decided the following cases which are reported in ICAI publication viz., “Disciplinary Cases” Vol. I Part – I and II

(i) Case of G.K.

In this case, Mr. G.K. used to audit the accounts of certain group companies and give statutory audit reports from 01-10-2005 to 26-09-2009. He did not reveal to the company management that his name was removed from Register of Members maintained by ICAI. It was further alleged that he had connived with one of the Directors of the company to defraud the other Directors.

The D.C. found that the name of Mr. G. K. was removed from the Register of Members for non payment of Fees and therefore he was not entitled to audit or give statutory audit reports. Therefore, Mr. G.K. had contravened the provisions of sections 8 and 24 of the C.A. Act. Section 24 provides for prosecution of such person and court can levy fine upto Rs. 5,000/- and under certain circumstances award punishment by way of imprisonment upto 6 months.

However, under the present proceeding, Mr. G.K. was held to have committed other misconduct under Clause (2) of Part IV of First Schedule and Clause (1) of part II of second schedule of C.A. Act on the first charge. As regards the second charge the D.C. held that this was not proved. The D.C. awarded punishment of removal of the name of Mr. G.K. from membership for 3 months (Reported on Pages 20 – 27 of Part I of Vol.I)

(ii) Case of V.K.

In this case, the member advised his client that capital gains tax of Rs. 6.91 lakh was payable as Advance Tax for A.Y. 2007-08. The member undertook to deposit Advance Tax on behalf of his client. The client paid Rs. 6.91 lakh to the member who deposited the cheque in his account. The member deposited only Rs. 0.91 lakh as Advance tax on behalf of his client. He, however, added the figure of Rs. 6 lakh in the Bank Challan to defraud the I.T. Dept. In other words, the member had misappropriated Rs. 6 lakh and cheated his client. When this fact came to the knowledge of his client, the member refunded the amount to his client with interest. He has also paid interest charged by the I.T. Dept.

The D.C. has found the member guilty of professional misconduct under Clause (10) of part I of second schedule of C.A. Act. The D.C. has held that amount collected from client for payment of Advance Tax was used by the member for his personal purpose in violation of the above clause. The fact that the member has returned the amount with interest can not absolve the member from his guilt.

On the consideration of the facts of this case, the D.C. has awarded punishment to the member and directed that his name be removed from the Register of Members for a period of 2 years. Further, the D.C. has imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000/- to be deposited within 90 days. (Reported on pages 28 – 36 of Part I of Vol.1).

(iii) Case of Mr. V. K. D.

In this case, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reported to ICAI that the member (Statutory Auditor of NBFC Company) has submitted a certificate on 12-04-2007 stating that the company continues to undertake the business of NBFC requiring it to hold the certificate of registration u/s. 45-IA of the RBI Act. The RBI has stated that according to company’s letter dated 26- 03-2007 it had informed RBI that it had yet to start the commercial business. Hence, according RBI the Certificate of the Member was wrong. The charge against the Member was about gross negligence under Clause (7) of Part I of second schedule of CA Act.

The defence of the member was that he issued the certificate dated 12-04-2007 in response to the request letter from Company, whereby, he was requested to certify whether the company continues to carry on principal business of NBFC as on 31-03-2007. As per RBI press release No. 1998-99/1269 dated 08-04-1999, the Company’s financial assets should be more than 50% of its total assets and income from financial assets should be more than 50% of gross income. Both these tests are required to be satisfied as the determinant factor. It may be appreciated that the Respondent was not required or intended to verify and certify generally whether the Company has commenced the commercial business of which Respondent denies any knowledge or involvement.

The D.C., after hearing the Member and after verifying the documents produced by him, held that the company was meeting with criteria of NBFC as prescribed by RBI. It was also noted that the company was a private company and did not require to obtain business commencement certificate. Therefore, when the criteria of investment in Financial Assets and income from such assets was met and the Member gave the certificate keeping in mind the going concern concept. No mala fide intention was established. Therefore, giving benefit of doubt to the member, it was held that he was not guilty of professional misconduct. (Reported on Pages 6-12 of Part II of VoL-1).

2. Some Ethical Issues

The Ethical Standards Board of ICAI has given answers to some Ethical Issues. These are published on Pages 1171 – 1172 of CA Journal for February, 2014.

(i) Issue No.1

Whether an auditor is required to provide to the client or to main auditor of the Head Office of the same enterprise access to his audit working papers?

Working papers are the property of an auditor. An auditor is not required to provide the client access to his audit working papers. The main auditors of an enterprise do not have right of access to the audit working papers of the branch auditors, except in case it is required by the Regulatory norms.

(ii) Issue No.2

Whether Joint Auditors can demand the working papers of one another?

The working papers are the property of an auditor. Therefore, no joint Auditors can demand the working papers of the other Joint auditor.

(iii) Issue No.3

Whether a joint auditor will be responsible for the work done by other joint auditor?

Council direction under Clause (2) of Part 1 of the Second Schedule to the C.A. Act prescribes that in respect of audit work divided among the joint auditors, each joint auditor is responsible only for the work allocated to him, whether or not he has prepared a separate report on the work performed by him. However, on the other hand, all the joint auditors are jointly and severely responsible for the work which is not inter se divided among the auditors.

(iv) Issue No.4

Whether the statutory auditor can accept the system audit of same entity?

The statutory auditor can accept the assignment of a system audit of the same entity, provided it did not involve any scrutiny/review of financial data and information.

3. EAC Opinion:

Treatment of Mark to Market Losses on Principal only Currency Swap:

Facts:

A company is engaged in providing port and related infrastructure services (including SEZ) to various port and SEZ users.

The company has stated that when it approaches banks for long term loans to fund the capital expenditure for port project, it has the option of seeking a foreign currency loan (FCL) or a Rupee loan. In case FCL is not readily available, the company agrees to borrow Rupee loan. The sanction letter of bank could also provide the company the option to convert the undrawn portion of Rupee loan into FCL at a later date. Further, along with the sanction of Rupee loan, banks also sanction derivative limits so that the company could utilise the same for swapping drawn and outstanding Rupee loan amount into foreign currency facility. According to the company, it enters into derivative transaction by way of Principal Only Swap (POS) to the extent of outstanding Rupee loan in its balance sheet. As per the company, though POS transaction is an off balance sheet item, the same cannot be entered into unless there is an underlying outstanding loan in the balance sheet. Hence, it is clearly inter-linked to a balance sheet item.

The company has further stated that POS transaction with bank involves notional swap of the company’s Rupee loan with USD. As a result, the company has USD exposure through POS. The tenor of underlying Rupee loan of POS contract is same and notionally, the company swaps the Rupee loan with the USD loans. The bank which enters into the POS actually buys Rupee from the company and sells it USD. However, no cash flow takes place,  no entries  are passed in books and details of outstanding transaction are disclosed in the financial statements. Thus, effectively, what was a Rupee obligation of the company becomes a USD obligation with the POS.

According to the company, all POSs are monitored on a regular basis and, periodically, the company has interest inflow on account of differential interest rate on Rupee and USD borrowings. As per RBI directives, POS contracts are cancellable but once cancelled, cannot be renewed during tenure of the term loan and, hence, it is possible to have POS till the maturity of Rupee loan.

The   company   has   also   stated   that   for   such transactions, bank pays Rupee interest rate of, say 11% and the company pays USD interest rate of, say, 5%.  The difference is called ‘carry’. This means that if Rupee interest rate goes below 11% the company gets  benefited  as  ‘carry’  remains  same  and  vice versa, but the company has exposure on account of variation in INR/USD exchange rate. Effect of USD increase is still exchange rate difference and is still to be accounted for by way of Mark to Market (MTM) loss/gain. But, this is, again, only a memorandum (notional),  because,  just  as  the  exchange  rate differences  on  External  Commercial  Borrowings (ECBs), this also does not actually materialise till the loan is actually paid off.

The question arises about accounting for MTM losses/gains on such POS transaction along with receipt  of  ‘carry’  income  at  regular  intervals  in accordance with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). Notification dated 7th December, 2006 and subsequent extension vide Notifications dated  31st March, 2009 and 29TH December, 2011.

Query:

On these facts, the company has sought the opinion of the Expert Advisory Committee as to whether the mark to market losses on POS can be treated as exchange rate difference and, accordingly, can be recognised as per paragraphs 46 and 46A of AS11, notified by the Central Government.

EAC Opinion:

The Committee is of the view that the issue raised by the Company requires examination from two angles – firstly, whether the Rupee loan taken by the company becomes a foreign currency liability by the existence of POS transaction or whether it should, in substance, be treated as a foreign currency loan by the existence of POS transaction and, secondly, whether the POS transaction can be considered to be a foreign currency transaction within the scope of AS11.

A reading of AS11 indicatesthataccountingtreatment for only those forward exchange contracts which are entered into for hedging foreign currency risk where the underlying transaction is denominated in a foreign currency, or for trading or speculation purpose. The Committee notes from the Facts of the Case that the underlying transaction is a Rupee loan that does not give rise to any foreign currency risk. It is the POS transaction in the Company’s case that exposes the company to foreign currency risk rather than mitigating the same. Thus, the purpose of the POS is not hedging any foreign currency risk. The POS is not held for trading because the company is not a trader in foreign exchange. There may be speculation, if there is no underling transaction or if there is an underlying transaction but the intention is to speculate the movement in foreign exchange rate and to cancel the POS for booking profit at the opportune time. In the Company’s case, the POS has an underlying transaction viz., Rupee loan. But, the company’s intention is not to speculate the movement in foreign exchange rate and to cancel the POS at the opportune time for profit booking. This basic purpose of the POS transaction in the Company’s case is to take advantage of the difference between Rupee interest rate and USD interest rate. Its purpose is saving in interest cost though it exposes the company to foreign risk. The mere fact that the company might have considered likely foreign exchange loss in making the decision to enter into the POS  transaction,  in  itself,  does not make the POS as held for speculation purposes. Thus, the POS is not held for hedging any foreign currency risk or trading or speculation purposes. Hence, the POS is not a forward exchange contract within the scope of AS11 and therefore, is not a foreign currency transaction within the scope of AS 11,

Examination

Group I

Group II

Both Groups

(a) FINAL

Appeared

Passed

%

Appeared

Passed

%

Appeared

Passed

%

Nov.2013

51728

2932

5.67

54,786

4,026

7.35

32536

1013

3.11

May 2013

45822

6319

13.79

50,354

9,389

18.65

27,556

2764

10.3

Nov.2012

48320

13193

27.30

51,906

11,341

21.85

29,339

3804

12.9

(b) IPCC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nov 2013

122253

23,342

19.09

117834

21076

17.88

62033

5038

8.12

May 2013

124310

24,161

19.44

112465

16675

14.83

70504

8428

11.73

Nov.2012

100494

25269

25.14

96,181

20326

21.13

52531

5835

11.15


4.    ICAI News

(Note: Page Nos. given below are from C.A. Journal of February, 2014).

(i)    Extension of Last date for complying with CPE Hours

ICAI has notified that the last date for complying with requirement of CPE hours for the Block Period of 2011-2013 has been extended from 31-12-2013 to 31-03-2014 (ICAI Website).

(ii)    C A Examination Results

The Results of CA examination which have been recently declared are very strict. This will be noticed from the following comparative figures. (ICAI Website).

(iii)    New Branches of ICAI

Following New Branches of ICAI have been opened on 3rd January, 2014 (P.1280-1282).

(a)    Dibrugah (EIRC)
(b)    Tinsukia (EIRC)
(c)    Karimnagar (SIRC)
(d)    Warangal (SIRC)
(e)    Ongole (SIRC)

(iv)    Get CA Journal on Mobile

CA Journal will be available on ios (I pad/I Phone etc) and Android Devices from 01-03-2013 (Refer P.1279).

Miscellanea

3. Fed rate hike restricts India’s policy space

Indian policymakers should prepare for higher inflation,
following the decision of America’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to
raise policy rates by 25 basis points (or 0.25%). This is the first such move
since December 2015 and the second in a decade. It reflects its assessment that
growth is entrenched, employment strong and prices buoyant in the US.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to try and pump up growth through
various measures, including fiscal stimuli. So, all 12 members of the FOMC
voted for the hike and prepared markets for at least three more rate increases
in 2017.

Indian markets saw foreign institutional investors (FIIs)
take out nearly Rs 20,000 crore in November, after the government’s
demonetisation announcement. The outflow has continued: FIIs have sold more
than Rs 2,500 crore in December. Capital flight can accelerate after the FOMC
announcement as money flows to safe havens like US Treasury bonds. The rupee
has weakened against the dollar, our main trading currency.

This will boost import costs, bad news for India, a net
importer. Worryingly, crude oil prices have doubled over the year, from around
$27 per barrel in February to $54 now. Part of this is because of signs of
economic recovery in the US, Europe and East Asia, but the real reason lies in
the 13-nation cartel OPEC’s decision to cut production. OPEC sells 42% of the
world’s oil and holds 70% of proven reserves. On December 11, another 11 oil
producers, outside OPEC, including Russia, made a similar pact. This bodes ill
for India, which imports 80% of its oil requirements. Higher crude and a weaker
rupee could widen our trade deficit, kept artificially low when crude prices
crashed.

Given these trends, policymakers must take measures to
counter capital flight and a further, rapid depreciation. Foreign exchange
reserves are adequate, but there is no room for complacency. Interest rates have
little room to move down, if capital flight is to be avoided. And there is no
scope for lax fiscal discipline, as that could trigger macroeconomic
instability.

(Source : The Economic Times dated 16.12.2016)

4.  Winter session
wasted by petty politics, parties must debate and conduct business in
Parliament

Senior BJP leader LK Advani’s anguish over disruption
politics taking centre stage is justified as the winter session of Parliament
ends today without much business being transacted. Both government and
opposition are equally to blame, especially in the backdrop of the NDA
government having conducted a major exercise like demonetisation that affects
every aspect of society. Earlier, opposition parties had closed ranks to force
the government into a debate on demonetisation that would entail voting. By the
time they came around to debate the issue without any rule this week, the
government seemingly didn’t oblige.

This is reminiscent of 2010 when the entire winter session
was washed out over the 2G spectrum allocation scam during UPA-II. Now the
opposition, led by Congress, claims this is the first time in history that
treasury benches have disrupted Parliament proceedings, while government has
blamed opposition for running away from debates. Both sides need to heed elder
statesman Advani’s advice, especially when he invoked Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too should take inspiration from Vajpayee who
thrived on engaging debate in Parliament. If Modi had spoken in Parliament on
demonetisation, that would have given opposition one less reason to disrupt it.
His predecessor Manmohan Singh sat through debates on 2G spectrum and coal
allocation scams and sometimes even participated in them.

There was a glimmer of hope when the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities Bill, 2014 was passed in Rajya Sabha, but subsequently more than
80% of time has been lost to partisan bickering this winter session. Both
government and opposition parties agree that GST will be beneficial for the
economy. Centre and states now need to finalise three GST legislations – CGST,
IGST and compensation law – so that they can be introduced and passed in
Parliament early in the next session if GST is to become a reality by the next
financial year.

The government cannot afford disruptions of such magnitude
which have dealt a severe blow to the institution of Parliament. Government’s
crisis managers need to reach out to the opposition and have better floor
management in the House. Both sides must realise that debate is the only
democratic way of making the government accountable for its actions. If
opposition wants to create a favourable public opinion on their view of
demonetisation, the best way would be to get the better of the government in a
parliamentary debate.

(Source: The Times of India dated 16.12.2016)

5. Tax and other enforcement authorities must not abuse big
data to bring back inspector raj

The year’s second voluntary income disclosure scheme was
approved by Lok Sabha and operationalised. Along with it were reports of
bankers being sacked or suspended for complicity in attempts to launder
unaccounted money, and an invitation to citizens to lodge anonymous complaints
if they notice suspicious activity. The weeks following demonetisation have
been accompanied by growing intrusiveness of the state. Big government seems to
be back with a vengeance. But India’s earlier experiment in this area led to an
inspector raj and created opportunities for corruption to flourish. It must not be repeated.

A legitimate expectation of demonetisation was that it would
leave trails which could be used to bring tax evaders to book. This was in line
with a series of steps taken over the last decade to create an audit trail in
myriad areas to allow tax authorities to mine data. This is a sound way of
widening the tax net. In addition to tax authorities, agencies such as the
Financial Intelligence Unit processed information related to suspicious
financial transactions. India was switching to a more sophisticated way of
enforcing tax rules.

It is important that government now build upon a decade’s
work. Threats of tax raids and allowing bureaucrats to exercise excessive power
will be counterproductive. The return of an inspector raj will have a chilling
effect on economic activity. It will only prolong the ongoing economic
disruption. Government must send the right message to all economic agents.
Legitimate economic activity ought to be encouraged and needless impediments
removed. Exhorting people to use digital modes of payment is not enough.
Different arms of the government should make better use of technology to do
their work.

(Source: Times of India dated 19.12.2016)

6. Lead by example: To curb black money at its root, make all
political funding cashless and digital

As citizens are subjected to the unrelenting grind of
demonetisation, they are told this is in the interest of digitising India and
ridding it of black money. To make this argument more convincing than it is
currently, the Modi government must address the very fount of corruption and
black money in our society: political funding. As an Election Commission
background paper points out, money used to fund political parties or candidates
in a non-transparent manner undermines the core principles of democracy. The
rot begins here. It follows, therefore, that digital sanitisation must begin
here too. 

For stemming the flow of black money into politics, a most
recent EC recommendation is to lower the cap for anonymous donations from Rs
20,000 to Rs 2,000. This will help only at the margins, because the current
practice is to subdivide unaccounted funds into units below Rs 20,000 and claim
anonymity for them. The same sharp practice can be followed if a window of
anonymity is allowed below Rs 2,000: it’s just that one will have to claim ten
times more anonymous donations. To give an example of how preposterous current
claims are, in the election year 2013-14 BJP reported donations in excess of Rs
20,000 at just Rs 167 crore, Congress Rs 66 crore and BSP zero.

To end this charade and walk the talk of building a cashless
society, the laws must be amended to mandate that all donations to political
parties can only be in digital format. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
appealed to 125 crore Indians, small traders and businessmen, farmers,
washermen, vegetable vendors, milk suppliers, newspaper vendors, tea stall
owners and chanaa sellers to bear with the hardships of transitioning to
cashless transactions because that will take India to new economic heights. In
that case, why should only political parties be exempt and continue to wallow
in cash? 

With 80% of the 1,800 parties registered in India not having
contested any election in the last few years, many of them look like setups to
launder money. Mandating a digital trail will put paid to this rot. More
broadly the political class cannot be shielded from the tribulations and trends
of the rest of society. If it claims to want to rid society of black money, it
should lead by example.

(Source: Times of India dated 21.12.2016).

Miscellanea

1. Spiritual

 

1.      
When You Are Aware, Life Is a
Movement of Joy

 

Someone met me recently and said, “I find it
difficult to listen to my spouse; he speaks so much, most of the time, I don’t
understand what he is saying.” I told her, “Listening to your spouse is like
reading the terms and conditions of a freeware you want to download from the
internet. It is long, and you don’t understand much, but still you click on
agree.” In the same way, to build a rapport with your spouse, just agree, and
when he calms down, try to discuss. Next time, when you find your spouse giving
a long lecture, and you need to convince him, do not be in a hurry. Wait for an
opportunity to explain your point of view.

 

We should learn the art of handling
difficulties gracefully. There is no one way. We have to be alert and let the
purity of alertness and goodness to guide you in handling difficult situations.
Our past knowledge is trapping us often. At the same time, we have to transform
gracefully. Our past should be a point of reference for increased awareness,
rather than a block.

 

Our past knowledge, conclusions, opinions,
hurts; they influence our listening and thinking. Our unconscious is leading
our life mechanically. When we are alert, we become conscious of our
unconscious and that enables us to lead a better life instead of bitter life.

 

Are you conscious of the fact that one is
unconscious to oneself? You say this is mine or that is mine. But, if you are
alert and conscious, you will realise that all that you have said as ‘mine’ is
not yours. You are riding a dream.

 

What you think is mine is not in the true
sense yours. You are using them for your need in a remarkably subtle sense. You
say your son is yours, for you have a dream that he will do this and that to
you. But, your son also has a dream and he feels this or that will make him
complete. So, one is using the other for fulfilling one’s dream, and in that
sense wants others to serve him.

 

All things and persons can be snatched away
from you, and what is capable of being snatched away is not yours. What cannot
be snatched away from you is your consciousness. Your body is given to you by
your parents. Your knowledge is given to you by books and other sources. These
can be snatched away from you.

 

Only our consciousness is intrinsically
ours, and in the true sense, we are not unaware what this consciousness is. We
are unconscious of our consciousness. When we are dependent on the things that
can be snatched away, and when it is snatched away by time, we feel cheated and
betrayed. It is our error in understanding.

 

If one understands that all things are
capable of being snatched one will not depend on it emotionally. Hence emotions
will have clarity and is free. You will be a giver of life, and not a beggar of
life. You will put your energy in understanding yourself, and when you
understand yourself as conscious, you will realise this consciousness, which is
your nature, is fullness and completeness. With fullness when you live life,
your life will be a movement of joy and not wanting joy.

 

(Source: Times of India dt 14.03.2017)

 

2. 
Social

 

2.      
Hawking won the world’s respect
– and gave disabled people like me hope – Frances Ryan

 

Growing up disabled, I had few role models.
But this brilliant, witty scientist helped shift the negative stereotypes many
face. As with most of the famous figures whose passing now hits us via a news
alert on our phones, I never met Stephen Hawking. In the vastness of the entire
universe, you could say I was one speck and he was another. And yet I thought
of him as a continual presence in my life, who – perhaps paradoxically, in the
light of his illness, not to mention of his work on time – would always be
there, somehow.

 

Growing up disabled in Britain, I didn’t
have many role models. There are hardly any statues of disabled leaders, no
great lives with chronic disability documented in the history books. As a
child, it’s easy to believe that disabled people have never really existed, and
that when they did, it was as cripples to be pitied or burdens on society. In
Hawking, we had a figure – brilliant, witty, kind – who confounded the negative stereotypes and the low expectations
so often forced on those of us with a disability.

 

He wasn’t without faults (accusations of
sexism were notable). He was also afforded opportunities – from wealth to
healthcare to being non-disabled throughout school – that clearly enabled his
success, opportunities too few young disabled people, facing cuts to multiple
strands of support, enjoy today. But his groundbreaking research, as well as
tireless commitment to the NHS and concern over Brexit, established him as
someone who, though physically stripped of his voice, should be listened to.

 

In the rush to eulogise a figure such as
Hawking the risk is that the media coverage either fails to acknowledge his
disability – and to ignore him being a disabled person is as regressive as a
white person saying they “don’t see colour” – or falls into condescending
cliches and objectification. Within hours of the news of his death breaking, I
saw headlines that reflected the (often well-intentioned) negative attitudes
that so often plague discussions of disabled people: ones of “inspiration”,
“overcoming disability” and references to “tragedy”. BBC Radio 5 Live asked
listeners if Hawking had “inspired” them – a question unlikely to be posed
about non-disabled academics. The Daily Mail referred to his “total disability”
while at the other end of the spectrum, John Humphrys used Radio 4’s tribute
segment to ask: “Did the science community cut him a lot of slack because he
was so desperately disabled?”

 

Even the Guardian’s obituary mentioned how
“despite his terrible physical circumstance, he almost always remained positive
about life”, as if it was a surprise that a world-renowned scientist with a
loving family could ever find happiness. Cartoonists illustrated him in heaven
– a place Hawking did not believe existed – standing up, as if finally free
from his wheelchair (an invention, much like his voice synthesiser, that
actually empowered him to engage with society). Even sentiments such as “He
didn’t let his disability define him” – as Marsha de Cordova, shadow
disabilities minister (and herself disabled) tweeted – verge on repeating the
ingrained belief that disability is an inherently negative thing: a part of
identity that, unlike race or sexuality, should be played down.

 

This is not to say that Hawking’s disability
didn’t help shape him. The thought that he had a sharply limited life
expectancy – it was originally believed he would die within two years of his
motor neurone disease diagnosis – by all accounts inspired Hawking to enjoy the
present, and spurred on his hunger for scientific discovery. But to reduce a
world-famous academic’s existence to one of tragedy and pluck respects neither
the reality of a disabled life nor the love, success, humour and fulfilment
that clearly marked Hawking’s. It is reminiscent of the countless “inspirational”
memes and posters that throughout his life featured Hawking’s image – often
using his body as inspiration for non-disabled people (“If he can succeed, so
can you!”) or criticising “lesser” disabled people (“The only disability is a
bad attitude”). Hawking, like all of us, deserves more than lazy, ableist
tropes.

 

Amid all the tributes to Hawking’s
contribution to scientific discovery, I would like to remember what he
contributed – perhaps unknowingly – to many disabled people: a sense of pride,
encouragement and hope. This was a genius who gained the world’s respect from
his wheelchair. Hawking’s achievements alone will not have begun to overturn
deep-seated prejudice, but he has played a significant part in shifting the
misconceptions that still routinely mark too many disabled people’s lives.
Hawking’s lesser-known lesson is one I hope others growing up disabled will be
left with: we can all reach for the stars.

 

(Source: www.theguardian.com)

 

3. World News

 

3.      
Plastic particles found in
bottled water

 

Tests on major brands of bottled water have
found that nearly all of them contained tiny particles of plastic. In the
largest investigation of its kind, 250 bottles bought in nine different
countries were examined. Research led by journalism organisation Orb Media
discovered an average of 10 plastic particles per litre, each larger than the
width of a human hair.

 

Companies whose brands were tested told the
BBC that their bottling plants were operated to the highest standards. The
tests were conducted at the State University of New York in Fredonia.

 

Commenting on the results, Prof Mason said:
“It’s not catastrophic, the numbers that we’re seeing, but it is
concerning.” Currently, there is no evidence that ingesting very small
pieces of plastic (microplastics) can cause harm, but understanding the
potential implications is an active area of science.

 

(Source: bbc.com)

 

4.      
A cheap Chinese TV threatens to
topple LG, Samsung & Sony’s India apple cart

 

Can Xiaomi replicate its smartphone success
in televisions? Its entry into the segment with TVs priced at as much as half
that of the top three —LG, Samsung and Sony — has taken the market by surprise
over the past few weeks. The leaders don’t yet have a strategy to counter the
Chinese company’s disruptive pricing, four senior industry executives said,
asking not to be named.

 

“While it’s a wait-and-watch scenario right
now, we have been asked to keep our ears to the ground to closely track
Xiaomi,” said a senior executive with one of the largest television makers.
“The scope to react right now is also limited for they are selling models at
almost throwaway prices which, if we have to match, it will completely disrupt
the pricing strategy.”

 

In less than a month of its foray into
televisions, Xiaomi has launched 32-inch, 43-inch and 55-inch models — sizes
that together account for 80% of the total television market by volume.

 

Its 32-inch set is sold at Rs.13,999
compared with a starting price of Rs. 24,000 for a similar specification model
from one of the three top brands. The 43-inch set is priced at Rs. 22,999
compared with Rs. 36,000-plus for a rival model while in the 53-inch segment,
Xiaomi’s model is tagged at Rs. 39,999, about half that of one from the top
three. The executives cited above said the top three brands are hoping that the
Chinese company won’t be as successful in TVs as the business calls for sales
and servicing strategies that differ from those for handsets.

 

(Source: gadgetsnow.com)

 

5.      
Wipro chairman unveils 3D metal
printing facility in Bengaluru

 

Global software major Wipro’s three
dimensional (3D) metal printing facility was unveiled by its Chairman Azim
Premji in this tech hub on 14 March. “The 12,000 sq.ft. centre has various
capabilities that include building up technology, post-processing, research,
characterisation and validation facilities,” said the city-based IT major
in a statement here. The company, however, did not disclose the cost of this
high-tech facility.

 

The software major’s 3D printing business
unit, Wipro3D, has been providing services to aerospace, space, industrial,
automotive, healthcare, oil and gas and heavy engineering sectors in the
country. Wipro3D was set up in 2012 here under the Wipro Infrastructure
Engineering, a hydraulic cylinder manufacturing unit of the software major. The
company soon plans to take its 3D printing services across the world, said the
statement, although no details were specified of its expansion plans.

 

(Source: firstpost.com)  

Miscellanea

1. Economy

7. With 109 Chinese firms making
it to the Fortune Global 500-2017, where does India Stand?

While Walmart topped the Fortune
Global 500 list, China’s State Grid, oil giant Sinopec Corp and China National
Petroleum were ranked second, third and fourth. Seven Indian firms made it to
the list.

While India, as well as numerous
other nations, believe that the United States tops the list of the global
economic powers, not many realise the kind of impact China has been making. The
Fortune Global 500 list for the year 2017 was released on Thursday, July 20,
and 109 Chinese firms have made it to the list.

While US retail giant Walmart
topped the list, China’s State Grid, oil giant Sinopec Corp and China National
Petroleum were ranked second, third and fourth.

Among the 109 firms that have made
it to the list, 10 are debutants. These 10 names include e-commerce brand Alibaba,
internet giant Tencent, Anbang Insurance Group and real estate developer
Country Garden.

In
comparison, only seven Indian firms have made it to the Fortune Global 500 list
this year. India’s economic expansion is expected to have accelerated in the
April-June quarter and is likely to grow in the second quarter as well.

(Source: International Business
Times dated 21.07.2017)

8. India has a Leader Who Believes
in Disruption 

In his latest avatar as the
Chairman of US Chairman of US India Business Council, John Chambers is
convinced that India is at an inflection point. In a chat with ET’s TV
Mahalingam, Chambers, who is also Cisco’s executive chairman, spoke about his
reading of the Modi-Trump dynamics & how India has changed in the last three
years.

Excerpts:

What’s your reading of the
recent meeting between President Trump & PM Modi?

I turned positive on India three
years ago & I volunteered to be Chairman of US India Business Council
(USIBC). Even though I have been involved with India for 20 years with Cisco, I
think the inflection point in India is a record in terms of this opportunity.
The meeting between the two leaders could not have gone better.In the CEOs
session with him, the PM was incredibly effective in listening to each of the
20 business leaders in the room & coming back on key issues. On a scale of
1 to 10, how did the meetings go? It was 11.

This target of $500 billion of
two-way trade between the two countries that USIBC has set, how achievable is
that & what needs to be done?

I was the one to bet on China in
1995 when almost nobody else did. When I forecast a few years ago that France
would be a start-up nation due to digitisation, nobody believed me. Guess which
was the top startup nation in Europe last year? France.When it comes to India,
I think we have not seen anything yet. This is a win-win. If you look at going
from the current level of $115 billion to $500 billion -the amount of jobs this
will create is massive.If you look back at 2000, we were just at $20 billion.
Now these are doable goals based on the confidence of the Indian & American
business leaders.

(Source:
ET Q&A – The Economic Times dated 12.07.2017)

2.  Sports

9. IPL broadcast rights war: Can
Jio topple Facebook, Twitter for digital space?

18 big names from across the globe
bought tender documents last year. With most of them likely to enter the fray
again, the Invitation to tender is all set to be available from 21st July
2017.

There was a jump of 454% in the
fee to retain Indian Premier League (IPL) title rights when Chinese mobile
manufacturing brand Vivo extended its deal for the next five years (2018-2022)
for whopping sum of  Rs. 2199 crore.

The Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) is expecting another such windfall as it is set to open the
Invitation to Tender (ITT) for IPL broadcast & media rights on 21 July
2017.

Sony Pictures Network India (SPN)
hold the television rights (2008-2017) while Star India has been in charge of
digital broadcast of the cash-rich 20-20 tournament for the last few seasons.

However, the competition for the
next term is going to be intense as quite a few big names including Discovery,
Facebook, Jio & Twitter are expected in the race.

(Source: International Business
Times dated 21.07.2017)

3. Industry

Why this is Indian IT
Industry’s Kodak Moment?

Once-great companies like Kodak,
Digital and Nokia with capable CEOs and vast resources come to an ignominious
end not because they do not see the tsunami coming — they die or fade into
irrelevance because they are unable to respond forcefully. Kodak invented the
digital camera as early as 1975. It had all the technology, resources, brand,
and distribution to prevail. Yet it failed.

A major reason why once-dominant
firms like Kodak fade away like old photos is culture. Culture trumps strategy.
A combination of complacence & overconfidence (“this cannot happen to
us”) prevented Kodak from adapting quickly. Its leadership was indecisive
and changed strategy many times. Despite having a venture capital arm, it took
years to make its first acquisition and never made any bets big enough to
create breakthroughs. Kodak offered the first service that allowed customers to
post and share pictures online but failed to follow through forcefully to
create what might have become Instagram or Snapchat. It diversified into
chemicals and pharmaceuticals but without much conviction; these businesses
fizzled and were sold off. Unlike Fuji, Kodak obsessed about its core developed
markets and did not seize the opportunity in emerging markets, especially a
rising China. Having failed to become a printing powerhouse, Kodak is now
trying to license its rich portfolio of patents.

There are a set of reasons that
make it difficult for even well managed companies to navigate industry
disruptions the way Fuji did or Microsoft has. High on the list is complacence,
even arrogance. When a company is sitting on lots of cash, fat margins & a
good market share, it is hard to create a sense of urgency in the organization
& among its shareholders.Today, India’s IT companies are struggling to
navigate a tectonic industry shift. Its leaders have seen the technological
& regulatory shifts coming for the last decade. They have recognized the
limits of wage arbitrage and understood the need to shift from renting IQ to
creating IP, and becoming more global. They see the giant new opportunities
afforded by the digital revolution. But as the story of Kodak shows, seeing is
not enough. Acting decisively and forcefully is crucial. More than ever,
India’s IT companies need the same caliber of courageous and entrepreneurial leadership
that created them in the first place.

‘The
snake that cannot shed its skin must die’ — Friedrich Nietzsche.

(Source: Extracts from an
Article by Shri Ravi Venkatesan, Co-chairman of Infosys in the Times of India
dated 02.07.2017)

4. Others

10. Skill, re-skill and re-skill again. How to keep up with
the future of work?

“Every
five years, your skills are about half as valuable as they were before”

The jobs market is well into the
21st century. So why isn’t our education system?

Today’s jobs are vastly different
than they were a generation ago. All of us, from Gen Zers to Boomers, are
facing a working world that is more changeable and unpredictable than ever.

The days of working for 40 years
at one job and retiring with a good pension are gone. Now the average time in a
single job is 4.2 years, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. What’s
more, 35% of the skills that workers need — regardless of industry — will have
changed by 2020.

That rapid pace of change in jobs
and skills means there is a growing demand to update skills as well. According
to a new report on workforce re-skilling by the World Economic Forum, one in
four adults reported a mismatch between the skills they have and the skills
they need for their current job.

Skills for the wrong century

Here is the problem briefly: the
job opportunities that are available today are 21st century jobs.
However, the way most people perform these jobs is still stuck in the previous
century. As is the way, our society is training and educating people.

In the 19th century, there was a
massive movement of the population from rural to urban centres. The primary and
secondary education system was created to train the workforce for the “new”
world of manual and clerical work in cities.

In the 20th century,
work was dominated by factory jobs. The education system that was built in the
previous century was, with some modifications, still suited to training good
factory workers and their managers. Management focused on a series of tools to
optimize this kind of work: operational efficiency, something called Taylorism,
and eventually some management philosophies called Six Sigma. Management was
mostly done face to face, while health insurance, a social safety net, and
other benefits were bundled into inflexible labour contracts.

Today, in the 21st
century, we are seeing the rise of new work models such as freelancing and
remote work. In the most advanced companies, teams are learning to be more
agile, to work with distributed and remote teams, and to scale up and down to
adapt to ever-changing conditions. This is the future of work.

Yet education has not kept pace.
We still send our children through a fixed set of primary and secondary
education steps, only now a college degree has been added on as a virtual
prerequisite for the best jobs. The model does not actually prepare anyone well
for a flexible world, in which skills are typically outdated by the time you
finish a four-year degree.Further, on-the-job training is not enough to close
the gap. The World Economic Forum report found that 63% of workers in the US
say they have participated in job-related training in the past 12 months. Yet
employers are reporting the highest talent shortages since 2007.

What individuals can do

Given this situation, people in
the workforce should proactively steer their own ongoing skills development. In
other words, recognize that you need ongoing training, and realize that you
hold the responsibility for your own education. Do that and you can improve
your marketability for years to come?

The first step is to ask yourself:
Are my skills still in demand? What is the outlook for these skills? In
addition, what skills could I work on today that would increase my income
potential in the coming years?

Do this exercise every few years?
If the half-life of a job skill is about five years (meaning that every five
years, that skill is about half as valuable as it was before), you want to get
ahead of that decline in value. Assess your own skills every two or three years,
and get started learning new skills sooner rather than later.

For example, if you are a truck
driver, you can see that autonomous vehicles are a likely threat to your
employment — maybe not this year or next year, but certainly within 5 or 10
years. Do not wait until self-driving trucks are a common sight on the highways
to start building skills for your next job. Start doing it this year, so you
will be ready when the time comes.

Do not feel like you have to
retrain yourself completely, all at once. First, as pointed out by the New York
Times this week, many of the skills needed to do fading jobs are applicable to
growing jobs. For skills, you do need to acquire, consider step changes. In
computer science, we are trained to break down large problems into smaller
chunks that can be more easily solved, one at a time. You are not going to turn
yourself from a coal miner into a data miner overnight. Nevertheless, you can
acquire basic skills leading in the direction you want to go.

As your career progresses, make
decisions about which work to take based on how much you will learn. Prioritize
jobs where you will learn valuable new skills.

(Source: World Economic Forum
dated 31.07.2017)

11. Indian Scientist wins Marconi Lifetime prize

Thomas Kailath, who grew up in
Pune and is now an emeritus professor at Stanford, has been conferred the
lifetime achievement award by the US-based Marconi Society. This is only the
sixth time the lifetime award has been given by the prestigious society in its
43-year history.

Kailath has been recognized for
his contributions to information and system science over six decades, as well
as his sustained mentoring and development of new generations of scientists.
Among his many significant contributions is a classic textbook in linear
systems that changed the way that subject was taught.

Kailath and his doctoral student
Arogyaswami Paulraj, currently emeritus professor in the electrical engineering
department at Stanford University, are joint holders of the original US patent
for MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology which underpins the
technology that drives every Wi-Fi, 4G, and 5G network today and helps to make
them more efficient. 

The scientist was born in 1935 in
Pune, to a Malayalam speaking family, according to Wikipedia. He studied at St.
Vincent’s High School, Pune, and received his engineering degree from the
Government College of Engineering, University of Pune, in 1956. He received his
Master’s degree in 1959 and his doctoral degree in 1961, both from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was the first Indian student to
receive a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT, says Wikipedia.

The Marconi prize has been
instituted by the Marconi Society, which was established in 1974 by the
daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, the Nobel laureate who invented radio. Previous
winners of Indian origin have been educationist and former UGC chairman Yash
Pal in 1980 and Stanford University emeritus professor and wireless antennae
pioneer Arogyaswami Paulraj in 2014. In June, the Marconi Society announced
that Arun Netravali, the engineer- scientist who grew up in Mumbai and
pioneered work on video compression standards, is the awardee for this year.
Kailath and Netravali will be awarded their respective prizes in October.

(Source: The Times of India
dated 15.08.2017)

12. Leadership Quotes

   Jeff Bezos –

     When It’s Tough, Will You
Give Up, Or Will You Be Relentless?”

   Donald Trump

     Think Big and Make It
Happen”

   Larry Page –

If you’re changing the World, You’re working
on Important Things. You’re excited to get up in the Morning”

Miscellanea

1. Economy

 1.      
US defence firms want control
over tech in Make-in-India plan

The US- India
Business Council (USIBC) wrote to India’s defence minister last month seeking a
guarantee that US firms would retain control over sensitive technology — even
as joint venture junior partners.

 (Source:
International Business Times dated 19.09.2017)

 2.      
Crypto crash: Bitcoin nosedives
50% in India in just 13days

Bitcoin and newer
rivals like Ethereum and Litecoin have in recent times been fighting a losing
battle against regulators.

 (Source:
International Business Times dated 19.09.2017)

 3.   KitKat Bets on Weird and Wonderful
Flavor’s in Japan – Cough-medicine-flavored KitKat anyone?

It may not be to
everyone’s taste, but this is just one of 300 weird and wonderful flavor’s
flying off the shelves in Japan, which has become the world’s biggest market
for the four-fingered snack. In true Japanese style, human workers are a rare
sight at one Kitkat factory in Kasumiguara, around 100Km east of Tokyo.
Instead, dozens of robots manufacture four million bars a day at breakneck
speed, from mixing the chocolate paste to wrapping them ready for sale. Kitkats
have been around in Britain since 1935 and only arrived in Japan in 1973. But
the Japanese market has a crucial unique selling point – a huge variety of
different flavours. It all started with a strawberry flavoured Kitkat in 2000
and the range expanded quickly – from flavours aimed at local taste buds such
as sake, green tea and wasabi – to more exotic combinations like melon and
mascarpone.

 (Source:
Economic Times dated 07.09.2017)

 4.      
AI system writes next Game of
Thrones novel

Can’t wait to
find out what happens next in the Game of Thrones? A new artificial
intelligence (AI) system has written the first five chapters of the next book
of the popular fantasy series.

The TV show Game
of Thrones, which is based on the George R R Martin book series A Song of Ice
and Fire, has gained widespread popularity worldwide.

The show’s
seventh season recently aired its last episode, and fans will now have to wait
till 2019 to know what happens to their favourite characters next.

Martin is
currently working on the sixth novel of the book series, The Winds of Winter.

 Zach Thoutt, a
software engineer in the US, trained an AI system to predict the events of the
sixth novel using the characters from the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

 “I start each chapter by giving it a prime
word, which I always used as a character name, and tell it how many words after
that to generate,” Thoutt said.

 “I wanted to do
chapters for specific characters like in the books, so I always used one of the
character names as the prime word. There is no editing other than supplying the
network that first prime word,” he said.

  (Source: Business Line dated 15.09.2017)

 5. 
Leadership thoughts

 5.      
 Why wisdom can’t be taught?

 “I cannot teach
anyone anything, I can only make them think” – Socrates

In the pursuit of
wisdom, executives may find themselves taking off their masks to become truly
authentic and reflective leaders.

The day after
becoming the CEO of a company facing turbulent times, David had a dream. In it,
while walking on a beach he discovered a bottle. On opening, a genie appeared
offering him a wish in exchange for her freedom. Eschewing riches, fame or a
long life, David opted for the one thing he knew he needed to help him guide
his people in the best way possible. He chose the gift of wisdom.

In today’s
hyperactive digital age, attaining wisdom is a challenge. With tablets and
phones and their various apps constantly vying for our immediate attention, it
is increasingly difficult to find the time and mental space for making
meaningful connections or engaging in the deep conversations, reflection,
emotional awareness, empathy and compassion, necessary in its pursuit.

Indeed, it is an
unfortunate fact for many leaders in David’s position, that while wisdom
requires education, education does not necessarily make people wise. As
Professor Charles Gragg noted in his classic case study “Because Wisdom Can’t
Be Told”, the mere act of listening to wise statements and sound advice doesn’t
necessarily ensure the transfer of wisdom.

What does it mean to be wise?

People often
equate wisdom with intelligence or being knowledgeable; but all too often, it
becomes apparent that being intelligent and being wise are quite different
things. The world is full of brilliant people who intellectualise without
really understanding the essence of things. In contrast, wise people try to
grasp the deeper meaning of what is known and strive to better understand the
limits of their knowledge.

Wisdom implies
more than merely being able to process information in a logical way. Knowledge
becomes wisdom when we have the ability to assimilate and apply this knowledge
to make the right decisions. As the saying goes, ‘knowledge speaks but wisdom
listens’. Wise people are blessed with good judgement. In addition, they possess
the qualities of sincerity and authenticity, the former implying a willingness
to say what you mean, the latter to be what you are.

Wise people are
also humble; their humility deriving from a willingness to recognise the
limitations of their knowledge. They accept that there are things they will
never know. By accepting their ignorance, they are better prepared to bear
their own fallibility. People who are wise know when what they are doing makes
sense, but also when it will not be good enough. Ironically, it is exactly this
kind of self-knowledge that pushes them to do something about it.

Wisdom can be
looked at from both a cognitive and emotional perspective. Cognitively, wise
people have the ability to see the big picture. They are able to put things in
perspective; to rise above their personal viewpoint and observe a situation
from many different angles (thus avoiding simplistic black-and-white thinking).
From an emotional perspective, people acknowledged for their wisdom are
reflective, introspective and tolerant of ambiguity. They know how to manage
negative emotions, and possess both empathy and compassion; qualities that
differentiate them in an interpersonal context.

Ironically, what
makes wisdom more important than success and riches is that it enables us to
live well. Our mental and physical health flourishes when we are congruent with
our beliefs and values. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Happiness is when what
you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Wise people are
attuned to what constitutes a meaningful life. They know how to plan for and
manage such a life. This implies self-concordance, behaving consistently with
their values, a journey that requires self-exploration, self-knowledge and
self-responsibility.

Age doesn’t make us wiser

So, how can we
acquire wisdom and can we expedite its acquisition? Becoming wise is a very
personal quest. It is only through our own experiences, learning how to cope
with the major tragedies and dilemmas embedded within life’s journey, that we
will discover our own capacities and learn how to create wisdom.

Setbacks are
memorable growth experiences contributing to a deeper understanding of the
vicissitudes of life. Overcoming difficult situations contributes to an
increased appreciation of life and the recognition of new possibilities. These
experiences enable us to rise above our own perspectives and see things as they
are.

Unfortunately,
wisdom is not something that automatically comes with the passing of years.
While older people may be more capable than their younger counterparts, many
never put their life experiences to good use. To acquire the required sense of
reflectivity may necessitate the help of others. Educators, coaches,
psychotherapists and mentors can play a significant role, not only by assisting
with the dissemination of knowledge but by helping those searching for wisdom
work through challenging experiences and encouraging them to work on emotional
awareness, emotional self-regulation, relational skills and mindfulness.

Wisdom and authenticity

A learning
community is also a great place to practice open-mindedness. Encouraging
participants to step out of their comfort zone and to deal with people who are
very different from themselves, leads to a deeper understanding and acceptance
of the ambiguous nature of things. If designed in a holistic manner, these
communities are a great exercise in humility, giving participants a better
awareness of their limitations as well as a greater ability to integrate their
knowledge and experiences when dealing with the challenges ahead.

In their pursuit
of wisdom, group members will be encouraged to learn from their mistakes, to
think before acting and, by taking off their masks, to become more authentic in
living their values.

 (Source: Insead Knowledge – The Business School
for the world)

Miscellanea

1. Economy

6.  Salesforce Is Getting Into Blockchain. Here’s
Why That Matters

Salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM)
CEO Marc Benioff often talks about having a beginner’s mind — trying to view
the world like it’s a new place you’ve never experienced before. That thinking
is leading the company toward developing a blockchain and cryptocurrency
solution that Benioff hopes will be ready for the company’s Dreamforce 2018
software conference this September. For investors, that means Salesforce could
be the latest way to take advantage of the cryptocurrency boom … without
having to buy any bitcoin.

7.  Cryptography  and  
blockchain and  cryptocurrency, oh
my!

Cryptocurrencies are
virtual currencies, and there are lots of them — more than 1,500 as of this
writing. In some ways, they are no different than any other form of currency,
like the dollar or the euro. People agree they are worth something and they can
be exchanged for things of value.

Where cryptocurrencies
differ is that they’re completely digital and decentralized — not controlled
by a central bank or backed by a government. Instead, the currency exists in a
type of public ledger called a blockchain, and that ledger can only be altered
if certain conditions are met. Alterations are made using cryptography, the
science of encoding data to keep it safe from theft or other manipulation.

Cryptocurrencies and the
blockchain technology making them possible have garnered lots of interest and
it’s not surprising Salesforce is looking to create a product for this market.
And Salesforce has had great success starting and quickly growing new business
segments over the years, so the thought of Salesforce becoming a major player
in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency isn’t far-fetched

(Source:
International Business Times dated 19.04.2018)

 

2.  Technology

8.  One plus 6 to launch in Mumbai on May 17

OnePlus has confirmed the
launch of the OnePlus 6 for the Indian market. The company says it will be
hosting the product launch event at the Dome at NSCI, Mumbai on May 17.

OnePlus has confirmed the
launch of the OnePlus 6 for the Indian market. The company says it will be
hosting the product launch event at the Dome at NSCI, Mumbai on May 17. The
launch event will begin at 15:00 and will be live streamed across its official
social channels. OnePlus 6 will start selling in India via Amazon India
starting 12:00 IST on 21 May 2018. However, users should keep in mind that the
sale will be limited to Amazon Prime members.

OnePlus is also giving its
fans a chance to attend the launch event. The entry vouchers to attend the
event will be available via oneplus.in from 10:00 IST on Tuesday, 8 May 2018.
In addition, those who will attend the launch event will get a gift hamper full
of super add-ons and exclusive Marvel Avengers merchandise.

(Source:
The Indian Express dated 26.04.2018)

9.  Why we need to have regulation and
legislation on AI (Artificial Intelligence) and quick

Our laws will eventually
need to be amended or new laws for artificial intelligence technologies and
processes will need to be adopted to fill up existing lacunae.

Artificial Intelligence
(AI) is a global technological wave and there’s no disputing the fact that it
has entered the Indian market. India has not advanced as far as giving
citizenship rights to a robot (case in point –Sophia from Saudi Arabia), but
personalised chatbots have flooded the market, AI has forayed into the medical
stream and it is also being used to protect the cyberspace.

With greater explorations
into the space of AI, the world is moving towards a goal of near-complete
automation of services. The element of end-to-end ‘human involvement’ has been
insisted upon by most AI advanced countries such as Canada, in order to ensure
accountability and security of AI systems. AI is wholly based on data generated
and gathered from various sources. Hence, a biased data set could evidently
lead to a biased decision by the system or an incorrect response by a chatbot.

Pratik Jain, co-founder of
Morph.ai, a Gurgaon-based AI startup, says if the chatbot does not respond
correctly once deployed by the business, a human fallback is provided to
correct the error based on the data generated and provided by the business.

(Source:
The Indian Express dated 26.04.2018)

10.  Amazon Teases Fire TV Cube, A Set-Top Box
Powered By Alexa

Amazon has confirmed the
existence of a new product called “Fire TV Cube.” It’s being speculated that
the upcoming device will be a new high-end Fire TV set-top box that comes with
Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

Amazon has set up a new
teaser page that asks visitors “what is Fire TV Cube?” The webpage says that
details about the device will become available soon and visitors will be able
to sign up to receive an update on the upcoming product. Amazon’s new teaser
page was first discovered by AFTVNews, which appears to have already leaked the
device way back in September.

Last fall, AFTVNews posted
a leaked image of a new Fire TV dongle and a cube-shaped Fire TV set-top box.
The dongle turned out to be the 2017 Fire TV, which Amazon officially launched
in October. As for the set-top box, it wasn’t released alongside the new Fire
TV because its release date may have been pushed back to 2018. It’s now being
speculated that the set-top box will be the Fire TV Cube that Amazon is
currently teasing about.

Amazon has not confirmed
anything yet about the Fire TV Cube, but it was previously rumored to arrive
with voice recognition technology, specifically Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.
The leaked image from last year appears to show the device as having far-field microphones,
a built-in speaker and an LED light indicator. On top, it features buttons for
volume controls, turning off the microphones and a trigger for Alexa. The
device is said to feature an IR (infrared) emitter, which suggests that users
will be able to control it with other IR remote controllers. The device looks a
lot like a cube-shaped Amazon Echo speaker.

It’s being speculated that
the Fire TV Cube will let users have hands-free interaction with Alexa to
search and play video content. Alexa might also be able to provide hands-free
playback control for music and videos. The device is also expected to arrive
with its own voice remote, which features a microphone button to trigger and
interact with Alexa.

One of Engadget’s readers
sent the site scans of a user manual for his Amazon Ethernet adapter. One of
the pages appears to show an illustration of the Fire TV Cube, and it suggests
that the new device will have an HDMI port, a power port and a port simply
marked as “Infrared.” The device also appears to have a microUSB port, which
can only be used for the Amazon Ethernet Adapter.

Amazon didn’t say when
exactly it will unveil the Fire TV Cube. But based on the teaser page and the
device’s appearance in a recent user manual, it seems like the Fire TV Cube
might launch very soon.

(Source: International Business
Times dated 25.04.2018)

Miscellanea

1. Economy

 

10.  U.S., Japan Express Concern Over China’s Interest in Saudi Oil Giant Amarco

 

A plan to list Saudi Aramco in 2018 is on
track. Prince Mohammad has said the IPO, which could be the world’s biggest,
will value Aramco at a minimum of $2 trillion and could raise as much as $100
billion.

 

U.S. and Japan have urged Saudi Arabia to
pursue an international listing for oil giant Aramco, fearing the possible sale
of a stake to China would give Beijing too much sway in the Middle East.

 

Recently Donald Trump has publicly pleaded
with Saudi Arabia to sell shares in its national oil company, Aramco, on the
New York Stock Exchange via tweet. “Would very much appreciate Saudi
Arabia doing their IPO of Aramco with the New York Stock Exchange. Important to
the United States!” It would be interesting to see if the Aramco will give pre
listing stake to China or not. Only year 2018 will give you answer.

 

(Source : Returns and Wall Street
Journal)

 

11. 
Fortune 500 Companies presence in Tax Heaven

 

Tax havens help MNCs in evading the taxes by
different ways and by different means .One of the major companies uses the tax
havens is for corporate tax avoidance; which has enormous impact both on
developing and developed countries. It is difficult for the tax authorities to
track the global companies who are evading taxes in their countries due to lack
of transparency.

 

Multinational firms can artificially shift
profits from high tax to low tax jurisdictions using a variety of techniques ,
such as shifting debt to high tax jurisdictions ,because tax on the income of
foreign subsidiaries (except for certain passive income) is deferred until
income is repatriated (paid to the US parent as a dividend).

 

Interesting facts

 

More than two thirds of the companies
registered in the US (Surface area: nearly 4 million square miles) appear to be
located in the tiny state of Delaware (Surface area: less than 2000 square
miles).

 

Most of America’s largest corporations
maintain subsidiaries in offshore Tax havens. At least 358 companies, nearly 72
percent of the fortune 500 operate subsidiaries in tax haven jurisdictions. All
told these 358 companies maintain at least 7,622 tax havens’ subsidiaries. The
thirty companies with the most money officially booked offshore for tax
purposes collectively operate 1,225 tax haven subsidiaries.

 

Fortune 500 companies currently hold more
than 2.1 trillion in accumulated profits offshore for tax purposes. Just thirty
fortune 500 companies account for 65 percent of these offshore profits. These
thirty companies with the most money offshore have booked 1.4 trillion overseas
for tax purposes. Only fifty seven fortune 500 companies disclose what they
would except to pay US taxes if these profits were not officially booked
offshore. In total these seven corporations public disclosures, the average
rate they have collectively paid to foreign countries on these profits is a
mere six percent indicating that a large portion of this offshore money has
been booked in tax havens.

 

If we apply that average tax rate of six
percent to the entirety of fortune 500 companies they would collectively owe
620 billion in additional federal taxes.

 

(Source: Black Money and Tax Heavens
Book)

 

2.  Social

 

12. 
India’s blind people struggle to recognise new banknotes

 

The government move to change the currency
bills last year has affected the visually impaired. Unlike the previous rupee
bills, the new banknotes are indistinguishable from one another based on their
texture and dimensions. The old 50, 100, 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes, there
was a discernible size difference of 10mm or more either by length or width, a
distinction that helped most of India’s blind population transact with cash.
Imagine a Rs. 500 Note of a pale grey 150 by 66mm piece of paper and 20-rupee
note a 147mm by 63mm, how the blind person is going to differentiate? There are
more than 4 Million Blind population in India.

 

The Blind Graduates Forum of India, has been
in touch with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), 
finance minister and prime ministers’ offices, for the past few months
to make representation.

 

India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his
2014 budget speech had promised more schemes and measures to assist those with
disabilities. The Right of Persons with Disabilities Act passed in 2016
stipulates that various facilities, infrastructure and services be provided in
an accessible fashion. But implementation has so far been uneven. There is
online petition in chage.org, which has got more than 5000 signatures.

 

(Source: TRT World)

 

3.  Technology

 

13. 
Investors are Selling Gold to Invest in Bitcoin

 

According to ACG Analytics US macro strategy
head Larry McDonald, investors have begun to sell gold to invest in bitcoin
through the newly launched bitcoin futures exchange of the Chicago Board
Options Exchange (CBOE)

 

Since September, the value of gold miners
ETF (GDX), the largest gold exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the market, has
fallen by nearly 15 percent. In the past, McDonald noted that the value of gold
ETFs were correlated to the price trend of bond yields. But, this week,
McDonald explained that the decline in the price of gold ETFs was triggered by
the rapid increase in demand for bitcoin.

 

Given bitcoin’s decentralized nature,
transportability, fixed supply, and divisibility, in the long-term, bitcoin
will be able to compete with traditional stores of value such as gold.

 

(Source : newsbtc)

 

14. 
2017 rewind: achievements,  
major   milestone, political and other events in India

 

January

–    2
January – Nuclear-Capable Agni-IV Missile Tested Successfully.

  7
January -Heavy snowfall in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand disrupt
normal life. Heaviest snowfall recorded of two decades at most of the places.

  25
January – UAE delegation led by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown
Prince Abu Dhabi visited India to sign 14 agreements including strategic
partnership, defense industries, transport, cyber security and shipping.

 

February

   1
February – Union budget for 2017 – 18 is presented by Arun Jaitley in Lok
Sabha.[7] 92 year old Railway Budget is merged in this budget.

   15
February – ISRO launched PSLV-C37 rocket which put into orbit a record 104
satellites from seven countries.

 

March

  6
March – Indian Navy’s oldest serving aircraft carrier INS Viraat decommissioned
after 30 years of its service.

   11
March – Election result of Legislative election in five states declared by
Election Commission.

  14
March – Manohar Parrikar took oath as the new Chief Minister of Goa.

  15
March – Biren Singh took oath as the new Chief Minister of Manipur.

  16
March – Amarinder Singh took oath as the new Chief Minister of Punjab.

   18
March – Adityanath Yogi took oath as the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

 

April

   27
April – Vinod Khanna death, 70, Veteran Actor, Former Minister of State (born
1946), Bladder Cancer.

 

May

   26
May – K. P. S. Gill dead, 82, IPS officer.

 

June

   9
June – India along with archrival Pakistan became full members of Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation.

   17
June – Kochi Metro inaugurated.

   19
June – BJP announced Ram Nath Kovind as its Presidential Candidate for
Presidential Election.

   23
June – ISRO puts 31 satellites including 29 satellites from other countries
through PSLV C-38 successfully.

July

   1
July – Goods and Services Tax (India) launched in India. The India’s biggest
tax reform in 70 years of independence, was launched at midnight of 30 June
2017.

   11
July – Major landslide occurred in Arunachal Pradesh. 14 people died while many
injured.

   17
July – Indian presidential elections were held.

   17
July – BJP led NDA declared Venkaiah Naidu as their candidate for Vice –
President election.

   18
July – Congress protests against Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Indu Sarkar based on
1975 Emergency in India.

   20
July – Ram Nath Kovind won the 2017 Indian presidential election with 65.65%
votes against Meira Kumar, the presidential candidate of the opposition.

   25
July – Ram Nath Kovind took oath as 14th President of India.

   26
July – Nitish Kumar (JDU) resigns as Chief Minister of Bihar, breaking the
coalition with RJD & Indian National Congress.

   27
July – NDA (JDU + BJP) led government comes in Bihar. Nitish Kumar and Sushil
Modi took oath as Chief Minister and Dy. Chief Minister of Bihar respectively.

 

August

   5
August – Venkaiah Naidu won the Indian vice-presidential election with 67.89%
votes against Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the opposition candidate.

   9
August – Maratha Kranti Morcha starts in Mumbai for the demand for reservation
for the Maratha Community in the state of Maharashtra.

   11
August – Venkaiah Naidu took oath as 13th Vice President of India.

   22
August – Supreme Court bans instant triple talaq calling it unconstitutional.
Instructed Central Government to pass law in parliament for triple talaq.

   28
August – Dipak Misra sworn in as 45th Chief Justice of India.

   30
August – Switzerland president Doris Leuthard visited India for bilateral talk.

 

September

  3
September- Nirmala Sitharaman became Defence Minister of India.

   5
September – Narendra Modi on visit of China for 9th BRICS Summit and
Myanmar for bilateral talk and Lucknow Metro inaugurated.

   11–12
September – Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko visited India for bilateral
talk, signed 10 agreements including defense.

   13–14
September – Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Ahmedabad for bilateral
talk, signed many agreements including Bullet Train project in India.

 

October

   6
October – FIFA U-17 World Cup kickoff in India

   16
October – 6 Corporaters in Mumbai joined Shivsena leaving Raj’s MNS.

 

November

   1
November – Ashish Nehra retired from International Cricket.

   18
November – Manushi Chhillar won the 6th Miss World crown for India
in Sanya, China.

   29
November – Inauguration of Hyderabad Metro.

 

December

   2
December – Cyclone Ockhi hits Tamil Nadu and Kerala causing 13 deaths.

   4
December – Shashi Kapoor’s death, 79, Indian Veteran Actor.

   7
December – Mani Shankar Aiyar removed from Congress.

   13
December – Rohit Sharma scored third double century in ODIs against Sri
Lanka.[58].

   18
December – Election commission declared result of Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat
legislative assembly election.

 

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org) _

Letter To The Editor

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I, Mr. Samirkumar Kasvala (Membership :
O-30946), really appreciate the opportunity given to me to provide the feedback
on BCA Journal.

 

Further I would  like to mention that BCA Journal is
publishing articles on ‘’PRACTICE MANAGEMENT‘’.

 

 

This is very useful at all levels. So this
should be made a regular article every month. This is just a good and positive
thought I shared with you.

 



Book Review

Title     :  ?Emerging Issues in International Taxation

Author :  H. Padamchand Khincha

 

International tax law is recognised as a
critical pillar in supporting the growth of the global economy. In an
increasingly connected world driven by the forces of globalisation and
technology, governments are finding the old structure of international tax laws
to be inadequate to cope with increasing legal arbitrage opportunities and
aggressive tax planning. This has resulted in a coordinated and comprehensive
action plan thereby triggering a flurry of developments in the field of
international tax. This book endeavours to deliberate upon critical
international tax aspects under the following six topics.

 

1.  Cross-Border Outsourcing

     In respect to cross-border
outsourcing, the discussion is restricted to generic issues arising in the
service sector and seeks to provide a tertiary view of both inbound and
outbound outsourcing.

 

2. Structuring of EPC Contracts

     EPC contracts are in trend
and newness in its operation has been the integration of multiple fields making
it an (in) divisible complex, matrix. These aspects have been articulated in the
backdrop of tax, commercial and statutory aspects. The nuances in tax treaty
applications and tax withholding have been discussed along with some case
studies.

 

3.  Inbound and Outbound
Investment Structuring –
Impact of specific anti
avoidance rules including indirect transfer and Place of Effective Management
(POEM)

 

The book focuses on two amendments, mainly
indirect transfer as introduced in Finance Act, 2012 and POEM amendment brought
out by Finance Act, 2015 to determine the residential status.

 

This chapter is more of a ‘return to basics’
and deals with certain important and relevant terms such as through, transfer,
value, directly and indirectly.

 

The second part of this chapter dives into
the realm of POEM theorem with a lucid explanation of its intent. The author
discusses that a meeting that typically involves discussion, debate, approval,
supervision and execution can have a significant impact in reckoning the
residence of the company itself. The segment closes by demonstrating the
transition of the residence rule from ‘control and management’ to ‘POEM’ and
the interplay (nay friction) with the tax treaties.

 

A flashback to the ‘Direct Tax Code’ that
sought to bring in this concept helps to understand the Indian perspective for
the purpose of residence determination.

 

4.  Equalisation levy

     This chapter provides a
detailed commentary on various provisions governing the equalisation levy,
certain nitty-gritty and finer aspects that remain unanswered. The author
highlights that such legislation has raised more questions than answers. It
ends with a tertiary view of digital economy taxation across the globe and
covers flavours of 21 countries.

 

5.  Inbound Investment, General
Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR) & Treaty Anti-Abuse Provisions

     This chapter has dealt
with the intent behind the legislation of GAAR that gives statutory recognition
to the philosophy of ‘Substance over Form’. It is divided into (i)
applicability, (ii) consequences, (iii) power of the statute; and (iv)
compliance and other aspects.

 

6.  Permanent Establishment
(PE) & Attribution of Profits – Issues & Recent Developments

     In this chapter, the
author has focussed on the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s decision in the case of
Formula One. The impermanence in a Permanent Establishment is the highlight of
this ruling. In the second part, the author discusses the interplay of
bilateral tax treaties, the multilateral instruments and a brief perspective on
PE in digital commerce.

 

By drawing on contributions from a range of
regimes, the book aims to provide a more balanced international approach. The
book gives elaborate illustrations by providing a diagrammatic flow of
transaction and tax implications thereof in India and outside with updated
judicial precedents.

 

Further, the issues arising in each of the
above chapters have been elucidated comprehensibly which in turn can help
professionals with practical analysis of real-world situations. However, the
content of the book could have been improvised by providing suitable options
for implementation on the issues raised. Further, the book may not sustain
readers’ interest as tax treaties are given as Annexures between chapters.

 

In a nutshell, the range of topics in the
book reflect extensively for international tax academics and practitioners. The
book covers more traditional international treaty topics, including chapters on
a static interpretation of treaties. One of the most exciting contributions is
the use of historical materials in interpreting tax treaties. _

Miscellanea

1. Economy

 

19. India’s richest one percent corner 73
percent of wealth generation: Survey

 

The richest 1 percent in India cornered 73
percent of the wealth generated in the country last year, a new survey showed
today, presenting a worrying picture of rising income inequality.

 

Besides,
67 crore Indians comprising the population’s poorest half saw their wealth rise
by just 1 percent, as per the survey released by the international rights group
Oxfam hours before the start of the annual congregation of the rich and
powerful from across the world in this resort town. The situation appears even
grimmer globally, where 82 percent of the wealth generated last year worldwide
went to the 1 percent, while 3.7 billion people that account for the poorest
half of population saw no increase in their wealth.

 

The annual Oxfam survey is keenly watched
and is discussed in detail at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting where
rising income and gender inequality is among the key talking points for the
world leaders. Last year’s survey had showed that India’s richest 1 percent
held a huge 58 percent of the country’s total wealth — higher than the global
figure of about 50 percent. This year’s survey also showed that the wealth of
India’s richest 1 percent increased by over Rs 20.9 lakh crore during 2017 —
an amount equivalent to the total budget of the central government in 2017-18,
Oxfam India said.

 

The report titled ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’,
Oxfam said, reveals how the global economy enables wealthy elite to accumulate
vast wealth even as hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive on
poverty pay. “2017 saw an unprecedented increase in the number of
billionaires, at a rate of one every two days. Billionaire wealth has risen by
an average of 13 percent a year since 2010 — six times faster than the wages
of ordinary workers, which have risen by a yearly average of just 2
percent,” it said.

 

In India,
it will take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what
the top paid executive at a leading Indian garment firm earns in a year, the
study found. In the US, it takes slightly over one working day for a CEO to
earn what an ordinary worker makes in a year, it added.

 

Citing results of the global survey of
120,000 people surveyed in 10 countries, Oxfam said it demonstrates a
groundswell of support for action on inequality and nearly two-thirds of all
respondents think the gap between the rich and the poor needs to be urgently
addressed. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the WEF meeting in
Davos, Oxfam India urged the Indian government to ensure that the country’s
economy works for everyone and not just the fortunate few.

 

It also said India’s top 10 percent of
population holds 73 per cent of the wealth and 37 per cent of India’s
billionaires have inherited family wealth. They control 51 per cent of the
total wealth of billionaires in the country.

 

Oxfam India CEO Nisha Agrawal said it is
alarming that the benefits of economic growth in India continue to concentrate
in fewer hands.

 

“The billionaire boom is not a sign of
a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system. Those working
hard, growing food for the country, building infrastructure, working in
factories are struggling to fund their child’s education, buy medicines for
family members and manage two meals a day. The growing divide undermines
democracy and promotes corruption and cronyism,” she said.

 

The survey also showed that women workers
often find themselves at the bottom of the heap and nine out of 10 billionaires
are men. In India, there are only four women billionaires and three of them
inherited family wealth. “It would take around 17.5 days for the best-paid
executive at a top Indian garment company to earn what a minimum wage worker in
rural India will earn in their lifetime (presuming 50 years at work),”
Oxfam said.

 

(Source: newindianexpress.com dated
22.01.2018)

 

 

20. Reward Work, Not Wealth

 

The annual Oxfam survey is keenly watched
and is discussed in detail at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting where
rising income and gender inequality is among the key talking points for the
world leaders.

 

Last year’s survey had showed that India’s
richest 1 per cent held a huge 58 per cent of the country’s total wealth—higher
than the global figure of about 50 per cent. This year’s survey also showed
that the wealth of India’s richest 1 per cent increased by over Rs 20.9 lakh
crore during 2017, an amount equivalent to total budget of the central government
in 2017–18, Oxfam India said.

 

The report titled ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’,
Oxfam said, reveals how the global economy enables wealthy elite to accumulate
vast wealth even as hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive on
poverty pay.

 

“2017 saw an unprecedented increase in the
number of billionaires, at a rate of one every two days. Billionaire wealth has
risen by an average of 13 per cent a year since 2010—six times faster than the
wages of ordinary workers, which have risen by a yearly average of just 2 per
cent,” it said.

 

In India, it
will take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what the
top paid executive at a leading Indian garment firm earns in a year, the study
found. In the US, it takes slightly over one working day for a CEO to earn what
an ordinary worker makes in a year, it added.

 

Citing results of the global survey of
70,000 people surveyed in 10 countries, Oxfam said it demonstrates a
groundswell of support for action on inequality and nearly two-thirds of all
respondents think the gap between the rich and the poor needs to be urgently
addressed.

 

(Source: newindianexpress.com dated
22.01.2018)

 

2.  Technology

 

21.  BSNL,
NTT AT sign pact for future tech, 5G test

 

The agreement is in line with the vision of
the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to
collaborate on the next generation technologies.

 

(Source: Economic Times dated 20.02.2018)

 

22. Internet
users in India expected to reach 500 million by June: IAMAI

 

Rural India, with an estimated population of
918 million as per 2011 census, has only 186 million internet users leaving out
potential 732 million users in rural India.

 

(Source: Economic Times dated 20.02.2018)

 

23. Blockchain
tech can reduce transaction Costs: FICCI – PWC

 

The next generation blockchain technology
can help in reducing cost of transactions in various government schemes, a
joint report by industry chamber FICCI and consultant firm PwC.

 

“By removing the need for third parties
to manage transactions and keep records, blockchain technology can massively
reduce transaction costs… Leveraging blockchain technology for social benefit
schemes will support the government’s wider policy objectives of
sustainability, thus reducing poverty and generating value for money in public
expenditure,”

 

Blockchain is a digital, decentralised
(distributed) ledger that keeps a record of all transactions that take place
across a peer-to-peer network.

 

In the blockchain technology, the data can
be captured at various location or blocks and all the information captured at
various block can be connected with help of a common link or signature in one
set of information.

 

Additionally, each ‘block’ is uniquely
connected to the previous blocks via a digital signature which means that
making a change to a record without disturbing the previous records in the
chain is not possible, thus rendering the information tamper-proof.

 

Blockchain solutions, if implemented, may
lead to the elimination of intermediaries or middlemen, thereby leading to
improved pricing, decreased transaction fees, thus eliminate issues of
hoarding.

 

(Source: Economic Times dated 20.2.2018)

 

24. A Store of Future – Amazon Go

 

The technology inside Amazon’s new
convenience store, enables a shopping experience like no other — including
no checkout lines. The first clue that there’s something unusual about
Amazon’s store of the future hits you right at the front door. It feels as if
you are entering a subway station. A row of gates guard the entrance to the
store, known as Amazon Go, allowing in only people with the store’s smartphone
app.

 

Inside is an 1,800-square foot mini-market
packed with shelves of food that you can find in a lot of other convenience
stores — soda, potato chips, ketchup. It also has some food usually found at
Whole Foods, the supermarket chain that Amazon owns. But the technology that is
also inside, mostly tucked away out of sight, enables a shopping experience
like no other. There are no cashiers or registers anywhere. Shoppers leave the
store through those same gates, without pausing to pull out a credit card.
Their Amazon account automatically gets charged for what they take out the
door.

 

There are no shopping carts or baskets
inside Amazon Go. Since the checkout process is automated, what would be the
point of them anyway? Instead, customers put items directly into the shopping
bag they’ll walk out with. Every time customers grab an item off a shelf, Amazon
says the product is automatically put into the shopping cart of their online
account. If customers put the item back on the shelf, Amazon removes it from
their virtual basket. 

The only sign of the technology that makes
this possible floats above the store shelves — arrays of small cameras,
hundreds of them throughout the store. Amazon won’t say much about how the
system works, other than to say it involves sophisticated computer vision and
machine learning software. Translation: Amazon’s technology can see and
identify every item in the store, without attaching a special chip to every can
of soup and bag of trail mix.

 

There were a little over 3.5 million
cashiers in the United States in 2016 — and some of their jobs may be in
jeopardy if the technology behind Amazon Go eventually spreads. For now, Amazon
says its technology simply changes the role of employees — the same way it
describes the impact of automation on its warehouse workers.

 

Most people who spend any time in a
supermarket understand how vexing the checkout process can be, with clogged
lines for cashiers and customers who fumble with self-checkout kiosks. At
Amazon Go, checking out feels like — there’s no other way to put it —
shoplifting. It is only a few minutes after walking out of the store, when
Amazon sends an electronic receipt for purchases, that the feeling goes away.
For now, visitors to Amazon Go may want to watch their purchases: Without a
register staring them in the face at checkout, it’s easy to overspend.

 

(Source: nytimes.com dated 21.01.2018)

 

3.  World news

 

25. Future shocks: 10 emerging risks that
threaten our world

 

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, we
asked ourselves one question over and over again: why didn’t we see it coming?
It rocked the global economy and threatened to destroy the financial systems
that we rely on. Ten years on, some countries are still picking up the pieces.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2018 says that, in our
increasingly complex and interconnected world, this type of shock may become
more likely. The report explores 10 potential future shocks, including food
scarcity, the extinction of fish, technological breakdowns and another
financial crisis.

 

The report explores 10 potential future
shocks, including food scarcity, the extinction of fish, technological
breakdowns and another financial crisis.

 

 

 

26. Not enough food to go around

 

Extreme weather events are becoming an
all-too-familiar sight. Drought, hurricanes and floods have a major impact on
the global food supply chain. Lower yields in crops lead to rising food prices,
hitting those already struggling to feed themselves.

 

The report argues that, if an extreme
weather event were to coincide with existing political instability or crop
disease, we could see a major food crisis happen overnight.

 

This is a
scenario exacerbated by the inherent “choke points” within the global supply
chain. These are the sections within the chain where a large volume of trade
passes through. Disruption to any one of these could cause immediate global
shortages and price hikes, in turn causing political and economic crises, and
ultimately, conflict.

 

27. The end of trade as we know it

 

Brexit, Trump, protectionist policies, these
are all undermining globalization as we know it. Institutions designed to
resolve trade disputes have become weaker as a result.

The report argues that the continued march
against globalization could lead to multilateral rules being openly breached.

 

Those further along the value chain could
then retaliate, and before we know it the world will be grappling with rapidly
spreading trade disputes.

 

Economic activity, output and employment
could all be adversely affected. But these effects will have a far greater
impact on some people, fuelling further discontent.

 

“Whatever the settled position on global
trade is to be,” argues the report, “more deliberation and consensus-building
would bolster its legitimacy.”

 

28. War without rules

 

21st century warfare will not involve guns
or bombs, but rather cyber-attacks on a massive scale, posits the report.

If a country’s critical infrastructure
systems are compromised by a cyber-attack, leading to disruption of essential
services and loss of life, there would be massive pressure for a government to
retaliate. What if they target the wrong culprit? There is no telling where
this retaliation might lead.

 

Governments need to establish agreed norms
and protocols for cyber warfare, much like those that exist for conventional
warfare today. This would help to prevent conflict erupting by mistake.

 

29. The break-up of the internet

 

If cyberattacks become more likely they
could end up breaking the internet.

 

Nations might build digital walls as they
seek to protect themselves. But this might not be the only reason. Governments
might also choose to do this on the basis of economic protectionism, regulatory
divergence, or censorship and repression. If governments felt they were losing
power relative to global online companies they might also seek to control the
internet.

 

There would be a barrier to the flow of
content and transactions. Technological advancements would slow. While some
might welcome this, others would not. It’s likely that there would be plenty of
illegal workarounds.

 

Perhaps most worryingly, human rights abuses
would likely increase as advances in international monitoring are rolled back.

 

Ongoing dialogue between governments and
technology companies would help to ensure that internet-based technologies
develop in a politically sustainable context of shared values and agreed
responsibilities, suggests the report.

 

(Source: weforum.org)

 
 

 

4.  Sports

 

30. Roger
Federer becomes oldest world no.1 in history

 

Roger Federer added yet another record to
his vast collection when he officially returned to world number one as the latest
ATP rankings were released on 19 February. The 36-year-old beat Andre Agassis
record as the most senior player to reach the summit of the sport.

 

(Source:
International Business Times dated 20.02.2018) 
_

Letter To The Editor

Dear Editor,

Recent article on
‘Reporting in Form 3CD for Assessment year 2017-18 – New elements’ published in
October issue of the Journal was timely and informative.  I would like to add the following points:

 

   Income Computation and Disclosure Standards
(‘ICDS’) are applicable to only those assessees who follow mercantile method of
accounting. Thus, if an assessee who maintains his books of account on cash
method of accounting then the ICDS are not applicable to him.  Accordingly, such assessees are not required
to adjust their returned income if the same is not strictly  in conformity with the ICDS;

 

   ICDS IX on Borrowing Cost, requires amongst
others, capitalization of borrowing cost under certain circumstances.  As per the Standard, the borrowings would be
of two types viz., specific and general. 
As per para 5 of the Standard, funds borrowed specifically for
the purposes of acquisition, construction or production of a qualifying asset,
the amount of borrowing costs to be capitalised on that asset shall be the
actual borrowing costs incurred during the period on the funds so borrowed.

 

   In case of borrowings other than specific
i.e. general borrowings, the amount of borrowing costs to be capitalised
is in proportion to the cost of qualifying assets to average cost of total
assets (See formula as per Para 5 of the Standard). However, for the purpose,
qualifying asset has been defined as the one that necessarily requires a period
of twelve months or more for the acquisition, construction or production (See
Explanation below para 6 of the Standard). The similar condition of 12 months
period does not exist in case of the specific borrowing.

In my view – the above
points are also important and relevant while applying the principles of ICDS, hence, the same are brought to the notice of the readers by this letter.

Miscellanea

1. Economy

 

14. 
Why is this Indian online portal and wholesale market listed in
Notorious Markets List by US?

 

IndiaMart.com and Delhi’s
wholesale market Tank Road have figured in the annual American notorious
markets list.

 

The US Trade Representative
(USTR) has released the Notorious Markets List that highlights online and
physical markets all over the world that are allegedly engaged in trading
pirated or counterfeit products and services.

 

China tops the Notorious
Markets List. Indian e-commerce company IndiaMart.com and Delhi’s wholesale
market Tank Road have figured in the list. These platforms are reported to be
engaging in and facilitating substantial copyright piracy and trademark
counterfeiting.

 

Popular online marketplace
IndiaMart has 1.5 million suppliers and more than 10 million buyers. The USTR
states that, among its legitimate listings, the firm allegedly facilitates
global trade in counterfeit and illegal pharmaceuticals. The IndiaMart
disclaims all liability, delays responses and does not facilitate right holder
attempts to remove listings, the USTR alleged.

 

The stakeholders confirm
that Tank Road remains a market selling counterfeit products, including apparel
and footwear, noted USTR. The fake products from Tank Road are also reportedly
found in other Indian markets, including Gaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road.

 

The USTR list urged India
to take sustained and coordinated action against these marketplaces, including
Tank Road market, previously-listed markets, and numerous other non-listed
markets in its territory.

 

Taobao, which is owned and
created by Alibaba group, is also listed in Notorious Markets List 2017. It is
China’s largest mobile commerce site and its third-most popular website.

 

(Source:
International Business Times dated 13.01.2018)

 

15. 
DELAYED IT Refunds Cost CBDT 58k Cr in 9yrs CAG

 

The central board of direct
tax has incurred an expenditure of over Rs. 58,500 crore in the last nine years
only on interest paid to individuals and corporates for delayed refunds of
excess income tax paid to the department. The comptroller and auditor general
in its, report taxable in parliament on Tuesday has criticised the CBDT and the
revenue department in the finance ministry for not making budgetary provisions
for the interest to be paid on delayed refunds and incurring such expenditure
without the approval of parliament.

 

As in the past no budget
provision for interest on refunds was made in the budget estimates for the
financial year 2016-17 and expenditure on interest on refunds amounting to rs
2,598 crore was incurred by the department in contravention of provisions of
the constitution and in disregard of the recommendations of the public accounts
committee CAG observed.

 

It said an expenditure  of Rs. 58,537 crore on interest payments had
been incurred over a period of last nine years without obtaining approval of
the parliament through necessary appropriation.

 

The CBDT, however, informed
the CAG that on the basis of opinion of the attorney general holding the
current practice of treating interest on refund as reduction of revenue and
with the approval of the ministry of finance recommendations of the PAC were
not accepted.

 

The CBDT classifies
interest on refunds of excess tax as reduction in revenue. However successive
CAG’s  audit reports have commented on
this incorrect practice and observed that the department has failed to take any
corrective action.

 

(Source :
Times of India dated 20 December 2017)

 

2. Technology

 

16. 
Indians consuming over 20x more data than three years ago: IT Minister

 

It’s no doubt that Reliance
Jio’s entry has changed the internet habits of Indians in a significant way,
and the country is already consuming the highest amount of mobile data. On that
note, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad
told Lok Sabha that the average data usage per subscriber has grown
exponentially over the last three years.

 

Significant growth of
India’s subscriber base combined with affordable 4G and 3G data packs and
affordable smartphones have contributed to the massive data consumption habits
among Indians. According to Prasad, Indians were consuming 70MB on an average
in June 2014 and it spiked to a whopping 1.6GB in September 2017.

 

As a result of this, the
minister noted that a significant growth is recorded in the adoption of digital
payments and electronic delivery of services. The number of e-transactions, as
per e-Taal (Electronic Transaction Aggregation and Analysis Layer) portal, grew
from 241 crore in 2013 to more than 3,013 crore e-transactions in 2017.

 

“The number of digital
payment transactions per month has increased from 60.7 crore in December 2015
to 153 crore in October 2017,” he noted in his reply to Lok Sabha, PTI
reported.

 

The rural areas in India
have also benefitted from this growth. The Common Services Centres or CSCs
bring digital services to various corners of India. Out of 2.71 lakh CSCs that
are active across the country, 1.73 lakh are at Gram Panchayat level, the
report added.

 

Finally, Prasad also
mentioned that the total internet subscriber base increased from 259.14 million
in June 2014 to 429.23 million in September 2017, which includes users in rural
areas as well. Based on TRAI data, the total wireless subscriber base reached
to 1.18 billion, and 498.28 million of those users are from rural India.

 

 (Source: International Business Times dated
4.1.2018)

 

17. 
Where does Google stand on net neutrality front after blocking YouTube
on Amazon devices?

 

Google blocks YouTube
access on Amazon devices, and the consumers stand to lose the most.

 

Google and Amazon are among
the world’s biggest tech companies, but things don’t seem particulary right
between the two tech-giants at the moment. The latest feud in Silicon Valley
became more obvious and public on December 5 when Google said that it would
block its popular video-streaming app YouTube from two Amazon streaming
devices, criticising Amazon for not selling Google’s products on its platform.

 

Google said that it will no
longer offer YouTube app support on Amazon’s screen-based Echo Show smart
speaker and Amazon Fire TV in response to Amazon’s reluctance to sell Google’s
products.

 

In its statement Google
said: “We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers
access to each other’s products and services. But Amazon doesn’t carry Google
products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn’t make its Prime Video
available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest’s
latest products.”

 

“Given this lack of
reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope
we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon,” the world’s
largest internet search titan added.

 

Meanwhile, Amazon had
previously stopped selling many of Google’s hardware products on its e-commerce
platform and since 2015 Amazon has refused to sell Google’s Chromecast video
and audio-streaming dongles.

 

Amazon seems to refrain
from selling Google products that compete directly with its own, such as Amazon
Echo range (which compete with Google Home) and Fire TV (which compete with
Google’s Chromecast).

 

Both Google and Amazon
compete with each other in many areas including cloud computing and selling
voice-controlled smart speakers like the Google Home and Amazon Echo Show. But
both companies are also advocates of net neutrality. Google’s decision to block
YouTube access might be completely based on a business and more importantly a
“product” perspective, but it does raise questions about its position
in the net neutrality debate.

 

In September this year,
Google removed YouTube access from the new Echo Show for “violating terms
of service.” Google had said that Amazon’s implementation of YouTube
blocked what Google considered critical features. This shows that Google wants
to impose its own rules on how YouTube is rendered on Amazon’s devices, but
that doesn’t seem to imply that Google is seeking control. However, by
selectively blocking customer access to open a website, it does bring in net
neutrality into the picture.

 

Amazon said in a statement:
“Echo Show and Fire TV now display a standard web view of YouTube.com and
point customers directly to YouTube’s existing website. Google is setting a
disappointing precedent by selectively blocking customer access to an open
website. We hope to resolve this with Google as soon as possible.”

 

Meanwhile, Google clearly
states that it supports net-neutrality in one of its “Take Action”
blog posts.

 

“Internet companies,
innovative startups, and millions of internet users depend on these
common-sense protections that prevent blocking or throttling of internet
traffic, segmenting the internet into paid fast lanes and slow lanes and other
discriminatory practices,” a blog post by the company reads.

 

“Thanks in part to net
neutrality, the open internet has grown to become an unrivaled source of
choice, competition, innovation, free expression and opportunity. And it should
stay that way.”

 

(Source:
International Business Times dated 4.1.2018)

 

3. Science

 

18. Lava tubes near moon’s north pole
with hidden tunnels may provide access to water.
NASA scientists discover small pits near the lunar north pole that could provide
access to the underground network of lava tubes.

 

A new study suggests that
astronauts may be able to access water hidden under the moon’s surface. NASA
scientists have discovered small pits near the lunar north pole and believe it
could provide passageways to a huge underground network of lava tubes that
could even provide shelter to astronauts and lead them to the water supply.

 

Also Read:
Scientists believe massive ice sheets on Mars could create oxygen for humans

 

The SETI Institute and the
Mars Institute made the announcement about the new discovery after analysing
data NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). According to SETI, these pits
could help astronauts find underground water on the moon. These pits are
“sky-lit” entrances to a network leading to huge underground caves
formed millions of years ago.

 

The news pits were
identified on the Philolaus Crater, which is close to the lunar North Pole.
These pits appear as “small rimless depressions, typically 50 to 100 feet
across (15 to 30 meters), with completely shadowed interiors.”

 

“The highest
resolution images available for Philolaus Crater do not allow the pits to be
identified as lava tube skylights with 100 percent certainty, but we are
looking at good candidates considering simultaneously their size, shape,
lighting conditions and geologic setting” said Dr Pascal Lee, planetary
scientist at the SETI Institute and the Mars Institute.

 

The pits are located along
lunar sinuous rilles, which are believed to be lava tubes that were once
underground tunnels filled with streams of flowing lava.

 

Earlier, researchers had
discovered 200 pits on the moon with several identified as skylights, but the
recent discovery is the first published report of possible lava tube skylights
near the lunar north pole.

 

“Our next step should
be further exploration, to verify whether these pits are truly lava tube
skylights and if they are, whether the lava tubes actually contain ice. This is
an exciting possibility that a new generation of caving astronauts or robotic
spelunkers could help address,” Dr. Lee said.

 

“Exploring lava tubes
on the Moon will also prepare us for the exploration of lava tubes on Mars.
There, we will face the prospect of expanding our search for life into the
deeper underground of Mars where we might find environments that are warmer,
wetter, and more sheltered than at the surface.”

 

“This discovery is
exciting and timely as we prepare to return to the Moon with humans” Bill
Diamond, president and CEO of the SETI Institute, said in a statement. “It
also reminds us that our exploration of planetary worlds is not limited to
their surface, and must extend into their mysterious interiors.”

 

(Source:
International Business Times dated 16.1.2018)
_

Letter to the editor

fiogf49gjkf0d
23rd May, 2016
The Editor,
Bombay Chartered Accountants Journal
Mumbai.

Dear Sir,

Re: Taxation of Capital Gains – Exemption u/s 54 and 54F on purchase / construction of a new house.

Section 54 of the Income-tax Act provides relief from taxation in respect of Profit on sale of a Residential House provided the assessee has purchased a house within a period of 2 years from the date of sale or constructed a house within a period of 3 years from the date of such sale. A similar exemption is available under section 54F in regard to capital Gain on sale of any other Long Term Capital Asset, subject to satisfaction of other conditions stipulated in that section.

Now-a-days, due to shortage of land and increasing population and considerations of quality of life, safety & security & availability of other modern amenities at par with advanced societies, there is vertical expansion in Mega Cities and purchase of flats in a residential tower or self-contained gated residential complexes particularly in large cities. Therefore, it is quite common for the taxpayers desiring to avail of exemption u/s 54 or 54F, to purchase flats in such Residential Towers and invest the Sale Proceeds of their existing house or other assets in purchase of flats in such Towers / Residential Complexes.

However, the construction of new Residential Towers generally takes more than 2 years / 3 years, as the case may be, as it is now virtually possible for the Builder/ Developer to complete the Construction of the Tower and comply with other Municipal Regulations concerning construction of such large Residential Towers/Complexes, and hand over possession of the flats to the buyers within the period stipulated in Sections 54 and Section 54F.

The assessing officers are very rigidly applying the time limits laid down in sections 54 and 54F, and denying the exemption available to the taxpayer. Various Tax Tribunals and High Courts have liberally interpreted the aforesaid time limits specified in Sections 54 and 54F and have granted exemption to the taxpayer if the taxpayer had invested the Long Term Capital Gains on sale of the existing house property or other Asset within the time limits specified in the aforesaid sections. However, the Assessing Officers are not giving due recognition to such favorable Judicial Decisions and raising huge demands on the Tax Payers. As a result, a large number of Appeals are pending before various Appellate / Judicial Authorities on this issue.

In the interest of rendering justice to the taxpayers and advancing the underlying objective of sections 54 and 54F, the CBDT should accept the ratio of such favorable Judicial Decisions and issue an appropriate Circular instruction to the Assessing Officers to the effect that deduction/exemption u/s 54 and 54F should be allowed if the taxpayer has invested the amount of eligible Capital Gains within 2 or 3 years, as the case may be, for purchase of a new house / flat so that the genuine taxpayers are not put to hardship and huge backlog of accumulated litigation on this score can be cleared. Increase in time limits for completion of projects in view of changed realties of Real Estate Sector may also be considered.

Yours faithfully,
Tarunkumar G. Singhal.

Light Elements

Mr. Optimist and Mr. Skeptic were good friends. Optimist was very happy
with the policies of the new Government. He felt that now the things would be
better. The new Government has promised clean governance, minimum intervention
of administration, healthy external policies, ease of doing business,
transparency, financial inclusion, and what not! He started day dreaming for a
happy and peaceful life for the common man.

 

One day after the Union Budget, Mr.
Optimist met Mr. Skeptic.

Optimist :   Hello. What do you feel about the budget?

Skeptic :    Well. It is same as every year’s. Nothing
new!

Optimist :   Are you not happy with the policies announced
by the FM?

Skeptic :    Practically all FMs so far have been
promising the same thing.

Optimist :   But the implementation was bad. Bureaucrats
were not allowing good things to happen. 
There was corruption.

Skeptic :    Do you think bureaucracy has changed? Do you
think corruption will stop?

Optimist :   Well; we should always hope for the better.
They are taking good steps in that direction. Everything is becoming ‘on-line’.

Skeptic :    So, what you feel will happen now?

 

Optimist :   I am sure, there will be stability and
growth!

 

Skeptic :    Ha! Ha! Ha! I will tell you a story.

 

There was a very poor country. It was faced with the menace from rats.
All fields and other places were infested with rats. They were causing lot of
damage to the crop, to the properties and everything. The Government was
helpless. People didn’t know how to tackle this problem.

 

Once, they convened a conference in which international experts were
invited to solve this monstrous problem. They made their presentations which
were very impressive.

 

A few experts suggested electronic
devices; but the host country said – “we are too poor to afford such expensive
gadgets”. A few others came out with chemical solutions. Again there was
helplessness due to cost factor. 


Chemicals would also spoil the fertility of the soil. It seemed the conference
would be futile. Nothing was working out.

 

Finally, one Indian expert stood up. He said –‘I can suggest a simple
remedy’. All listened to him very intently.

 

“Look here”, he said; “Take a knife and keep it horizontal on the floor;
or on the table. Take two small plates and keep one on each end of the knife.
Put some gud (Jaggery) in one plate and some kopra (coconut) in
the other.

 

“How will it
help?” – People wondered.

 

“Rat will come;
stand before the knife and have a dilemma. What to eat first? ‘Gud’ or ‘kopra’.
He will move his neck violently. In the process, his neck will get cut! And
your jaggery and coconut will remain intact”!

 

People applauded
very loudly. They were all extremely happy. Same night, there was a cabinet
meeting of the ministers. The mood was very joyous. Suddenly, somebody pointed
out – The remedy is alright. But how can we afford so much gud and kopra?
We are so poor! There was a long and deep silence. Finally, they rang up the
expert again and explained to him the problem.

 

“Don’t worry”,
assured the expert. I will think of a solution. Let’s meet tomorrow morning.

 

Next day, there
was again an assembly of selected persons. The expert said, “ I have found the
solution. Keep the same arrangement, horizontal knife and two dishes; but let
them be empty’.

 

People got
puzzled. “How will it help?”

 

Expert – “See,
the rat will come, look at both the dishes; and will wonder “Arey! Gud bhi
nahi aur kopra bhi nahi!
(Neither jaggery nor coconut). He will again shake
his neck in despair! Result, you know. Cutting of his neck!”

 

Optimist
realised the fate of ‘stability’ and ‘growth’! And also that the citizens of
our country are like rats.
_

 

Book Review

Title     : ‘Happiness is all we want’

Author :  Ashutosh Mishra

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Seldom do we find books that revolve around how to
practise the art of living a simple happy life. 
Quotes like ‘Happiness can be found’ or ‘Do more of what makes you
happy’ more often than not find a place only on our mobile wallpapers or
Whatsapp statuses.  Are we really
fetching things and moments that make us happy or are we just hurrying to
strike things off our ‘to do lists’ that we prepare for ourselves every night?
And even if we are getting things off our bucket list, are we taking a moment
out of our lives to introspect through the journey and feel content of the
same?

In today’s mad 
rush of materialism and the glamour of ‘modern living’, each one of us
invite unwanted complications  and fail
to pay heed to our mental and physical well-being.  And till the time we realise that it’s
probably the time to take care of our health, it is either very late or it’s
the time when we are already facing an existential crisis. This need not
necessarily be the case with a CEO of a multinational company or a struggling
artist in the Entertainment Industry. Cases as naïve as those of teenagers
trying to juggle academics and social life at the same time or cases as
delicate as retired senior citizens trying to find ways to pass their time,
would all find simple techniques to seek answers to their dilemmas through the
reading of this book.

‘Happiness is all we want’ is one of those that
would prove to be a good read for people across all generations for the simple
fact that it would either leave a smile on your face or would help you smile a
little more in your life.

‘Happiness is all we want’ not only convinces you
to start living your life a little more meaningfully than you already are, but
also shows and tells you how.

In the very beginning of the book, the author
makes a sincere effort to define Happiness in the most untainted and
unpretentious form. ‘Happiness is staying in the moment and utilising
opportunities to be happy from all that we do in our daily lives’, he says. He
compels us to ponder on why we have structured the goals of our life in a way,
where we have given material success the highest priority and mental wellbeing
the lowest, while in reality the former is achievable only if the latter is
attained.

Having said a lot about what the book preaches,
it’s mandatory to mention the one thing that differentiates this book from most
of the others in its genre. It is undoubtedly the intricate explanations on how
to, not just relate, but to also use this book and make the best out of it.
Also it makes it all the more easy to use the book via the concise ‘Things to
do’ and ‘Things to ponder’. It shows how to add a little bit of sane method to
the madness in our lives. It concentrates on the three pillars of our
existence. It tells us how to train, tame and tackle our mind, body and soul.
Though, prima facie the context and subject may seem to be a very heavy
read, especially after a busy day at work. More often than not, it would be a
leisure read, for there are instances from our lives that would make us smile
and grin at more times than we imagined it to.

The author, 
Ashutosh Mishra, an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and Mechanical Engineer
from IIT Delhi, through his abundant experience of corporate life, shares his
personal experiences that make us realise that there is much more to life that
can make us content, than the luxuries which give us temporary pleasures which
neither add value to our lives nor to our well-being. The book gives elaborate
illustrations on various techniques like Yoga, Physical Exercises and a Healthy
Diet, that would bring peace and relaxation in our stressful lives.

Having applauded the content of the book, the
language fails to compel the reader to hold on to the book for a very long
time. A little bit of beating around the bush provokes you to jump to the ‘Wake
Up Stories’ and ‘Practical Tips’ directly, instead of giving the book a
thorough read.

In a nutshell, the book would definitely help us
in redefining the idea of happiness in our lives and also change our
perspectives about success. But in the end, everything boils down to how much
of a religious effort we put to better our minds and souls and not leave it to
a casual read.  The best way to
acknowledge the author and celebrate the book, would be to regularly implement
the recommendations given in the book to which we can relate the most at
appropriate times in our lives. And that is when the success of the book would
be measured in the true sense.

Light Elements

Hope is indeed a great
motivator. One should always be optimistic. The Hon’ble Prime Minister has
given us the hope of “Achhe Din”. Howsoever difficult a situation may be, one
should never give up hope. Otherwise, we can’t survive. Hope, in Sanskrit,
means ‘Asha’. There is a very good subhashit (thought) that reads
like this:-

 

Meaning – hope is a
mysterious chain for men. Those who are bound by this chain keep on running;
but those without this chain get paralysed!

There are numerous
instances in history as to how brave people have come out of grave situations
of absolute darkness where there was no hope for escape.

A village potterman had a
donkey with him. The potterman was not a kind-hearted person. He used to
ill-treat the donkey by keeping him starved, slogging him every now and then
and extracting a lot of work from him.

The donkey had a friend –
obviously, another donkey. That friend asked this donkey – ‘Arey, your
boss is so cruel. He beats you, does not give you food and gets so much work
done from you. Then why do you continue with him?

The donkey said “friend,
what you say is right. My owner is not at all a good person. But I stay with
him with
one hope.

 

  What is that?

 

  See, my boss has a small daughter – just 5
years old.  She is very naughty.

   So what?

 

  The boss keeps on shouting at her every now
and then.  He scolds her and sometimes
even beats her gently.

 

  But what is your hope?

 

   She doesn’t stop her ‘masti’.  She keeps on being naughty.  She jumps from a tall stool, breaks the cups,
throws her things everywhere, spoils her clothes by dancing in the mud – and
what not!

 

  But how does it help you, my dear friend?

 

   Listen. 
When she does too much of masti, he shouts, “Baby, now if you do
any more masti, I will get you married to this donkey!! 

                    

With this hope, I am
continuing with this boss.

 

I
think, this story has a great lesson to all of us CAs.  We also get promises that our laws will be
simplified, regulation will be reduced, administration will be humane and
citizen-friendly, there will be ‘ease of doing business’. – so on and so
forth.  Situation is worsening
day-by-day.  Bureaucracy will never allow
good things to happen smoothly.  We are
also taught a myth that a chartered accountant should have ‘independence’ – to
act without fear or favour!

Now, if we give up hope,
how can we survive?  This hope alone may
bring us together and unite us to be more assertive!

So, never give up
hope.  _

Miscellanea

1. Economy

6. 
Trump administration makes renewal of H1B visas more difficult

The H1-B and L1 work visas
are majorly used by Indian IT professionals. Currently, the cap on H1-B visas
stands at 65,000, out of which 25,000-35,000 are issued to Indian nationals.

The Donald Trump
administration has reportedly made renewal of non-immigrant visas like H-1B and
L1 more difficult. The new directive from the United States says that the
burden of proof lies on the applicant of the visa even when an extension is
sought.

The US H1-B visa is a
non-immigrant visa, which allows firms to hire foreign workers in specialised
occupations. The H1-B and L1 work visas are majorly used by Indian IT
professionals. Currently, the cap on H1-B visas stands at 65,000, out of which
25,000-35,000 are issued to Indian nationals.

The new restrictions were
made even as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday said that she
had raised the H-1B visa issue with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during
their meeting in New Delhi. Swaraj had reportedly asked the US to not do
anything that would adversely affect India’s interests.

(Source:
International Business Times dated 26.10.2017)

7. 
Indian Railways to get 7 lakh metric tonnes of rails to renew old tracks

The decision comes after
reports suggested earlier this month that Indian Railways will spend Rs 1,000
crore over the next six months to replace old and outdated tracks with new
ones.

Indian Railways has sent
out a global tender to get seven lakh metric tonne of rails for revamping old
tracks to ensure safety after several accidents in the recent past.

“So, seven lakh metric
tonne of additional rail (track) is sought to be procured for which a global
tender is already been out on the 12th of October,” said Union
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal.

(Source:
International Business Times dated 26.10.2017)

8.  India projected to
become the third largest aviation market by 2025

IATA expects India to
surpass the UK in 2025. It is projected to add 337 million new passengers in
2036 for a total of 478 million.

All indicators lead to
growing demand for global connectivity. The world needs to prepare for a
doubling of passengers in the next 20 years. It’s fantastic news for innovation
and prosperity, which is driven by air links,” said International Air
Transport Association (IATA) Director General and Chief Executive Officer
Alexandre de Juniac.

The trade association of
the world’s airlines expects India to surpass the UK and become the third
largest airline market with 337 million new passengers for a total of 478
million. China is projected to remain at the top with 921 million new
passengers for a total of 1.5 billion.

(Source:
International Business Times dated 25.10.2017)

2. Technology

 9. 
Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+ Android Oreo update; here’s when Beta Program is
expected go live in US

Samsung is expected to
release Android Oreo Beta Program for Galaxy S8 and the Galaxy S8+ users in the
US next week.

(Source:
International Business Times dated 27.10.2017)
 _

Miscellanea

7.  Re-promulgation of ordinances is ‘fraud’ on
Constitution, says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on
Monday held that re-promulgation of ordinances by government was
constitutionally impermissible as it amounted to bypass the legislative body
which was a primary source of law making authority in a parliamentary
democracy.

A seven judge constitution
bench held by majority that government’s decision to bring ordinance can be
reviewed by judiciary and said that it was obligatory for the government to
place the ordinance before the legislative body for its approval and
non-placement of ordinances before the Parliament and the State legislature
would itself constitute a fraud on the constitution.

The majority verdict by
Justices A. K. Goel, U. U. Lalit, D. Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao held
that “Re-promulgation defeats the constitutional scheme under which a
limited power to frame ordinances has been conferred upon the President and the
Governors.”

“The danger of
re-promulgation lies in the threat it poses to the sovereignty of Parliament
and the state legislatures which have been constituted as primary law givers
under the Constitution. Open legislative debate and discussion provides
sunshine which separates secrecy of ordinance making from transparent and
accountable governance through law making,” it said.

Chief Justice T. S.
Thakur, who was heading the bench, also agreed with majority verdict on the
issue but differed on other aspect. “I am in complete agreement with the
view expressed by my esteemed brother Chandrachud, J. that repeated
re-promulgation of the ordinances was a fraud on the Constitution especially
when the Government of the time appears to have persistently avoided the
placement of the ordinances before the legislature.”

Justice Madan B. Lokur,
however, differed sating “There could be situations, though very rare,
when re-promulgation is necessary”.

The majority verdict,
delivered by Justice Chandrachud said, “The failure to place an ordinance
before the legislature constitutes a serious infraction of a constitutional
obligation which the executive has to discharge by placing the ordinance before
the legislature”

“The laying of an
ordinance facilitates the constitutional process by which the legislature is
enabled to exercise its control. Failure to lay an ordinance before the
legislature amounts to an abuse of the constitutional process and is a serious
dereliction of the constitutional obligation,”it said.
 

The court said that apex
court’s ‘hope and trust’ that law making through re-promulgated ordinances
would not become the norm had been belied by the governments through succession
of re-promulgated ordinances.

It also ruled the
satisfaction of the President under Article 123 and of the Governor under
Article 213 is not immune from judicial review.

“The test is whether
the satisfaction is based on some relevant material. The court in the exercise
of its power of judicial review will not determine the sufficiency or adequacy
of the material. The court will scrutinise whether the satisfaction in a
particular case constitutes a fraud on power or was actuated by an oblique
motive. Judicial review in other words would enquire into whether there was no
satisfaction at all,” it said.

(Source: The Times of
India dated 03.01.2017)

8.  Here’s how to rationalise capital gains tax

A major spin-off a
significantly lower rate of tax on income hinted at by the finance minister
would be the possibility to reorganise the taxation of savings and capital
gains on a rational basis. That basis is to treat as current income liable to
bear tax at the rate appropriate for the relevant income bracket that part of
any capital gain, after indexation in the case of non-financial assets, which
does not get redeployed in new assets. Such a method of taxation would not
penalise portfolio churning across assets, essential for intelligent savings.
Such a reform was proposed in the original Direct Taxes Code of 2009, which had
sought to scrap the distinction between longterm and short-term capital gains
on shares based on the holding period, scrap the securities transaction tax,
and include only that slice of capital gains which is not deployed in any other
capital asset, as part of taxable income.

Indexation benefits, meant
mainly to compute capital gains, are fine. Simply put, there would be no tax on
the gains, say, from the sale of a house if the money is reinvested in shares
and vice versa. The basic principle — to spare the saving asset from tax and
charge a tax only on the income from the asset — is perfect and will make
savings efficient. The government should adopt the so-called exempt-exempt-tax
system wherein all savings will be exempt from taxation at the time of
contribution and accumulation, and taxed at maturity, if not ploughed into
another asset.

For example, the
income-tax law allows investors who make capital gains to invest in NHAI and
REC bonds. The entire gain is exempt if the equivalent amount is invested in
these bonds, subject to an upper limit of Rs. 50 lakh every financial year.
This principle is sound. The EET method is beneficial to investors, given that
it does away with artificial distortions, and raises efficiency and equity in
the tax system. It would also help the government garner more revenues. But for
this to work, the rate of tax has to be low. Taxation should be uniform across
savings products, to prevent inefficient distortions that could lead to say,
housing bubbles.

(Source: The Economic
Times dated 28.12.2016)

9.  Tax dividends in the shareholders’ hands

Taxation of dividends has
become a vexatious issue, needlessly. It should be taxed in the hands of the
investor at the rate applicable to the investor’s income bracket. The finance
minister has indicated that the rate would be lowered in the interest of
economic efficiency and that is welcome. The dividend distribution tax should
be scrapped. To make sure that dividend income does not go under-reported,
companies can be mandated to deduct tax at source at the highest marginal rate
of 30%, leaving it to individuals whose incomes warrant a lower rate of tax to
claim a refund while filing returns. The government has to make the processing
of claims and refunds fast and efficient, that is all.

At present, companies pay
a dividend distribution tax at the rate of 15%. Individuals who receive
dividend income in excess of Rs.10 lakh pay a dividend tax of 10%. So dividends
bear a tax of 25% at most. This is not an equitable way of taxing people.
Company promoters who get the bulk of their income as dividends pay a lower
proportion of their income as tax as compared to employees who receive the bulk
of their income as salaries taxable at the highest marginal rate. Taxing
dividends in the hands of the shareholder would both be fairer and more
revenue-efficient than the current arrangement.

The debate that should
begin on taxing dividends is whether to allow the cost of equity capital the
same deductible expense status as interest, the cost of debt capital. This
would do away with artificial demand for debt — borrowing is tax-efficient,
even if you do not really need that loan — and encourage companies to retain
only as much earnings as they have use for. Uninvested cash surpluses on
company books are a drag on the economy. This, of course, is a global debate..

(Source: The Economic
Times dated 28.12.2016)

10.  Supreme Court lens on funds of over 30 lakh
NGOs

The Supreme Court ordered
the Centre and state governments to scrutinise the accounts of lakhs of NGOs
and voluntary organisations, which together received thousands of crores of
rupees of public funds, and take civil and criminal action against all
organisations misusing the grants.

Taking umbrage at years of
inaction on the part of governments in seeking accountability from NGOs on fund
utilisation, a bench comprising Chief Justice J. S. Khehar, Justice N. V.
Ramana and Justice D. Y. Chandrachud said: “The governments are not aware
of their responsibility to audit the NGOs as provided under the General Finance
Rules, 2005.

We direct the respondents
to complete the exercise of audit and submit a report to the court by March 31
under all circumstances.” The bench authorised the governments to take
punitive action against NGOs and voluntary organisations which failed to provide
proper accounts of public funds received by them.

“In case an NGO is
found to be non-compliant after auditing, it is imperative for the authorities
to initiate civil and criminal action so as to enable the government to recover
the money, apart from punishing those who misappropriated the funds,” the
bench said.

CBI, through additional
solicitor general Tushar Mehta, informed the court that it had so far detected
32.97 lakh registered NGOs and voluntary organisations but less than 10% of
them (3.07 lakh) filed their audited accounts with the Registrar of Cooperative
Societies. CBI was directed to undertake the NGO fund monitoring exercise on a
PIL filed by advocate M. L. Sharma who had accused Anna Hazare’s NGO of
misappropriating funds allotted by Council for Advancement of People’s Action
and Rural Technology (Capart). But the court said the problem of NGOs with no
accountability seemed to be a much larger issue than the Rs. 5 crore grant
given to Hazare’s NGO.

Amicus curiae Rakesh
Dwivedi, with advocate Sansriti Pathak, startled the court by quoting an
independent study by Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR). Dwivedi said RTI
replies collated by ACHR revealed that various departments of the Centre had
released Rs 4,756.71 crore as grants to NGOs during 2002-09 and during the same
period, states and Union territories had released   Rs. 1,897.64 crore.

This meant that a total of
Rs. 6,654.35 crore was released to NGOs and voluntary organisations during
2002-09, or an average of Rs. 950.62 crore a year. This figure was worked out
despite key states like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu &
Kashmir, Arunchal Pradesh, Mizoram and Union territories not providing any
information. Dwivedi said it indicated that the actual amount released to NGOs
would be higher. Surprisingly, the Centre did not provide any statistics on the
amount of money it had given to NGOs from the public exchequer.

The bench wanted to put an
end to this lack of financial accountability by NGOs. It ordered the Centre to
frame and submit for the court’s scrutiny a guideline on the procedure for
accreditation of NGOs and voluntary organisations, the manner in which they
should maintain regular accounts and the mechanism to recover misused or unused
funds.

The petition by advocate
M. L. Sharma had been pending in the court for the last five years, a major
part of which was taken by the CBI to gather data on registered NGOs and those
which had complied with the statutory requirement of furnishing audited
accounts. The bench took a decisive action saying: “We cannot allow the
matter to remain in a flux. We must take the case forward as it has remained
stagnant for years”.

(Source: The Times of India
dated 11.01.2017).

Miscellanea

1. Technology

 

11.  China opens its first bank without bankers

 

A state-owned
Chinese bank has opened an automated branch equipped with facial-scanning
software, a virtual reality room, a hologram machine, talking robots and touch
screens for paying utility bills, among other functions. The branch opened last
week in central Shanghai’s Huangpu district and is being hyped as China’s first
“unmanned bank.”

 

Beijing-based China Construction
Bank says the high-tech branch is meant to make banking more convenient,
personalized and efficient. It also reflects growing competition from cashless
payment systems that are giving the banks a run for their money. A robot greets
customers at the entrance and answers questions using voice recognition
software. Clients can swipe their national identification cards to enter the
bank or scan their faces using the bank’s facial recognition device. Machines
inside allow visitors to buy gold, change currency, or scout real estate
investments using virtual reality googles.

 

The bank isn’t totally unstaffed.
Guards still stand sentry, and a room equipped with teleconference software
allows VIP clients to request help from human employees based elsewhere.
“Through the use of facial recognition, even without a human in the loop, the
system can ensure uniqueness of the individual at the time of enrollment and
can verify each time the person conducts a transaction,” said Joseph Atick, a
biometrics expert and chairman of Identity International.

 

(Source:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

 

12.  Competition Commission fines Google Rs 136
crore for search bias

 

India’s antitrust watchdog
Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a 1.36 billion rupees ($21.17 million)
fine on Google for “search bias” and abuse of its dominant position,
in the latest regulatory setback for the world’s most popular internet search
engine. CCI said Google, the core unit of U.S. firm Alphabet Inc, was abusing
its dominance in online web search and online search advertising markets.

 

“Google was found to be
indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its
competitors as well as to users,” the CCI said in a 190-page order.
“Google was leveraging its dominance in the market for online general web
search, to strengthen its position in the market for online syndicate search
services,” the CCI said. However, the CCI said it did not find any
contravention in respect of Google’s specialised search design, AdWords and
online distribution agreements.

 

A Google spokesman said the company
was reviewing the “narrow concerns” identified by the Commission and
will assess its next steps. “We have always focused on innovating to
support the evolving needs of our users. The Competition Commission of India
has confirmed that, on the majority of issues it examined, our conduct complies
with Indian competition laws,” he said. The Indian watchdog’s order is the
latest antitrust setback for Google. Last year, The European Commission imposed
a record 2.4 billion euro ($3 billion) fine on the company for favouring its
shopping service and demoting rival offerings. Google has appealed against the
order.

 

Source: (www.businesstoday.in)

 

13. Tech billionaires
parenting

 

Melinda Gates’ children don’t have
Smartphone and only use a computer in the kitchen. Her husband Bill spends
hours in his office reading books while everyone else is refreshing their home
page. The most sought after private school in Silicon Valley, the Waldorf
school of the  peninsula, bans electronic
devices for the under -11s and teaches the children of eBay, Apple, Uber and
Google staff to make go karts, knit and cook. Mark Zuckerberg wants his
daughter to read Dr Seuss and play outside rather than use Messenger kids.
Steve Jobs strictly limited his children’s use of technology at home. It is
astonishing if you think about it: the more money you make out of the tech
industry, the more you appear to shield your family from its effects.

 

(Source: Alice Thomson in The
Times)

 

14. Twitter urges all users to
change passwords after glitch

 

Twitter urged its more than 330
million users to change their passwords after a glitch caused some to be stored
in readable text on its internal computer system rather than disguised by a
process known as “hashing”.

 

The social network disclosed the
issue in a blog saying it had resolved the problem and an internal
investigation had found no indication passwords were stolen or misused by
insiders. Still, it urged all users to consider changing their passwords.

 

“We fixed the bug and have no
indication of a breach or misuse by anyone,” chief executive Jack Dorsey said
in a Tweet. “As a precaution, consider changing your password on all services
where you’ve used this password.” The blog did not say how many passwords were
affected. A person familiar with the company’s response said the number was
“substantial” and that they were exposed for “several months”.

 

The glitch was related to Twitter’s
use of “hashing” and caused passwords to be written on an internal computer log
before the scrambling process was completed, the blog said. “We are very sorry
this happened,” the Twitter blog said.



(Source: Times of India)

 

15. Facebook to hit e-commerce
market with B2C offering

 

After making inroads into India’s
payments sector via WhatsApp, Facebook is eyeing a larger piece of the
country’s fast-growing ecommerce market where the world’s largest retailers
Amazon and Walmart are gearing up for a direct faceoff.

 

The social media giant is in talks
with several brands and businesses to list on Facebook Marketplace. It will
begin testing business-to-consumer transactions on the marketplace ahead of a
soft launch planned for June, one of them said. Facebook “will build more tools
(on its marketplace) for businesses to upload products and manage inventory and
orders, and will also add payments to it by the end of this year”, the other
person said. “For now, Facebook will start with directing consumers to sellers’
(Facebook) pages or websites.”

 

Facebook launched its marketplace
as a consumer-to-consumer interface in India about six months ago only to
receive a lukewarm response to its attempt at creating a domestic Craigslist,
competing with startups such as Quikr and OLX.

 

India’s online retail sector is
expected to grow to $27 billion this year after registering sales worth $19.6
billion in 2017, estimates Forrester Research. Global retailers are betting
more on the massive growth potential for the fledgling market, which Morgan
Stanley estimates will be worth $200 billion by 2026. Facebook Marketplace is
available in 70 countries and has more than 800 million people visiting each
month to buy and sell goods.

 

(Source: Economic Times)

 

2.  Inspirational

 

16. Writing with thumb and
little finger, boy scores 90.33% in ICSE

 

Liron is a student of Lady Ratanbai
and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy in Andheri East where his mother works in
the administration department. Born with constriction band syndrome,
16-year-old Liron D’Silva had amniotic bands resulting in partially formed fingers
with only two fully developed fingers on the right hand, his thumb and little
finger. However, this congenital defect did not deter Liron from taking his
Class X ICSE examinations without the help of a writer and he secured an
overall percentage of 90.33 with a score of 99 in Maths and 97 in Social
Studies.

 

“It was difficult, but I managed,”
said Liron explaining that he wanted to write his papers himself because it is
often hard to explain to a writer what he is thinking. “I also wanted to get a
good score on my own merit.” His mother Linet D’Silva wrote to the board
explaining Liron’s condition and they granted him extra time, 30 minutes for
every hour. “Liron has never let his disability get in the way,” she said. “He
has 100 per cent attendance in school and even plays sports like lawn tennis
and taekwondo.”

 

Liron is a student of Lady Ratanbai
and Sir Mathuradas Vissanji Academy in Andheri East where his mother works in
the administration department. “He adamantly refused to let anyone else write his
papers for him and has been consistently appearing for his own exams, barring
one time in the ninth standard when a recent surgery had left him in too much
pain to do so,” she said.

 

Growing up with a normal twin
brother, Rion, Liron has found life especially challenging. “But I choose to
view difficulties as opportunities. I want to inspire other people like me to
live life to the fullest,” he says.

 

(Source Indianexpress.com)

 

17.  When Sachin Tendulkar helped Indian
wheelchair cricket team realise its dream

 

Life can be harsh and test
someone’s willpower with all its severity. But if there is perseverance, it can
force open the doors also. Ask Somjeet Singh or Squadron Leader Abhay Partab
Singh.

 

They are part of an Indian cricket
team – the Indian wheelchair cricket team, which successfully completed its
first international tour of Bangladesh. It was their dream to wear the national
jersey but they also needed a
dream merchant.

 

A month back,
36-year-old Pradeep Raj, who is the secretary of the Wheelchair Cricket India
(WCI), was trying to raise funds to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh so that the Indian
team could travel to Bangladesh for a bilateral series. It was then the idea of
writing to Tendulkar crossed his mind. “Despite my best efforts, I could only
get only one sponsor, who gave Rs 2 lakh. I had knocked many doors for our
wheelchair team but to no avail. I had Sachin sir’s email address as during my
days as a para-athlete (he was a cricketer and then a para TT player), I had
e-mailed him. This time also I mailed Sachin sir asking for help,” Raj
said.


“To my pleasant surprise, his
office got in touch with me within three days and in next few days, he donated
the outstanding Rs 4.5 lakh. Without his help, the Indian Wheelchair cricket
team would have had to cancel their trip to Bangladesh. The financial help
provided by him went a long way in booking air tickets for the 19-member
team,” Raj said.

 

“Some political party and
Actor too donated small amount to play players fees. So for the first time, Indian
players got Rs 20,000 each for playing a tournament,” Raj said. The Indian
team beat Bangladesh 2-0 in the three match series.

 

In wheelchair cricket, the matches
are held in T20 format. They are trying to use lighter balls (used for women’s
cricket). If the wheelchair is used by batsman to obstruct a delivery, then he
is adjudged lbw. The boundaries are at 45 yards.

 

“In the Indian team, there are
different stories. There are players, who have had their legs amputated because
of road accidents. We have players, who are paralysed waist down. There are a
few who have been affected by polio. They have come from all parts of the
country, appeared for trials and got selected. We organised a national
tournament last year and champions were rewarded with cash prize of Rs
50,000,” the secretary said.

 

(Source: Times of India)

 

18.  You will be always loved

 

If you want to be loved then you
have to kill your expectations because expectations are that one thing which
prevents us to holding on to a relationship. Expect from your own self that
what you can do and what you can give to your family, friends and to society.
Without giving, you will get nothing. Make a habit of giving and sharing.

 

Believe me;
giving love is the best feeling in the world. You feel like a complete person.
Nowadays people are so upset because they give nothing and expect everything.
This is wrong thinking. First put then receive. You have to love first then you
will be loved. There is a lack of love around the world. People are so sad because
everybody needs love and people don’t know how to love? Stop searching for
love, be a loving person so that everybody itself attracts towards you. Spread
love, if you want to be loved.

Now the question arises how we can
love. For love, you first need forgiveness. How you forgive and forget your
mistakes easily learn to do so with others. In love, you can be with a person
during his bad times. Encouraging someone, listen to someone’s heart. If you
still can’t do so then never discourage anyone.

 

Listening is an excellent habit.
Giving your time and attention. Believe me if adopt these habits you will be
loved by everybody. Everybody has a lot to speak, more to share but there is
nobody to listen. The more you listen, the more you will come to know the best
out of the person. When you start listening believe me you will be flooded with
friends.

 

Love everybody, every little things
around you i.e Love your bed, pillow, clothes, doors, windows, etc love all
animals, birds, fishes etc. When you fill yourself with love for others, others
will also full of love for you and you will be delighted.

 

Have you noticed one thing that we
usually love children than to adults, puppy instead of dogs, kittens instead of
cats. You know why? Because kids are innocent, free from jealousy and full of
love. Nobody teaches them how to love, smile, laugh etc. Kids don’t even know
the word hatred. Let’s be like a child for being loved.

 

Put smile on your face and be
positive. Now ask one question to yourself that what kind of person do you like
the most? Mine answer is I like those who always smile, polite, truthful,
honest, decent etc. So be the person you want to be with than how can people
ignore you. You will always be loved.

 

Be yourself, be polite and
generous. These are some qualities which attract Almighty as well. Why to only
being loved by world. Why not by Almighty as well. God’s love is true love. He
expects nothing and gives everything we need. So you can also be God for
others. Fulfill people’s need if you can and share gifts. We feel so delighted
when we are gifted so the people feel. Make a habit of giving gifts to your
loved one. I wish all of you to be loved throughout your life.

 

(Source: sunnyskyz.com)


Ethics and You

Arjun (A) — Oh
Lord, why have you created this kaliyug?

 

Shrikrishna
(S) — I didn’t create it. It was the idea of the Creator – Brahmadev! I
have been entrusted only with the job of maintenance.

 

A — Don’t just pass the blame on him. I know, you only must be giving
ideas to him. I have seen you in Mahabharata, doing some mischief and then
watching the fun!

.

S — (smiles) – Arjun, what is your grievance? I have always supported
you in all the difficulties and brought you out of your problems.

 

A — Tell me, why in kaliyug people are always quarrelling with each
other?

Why can’t they stay together with love and affection? They have so many
comforts due to technology.

 

S — (laughs). Arey Arjun. You are saying so? What did you do in
Mahabharata? Didn’t you fight with kauravas?

 

A — But we were demanding only 5 small villages from them. Nothing more.
But they wanted to grab everything. They cheated us.

 

S — Anyway, forget that. Why are you so tensed up today? The kaliyug was
      there all these years. What makes
you blame it today?

 

A — These disputes between other parties are causing great risk to our
profession. Two brothers, two partners, two directors, rather any two persons
coming together finally end-up in a dispute and just to settle their score on
one another they blame their CA. They expect that the CA would exert influence
on the other party. In this process CA alone suffers. He is made a scape goat.

 

S — Did you have any dispute with any person? See, both of us are
together for thousands of years right since Mahabharata but we have never
quarreled.

 

A —You are a God and I am only your devotee. By relation we are cousins
but it is your goodness that you treat me like a friend. But nowadays, I see
that even the relationship between the spouses is not permanent. I told you an
incident that where husband and wife both were CAs, the wife did a small audit
for two years; the husband did the audit for next two years.

 

S — Then what is wrong about it?

 

A —There was a divorce petition between them and the wife filed a
complaint that the husband accepted audit work without communicating with her!

 

S — My wife Satyabhama does get angry with me every now and then. Now I
should be more careful in kaliyug lest she leaves me.

 

A —(Laughs) Last month there was a similar incident. The daughter of
CA’s client came to him and asked for attested copies of the IT Returns of her
husband and mother-in-law. She said she wanted it for VISA application.

 

S — Then?

 

A — My friend verified it in the computer and gave the attested copies
to her.

 

S — Good.

 

A — What “good”? The daughter’s husband filed a complaint as to why the
CA delivered the copies of his returns to his wife without his authorisation.

S — Oh. That means there must be some dispute between them.

 

A — Yes. In fact she had filed a case of domestic violence against him.
She used the ITRs in that law suit.

 

S — That is why I always caution you not to do anything in good faith.
Never take any relationships for granted. I agree that this incident is an
extreme one!

 

A — But even in this case, the fact remains that there was no error or
negligence in the certification as such. What was certified was true. I don’t
understand as to how such work should have been tackled.

 

S — Your institute has issued detailed guidelines for the work of
issuing certificates. One should get a written request in which the purpose for
the certificate should be stated. Further, the purpose should be stated on the
certificate as well. So that, it cannot be used for any other purpose.

 

A — I am aware of that but I just wanted to point out the vulnerability
of our profession and how careful one should be in even small piece of work.

 

!!OM Shanti!!

 

Conclusion:

The above dialogue
emphasises the fact that anything done in a good faith in our profession may
backfire at a time when it is least expected. A CA needs to be very careful and
alert while doing even the smallest work. It underlines the importance of
professional skepticism.

SOCIETY NEWS

Technology Initiatives Study Circle

 

Technology Initiatives Study Circle on “Productivity Apps
for Workplaces Part 2” held on 21st September, 2018 at BCAS
Conference Hall

 

Technology Initiatives Committee conducted a Study Circle
Meeting on Productivity Apps for Workplaces Part 2 on 21st
September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was ably led by CA. Rajesh Pabari
who is an HR Consultant by Profession and aspiring management consultant by
Passion.

 

It was the second session on Productivity Apps for Workplaces
which was in continuation of the  first
session held on 23rd August 2018. CA Rajesh Pabari covered effective
use of Gmail and important chrome extensions. He also covered various
productivity apps like Trello, Evernote, MightyText, Wunderlist, Anydesk,
PDFill, LibreOffice, Calibre, Agent Ransack, Xilisoft Video Downloader, Flux,
etc.

 

As the session was Productivity Apps for Workplaces, this
time Technology Initiatives Committee tried to experiment zoom application for
participants to attend the session online through their Desktop and
Smartphones. The Committee received wonderful response from the participants
and more than 15 participants attended session online through zoom application. 

 

The session was followed by Q&A session where the Speaker
thoroughly addressed all the queries of the participants.

 

The study circle was truly captivating and the participants
got hugely enlightened from the insight given by the learned speaker.

 

Meeting on “Action Plans 8 to 10 – Aligning Transfer Pricing
Outcomes with Value Creation” held on 1st October, 2018

 

The BEPS Study Circle organised a discussion on 1st October,
2018 at Khilachand Hall, IMC to understand Action Plans 8 to 10 of BEPS in
order to ensure compliance with value addition. In the meeting the discussion
was led by CA. Ganesh Rajgopalan and CA. Shreyas Shah. The speakers discussed
the final report on Action Plan 8 to 10 of the OECD-G20 Base Erosion and Profit
Shifting Project. The discussion was about the changes to the OECD Transfer
Pricing Guidelines brought about after the adoption of the final Report on
Action 8-10. The concepts of location savings, local market features, assembled
workforce and MNE group synergies were analysed. The new chapter on Intangibles
in the TP Guidelines defining and identifying intangibles, identifying the
parties which perform the significant functions of development, enhancement,
maintenance, protection, exploitation were discussed by the Group. Guidance in
the Report relating to hard to value intangibles including the use of ex post
results by the tax authorities were also discussed.

 

The session was very interactive and the participants got
enlightened a lot from the discussion.

 

Lecture Meeting on “GST Audit Report – Clause Wise Analysis”
held on 1st October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Indirect Taxation Committee organised a lecture meeting on
“GST Audit Report – Clause by Clause Analysis” on 1st October 2018
at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, President,
BCAS. He briefed the audience about the steps initiated by the Society in
making recommendations on the audit report to the GST Council from time to
time. He further explained the significant provisions under GST Audit and
various issues concerning the same. Referring to the contents of the
Certification format, he enlightened the audience about the expectations from a
professional and his roles and responsibilities as an Auditor. He subsequently
deliberated on scope of GST audit, documentation prescribed by the Government,
key features of audit report, clause by clause analysis, various contents of
the Annual Reconciliation Statement in Form GSTR-9C and the level of
preparedness required by both the assessees as well as professionals, for
carrying out the GST audits. He also touched upon some of the areas which may
be tricky to comply with and involve significant time and efforts. Some of the
prominent issues in GSTR-9C prone to multiple interpretations and warranting
representation to the government were also discussed.

 

The meeting got an overwhelming response with more than 150
participants in attendance who got extremely enriched with the knowledge shared
by the learned Speaker having immense expertise on the subject.

 

Experts Chat @ BCAS on “Criminal Law System, Prosecution,
Economic Offences & Cheque Bouncing” held on 4th October, 2018
at BCAS Congerence Hall

 

Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society organised this unique
experts chat on the offbeat topic such as Criminal Law System and Economic
offences on 4th October 2018 at the BCAS Conference Hall. This
stimulating chat was well attended by the members with Adv. Niranjan Mundargi
and Adv. Yogesh Israni on the panel and Dr. Anup P. Shah as moderator.

 

Dr. Anup Shah started with questions relating to care and due
diligence that needs to be ensured by the Chartered Accountants while
discharging their attest function and issuing certification. Adv. Niranjan
Mundargi emphasised on the importance of documentation and record keeping for
Chartered Accountants with a caveat that they are prone to questioning by
authorities and regulators more frequently in the present dynamic economic
scenario.

 

Adv. Yogesh Israni explained
the members on laws around cheque bouncing and economic offences. He detailed
the procedure for registering a NC with Police Station and difference between a
bailable and a non-bailable warrant. He also spoke on the hierarchy of various
courts in the judicial system along with monetary limits for filing the suits
and important aspects of Criminal Procedure Code.

 

The participants found the seminar to be very useful since
with changing scenario, practising Chartered Accountants are also required to
get themselves acquainted with the knowledge of criminal laws and economic
offences.The meeting was interactive and participants enriched themselves with
the knowledge shared on the subject.

 

HDTI Study Circle

Study Circle Meeting on “Relationship Management” held on 9th
October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Human Development and Technology Initiatives Committee
organised a Study Circle meeting on 9th October, 2018 at BCAS
Conference Hall on the topic “Relationship Management” which was addressed by
Ms. Carissa Gudino.

 

The focus of the
discussion was to study all aspects of interpersonal relationships. Broad
points taken up for discussion included (1) Understanding ourselves (2) How to
communicate effectively and (3) How to manage conflict.  Briefly, all facets of communication,
relationship building and conflict management were explained by the Speaker.
Overall, this discussion helped participants understand themselves in order to
manage and build better relationships on the personal as well as professional front.

 

International Economics Study Group

Study Circle Meeting on “Current Economic Issues” held on 9th
October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall 

International Economics Study Group conducted a meeting on 9th
October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall to discuss “Current Economic Issues”. CA.
Rashmin Sanghvi, CA. K. K. Jhunjhunwala & CA. Harshad Shah led the
discussion with their thoughts on current turbulent times with disturbing
trends in Debt & Financial Markets, episodes like IL&FS & few NBFCs,
rising oil prices, depreciating Rupee and Emerging Economic War creating ripple
effects in global economy. This was followed by group interactions.

 

The group felt that Asset Liability mismatch (ALM) wherein
many NBFCs have used short term borrowings for lending towards long term assets
and issues in regulatory matters and corporate governance have resulted in
current turmoil in financial markets. Oil prices have seen 55% increase in last
1 year on account of OPEC controlling supplies, Saudi – Russia “Secret Deal” (despite
US President Trump`s harsh words) and supply constraints from Libya, Venezuela
& Iran (overhang of sanctions). Indian Rupee also saw sudden depreciation
due to Strong Dollar, Increased Oil prices and outflow of dollars due to sell
off in Debt & Equity market. US 10 & 30 Years Treasury yield has seen
spike to 7 year high resulting in massive outflow from Debt Markets and high
bond yields in India`s debt markets. Trade war between America & China is
escalating and is having ripple effect on global economies which if it spills
to geopolitics, could have adverse impact in economies globally.

 

The participants
benefitted enormously from the knowledge shared by the experienced and learned
speakers. 

ITF Study Circle

Meeting on “Impact of Ind AS on International Taxation”
held on 11th October 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

ITF Study Circle
organised a meeting on the Impact of Ind AS on International Taxation on 11th
October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was led by Group Leader CA. Bhaumik
Goda. Ind AS introduces significant differences from the requirements of
existing Indian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (IGAAP) in areas such
as revenue recognition, property, plant and equipment, financial instruments,
business combinations, consolidation etc.

 

In addition to changes in the requirements of the standards
themselves, there are several areas where Ind AS requires application of
judgement and financial reporting would be based on estimates made by the
management. Certainly, fundamental shift to Ind AS from IGAAP will not bring
any solace in tax computation of domestic and international tax. 

 

The Group Leader commenced the meeting by discussing the
roadmap to Ind AS for Companies and Banking sector entities. During the course
of the meeting, the speaker made successful attempt for deliberating the issues
with regards to corporate guarantee, principal vs. agent, thin capitalisation,
compounded instruments, redeemable preference shares, impact on CBCR and impact
on comparability. He also discussed case studies, jurisprudence, OECD
commentary, India’s position with various reporting aspects and their criteria
for implementation, consolidation and comparison. The members of the Study
Circle shared their experience on above mentioned issues and it was a huge take
away for all the participants through the insights provided during the meeting.

MISCELLANEA

1. Economic

8. These Are the Best Countries to Live and Work in—And to
Boost Your Salary

 

Moving abroad boosts the average worker’s income by $21,000,
with the best-paid staff found in Switzerland, the U.S. and Hong Kong. That’s
the conclusion in a survey showing that 45 percent of expats said their
existing job paid more internationally and 28 percent changed locations for a
promotion. In Switzerland, famous for both sky-high mountains and prices, the
annual income boost totaled $61,000. Expat salaries there averaged $203,000 per
year — twice the global level.

 

In HSBC’s annual Expat Explorer, Singapore topped the ranking
as best place to live and work for a fourth straight year, beating New Zealand,
Germany and Canada. Switzerland ranked only eighth, with the high cost of
raising children and difficulty making friends going against it. “Singapore
packs everything a budding expat could want into one of the world’s smallest territories,”
said John Goddard, head of HSBC Expat. Sweden, one of the world’s most
gender-equal countries, got top billing for family, while New Zealand, Spain
and Taiwan led the way in the experience category.

 

Despite the cultural, financial and professional advantages
of moving abroad, the survey of 22,318 people uncovered that women trailed on a
variety of metrics.

 

While relocating boosted women’s income by roughly 27 percent
— topping the increase experienced by men — only about a quarter moved to develop
their careers, compared with 47 percent of their male counterparts. Just half
worked full time, and the overall level of education was somewhat lower.
Women’s average annual salary was also $42,000 lower than men’s.

 

(Source: Bloomberg – By
Catherine Bosley, 11 October 2018)

 

9. Rupee has slipped way too much and needs to be reined in

 

The oldest trick in the high school debater’s book is to make
the opponents’ propositions appear so risible that the judges are left
wondering whether the debate should be taking place at all. Some of the
defenders of unchecked depreciation of the rupee have adopted this tack. They
claim, for instance, that the case for a more managed currency is based on the
perception that the rupee is a symbol of ‘national pride’. I am, however, yet
to find any evidence of this uber-nationalism among economists who ask for
closer currency control.

 

Others have defended depreciation as a process of the
currency ‘finding its own level’ and cautioned against meddling too much in the
natural order of things. To me, this dogma in its most extreme could involve
gross oversimplification and misreading of the forces and mechanisms that drive
the rupee. The public debate on the rupee is not a high school competition, and
the arguments for and against a more active management have to rise above
adolescent tactics of point-scoring. So, let’s have a more meaningful
conversation.

 

Time for Practicals

Of the myriad things that make a currency market different
from an elementary textbook model (where demand and supply curves dutifully
intersect and price finds its own level), the one that needs to be emphasised
is the role of expectations in influencing market participant behaviour.

 

Throw in active speculation on the rupee in the offshore
non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market (any forex trader would corroborate its
massive influence on local rates), and you have a situation where bets on the
future hold the key to the rupee’s trajectory. So, any meaningful debate on a
‘hands-off ’ strategy must address the following questions. Does the free play
of forces in such a complex market bring the rupee close to a ‘desirable’
level? Or does it instead breed expectations that can take the currency further
and further away from it?

 

Should we try instead to manage these expectations to bring
the currency closer to this desirable level? What happens to the cost of
servicing external debt with this large depreciation? What is the future of the
nascent corporate debt market if overseas investors sense that policymakers are
indifferent to the future of the currency even in the throes of acrisis? Is our
domestic financial system with its problems of stressed assets and capital
shortage adequate to fund our growth needs? Let me add a couple of more
queries. How quickly can the current account compress on the back of rapid
depreciation?

 

Let’s take a recent
example from our neighbourhood. In the first bout of depreciation of emerging
market currencies that started in March this year, the Philippines Central Bank
chose to let the market guide its currency, the peso.

 

The result: high inflation without any noticeable rise in
exports that ultimately forced four policy rate hikes in quick succession. Are
we letting ourselves into the same trap by ignoring strong input price
inflation led by oil prices simply because food prices are soft?

 

The issue of the current account brings me to the point that
the ‘free depreciators’ champion: the overvaluation of the rupee. Yes, going by
simple real effective exchange rate (REER) measures, the rupee would have to
fall to around 72 or 73 to the dollar to correct for overvaluation. But is the
simple REER — which focuses entirely on trade competitiveness — necessarily be
the best measure of fair value?

 

REERing its Head

Let’s face the fact. We will continue to have a current
account deficit (CAD) if we have an economy where domestic demand is the
principal driver. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it means that we need
to get foreign capital to fund it.

 

If the capital account does matter, should the fairness
metric focus on trade alone? Don’t we, in the process of chasing trade
competitiveness, risk the possibility of chasing capital away? Instead,
shouldn’t the valuation measure bring balance trade (or current) account
competitiveness with capital account ‘attractiveness’? Fortunately, we don’t
really need a Nobel Prize-winning research breakthrough for this.

 

The textbook prescription of adjusting REER by productivity
differentials (usually proxied by per-capita GDP) does the trick. It partly
reduces the impact of higher inflation in India more than its trading partners
do by factoring in India’s growth advantage over its trading partners or
competitors. It might be good to remind ourselves that higher growth (usually
associated with higher interest rates) remains somewhat the strongest magnet
for capital. The adjusted REER would show a fair value of a little less than
Rs. 70 to the dollar. Going by this, the rupee has indeed slipped excessively
much and needs to be reined in.

 

I lay no claim to have the correct answers to the many
questions I have raised here. Perhaps a freer float for the rupee is the best
way forward. However, I am sanguine about a couple of things. Money will get
even tighter in the global financial system.

 

There is a vicious trade war between two global superpowers,
and the oil market is in the fragile balance. So, it would be risky to assume
that the recent respite in the rupee’s fall will last. Secondly, I need
convincing answers to some of my queries to switch sides. That, I hope, is a
fair demand

 

(Source: Economic Times, 24 October 2018)

 

2.  Business

10. Facebook News: After Oculus Co-Founder Departs, Company
Says New Oculus Rift Still Coming

 

Facebook drew headlines on 22 October 2018 when Brian Iribe,
the co-founder and former CEO of Oculus VR, announced his departure from the
social media giant. The news was also accompanied by reports that Iribe left
because Facebook canceled an upcoming successor to the Oculus Rift headset,
which Facebook has denied, according to TechCrunch.

 

Iribe’s exit was announced in a Facebook post, which included
his intent to “recharge, reflect and be creative.” However, TechCrunch reported
that Facebook’s cancelation of the so-called Oculus Rift 2 may have played a
part in his decision. In response, Facebook told TechCrunch that there will be
another version of the Rift headset.

“While we can’t comment on our product roadmap specifics, we
do have future plans, and can confirm that we are planning for a future version
of Rift,” Facebook’s statement said.

 

Oculus makes a few different VR headsets. Rift was the
original, and is still the most expensive, as it must be wired to a high-end
gaming PC to function. In return, it can play the widest variety of VR
experiences. Oculus Go and the recently announced Oculus Quest are wireless and
cheaper, but do not support as many applications.It is possible the specific
Rift follow-up Iribe worked on was indeed canceled, but Facebook still plans to
support the higher end of the Oculus lineup down the road.

 

Iribe would not be the first founder of an acquired property
to leave Facebook after reports of internal tension. Instagram co-founders Mike
Krieger and Kevin Systrom left Facebook at the end of September, and reports
indicated there were disagreements between them and Facebook executives about
the future of Instagram.

 

WhatsApp co-founders Brian Acton and Jan Koum also left the
company in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Acton recently admitted to
disagreements with Facebook about the monetisation of WhatsApp.

 

(Source: International Business Times – By Alex Perry, 23
October 2018)

 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

  1. World’s most powerful passports:

  1. Online videos gaining edge in India

Source: State of Online Video 2018’ report by Limelight Networks.

  1. Foreign Exchange Reserves (in $ billion):

Source: Twitter @spectatorindex

  1. Self-employed workers as share of total workers

Source: OECD (twitted by @spectatorindex)

  1. Say media report news accurately, 2018

Source: Pew Research (twitted by @spectatorindex)

  1. Research and Development, 2018 (in $ billion)

Research and Development, 2018 ( in billion)

Source: UNESCO (twitted by @spectatorindex)

ETHICS AND YOU

Members in Industry

 

Arjun
(A) — Hey Bhagwan, today I want to ask you a very important
question.  It is perplexing my mind for a long time.

 

Shrikrishna
— Arjun, what then prevents you from asking?

 

A — No, all this time, we have been discussing about the ethics to be
followed by members in practice.  What
about those who are working in Industry?

 

S — you think they are above all the rules of ethics?

 

A — I feel, they are enjoying life without bothering of ethics.  Only us who are slogging in practice are
constantly under fear of disciplinary action.

 

S — You are mistaken.  Why do you
say so?

 

A — See all these scams –right from Harshad Mehta, Ketan Parikh, Satyam,
PNB, MCX, upto IL & FS – I have never heard any of their employees being
hooked for misconduct.

 

S Achchha?

 

A — Yes.  Only our practicing CAs
are taken to task.  These corporate
executives  who are the real
beneficiaries of scams are enjoying life merrily!  Their pay packages are also thick.  And on the top of it, there are allowances
and perks!

They
are minting money.

.

S Arjun, grass is always greener on the other side.  Have you seen their lives closely?

 

A — They only pretend to be busy. Whole day long they relax, do chatting
and also spend time in share market. 
They start working in the evening, claim all late-sitting benefits and
show that they are under stress!

 

S — If that is so, why didn’t you take up such corporate job?  Anyway, today let us talk only about the Code
of Ethics applicable to them.

.A Haan! Yes, tell me.

 

S — See, in part II of First Schedule, they can neither share a part of
their emoluments with anyone; nor can they accept anything in part in the
payments made to the other persons engaged by the employer company.

.

A Aah! What is so great about it? How can bribery be
tolerated? It’s a crime.

 

S I agree.

 

A See, how many stringent clauses apply to us – Due diligence,
Gross negligence, Contravention of laws ………………………

 

S Part III and Part IV of First Schedule apply to all
members.  Like, they cannot misrepresent
themselves as fellow members if they are really not FCAs or its a misconduct if
they do not supply information required by the Institute or solicit
professional work.

 

A Oh! I hadn’t noticed it. What next?

 

S — And if they are held criminally guilty or if they bring disrepute to
the profession. All these clauses are very much applicable to them.

 

A — But what about those cumbersome compliances with Accounting Standards,
Guidance Notes; other directives of the Institute?  They seem to be free from all those!

 

S — How can you say so?  You as an
auditor are supposed to see whether they on behalf of the company have complied
with all those directives.  That’s your
very job.  You have to report those non
compliances without fear or favor.  Then
they will be exposed.

 

A — See, company’s management is never bothered about such compliances.
They say it is auditor’s botheration. 
They create such a situation where the auditor is really helpless.  The last moment rush!  We also don’t get enough time to

discuss
and apply our mind.

 

S Then, why don’t you give an adverse report; or a disclaimer?

 

A Bhagwan, that is not so easy.  We can’t afford to qualify our report like
this.

 

S Why?  It is your duty.

 

A   Agreed.  But where do we have so much independence?

 

S — To that extent, I appreciate your limitations.

 

A —Actually it is helplessness.  majboori
The foundation of the audit profession itself becomes shaky because of this.

 

S — The reason is you lack unity and courage to say ‘No’

 

A But tell me how further they are bound by ethics?

 

S — See. Again in Part II of Second Schedule, very first clause, if any
member including the one in service, contravenes any of the provisions of CA
Act or regulations or guidelines issued by the Institute, he is held guilty.
They also

cannot
divulge the secret information with any person, make any false or untrue
statement or defalcate or embezzle moneys. All these clauses apply to all the
members.

 

A Yes.  I agree that I was
under a mistaken belief.  In short,
ethics are all-pervasive. All of us need to follow them religiously
.

 

S You said it!  Even I
am not above ethics!

 

Om Shanti.

 

Note:

The above dialogue
explains various clauses of Code of Ethics which are applicable to members in
service.

 

 

Society News

22nd “ITF Conference 2018” held from 15th to 18th August at The Narayani Heights, Ahmedabad

 

The International Tax and Finance Conference was conducted from 15th to 18th August at The Narayani Heights, Ahmedabad with a robust attendance of 233 members from around 19 cities across India. The Conference was top lined by experts from respective fields who dealt with their subject matter with in-depth clarity. The 4-day Conference was marked with 6 technical sessions which included 3 group discussion papers, 1 presentation and 2 panel discussions.

 

President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla gave his opening remarks on “Indirect Tax Aspects of Cross Border Structuring” and also explained about BCAS activities and new initiatives.

 

The Conference was inaugurated with a keynote address by Adv. Saurabh Soparkar who dealt in a very succinct manner on “Understanding of codified GAAR in light of, as well as in comparison, to judicial GAAR, in international tax context”.

 

CA. Gautam Doshi spoke on “Business Connection and PE in the context of recent amendments and BEPS”. He dealt with case studies covering various aspects of the recent significant economic presence, principle purpose test, place of effective management and dependent agent. He explained the toughest concepts at a fundamental level and enlightened all in a very concise and enriching manner. The paper provided by him gave justice to all important areas of the topic.

 

CA. Hasnain Shroff explained “Recent Developments in Transfer Pricing”. He discussed recent developments from BEPS, attribution of profits to PE and intangible-related valuation and transactions. The case studies put forward by him brought out many new issues and the concepts yet to be tested were explained thoroughly.

 

CA. Padamchand Khincha deliberated upon “Case Studies on Cross-Border Business Structuring”, Hybrid Instruments and Entities, indirect transfer of shares, BEPS, domestic GAAR and Limitation on Interest Deduction.

 

Dr. Anup Shah’s presentation on “Raising Global Finance (Recent Trends and Indian Regulations including FEMA and other laws)” was well received and he discussed in detail, the tax, FEMA and other regulatory analysis in respect of raising finance from an international perspective.

 

Adv. Vikram Nankani’s presentation on “Interplay of Benami Properties Act, Black Money Act, Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill/Act and PMLA” also provided brief analysis to all participants.

 

The Panel Discussion was chaired by Shri Pramod Kumar, ITAT and Accountant Member with Dr. Vinay Kumar Singh, CA. Pranav Sayta and CA. T. P. Ostwal as panellists. The Panel discussed various case studies on “Interpretation of Tax Treaties against the backdrop of OECD MC 2017, MLI and GAAR”. All the panellists took up case studies which contained the latest and most important concerns including the impact of latest changes introduced as a part of the BEPS Project. It was an enriching experience to hear the stalwarts from both revenue and profession on this new topic.

 

In addition, there were quite a few non-technical but equally enriching personal development programmes such as Strategic Management from IIM-Ahmedabad by Professor Dr. Naman Desai, where delegates had the first-hand experience of strategic management lessons which was followed by the campus tour of IIM-Ahmedabad and a social visit to Swaminarayan Temple along with the water show and also entertainment by Singer Abhijeet Rao and his troupe during the Gala Night.

 

The Conference thus achieved its objective of affording the best of International Tax deliberations and learnings interspersed with useful non-technical sessions.

 

The participants were hugely enlightened from the sessions taken at the Conference.

 

Lecture Meeting on “Proposed GST Return Formats – Whether Simple enough?” held on 21st August 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

BCAS conducted a lecture meeting on a technical topic “Proposed GST Return Formats – Whether Simple enough?” on Tuesday, 21st August 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The lecture was delivered by CA. Samir Kapadia who informed the audience regarding the challenges in the present return filing system and significant features of the proposed GST returns format and manner of processing thereof. He also explained to the audience the problems to be overcome for the proposed return filing process to achieve its desired results. The Society has created a dedicated email id:  issues_gstreturns@bcasonline.org on which public at large may consider posting the challenges and issues faced by them during the GST return filing process along with necessary screen shots wherever possible. The Society will communicate such issues to GSTN team at regular intervals and interact with them as an endeavour to assist GSTN Team in designing a hassle-free and efficient return processing platform.

 

The lecture meeting was very interactive and informative and ended with addressing few questions from the audience and vote of thanks to learned speaker.

 

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES STUDY CIRCLE 

 

Technology Initiative Study Circle on “Productivity Apps for Workplaces” held on 23rd August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall 

 

Technology Initiatives Committee conducted a Study Circle Meeting on Productivity Apps for Workplaces on 23rd August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was ably led by CA. Rajesh Pabari who is an HR Consultant by Profession and aspiring management consultant by Passion.

 

In the present scenario, mobile technology plays a key role in oral and written communication within and outside the workplace, to enhance productivity in the organisations. In this context, CA. Rajesh Pabari covered important web based applications (Trello, Evernote, Wunderlist, Mightytext, GoogleDocs, Spreadsheet, Blinkist, edX, Drupe, etc), Desktop applications ( AnyDesk, PDFill, LibreOffice, Calibre, AgentRansack, Flux, XiliSoft, Foxit, Evernote) and important chrome extensions (MyWot, Trello, LastPass, Extensify, Evernote, WebClipper, Nimbus Screenshot, MailTrack, Grammarly, Loom, Mercury Reader, HoverZoom) etc., to make the participants understand the importance of these applications, to achieve the objective of go green and thereby increase efficiency and reduce costs.

 

The session was followed by Q&A session where the Speaker thoroughly addressed all the queries of the participants. The study circle was truly enthralling and the participants appreciated the in-depth insight given by the learned speaker.

 

Narayan Varma Memorial Lecture held jointly with Dharma Bharathi Mission and Public Concern for Governance Trust on 24th August, 2018 

 

The third Narayan Varma Memorial Lecture was delivered by the guest speaker Mr. Vallabh Bhansali on the topic “Rebuilding India” on 24th August 2018 at K. C. College Mumbai. In terms of rotational arrangement agreed for hosting the event, this year the main host was Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society. Dharmabharti Mission (DBM) and Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT) were co-hosts.

 

The speaker recalled his memories with late Mr. Narayan Varma and informed that the topic was the most apt from the point of view of the belief system late Narayan Varma practiced. He said the word “rebuilding” connoted bringing about change in things as they stand. Changes are triggered by human beings on what bothers them based on their area of influence. While most ordinary people make attempt to change only things that fall within their area of influence, Mr. Varma – the great leader that he was, would take things that bothered him head on without bothering about his area of influence. He focused on what was needed to be done to redeem the problem believing that area of influence will enlarge. This is the context on which India could rebuild itself, the speaker advocated.

 

Explaining the context, he said that a well-known researcher has found that India had 40-45% share of world GDP for 1800 years as compared to 2.5% now. This is why it needs to rebuild itself. Countries like China and Korea which were far smaller in their share could overtake India because they believed in their vision and planned for it and auctioned it without bothering about other things. In fact, China had one hundred year plan document to pursue their goal to change their fate, overcome challenges that lay ahead. But not deterred by the uncertainties, it just went ahead and made great stride with discipline and persistence.

 

The speaker emphasised that to rebuild India what is needed is a change of our mindset. Shikayat Nahi Shuruat (No complaints, just take the initiative) is the mantra that needs to be practiced. Generally changes in the society are brought about by Government, Corporates, Charities and Individual citizens either singly or in collaboration with each other. Indian mindset is to wait for the government to do everything to bring about a required change.  However, this slows down the change and makes it inefficient. This is what has deprived India of several opportunities despite its tremendous advantages in terms of topography, demographics, largest arable land and vegetation, variety of climate and innovative mindset of its people.

 

Elaborating his argument, the speaker said that he believed transformational change could be brought about to rebuild India only through strong belief backed up by Governance, Value Education and collaboration of its constituent viz. Government, Corporates, Charities and Individuals. Governance meant creating eco system of rules, regulations, code of conduct and design model that can measure and monitor progress. Value education meant inculcating a value system to think beyond oneself and take an inclusive view to contribute towards nation building. He said that ground level progress will be visible only when residents become citizens first and transform themselves into actizens.

 

To explain his arguments, he gave example of his recent projects. He said that in a recent project, to aid drought affected area of Maharashtra, he realised how massive the challenge was. The unanimous opinion was that temporary aid will not be the solution. It needed end to end solution which meant creating an eco-system that can prevent droughts. The target was huge, resources requirements were massive and a bold thinking was must. That is when belief was developed that it could be done with meticulous design model, collaboration of corporates, individuals and government. A detailed proposal was made with comprehensive governance system and it achieved great success by more than expected response from corporates and the government. A proposal that started with just one district as model is now being extended to many affected districts. All this with extraordinary low costs as compared to what just an individual constituent would have spent.

 

Another prerequisite he mentioned was about “Value Education” which is the backbone of progress for any society. Lamenting the legacy of education system, he said that there is hardly any emphasis on the subject of civics that brings civility in the citizens. He said that he was involved with building a value education curriculum that could change the way the young students think to ultimately rebuild India as strong and vibrant country of nationalist citizens. Realising that this could be done only with support of the government, he took it up with the government of Goa and Maharashtra who were more than enthusiastic. After initial pilots, both governments are adopting the project for all the schools run by them in their state. This is the power of collaborative efforts which with right design and belief could do wonders to bring about a change. The take away of the matter is that if one feels strongly for the cause, the ability to make the change happen will follow.

 

Stating that corporate governance in current times was a critical issue, he said that corporates could think of a “Custodian” who could be the focal point for right governance. If there is a strong will to have better governance then it will be followed by needed government regulations and training.

 

Concluding his speech he said that we can certainly rebuild India provided we develop spirit like Narayan Varma to do even a small bit to change the situation that bothers us by being constructive and not critical.

 

The speech was followed by a Q&A session.

 

Next item to follow was the presentation of award by each of the three organisations to the awardees for their selfless contribution to the society. The awardees were:

 

1. Mr. Atul Doshi Awardee -BCAS
2. Mr. Achyuta Samanta Awardee – DBM
3. Mr.Anil Galgali Awardee -PCGT
A short introduction of their work in their respective field was given to the audience by short film and by narration as applicable.

 

A well-deserved vote of thanks was given by Shri Paramjeet Singh, the President of DBM. The meeting was coordinated and compered by CA. Mihir Sheth.

 

ITF STUDY CIRCLE

 

Study Circle Meeting on “Taxation of Profits from Shipping and Air Transport under DTAA” held on 27th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

International Taxation Committee organised ITF Study circle on 27th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was led by CA. Sonia Agrawal, who initially began with an explanation about various operations of Shipping and Aircraft companies within India and outside India. She explained various types of vessels that Indian companies hire from foreign shipping companies and how they function commercially. Similarly, various types of aircrafts which are leased/used by the Indian residents from foreign companies and their operations with regards to cargo/passenger and mobility and use were deliberated in brief. Taxation of profits under presumptive taxation as per Section 44BB and 44 BBA with the difference in taxation and nexus with Section 172 were also explained in detail with examples.

 

The participants resolved their questions and queries with the group leader and further discussion with regards to Article 8 as per the Treaty will be taken up in the forthcoming meeting to be held on 4th October, 2018.The members of the Study Circle discussed their experiences on above mentioned issues and the participants benefitted from the discussion on the subject.

 

Intensive Study Course on “Internal Audit 101: Let’s Start at the Very Beginning” held on 30th and 31st August, 2018 

 

The Accounting and Auditing Committee organised a 2-day Foundation Course on Internal Audit 101 at Orchid Hotel, Mumbai. The course witnessed a full-house, well represented by participants from the profession as also from the industry. The entire course was conceptualised and curated by the newly formed GRC subgroup of the Accounting and Auditing Committee.

 

The course was inaugurated by a welcome address by President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla and opening remarks by Chairman CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala that set the tone for the entire event. The first session, by CA. Jyotin Mehta provided an overview of Internal Audit and the regulatory framework within which it operates. CA. Satish Shenoy unfolded the story by narrating various real life incidents that had the audience rocking with laughter – his unique style provided excellent learning with a big dose of entertainment.

 

CA. Atul Shah meticulously took the participants through the tools and tricks of the trade, by sharing audit techniques deployed at each stage of audit. His tremendous preparation and eye for detail was appreciated by one and all. CA. Nandita Parekh took everyone back to the drawing board on the basics of Risks and Controls – the simplicity of her talk along with a vivid presentation reinforced the core concepts that form the heart of internal audit.

 

The second day commenced with CA. Ashutosh Pednekar, who talked about specific cycle audit. His real life examples and interesting stories captivated the audience. CA. Deepjee Singhal’s session focused on the meeting point of Technology and Internal Audit and covered the entire gamut of areas where use of technology would be a game-changer. His session drove home the point that extensive use of technology tools is no longer a luxury for Internal Audit, it is a necessity for survival.

 

CA. Mario Nazareth, the only guest faculty, held the participants completely spellbound during his 2 hour long presentation on “The Art of telling a Good Story”, a session designed to help participants write and present compelling reports. His presentation, laced with audio visuals, pictures and graphs impressed one and all, and provided a fabulous end to the individual sessions.

 

The 2 day event ended with a panel discussion focussing on “Internal Audit should be at the forefront of an organisation, not a backroom function”. The distinguished panellists were CA. Deepjee Singhal. CA. Satish Shenoy, CA. Mrugesh Shah, CA. Sandip Joshi and CA. Mario Nazareth. The panel discussion, anchored by CA. Nandita Parekh, provided varied views and insights on key issues of internal audit and the rapid fire round brought an interesting finish to this vibrant, energetic 2 day foundation course.

 

The course lived up to its promise of delivering the sessions in a “story-telling” style with anecdotes, real life incidents and practical insights to deliver a unique and interesting experience for the participants who got invaluable insights from the sessions of speakers.

 

Full Day “Seminar on Charitable Trusts – Critical Aspects” Jointly with Chamber of Tax Consultants held on 1st September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall 

 

Corporate and Allied Laws Committee of the Society jointly with the Chamber of Tax Consultants organised a Full Day Seminar on Charitable Trusts on 1st September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall, to discuss the critical aspects and recent developments in this sector.

 

President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla in his opening remarks briefed the participants about the recent development happening in the field of Non-Profit organisation sector. He also highlighted the challenges as well as the opportunities available to the practicing chartered accountants in this sector. President of Chamber of Tax Consultants Mr. Hinesh Doshi also appreciated the initiative taken up by BCAS in organising such event and shared his views on the compliance and other related issues of charitable trusts.

 

The Seminar was inaugurated by Mr. Bharat Vyas – Deputy Charity Commissioner, Maharashtra. He also took the 1st session on Important Procedural Aspects for Trustees and Professionals wherein he shared his views on the recent changes in the Bombay Public Trust Act, FCRA etc., and various other procedural aspects relating to the formation and annual certification relating to the charitable trust.

 

The second session was addressed  by CA. Gautam Shah who enlightened the participants about various Compliances and Issues under the Maharashtra Public Trust Act. He also highlighted about duplication and other practical challenges faced by the practitioners in relation to the charitable trusts.

 

In the third session, CA. Gautam Nayak discussed various issues relating to the Taxation of the Charitable Trusts including the issues arising out of the rejection of the registration of various charitable organisations. He also briefly explained various judicial pronouncements relating to issues e.g. Depreciation on Assets, carry forward of losses etc.

 

During the fourth session, CA. Sanjay Agarwal from Delhi enlightened the participants about various issues relating to the registration and renewal of FCRA license. He also discussed the common issues relating to the separate books of accounts, issues relating to administrative expenses and other important aspects to be considered during the filing of the FCRA returns. He then deliberated on the issues arising after 2016 amendment in the definition of Foreign Source which invited lot of discussion amongst the participants. He also briefly touched upon the issues arising in CSR donations in relation to the receipt of grant vs. service contract.

 

The implication of Goods & Service Tax (GST) on the non-profit organisations has always been an area of debate since July 2017. Fifth session on this topic was taken by Mr. Shailesh Sheth who addressed the participants on various issues relating to the GST in respect of charitable trusts. He also discussed various judicial precedents which can be considered to determine the applicability and other consequential provisions of GST on the charitable organisations.

 

At the end, there was a Panel Discussion under the Moderation of CA. Gautam Shah wherein Mr. Satyanarayan Raju – Addl CIT (Exemptions), CA. Gautam Nayak and Mr. Noshir Dadrawala discussed various issues relating to the charitable trusts. The floor was opened for Q&A session where panellists answered all the queries of the participants.

 

The seminar was very interactive and full of insights into the charitable trusts and the participants were truly enriched with the presentation and the in-depth insights given by all the Speakers. The Seminar received an overwhelming response from the industry as well as practicing chartered accountants in the field of Non-Profit Organisations.

 

STUDENTS STUDY CIRCLE

 

Students Study Circle on “Recent  Amendments in GST Laws” and “New GST Return Filing Procedure” held on 4th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The Students Forum under the auspices of HRD Committee organised a Students’ Study Circle on the captioned topics on 4th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

 

The study circle was led by student group leaders Mr. Jimit Doshi and Mr. Hardik Goyani under the mentorship of CA. Raj Khona. The student co-ordinator Mr. Dhruval Shah introduced the mentor, group leaders and briefly explained the topics. CA. Rajesh Muni, Chairman of the HRD Committee addressed the students and encouraged them to actively participate in the events organised by the Students Forum. Both the group leaders thoroughly covered their respective topics in a very interactive manner. CA. Raj Khona guided the students by explaining implications and rationale behind the recent amendments in a simplified and lucid manner.

 

The group leaders and the mentor also answered various queries raised by the participants. The study circle was an insightful experience for the participating students.

 

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

 

Meeting on “Trade War to Currency War to Economic War” held on 4th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall 

 

International Economics Study Group held their meeting on 4th September, 2018 to discuss “Trade War to Currency War to Economic War” at BCAS Conference Hall. The Speaker, CA. Rashmin Sanghvi talked on Economic war detailing – how United States of America has been using this tool to harm other Countries. He specifically brought out case of 1992 breakup of USSR into 15 independent republics without firing a single bullet. He brought out various measures USA is taking to adversely affect economy of many nations and highlighted cases of many countries besides USSR. He also highlighted that many countries like Russia, China, Germany & France are raising voices as to why should International Transactions be carried out in Dollar using “SWIFT” even though USA is not a party to such transactions. Sanctions on Iran & Turkey are termed as “Weaponising the Dollar” whereby Dollar is used to harm countries that do not follow US diktats.

 

CA. Harshad Shah highlighted ongoing Trade War that USA unleashed against China and other nations with tariff being raised on many goods and currencies of many countries are getting hurt in the process. There appears to be a greater “Economic War” being playing out between “current Super Power” USA and its “Challenger” China. USA is employing “Trade War” and Dollar is strengthening against most of other currencies and depreciation of Indian Rupee is part of that. Many countries (China, Venezuela, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan etc.) are experiencing economic turmoil & crisis. In case of Iran, the currency has depreciated more than 100% and in case of Turkey, it is over 40%, both of whom are experiencing after effect of Trade War and Economic Sanctions.

 

CA. Milan Sangani suggested that present exercise is more of renegotiating terms of trade in typical style adopted by President Trump. There may not be any Trade War. The tensions will ease once renegotiations are carried out like in the case of USA & Mexico. The meeting was a good takeaway for the participants where the experienced and learned speakers answered their queries as well.

 

Lecture meeting on “GST Audit – A Curtain Raiser” held on 5th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

A lecture meeting on the topic “GST Audit – A curtain raiser” was held on 5th September, 2018 at BCAS conference hall which was addressed by CA. Parind Mehta. In the beginning of the meeting, a book on “Exports and Export Refunds under the GST Law” by CA. Chirag Mehta was released by the hands of the Speaker.

 

During his speech, CA. Parind Mehta discussed the scope of GST audit vis-a-vis recommended draft reports of ICAI and BCAS. He elaborated upon comparatives of both the drafts with positives and negatives. He discussed various reconciliations involved at different stages of GST audit.  He also made the participants aware about challenges in undertaking first GST audit and cautioned them about clarity of role of auditee and auditor and importance of auditee preparedness before undertaking the audit. CA. Parind Mehta responded to the various queries raised by the participants who benefitted a lot from the meeting.

 

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

 

Study Circle Meeting on “Overview of FEMA” held on 6th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

A FEMA Study Circle Meeting was held on 6th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall where CA. Natwar Thakrar led the discussion on the topic of Overview of FEMA covering Residential Status, Overall Structure, Important Definitions, Notifications and Circulars etc., amongst others. In continuation of earlier meeting on the same subject, the Group Leader deliberated upon residential status by giving examples.

 

He also brought to the notice of the participants that definition of an NRI and Person of Indian Origin have changed and one needs to be careful while advising NRI clients as to who can make investment in India in various assets. He discussed prohibited transactions under section 3 of the Act and shared a compounding order which dealt with violation under section 3.

 

The participants were delighted with the valuable insights on the subject and got their queries on various important definition and changes made in the law resolved.

 

Workshop on “Developments in Audit Reporting, etc., for Audit for 2017-18” held on 6th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The Accounting & Auditing Committee organised a full day workshop on Developments in Audit Reporting, etc., for Audits for 2017-18 on 6th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. Vice President CA. Manish Sampat gave the opening remarks. Chairman of Accounting & Auditing Committee CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala then briefed on the need for such workshop & relevance of the topics selected. The following topics were taken up at the workshop by the learned Speakers:

 

Developments & Issues in Accounting Standards CA. Rajesh Mody
Critical FRRB observations on financial statements CA. Abhay Mehta
Audit Reporting Requirements CA. Zubin Billimoria
Developments in Companies Act, 2013 CA. Paresh Clerk

 

CA. Rajesh Mody started the first session highlighting the important issues in revised Accounting Standards. He took various case studies to explain the important aspects of the revised standards and their impact on financial statements. He also dealt with the changes expected in next 2-3 years and how those changes are going to affect the Accounting fraternity dealing with Indian GAAP.

 

CA. Abhay Mehta took the participants briefly through critical observations made by FRRB based on the reviews conducted by the Board and published for the benefit and course correction by the C.A. fraternity, in preparing the financial statements. He also covered critical observations in the areas of Accounting Standards, Auditing Standards & Company Law compliances.

 

CA. Zubin Billimoria spoke on new Audit Reporting Requirements and the changes in reporting requirements which will be applicable for the reporting period ending 31st March, 2019. He particularly covered in detail the “Key Audit Matters” (KAM) which is going to have very wide impact on the way the Audit Report is prepared. He also covered important Audit Reporting Requirements like Emphasis of Matter (EOM) Paragraph, Modified Report, Qualified Report and Disclaimer of Opinion.

 

CA. Paresh Clerk addressed the last session of the workshop dealing with recent changes in Companies Act, 2013. He discussed at length various inconsistencies in the definition under Companies Act, 2013 & Accounting Standards. He also covered many relevant sections of the Companies Act, 2013 which are important for the Auditor for the year 2017-18.

 

The sessions were very interactive and the speakers shared their insights on the subject. The participants benefited immensely with the guidance and practical views on various issues expressed by the faculties.

 

Interactive session with Students for “Success in CA Exams” held on 8th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The BCAS Students Forum, an initiative of HRD Committee, organised an Interactive session with students for success in CA Exams on 8th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.  Ms. Labdhi Shah, the student co-ordinator introduced the speakers CA. Mudit Yadav and CA. Nikunj Shah and briefly shared about BCAS and BCAS students forum. CA. Rajesh Muni, Chairman of the HRD Committee addressed the students and encouraged them to actively participate in the events organised by the Students Forum.

 

CA. Mudit Yadav, who himself was a student participating through the activities of Students forum few years back is now a life coach and a motivational speaker. He took the students through his own journey of being student to a Chartered Accountant who cracked CA final exams in first attempt.

 

CA. Nikunj Shah who has a vast experience in teaching in the past, was hands on and completely aware of the challenges faced by students. He provided practical tips and tricks to be implemented in order to qualify as a Chartered Accountant. At the end, CA. Jigar Shah, the in-charge of students’ activities briefed the participants about the forthcoming events and thanked the speakers for sharing their knowledge on the subject.

 

Both the speakers guided students on how to crack CA exams and left the audience spell bound with their invaluable insights.

 

HRD STUDY CIRCLE

 

Study Circle Meeting on “Sound Sleep and Lung Care for Good Health” held on 11th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Human Resources Development Committee organised a meeting on 11th September, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall, to discuss the topic “Sound Sleep and Lung care for Good Health” which was presented by Dr. Nimish Shah. The Speaker covered the importance of Sound Sleep and Lung Health. Basic knowledge of sleep, abnormal sleep, insomnia and consequences were discussed. He also spoke on common respiratory ailments, precautions and tests with treatment options for each.

 

Adequate Sleep and lung health are two of the most important elements for a good lifestyle. Sleep deprivation and not maintaining proper lung health leads to many health issues which sometimes turn fatal.

 

The Speaker also answered the queries of the participants who benefitted a lot from the session.

Miscellanea

1. Technology

 

1.      
When will ultrafast internet
5G come to your phone?

 

A surge in mobile-data
demand worldwide has more and more people asking when they will get that speedy
next-generation 5G mobile service. Companies are wondering, too, since 5G has
the potential to revolutionise everything from self-driving cars to robotic
surgery. Mobile providers are racing to patent technologies that will form the
industry standards and build working networks. Yet not all nations are
embracing the push with equal vigor. And concerns about China’s ability to use
5G equipment to spy on other nations may limit its manufacturers’ ability to
profit from the world’s next mobile upgrade.

                      

5G simply stands for
fifth-generation mobile networks or fifth-generation wireless systems. It will
be the successor to 4G, the current top-of-the-line network technology first
introduced commercially in 2009. 5G could end up being 100 times faster than
4G, with speeds that could reach 10 gigabits per second.

 

South Korea showed off the
world’s first commercial use of 5G at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February.
China started trials in more than a dozen major cities this year. In the U.S.,
Verizon Communications Inc., will offer the first 5G internet and TV service in
five cities — Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, California —
beginning Oct. 1. Verizon will provide the service via portable hot spots
called pucks.

 

These are not standard 5G
gear, though Verizon says it will switch to standardised equipment when it
becomes available. AT&T Inc., says it will be the first with a standards-based
service; later this year it will test 5G devices in Atlanta, Dallas, Waco,
Texas, and two North Carolina cities, Charlotte and Raleigh.

 

5G mobile tests also need
special handsets, transmission hardware and software and a system design that
does not interfere with 4G and 3G networks. And governments need to set aside
mobile spectrum space for 5G. The equipment is being built. China’s Huawei
Technologies Co. Ltd., says it has about 50 contracts with wireless carriers to
test its equipment. Nokia and Ericsson AB each have $3.5 billion contracts with
T-Mobile US Inc. Some telecommunication companies are looking to join forces to
provide more money and reach to develop 5G networks.

 

T-Mobile has promised to
invest $40 billion in a 5G network that will reach 90 percent of the U.S.
population by 2024. But claims are easy to make and trials are easy to pull
off. The real test will be the first field deployment serving large numbers of
customers in a technically challenging urban area. No provider has yet implemented
that kind
of network.

 

(Source
www.financialexpress.com)

 

2.      
Facebook is hiring human
rights policy director to promote peace and prevent conflict.

 

In the recent years,
Facebook has faced severe criticism for its failure to take greater
responsibility for the spread of hate speech and fake news on its platform.
Despite knowing the fall outs of the impact of its platform, the company has
failed to take substantial measures to solve the problem and minimise the
damage. But things are changing and in one of the many measures aimed to
improve the present situation, Facebook has decided to hire a Director of Human
Rights Policy to promote peace and build strong communities. “We are looking
for a Director of Human Rights Policy to coordinate our company-wide effort to
address human rights abuses, including by both state and non-state
actors,” the company wrote in a job listing on its page.

 

The human rights policy
director will hold a critical position at Facebook and will be expected to
perform a number of tasks including- ‘coordinating and advising the company’s
teams working on human rights, conflict prevention, peace-building, and related
projects’; ‘working with Product, Public Policy, Community Operations, and
Security teams to identify and work to disrupt actors that seek to misuse its
platforms and target its users and support those using our platforms to foster
peace-building and enable transitional justice’; ‘working within Facebook’s
Product Policy team to formulate policies that govern user, advertiser, and
developer behavior on its platform’; and ‘representing the company in meetings
with politicians, policymakers, NGOs and civil society groups’ among other
things.

 

In the recent times,
Facebook-owned WhatsApp has been criticised for spreading misinformation which
in turn has led to mob lynchings across the country and death of over a dozen
people. In Myanmar, the social media giant has been accused of ethnic cleansing
of Rohingya Muslims. The company’s role in spreading hate speech against the
Muslim minority in Myanmar had also been cited by the UN investigators.
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, the company stands accused of playing an
important role in the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, who is accused of
covering up at least 12,000 extrajudicial state-sponsored killings since he
assumed the office. The platform has also been used by “keyboard warriors”
in Libya to hunt and kill their enemies.

 

These are some of many incidents
where Facebook’s platform has been used for violence. At a time when Facebook
is struggling to keep its head above the water and prevent its platform from
being misused, the appointment of a human rights policy director shows is one
of the many steps that the company is taking to fix its platform. More
importantly, it represents a serious effort on part of the company in fixing
everything that is wrong with its platform.

 

(Source:
www.indiatoday.in)

 

3.      
Can health services handle
the Apple Watch?

 

When Apple announced two
major new healthcare features this week, it billed them both as terrific
innovations that may well keep us alive. Later this year, Apple Watch will be
able to automatically call emergency services if it detects you have suffered a
fall and are no longer moving. And it will also let you know if you have heart
problems and should perhaps visit your doctor as soon as possible. Other
devices have offered similar functions in the past, albeit in less elegantly
presented gadgets. But with an estimated 50 million Apple Watches out there
already, there are concerns about the pressures it may bring to
already-strained healthcare systems.

 

The result may be even more
calls to emergency services and, according to one of Britain’s leading
surgeons, a new wave of technology-driven hypochondria. “Medical
professionals will also need to be vigilant to the risk of misdiagnosis and
overtreatment that this proliferation of personalised health information could
bring,” said Richard Kerr, chairman of the Royal College of Surgeons’
commission on the future of surgery.

 

(Source:
www.bbc.com)

 

2.  World News

 

4.      
Tax haven link to rainforest
destruction and illegal fishing

 

Some 68% of the investments
tracked in the Amazon came from companies based in countries where no tax is
paid. The analysis shows that of the almost $27bn of foreign capital that was
transferred to key companies involved in beef and soy production in the Amazon
between 2000 and 2011, more than $18bn was transferred from tax haven
jurisdictions. The biggest provider for these activities was the Cayman
Islands. “It is not illegal!” said Victor Galaz, the study’s lead
author, from the Stockholm Resilience Centre. “This is part of the
internal financing of companies, but we need a better assessment of the
environmental consequences of the uses of tax havens both legal and
illegal.” “What we can see in the data, in these sectors there are
subsidiaries placed in tax havens that are providing loans to activities in
Brazil and the Amazon. That you can see.”

 

When it comes to illegal
fishing, around 70% of known vessels are registered in tax havens. Illegal,
unreported and unregulated fishing is also a major blight on the oceans of the
world but according to this paper, the vast majority of the boats involved are or have been flagged under a tax haven
jurisdiction, in particular Belize and Panama.

There is a bit of a double
whammy going on when it comes to illegal fishing as these tax havens are often
what are known as ‘flag of convenience’ states – meaning essentially that the
governments in these countries do not prosecute if the ships on their register
are involved in illegal activities.

 

“The global nature of
fisheries value chains, complex ownership structures and limited governance
capacities of many coastal nations, make the sector susceptible to the use of
tax havens,” says co-author Henrik Österblom, also from the Stockholm
Resilience Centre.

 

While the Paradise Papers
and the Panama Papers exposed how wealthy individuals and companies dodged
personal and corporate taxes, this new study claims to be the first to show
that tax havens have a significant environmental impact as well.

 

(Source:
www.bbc.com)

 

5.      
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos
gives $2bn to help the homeless

 

Jeff Bezos, the founder and
chief executive of Amazon, is well on his way to becoming the richest person in
the world, with a net worth of more than $80 billion. What’s less certain is
what he plans to do with his fortune, and how he could reinvent philanthropy.

 

After
questions from The New York Times about the level of his giving, Mr. Bezos
posted on Twitter a “request for ideas” for philanthropy. “I’m thinking about a
philanthropy strategy that is the opposite of how I mostly spend my time —
working on the long term,” he wrote. “For philanthropy, I find I’m drawn to the
other end of the spectrum: the right now.”

 

Citing a homeless program
in Seattle, Amazon’s hometown, that the company is working with, he said he was
seeking to help people “at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact,”
adding, “If you have any ideas, just reply to this tweet…”

 

Mr. Bezos, who owns about
17 percent of Amazon, has enjoyed what could be the most rapid personal-wealth
surge in history. As Amazon’s share price has more than tripled since 2015, its
leader has added more than $50 billion to his net worth, bringing his current
total to nearly $83 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He
is now less than $7 billion shy of taking the title of the world’s richest
person from Bill Gates, who has held the crown for 18 of the past 23 years.

 

(Source:
nytimes.com)

 

3.  Survey

 

6.      
Indian demi-billionaires to
rise by 70% by 2022

 

The analysis highlights
that in five years time the number of demi-billionaires in Asia will overtake
those in North America for the first time. As the list of wealthy Indians with
over USD 500 million or more in assets grows, the number of demi-billionaires
is poised to grow by 70 per cent by 2022. According to a report by Knight
Frank, India, which had 200 demi-billionaires in 2017, this number is slated to
increase to 340 in 2022. “Prime residential markets in cities such as
Mumbai and Delhi have remained largely stable in the last five years, which
creates a good entry opportunity for buyers. The increase in number of
demi-billionaires clearly underscores the potential for demand and price growth
going forward,” the report said.

 

The analysis highlights
that in five years’ time the number of demi-billionaires in Asia will overtake
those in North America for the first time. Wealth data specialists Wealth-X
predict that there will be almost 3,000 people based in Asia who have more than
USD 500 million in assets by 2022.

 

“Strong global
economic growth, as well as rising asset prices as key drivers behind the
growth in the world’s demi-billionaire population. By 2022, Wealth-X
anticipates that there will be 9,570 demi-billionaires worldwide, up from 6,900
at the end of 2017,” it said.

 

(Source:
Moneycontrol.com)

 

7.      
More Indians plan to take
time off from work and take vacation in 2018

 

A survey conducted by Ipos
showed that a majority of Indians polled (83 per cent) said they will be
spending at least one week away from home on vacation in 2018. This is three
points higher than the previous year. “Companies are encouraging employees to
take a break and return rejuvenated,” said Parijat Chakraborty, executive
director, Ipsos Public Affairs.

Some other markets seeing a
significant increase over 2017 in those planning to go on vacation include
Turkey (74 per cent, up nine points), China (62 per cent, up eight points), and
Sweden (72 per cent, up six points). Some other markets experiencing a similar
upsurge compared to the previous year include Australia (53 per cent, up seven
points), France (66 per cent, up five points), and Saudi Arabia (81 per cent,
up five points).

 

Most Indians plan to use up
their entire entitled vacation days in a year. More Indians plan to use up
their entire quota of leave (72 per cent, up five points), compared to 2017,
the survey said. Those saying no to work emails and messages during vacation
has also seen a significant jump in 2018. More Indians are choosing to unplug
from work emails and messages (54 per cent, up five points), as against 2017.

 

Indians learning to switch
off from work while on vacation is a welcome change. With support from their
teams, it is becoming easier to disconnect as its business as usual,
otherwise,” Chakraborty added.

 

(Source:
www.business-standard.com)

Statistically Speaking

1. Tax return filing before due date:

Source: Live Mint

  1. Stupendous growth in the no. of returns e-filed by persons availing benefit of Presumptive Tax

Source: Twitter @IncomeTaxIndia

  1. Returns e-filed by salaried Individual taxpayers

Source: Twitter @IncomeTaxIndia

  1. The 4G play

Global 4G availability trends

Circle 4G availability score
Singapore 86.6%
Hong Kong 90.4%
Taipei 89.8%
Kuala Lumpur 80.8%
Yangon 82.8%

 

India’s top 5 circles on 4G LTE availability

Circle 4G availability score
Kolkata 90.7%
Punjab 89.8%
Bihar 89.2%
MP 89.1%
Odisha 89.0%

Source: OpenSignal, UK

  1. ITAT Litigation Snapshot for August 2018

Source: Taxsutra

Book Review

Title: Bean Counters – The Triumph of the
Accountants and How They Broke Capitalism

Author: Richard Brooks


A well-researched book that starts with tracing the history of double entry
booking keeping and its growth, need and usefulness to the industry from 1200
AD to its present state. It vividly traces the growth in stature of the “bean
counters” in the US, UK and European countries. A reader will find interesting
history of formation and merger and consolidation of firms leading to the Big 4
firms in its current avatar.

 

Interesting observations on the political
influence across countries of the Big 4 will be both a delight and an eye
opener for any serious reader and observer on the stature and influence of the
Big 4, while the same firms (in spite of rotation) controlling 99% of the
market. The styling of Big 4 in US and UK makes interesting reading which the
author details out in the book.

 

A view pre and post 1980 on the defined role
of Auditors by the author cannot but be missed by the reader where he observes
that “for generations members of these huge influential practices considered
themselves who happened to be in business but beginning 1980 they saw
themselves as businessmen who happened to be in profession.”

 

The author observing that the displaced key
performance indicators of Big4, being revenue growth and improved profit
margins followed by measures of staff and customer satisfaction while exposing
false accounting, fraud, tax evasion and risks to economies’, (everything that
the society might want from accountants) not featuring at all as a performance indicator of the firms, raises a basic question on the
very model that the firms have now become.

 

The observation on devising of legal
structure of the firms for worldwide domination while escaping the
responsibility away from home by the HQ by distancing itself from local
misdeeds elsewhere in the world, while profitably exploiting the name, brand
and commercial networks spills the beans of the operation of the Big 4. For the
few past decades all the firm’s global growth coming from selling more
consultancy services while its talent of turning any change into fee earning
opportunity discloses the growth strategy. In the digital age, cyber security is
the latest major growth engine for the firm’s consultants and now audit fees
worldwide account for 39% while it is 21% in UK making them consultancy firms
with auditing sidelines, rather than the other way around.

 

The author’s observations on the manner in
which the British Accountancy firms converted to LLP by stating it as “a shabby
episode in accountancy history” will not be missed by a reader. When the
Companies Act 1989 allowed accountants to operate as limited liability
companies, the partners were more wedded to the partnership for the tax
advantage that came with being self-employed rather than company directors.

 

The ease of sending money across borders in
the age of financial liberalisation allowed the multinational companies to
break up businesses and park more profitable parts where they would be lightly
taxed and the “bean counters showing them (the companies) how to do it by
exploiting their expertise thereby siphoning billions of euros from hard
pressed economies” shows the bean counters in poor light. It is interesting to
note that the users of such services are leading multinational multibillion
dollar companies, goes to showcase the inter dependency of the multinational
and the Big 4.

 

A list of hundreds of active tax products
under various acronyms by the bean counters makes the author opine that “in
simple truth these were little more than shams.”

The author’s bold statement on the mastered
art of “revolving door” of senior personnel brings closeness that breeds
uniform market oriented view of the public and provides an insight into the
prevalent practice. “So smoothly and frequently the revolving door is spun that
it creates a realistic hope amongst ministers and mandarins that subject to
keeping them happy the Big 4 will present career opportunities to supplement
their pensions.”

 

The 2008 financial crisis proved to the
contrary the assertions of President Bush that “era of false profits are over”
just six years earlier, speaks volumes about the unreformed and unrepentant
approach and influence of the Big 4. The author clearly links a clear nexus
during the period in the US towards lobbying donations to senators and
Congressmen through political action committee by the Big 4 employees hitting
record levels and the reforms being blocked fairly easily.

 

The author has very pertinent and far
reaching suggestions that cover separation of accounting and consultancies,
having strong independent regulations, bring in transparency, suggesting public
auditing of major institutions of the government, ending the “quadropoly” which
brings accountability demands an immediate detailed relook.

 

The book published this year by
AtlanticBooks, UK comes in at the most appropriate time for India when read in
the backdrop of recent Hon. Supreme court judgement of February 2018 and the
vision of the Hon. Prime Minister of India, on Indian Audit firms becoming
world leaders. Any serious reader and well-wisher of audit profession of our
country will find that this book serves a road map towards establishing a new structure
of the audit profession by learning from the mistakes of the West so very well
documented in book.
 

 

Ethics and You

Arjun
(A) — (alone, chanting prayers)

 

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

 

He Bhagwan ! I can’t see
you anywhere. There is a deep darkness all around; and you are also dark
(Krishna) in complexion!

 

Hare Ram Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

 

Shreekrishna enters – (smiling at the sight of Arjun)

 

S — Re
Arjun, What’s the matter? Can’t you see me? I am omnipresent. I am there in
your heart.

 

A —
You are right; but I have lost my heart. I have lost everything! I have lost my
senses!

 

S Cool down, Arjun. I had told you in Geeta that one has to be “sthitapradnya
– always cool and collected. Never lose your balance. Tell me what happened.

 

A Nothing is happening!

 

Clients
are not coming in time. Accounts are not ready. Audits are pending. Articled
trainees are on exam leave. So many difficulties! And Government is not
extending the date.

 

S That’s your annual grumbling. Why don’t you improve your ways
and become pro-active?

 

A It is very easy to say so. But our profession is essentially
reactive. Government, regulators and clients do something and we are expected
only to react and also act! We can do audits only after the clients’ accounts
are finalised. Government keeps on changing the forms, regulators introduce new
systems; new requirements without understanding practical realities.

S But now with computerisation everything is digitised.

How is it that the work is
not completed on time.

 

A Many clients are not tech-savvy. They rely on us. Small
businessmen, senior citizens, charitable organisations, housing societies and
such other people are not used to the `digital environment’.

 

S So you mean, you alone have to take care of 1000 such small
clients!

 

A Precisely! And further, in case non-audit assessees the date
was extended from 31st July to 31st August. So, the July
load was carried forward to August 2018. Further GST requirements are keeping
us busy round the year! – It is a big volume.

 

S Why don’t you represent to the Government?

 

A We are doing it repeatedly; but it is falling on deaf ears. We
are helpless. Our Institute had made an excellently drafted convincing
representation – and it was rejected on 3 occasions! Actually, there is
something structurally wrong in the present statutory deadlines.

 

S Relax. You will get extra time.

 

A But when? On 29th September? – when we have
virtually, somehow pushed the returns!

 

S That means, somehow or the other you can do it!

 

A No. Really speaking, it is humanly impossible. And quality
suffers; let alone the stress that affects health.

 

S But you have to stick to your discipline and ethics. You can’t
afford to compromise on quality. That will defeat the very purpose of audit.

 

A Yes. Everybody expects that CAs should maintain discipline,
give quick results and at the same time ensure quality! Further we have to
ensure many compliances on day-to-day basis. Hence, we don’t have time for
creative and meaningful work.

 

S You say there is no room for creativity; but in all scams
Government feels that it was the ingenuity of CAs.

 

A That’s the pity. Real thieves are different; but everywhere CAs
are blamed. CAs are expected to perform the role of fraud-detectors even in the
normal audit! No one realizes that there is difference between audit and
investigation. I at times wonder why I became a CA!

 

S Don’t be so nervous. Things will improve.

 

A I don’t see any chance of that. We are facing humiliation
everywhere. Everybody is taking us for a ride. – Government, regulators,
clients, bankers, staff, even our articled trainees!

 

Everybody is deviating from
ethics.

 

S That is Kaliyug. But you should never compromise on
ethics. You need to be more firm and assertive.

 

A I am aware of all this philosophy. Unfortunately though we are
not a part of unethical acts, we are expected to certify the reporting is
correct and `true and fair’.

 

S It seems, your grievances are unbearable today.

 

A Yes. We have no choice. By nature, we are not rebellious. But
sometime, our feelings are going to explode. Hell with this compliance
practice! They are thrusting everything on us; and on the top of it, Government
is not even listening to our genuine requests.

 

S So, what to do now?

 

A Arey Bhagwan, when I am helpless, I approach you with
this question. And today you are yourself asking me this question? So, you also
don’t have the solution, it seems!

 

S Go to the Courts.

 

A Ah! I am skeptical about it. And even if Court intervenes,
Government will not understand the spirit of the verdict. There is no savior
for us.

 

S Hmmm!

 

A And in this birth, becoming and practicing as a CA appears to
be a sin! So I don’t know what is going to
happen in next birth.

 

S   We will see of next
birth. But what are you going to do now?

 

A Beg to FM, wait, watch and chant bhajan –

 

Hare Ram
Hare Ram Ram Ram Hare Hare

 

Hare
Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

 

Note: The above dialogue only shows how various stakeholders have taken
our fraternity for granted. It’s high time we put our foot down and unite
together. Though, preaching on Code of Ethics seems old school, this is the
only thing that will help us.


SOCIETY NEWS Part 1

DTAA Course held on 1st, 8th,
15th and 22nd December, 2018 and 5th, 12th
and 19th January, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

BCAS successfully conducted
its 19th Study Course on Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement at BCAS
Conference Hall spanning over 7 Full Days – 1st, 8th, 15th
and 22nd December, 2018 and 5th , 12th and 19th
January, 2019. As a result of continuous refinement, the Study Course was
designed to cover all the articles of DTAA, FEMA / BEPS / MLI / GAAR, Transfer
Pricing, Source Rules under Income Tax Act, 1961, TDS u/s. 195, Substance v/s
Form and other relevant provisions. The lectures were delivered by 25 eminent
faculties who shared their experience by way of case studies on critical topics
like Residence (including case studies and POEM) and PE. The Study Course was
attended by 64 participants with diverse background such as Senior
Professionals, Practicing CAs, Young Professionals associated with Big and SME
Accounting Firms. The Study Course was an eagerly awaited event amongst the
Practitioners of International Taxation from all around the country and was
well received and appreciated by the participants. The participants were hugely
enlightened with the knowledge imparted by learned speakers.

 

Technology Initiatives Study Circle

 

Study Circle Meeting on “Data Analytics and
use of CAATs” held on 22nd January, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Technology Initiatives
Committee of the Society conducted a Study Circle Meeting on “Data Analytics
and use of CAATs” on 22nd January, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall. The
study circle was led by CA. Murtaza Q. Ghandiali, who is a Practicing Fellow
Chartered Accountant and also having diploma in cyber law & information
technology from Mumbai University. 

 

The Speaker discussed Data
Analytics and how to use CAATs tools more effectively along with practical
examples and shared his in-depth knowledge with the participants. He also
resolved all the questions raised by the participants during the session.

 

The participants benefited
a lot and appreciated the efforts put in by the Speaker and group leaders.

 

BEPS Study Circle

 

Study Circle Meeting on
“Impact of MLI” held on 28th and 30th January, 2019 at
BCAS Conference Hall.

 

Study Circle Meeting was
held on 28th January, 2019 on Impact of MLI on Treaties entered into
by India with UK, Netherland and Belgium, at BCAS Conference Hall. The
discussion was led by Mr. Jimit Devani, Ms. Barkha Dave and Ms. Darshani Shah.
A very analytical presentation was given and an ‘Article by Article’ discussion
on clauses of MLI was done. The speakers also made references to other Treaties
entered into by India as well. 

 

To keep the momentum on,
the next meeting was held on 30th January, 2019 for further
discussions. Again a very interactive and informative session, the learned
speakers agreed to update the presentation with the inputs received during the
meetings and circulate to the participants.

 

The participants
appreciated the efforts put in by the speakers and benefitted a lot from the
sessions.

 

Lecture Meeting on “Changing Professional
Opportunities for Corporate Social Responsibility in India” held on 6th
February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Corporate and Allied Laws
Committee organised a meeting on the captioned subject at BCAS Conference Hall
which was presented by CA. Zubin Billimoria who has authored a book on the same
topic.

 

The
speaker provided a holistic view of Corporate Social Responsibility prevailing
since post-independence era and its evolution in the form of personal and
professional social responsibility. He spoke on various aspects of Corporate
Social Responsibility with regard to 4 P’s viz., People, Planet, Profit and
Process. He also shared broad framework for CSR commencing from internal
restructuring and reorganisation to reporting requirements of CSR citing some
good examples and anecdotes on social responsibility.

 

His in-depth knowledge and
passion towards the subject made the lecture meeting insightful, interesting
and knowledge enriching. He very diligently shared the professional
opportunities in CSR for professionals, consulting agencies and NGOs at large.
The meeting was a huge takeaway for the participants.

 

International Economics Study Group

 

International Economics Study Group Meeting
on “The Modi Government – Building India of our Dreams” held on 14th
February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

International Economics
Study Group conducted a meeting on 14th February, 2019 at BCAS
Conference Hall to discuss “Road to 2019 – Modi`s perspective”. CA. Shalin
Divetia presented his well researched theme “The Modi Government – Building
India of our Dreams”
covering Challenges faced by Modi Govt., Addressing
Core Issues (Inequality in Living Standards, Lack of Economic Opportunities,
Corruption & Security), Permanent Solutions, Holistic Approach, Vision
backed by Execution, International Relations, Civilisational Pride. Modi
Government has launched schemes that encompass human lifecycle: Infancy, For
the Young, Family necessities, Risk Protection and Retirement. He also brought
out how Modi has attempted in Bridging Rural-Urban Divide, Initiative for
farmers, creating Economic Opportunities (Mudra Yojna, Make in India, Ease of
Doing Business, and Innovation), Tackling Corruption & NPAs, Economic
Reforms – GST & IBC, and International Relations.

 

CA. Harshad Shah
highlighted that 2019 Election has turned From Cakewalk to Contest and World’s
biggest election has suddenly become competitive. He highlighted few key themes
for this election such as:

 

Will Women Decide
India’s 2019 Elections? – Women have become a focal point of the BJP’s 2019
re-election campaign. When we empower the women in a family, we empower the
entire house-hold and have thus brought Women Centric Schemes. Women Turnout is
dramatically increasing from 2014.

 

Welfare Hook”– Big
Ticket Popular Schemes – 22 to 50 crore beneficiaries.

 

Health,
Pension, Electricity, Gas
– 10% Reservation to
Economically backward, Financing of MSMEs and Traders, KIsan Yojana, Tax Sops
for Middle Class Salaried & Small traders

 

Social
Media
– India has 30 crore Facebook users, 20 crore WhatsApp Members
(In 2014, they had only 5 crore), Twitter 3.44 crore, 45 crore Smart phones (3
times more than 2014 election) 1.14 billion mobile phone connections. Remember
2016 US Election?

 

UP
Mahagathbandhan
– Caste, Religion, Mathematics in politics,
1+1 doesn’t always equal 2 when 2 or more parties with diverse views, caste
matrix, ideology join together and fights compound.

 

Big 4 toss up states – Bengal,
Orissa, Tamilnadu, and Kerala

 

Numbers
Game
– Higher Voter Turnout benefits BJP & People vote differently
for state and general elections

 

Critical
Issues
– Farm Distress, Loan Waivers, Unemployment, Ram Mandir, Cow,
Polarisation, Triple Talaq etc.

 

CA.
Rashmin Sanghvi deliberated upon “Is this the beginning of Cold War II after
Trump withdrawing from Nuclear Missile Treaty”
and brought out historical
perspective of Cold War 1 which was between 2 Super Powers USA (NATO) &
USSR. This time it`s between USA (not NATO) & China plus Russia and is
playing out through different wars – Trade, Currency, Space, Cyber etc.

 

The sessions were a good
learning experience for the participants

 

“Interactive Session with Students for
Success in CA Exams” held on 16th February 2019 at BCAS Conference
Hall

 

The BCAS Students Forum
under the auspices of the HRD Committee organised an Interactive session with
students for success in CA Exams on 16th February, 2019 at BCAS
Conference Hall. Students Forum had invited CA. Mayur Nayak and CA. Atul Bheda
to guide students on how to crack CA exams. They both left the audience spell
bound.

 

CA. Rajesh Muni, Chairman
of HRD Committee in his opening address welcomed the speakers and the student
participants. He discussed about the activities which are undertaken by HRD
Committee throughout the year and motivated the students to actively take part
in the same.

 

CA. Mihir Sheth, Honourable
Joint Secretary of BCAS through his inspiring words encouraged the students.
CA. Raj Khona, HRD committee member then introduced the speakers and also
shared his experience in clearing the CA exams.

 

CA. Mayur Nayak took the
students through his own journey on how he turned his weaknesses into
opportunities and how he prepared to crack CA final exams in first attempt with
a Rank. His session was truly motivational and inspired the students to work
hard and excel in their exams. CA. Atul Bheda took the students through the
entire ICAI exam process and solved various myths and misunderstandings
regarding the same. He provided practical tips and tricks to be implemented in
order to crack the same exams. His session was very informative and
knowledgeable to the participating students.

 

Around 60 students got
enlightened from this interactive session and their feedback was very positive.

 

BEPS Study Circle

 

Study Circle Meeting on “OECD Report on
addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digitalisation of the Economy” held on 21st
February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Study Circle Meeting was
held on 21st February, 2019 on OECD Report on “Addressing the Tax
Challenges of the Digitalisation of the Economy” at BCAS Conference Hall.  The discussion was led by CA. Ganesh
Rajgopalan and CA. Rashmin Sanghvi.

 

OECD released “Public
Consultation Document – Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digitalisation of
the Economy” and sought public comments on key issues identified in a public
consultation document on possible solutions to the tax challenges arising from
the digitalisation of the economy. The last date for submission of comments was
1st March, 2019 and therefore, the meeting was held to discuss the
report and the background thereof and also to take inputs from the participants
to enable BCAS to finalise its comments.

 

CA. Ganesh Rajgopalan
presented masterly overview of the paper and CA. Rashmin Sanghvi gave the
understanding of background facts which helped the participants to understand
the report in proper perspective. The participants benefited immensely from the
efforts put in by the speakers on the subject.

 

Technology Initiatives Committee

 

Half day workshop on “Technology as an
enabler for Compliance on Audit Documentation” held on 22nd
February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

Technology Initiatives
Committee conducted a half day workshop on “Technology as an enabler for
Compliance on Audit Documentation” on 22nd February, 2019 at BCAS
Conference Hall. The Workshop was conducted by CA. Ashesh Jani who has domain
experience thereof in solutioning, architecting, customising and execution of
technology tools for ensuring compliance on audit documentation.

 

The speaker dealt with the
topic very systematically by providing insights on importance of thorough audit
documentation while conducting the audit assignments and essentials of
maintaining audit documentation in digital form. He also discussed various
issues and the control point to mitigate the issues while dealing with
technology for maintenance of audit documentation.

 

The program was truly
enthralling with participants. The participants appreciated the in-depth
insight given by the learned Speaker.

“9th Ind AS Residential Study Course” held on 28th February to 2nd March, 2019

The 9th Ind AS RSC was held at The Gateway Hotel, Taj Group, Nashik from 28th February to 2nd March, 2019 where 107 participants from across the country participated in this Mahakumbh of learning on Ind AS subject, based on the concept of Group discussion and Presentation. This year, the topics chosen for Group Discussion were of Topical importance like Ind AS 115 on “Revenue from contracts with Customers”, Ind AS 109 on “Financial Instruments”, other Ind AS topics like Ind AS 16 PPE, Ind AS 21 Foreign Currency Differences, Ind AS on Consolidation, Jt. Control, etc. There were 3 papers for presentation on very important and highly relevant topics like Ind AS 116 Leases, Ind AS and MAT, Audit Reporting under the revised Reporting Standards etc.

The list of Topics and the paper writers/presenters name is as under:-

Sr. No. Paper Author GD or Presentation
1. Case Studies on Ind AS 115 CA. Anand Banka GD
2. Case Studies on Various Important Ind ASs CA. Santosh Maller GD
3. Case Studies on Financial Instruments CA. V. Venkat GD
4. Audit Reporting under Revised Reporting Standards CA. S. Vasudeva Presentation
5 Impact of Ind AS on MAT CA. Santosh Maller Presentation
6 Ind AS 116 Leases CA. Manan Lakhani Presentation

The RSC Started on Friday, 28th February, 2019 with the group discussion on case studies on Revenue from contract with customers, Ind AS 115. The participants were divided into 3 groups to have a great learning and sharing experience. The group leaders had put in lot of efforts to prepare their PPTs for better discussion on the allotted Topics.

At the RSC inauguration function, CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, President BCAS, CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala, Chairman Accounting & Auditing Committee, CA. Abhay Mehta Jt. Secretary, CA. Amit Purohit and CA. Rajesh Mody, Convenors were present. The President – BCAS, in his opening remarks welcomed all the participants and wished all of them a great learning experience. He also briefly elaborated on the activities undertaken at BCAS and invited non-members to become members to gain uninterrupted knowledge.

  1. Himanshu Kishnadwala then briefly explained the importance and relevance for such RSC and outlined the events for next 2 days. At this occasion, the publication on “FAQs on Standards on Auditing – Part I” was released at the hands of CA. Sanjay Vasudeva, past Vice Chairman of AASB of ICAI. The Booking was opened for outstation members and the response was very positive.

Then the paper writer of 1st GD paper CA. Anand Banka presented his views and gave clarity on the issues covered by him. The evening ended with the Presentation Paper on “Reporting requirements under Revised Reporting Standards” presented by CA. Sanjay Vasudeva.

Next morning CA. Santosh Maller gave his views on the issues covered by his paper and he also clarified on the issues raised by the members. There was also a Presentation Paper on Ind AS and MAT by CA. Santosh Maller, who ably covered the most difficult and sought after subject in a very lucid manner. After a break, the groups assembled to discuss the 3rd GD Paper on Financial Instruments Standard.

The last day of the RSC started after the gruelling schedule of the previous day. The session started with the presentation of views by CA. V. Venkat on very complex Topic of Financial Instruments Standard. He also replied to members’ queries in his unique style to the fullest satisfaction of the members.

The last session of the RSC was a paper on Ind AS 116 – Leases which was aptly dealt by CA. Manan Lakhani. He covered the whole topic with lots of case studies and explained the complex standard. The RSC ended with a concluding session where in 8-10 members who were 1st time participants expressed their experience at the RSC.

The chairman thanked the participants for making the event a grand success. The Jt. Secretary, CA. Abhay Mehta thanked CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala for successfully planning and executing such an important event this year by setting highest benchmark for quality learning.

The participants got highly enlightened with the knowledge shared by the learned and experienced speakers.

“What Next? – A Career Planning Talk for Fresh Chartered Accountants” held on 8th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Seminar and Membership Development Committee organised a career planning talk for Fresh Chartered Accountants on the topic of “What Next?” on 8th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by CA. Mudit Yadav, a TEDx speaker and Success Coach.

The session began with opening remarks by Chairman of committee CA. Narayan Pasari who briefed the young audience about BCAS and its activities. He also encouraged new CAs to join BCAS and become part of the knowledge sharing. CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, President, BCAS also addressed the gathering and inspired them to aim high and become respected professionals with immense integrity. A Rank holder of Nov. 2018 was felicitated and he shared his views on success in
CA exams.

The speaker CA. Mudit Yadav took up the following major issues faced by young professionals like:

(a) How to choose the ideal career path for yourself? (b) Difference between an average and a star professional. (c) Habits of the most extraordinary professionals. (d) How to develop the mindset of a true professional? (e) How to develop a sharper executive presence? (f) How can you be a pioneer of the future of CA profession?

  1. Mudit Yadav also shared his personal experience around his career and challenges he faced while carving out his career in unconventional and non-traditional field as a motivational speaker.

The talk was attended by more than 60 fresh Chartered Accountants who extensively benefited from the talk and experiences shared by the Speaker.

Half-Day Workshop for Senior CAs – Get the most from your smart phone! held on 9th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

HRD Committee organised half day workshop for the benefit of Senior CAs (including spouse) and those who were not familiar with their smart phone and mobile apps, on 9th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall.

The first session was conducted by young and dynamic CA. Pankaj Singhal who narrated the benefit of various Banking Support Apps and Mobile Wallets. The participants were guided to download various apps like PhonePe, UTS, PayTM, Google Maps and Uber. He assisted them to register on these apps and perform transactions.

The second session was conducted by a senior and well-experienced techie CA. Yazdi Tantra who narrated the benefits of Google. He gave live training on optimum use of Google through Voice Search and performing simple arithmetic calculations, setting reminders and alarms, exploring time/weather in any city, playing a song or current news, translating in various languages and many more benefits of Google. He also explored various apps like Tripit, Shush, MAadhar, DigiLocker, Senthisfile.com, Blinkist, True Caller, Camscanner, Texpand, Skedit, Life360, Voter Helpline, Otter-Voice Notes and Calm.

The entire session was very interactive and participants were provided hands on experience on usage of various mobile apps. The faculties too were energetic in guiding the participants who were overwhelmed on knowing numerous benefits of a smartphone which till date was used largely by them for only making calls.

Lecture Meeting on “Recent Important Decisions in Income Tax” held on 13th March 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

BCAS organised a lecture meeting on Recent Important Decisions in Income Tax on 13th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by CA. Rajan Vora. The Speaker gave his insights on important decisions delivered by various courts and tribunals and the rationale behind those decisions, amongst other decisions on different topics and issues. He further explained far reaching impact of recent Supreme Court decision u/s. 68. The Speaker also responded to the queries raised by the participants during the Q&A session.

The lecture meeting was a good learning and very enlightening experience for the participants.

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019” held on 16th March, 2019

The Suburban Study Circle had organised a meeting on “The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019” on 16th March, 2019 at Bathiya & Associates, Andheri East which was addressed by CA. Janak Bathiya.

The Speaker made a detailed presentation on the section wise analysis of the “The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019” which was promulgated by the Hon’ble President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind on 21st February, 2019. The Speaker explained some of the Important Provisions as noted below:

Meaning of Unregulated Deposits, Applicability of this Ordinance to Proprietors, Partnership Firm, LLP, Company etc., Impact on Existing Loans and Advances or Deposits, how to ensure compliance of this Ordinance, Grievance, Appeal, etc.

The practical examples helped the participants in understanding the latest ordinance. The participants learnt a lot from the presentation shared by the speaker.

International Economics Study Group

Study Group meeting on the topics “How IBC is Revitalising Indian Economy” and “Current Economic & Geopolitical Developments” held on 19th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

International Economics Study Group conducted a meeting on 19th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall to discuss “How IBC is Revitalising Indian Economy and Current  Economic & Geopolitical Developments”. CA. Pravin Navandar (Insolvency Professional) led the discussion and presented his thoughts on the subject. He presented various provisions of IBC and how it is helping in resolving many big ticket NPAs such as – Essar Steel are getting handed over to new owners. He brought out India`s ranking in implementation of IBC, many finer provisions of the law, Supreme Court`s speedy disposal of some cases and bringing out clarity in law.

He also brought out how IBC has overriding effect on all other laws relating to insolvency and bankruptcy matters and how the new owners are reviving the sick units with increasing capacity utilisation and workers playing very important role in driving India to New age of economic growth. He also brought out how many Corporations are now taking preventive steps making sure that they don’t default and not land themselves in Insolvency proceedings. Bank lending will resume once IBC helps to clean up Balance Sheets of Banks and they get their stuck dues. India will develop an environment with ease of selling and buying Businesses. Financial Risk to Foreign Lenders would be decreased (faster and higher recovery), Foreign Investors now invited to take ready units without existing promoters and India will have much higher FDIs in Debt segment etc.

This has resulted in quantum jump of 30 places in World Bank`s “ease of doing business” in India. Lenders have been able to recover Rs.1.43 lakh crore from their NPAs. Truly, IBC is not just a Surgical Strike, it`s a full-fledged war on NPAs. Due to fear of IBC proceedings, many promoters are now approaching banks/financers and trying to regularize their loan accounts.

  1. Harshad Shah brought out developing situation in Venezuela which has largest proven Oil (one of the best quality) reserve in the world. USA is intending for a regime change in Venezuela where as China and Russia have economic interest to recover their debt from Venezuela. He also brought out reasons for sudden appreciation in exchange rate of Indian Rupee.

The sessions were very interactive and interesting for the participants to understand about the current Indian Economy.

Four Day Study Course on Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) held on 15th, 16th, 22nd and 23rd March 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

Four Day Study Course on FEMA was conducted at BCAS Conference Hall on 15th, 16th, 22nd  and 23rd March 2019. There were 14 presentation sessions and one Panel Discussion. The Course started with a topic “Understanding of FEMA” and it went on to cover various other subjects such as Practical aspects of FDI in Real Estate Sector, Immovable Property in India & Outside India, Export and Import of Goods & Services, Setting up of a Liaison Office, Branch Office & Project Office in India & outside India, FDI, Outbound Investment, Borrowing(ECB), Due Diligence/Audit from FEMA Perspective, Practical aspects of filing various forms under FEMA, Practical aspects of Money Laundering, Fugitive economic offence, Black Money Act, Compounding of offence etc. The study course concluded with a Panel Discussion wherein the participants got answers to various tricky questions. A total of 90 participants enrolled for the Course amongst whom many participated from outside Mumbai.

Eminent faculties shared their knowledge and experience with the Participants who got enriched immensely.

 

REPRESENTATIONS

1.  Dated: 6th
March, 2019

     To: Tax Policy and
Statistics Division, Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

     Subject: Thanking
OECD for providing an opportunity to study and offer comments in the
consultation document on Addressing the Tax Challenges of the Digitalisation
of the Economy

     Representation by:
International Taxation Committee of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society.

 

2.  Dated: 18th
March, 2019

     To: Principal Chief General Manager, Non-Resident Foreign Account
Division (NRFAD)-Policy Division, Foreign Exchange Department, Reserve Bank of
India

     Subject: Private
Trusts for Indian assets-clarification required

Representation
by:
International Taxation Committee of the Bombay
Chartered  Accountants’ Society.  

MISCELLANEA

1.  Economy

 

1.   1.   
Startups cheer as rule changes ease path for receiving new investments

 

CBDT clarifies relief like an increase in the limit
to Rs 25 crore and raising of benefit period to 10 years will be available from
February 19.

 

Indian startups are cheering the bonanza of the
proposed implementation of the recent changes to the ‘angel tax’ from February
19. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has
announced new norms including a change in the definition of startups to help
budding entrepreneurs to benefit from the full range of the angel tax
concession, media reports say.

 

The new norms that the Central Board of Direct
Taxation (CBDT) has issued raise the limit of investments that can benefit from
angel tax norms to Rs 25 crore. The angel tax is the income tax payable on
capital unlisted companies raise through the issue of shares where the share
price is in excess of the fair market value of the shares sold. The excess
realisation is treated as income and taxed accordingly. The angel tax was first
introduced in the 2012 Union Budget by then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee
to tackle money laundering. The tax has come to be called angel tax because it
mostly affects angel investments in startups.

 

The CBDT will implement the detailed framework the
DPIIT has formulated for which it recently issued a new clarification,
according to a report in The Economic Times. The CBDT has said section 56
(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act prescribing the angel tax will not apply to
consideration in excess of the fair value of shares issued to an investor if
the funds had been received in accordance with the DPIIT’s conditions. In the
past, the amount a startup raises by the issue of shares in excess of the fair
market value was being deemed as income from other sources liable to be taxed
at 30 per cent, deterring angel investors.

 

The new provisions have also raised the investment
limit for a startup to seek exemption under the section to Rs 25 crore from Rs
10 crore. The startups would also be able to avail themselves of the tax
benefits for up to 10 years as against seven years earlier, according to
reports. The only condition is that the startup will have to submit a
self-declaration about the use of the raised amount to the DPIIT, which will be
forwarded to the CBDT.

 

“……this was a procedural notification which the
CBDT was required to issue to put in place the mechanism for claiming benefit
given to startups by the earlier DPIIT notification. Startups are elated the
notification came at a time when many said they had received notices under
Section 56(2)(viib), adversely affecting their businesses. The CBDT has
reportedly directed the field staff to clear the proceedings if the tax demands
have been raised.

 

(Source: International Business Times – By
Prathapan Bhaskaran, 8 March 2019)

 

2.    2.  
Government completely bans import of solid plastic waste to fight pollution

 

It is to be noted that China had banned such
imports a few years ago, in the meanwhile India became one of the largest
importers of plastic waste.

 

The central government has now completely banned
the imports of solid plastic waste/scrap into the country. The decision has
been taken to fight the ever-growing plastic waste in India. As per the
official data, the country generates 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily. In
the past, such imports were partially banned as only the special economic zones
(SEZ) were allowed to import such solid wastes. Additionally, the government
had also allowed the imports of plastic waste/scrap by export-oriented units
(EOUs) which used to procure it from abroad as post-recycling resources.

 

Quoting one of the environment ministry officials,
national daily, the Times of India reported that keeping up with India’s
commitment to completely phase out single-use plastic by 2022, the government
has now entirely banned the imports of solid plastic waste. He added, “The
country has now completely prohibited the import of solid plastic waste by
amending the Hazardous Waste (Management & Trans-boundary Movement) Rules
on March 1.” He further said that the rules were changed because of the huge
mismatch between waste generation and recycling capacity in the country.

 

It is to be noted that China had banned such
imports a few years ago. Meanwhile, India became one of the largest importers
of plastic waste. In India, many companies were misusing the partial ban on the
pretext of being in an SEZ. The country lacks the adequate capacity to recycle
plastic waste and it is because of this reason a huge amount of such wastes
remains uncontrolled. This eventually causes heavy damages to soil and water
bodies. A study conducted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) shows
that out of 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste per day around 10,376 tonnes remains
uncollected. The figures are astonishingly high as it is almost 40 per cent of
the total waste generated.

 

The ministry has made changes in the existing
rules, now white category (practically non-polluting or very less polluting) of
industries will dump their hazardous wastes generated to authorised users,
waste collectors or disposal facilities. Since its inception in 1950, global
plastic production has increased exponentially, from 2 million tonnes to 380
million tonnes in 2015. Its sheer convenience — lightweight and durability –
has made this man-made material present in every sphere of human existence. In
the last 70 years, 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced.

 

(Source: International Business Times – By Ashesh
Shukla, 7 March 2019)

 

3.    3.  
Cross-border insolvency law changes to boost ease of doing business in India

 

A separate section in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy
Code (IBC) modelled after international best practices will help partners in
foreign tie-ups.

 

A proposal by the Narendra Modi government to tweak
the bankruptcy law to tackle cross-border insolvency is expected to boost the
country’s ease of doing a business ranking, media reports say. India made huge
strides in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking to reach 77th
spot among 190 countries in 2018 from 100 in 2017.

The government proposes to bring about the changes
through an ordinance amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and
adding a chapter on cross-border insolvency, a report said. The amended law is
aimed at giving comfort to foreign investors in India and vice-versa. The new
law will reduce the time for exchanging information with another country,
encouraging foreign investors and multi-lateral agencies such as the World
Bank.

 

A panel headed by Corporate Affairs Secretary
Injeti Srinivas recommended using the model law formulated by the United
Nations Commission on International Trade Law, known as the UNCITRAL model,
which has been accepted by 44 nations including some from where India’s major
investments originate like the US, the UK and Singapore. A cabinet nod for the
new law is soon expected, according to a report in Business Standard.

 

In view of the general election 2019 in a couple of
months, only the next government may introduce a bill in parliament. Such
cross-border insolvency provisions empower foreign creditors to get back money
lent to Indian corporate entities. The reciprocity of the law makes it easier
for Indian companies to claim their dues from foreign companies. The
cross-border insolvency provisions in sections 234 and 235 of the IBC have not
yet been notified and cannot be enforced. The amended law will replace the
provisions and make the Indian law up to international best practices.

 

The government is aware of the limitations of any
law handling cross-border insolvency because in the case of some foreign
governments bilateral treaties are required for effective execution, an
unidentified official in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs told the newspaper.

 

Such treaties take a long time finalising as each
one is different and all through the protracted negotiations, foreign investors
will be uncertain of the provisions. The ambiguity will also affect Indian
courts and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which have to handle each
case separately.

 

The compulsion for an altogether separate section
for handling insolvency of cross-border investors is to make the law more
comprehensive based on a global model so to encourage its global acceptance.
The new law will revolutionise the key aspects of cross-border insolvency
litigation. The law will give direct access to foreign insolvency professionals
and foreign creditors to participate in or commence domestic insolvency
proceedings against a defaulting debtor. Under the law, foreign proceedings and
remedies will find acceptance in Indian courts. It will enable cooperation
between domestic and foreign courts and domestic and foreign insolvency practitioners
as also coordination between two or more concurrent insolvency proceedings in
different countries, according to sources.

 

(Source: International Business Times – By
Prathapan Bhaskaran, 5 March 2019)

 

2.  Science

 

4.    4.  
New study finds evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars; could revolutionise
future space missions

 

The discovery of alien life on Mars is expected to
revolutionise future Mars missions and planetary colonisation projects.

 

Conspiracy theorists including popular
extraterrestrial researcher Scott C Waring have been long alleging that alien
life might be thriving or might have thrived on Mars. Adding heat to these long
spanning claims, a new study published in the Journal of Astrobiology and Space
Science has suggested the possible presence of alien life forms on the Red
Planet.

 

As per the new study report, NASA’s Curiosity Rover
has snapped images of fungi and algae on Mars. Even though NASA has not
admitted or denied the conclusions made in the study, several space experts
strongly believe that this research report is indisputable proof of alien
presence on Mars.

 

It should be noted that the potential alien life
which has been now spotted on Mars are not evolved, but rather simple living
beings like fungi and algae.

 

As per Dr Regina Dass of the Department of
Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, India, the lead author of the study,
Curiosity Rover has sent at least 15 images that show fungi and algae growing
on the Martian surface.

 

“There are no geological or other abiogenic
forces on Earth which can produce sedimentary structures, by the hundreds,
which have mushroom shapes, stems, stalks, and shed what looks like spores on
the surrounding surface. In fact, fifteen specimens were photographed by NASA
growing out of the ground in just three days,” said Dass, Express.co.uk
reports.

 

Dr Vincenzo Rizzo, a
National Research Council biogeologist revealed that the seasonal fluctuations
of methane in the Martian atmosphere can be connected with natural life-and-death
cycles of organic matter on earth.

 

The study report is expected to revolutionise
future space missions to Mars. Upcoming probes to Mars by NASA is expected to
analyse these Martian fungi so that the habitat in which they are thriving can
be studied in depth. Potential life on Mars, even in its simplest form will
also raise the hope of surviving on Mars during colonisation.

 

Earlier, SpaceX founder Elon Musk had revealed that
he will surely go to Mars despite minimal chances of survival. With this new
discovery, it has been proved that alien life, at least in the simplest form
can survive on the Red Planet, and this will surely elevate the projects which
are being now carried out aiming at colonizing Mars.

 

A few weeks back, self-proclaimed researcher Scott
C Waring had claimed to have spotted fossil-like structures on Mars. In a post
on his website ‘UFO Sightings Daily’, Waring argued that Mars was once home to
an alien civilisation. The researcher also urged United States President Donald
Trump to make him the head of NASA, so that he can unveil the unknown mysteries
surrounding alien life on the Red Planet.

 

(Source: International
Business Times – By Nirmal Narayanan, 25 March 2019)
  

 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1.    Inflation rate in India from 2012 to 2018

 

 

 

2.    Top 10 Fastest Growing cities in the World,
2019-35

 

 

 

 

3.    Budget 2019 – Increase in direct tax
collection

 

4.    Mumbai Roads

 

 

5.    Commuting time to be included in working
hours

 

 

ETHICS AND U

Arjun (A) — Bhagwan, we meet every
month.  I always get valuable insights
from you.

 

Shrikrishna — I also enjoy talking to you and
observe how you are following the principles from Geeta

 

A — I must admit that Kauravas
had a huge army; many times more than ours. But we won only because we followed
your advice.

 

S —Even today, you are in constant
war against evil. You can fight it only with the shield of ethics and sword of
action. If you want to be independent, you need to be eternally vigilant
.

 

ATrue. Times have changed.
People’s thinking has changed. Now we CAs are expected to be blood-hounds and
not mere watch-dogs.

 

SMany scams are revealing
direct or indirect involvement of your clan. People are perceiving auditor’s
involvement. This is very dangerous.

 

AI have the same dilemma as I
had in the Mahabharata what to do. It is whether to continue to act as
Auditor?

 

SI understand your anxiety.
But what else can you do?

 

AKrishna I feel like giving
up all audit and signing assignments.

 

SThat’s not the answer. A
professional like you cannot think of running away. Do you think there is no
risk in rendering other services like advisory?

 

AThe reality is that all
authorities are after our blood. They harass our clients – result – all
tensions come on us.

 

SThat’s precisely what I had
advised you in Geeta. Be detached. Yours’ probably is the only
profession that gets emotionally involved with the client.

 

AWe are trapped in a vicious
circle. On one side laws are radically changing. New laws are coming. Our own
Institute’s rules and regulations are a little too much for a small entity. On
the other hand, there is lack competent manpower. We can’t afford to employ too
many qualified people. The irony is that our clients don’t appreciate our
efforts and are also not willing to pay for our services! They take us for
granted.

 

SThat’s because they don’t
find any value addition. The client perceives your services as mere compliance.

 

AKrishna but that is a wrong
perception. By ensuring compliance we save them from penalty and prosecution.
Another issue that bothers us is : How much to study? Under pressure we neglect
our health and family. There is no time to relax and live – we merely exist.

 

SToday, you seem to be too
stressed.

 

AYes. As it is, every March
is like this. March mars our mood!

 

S(smiles). In Geeta, I
advised you to be a ‘sthitapradnya’ – a balanced and steady mind.
Unperturbed by anything!

 

A—Krishna, it is easy to advise, but difficult to
follow. See how many fronts we have to fight – advance tax, GST, planning for
closure of books, gearing up for bank audits! To add to this our
assistants/trainees are on exam leave! On top of this the tax authorities are
all out for coercive recoveries! How can they have target oriented tax
assessments and recoveries? Government’s thinking is strange!

 

SArjun, why are you whaling?
I understand your difficulties. But today all professions are sailing in the
same boat. Please remember your very survival depends on the laws made by the
Government! Don’t complain about complicated and confusing laws.

 

AI envy other professions –
that perform and also enjoy without any tension!

 

SThat’s a wrong impression.
Grass is always greener on the other side.

 

AWhat was the point you were
making?

 

SSee, you criticised the
Government. Now elections are coming. It is your duty to vote consciously. And
also educate and motivate others to do so! As intellectual professionals you
owe a duty to the nation and society.

 

AThat’s OK. But this year I
am worried about bank audits! The recent scams are frightening!

 

SEnsure that you write to the
previous auditor. Better talk to him and get fair idea and opinion about the
branch you are going to audit. Also, keep the record of your work – working
papers. In short, be diligent, meticulous and careful. Timely communication
backed by proper evidence will help you in doing the work smoothly. Remember,
work should not only be done; but it should be seen that it is done.

 

AYes, Lord! I cannot run away
from the profession.  Everywhere the
things may be the same. Whatever I do, I must do it properly and diligently. I
seek your blessing!

 

SYou are always blessed, My
Dear!

 

Om
Shanti.

 

ETHICS AND U

Shrikrishna: Yes, my dear
Arjun, you seem to be in a relaxed mood today. All tension over?

 

Arjun: Hmm! I wish I could be
really relaxed. But in our profession there is no room for relaxation. It is
not in a CA’s destiny at all.

 

Shrikrishna: Why are you so
sceptical? All professions, or rather, all people are sailing in the same boat
today.

 

Arjun: That is true. But almost
all practising CAs I know are fed up with practise. Many are giving up their
COP. Their next generation is keeping itself away from traditional practice.

 

Shrikrishna: I am told even
the large firms are shying away from assurance function. Then who will do the
audits?

 

Arjun: That is really a problem.
Government should think about it seriously. Many of us feel that all small and
medium entities should be exempted from audit. That the turnover limit should
be respectably high. Other criteria also should be liberal.

 

Shrikrishna: Arjun, you
feel so because you are staying in a metro city. Have you thought of your
professional brothers staying upcountry? They will literally starve if audit
work is gone.

 

Arjun: Yes. That’s a point. But
then, what’s the solution? We slog so much even for a small audit and take so
much tension, but there is no proportionate remuneration. The regulations are
too strict for a small entity to comply.

 

Shrikrishna: I agree. For
this I feel you should be more serious about collective thinking and action
among your members. In your study circles, you brainstorm only on academics.
Instead, you should devote more time to think about how to tackle this chronic
issue. Think of the fate of the profession.

 

Arjun: True. And on the top of it,
the sword of disciplinary action is always hanging on our heads. I don’t see
any ray of hope. Everything is gloomy.


Shrikrishna: That’s another
problem. You people are very keen to learn all other laws that you are dealing
with in the practice but you are not that serious about knowing and updating
yourself about your own CA Act!

 

Arjun: Why? What happened? Is
there any change?

 

Shrikrishna: Yes. There is
a change in both the parts of your Code of Ethics.

 

Arjun: Both the parts? I didn’t
even know that there are two parts! I only know that COE is very frightening.

 

Shrikrishna: Ha! Ha! Ha! Arey,
Arjun, Part A is more about principles applicable internationally. New
concepts, new thinking, new principles which are universally recognised. Our
Indian Code is expected to be in tune with this international thinking. That’s
in Part B.

 

Arjun: Ahh! Who is bothered about
such philosophy? Let them change Part A as many times as they like. Tell me
what matters to me.

 

Shrikrishna: That’s the
problem! You are not awakened enough about your profession. Part A has already
been changed and your Institute has already published it a few months ago. Now,
they are changing Part B – i.e., your Indian Code of Ethics.

 

Arjun: Where is that new thing?
When is it applicable?

 

Shrikrishna: They have
already circulated the Exposure Draft for your comments. The Institute cannot
change the provisions of law or the schedules. That is to be done by
Parliament. The Institute expresses its views and interpretations in its
commentary. That is sought to be changed.

 

Arjun: I will see when it becomes
applicable.

 

Shrikrishna: Arjun,
this approach is wrong. You are sleeping over such things. Not awakened about
the proposed changes. And then you keep
crying after it becom-es applicable – when it is too late! You need to be
proactive.

 

Arjun: I agree.
So what should we do?

 

Shrikrishna: You
should sit in a group and study the proposed changes and their impact. And send
representations to the Institute.

 

Arjun: Let me
first study it for myself. I’m sure none of my friends would know about it. But
next time we will discuss the changes so that I can take more care.


Shrikrishna: Sure.


Om Shanti.


(This dialogue is based on the need to study
the exposure draft on changes in the Code of Ethics – Part B. Details will be
discussed in the next write-up)
 

 

 

ETHICS AND U

Arjun:    O hell with this profession!
Lord Krishna, please save me!

 

Shrikrishna:  Arey Arjun, you are now
in practice over three decades. Well settled now. Then, why this frustration?

 

Arjun:    I am really fed up with this
tax representation work. Nothing moves without corruption! So much wastage of
time and energy! And on the top of it, so much botheration and harassment. Life
has become miserable.

 

Shrikrishna:  Relax, Parth. I have
explained to you the theory of Karma. You get the fruit of what you do.

 

Arjun: What do you
mean? Are we also corrupt?

 

Shrikrishna:  What do you mean by
corruption?

 

Arjun:  See, even for petty things, they take so much
of bribe! Right from locating your file – to passing of the order. Not only
that, even for delivering the order, you have to pay. They don’t do their duty
honestly.

 

Shrikrishna:  I agree. But do you mean
bribery is the only form of corruption?

 

Arjun:  Then what else is
corruption?

 

Shrikrishna:  It could be corrupt
thinking, corrupt behaviour; any deviation from duty, especially knowingly, is
also corruption.

 

Arjun: I didn’t
follow what you want to say. Tell me, where we have not performed our duty.

 

Shrikrishna:  See, Arjun. Your profession
is like that of the police. When you do audit, you are a financial police.

 

Arjun: I see your
point.

Shrikrishna:       You curse
the police department for corruption. Do you sign all financial statements only
after
proper verification?

 

Arjun: Well, we
try our utmost to get all information and explanations. But as you know, we
cannot see everything.

 

Shrikrishna:  And whatever discrepancies
you notice, how do you deal with them.

 

Arjun: Wherever
possible, we get it corrected. But sometimes, clients don’t accept the
correction. They insist on the presentation that suits them.

 

Shrikrishna:  So they want it that way
only. That means some deliberate mistakes.

 

Arjun: Yes. After
all, it is to suit the banks, financial institutions and revenue authorities…
rather, all authorities under
all laws!

 

Shrikrishna:  In short, adjustments!
Right?

 

Arjun: (smiles):
Yes, Lord. There is no financial statement without any ‘adjustment’.

 

Shrikrishna: And knowingly you sign them!

 

Arjun: There is no
alternative.

 

Shrikrishna:  And still you say it is
‘True and Fair’. And also take full fees. Is it not corruption?

 

Arjun: There is a
point in what you are saying.

 

Shrikrishna: Further, you not only certify erroneous accounts, you help in
filing an erroneous return and then try to justify it as correct in the
tax-proceedings.

 

Arjun: In recent
years many such matters were exposed as scams or frauds. This has spoilt the
image of the profession. But what is the way out?

 

Shrikrishna: You need to act objectively, without fear or favour. You need to
be impartial.

 

Arjun: All this is
easy to say. But where is independence? If we do our duty strictly, we will
lose the assignment.

 

Shrikrishna: Then the entire profession needs
introspection. Where do we stand? Are we united? Have we lost our spine? Are we
compromising on principles?

 

Arjun:  You have
opened my eyes. Still, unless we get united and act collectively, our voice
will never be heard. That is why people are running away from our core function
of audit.

 

Shrikrishna:  True.
Then this is a serious ethical issue.

 

Arjun: Even the government does not listen to us.
There is no respect for the profession. We are being taken for granted. And see
the ever-increasing regulation! We can’t cope with it.

 

Shrikrishna:  Government treats you like its own extended
arm. Your very survival depends on the laws and regulations. How can you raise
your voice?

 

Arjun: Then what is the solution?

Shrikrishna: Prove that you are indispensable. Be
assertive. You may lose a few clients; but eventually you will command respect.
Increase your credibility. That requires systematic working. And of course,
there is some sacrifice necessary.

 

Arjun: Unfortunately, the profession does not have
good and strong leaders. We lack courage and boldness to assert ourselves.

Shrikrishna: That is the reason… every time you have
to compromise on ethics. There is no point in blaming others. Stand up and
learn to say ‘No’ to ‘adjustments’. Update your knowledge, upgrade your skills
and maintain documents and discipline. Then you have nothing to worry. Good
rewards will flow. That is the theory of Karma.

 

Arjun: Yes, Bhagwan.

 

Om Shanti

(This dialogue is based on
the present unenviable situation of the CA profession and a few reasons for the
same.)

SOCIETY NEWS

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE STUDY CIRCLE

 

‘Tricks and Tips of GST compliances in Tally
ERP9’ held on 4th and 8th June, 2019 at BCAS Conference
Hall

 

The Study Circle meeting on this
important subject was led by CA Punit Mehta, a practicing fellow Chartered
Accountant and a Director of Aimtech Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Punit is a
regular speaker at various seminars and conferences. He has also conducted
several training and workshops on Tally software implementation at study
circles and branches of the WIRC of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
India and of the BCAS.

 

In the course of the programme, CA
Punit covered the importance of the ‘Alt + N’ function, the key role of
Hierarchy for incorporating the GST number, the issue of invoice of different
locations with the same Tally company, issue of invoice to the customer for
various locations with the same ledger along with many more different tricks
for ease of compliance along with practical demonstrations. He shared his
in-depth knowledge with the participants and answered all the questions raised.

 

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

 

Meeting on ‘Overseas Direct Investment – Procedure &
Documentation’ held on 8th June, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

CA Kaumudi Joshi led the discussion
on the subject ‘Overseas Direct Investment – Procedure & Documentation’. A
banker by profession, she shared her vast knowledge about the procedure to be
followed and documentation to be submitted to the authorised dealer in relation
to overseas direct investments. She shared her insights on common errors
committed while submitting the form for ODI. The members appreciated her
presentation.

 

HRD STUDY CIRCLE

 

Meeting on ‘Breath the Healer’ (Breath heals life! Breath is
life!) held on 11th June, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

Between birth and death, we live
life. How happy and peaceful our life depends a lot on our health. Proper
breathing is essential not just for healthy lungs but also for good health.

 

The presentation emphasized the
techniques of breathing and pointed out how we neglect giving time to
ourselves. By consciously training ourselves to breathe correctly, we can live
a long and healthy life.

 

Wrong breathing can be harmful. It
can cause blockages and prevent proper blood circulation. We forget that breath
is free and proper breathing is in our hands. We must learn to breathe
correctly, training ourselves consciously so that proper breathing is an automatic
occurrence.

 

The participants found the
learnings from Mr. Pravin Mankar very useful and requested more such meetings.

 

INTERNAL AUDIT CONCLAVE

 

‘Joining Hands to Raise the Bar – Taking
Internal Audit to New Heights’ held on 20th and 21st
June, 2019

 

The two-day foundation course was
conducted at Hotel Orchid and attracted a full house of more than 75
participants, with a healthy mix of practicing members as well as members in
the industry, including a few who came from outside the city.

 

The programme
provided the participants the opportunity to learn, unlearn, debate, discuss
and network. The eminent speakers, a careful mix of Chief Internal Auditors,
Audit Committee Chairs and Internal Audit Partners, shared their knowledge with
the participants, liberally interspersing their talks with their own
experiences in handling audits, from either side of the table.


 

CA Mario Nazareth, the
Keynote speaker, set the tone by urging participants to shake off their
complacency and be aware and responsive to the changing environment.


CA Satish Shenoy highlighted
the importance of being agile and thoughtful, acquiring new skill sets and
harnessing technology.


 

CA Ashutosh Pednekar spoke on
the audit of related party transactions from the viewpoint of the Internal
Auditor. His suggestions included comparing terms and conditions agreed with
related parties to those agreed with third parties and checking to see whether
related parties are rated and evaluated just like third parties.


 

CA Nandita Parekh brought out
the essence of the audit exercise by identifying the key Internal Audit
matters. She candidly shared the need to decide upon three things right at the
start of every engagement – the rules of the game, the stakes and the quitting
time.

 

The speakers on the second day took
the momentum forward and provided a lot of food for thought to the
participants.


 

CA Shailin Desai dwelt on
the differences between an Internal Audit and an investigation, highlighting
the use of technology to identify data patterns. He gave many practical
suggestions such as approaching industry forums to understand the specific
industry-related frauds and accessing the reporting done to the whistle-blowing
mechanism and their resolution.


 

CA Nawshir Mirza spoke about
the responsibility of those charged with governance in setting the tone at the
top for an empowered Internal Audit function. He emphasised the need to build a
strong relationship with the Audit Committee and insist on regular meetings.


 

CA Jyotin Mehta shed light on
auditing the Compliance Function which gives comfort to the Boards. He spoke of
the merit in auditing the benefits that accrue to the organisation.


 

CA Naren Aneja touched the
very nerve of every organisation – auditing the organisation culture. After all,
the cover-page of a recent Harvard Business Review reads, The main challenge
isn’t technology, it’s culture.

 

The thoughtfully-curated two-day
conclave left the participants wanting more. A unique feature of the programme
was that the participants took it upon themselves to introduce the speaker
before the session and propose a well-deserved vote of thanks at the end.

 

With a balanced and vibrant faculty
keen on sharing their practical insights into the changing role and
expectations from the Internal Auditor, the foundation has been well laid for
many more interesting programmes in the future.

 

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

HRD Study Circle – ‘International YOGA Day Celebration’ held on 21st
June, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

From 7.30 to 8.30 a.m. on Friday,
21st June, the Committee organised a ‘Yoga’ session jointly with the
ISH foundation. This was to mark the International Yoga Day which falls on 21st
June every year.

 

Pradeep Thakkar, a professional
Yoga teacher and also an active member of the ISH Foundation, guided the
participants who attended the programme.

 

He demonstrated and guided
participants to perform different Asanas with ease and comfort for a
healthy body and mental relaxation. He also taught some ‘powerful’ Asanas
to improve memory and also for different types of discomfort such as sciatica,
maintaining mental fitness, to keep the body flexible and tone the muscles.

 

TARANG 2K19 – CA STUDENTS’ ANNUAL DAY held on 29th June,
2019 at K C College Auditorium

 

Four months ago, when the students’
team met with the members of the Human Resource Development Committee, the
success and grandeur of the past eleven glorious years began to reverberate in
everyone’s mind.

It was decided then that the 12th
edition of the Jal Erach Dastur CA Students’ Annual Day under the brand of
‘Tarang’ had to be bigger and better. With this in mind, the students’ team
embarked upon the journey with enthusiasm and dedication for ‘Tarang 2k19’
led by the student coordinators – Mr. Rohit Dhanesha and Ms. Devyani Choksi.

 

This year ‘Tarang’ altered its
eleven-year-old essay-writing competition and turned it into a story-writing
competition to create a fun-filled and thrilling experience for the students.
This year’s edition also witnessed the reintroduction of the debate competition
which was last witnessed in Tarang 2k17.

 

There was a huge enrolment of 450
students in spite of the delay in CA exams and the various due dates on the 30th
of June, 2019. There were as many as 260 participants in the contests, with the
highest number of participants in the talent show and the photography
competitions.

 

The event was organised by the BCAS
Students’ Forum under the auspices of the Human Resource Development Committee
of the BCAS for the CA students. It was sponsored by Mr. Sohrab Dastur and
supported by the Late Mr. Pradeep Shah and Family. The Students’ Forum
comprised of a team of 37 dedicated and enthusiastic students. The event was
truly an event ‘OF CA students, FOR CA students and BY CA students’. It
completely changed the perception regarding CA students as they excelled in
their roles as event managers, anchors, dancers, and photographers.

 

The ‘Tarang 2K19’ event
was held at K.C College Auditorium on 29th June, 2019 from 4.00 pm
onwards.

 

It commenced with the lighting of
the traditional lamp by the HRD Committee and the student coordinators – with
the Ganesh Vandana and the Saraswati Vandana playing in the background,
invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesh, the god of Wisdom and Maa Saraswati, the
Goddess of Knowledge.

 

The three finalist teams of the
‘Antakshari’ competition, named as ‘Deewane’, ‘Parwane’ and ‘Mastane’, were the
first to take the stage. It had fun-filled and innovative rounds to test the
quick thinking of the participants while tickling their lighter side. Everyone
was astonished to witness the accuracy of CA students, even in the arena of
Bollywood songs and trivia. The event was hosted by the dashing CA Vijay Bhatt
who was accompanied by CA Tej Bhatt. Overall, it provided a great start to the
event and the audience actively participated throughout the show.

 

The next event was the debate which
had eight finalists who were declared on the spot. The moderator was our very
own Mr. Ryan Fernandes, who left the audience amazed with his moderation
skills. The topic for debate was given on the spot by Mr. Ryan – ‘Should there
be a Dress Code in Colleges?’ The judges and the audience were astonished with
the debating skills of the students. The audience was equally involved. To add
to the excitement, the moderator switched the ‘for’ and ‘against’ sides in the
last round to assess the spontaneous thinking of the students and that was a
fun-filled experience.

 

Mr Sohrab Dastur, Sr Advocate the
brother of late Jal Dastur, in whose name the event is conducted, was present
for the debate.

 

After the debate, one of the
student coordinators, Ms. Devyani Choksi, came on stage to talk about the other
events of the BCAS for all CA students throughout the year. CA Rajesh Muni, the
chairman of the HRD Committee, then felicitated all the students who were
actively involved in the students’ activities throughout the year under the
auspices of CA Raj Khona and CA Jigar Shah.

 

The next event was ‘Talk Hawk’
(sponsored by Smt. Chandanben Maganlal Bhatt Elocution Fund) wherein the three
finalists had to give a four-minute Ted Talk on any topic. This enabled a level
playing field for all participants who came up with impressive performances. It
was indeed a close contest, even for the judges to decide the winner. One could
only gasp at the ability of CA students to give motivational talks with such
wit and vigour.

 

This was followed by a 15-minute
break.

 

Then the time was ripe for the most
awaited event of the evening – ‘CA’s got Talent’. The singers had assembled,
the guitars, flutes, and violins were in place, dancers were on their feet and
actors began polishing their lines before they could thrill the audience with
their mesmerising performances. To give a spirited kick-start to this most
awaited event, the students’ team presented a three-minute flash mob which was
choreographed by CA Rishikesh Joshi.

 

The audience could sense that the
amazing flash mob was just a trailer of what they were going to witness in the
talent show. And rightly so, the 13 performances in music (which included
singing, instrumental and beatboxing), dancing and other performing arts,
enthralled the audience. The judges were fascinated, rather bewitched, by the
talent of the young CA students. They indeed had a Himalayan task of choosing
the winner.

 

After the talent show, the winning
film of the short film-making competition – ‘The Screenmasters’ was played. All
the films were so precisely shot that one could easily imagine chartered
accountants as the next big-league film directors.

 

Next, the best photographs from the
photography competition ‘Khinch Le’ were displayed. For the public choice
award, photographs were put up by the participants on the BCAS Tarang Page and
the photograph with the maximum likes was declared the winner. Participants
were given themes on which they had to click creative photographs and post
these on the Facebook Page with an innovative tagline based on the theme
selected. This competition saw a record participation of 51 entries and kept
the Facebook Page thundering. With such mind-boggling photographs, the judges
indeed had a herculean task of selecting the best.

 

With the clock ticking away, the
participants began crossing their fingers as the ice was about to be broken.

 

The winners of the competition
representing their firms were finally announced. The list goes as follows:

Story Writing Competition – ‘Ink It!’

Prize

Name of Student

Name of Firm

1st Prize Winner

Isha Samant

Dhruv A. & Co.

2nd Prize Winner

Prachi Gosalia

CNK & Associates LLP

3rd Prize Winner

Janvi Kuruwa

GBCA & Associates LLP

The Rotating Trophy went to
Dhruv A. & Co.

 

Talk Hawk – ‘Aspire to
Inspire’

Winner

Tanvi Parekh

 

 

Talent Show – ‘CA’s Got
Talent’

1st Prize
(Music-Singing Category)

Vanishree Srinivasan

 

1st Prize
(Music-Others Category)

Prakhar Gupta

DK Surana & Associates

1st Prize
(Dancing Category)

Tanvi Parekh

 

1st Prize (Other
Performing Arts Category)

Nilay Gokhale

V.K. Bhate & Co.
Chartered Accountants

 

Antakshari Competition –
‘Suro ke Sartaaj’

Winning Team

Jagat Dave

Dipen Mehta & Co.

 

Akash Gupta

Amit Bhatt & Associates

 

Nikhil Taksande

ASBS & Co.

Best Individual Performer

Jagat Dave

Dipen Mehta & Co.

 

Drawing Competition – ‘The
Artpreneur’

1st Prize Winner

Darshan Mamania

GBCA & Associates LLP

2nd Prize Winner

Romil Goyal

 

3rd Prize Winner

Amravati Saroj

S.K. Patodia &
Associates

 

Photography Competition –
‘Khinch Le’

Judges’ Choice Prize

Sophia Pereira

J.H. Gandhi & Co.

Public Choice Prize

Nilay Gokhale

V.K. Bhate & Co.,
Chartered Accountants

 

Short Film-Making
Competition – ‘The Screenmasters’

1st Prize Winner

Pratik Hingu, Hardik Dedhia,
Hetana Shah, Ankit Shah and Viral Shah

 

 

Debate Competition – ‘War of
Words’

Winning Team

Gauri Kakrania

Phaphat and Rathi

 

Anirudh Parthasarathy

 

 

Tanvi Parekh

 

 

 

 

Best Debater

Gauri Kakrania

Phaphat and Rathi

 

 

 

Hearty Congratulations to
all the winners and their firms!

 

Judges for the various
competitions were as follows:

Competition

Elimination Round

Final Round

Story Writing

CA Narayan Pasari, CA
Namrata Dedhia and CA Sangeeta Pandit

Talk Hawk

CA Ashish Fafadia

CA Mukesh Trivedi

CA Aliasgar Kherodawala

CA Zubin Billimoria

CA Tushar Doctor

Talent Show

CA Suresh Subramanium

CA Hrudyesh Pankhania

Mr. Salil Jamdar

CA S. Padmanabhan

Mrs. Pallavi Choksi

CA Rishikesh Joshi

Antakshari Competition

Mr. Satyaprakash Dubey

CA Devansh Doshi

CA Ryan Fernandes

CA Kartik Srinivasan

Drawing Competition

CA Gunja Thakrar and Mrs.
Dipti Shah

Photography Competition

CA Divyesh Muni and Dr.
Candida Saldanha

Short Film-Making
Competition

CA Raman Jokhakar and CA
Charmi Shroff

Master Of Ceremony Contest

CA Nitin Shingala, CA Mihir
Sheth and CA Rajesh Muni

The entire evening was superbly
anchored by Mr. Monil Mehta, Mr. Akash Narayanan, Ms Raseeka Gokhale, and Ms.
Hemanshi Gandhi with their sheer display of energy and with mind-blowing
performances. The anchors were also supported by Mr. Nilay Gokhale, Mr. Kedar
Pandey, and Ms. Gauri Kakrania in hosting the show. Together, they ensured that
the audience had no reason to blink their eyes during the entire show.

 

Ms. Drishti Bajaj proposed the
well-deserved vote of thanks to Mr. Sohrab Erach Dastur for sponsoring the
annual day in the fond memory of his brother, the late Jal Erach Dastur, the
family of Smt. Chandanben Maganlal Bhatt for sponsoring the Elocution
Competition, the members of the Managing Committee and HRD Committee, the
coordinators of the Annual Day, the photographer of the event, the BCAS Staff,
parents and principals of students, sound technicians, the vibrant team of
student volunteers and all the students for participating in big numbers.

 

A scrumptious
dinner was arranged after the event for all those who marked their presence at
the Annual Day. The underlying purpose of the event was to not only develop and
encourage skills and extracurricular participation but to bring together the
entire fraternity, which was well achieved this time again, leaving some
unforgettable memories.
With this 12th edition scaling new
heights and raising the bar, all eyes are now set on what the next edition has
to offer.

 

BEPS & INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY
GROUP

 

Meeting on ‘How Tax Havens Damage Global Economy’ held on 1st
July, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

BEPS and the International
Economics Study Groups held their joint meeting on 1st July, 2019 to
discuss ‘How Tax Havens Damage Global Economy’. CA Rashmin Sanghvi and CA Kapil
Sanghvi (Jamnagar) led the discussions and presented their thoughts on the
subject.

 

CA Kapil
presented the basics of tax havens, which are those havens, how do MNCs manage
to avoid paying fair and legitimate taxes in the jurisdictions they operate in.
CA Rashmin Sanghvi, on the other hand, presented the mechanics of how ‘Tax War’
is being fought through the use of several means like treaty shopping,
resulting in substantial loss to India. He brought out how MNCs and the world’s
leading developed economies are facilitating erosion of tax revenue to the
detriment of developing countries like India.

 

CA Abhay Bhagat shared his thoughts
on the book – ‘The Big Nine – How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking
Machines Could Warp Humanity’
by Amy Webb wherein it is explained how
Artificial Intelligence will, by design, begin to behave unpredictably,
thinking and acting in ways which defy human logic. The big nine corporations
(six American, viz., Amazon, Google, Apple, IBM, Microsoft and Facebook, and
three Chinese, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent) may be inadvertently building and
enabling vast arrays of intelligent systems that don’t share our motivations,
desires, or hopes for the future
of humanity.

 

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

 

Meeting on ‘Budget 2019 & Economic Survey 2018-19 @ Modi 2.0’
held on 11th July, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

CA Rashmin Sanghvi and CA Kapil
Sanghvi (Jamnagar) led the discussions and presented their thoughts on
the subject.

 

CA Kapil spoke
on ‘Economic Survey & Budget 2019 # Economy @ $5 trillion’. He presented
the strategic blueprint of the government through the investment-driven
virtuous cycle, nourishing dwarf to become giant, use of behavioural economics
in policy-making and data-driven government.

 

CA Rashmin explained in detail the
examples of ‘Virtuous cycle’ of rupee appreciation and ‘Internal vicious cycle”
of rupee depreciation. He also presented his thoughts on some of the key
proposals of the budget such as Zero Budget Organic and natural farming, water
issues, targeted schemes, DBTs, rural infrastructure, and so on.

CA Rashmin also presented the
mechanics of how ‘Tax War’ is being fought through the use of several means
like treaty shopping, resulting in substantial loss to India.

 

He brought out how MNCs and the
world’s leading developed economies are facilitating erosion of tax revenue to
the detriment of developing countries like India.

 

CA Abhay Bhagat shared his thoughts
on the Book, ‘The Big Nine…’ by Amy Webb which describes how
Artificial Intelligence will, by design, begin to behave unpredictably,
thinking and acting in ways that defy human logic.

 

The big nine corporations (six
American and three Chinese) may be inadvertently building and enabling vast
arrays of intelligent systems that don’t share our motivations, desires, or
hopes for the future of humanity.

 

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

 

Held on 12th July, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

It was a remarkable beginning of
the new year of the study circle, which was graced by the presence of more than
50 FEMA enthusiasts. The room brimming with the energy of young members and the
icing on the cake was the presence of learned group leader CA Manoj Shah,
Chairman Mayur Nayak and our newly-elected BCAS President CA Manish Sampat.

 

CA Manoj Shah led the discussion on
Foreign Direct Investment in India. The group leader discussed each regulation
of FEMA 20(R) along with the relevant FAQ published by the RBI which enabled
360-degree coverage of the topic. A lot of emphasis was placed on the practical
aspects of FDI during the discussion.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1.    Return since 2010:

 

 

Source: Twitter@morganhousel

 

2.    Oil exports as a share of GDP, 2018

Source: Twitter @spectatorindex

 

3.    Inflation, 2018

 

 

Source: Twitter @spectatorindex

 

4.    Currency against US Dollar, past year

 

   

Source: Twitter @spectatorindex

 

 

 

 5. Direct and
Indirect Tax Collections

  

Source: Economic times

 

6.    Samsung smartphone market share in China
(based on shipments)

  

Source: IDC, Counterpoint

Society News

Technology Initiatives Study Circle

Study Circle Meeting on “How to Write Macros in Excel” held on 23rd July, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Technology Initiatives Committee conducted a Study Circle Meeting on “How to Write Macros in Excel” on 23rd July, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was led by CA. Nachiket Pendharkar, who is a corporate trainer for MS Excel and Excel VBA and Founder & CEO of ViN Learning Centre, a Corporate Training Institute.

  1. Nachiket Pendharkar very systematically dealt with the topic by providing step by step procedure with examples of recording macros in Excel. He gave the clear understanding of the topic and meticulously covered the importance of Macros in Excel, Excel VBA and Macro Basics.

The study circle was truly enthralling and participants appreciated the in-depth insights given by the learned speaker.

Lecture meeting on “Impact of Technology on the role of Auditors” held on 1st August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A lecture meeting on topic “Impact of Technology on the role of Auditors” was held on 1st August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by  CA. P. R. Ramesh who dealt with impact of technology on audit and future of auditing.

CA Sunil Gabhawalla, President, BCAS introduced the Speaker and gave opening remarks while explaining about BCAS activities and also touched upon the subject in brief.

During his presentation, the Speaker discussed and explained various nuances of information technology, the history of technology and its future, with various real life examples. Along with the references to various data and figures, he explained the exponential growth in  business due to the impact of technology. He also deep dived into the  future of Audit profession and changes expected in the audit procedures as well as the role of auditors due to the impact of technology on business. He highlighted the necessity for the audit professionals to invest in technology and keep abreast with the latest technology to be relevant in the demanding and everchanging landscape of the profession.

The lecture meeting also provided a hands-on guidance to the participants, many of whom were young members. The lecture was followed by Q & A session and the Speaker replied to all the queries of the participants in a very lucid manner.

Direct Tax Laws Study Circle

Study Circle Meeting on ‘Tax Implications owing to Ind-As’ held on 2nd August 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Taxation Committee organised a Direct Tax Laws Study Circle on the captioned subject at BCAS Conference Hall. The Convenor of the study circle CA. Nilesh Parekh gave his opening remarks. The Group leader, CA. Bhaumik Goda gave a brief overview of the applicability of Ind-AS provisions to companies in India and prevailing direct tax provisions including MAT.

Thereafter, the group leader briefly explained the tax impact on account of Ind-AS and the presentation of the financial statements. Various examples and case laws were discussed and questions were taken with respect to the relevant sections. The group leader touched upon the key areas of change in Ind-AS 16- PPE and discussed an illustration reflecting impact of ‘spare parts’ and ‘site restoration expenses’ in the books of the company. Journal entries and effects in the transition period were discussed in detail. Further, CA. Bhaumik Goda explained the impact of Ind-AS 27- Separate financial statement wherein the impact on the provisions of section 14A and Rule 8D were also discussed followed by discussion on Ind AS 102- Share based payment where deductibility of ESOP expenses was deliberated on and an illustration pertaining to group ESOP was analysed in depth. The session was concluded by discussing aspects to be considered during the transition period.

The meeting was quite participative and the participants benefitted a lot from the session.

Half Day Workshop on “Preparation of Consolidated Financial Statement Under Ind AS” held on 2nd   August, 2018 at Reliance Industries Ltd, RCP, Ghansholi

The Accounting and Auditing Committee organised a half day workshop on preparation of Consolidated Financial Statements under Ind AS on 2nd August, 2018 at RIL, RCP, Ghansoli. The event saw attendance of over 80 participants including outstation participants.

The workshop was hosted by RIL at their RCP facility and began at board room where Mr. Murthy from RIL welcomed all the participants. He then briefly introduced Reliance University and played a video presentation to make participants aware of Reliance University etc.

CA Nihar Jambusharia, Vice President, Taxation at RIL and Central Council Member and Chairman of Ind AS Implementation Group of ICAI gave his welcome speech and briefed members about the activities his committee at Central Council of ICAI is undertaking. President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla gave the opening remarks regarding the activities at BCAS. He also thanked RIL for hosting the workshop. Chairman, Accounting & Auditing Committee, CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala in his remarks briefed the members about how the idea of holding this workshop at RIL was conceptualised.

The faculty, CA. Raj Mullick in his opening remark said that RIL is able to achieve this only because of use of Technology, Systems and Discipline and Co-ordination amongst business and accounts. He said that it is a continuous process which results into such an achievement.

He then went on to present the participants through the whole process his team at RIL does on weekly basis, monthly basis and quarterly basis including meeting with the business CFO’s, functional CFO’s and how the accounts are aligned with business and how MIS are aligned to accounts. He also explained how external audit is completed up to the period of nine months  and the complete set of CFS along with all the notes and disclosures are prepared up to the period of nine months. These financials act as a trial run for the audited financials for the period of 12 months.

Lastly, he shared with  the participants the ambitious goal set before his team of providing weekly CFS to the CFO’s and every month they will come up with complete set of financials.

The session ended with the closing remark and well deserved vote of thanks given by CA. Chirag Doshi who quoted RIL founder late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani “Meeting Deadline is not enough, beating Deadline should be
the norm”.

The participants got fully mesmerised with the insights given by the Speaker.

Tree Plantation Drive 2018 – Visit to Dharampur, Valsad – Gujarat 4th – 5th August, 2018

In constant endeavour to contribute towards Grow Green Drive together with rural economic development, the Human Resource Development Committee of BCAS jointly with BCAS Foundation organised Tree Plantation Drive in the tribal areas of Dharampur District, Valsad – Gujarat on 4th and 5th August, 2018. This noble task was carried out with the help of the Sarvodaya Parivar Trust. Enthusiastic team of 37 volunteers and majority from the youth team participated to carry out this noble mission.

Sarvodaya Parivar Trust (SPT) – This NGO’s goal is to empower the tribal people, making them increasingly self-reliant by engaging in various tribal welfare activities in the field of Education, Health, Agriculture, Water management, Environment, Public Awareness programmes, etc. With help of local farmers, the team assisted in planting saplings of Custard Apple, Teak and Bamboo Trees in outskirts of Khadki village and also distributed Mango saplings to the farmers. BCAS Foundation committed to plantation of 10,000 trees and made contribution of
Rs. 3,00,000/- received through generous donations. The Team at SPT also showed the plant nursery where they have cultivated over 70-80 varieties of saplings over last five years and has assisted in developing above 47 Gram Vans over 45 acres of land.

The team of volunteers visited the Residential School run by the SPT at Pindval. The students here are trained in real life experiences and chores and are made capable to handle school maintenance like housekeeping, kitchen duties etc. by allocating them various portfolios like Health Minister, Stores Minister, Garden Minister, etc., thereby making them responsible to face challenges.

Shrimad   Rajchandra     Ashram  –    Founder      Shri      Rakeshbhai Zaveri, an ardent devotee of Shrimad Rajchandraji,
is propounding the path of Bhagwan Mahavira and actualising Ashram’s mission statement – Realise one’s True Self and serve others selflessly. Thousands of aspirants congregated here for enlightening discourses, an array of meditation retreats and workshops. More than 250 centres worldwide mould the youth and children, shaping a brighter future for them. Societal Service activities are carried out through the ten-fold Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care programme which includes health, educational, child, woman, tribal, community, humanitarian, animal, environmental and emergency relief care. The team of volunteers was truly inspired & elevated hearing the discourses and were thrilled experiencing sanctity of the site.

ARCH (Action Research in Community Health) Foundation – This NGO was founded by Late Dr. Daxaben Patel focussing on Mother and Child Care as well as promoting awareness about basic health care and empowering people with Health Education in the tribal areas of Dharampur. ARCH currently provides primary health care services to approximately 25,000 patients mainly at Mangrol dispensary and at the Dharampur dispensary along with basic health education and preventive services such as vaccinations, prenatal care, child care, etc. BCAS Foundation contributed Rs. 51,000/- towards their noble activities.

It was truly an elevating and enlightening journey for the participants. Especially the youth members were deeply moved and felt blessed at the end of journey.

Lecture Meeting on “GSTN Portal: Experiences and Issues faced by Taxpayers” held on 8th August, 2018  

Indirect Taxation Committee organised a lecture meeting on GSTN Portal: Experiences and Issues faced by Taxpayers on 8th August, 2018 at IMC, Churchgate, which was addressed by Mr. Prakash Kumar, CEO, GSTN and Mr. Nitin Mishra, EVP Technology, GSTN. BCAS President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla in his opening remarks underlined the objective of the meeting.

The Speaker, Mr. Prakash Kumar started with various facts and data available at the back end of GSTN. The Speaker also explained the facts, that in India GST and its backbone called GSTN is settling quite fast. Both the speakers requested the participants to give suggestions on the new GST returns process and formats. Mr. Nitin Mishra explained why there are technical glitches faced by users. On this occasion, 2 BCAS Publications – “Laws and Business-A Compendium-Volume 1 and Volume 2” and “Anti Profiteering and GST – ? to !” were released.

The lecture meeting was followed by Q&A session and the speakers thoroughly answered the queries of the participants. The participants got enlightened from the insights provided by the learned speakers.

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle Meeting on “Overview of FEMA” held on 9th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall 

International Taxation Committee organised a FEMA Study Circle Meeting on 9th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall where CA. Natwar Thakrar led the discussion on the topic of “Overview of FEMA”. The Group Leader deliberated upon nuances of determining residential status of an individual and other entities including branch. The concepts such as “Intention”, “Uncertain Period” and “Resident” were explained at length. The Group Leader also pointed out the journey of the country’s foreign exchange reserves right from FERA period (1991) to FEMA (1999) and the current date scenario. He mentioned that the journey of study is still continued and in the next schedule of meeting, case studies on determining residential status of – Indian citizen coming to India, Indian citizen leaving India, Foreign citizen coming to India, Foreign Citizen leaving India , Post-marriage stay of a foreigner in India , Student etc., will be discussed. The study circle is all set for learning of FEMA through series of meetings planned ahead.

The participants found the subject very interesting and got valuable inputs from the learned Speaker.

Suburban Study Circle

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “Auditing Tools in Tally ERP 9” held on 10th August, 2018 

The Suburban Study Circle organised a meeting on “Auditing Tools in Tally ERP 9 on 10th  August, 2018 at Bathiya & Associates LLP, Andheri (E) which was addressed by CA. Punit B. Mehta.

The speaker demonstrated directly from the software of Tally ERP various shortcuts and available auditing and compliance tools which were easy to understand and which effectively reduce the time involved by the audit team. He also explained various customised add on options available in the software which can be purchased as per Company’s need. The speaker also shared techniques for faster viewing of data and how to extract legder wise analysis along with their shortcut keys and how to get direct extracts in the revised schedule III format etc.

The participants got valuable insights from the presentation shared by the speaker.

Full day Seminar on “Tax Audit” held on 11th August 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Taxation Committee organised a full day Seminar on Tax Audit on 11th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla gave the opening remarks. The following topics were taken up at the Seminar by the learned Speakers:

Overview of tax audit provisions including applicability in presumptive cases and calculation of limits; reporting requirements; audit quality; documentation in light of ICDS; obtaining and relying on management representations; reliance on test checks, Issues in e-filing etc. CA. Ashutosh Pednekar
Reporting in Form 3CD – certain clauses and issues arising from them Clause 12 (presumptive income), Clause 13 (which includes ICDS), Clause 14 (inventory), Clause 17 (transfer of land building less than value adopted referred to in section 43CA or 50C), Clause 26 (section 43B) and issues arising with tax audit of companies following Ind AS. CA. Saroj Maniar
Reporting in Form 3CD – new clauses inserted regarding secondary adjustment, limitation on interest deduction, GAAR and CBCR CA. Bhaumik Goda
Reporting in Form 3CD – certain clauses and issues arising from them (Clauses 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 29A, 29B, 32, 36, 36A). CA. Bhadresh Doshi
Reporting in Form 3CD – certain clauses and issues arising from them (Clauses 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 24, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44). CA. Jagdish Punjabi

CA Ashutosh Pednekar started the first session highlighting the audit aspects in Tax Audit. He took various examples and scenarios where one has to apply his/her audit skills while performing or documenting Tax Audit and also highlighted the evolution of Tax Audit right from year 1984 to date. He further discussed about the recent changes and the Do’s and Don’ts one should keep in mind while performing Tax Audit and also the importance of documentation in Tax Audit, citing the onerous responsibilities of a tax auditor regarding the same.

CA Saroj Maniar explained about the impact of ICDS and Ind AS on various clauses in Tax Audit Report. She also pointed out various issues arising out of accounts prepared on fair value mechanism under Ind AS and tax accounts under ICDS mechanism and then dealt with clauses dealing with presumptive taxation.

CA Bhaumik Goda spoke on new clauses inserted in Tax Audit report regarding secondary adjustment, limitation on interest deduction, GAAR and CBCR. He spoke on the various practical issues while reporting the information for the new clauses with examples and case studies. He also informed participants that now a tax auditor has to make himself aware of basic international tax and transfer pricing provisions before performing
tax audits.

CA Bhadresh Doshi spoke on clauses allotted to him and discussed the issues and the reporting requirement arising from them. His immense experience on litigation helped the participants to know the jurisprudence on various issues arising from the said clauses. He also guided participants on how one should report on such clauses.

CA Jagdish Punjabi addressed the last session of the seminar covering large number of clauses. He along with chairman CA. Anil Sathe explained how reporting under section 269 SS, section 269 ST and section 269 T needs to be done. He also discussed on clauses related to TDS and shared his views on what and how one should report in new clause related to GST and Non GST expenses breakup.

The sessions in the Seminar were interactive and the speakers shared their insights on the subject. The participants benefited immensely with the guidance and practical views on various issues by the faculties. The event garnered overwhelming response and saw an attendance by over 156 participants including 40 on the new BCAS e-learning platform and also outstation participants from 11 cities/towns.

HRD Study Circle

Study Circle Meeting on “CREAM Analytics (Measuring Governance – Return on Intangible) held on 14th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Human Resources Development Committee organised a study circle on “CREAM Analytics (Measuring Governance – Return on Intangible)” presented by CA. Jayaraman Rajah Iyer, on 14th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

The discussion took place emphasising the following:

  1. Measuring Corporate Governance is measuring Profits, with the derived formula for the theme ‘Measure Cost Consequence Now, Now, Now’ as a corporate theme to strengthen the Corporate Governance process measuring on the go.
  1. Return on Investment is not sufficient anymore because measuring corporate fiscal assets usage is limited in its utility without measuring corporate ethical assets usage. Return on Intangible is the only way out for corporate measuring for an optimised performance and usage of both fiscal and ethical assets and deconstructing what is valueless.
  1. By Principle #5 Emergent Property Phenomenon, the discussion took place on the three principles within: (1) Conformability with Nature, (2) Simplicity and (3) Unreasonable Effectiveness on the corporate change management similar to a yogic exercise, for a company to becoming fit without any financial burden, under the theme “You don’t add something more to get something more.”

The participants learned a lot from the session delivered by the experienced Speaker.

Indirect Tax Study Circle

Study Circle Meeting on “Input Tax Credit Provisions under GST Act. (Part -1)” held on 20th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Indirect Taxation Committee conducted a Study Circle meeting on 20th August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was led by the Group Leader CA. Parth Shah and chaired by CA. Udyan Chokshi and CA. Ishaan Patkar.

The Speakers made an in depth analysis of provisions relating to Input Tax Credit under GST. Each sub-section of provisions contained in section 16 were deliberated by the members which ignited very healthy discussion amongst the participants. All the members actively participated in discussion and appreciated the quality of issues deliberated during the session. It was a good learning experience by the participants.

“Interactive meeting with representatives of TRACES and NSDL” held on 22nd August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Taxation Committee organised an interactive meeting with representatives of TRACES and NSDL on 22nd August, 2018. The meeting was addressed by Mr. Deepak Wayal, Asst. Manager of NSDL, and Mr. Purshottam from TRACES, Ghaziabad to discuss issues in filing and revising eTDS statements.
After the welcome address and introductory speech by the President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, Mr. Deepak Wayal explained the role of NSDL in eTDS processing. NSDL role is preparing the utility to be used for the preparation of the eTDS returns, and also the file validation utility. He made a short presentation on the interplay of various key processes involved beginning with payment of TDS and ending with credit in payee’s Form 26AS and issue of TDS certificates by the deductors. He discussed reasons for which demands are raised on TRACES site, due to incorrect feeding of data while filing the statements and the precautions which need to be taken while filing the same.

Thereafter, Mr. Purshottam who had travelled all the way from Ghaziabad, explained functionalities available on the TRACES website, and how the same have changed in the last decade. He also explained reasons why demands are raised on TRACES and how the same can be avoided. He also took the delegates present through the new upcoming changes both in the short term and in the long term. The long term changes also include use of block chain technology in eTDS processing. He also briefed the members present about the new proposal to apply for and issue lower / NIL TDS certificates under section 197 / 195 online, which will reduce human interface.

Both the speakers took all the questions not only from the floor, but also those raised by online participants who were viewing the event as a live webinar. The interaction was highly appreciated by one and all present, both offline and online and the participants got enlightened on the subject.

Students’ Study Circle on ‘Audit from Article’s Perspective in recent times’ and ‘Important Clauses and Recent Amendments in Tax Audit Report (Form 3CD)’ held at BCAS Conference Hall on 23rd August, 2018

The Students Forum under the auspices of HRD Committee organised a Students’ Study Circle on the abovementioned topics on 23rd August, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

The study circle was led by student group leaders Mr. Vishal Manwani and Ms. Surabhi Tawade under the mentorship of CA. Chirag Doshi. CA. Rajesh Muni, Chairman of the HRD Committee gave his opening remarks and encouraged students to actively participate in the events organised by the Students Forum. Mr. Jimit Doshi, the student co-ordinator introduced the mentor, group leaders and briefly explained the topics.

The motive of the study circle was to make the students aware of the recent developments in Statutory Audit and Tax Audit from the article’s perspective and highlight the new reporting requirements in Tax Audit report (Form 3CD). Both the group leaders covered their respective topics in an interactive manner and shared their practical experience on crucial issues.

CA Chirag Doshi guided the students on the increased responsibility of auditors in the current scenario and gave them useful tips to perform an effective audit. Overall, the study circle was a perfect blend of technical depth and practical insight.

CA Raj Khona, Incharge for Students Activities then briefed the participants about the forthcoming events which will be organised by the Students Forum and encouraged them to come forward to lead study circles. Ms. Neelam Soneja, the student co-ordinator thanked the group leaders and mentor for sharing their knowledge on the subject for the benefit of the participants.

The study circle proved to be a wonderful experience for the students in attendance. The feedback from the participating students was very positive.

MISCELLANEA

1. Culture

22.  Forger programming – the best skill to teach
children is reinvention

 

The author of Sapiens reveals what
2050 has in store for humankind and in his part one it has dealt – Change is
the only constant.

 

Humankind is facing unprecedented
revolutions, all our old stories are crumbling and no new story has so far
emerged to replace them. How can we prepare ourselves and our children for a
world of such unprecedented transformations and radical uncertainties? A baby
born today will be thirty-something in 2050. If all goes well, that baby will
still be around in 2100, and might even be an active citizen of the 22nd
century. What should we teach that baby that will help him or her survive and
flourish in the world of 2050 or of the 22nd century? What kind of skills will
he or she need in order to get a job, understand what is happening around them
and navigate the maze of life?

 

Unfortunately, since nobody knows
how the world will look in 2050 – not to mention 2100 – we don’t know the
answer to these questions. Of course, humans have never been able to predict
the future with accuracy. But today it is more difficult than ever before,
because once technology enables us to engineer bodies, brains and minds, we can
no longer be certain about anything – including things that previously seemed
fixed and eternal.

 

A thousand years ago, in 1018,
there were many things people didn’t know about the future, but they were
nevertheless convinced that the basic features of human society were not going
to change. If you lived in China in 1018, you knew that by 1050 the Song Empire
might collapse, the Khitans might invade from the north, and plagues might kill
millions. However, it was clear to you that even in 1050 most people would
still work as farmers and weavers, rulers would still rely on humans to staff
their armies and bureaucracies, men would still dominate women, life expectancy
would still be about 40, and the human body would be exactly the same. Hence in
1018, poor Chinese parents taught their children how to plant rice or weave
silk, and wealthier parents taught their boys how to read the Confucian
classics, write calligraphy or fight on horseback – and taught their girls to
be modest and obedient housewives. It was obvious these skills would still be
needed in 1050.

 

In contrast, today we have no idea
how China or the rest of the world will look in 2050. We don’t know what people
will do for a living, we don’t know how armies or bureaucracies will function,
and we don’t know what gender relations will be like. Some people will probably
live much longer than today, and the human body itself might undergo an
unprecedented revolution thanks to bioengineering and direct brain-computer
interfaces. Much of what kids learn today will likely be irrelevant by 2050.

 

At present, too many schools focus
on cramming information. In the past this made sense, because information was
scarce, and even the slow trickle of existing information was repeatedly
blocked by censorship. If you lived, say, in a small provincial town in Mexico
in 1800, it was difficult for you to know much about the wider world. There was
no radio, television, daily newspapers or public libraries. Even if you were
literate and had access to a private library, there was not much to read other
than novels and religious tracts. The Spanish Empire heavily censored all texts
printed locally, and allowed only a dribble of vetted publications to be
imported from outside. Much the same was true if you lived in some provincial
town in Russia, India, Turkey or China. When modern schools came along,
teaching every child to read and write and imparting the basic facts of
geography, history and biology, they represented an immense improvement.

 

In contrast, in the 21st century we
are flooded by enormous amounts of information, and even the censors don’t try
to block it. Instead, they are busy spreading misinformation or distracting us
with irrelevancies. If you live in some provincial Mexican town and you have a
smartphone, you can spend many lifetimes just reading Wikipedia, watching TED
talks, and taking free online courses. No government can hope to conceal all
the information it doesn’t like. On the other hand, it is alarmingly easy to
inundate the public with conflicting reports and red herrings.

 

People all over the world are but a
click away from the latest accounts of the bombardment of Aleppo or of melting
ice caps in the Arctic, but there are so many contradictory accounts that it is
hard to know what to believe. Besides, countless other things are just a click
away, making it difficult to focus, and when politics or science look too
complicated it is tempting to switch to funny cat videos, celebrity gossip or
porn.

 

In such a world, the last thing a
teacher needs to give her pupils is more information. They already have far too
much of it. Instead, people need the ability to make sense of information, to
tell the difference between what is important and what is unimportant, and
above all to combine many bits of information into a broad picture of the
world.

 

In truth, this has been the ideal
of western liberal education for centuries, but up till now even many western
schools have been rather slack in fulfilling it. Teachers allowed themselves to
focus on shoving data while encouraging pupils “to think for themselves”.

 

Due to their fear of
authoritarianism, liberal schools had a particular horror of grand narratives.
They assumed that as long as we give students lots of data and a modicum of
freedom, the students will create their own picture of the world, and even if
this generation fails to synthesise all the data into a coherent and meaningful
story of the world, there will be plenty of time to construct a good synthesis
in the future. We have now run out of time. The decisions we will take in the
next few decades will shape the future of life itself, and we can take these
decisions based only on our present world view. If this generation lacks a
comprehensive view of the cosmos, the future of life will be decided at random.

 

(Source: WIRED – By Yuval Noah
Harari, 12 August 2018)

 

2. 
Technology

23.  Blockchain, machine learning, and a future
accounting

 

The inventor of bitcoin and
blockchain technology goes by the name Satoshi Nakamoto. Though Nakamoto claims
to be a Japanese man born in 1975, most experts believe Nakamoto is a
pseudonym. Some have gone so far as to theorize that Nakamoto isn’t a single
person at all, but rather a collective of people. The mystery persists to this
day, despite the efforts of many of the world’s best journalists.

 

As fascinating as this story is,
the wide-ranging application of blockchain technology is even more compelling.
In a world where disruption is a buzzword, it’s still rare for a technology to
radically alter the face of an industry. For accountants and auditors, however,
blockchain has the potential do just that, especially when combined with other
innovations such as machine learning. Because accounting records contain highly
structured sets of data, this technology is perfectly suited for our profession.
Professionals who aren’t at the forefront of learning and testing ways to adopt
these technologies risk getting left behind.

 

Blockchain: Way more than bitcoin

While blockchain was created to
facilitate bitcoin, the technology now extends far beyond the world of
cryptocurrency. An important facet of blockchain technology is that it is
decentralized, eliminating the middleman. Rather than storing data in one
location, blockchain technology shares data across a massive peer-to-peer
network. Until now, we have relied on institutions or trusted third parties,
such as banks, government registries, and other intermediaries, to be in the
middle of our transactions to create validity.

 

The way blockchain technology is
structured is said to make it nearly impossible for records to be falsified or
corrupted. This is because as transactions are permanently added to the ledger
(like blocks in a chain), information is transparently presented to all parties
involved and one block is then linked to the next in the chain. Files can also
be time-stamped and marked with a virtual fingerprint known as a “hash
string” to ensure they remain unmodified. Because hackers cannot access
data through a central point of vulnerability, blockchain networks are nearly
impenetrable.

 

How blockchain could alter accounting

Blockchain adoption is still in its
infancy, but that hasn’t stopped experts from speculating on the vast changes
the technology may bring. In a white paper published by Deloitte, the firm
hypothesizes that blockchain could “shapeshift the nature of today’s
accounting.” No wonder, then, that all of the Big Four accounting firms
are spending a great deal of time and money investigating blockchain
applications. For example, Deloitte has established a blockchain consulting business
and EY accepts bitcoin for settling invoices.

 

What might a blockchain-based
accounting system look like? Theoretically, it would allow secure, verified
information to be stored and accessed by multiple parties across multiple
locations. Because a blockchain is encrypted and consensus verified, it
essentially notarizes itself. All of this adds up to the possibility of a
replacement for the double-entry accounting method that has been commonplace
since the Renaissance.

 

“Imagine a world where
accounting was not double entry, but maintained in ledgers simultaneously
recording the same item in multiple locations on multiple computers, all
self-balancing and checking every few minutes,” wrote Tony Hobrow, CEO of
VenturesOne Asia and NexAssure Group, in a LinkedIn article. “No
middlemen, no reconciliation, no corrupt date, no need for month-end cycles, no
need to bring together all the different books and records of departments and
counter-parties.”

 

That, in short, is the promise of
blockchain accounting.

 

Combining blockchain with artificial intelligence

Blockchain may transform the
accounting world as we know it, but other technological advances are already
making waves. Chief among them are innovations from the world of artificial
intelligence (AI). A 2018 analysis by International Data Corp. predicts AI
spending will reach $46 billion by 2020.

 

Machine learning is a subfield
within AI that should be of particular interest to accounting professionals.
Arthur Samuel, who coined the term, defines machine learning as giving
“computers the ability to learn without having to be explicitly
programmed.” With machine learning, tasks that have traditionally required
human intervention can be automated. This technology increases efficiency
within the accounting profession to an unprecedented degree, which in turn will
affect our future workflow process and how we interact with clients.

 

When you combine machine learning
and blockchain, you get nothing short of a technological revolution. It’s
possible to envision a world where accounting and auditing happen in real time,
with all relevant parties being informed every step of the way — a true
continuous audit. That future may still be a ways off, but now is the time to
start assessing which processes in your firm could be amenable to AI
technology. Accounting firms and corporate accounting departments should start
not only learning how to take advantage of the technology, but also testing new
ways of working internally with their teams and externally with clients. Starting
small with expense reporting or document collection applications can be a way
to gain confidence in the benefits of utilizing technology like this before
taking on larger applications like general ledger systems.

 

Visions of the future

What does this mean for accountants
and auditors? The short answer is change is on the horizon. While even the most
forward-thinking thought leaders don’t foresee a world where accounting
processes can exist without humans, there’s no denying that roles and workflows
will look radically different in the next few years.

 

Auditors will spend much less time
performing audits, and more time designing, reviewing, and verifying how
information flows between systems. Rather than audits being performed at
regular intervals, blockchain and machine learning present the possibility of a
true continuous audit. All of this technology adds up to more time for human
connection with your internal teams, as well as your external clients, with
soft skills, analytical abilities, and advisory services becoming important in
delivering value to an organization. With continuous audit, trends and missing
data could be identified much earlier, allowing for problems to be proactively
addressed, rather than reactively reported. Continuous auditing also would give
peace of mind to businesses and their investors while also, hopefully, reducing
many of the tasks that accounting firms often have written off or not charged
for.

 

A similar shift could also occur
for accountants. Everyday data-entry tasks are poised to become much easier,
freeing up time for accountants to focus on analysis and insights. Accountants
and firms that develop these skills now will be able to differentiate
themselves as the technology becomes widespread. The days of offering value
simply through accurate data entry and calculations are numbered, so taking the
time to retool now and work on your advisory skills is an investment in the
future of our work.

 

There’s no getting around the fact
that technologies like blockchain and machine learning are no longer a tiny dot
on the horizon. The future is here, and accounting professionals must be
willing to adapt.

 

(Source: Newsletter/CPA Insider –
By Amy Vetter, CPA/CITP, CGMA – 20 August 2018)

 

3.   News –

 

24.  The Isolated error

 

BT blames human error as it reveals £500m pension deficit gaffe

 

Mistake by actuary comes after
accounting scandal last year that wiped £8bn off its value. BT has revealed
another accounting error after its pension deficit was underestimated by £500m.

 

The telecommunications company,
which had £8bn wiped off its stock market value in 2017 after admitting to an
accounting scandal at its Italian unit, blamed the latest gaffe on an “isolated
human error”.

 

The error was made by BT’s
independent actuary, Willis Towers Watson, in its calculation of the company’s
pension deficit at 31 March. The restated pension deficit stands at £3.9bn as
at the end of June.

 

Simon Lowth, BT’s chief financial
officer, said: “We have received assurances from Willis Towers Watson that
there are no other errors. As you would expect, we are undertaking further
review procedures around that calculation.

 

“We spent a lot of time with WTW
making sure we understand what created the error. It was an isolated human
error that they identified. We are also working on what they need to do to
strengthen their controls.”

 

Following the £530m Italian
accounting scandal, which cost the outgoing BT chief executive, Gavin
Patterson, £4m in bonus payouts, the company’s accountant, PWC, was eventually
fired. BT would not comment on its future relationship with WTW.

 

Lowth pointed out the error had no
impact on the company’s profits, cashflow, the triennial valuation of its
pension deficit conducted last year, or any members of the BT pension scheme.
Nevertheless, another financial error was the last thing BT needed.

 

Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at
Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Clearly this slip doesn’t inspire confidence.”

 

BT said the correction amounted to
less than 1% of its total pension liabilities of just over £57bn.

 

WTW said the error was due to “an
actuarial assumption not being accurately reflected in our actuarial
calculations”.

“Willis Towers Watson has stringent
controls in place to confirm the accuracy of the calculations that we provide
to clients, and the error has now been corrected,” a spokesman said. “We are
working closely with BT to support their review of the matter.”

 

Patterson, who said he would still
be in place in November to deliver the company’s half-year results, said BT had
made a good start to the year. “We are making positive progress against our
strategy,” he said.

 

In the first quarter, Patterson
said, it had made the first 900 of a planned 13,000 job cuts over the next
three years to save £1.5bn.

 

BT’s financial performance for the
second quarter was slightly ahead of forecasts, and the company reaffirmed its
guidance for full-year revenue and profit.

 

This prompted
a 4% share price rise as investors responded positively after a string of
negative news that had left its share price down more than one-quarter in the
past year.

 

Total revenue for the quarter was
down 2% to £5.7bn. Reported profit before tax was up 68% to £704m, due to the
hit the company took relating to the Italian accounting scandal. Adjusted
profit was up 3% at £816m. Net debt increased to £11.2bn from £8.8bn.

 

The company has stopped reporting
broadband and TV subscriber numbers, which fell in the past two quarters, as it
focuses on increasing average revenue per customer rather than the number of
sign-ups.

 

Paolo Pescatore, an independent
telecoms analyst, said: “All providers will be seeking to lure households with
attractive offers ahead of the new Premier League season. BT must do a better
job of signing up TV subscribers and maximise BT Sport across its base.”

 

(Source: The
Guardian (International edition) – 27 July 2018)

 

25.  PWC doing double duty as auditor and tax
lobbyist

 

PwC billed $10.74 million since
2013 as the exclusive registered lobbyist on tax reform for a coalition that
includes several audit clients.

The largest audit firm in the
world, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, is a registered tax lobbyist for a coalition
of some of the largest multinationals that includes a large number of its audit
clients.

 

PwC has earned $10.74 million since
2013, according to the Senate’s lobbying disclosure database, as the exclusive
registered lobbyist for the Alliance for Competitive Taxation, on a single
issue: tax reform.

 

(Source:
www.marketwatch.com, 30 July 2018)

 

Representations

1.  Dated: 8th August 2018

     To: The Finance Secretary, Govt. of
India

    Subject: CBDT directive for offering
incentives to Commissioners of Income-tax (Appeals) for passing quality orders
based on Enhancement of assessment and imposition of fresh penalty and other
issues

   Representation by: IMC Chamber of
Commerce and Industry; Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society; Chartered
Accountants Association, Ahmedabad; Chartered Accountants Association, Surat;
Karnataka State Chartered Accountants’ Association; Lucknow Chartered
Accountants’ Society.

 

2.  Dated: 9th August 2018

    To: The Ministry of Finance, Govt. of
India

   Subject: Comments and Suggestions
with regard to framing of Income-tax rules relating to Significant Economic
Presence as per Explanation 2A to Section 9(1)(i) of the Income-tax Act, 1961
(the Act)

    Representation by: Bombay Chartered
Accountants’ Society.

 

3.  Dated: 21st August 2018

    To: Chairman, Central Board of
Direct Taxes, Govt. of India

   Subject: Revised Tax Audit Report in
Form 3CD for AY 2018-19 –recommendations soliciting immediate intervention

  Representation by: IMC Chamber of
Commerce and Industry; Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society; Chartered
Accountants Association, Ahmedabad; Chartered Accountants Association, Surat;
Karnataka State Chartered Accountants’ Association; Lucknow Chartered
Accountants’ Society.

 

4.  Dated: 27th August 2018

    To: Securities and Exchange Board of
India (SEBI)

    Subject: Consultative paper on
proposed SEBI (Feduciaries in the securities market) (Amendment) Regulations
Representation by: Corporate and Allied Laws Committee of the Bombay Chartered
Accountants’ Society.

 

5.  Dated: 28th August 2018

     To: Chairman, Central Board of
Direct Taxes, Govt. of India

     Subject: Representation on Gratuity
Exemption Limits

     Representation by: IMC Chamber of
Commerce and Industry; Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society. 

 

Note: For full Text of the above Representations,
visit our website www.bcasonline.org 

ETHICS AND U

Arjun : (Chanting) Hare Rama Hare Krishna…

           

Shrikrishna : Arjun, I am sure you are praying for extension of due date.

           

Arjun : Oh, Lord, I didn’t notice when you arrived.

           

Shrikrishna : I am omnipresent.

           

Arjun : Yes, you guessed correctly what I was thinking about. September is
really a nightmare for all of us. It is a yearly phenomenon.

           

Shrikrishna : All these years, I used to feel that the fault lies with you CAs only.
But over the years I realised that it is a problem of the system. It has become
a chronic issue.

           

Arjun : You said it! Actually, our time and energy is lost in the relatively
unproductive exercise of filing smaller returns. Government also may not be
getting substantial revenue from it.

           

Shrikrishna : But you get 2 full months after 31st of July.

           

Arjun : Agreed. But this year, even that date was extended up to 31st
of August. It was followed by Shree Ganesh festival.

           

Shrikrishna : But Ganesh festival is only in a few states.

           

Arjun : What you say is right. But Mumbai is the financial capital. So the
social life of Mumbai has to be considered by the government. And there were
disastrous floods in Maharashtra. This year, there was a record rainfall.

           

Shrikrishna : Why don’t you tell all this to the government?

           

Arjun : Further, all our experienced CA trainees are on exam leave in
September. Government – especially bureaucrats – are least bothered about our
problems.

           

Shrikrishna : This would be the problem of all seasonal businesses and professions.

Arjun : And all compliances almost coincide with each other. Tax audits, tax
returns, GST, company law compliances, AGM – everything simultaneously. How can
we cope up with all these?

           

Shrikrishna : But your clients also have to take it seriously. Don’t they co-operate?

           

Arjun : That is another hazard! All clients appear at the 11th hour
only. Each one is under the sweet impression that he is our only client. They
are relaxed when we are slogging day and night for them! They feel that we are
doing all these compliances for our own sake only! They have nothing to do with
any paper work. Accounting Standards, Auditing Standards and other regulations…

           

Shrikrishna : Then let them suffer penalties.

           

Arjun : That is true! But again they blame us! And the present-day tax
terrorism is depressing. For every small default, there is disproportionate
penalty and even prosecution.

           

Shrikrishna : Why don’t you employ more qualified staff?

           

Arjun : Bhagwan, in today’s grave recession, we find it difficult to pay
salaries to even the existing staff. Again, newly-passed CAs do not wish to
enter this profession. I am told, even the number of new students joining the
course has reduced by more than half.

           

Shrikrishna : But I know that you have a common practice of backdating the signatures!

           

Arjun : Ha! Ha! Ha! But now, that is also restricted. We need to generate ‘UDIN’.

           

Shrikrishna : What is that?

           

Arjun : Unique Document Identification Number. Actually, it is in our interest
only as there were many instances of forgery of CAs’ signatures on financial
statements. Now, after signing the audit, we have to generate our UDIN for each
document within 15 days.

Shrikrishna : That means, from all angles, you are trapped. That should curb many unethical
practices.

           

Arjun : Bhagwan, finally all our discussions turn to the topic of
ethics. For your information, non-generation of UDIN is also now regarded as a
professional misconduct.

           

Shrikrishna : Then you need to be extra careful. In a hurry and confusion, you may
forget to do so in a few cases! I suggest you better establish a proper system
of recording the dates of signatures and creation of UDIN. The best way is not
to sign any document without UDIN.

           

Arjun : Bhagwan, it is an ideal or dream situation! Never possible in a
typical CA’s  office. The pressure of
uploading is too acute – rather, suffocating.

           

Shrikrishna : Then really, all of you should come together; and think of a real
solution to this perpetual, never-ending problem. You only take a lead and God
will support you!

           

Arjun : Yes, My Lord! I will do it next year!

           

Om Shanti.

 

(This dialogue is based on the yearly
problem of tax compliances in CAs’ offices and the requirement of UDIN in Code
of Ethics)
 

 

 

Society News

Meetings of Intensive Study Group on GST held
on 9th , 10th , 30th , 31st March, and 20th, 21st, 27th
and 28th April, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

To understand the GST law, Intensive Study Group
conducted eight meetings during the month of March and
April, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall where the following
topics with relevant sections were discussed by the mentors:

Definitions and Levy: Sections 1, 2, 9, 10 & 11 of CGST
Act, Sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 of IGST Act : CA. Naresh
Sheth, CA. A. R. Krishnan, CA. Janak Vaghani.

Supply-1st Session: Section 7 of CGST Act, Schedule I,
II, III & IV (Excl. Sch. 1 Entry 2): CA. Naresh Sheth, CA.
Parind Mehta, CA. S. S. Gupta, CA. Jayraj Sheth.

Supply-2nd Session: Section 8, Principles of Classification-Relevant Notifications, SCH. 1 Entry 2: CA. Naresh Sheth, CA. Deepak Thakkar, CA Sushil Solanki.

Input Tax Credit: Section 16 to 21 of CGST Act: CA.
Naresh Sheth, CA. Parind Mehta, CA. Mandar Telang.

Place of Supply: Section 10 to 14 of IGST Act: CA. A. R.
Krishnan, CA. Deepak Thakkar, CA. Udayan Choksi,
CA. Rajat Talati, CA. Jayraj Sheth.

Time and Value of Supply and RCM: Section 12, 13, 14
and 15 of CGST Act and RCM Notifications: CA. Parind
Mehta, CA. Samir Kapadia, CA. Puloma Dalal.

Select Procedural Provisions: Section 22-25, 31, 34,
35, 54, 73, 74, 75, 107 and 111 of CGST Act: CA. Janak
Vaghani, CA. Udayan Choksi, CA. Rajiv Luthia.

Offences and Penalties: Sections 122-138 of CGST
Act: CA. Samir Kapadia, CA. Sushil Solanki, CA. Sunil
Gabhawalla.

There was an in-depth discussion on all the topics by the
learned and experienced mentors.
It was highly appreciated by the members. Members also
shared their practical experience during discussion which
benefited all present for the meeting.

INDIRECT TAX LAWS STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle Meeting on GST held on 15th May,
2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Indirect Tax Laws Study Circle organized a meeting at
BCAS Conference Hall to discuss certain recent landmark
decisions pertaining to the Service Tax regime, relevant
to GST Law, which was chaired by Advocate Bharat
Raichandani. The Speaker discussed various judgements
quiet relevant in the day to day professional obligations of
the assessees namely Builder Association of Navi Mumbai
vs. UOI (Bom HC), Shri Krishna Chaitanya Enterprises
(Kumar Beheray) (Bom HC), Cellular Operators Association
vs. Union Of India And Another (Del HC), and Coimbatore
Corporation Contractors Welfare Assn. (Mad HC).

Advocate Raichandani provided in depth analysis of
these decisions and also explained his views on possible
implications of these decisions in the GST regime.

The meeting was well appreciated by the participants who
benefitted a lot from the session.

Full day seminar on “Assessments,
Reassessments and Appeals” held on 26th May,
2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Taxation Committee organised a full day Seminar
on Assessments, Reassessments and Appeals on 26th
May, 2018 at Indian Merchants Chamber, Mumbai. The
event saw attendance of over 120 participants including
outstation participants. President Narayan Pasari gave
the opening remarks.

Following topics were taken up at the Seminar by the
Speakers:

Assessment / Reassessment /
Penalty Proceedings – The Why,
What and How – Practical aspects
of the art of representation before
tax authorities: CA. Manish Shah
commenced the session with
practical and important aspects of
assessment proceedings. He cited
various examples and case studies to explain and guide the
participants in selecting best approach in a given situation.
He also provided insights on what are the recent changes
and the Do’s and Don’ts one should keep in mind while
attending assessment proceedings. The Speaker also
explained reassessment proceedings with the help of case
studies and the procedure for making an application under
RTI Act and how it can be useful.

Appeals – The art of making a
winning impression before CIT (A)
/ ITAT- Tips on drafting of appeals
and Representation: CA. Rajan
Vora explained about the appellate
mechanism under the Act and practical
aspects about appeals. He also
enlightened on what are the powers of
CIT (A) and ITAT and their limitations. He further covered a
wide range of issues on the subject right from filing fees to
the procedure of appeals before CIT (A) and ITAT.

Appeals – The view from the other
side – First-hand experience of
departmental officers – guidance
to CAs on how to improve their
representation skills: Adv. Girish
Dave (Retired CCIT) spoke on
appeals and also about command
over English language and gave tips
on how one should have effective communication with the
CIT (A) and ITAT members. He discussed on the couple
of landmark judgements and shared his insights on how to
draft grounds of appeal. He also explained the importance
of cross examination and shared his thoughts on Civil
Procedure Code and Miscellaneous Applications.

Search, Seizure and Survey – How to handle the
situation and comply with the law and precautions to
be taken while drafting replies to
the notices: CA. Dilip Lakhani took
the session on Search, Seizure and
Survey and explained how to handle
the situation, how one should comply
with the law and precautions to be
taken while drafting replies to the
notices. He shared his experience on
the subject dealing with various complex cases and issues
and gave insights on penalty, search and release of seized
assets. He also gave practical tips and Do’s and Don’ts one
should keep in mind after the search.

E–Assessments – Understanding
the nuts and bolts: – CA. Ishraq
Contractor took the session on
E-assessments. He spoke about
how the new system of conducting
assessments is grappling with
various serious issues. He discussed
the background, advantages and
challenges regarding E- Assessments and displayed various
screenshots of the interface used for E-Assessments.

ITAT Representation – Expectations
from Representatives and tips
on improving the skills:- Mr. G S
Pannu (ITAT Member) shared his
views on the expectations from the
representatives appearing before the
Appellate Tribunal. He expressed
his views and guidance on the skills
one should possess for representing before the ITAT. He
also shared his experience and his journey from being a
Chartered Accountant in practice to an ITAT member.

Experts Chat – Appeals before CIT(A), ITAT – Preparation,
Submission and Representation:- The final session was an
expert’s chat between Mr. C.S. Gulati and CA. Dilip Lakhani
moderated by CA. Ameet Patel who asked both the esteemed
faculties various questions on the law and procedural part of
assessments and appeals. Both the experts were frank and
shared their views on the questions asked.

The sessions in the Seminar were highly interactive and
the speakers shared their insights on the subjects dealt by
each one of them. The participants benefited immensely
with the guidance and practical views on various issues by
the faculties.

Lecture Meeting organised by BCAS jointly with
IIA Bombay Chapter on “Corporate Governance
– Role of Independent Directors” held on 6th
June 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A Lecture Meeting on the topic ‘Corporate Governance
– Role of Independent Directors’ was held at the BCAS
Conference Hall on 6th June, 2018.addressed by CA.
Nawshir Mirza.

BCAS President, CA Narayan Pasari
in his opening remarks underlined
the pivotal role played by a vibrant
corporate governance structure in
bolstering India’s economic growth.
He remarked that while over the last
decade, lawmakers in India have been
extremely cognizant of its importance,
in recent times sadly, even in the most reputed listed Indian
companies, the corporate governance practices have
raised certain concerns and questions.

IIA-BC President, CA. Burzin Dubash presented interesting
statistics relating to directors, independent directors, women
directors, age analysis of directors, etc. in Corporate India.

CA. Nawshir Mirza, in his presentation, spoke candidly on
the topic of Indian boards’ performance and independent
directors. He mentioned that Corporate India has principally
one expectation from its independent directors – to add
value to the board they sit on, and most often than not,
this is measured in terms of the difference that they can
make in furthering growth and business of the corporate. An
independent director, he said, must display wisdom while
balancing the conflict of interests of various stakeholders.

He spoke about the influences on boardroom behaviour,
more specifically, capitalism, human psychology and,
especially Indian culture and business families. He opined
that as people, Indians are highly individualistic, shy away
from openly disagreeing, are respectful of elders, while
being mindful of the need to adjust and accommodate –
all this has an undeniable influence on many boardroom
proceedings. In the Indian boardrooms, to question or offer
an opinion in contrast with that of the majority shareholder,
is often not welcomed, he said. This, he stated, is in sharp
contrast to the western world which encourages team work,
while also respecting an individual’s right to dissent without
being intimidated by elders or others in power.

As an independent director, one must possess the courage
to think, speak and act – and to do that effectively, the
triangle of thoughts, words and actions must be in sync,
he said. He offered that courage is the most important of
all virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any
other virtue consistently.

CA. Nawshir Mirza’s presentation was followed by an
engaging round of Q&A.

In answer to a question relating to performance evaluation,
he confided that an informal way of doing so had yielded
interesting answers; in this, each board member was asked
his/her opinion regarding the others on the following 3
questions –

  • What did he/she do good?
  • What could he/she do better?
  • What should he/she stop doing?

The event witnessed an impressive turnout and benefited
all present.

SUBURBAN STUDY CIRCLE

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “Changes in
Income Tax return forms – A.Y: 2018-19” held
on 7th June, 2018.

The Suburban Study Circle organized a meeting on
Changes in Income Tax return forms for the A.Y: 2018-
19 on 7th June, 2018 at Bathiya & Associates, Andheri which
was addressed by CA. Kinjal Bhuta.

The Speaker made a detailed presentation on the following
issues concerning the ITR Forms after the new amendments
namely: a) Applicability of the ITR forms as the assessee
generally makes mistake during selection of ITR form.
b) Major changes and additional details for presumptive
scheme c) General and miscellaneous changes across all
ITR’s. The speaker also discussed how to avoid mistakes
and gave tips for filling ITRs smoothly and shared practical
examples on filling returns.

The session was a good learning experience for the
participants.

ITF STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle Meeting on “Make Available-
Discussion and Case Laws” held on 8th June,
2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

International Taxation Committee conducted a meeting on
“Make Available concept and related Case Laws” on 8th
June, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The meeting was
led by Group Leaders CA. Nilesh Lilani and CA. Siddharth
Parekh who explained the far reaching impact of Make
Available Concept as it limits the scope of Fees for Technical
Services (‘FTS’) / Fees for Included Services (‘FIS’) clause
in Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (‘DTAA’).
The Group Leaders commenced the meeting by explaining
the possible scenarios in DTAA in relation to FTS Article
along with discussion on FIS under Indo-US treaty. They
also deliberated the significance of word “which” being
relative pronoun, connecting the word “services” with “make
available”, tests for considering whether or not services
“make available”, technical knowledge, experience,
skill, know-how or processes etc, correlating the initial
expression in FTS/FIS Article such as “consideration for”
with subsequent clauses in the Article, comparison of explicit
wording in India- Singapore Treaty with other countries
treaty, implication of most favoured nation clause in protocol
of treaties etc. After deliberation on concept, various judicial
precedents on the subject matter were discussed.
The meeting was very interactive and the participants got
enormously enlightened from the discussion and insights
provided by the learned speakers.

Noble Social Cause Visit – Vadodara – on 14th &
15th June, 2018

The fortunate 14 volunteers from BCAS got an opportunity
of an uplifting and inspiring 2 day visit to two NGOs:
Muni Seva Ashram at Goraj and Ashaktashram Society
at Dakor, both located in Vadodara District. This noble
social visit was organised by the HDTI Committee of BCAS
jointly with BCAS Foundation.

Muni Seva Ashram at Goraj, Dist. Vadodara

This more than 3 decade old Ashram , generates 70%
of its resources in-house and is an impressive model for
sustainable use of technology generating bio-gas, solar
energy besides also into organic farming. The huge campus
of 300 acres operates programs focussed on agriculture,
education and medicine – a nationally renowned Cancer
Hospital, a big Senior Citizen Centre, school from
Kindergarten to Grade 12, Bhagini mandir for the mentally
challenged, huge Gaushala (cow-shed) and many more.
The Ashram has evolved from a small hut set up by founder
Late Anuben Thakkar to a fairly large campus with selfless
efforts of Dr. Vikram Patel who gave up his budding medical
career for a noble cause considering this ashram as his
place of worship. The most striking feature of this institute
is that nothing is free but every service is on pay-what-youcan
basis! The deficits are made up by generous donations
from well-wishers.

Ashaktashram Society at Dakor, Dist. Vadodara

In the year 1982, the protagonist Late Shri Keshavlal R.
Shah was inspired to build a place where elders can live together till their life. They all live here in complete harmony
like an extended family. Special care is been taken to
meet the medical needs of these elderly by having an inhouse
dispensary and physio care centre. The elderly here
joyfully celebrate all the festivals and also go together for an
annual vacation.

The present President of the Trust, Shri Chandravadan
Shantilal Shah is immensely contributing by giving his
valuable time for the upkeep of this institution.
All the volunteers were deeply moved by hospitality of the
Ashramwasis & serene blissful atmosphere of both the
Ashrams. It was indeed an elevating journey for all the
volunteers who were touched by the caretaker’s love &
warmth for the Ashramwasis, as all the girls at the school
for mentally challenged were referred to as Dikri (daughter
in Gujarati) and the elderly were respectfully addressed as
Maa and Dada.

The generous donation collected by the volunteers through
BCAS Foundation were donated in form of 2100 notebooks
to the Muniseva Ashram Schools, 100 bedsheets to
Ashaktashram and balance contribution to the general fund
of these Ashrams.

All the volunteers returned inspired with fond memories of
the soulful trip and a determination to devote more time for
such noble causes.

Representation

5th
June, 2018

 

 

To

 

Mr.
Sushil Chandra

The
Chairman,

Central
Board of Direct Taxes,

Ministry
of Finance,

Government
of India,

North
Block,

New Delhi
110 001.

 

Dear Sir,

 

Sub: Notification No. 23/2018 dated 24th
May, 2018 amending Rule 11UA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962

We are voluntary bodies of Chartered
Accountants with membership from across India with a combined membership of
more than 14,000 CAs. We would like to place before you a representation on
behalf of our members in connection with the recent notification issued by the
CBDT amending Rule 11UA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

 

As per the said amendment, the term
“Accountant” has been omitted from clause (c) of sub rule (2) of Rule 11UA.
Thereby, effectively, valuation of unlisted shares and securities can now be
done only by registered merchant bankers.

 

This amendment is not in the interest of the
tax payers of the country. It is a known fact that the number of registered
merchant bankers (for the purpose of Rule 11UA) is very small. Tax payers have
generally been approaching Chartered Accountants for this purpose. The
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has taken several
initiatives in the recent past to encourage its members to learn and attain
expertise in the field of valuation. Valuation Standards have been prescribed
by the ICAI to help Chartered Accountants in discharging their duty as valuers.

 

Apart from this, even under the Companies
Act, 2013, Chartered Accountants have been recognised as being eligible for
registration as valuers as laid down in section 247 of the said Act.

 

Further, in the various regulations issued
under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 also, valuation (including
valuation as per DCF method) by Chartered Accountants has been recognised for
long.

 

The Wealth-tax Rules too recognise Chartered
Accountants as being eligible for providing valuation reports.

 

In light of the above, it is indeed shocking
for us to note the sudden amendment in Rule 11UA derecognising Chartered
Accountants as valuers. No reasons are forthcoming for this amendment.

 

Therefore, on behalf of the tax paying
community of India, and on behalf of the tax professionals who assist the tax
payers in honestly complying with the tax laws of the country, we strongly urge
you to withdraw the amendment to Rule 11UA of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 and to
reinstate the position as it existed prior to the amendment.

 

Assuring you and the Government of India our
fullest support in the massive nation building exercise that is in progress,

 

We remain,

 

Yours sincerely

 

Sd/- 

Narayan Pasari                                                           Chintan
Doshi

President                                                                        President

Bombay
Chartered Accountants’ Society             Ahmedabad Chartered
Accountants’ Association

 

 

Sd/-                                                                            
                                       Sd/-

Raghavendra
T.N.                                                        Gyanesh Verma

President                                                                    
                                       President

Karnataka
State Chartered Accountants’                     Lucknow
Chartered Accountants’

Association                                                              
Society

 

Miscellanea

1. Economy

 

As a countermeasure, India hikes import duty on 29 US
products

 

A
Finance Ministry notification said the duty hike would come into effect
immediately for 28 products, while for the marine product, artemia, the
increased duty would be effective from August 4.

 

In a
retaliatory move against the recent US import duty hikes, India on 21 June 2018
raised customs duty on 29 products, including on iron and steel products
imported from the US.

 

In
March, US President Donald Trump slapped import tariffs of 25 per cent on steel
and 10 per cent on aluminium, unfolding the prospect of an all-out global trade
war. China retaliated in April, imposing tariffs as high as 25 per cent on 128
American products.

 

India
has sought an exemption from the US tariffs along the lines the US has allowed
to the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South
Korea.

 

In
Thursday’s hike by India, duty on flat rolled products on iron has been raised
to 27.50 per cent from 15 per cent earlier, while certain flat rolled products
on stainless steel will now attract 22.50 per cent duty as against 15 per cent
earlier.

 

Import
duty on chickpeas, Bengal gram (chana) and masur dal has been increased to 70
per cent, from 30 per cent earlier, while that on lentils has been raised to 40
per cent from 30 per cent.

 

Shelled
almonds from the US will now attract import duty at Rs 120 per kg, as compared
to Rs 100 earlier. Almonds in shell will now be levied import duty at Rs 42 per
kg as against Rs 35 earlier.

Shelled
walnut will now attract customs duty at the rate of 120 per cent, as against 30
per cent earlier.

 

Apples
will attract import duty of 75 per cent as compared to 50 per cent earlier.

 

Import
duty on American phosphoric acid has been raised to 20 per cent, from 10 per
cent each earlier, while the duty on diagnostic reagents has also been doubled
to 20 per cent.

 

Customs
duty on artemia, a type of shrimp, has been hiked to 30 per cent with effect
from August 4.

 

For
automobiles and earth moving equipment, SIM sockets and other metallic
mechanical items for use in manufacture of mobile phones, the duty has been
hiked to 25 per cent, from 15 per cent previously.

 

During
his official visit to Washington last week, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu
said that India and the US had agreed to hold official talks soon to address
the trade and economic irritants between both nations.

 

This
decision was taken during a series of meetings Prabhu had with US Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in
Washington during the Indian Minister’s visit from June 10 to 12.

 

(Source: International Business Times dated 21.06.2018)

 

Sistema exits Reliance Communications; sells its 10
percent stake

 

Russia’s
Sistema JSFC has become the latest foreign operator to exit the troubled Indian
telecom market, by selling its 10 percent stake in Reliance Communications in
multiple tranches over the past few months. The Russian conglomerate has
reportedly lost $ 4 billion on its investments.

Sistema
JSFC is believed to have decided against the idea of buying RCom’s remaining
telecom assets, comprising subsea cables, enterprise business and data centres,
following the divergence of opinion with the Anil Ambani-led telco.

 

Sistema
JSFC decided to exit RCom after the struggling telco recently got entrapped in
insolvency proceedings. It decided against making ambitious investments in
India’s brutally competitive and fast consolidating telecom market, having
already burnt its fingers.

 

In
October 2017, Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) was sold to Reliance
Communications in return for a 10 percent stake. RCom has also since closed
down its wireless business amid plunging revenue and mounting losses due to
intense competition, and operates only an enterprise business, besides running
data centres and sub-sea cables.

 

At the
time of the merger of RCom-SSTL, RCom shares were hovering at Rs 80 apiece in
early November 2015 but collapsed to around Rs 17 when the deal was finally
completed in late October 2017.

 

On
Wednesday, it gained over 4.8 percent over the previous close to end at Rs
15.30 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange. In past months, Sistema has
gradually reduced its stake in RCom. It lowered its stake to 7.09 percent by
letting minority shareholders swap their shares with those of RCom in March.

 

In
April and May, it sold off a further 2.1 percent and 0.55 percent respectively
in the open market, lowering its equity holding in RCom to 4.43 percent. The
development was seen on the expected lines as the telecom sector in the country
is witnessing a huge consolidation and stiff competition.

 

The
entry of Reliance Jio by offering attractive discounts on calls and data has
violently disrupted the entire telecom markets. The competition is expected to
become stiffer in the upcoming days.

 

(Source: International Business Times dated 21.06.2018)

 

2. 
Regulation

 

Auditor Exodus: When the regulator does its job, it
cleans the system!

Even
as investment experts are busy totting up the number of auditors that have
resigned this financial year (37 at latest count, according to Prime Database),
the big audit firm that triggered such an exodus, is facing the whiplash of
regulatory action around the world. On 13th June this year,
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) was fined £6.5 million and severely reprimanded
for admitted misconduct, by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), UK’s (United
Kingdom’s) accounting regulator.

 

PwC’s
audit partner, Steven Denison, was fined £325,000 and was banned from audit
work for 15 years. This was over the audit of BHS, a department store chain,
which collapsed a year after the PwC signed off on the audit in 2016. PwC, on
its website, accepts and apologises for “serious shortcomings with this audit
work,” but says that its “failings did not contribute to the collapse of BHS
over one year later…” The regulator has also asked PwC to ensure that all
audits of non-listed or high-profile companies are subject to ‘engagement
quality control review’.

 

PwC,
as expected, has contested the order and its global chairman, Robert E Moritz,
has complained to the media about our slow legal processes, and how the firm
has moved on after the Satyam scam and made amends. But, it is in for another
long battle, while the damage to its business is immediate. The SEBI action has
been a body blow, because it has come at a time when all major consulting firms
have seen their business boom in the past four years. The impact of SEBI’s
order is so huge that industry sources say some senior partners are looking to
exit the firm. No wonder, getting rid of shady accounts is clearly the first step, for PwC as well as other accounting
firms.  

 

The
lesson from this widespread reaction to SEBI’s action is not unique. It is a
well-accepted principle of law that exemplary financial punishment has a
salutary impact on the entire system. The effect of SEBI’s action across
corporate India only proves this. On the other hand, reputational damage
doesn’t bother large companies as much. They have become adept at countering it
through image and media management. Their large advertising and PR budgets and
ability to sponsor media events makes this a cakewalk. If SEBI sticks to its
tough stand, chairman Ajay Tyagi would have triggered the biggest clean-up of
corporate balance sheets in decades. If he succeeds in his fight to get banks
to report corporate defaults immediately to stock exchanges, he would create
history in terms of improving corporate governance and accounts.

 

Ironically,
the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has, finally, woken up to its own role
in regulating audit firms and has constituted an inquiry into the reasons for
the flood of resignations in June. Meanwhile, media reports attribute the exits
of auditors to three other factors apart from the SEBI’s order against PwC.
They are: 1) the possibility of forensic audits being ordered under the
Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; 2) auditors having to explain exits following
recommendations of the Kotak Committee on Corporate Governance; and 3) the fear
that the National Financial Authority of India (NFAI), as a brand new
independent auditor, will be much tougher than the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India (ICAI).

 

But
these reasons are too vague to even trigger a renunciation of business by any
audit firm. My own feedback from industry experts is that the SEBI order
against PwC is the single biggest reason for the so many auditors ditching
companies that they are not comfortable with. Ameet Patel, a well-known chartered
accountant, points out that many audits were taken up without proper due
diligence and the companies have now started waking up to the risks involved.

 

R.
Balakrishnan, former fund manager, investment analyst and Moneylife columnist,
also agrees that fear is the key. “Finally there is punishment. Auditors who
were friends with companies and signed first and read the accounts later have
turned cautions,” he says. Nikhil Vadia, another reputed tax expert, has an
additional point. He says, “Rule 9 of the Companies Audit and Auditors Rules
2014 has been dropped on 7 May 2018. Under this rule, the liability for an
audit (including criminal liability) would devolve only on the specific partner
who acted in a fraudulent manner. After the rule has been dropped, the
liability devolves on the entire firm and all partners are liable.” This, along
with the SEBI action in PwC, had triggered the auditor exits.

 

Top
Auditor Exits: 37 and Counting in 2017-18

 

Price
Waterhouse & Company (PwC) resigned from Vakrangee Limited citing
inadequate information on several matters provided by management.

 

Deloitte Haskins & Sells resigned as auditor of Manpasand Beverages also
saying ‘significant information’ sought by it was not provided.

 

PwC
resigned  from Atlanta Ltd, a
construction and infrastructure company.

 

Sai
Kanwar and Associates resigned from Fourth Dimension Solutions citing health
reasons.

 

V.
Shivkumar and Associates were disqualified by ICAI.

 

Ravindra Sharma and Associates quit Hanung Toys due to “preoccupation with
other assignments”.

 

Patankar & Associates quit as auditors of Inox Wind on 9 June saying it was
‘logistically difficult’ to continue
the audit.

 

A top
international consultant says, after SEBI’s action, most big audit firms have
begun to believe that it is best to resign even if there is a whiff of an issue
with a company. He also points out how this is bad for companies because if the
auditor resigns they are “presumed guilty and have to prove their innocence.”
In fact, there is another lesson here.

 

SEBI’s
order in the PwC-Satyam case has had a bigger impact than all the mindless
red-tape and form-filling that it has introduced after three corporate
governance committee reports that it commissioned over the past two decades. In
fact, SEBI’s corporate governance rules have placed such onerous
responsibilities on independent directors and audit committees (although it is
a open secret that they have no real truck with the actual working and
management of a company) that it has only created more business for more audit
and compliance experts that the board relies on. This imposes additional costs
on listed companies.

 

Finally,
there is the issue of timing. A new round of discussions on corporate
governance, action against PwC in India and UK, and the changed regulatory
oversight on Indian auditors — all have come in the space of a few months,
leading to a significant impact. It could well be the beginning of a
much-needed strong oversight on companies that statutory auditors get paid to
perform on behalf of shareholders, but have rarely done. 
 

 

(Source:
Moneylife News & Views dated 15.06.2018)

Statistically Speaking

Vital  statistics 
pertaining  to  the 
“Report  of the  Comptroller and Auditor General of India for
the year ended March 2017” published in 2018 are covered below:

 

1.   
Gross Expenditure by sectors of
General, Social and Economic Services and their autonomous bodies/corporations

 

S.no

Name of Ministry

2014-15

2015-16

2016-17

1.

Agriculture

26,572.32

22,778.34

48,997.61

2.

Ayurveda,
Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy

685.19

1,112.14

1,292.60

3.

Chemicals
and Fertilizers

75,411.37

77,966.79

70,604.54

4.

Civil
Aviation

6,626.28

4,168.10

3,405.79

5.

Coal

1,572.50

1,669.72

1,338.04

6.

Commerce
and Industry

7,438.02

7,400.47

6,507.48

7.

Consumer
Affairs, Food and Public Distribution

1,29,663.57

1,62,384.89

1,47,333.84

8.

Corporate
Affairs

226.23

404.48

397.28

9.

Culture

2,069.19

2,011.83

2,302.55

10.

Development
of North Eastern Region

1,761.01

2,036.68

2,543.61

 

2.    Delays in submission of
accounts by central autonomous bodies

 

 

 

 

2.   
Status of laying of the audited
accounts in the Parliament

 

Year of account

Total number of bodies for which audited accounts
were issued but not presented to Parliament

Total number of audited accounts presented after
due date

2013-14

01

Nil

2014-15

01

04

2015-16

39

62

 

 

 

 

4.    Utilisation Certificates
Outstanding as on 31 March 2017

 

As per the General Financial Rules,
certificates of utilisation in respect of grants released to statutory
bodies/organisations are required to be furnished within 12 months from the
closure of the financial year by the bodies/organisations concerned. The
position of outstanding utilisation certificates with significant money value
relating to 10 Ministries/Departments as of March 2017 is given in the table
below:

 

5.    Flow of funds held in
Central Fund during 2012-13 to 2016-17

 

Audit examination of Central Fund of EIC at
EIA, Kolkata revealed that huge funds were lying idle for years together in the
savings bank account without any effort to ensure their prudent utilisation.
The year-wise position of inflow and outflow of funds held in the Central Fund
during the last five years ended 2016-17 is shown in Graph below:

 

REPRESENTATIONS

1.  Dated: 2nd
December, 2019

     To: The
International Co-operation and Tax Administration Division Centre for Tax
policy and Administration OECD

     Subject: Comments
and Suggestions for Pillar 2-Global Anti-Base Erosion (‘GloBE’) Proposal

     Representation by:
International Taxation Committee of Bombay Chartered Accountants Society

 

2.  Dated: 19th
December, 2019

     To: Shri Pramod
Chandra Mody, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes, New Delhi

     Subject:
Representation on Processing Returns for A.Y. 2019-20; Ref: Section 143(1)(a)
and section 139(9)

     Representation by:
International Taxation Committee of Bombay Chartered Accountants Society

 

Note: For full Text of the above
Representation, visit our website www.bcasonline.org

MISCELLANEA

I. Technology

 

10. What
are the most promising technologies for software development?

 

Software is the
driving force of the world today. With an estimated 9 trillion devices in use,
software is the glue that connects people from all around the globe. The
software developers that build and develop these software products are shaping
and building the modern technological world. The developer population had been
estimated to hit approximately 26.4 million by this year. Yet, even after the
increasing number of developers, there seems to be a talent shortage.

 

Change is the only
constant on this planet. The software industry is one of those sectors in
contemporary times that witnesses a constant change in practices due to the
ever-growing technological landscape. Software developers and professionals
need to keep themselves updated with the latest technologies and innovations in
order to compete and get the best possible position and pay.

 

In recent years, the
IT industry has seen tremendous growth. In a report by Gartner in 2018, it is
predicted that the industry will witness a growth of 8.3% in 2019 in its
spending.

 

Some of the
technologies that seem to have the most promising future are:

 

Mixed
Reality

Mixed reality is a
combination of the twin technologies of virtual reality (VR) and augmented
reality (AR). Experts predict that by 2025 the market size of mixed reality
will reach US $3.7 billion.

 

AR has seen a
tremendous amount of growth recently and the credit for this goes solely to its
applications on smartphones. The popularity of smartphones is one of the major
reasons why companies are hiring AR developers in large numbers and investing
in their own AR applications.

 

Many people assume
that the applications and the scope of VR are limited to gaming and
entertainment. But effective applications by companies and armies around the
world have proved this notion wrong. The US Army has used Microsoft’s HoloLens
mixed reality technology for military training purposes. Similarly, Walmart is
also planning to utilise VR technology to train employees in customer service
and compliance.

 

Progressive
web applications

Progressive web
applications (PWAs) are a hybrid of mobile and web applications. They differ a
lot from the regular mobile application. The service worker script is an
integral part of PWAs on which they majorly work. PWAs have a number of
features such as responsiveness, connectivity independence, safety,
linkability, etc. The main feature of PWAs includes its offline support, where
the application is supposed to be able to work without a connection. These
applications can be loaded very fast even with low internet speed. For example,
Uber’s PWA was designed to run even on 2G speeds. The core app is a mere 50KB
and takes just three seconds to load on 2G speeds. PWAs are also very good for
customer engagement. Trivago saw an increase of 150% for the people who add its
PWA on their home screen. Trivago also observed a 97% increase in hotel offer
clickouts owing to the increased customer engagement.

 

Additionally, they
are very easy to develop and maintain. This, in particular, has attracted many
mobile developer companies in the past few years.

 

Machine
Learning and Artificial Intelligence

A total of 91 machine
learning deals were carried out last year with a business value of US $16.9
billion. According to Deloitte, approximately 100,000 legal jobs will be automated
by 2036. Automation and machine learning are here to stay and are going to make
a huge difference and change the way organisations operate.

 

Machine learning
allows organisations to customise the customer experience and helps target the
company’s efforts. For example, Facebook implements statistical analysis and
predictive analytics together to find patterns based on data. It helps Facebook
to personalise the newsfeed for each individual, suggest interesting content,
posts and to improve user engagement. In addition, Facebook uses neural
networks on images to suggest members to tag in the picture.

 

Artificial
intelligence aims to be able to improvise business tasks and make them simple.
The advent and popularity of artificial intelligence has provided the web app
developers brilliant support to experiment. This has broadened the reach of AI
to sectors like healthcare, banking, education, mathematics, etc.

 

IoT

Internet of Things
(IoT) covers various categories of devices that are connected to the internet
and communicate with each other. The applications of IoT are present in both
the consumer and the industrial domains. In areas such as security and customer
experience, IoT is experiencing exponential growth and demands.

 

According to David
Evan, a former researcher at Cisco, each second about 127 devices are being
connected to the internet. This clearly signifies the constantly increasing
reach of IoT.

 

Over 90% of
automobiles are expected to be IoT-enabled by 2020. In the coming years, IoT
will continue to grow in prevalence and get more sophisticated. From smart cars
to in-store smart assistants for customer personalisation, the future holds a
lot of value for IoT. Enterprises will come closer to an intelligently
connected future by embracing real-time visibility.

 

CONCLUSION

The evolution of
software technologies provides a clear insight into the type of developments
ongoing in the information technology industry. Developers all around the world
are working to improve the convenience and comfort level of humans. With
traditional developments like Java application development, .NET development,
etc., developers need to keep themselves updated with the emerging technologies
and trends.

 

Similarly, it is
vital for organisations to adopt these new technologies in order to expand and
compete with their competitors. Consultancy companies can provide greater
insights into these new technologies and help businesses become software
leaders.

 

(Source:
International Business Times – By IBTimes Staff Reporter, 18th December,
2019)

 

11. New
mobile number portability rules kick in: All you need to know

 

The revised mobile
number portability or MNP rules issued by the telecom regulator TRAI came into
effect from December 16. The new rules are slated to make the porting process
fast and simple.

 

The revised process
comes with conditions for generation of Unique Porting Code (UPC). It entails
three working days’ timeline for port out requests within a service area, and
five working days for requests for port out from one circle to another.

 

Here are the other
details:

*For corporate mobile
connections, there is no change in the porting timelines, TRAI stated;

* Mobile users can
generate the UPC and avail the mobile number porting process;

* In the new process,
the UPC can be generated only when the subscriber is eligible to port out his /
her mobile number;

* Laying down the
rules for the new process, the Regulator said a positive validation of various
conditions will determine the generation of the UPC;

* For instance, in
case of post-paid mobile connection, the subscriber has to ensure clearance of
outstanding dues towards the existing telecom service provider for the issued
bills as per normal billing cycle;

* Some other
conditions include activation in the present operator’s network of not less
than 90 days; and no pending contractual obligations to be fulfilled by the
subscriber as per the exit clause provided in the subscriber agreement;

* Once UPC is
generated, it will be valid for four days for all ‘Licensed Service Areas
(LSAs)’ except the circles of Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and North-East, where
it will remain valid for 30 days.

* Users will need to
submit address and identity proof to the changing operator to begin the MNP
request.

 

(Source:
Times of India.com – 16th December, 2019)

 

II. Economy

 

12. Government
imposes restrictions on import of gold, silver

 

According to a
notification issued by the Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), import
of gold in any form has been placed in ‘restricted’ category from ‘free’
category.

Amid
rising inward shipments of gold, the Government imposed restrictions on the
import of precious metals. According to a notification issued by the
Directorate-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), import of gold in any form has
been placed in ‘restricted’ category.

 

‘Import
policy of gold in any form, other than monetary gold and silver in any form, is
amended from “Free” to “Restricted”; import is allowed only through nominated
agencies as notified by RBI (in case of banks) and DGFT (for other agencies),’
the Directorate said. However, import under advance authorisation and supply of
gold directly by foreign buyers to exporters against orders have been exempted.
The restrictions come in the backdrop of rising imports of gold, which rose by
6.59% to USD 2.94 billion in November from USD 2.76 billion a year-ago.

 

(Source: Financial
Express – By PTI, 18th December, 20

BOOK REVIEW

“CRASH –
Lessons from the Entry and Exit of CEOs” by R. Gopalakrishnan

 

Mr. R.
Gopalakrishnan is a well-known corporate leader, management author and adviser
who needs no introduction. However, a few words about him will be useful to the
young reader.

 

He is the
author of best-selling books such as The Case of the Bonsai Manager, When
the Penny Drops: Learning What’s Not Taught and A Biography of Innovations:
From Birth to Maturity.

 

Interestingly,
Mr. Gopalakrishnan

studied physics at the University of Kolkata and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur.
He also completed an Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School.
Apart from serving as Chairman of Unilever Arabia, M.D. of Brooke Bond Lipton
and Vice-Chairman of Hindustan Lever, he has been Executive Director of Tata
Sons and several Tata group companies. At present he is Corporate Adviser, the
Mindworks, and is actively engaged in both instructional and inspirational
speaking.

 

While many
people talk about the path to the top of organisations, very few are honest
about how difficult it is to stay at that position. Mr. Gopalakrishnan
analyses the ‘software’ challenges which leaders confront every day and shares
the insights he has gained while developing, managing, investing in and
supervising a variety of companies. He points out that great leaders continue
to excel not just because of their skills and intelligence, but also by
connecting with others using emotional competencies like empathy and
self-awareness.

 

The book is
divided into two parts. In Part One, which has five chapters, the author
explores some pertinent questions: Is company performance a surrogate for
leadership and CEO performance? If a company falters, is it related purely to
the CEO’s performance? Conversely, if a company does well, does it redound to
the credit of the leader?

 

Mr.
Gopalakrishnan

observes that to be successful, a CEO requires cognitive intelligence as well
as intuitive emotional intelligence – which means that he or she must possess a
responsive sense of empathy for the views of various stakeholders. In his
experience, once a person gets into a leadership role, there are forces that
cause his or her emotional intelligence or sense of empathy to shrink. This
poses a real and hidden challenge to the leader, a challenge for which he or
she is unprepared. The power of a leader ‘damages’ his / her brain. This damage
cannot be totally avoided, but its pernicious effects can be mitigated.

 

He then goes on
to examine why power causes this kind of brain damage. He asks: What brings out
the best in a person? Perhaps a need to challenge one’s capability? He opines:
When leaders feel that their intelligence is being tested rather than being merely
incentivised through money, their motivation is triggered. Money helps, but
ambition is aroused by internal drives and challenges. This is what people in
leadership positions experience when they assume a bigger responsibility.

 

The author
further observes that power causes a significant behavioural change in leaders.
Leaders tend to be self assured; but they need to be so if they have to lead
their people; however, the line that divides self-assuredness and
over-confidence is a thin one. The leader’s confidence can be rooted in logic
and data, or it can be rooted in feelings and emotions. If his / her confidence
is based on the best available data, then the leader comes across as authentic.
This is a positive form of self-confidence. If the leader’s confidence is not
data-based, he / she may seem impetuous or someone who is not rooted in
reality. This is a negative form of self-confidence.

 

How and why
does power damage the leader’s brain? What happens in cases of behavioural
change? Does the person change because of power, or because of being placed in
a radically different context? Or is it that the people around view him / her
through a separate set of lenses? The author puts it simply, and shorn of
jargon – that leaders loose a bit of their emotional capacities, those very
emotional capacities that were essential to their rise. That holding power
changes the way they process their world. They became impulsive, less
risk-aware and less adept at seeing things from other people’s perspective. In
other words, power blinds the leader to others’ perspectives, power turns the
leader into an abstract thinker, power leads to unrealistic optimism about
goals and power leads to the view of the world in terms of goals already set.

 

Mr.
Gopalakrishnan
concludes
that power intoxicates and it impairs human judgement: in short, the
acquisition of power causes ‘brain damage’. Every leader, whether in politics,
in society or business, is vulnerable to this danger. Several leaders learn to
cope with the inevitable threats and dangers, but many fail. They become
victims of the affliction.

 

Thus, in Part
One of the book the author examines the above questions and issues on the basis
of his extensive study of the available literature on the subject, and his long
years in business in leadership positions.

 

Part Two of the
book, divided into 15 chapters, tells similar stories of various well-known
business leaders, such as Carly Fiorina at HP; Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase;
Vikram Pandit at Citigroup; John R. Walter at AT&T; Lee Iacocca and Mark
Fields at Ford Motors; Michael Ovitz at Walt Disney Company; G. Richard Thoman
at Xerox; Jim Donald at Starbucks; Travis Kalanick at Uber; Chris Viehbacher at
Sanofi; Ramesh Sarin at Voltas India; Klaus Kleinfeld at Arconic; Anshu Jain at
Deutsche Bank; and Vishal Sikka at Infosys.

In the
Epilogue, the author quotes Thomas Middelhoff, a top-notch, famous executive in
Germany, CEO of the German media giant Bertelsmann, later found guilty of
misusing corporate funds and sentenced to three years in jail on charges of
embezzlement and related tax frauds. After his release from jail and in an
interview to Financial Times in May, 2018 he said, “I was out of touch
with reality and thought that certain rules did not apply to me.

 

Ability brings
you to the top, but character keeps you there”. He admitted that a key flaw in
his character was constantly craving public attention and affirmation. Over the
years, he felt that he had been carried away by narcissism and hedonism.

 

The book is
based on the author’s extensive study and research on the subject, which is
borne out by the copious notes at the end of the book running into about 30
pages wherein he has given references to all his sources.

 

Filled with
anecdotes and analysis of various situations CEOs may find themselves in, and
unconventional advice to help them, Crash: Lessons from the Entry and Exit
of CEOs
is for veteran leaders as well as for those who aspire to start
their own ventures. The book is useful not only to CEOs and other senior
management executives, but also to every person who is running even a small or
medium-sized organisation.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

LETTERS FROM THE READERS

Dear Mr President,

 

I read with lot of interest
“Pelting Pessimism”, so well written editorial, hats off to him….I
had posted this on my facebook wall, despite there are not many who really
read, I received the following appreciating words….Please pass it to him….

 “Yatendra Goyal Excellent. I have gone
through the whole text. The views expressed are a result of deep study of
present day scenario. Congrats for the nice thought provoking views.”

 

Yatendra Goyal.

 




Dear Raman,

 

Your editorial titled “
Pelting Pessimism” in the BCAS Journal of February 2019 is simply superb!

 

It is definitely an
eye-opener for the negative thinkers. Not only the choice of subject is very
good, the article is also excellently articulated. Congratulations!

 

Such thoughts should be
widely shared to beat the pessimism. In case you are not doing so yet, suggest
you send such editorials to a couple of conscious newspapers.

These are my personal
thoughts.

 

Swati Kapadia 

SOCIETY NEWS

Full day Seminar on “Capital Gains and Income from Other Sources” held on 18th January 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Taxation Committee organised a full day Seminar on Capital gains and Income from other Sources on 18th January, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall, with distinguished speakers sharing their in-depth knowledge on the subject. The event garnered overwhelming response and saw an attendance of 104 participants which also included outstation participants from 6 cities. President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla gave the opening remarks.

Following topics were taken up at the Seminar by the Speakers:

Certain Fundamental Concepts Governing Capital Gain on Immovable Property Adv. Vipul Joshi
Overview of provisions of capital gains from transfer of shares and securities – issues in long term capital gains on listed shares – applicability of grand fathering clause – derivatives – business income v/s capital gains CA. Gautam Nayak
Income from Other sources – transfer of shares between relatives and non-relatives including minor – issues in section 56(2) – sale of shares of distressed companies – intergroup transfer and restructuring – recent judicial decisions. CA. (Dr.) Anup Shah
Brain Trust Questions – Capital Gains Issues

Short term – long term – sections 45 & 48 – sections 54, 54EC and 54F – section 47: transfers not liable to tax – clubbing of income – exempt income – winnings from lotteries, prizes etc.

CA. Rajan Vora,

CA. Anil Sathe &

CA. Radhakishan Rawal

Adv. Vipul Joshi started the first session highlighting the fundamental concepts on taxation of Income from Capital gains. He concentrated on various issues arising from Capital Gains on Immovable Property and cited relevant case laws on various issues.

CA. Gautam Nayak explained to the participants about Taxability on Transfer of Shares & Securities. He discussed and explained the basis on which the income should be categorised as Capital Gains or Business income. He gave his insights on taxation of transactions in derivatives. Participants also had the benefit of knowing Mr Nayaks’ views on Capital Gains on listed Equity Shares and EOMFs as amended vide the Finance Act 2018.

CA. (Dr.) Anup Shah spoke on issues under section 56(2) and business restructuring. He covered almost all the issues and gave the recent jurisprudence on the said issues. He also gave his insights on newly inserted section 56(2)(x) and the controversy surrounding Angel Tax. He explained business restructuring in detail including merger, demerger, takeover, slump sale etc.

CA. Rajan Vora, CA. Anil Sathe and CA. Radhakishan Rawal were the trustees for the last session of Brains Trust. All of them were given six questions each to address. CA. Rajan Vora gave his views and answers to questions relating to sections 45(3), 50C, 56 (2) (x), 68, 54, 54F etc. CA Anil Sathe answered questions largely concerning Capital Gains and Income from other sources from transfer of Immovable Property. He also addressed participants on issues concerning joint development agreements between landowners and the developer. CA. Radhakishan Rawal gave his insights on questions relating to taxability from transfer of securities and ESOPs with examples.
The sessions were interactive and the speakers shared their insights on the subject. The participants benefited immensely from the guidance and practical views on various issues by the faculties.

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “FEMA – Liberalised Remittance Scheme (‘LRS’) and Overseas Direct Investment (‘ODI’)” held on 24th January, 2019

The Suburban Study Circle organised a meeting on “FEMA – Liberalised Remittance Scheme (‘LRS’) and Overseas Direct Investment (‘ODI’)” on 24th January, 2019 at Bathiya & Associates, LLP, Andheri East, which was addressed by CA. Rutvik Sanghvi.

The speaker made a detailed presentation on (i) FEMA vs. FERA (ii) Liberalised Remittance Scheme (iii) Overseas Direct Investment (iv) Investment in Real Estate outside India and (v) FEMA Compliance related to LRS and ODI. He further presented the brief about the FEMA law and how FEMA replaced FERA and also lucidly explained the rules and regulations related to LRS and ODI provisions citing practical examples that helped the participants in understanding the FEMA regulations. The participants benefited from the presentation shared by the speaker.

DIRECT TAX LAWS STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle Meeting on “Issues under section 56(2) (x) of the Income-tax Act, 1961” held on 31st January 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

Direct Tax Laws Study Circle organised the captioned meeting on 31st January, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall. The Chairman of the session, CA. Anil Sathe gave his opening remarks. The Group leader, CA. Navin Gandhi gave a brief overview of the gift tax regime and its back door entry into the Income-tax Act, 1961. Thereafter, the group leader briefly explained the underlying principle and the scope of section 56(2)(x) of the Act. Subsequently, the group leader discussed in detail various issues relating to consideration, exception of ‘relatives’, valuation requirements for the said section and transfer of immovable property being covered under the ambit of section 56(2)(x). Also, the interplay between gift tax provisions and the Act was discussed. The session was quite interactive and participants got highly enriched with the rich experience of the Group Leader.

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on “External Commercial Borrowing- Recent Amendments” held on 5th February 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

A FEMA Study Circle Meeting was held on 5th February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall where CA. Niki Shah led the discussion on the topic of “External Commercial Borrowing – Recent Amendments”. The Group leader discussed a new ECB framework which is divided into two parts now viz. foreign currency denominated ECB and Indian Rupees Denominated ECB. He also deliberated on the expanded list of eligible borrowers, recognised lenders, end use restriction, ECB Liability Equity Ratio, Limit and Leverages, Hedging provision, procedure and reporting requirements etc. The Speaker further elaborated as to whether LLP can take ECB and whether late submission fees is to be paid for each form and under what circumstances. The participants appreciated and benefitted immensely from the efforts put in by the group leaders who made the discussion very live.

“17th Residential Retreat” held on 8th, 9th and 10th February, 2019

Human Resource Development Committee organised 17th Residential Retreat on 8th, 9th and 10th February 2019 which was attended by 28 delegates including 8 couples. The theme of the Programme was ‘Principle Centred Leadership Spectrum’ at picturesque, serene and beautiful Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini, Keshav Shrushti, Bhayander West. Senior Mentor Mr. Gopal Sehjpal, ACC (ICF), an International Trainer in Behavioural and Leadership/Management facilitated as trainer.

President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla shared his views on leadership in his inaugural address. He touched upon the important qualities of a good leader i.e. Integrity, Positivity, Understanding, Listening and Smile. He also emphasized the significance of Clarity of purpose, building and grooming the team.
CA. Rajesh Muni, Chairman of HRD Committee, briefed the participants about various activities of the committee and shared details of the past 16 Residential Retreat Programs.

1) Trainer Mr. Gopal Sehjpal had various interactive sessions with the participants and shared the key points such as Principle, Centre and Leadership as under:
(a) Principles are Natural Laws that govern us. They are, never changing, operating everywhere at all time and virtues are personal choices. (b) Important qualities of a leader are passion, courage, humility and love. Love is treating others more than self. (c) Spiritual Quotient is more important than Intellectual and Emotional Quotient. (d) People live their life keeping in centre money, work, pleasure, health, self-image, friend, family, spouse, enemy, religion, etc. The right way is to have “Principles” as centre. (e) Success is optimization of efficiency (speed) and effectiveness (direction).

2) The Speaker also discussed that Spectrum signifies acronym VIBGYOR. (Vision, Introspection, Blue Print for success, Governance, Y Factor, Organisation, Relationship) and explained each characteristic of VIBGYOR as under:

Vision and mission

Organisation or family must evaluate its Strengths and Opportunities. Vision helps to visualise the unknown future and identify the potential obstacles and therefore enables one to come up with possible solutions to overcome them. It also brings enthusiasm in attaining the Goal and to move forward despite obstacles. It provides focus, clarity and a sense of purpose. It should be made in the context of Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats. One must be aware of 35 time wasters categorised in seven areas (Planning, organising, staffing, Leading, Controlling, Communicating and decision making), introspect and overcome such obstacles.

Blue print for success:
It is a process of setting Goals and drawing action plans aligned with the Vision and Mission Statements.

Governance:
Governance relates to the tone at the top. It provides clarity on important parameters like Time, Cost and Resource Allocation, Statutory Compliance, Corporate Social Responsibility, Ethics and Values.

Y Factor: On a graph, Y axis represent results and X axis is for input and resources. It is an exercise of plotting inputs to evaluate productivity, proficiency and efficiency.

Organisation: Structure of reporting relationships vertically and horizontally to provide clarity on accountability.
Relationship: Intrapersonal and Interpersonal relationships have to be appropriate and conducive for synergy.

3) Important 8 Quality Management Principles are:

(i) Customer Focus (ii) Leadership (iii) Involvement of People (iv) Process Approach (v) System approach to management (vi) Continuous improvement (vii) Factual approach to decision making and (viii) Mutual beneficial supplier relationship.

4) Guide to break 12 Ineffective Habits

(i) Reluctance to claim your achievements (ii) Expecting others to spontaneously notice and reward your contribution (iii) Overvaluing expertise (iv) Building rather than leveraging relationship (v) Failing to enlist allies from day one (vi) Putting your Job before your carrier (vii) The Perfection Gap (viii) The Disease to Please (ix) Minimizing (x) Too Much (xi) Ruminating and (xii) Letting your radar distract you.

In the concluding session, on 8th February, a small clip of 10 minutes titled ‘Down the memory lane’, was screened. It took the participants down the memory lane, recounting the experiences of previous camps. It was a tribute to Late Shri Pradeepbhai. The regular participants who were emotionally connected with him were moved as they reminisced the experiences shared with Pradeepbhai. New participants had a very heart-warming experience too. On 9th February, participants enjoyed a campfire in the late evening with some dancing and singing. On 10th February, participants returned with some beautiful memories of the camp. The participants got highly enlightened and refreshed their memories of the past Residential Retreats.

International Taxation Committee

Half Day Seminar on “Selective Issue under FEMA” held on 9th February 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

A half day seminar was organised by the International taxation committee on 9th February 2019 in the form of a panel discussion. The focus of the seminar was to discuss difficulties being faced in FEMA regulations.

The panellists comprised of senior ex-RBI executives – Mr. G Padmanabhan (Ex-Executive Director), Mr. Himansu Mohanty (ex-General Manager) and Dr. M. K. Singh (ex-Assistant General Manager, New Delhi). The session was chaired and moderated by CA. Rashmin Sanghvi. It was discussed that administration has been delegated to the banks. Different banks take different views. One is not able to clarify matters with RBI as it insists on approaching the banks first. This is causing tremendous difficulties. There were several interpretation issues. Panellists gave the background of the issues and agreed that these issues need to be resolved. One should make representations to RBI so as to bring about clarity. Some of the issues are explained below:

One was the need to have clarity on family Trusts. Today there are rich families with members in India and abroad. They wish to form trusts for succession planning. There is no clarity in case of trusts which is required. It was discussed that people also misuse the laws. In case of Trusts, it should not amount to a situation where non-resident beneficiaries can remit more funds out of India than what they can do without a family trust. The panellists suggested that one may write to RBI and request for a clarification by way of FAQ. As long as remittance of funds does not exceed that which is possible without a trust, it should be all right to create a trust.

Another issue was that there are several proposals from non-residents to purchase real estate and lease the same. RBI has permitted lease of the premises. However, is it possible for Indian entities with FDI to “buy and lease the premises”, or should the Indian entity “construct and lease the premises”? It was discussed that it is safer to take a conservative view. If the entity constructs the premises, it can lease it.

Overall the seminar brought out the issues under FEMA and that one should err on the safer side. Aggressive views can cause difficulties. The Seminar was a huge takeaway for the participants.

HRD STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle meeting on “Management and Life Lessons from Mt. Everest” held on 12th February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

HRD Study Circle of BCAS organised a meeting on 12th February, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by Mr. Venkatesh Maheshwari. The Speaker spoke about the mountains calling him. It was his childhood dream to climb the mountain and reach the top. He followed the dream by research, intensive physical and climbing training, educating himself, getting physically and mentally fit etc. It was a tremendous effort.

He had to face fears and prepared himself that there are no short cuts to the top. When you do not prepare well, you will never get the mental strength. Self Belief, patience, commitment, effort, perseverance, honesty were among the many needed traits that helped him achieve his target of being on top of Mt. Everest.

He learnt many lessons in the process like in-resource management and planning every move, facing fear, do not do what you think you cannot do, need to stop and rest when you cannot make it. There is no need to push yourself to do something when you cannot. You have to be focussed and stay focussed to achieve, ask help when you need, team work, to name a few. The Speaker also mentioned that there are passions in life which we need to pursue and achieve satisfaction and fulfilment in life. The participants found the session very inspiring and interesting to emulate the achievers.

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “GST – Recent Amendments, Notifications and Circulars” held on 15th February, 2019

The Suburban Study Circle had organised a meeting on “GST – Recent Amendments, Notifications and Circulars” on 15th February, 2019 at Bathiya & Associates, Andheri East which was addressed by CA. Jignesh Kansara. The speaker made a detailed presentation on the following amendments and notifications on Goods & Service Tax Act:

(a) GST Amendment Act 2018 (b) 31st GST Council Meeting (c) 32nd GST Council Meeting (d) Removal of Difficulties Orders (e) Recent Circulars and Notifications. The speaker had presented all the amendments highlighting the provisions applicable before the amendments. The practical examples and tabular formats helped the participants in understanding the impact of the changes. The participants benefited from the presentation shared by the speaker.

BCAS IN THE PRINT MEDIA

As always, the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society was in the news this last month with its Presidents, both present and past, being sought and quoted on several key issues.

It all started with the report in a leading city newspaper which said that tax officials, with a view to meet steep revenue targets, had started issuing prosecution notices to the directors of several multinationals (Economic Times, January 16, 2019). Among the MNCs issued such notices were Google, Facebook, Samsonite and KraftHeinz.

The report stated that the use of prosecution notices was tantamount to making these cases equivalent to criminal offences and gave the IT officers additional powers just like those with the police. As a result, relief in such cases would only be available from a magistrate’s court.

BCAS President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla was quoted in the report as saying, “Last year and this year, several notices have been issued across the board to several individuals and Indian and multinational companies, which is creating a lot of legal issues for them”.

For its part, the Indian Merchants’ Chamber told the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) that “these notices project a wrong image of the Indian government… It is driving them (MNCs) away by initiating criminal proceedings on a mechanical basis…” Such notices had previously been used only when concealment of black money or similar wrongdoing was suspected.

However, some prosecution notices had been issued even for cases involving small amounts. Besides, notices had been issued to two directors in each MNC; even directors not based in India had not been spared; in some cases, even companies that had failed to deduct paltry sums like Rs. 1,000 on an employee’s salary had received notices.

Apart from the BCAS and the IMC, the Chartered Accountants’ Association of Ahmedabad (CAA) had also questioned these developments, with the BCAS and the CAA sending a representation to the CBDT in the matter.

The newspaper stated that this development had stemmed from a “quota” that the CBDT had given to the tax officials because of a shortfall in collections. “CBDT imposing a ‘quota’ for assessing officers to file prosecution leads to such a grave situation, said Dilip Lakhani, a senior Chartered Accountant, who added that the attempt to raise revenue by forcing assessees to opt for payment of compounding fees to avoid criminal proceedings could only be termed as arm-twisting.

According to a statement by a senior official, tax officers had been asked to issue about 2,00,000 notices during the financial year. While the actual number of notices could not be confirmed, some sources said that in the case of MNCs at least 500 had been served notice.

In another report published in The Times of India on January 20, 2019, Mr. Sushil Chandra, CBDT Chairman, was said to have issued a circular on January 6 asking his cadre to send prosecution notices to those wilfully evading payment of outstanding taxes and also for substantial defaults in remitting TDS to the government.

The report quoted Mr. Ameet Patel, CA and Chairperson of the Taxation Committee and Past President of the BCAS, as saying that “for the smallest defaults like late payment of TDS; of self-assessment tax; delayed or non-filing of tax returns (including TDS); taxpayers are issued show-cause notices asking why prosecution proceedings should not be launched against them. Even a mere non-filing of appeal against any addition to income or disallowance of expenditure made during assessment is a ground for launching prosecution. Further, tax-payers are given a very short period within which to respond.” The BCAS, the IMC, the CAA and other associations of CAs all over India had filed a representation with Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey protesting against the use of prosecution provisions in a mechanical manner, with minor mistakes being treated as major offences at par with large-scale evasion.

The representation pointed out that such action (prosecution notices) vitiated the promise of a non-adversarial tax regime. Even as many other steps (e-assessment and speedy refunds) had been taken to benefit tax-payers, the spate of prosecution notices sent a bad signal, it added.

MISCELLANEA

Miscellanea was started by Narayan Varma
and Ajay Thakkar in 1984. A number of people compiled it for few years
including Rashmin Sanghvi, Uday Chitale, Ashutosh Pednekar, etc. Rajesh Muni
and Raman Jokhakar manned it between 1999-2000 to 2004-05. Tarun Singhal joined
in 2005 and continued with Raman till 2017. Present contributors Jhankhana
Thakkar joined in
2016-17 and Chirag Chauhan in January, 2018.

The
aim of this column was to bring out relevant and useful news and views ‘in
short’.

 

1.   Technology

 

11. Apple’s
AirPower wireless charger may already be in production – and shipping soon

 

In September 2017, Apple
announced it would ship its AirPower product by the end of 2018. Expectations
grew with each passing quarter last year that the charging pad would finally
arrive. But Apple missed its own deadline and pundits surmised the company was
struggling with technical issues, such as how to regulate different charging
requirements on a single pad using the Qi wireless charging specification.

 

After failing to meet its
own shipping timeline in 2018, Apple is now thought to have two manufacturers
ramping up production of its AirPower wireless charging pad, according to a
Hong Kong-based website that specialises in device charging news. While there
may be more than a dozen multi-device wireless chargers technically available
now, but none have introduced a product that can handle all three of Apple’s
products: smartphone, watch and earbuds.

 

(Source:
www.itworld.com)

 

12. Facebook
testing stories feature that will encourage your friends to join you at parties

 

Facebook
wants to make invitation a simpler process. The social media company is
bringing a new Stories feature that will encourage your friends to join you at
events. The company announced that it will test a new feature that lets users
share events that they are interested in attending in to their Story and then
plan meet ups with friends who are also interested in attending the same.

 

So how
will the feature work? You will see a new option “Share to your
story” when you visit any event’s page on Facebook. Tech Crunch explains
that your friends will see a tappable sticker when you share the event to your
story. The sticker would include details of the event and your friends can
directly reply from the Story if they are “interested” in going.

 

Facebook
announces the new feature at the time when the company is losing its young
users at a faster pace. The eMarketer’s report from 2018 shows reveals that
last year less than half internet users in the US aged between 12- 7 used
Facebook at least once a month. The feature aims to attract younger users as
many of them have now moved to Instagram and prefer the app over Facebook for
posting photos and Stories.

 

(Source:
www.indiatoday.in)

 

13. Google
removes thousands of malicious Android apps and millions of fake reviews on
Play store

 

It’s high time, Google
scales up the security to ensure shady apps don’t enter Play store.

 

In the past few years,
Google, despite taking stringent measure to screen malicious apps creeping into
the Play, has been unable to control them. Now, the company in a massive
cleanup drive has removed millions of fake reviews and thousands of bad apps.

 

Recently, Google received
complaints from concerned app developers that the Play store rating systems are
being rigged with fake reviews affecting their rankings, which apparently
driving the consumers away. Taking the cognisance of the issue, Google studied
the pattern and found several targeted false reviews, the presence of profane
language to downgrade an app and also incentivised (paid) top ratings to
boosting rankings of the app.

 

During the screen, the
company unearthed thousands of shady apps with malicious features and has
removed them in addition to weeding out millions of fake reviews from the Play
store in just one week.

 

The
company has also urged Android app developers not to indulge in shady review
tactics by offering incentives such as free in-app purchases or gifts to lure
their users to write fake ratings or else risk getting banned from Play store.

 

Over the last one month,
Google has weeded out close to 35 apps from the Play store over fake ads.
Detailed investigations revealed that the apps were riddled with malicious
codes to create fake click impressions via users to generate ad revenue. Also,
some were found to steal financial information from the Android phone.

 

There were just two of the
techniques, app developers had several other methods and did them without
obtaining the user consent

 

(Source:
International Business Times)

 

2.   Environment

 

14.  Antarctica ice melting increased by 280% in
last 16 years, study says

 

Yearly loss of ice from
Antarctica has increased by an alarming rate of 280 per cent between 2001 and
2017, according to a study which showed that accelerated melting caused global
sea levels to rise more than half an inch in the last four decades.

 

The researchers,
including those from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Utrecht
University in the Netherlands, were able to discern that between 1979 and 1990,
Antarctica shed an average of 40 gigatonnes of ice mass annually From 2009 to
2017, about 252 gigatonnes per year were lost. The pace of melting rose
dramatically over the four-decade period. From 1979 to 2001, it was an average
of 48 gigatonnes annually per decade. The rate jumped 280 per cent to 134
gigatonnes for 2001 to 2017.

 

For
the study published in journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
researchers conducted the longest-ever assessment of remaining Antarctic ice
mass. Spanning four decades, the project was also geographically comprehensive;
the research team examined 18 regions encompassing 176 basins, as well as
surrounding islands. As climate warming and ozone depletion send more ocean
heat toward those sectors, they will continue to contribute to sea level rise
from Antarctica in decades to come

 

 (Source: www.economictimes.com)

 

 

3.   World News

 

15. China
to cut taxes, keep policy flexible to counter slowdown 

 

China plans to slash taxes,
step up spending and provide ample financing to private and small enterprises
to help counter the country’s worst slowdown since the global financial crisis
and the impact of a bruising trade war with the U.S. The People’s Bank of China
is confident it can keep the value of China’s currency, the yuan, steady while
maintaining a stable but flexible monetary policy

 

The plans for 2019 outlined
included specific measures such as raising the maximum income levels for tax
exempt companies and individuals and reducing the tax rate. The government
plans to begin construction of major projects and promote settlement of rural
migrants in cities, slash bureaucratic and anti-competitive red tape, cut
energy consumption and open more business areas to foreign investment, said
Lian Weiliang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission,
China’s planning agency.

 

 (Source: economictimes.com)

 

16. Big
Four face major overhaul in U.K.

 

The Big
Four accounting firms may have to split their operations into separate U.K.
business units as part of a sweeping overhaul of the industry proposed by
regulators that stopped short of the measures sought by some critics. The
Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said audit work should be split from
the much larger consulting business at an operational level, but held off on
recommending a full structural breakup or a cap on auditor’s market share. A
further report said the U.K. needed a tough new watchdog to prevent the
failings of the past.

 

Stung by a
string of scandals at prominent British firms including Carillion Plc, the
government demanded regulators set out reforms to roll back the dominance of
the largest accounting firms. The industry has had a turbulent year, with
record fines and reprimands in the U.K.

 

Separately
the U.K. government said it agreed with a new report that the country’s heavily
criticised Financial Reporting Council should be abolished and replaced with a
new accounting regulator. The new watchdog, the Audit, Reporting and Governance
Authority, would have powers to investigate companies, their accounts and
governance.

The FRC
was accused of being to be too close to the firms it oversaw, especially
Deloitte, KPMG, EY and PricewaterhouseCoopers. “I have sympathy with the
view that the FRC has tended overall to take too consensual an approach to its
work,” said John Kingman, who led a review of the regulator.

 

To
encourage more competition, the CMA said it currently preferred to have the
largest companies require joint reviews with two audit firms signing off on the
accounts rather than a market share cap on the auditors.

 

(Source:
www.accountingtoday.com)

 

4.   Startups

 

17. Kochi
gets the biggest startup incubator in India

 

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday inaugurated India’s
biggest startup incubator at Kochi. The startup incubator- the Integrated
Startup Complex– which is housed inside a 1.8-lakh square-feet facility at the
Technology Innovation Zone (TIZ) in Kochi, is the home to host of segments that
cater to the modern technology.

 

The startup incubator, which has been setup under the watchful guidance
of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), houses a number of modern facilities such
as the Maker Village that promotes hardware startups, the Bionest that promotes
medical technologies, BRINC which is India’s first international accelerator
for hardware startups, BRIC which aids developing solutions for cancer
diagnosis and care, and a Centre of Excellence, that has been backed by some of
the prominent tech companies that operate in India. Apart from boosting the
startup ecosystem, the state government is also planning to give 2.5 lakh
direct jobs in IT with an aim of fostering social development in Kerala.

 

(Source:
www.indiatoday.in)

 

18. Books
to help a busy entrepreneur like you avoid burnout this year

 

Books are
wisdom in refined, concentrated form. In that spirit, I’d can recommend several
books to buoy busy, frenetic or otherwise on-the-verge-of-burning-out
entrepreneurs. Some are new. Some are old. Some tackle the problem of burnout
head on, while others do so indirectly. Either way, I’m confident that each of
the below can increase your inspiration this year, and well beyond.

 

1. Log
Off: How to Stay Connected After Disconnecting– Blake Snow.

 

Snow, a
seasoned journalist, gives us this quick-read, which explains how to live large
on low-caloric technology, to increase face time with actual people, outperform
workaholics in half the time and increase our productivity with fewer online
distractions. Snow also does more than just throwing a lot of alarming
statistics and life-changing recommendations at the reader. Rather, he weaves
both into his own decade-long story, making his advice easier to follow and
remember. The concepts he gives names to, like the King Complex, the Rule of
Thirds, Reformed Luddism and the Four Burners Theory, are sure to spike your
productivity. Bonus points for being the shortest book on my list.

 

2. The
Last Place on Earth — Roland Huntford

 

Roland
Huntford’s account of this legendary tale of the 1911 South Pole race between
Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott is well researched and full of proven business
insights. While both men were incredibly brave, their individual approaches to
preparedness, forecasting and strategy for reaching the South Pole first were
strikingly different.

 

This was
so much so that after reading this book, you’ll probably take greater care in
leaving nothing to chance. You’ll also finish this book with a greater
appreciation for early explorers and how you might adopt similar success
strategies in your admittedly less dangerous existence. It’s crazy to think
this story still hasn’t caught Hollywood’s attention.

 

3. Console
Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation — Blake Harris

 

Looking
for a fun read? Need a fresh perspective before planning your next marketing
campaign? Look no further than Harris’s riveting account of one of the ‘90s
greatest rivalries. “There was no such thing as a magic touch,” writes Harris.
“The only thing it takes to sell toys, vitamins, magazines (or anything) is the
power of story. That was the secret. That was the whole trick: to recognize
that the world is nothing but chaos, and the only thing holding it (and us)
together are stories.” Console Wars is as good as (if not better than) David
Sheff’s seminal Game Over: How Nintendo Conquered The World.

 

4. A Short
History of Nearly Everything — Bill Bryson

 

Bryson is
one of the most beloved non-fiction writers today. And, here, he impressively,
humorously and succinctly summarises how we “big banged” from nothing to get
where we are today as a species. To accomplish this, Bryson spent three years
researching the world’s greatest scientific discoveries and interviewing the
people who know them best.

 

Simply
put, the result is awe-inspiring. “It has been suggested that there isn’t a
single bit of any of us — not so much as a stray molecule — that was part of
us nine years ago,” Bryson writes. “It may not feel like it, but at the
cellular level we are all youngsters.”

 

5. Peak
Performance: Elevate Your Game and Avoid Burnout with the New Science of
Success –Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness

 

What would happen if a successful management consultant and Olympic
coach teamed up to study and distill the secret of top performers? Thankfully,
they have. This new book is the result and covers how anyone can achieve his or
her best. “Whether someone is trying to qualify for the Olympics, break ground
in mathematical theory, or craft an artistic masterpiece, many of the practices
that lead to great success are the same,” the authors assert.

 

For
example, “stress plus rest equals growth” means you get better
results when you design and live a routine-filled day; and having a greater
purpose keeps you focused and motivated.

 

6.
Thinking Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman

 

The better you understand the human mind, the wiser you’ll know how to
use, master, and leverage it. That’s why everyone — entrepreneurs very much
included — should read this breakthrough book by Nobel Prize-winning
behavioral scientist Kahneman. After decades of research, Kahneman was the
first to discover that the brain makes decisions in two ways. The first is
“fast thinking,” which makes everyday, mostly involuntary and largely gut-based
decision-making possible. This means decisions like eat this, pick up that,
move out of the way and stay alive.

 

“Slow
thinking,” on the other hand, means slow to engage and deliberate, even lazy,
because this kind of thinking requires significantly more energy. The trick to
being a better thinker, therefore, lies in knowing and understanding how to
trigger your “slow thinking” more often. This book shows you how.

 

(Source:
www.entrepreneur.com)

 

 

BOOK REVIEW

“CRASH –
Lessons from the entry and exit of CEOs” by Shri R. Gopalkrishnan

 

Shri R. Gopalkrishnan is a
well known Corporate Leader and Management Author and Advisor and needs no
Introduction. However, a few words of Introduction will be useful to a Young
reader.

 

He studied physics at
University of Kolkata, Engineering at IIT Kharagpur. He has attended advanced
Management Program at Harvard Business School. He has served as the Chairman of
“Unilever Arabia, M.D. of Brooke Bond Lipton, Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever,
and as the Executive Director of Tata Sons and several Tata Group Companies.
Presently, he is a Corporate Advisor. He is actively engaged in both
Instructional and Inspirational Speaking. He is the author of bestselling books
such as The Case of the Bonsai Manager, When the Penny Drops: Learning
What’s Not Taught, and A Biography of Innovations: From Birth to Maturity.

 

While many people talk
about the path to the top of organisations, very few are honest about how
difficult it is to stay at that position. Shri R. Gopalakrishnan
analyses the ‘software’ challenges, which leaders confront every day, and
shares the insights he has gained developing, managing, investing in and
supervising a variety of companies. The author shows that great leaders
continue to excel not just because of their skills and intelligence but also by
connecting with others using emotional competencies like empathy and
self-awareness.

 

The book is divided into 2
parts- Part One has 5 chapters and Part 2 has 15 Chapters.

 

In part One of the book,
the Author explores many pertinent questions: Is company performance a
surrogate for leadership and CEO Performance? If a company falters, is it
purely related to CEO performance? Conversely, if a company does well, is it a
definite credit to the leader?

 

The Author observes that to
be successful, a CEO requires cognitive intelligence as well as an intuitive
emotional intelligence – which means he or she must have a responsive sense of
empathy for the views of various stakeholders. In his experience, once a person
gets into a leadership role, there are forces that cause his or her emotional
intelligence or sense of empathy to shrink, This poses the real and hidden
challenge to the leader, a challenge he or she is unprepared for. The power of
a leader damages his/her brain. The damage cannot be totally avoided, but its
pernicious effects can be mitigated.

 

The Author then goes to
examine why power causes brain damage. He examines: What brings out the
best in a person? Perhaps a need to challenge one’s capability?
He
opines: when leaders feel that their intelligence is being tested rather than
being merely incentivised through money their motivation is triggered. Money
helps, but ambition is aroused of internal drives and challenges. This is what
people in Leadership positions experience when they assume a bigger
responsibility.

 

The Author observes that
power causes a significant behavioural change in leaders. Leaders tend to be
self assured, they need to be so if they have to lead their people and the line
that divides self-assuredness and over confidence is a thin one. The leader’s
confidence can be rooted in logic and data, or it can be rooted in feelings and
emotions. If his /her confidence is based on the best available data, then the
leader comes across as authentic. It is a positive form of self confidence. If
the leader’s confidence is not data based, the leader may seem impetuous or
someone who is not rooted in reality. This is negative form of self confidence.

 

The author
goes on to examine how and why power damages the leader’s brain. What happens
in cases of behavioural change? Does the person change because of power or
because of being placed in a radically different context? Or do the people
around the new leader view him/her through a separate set of lenses?

The Author puts it simply, and shorn of jargon, that Leaders loose a bit of
their emotional capacities, those very emotional capacities that were essential
to their rise. That holding power change the way leaders process their world.
They became impulsive, less risk–aware and less adept at seeing things from
other people’s perspective. That power blinds the leader to others’
perspectives, power turned the leader into an abstract thinker, power leads to
unrealistic optimism about goals and power leads to the view of the world in
terms of goals already set.

 

The Author concludes that
power intoxicates and it impairs human judgement-in short the acquisition of
power causes brain damage. Every leader whether in politics or society or
business is vulnerable to this danger. Several leaders learn to cope with the
inevitable threats and dangers, but many fail. They become victims of
the affliction.

 

Thus, in Part One of the
Book the Author examines the above questions and issues on the basis of his
extensive study and review of the available literature on the subject, and his
long years in business in leadership positions.



In part Two of the book,
divided into 15 chapters, it tells similar stories of various well known
business leaders who exited from their CEO positions for one reason or
another
: Carly Fiorina HP at HP, Jamie Dimon at Citibank, Vikram Pandit at
Citigroup, John R. Walter at AT&T, Lee Iacocca & Mark Fields at Ford
Motors, Michael Ovitz at Walt Disney Company, G.Richard Thoman at Xerox, Jim
Donald at Starbucks, Travis Kalanick at Uber, Chris Viehbacher at Sanofi,
Ramesh Sarin at Voltas India, Klaus Kleinfeld at Arconic, Anshu Jain at
Deutsche Bank, Vishal Sikka at Infosys. It is pertinent to note that none of
the aforesaid leaders had to exit either due to moral turpitude or financial
misdemeanour.

 

The Author narrates an
incident involving a heated exchange between J.R.D. Tata and a Senior Director,
A.D. Shroff, who sent his resignation from the Tata Group. The matter was
patched up by J.R.D with a great sense of egalitarianism and humility,
in his letter to A.D. Shroff, dated 23.08.1951:

 

I was surprised and
upset at receiving your letter. I do not remember exactly the words I used
during the somewhat heated exchange at the agents’ meeting but my complaint to
you was merely that an argument you used to score a debating point over me was
not an honest one. That is surely a far cry from questioning your honesty and I
am surprised that you interpreted it in that way.

 

You have a
right to resent my speaking angrily or showing your discourtesy as a result,
and for that I sincerely apologize, but if friends and associates decided to
part every time they had an argument, life would become
very difficult
.

 

In the
Epilogue, the Author quotes Thomas Middelhoff, a top–notch and famous executive
in Germany, CEO of the German media giant- Bertelsmann, later on found guilty
of misusing corporate funds and sentenced to 3 years in jail on charges of
embezzlement and related tax frauds, after his release from the jail from an
interview by Financial Times in May 2018, “I was out of touch with reality and
thought that certain rules did not apply to me. Ability brings you to the
top, but character keeps you there.
” He admitted that a key flaw in his
character was constantly craving public attention and affirmation. Over the
years, he felt that he had been carried away by narcissism and hedonism.

 

The book is based on the
Author’s extensively study and research on the subject, which is borne out by
copious notes at the end of the book running in about 30 pages wherein he has
given references to all his sources.

 

Filled with anecdotes,
analysis of various situations CEOs may find themselves in and unconventional
advice to help them, Crash: Lessons from the Entry and Exit of CEOs
is for veteran leaders as well as for those who aspire to start their own
ventures. This book is useful not only to CEOs and other Senior Management
Executives but also to every person who is running even a small or medium size
Organisation.

 

SOCIETY NEWS

Full Day Seminar on “GAAR and Anti-avoidance Provisions” held on 16th November 2018

The International Taxation Committee organised a one-day Seminar on GAAR and other Anti-Avoidance Provisions at St. Regis, Parel. The seminar was aimed at appraising the participants of the intricacies and issues coming out of these provisions through panel discussions on burning topics related to the subject.

CA. Pinakin Desai provided a thought-provoking Key Note Address which set the tone for the remainder of the day. The session was chaired by CA. Dilip Thakkar who also released the latest publication by BCAS on “GAAR (Including other Anti-Avoidance Provisions) – A Compendium”. The Compendium comprises of 30 articles spread over 2 volumes authored by some of the best minds in the profession.

The book launch was followed by a panel discussion amongst CA. Geeta Jani, CA. Padamchand Khincha and Mr. Kamlesh Varshney which was chaired by CA. Kishor Karia. The panel dealt with various issues related to GAAR, SAAR, JAAR, PPT and their interplay. Mr. Varshney made insightful remarks in to what could be the Revenue’s approach in applying these provisions.

The second panel was chaired by CA. Rashmin Sanghvi and the panellists – CA. Sushil Lakhani, CA. Yogesh Thar and CA. Karishma Phaterphekar who took up various issues surrounding recent domestic anti-avoidance provisions of POEM, Section 56(2) and Section 94B respectively.

The final panel of the day took up Case Studies on a diverse set of topics which would be impacted by GAAR. The panel was chaired by CA T P Ostwal. CA. Pranav Sayta provided insights on Structuring of inbound investments while CA. Ketal Dalal took up issues related to Holding Company Structures. CA Anup Shah provided his views on issues which would affect Restructuring of companies.

All the panellists ably brought out that GAAR and other anti-avoidance provisions are something that every professional dealing with taxation will need to reckon with; and drove home the point that a fresh look will be required – not only for new structures, but even for existing ones. The Chairman, CA. Mayur Nayak ended the day’s proceedings by thanking the faculty and encouraging the participants to take benefit from BCAS’ publication on GAAR. The meeting was a huge takeaway for the participants.

Full Day Seminar on “Burning Issues in Real Estate” held jointly with IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 17th November, 2018

Corporate & Allied Laws Committee of BCAS organised a Full Day Seminar on Burning Issues in Real Estate, jointly with IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on 17th November, 2018 at IMC, Churchgate wherein the key topics on Direct Tax, RERA, Issues and Opportunities in Funding, GST and JV/JD Structuring were discussed by the eminent speakers and Panellists as under:

Direct Tax: Moderated by CA. Chetan Shah and Panelists: CA. Pinakin Desai, CA. Gautam Nayak, CA Uday Ved and Mr. Yasin Virani of K Raheja Corp.

RERA: Moderated by Advocate Sudip Mullick of Khaitan & Co and Panalists: Advocate Parimal Shroff of Parimal K Shroff & Co, Rajan Bandelkar (Naredco) and Mr. Ravi Sinha (Track2Realty)

Issues and Opportunities in Funding: Moderator Amit Goenka (Nisus) and Panelists: Ram Yadav (Edelwiess), Shobhit Agrawal (Anarock) and Sharad Mittal (Motilal Oswal).

GST: Moderated by CA. Sunil Gabhawalla and Panelists: CA. Parind Mehta, Mr. Sajal Gupta (Rustomjee) and Advocate Vikram Nankani.

JV/JD Structuring: Moderator CA. Ketan Dalal and Panelists: CA. Bhairav Dalal, CA. (Dr) Anup Shah, Mr Piyush Vora (Lodha Developers) and CA. Naushad Panjwani.

The meeting was attended by 110 participants who learnt a lot from the rich experience of the speakers and panelists.

“Half Day Workshop on GST Audit” held on 23rd November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

BCAS, as a NACIN accredited training partner has been in the forefront in creating awareness about GST and supported the Government in ushering this reform by organising various lecture meetings, seminars and workshops related to GST. As a part of this endeavour, Indirect Taxation Committee organised a Half Day Workshop on GST Audit on 23rd November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The workshop was divided into two sessions. The 1st session on “Overview of GST Audit Process, Various Reconciliations involved in GST Audit & Overview of Annual Return and its contents” which was taken up by CA. Udayan Choksi and the 2nd session on “GSTR-9C, Audit Checklist and Issues involved in GST Audit” which was taken up by CA. Jigar Doshi.

 

On this occasion, BCAS Publication “Concept of Supply under GST Law” was also released. The workshop was very well received and the participants took benefit of the same.

Full day programme on “Accounting and Auditing in SAP – Issues in Process and Controls” held on 24th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Technology Initiatives Committee conducted a full day programme on “Accounting and Auditing in SAP – Issues in Process and Controls” on 24th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The program was jointly led by CA. Jairam Motwani (who has domain experience in Novereof in solutioning, architecting, customizing, execution and coordinating SAP projects and audits) and CA. Mahesh Ahuja, having extensive experience in Internal Audits, Risk & Controls review, SAP Role based controls and GRC implementation and review.

Both the speakers dealt with the topic by providing a step by step process for Accounting and Auditing in SAP. They also discussed various issues and Control points to mitigate the issues while using the SAP.

The session was very interactive and the participants got enlightened a lot from the discussion.
Training Session for CA Article Students on “GST Annual Return’ and ‘GST Audit from Article’s Perspective” held on 30th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Students Forum under the auspices of HRD Committee organised a Training Session for CA Article Students on the above-mentioned topics on 30th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

The first session on GST Annual Return was taken by Student Speaker Ms. Neelam Soneja under the mentorship of CA. Raj Khona followed by a session on GST Audit by CA. Jigar Shah. Mr. Jason Joseph, the student co-ordinator introduced the mentor and speakers for the session. CA. Anand Kothari, the convenor of the HRD Committee spoke about various activities conducted by BCAS Students Forum.

CA. Raj Khona in his opening remarks highlighted few key areas which article students should keep in mind while filing the annual returns. Ms. Neelam Soneja then explained the entire Form GSTR-9 clause by clause and dealt with the various issues / complexities involved in the annual return form. In the 2nd session, CA. Jigar Shah gave a brief insight on various aspects of GST Audit with useful tips on how to effectively conduct GST Audit. The training session was attended by 175+ students. Both the sessions were interactive whereby the speakers answered all the queries raised by the participants.

Suburban Study Circle Meeting on “GST Annual Return – GSTR 9 – Detailed Analysis and Issues in Filing” held on 1st December, 2018

The Suburban Study Circle organised a meeting on “GST Annual Return – GSTR 9 – Detailed Analysis and Issues in Filing” on 1st December, 2018 at Bathiya & Associates, Andheri which was addressed by CA. Chirag Mehta.
The Speaker started the session with statutory background and legal provisions regarding the GST Annual Return – GSTR – 9. He explained in detail the various clauses of GSTR 1 and GSTR 3B and the specific clauses to be considered while consolidating the annual figures. He further explained the structure of GSTR – 9 Annual return and what is expected from the registered dealers in each section.

The detailed analysis of each clause of the GSTR – 9 was done along with explanation on the data to be entered under each clause. CA. Chirag Mehta raised very important issues which the dealers may face while preparing the annual return and also provided his views on the said issues. The speaker highlighted the importance of self study and practical exposure to be the key factors in successful filing of annual returns.

The participants got enlightened from the presentation shared by the speaker.

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES STUDY CIRCLE

Technology Initiative Study Circle on “Productivity Apps for Workplaces-Part III” held on 4th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Technology Initiatives Committee conducted a Study Circle Meeting on Productivity Apps for Workplaces Part III on 4th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was led by CA. Rajesh Pabari who is an HR Consultant by Profession and aspiring management consultant by Passion.

It was the third session on Productivity Apps for Workplaces followed by sessions held on 23rd August 2018 and 21st September 2018. CA. Rajesh Pabari covered effective use of few more Google Chrome Extensions which are extremely helpful but were not covered in earlier sessions. He also demonstrated few tips for more effective Google searches syntax which will help to refine search results like search in title of pages, date wise, file type and specific website etc. He also explained some extremely useful tips for enabling to save time while using laptops/desktop shortcuts on day to day basis.

At this session, the Committee tried to experiment Live session online on Youtube for participants to go online through their Desktop and Smartphones. The video is available on Youtube.
The session was followed by Q&A session where the Speaker thoroughly addressed all the queries of the participants. The study circle was truly enthralling, and the participants appreciated the in-depth insight given by the learned speaker.

Intensive Study Course on “Data Analytics for Internal Audit” held on 7th & 8th December, 2018

The GRC subgroup of the Accounting and Auditing Committee organised a 2-day hands-on workshop on “Data Analytics for Internal Audit – using IDEA”: the workshop, anchored by CA. Deepjee Singhal, was divided into 1-day of seminar sessions, followed by 1-day of hands on training on the IDEA data analytics tool, for which each of the participants was provided a limited period IDEA licence along with data sets to get a feel of different IDEA features that can be effectively used for Internal Audit.

The workshop, inaugurated by president CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, had participants from the CA profession as also from the industry. CA. Deepjee Singhal provided a crisp overview of the Current Trends in Use of Data Analytics, with specific reference to internal Audit. A panel discussion with CA. Amit Pandit, CA. Jyotin Mehta and CA. Satish Shenoy provided insights to the participants as to the way in which data analytics has been integrated with the Governance-Risk-Compliance Advisory over the past decade and what the future may hold.

Mr Jairam Rajshekhar and Mr Saurabh Patkar demonstrated the various features of IDEA tool on day-1 and on day-2, they led the hands-on sessions where the participants got an opportunity to actually use these features on their own computers.

The case study based teaching method adopted for the workshop, with real data, enabled the participants to gain a first-hand experience of using the IDEA tool for data analytics.

The participants expressed deep appreciation for the in-depth and hands-on training provided in the upcoming field of data analytics with a special focus on Internal Audit.

INTENSIVE STUDY GROUP ON GST

Intensive Study Group Meeting on “Goods and Services Tax – Clause by Clause Study and Analysis of GST Act” held on 20th & 21st July, 24th & 25th August, 26th & 27th October, 16th November & 7th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

After the successful in-depth study and response in Batch-I held during March and April 2018, it was decided to further extend the study for few more months specially for some of the uncovered topics during Batch-I. The Batch-II was planned with 8 sessions (During July to December 2018) on Fridays and Saturdays by Bombay Chartered Accountant’s Society wherein section-wise study of the GST Act was held. There was an in-depth study and all the sessions were quite interactive. Each session was held under the guidance of 2 to 3 mentors who have a great expertise on the subject.

Each session was attended by more than 25 participants. It was highly appreciated by the members who shared their practical experience and got benefited as the coverage of the subject was detailed one.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES COMMITTEE

Human Development Study Circle on the topic “Building Civic Leaders” held on 11th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Human Development Study Circle organised a meeting on the topic “Building Civic Leaders” on 11th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by Ms. Sapna Karim. The Speaker explained that we generally face difficulties in the quality of life in our neighbourhoods, clean surroundings in public places, enough water supply and good roads. She explained that Janaagraha is pursuing efforts to ensure that we as citizens are able to have a good quality of life in our cities through improvements in infrastructure and city administration and importantly demonstrate active citizenship. Janaagraha lives by the principle ‘urgent patience’ which would mean – be patient for change, but make urgent efforts to affect it. Quality of citizenship is not just a means to an end, but an end in itself. She emphasised that citizens must meet regularly to see how they can contribute. ChangeMyCity.com is a site that works for this and also powers the Swachhata app for the national government under the Swachh Bharath Mission. The Speaker mentioned that we do not want sporadic solutions but systematic solutions that take time as it involves changing or evolving new laws, policies, practices within government and enabling good citizenship values and behaviours.
The meeting was very participative and was a huge takeaway for the participants.

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

FEMA Study Circle Meeting on “Current and Capital Account Transactions-Part II” held on 13th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A FEMA Study Circle Meeting was held on 13th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall where CA. Manoj Shah led the discussion on the topic of “Current and Capital Account Transactions-Part II”. He did an in-depth analysis of Section 3 – Dealings in Foreign Exchange and dissected clause (a), (b) and (c) of section 3. He deliberated upon the meaning of “dealing” and discussed when a resident can pay on behalf of non-resident. He also explained couple of high court judgements on the subject of payment by resident on behalf of non-resident. He also pointed out that in one compounding matter, amount of FDI proceeds were received from third party intermediary instead of Authorised Person and penalty was levied therein. The members appreciated the efforts put in by the group leader and benefitted a lot from the session.

The Sixteenth Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Lecture on “Guardian Angel of Fundamental Rights” held by Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Trust on 15th December, 2018

The Sixteenth Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Lecture on the topic “Guardian Angel of Fundamental Rights” was held by Nani A. Palkhivala Memorial Trust on 15th December, 2018, in association with Bombay Bar Association, Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society, The Bombay Incorporated Law Society and Forum of Free Enterprises, at the Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The proceedings commenced with the performance by students of NCPA Special Music Training Programme. The lecture was delivered by Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, Judge, Supreme Court of India. The lecture meeting was presided over by Mr. Y. H. Malegam, Chairman, Board of Trustees. The Speaker talked about the achievements of Late Palkhivala in the field of legal profession as well as several publications authored by him. He also discussed about the accolades Mr. Palkhivala earned in the domestic and international sphere and his memorable stint with Tata Group and as President, Forum of Free Enterprise and Founder Chairman, The A. D. Shroff Memorial Trust.
On this occasion, The Nani A. Palkhivala Civil Liberties Awards were also presented.

The meeting was attended by over 145 participants who got inspired and enthused with the well explained facts by the learned Speaker. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by the Trustee Mr. Deepak S. Parekh.

Lecture Meeting on “Right to Information vs Privacy” held on 17th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A Samvad was organised at the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society under auspices of BCAS Foundation on the subject ‘Right to Information (RTI) vs. Privacy’ on 17th December, 2018. Panellists invited were Shri Shailesh Gandhi, Former Central Chief RTI Commissioner, Justice Shri Abhay Thipsay (Retired Judge, Bombay High Court) and Shri V. A. Thorat, former Advocate General Maharashtra. Past President CA. Raman Jokhakar acted as a moderator.

President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla in his opening remarks stressed the need to have such debates and dialogue to bring clarity and consensus on the matters relating to the RTI. This he said was needed to bring transparency in the dealings between government and people to achieve true spirit of democracy.

Shri Shailesh Gandhi said that Right to Information is a fundamental right of citizens under Article 8(1) (a) of the constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and expression subject to Article 19 (2) which restricts it only in the interest of sovereignty, integrity and security of the state, public order, decency or morality, friendly relations with foreign state or in relation to contempt of court or defamation.

He further said that there is an adequate safeguard also prescribed under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act which exempts only that information which relates to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest and which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the information officer is satisfied that larger public interest justifies disclosure of such information. However, the proviso under the section amply clarifies the intent that only the information which cannot be denied to Parliament or the State Legislature shall not be denied to any person. “Despite this, information is often denied to people mistakenly classifying it as personal information” said Shailesh Gandhi. He lamented that increasingly some Supreme Court judgments were being cited to call every information as private and having no public interest and thus being denied. Among them were details related to service records and asset records labelling them as information between the employers and employees. “This has effect of completely diluting the fundamental right of RTI given to citizens of India under the constitution by misinterpretation of Section 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act, because they could always qualify for disclosure to the Parliament or State Legislature” he concluded.

Justice Thipsay said that when it comes to assets and service records of public servants, they should be provided under the RTI Act. He however cautioned that one needs to maintain a delicate balance to harmonise the conflict between the RTI and Privacy. He said that good society is not guaranteed by the information alone; one also has to keep check on whether this right is exploited to settle personal score. He opined that this was not a fight to finish but a process of evolution.

Shri V. A. Thorat said that information should be given on case-to-case basis when it comes to assets and details of service records. “Even if the provision for disclosing information exists, it cannot be applied universally without applying mind as to whether it will qualify under Article 19)(2). One has to draw the line between information that is necessary having regard to the facts and one what could be abused for personal gain with no public interest. However, he also said that judgements can’t be read as statutes and one needs to distinguish between public information sought in public interest and use of RTI for frivolous queries.

The two speakers while disagreeing with Shri Shailesh Gandhi about disclosure of information opined that use of discretion on the facts and circumstances of each case was necessary in protecting the right of privacy. However, all agreed that constitution is sovereign and not the provision of legislation. It would be ideal that within the ambit of restrictions laid down by Article 19 (2), the spirit of RTI is truly observed.

The debate was mind churning and intellectually enlightening. CA. Raman Jokhakar asked some poignant questions on the tendency of government officers to shirk their obligation cast under RTI Act and questioned logic of creating controversy. These were appropriately answered by the panellists. A lot many questions from enlightened audience augmented the ethos. Widely attended by cross section of people, it engaged the audience completely and prompted lot of spontaneous responses from them sharing their experiences.

Joint Secretary CA. Mihir Sheth gave a deserving vote of thanks to the panellists.

ITF STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle Meeting on “Taxation of Profits from Shipping and Aircraft (for Non Residents) under DTAA (Part 2)” held on 18th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

ITF Study Circle organised a meeting on the captioned subject on 18th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The Study circle was led by CA. Sonia Agrawal who explained briefly about Part 1 where the Shipping Business Taxation comes under the purview of Domestic Tax Laws. Various issues with regards to Inland Waterways and Water Transport on the coastal ways, inside India and outside India, High Sea Shipping Cargo were also discussed.

There was a detailed discussion on Article 8 of the Treaty. Case laws on recent amendments were also taken up. The participants could resolve their queries with the group leader. The members of the Study Circle shared their experiences on above mentioned issues and all participants benefitted from the discussion on the subject.

Study Circle Meeting on “Contentious Issues under GST “held on 19th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A study circle meeting on the topic Contentious Issues under GST was held under the aegis of Indirect Taxation Committee on 19th December, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by Sr. Advocate P. K. Sahu, who delivered an in-depth analysis of the issues with reasoning. The meeting was very interactive and the learned speaker dealt with all the issues posted before him in detail.

The meeting was a huge takeaway for the participants.

BOOK REVIEW

‘PRINCIPLES’ – by Ray Dalio

 

Ray Dalio, one
of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the
unconventional principles that he has developed, refined and used over the past
40 years to create unique results in both life and business – and which any
person or organisation can adopt to achieve their goals.

 

In 1975 he
founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates. Forty years later,
Bridgewater has made more money for its clients than any other hedge fund in
history and grown into the fifth most important private company in the US,
according to Fortune magazine. Dalio has been named in Time
magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Along the way,
he discovered a set of unique principles that have led to Bridgewater’s
exceptionally effective culture, which he describes as ‘an idea meritocracy
that strives to achieve meaningful work and meaningful relationships through
radical transparency.’ It is these principles, and not anything special about
Dalio, that he believes are the reason behind his success.

 

In the book,
Dalio shares what he has learned over the course of his remarkable career. He
argues that life, management, economics and investing can all be systemised
into rules and understood like machines. The book has hundreds of practical
lessons built around his cornerstones of ‘radical truth’ and ‘radical
transparency’; these include the most effective ways for individuals and
organisations to make decisions, approach challenges and build strong teams. He
also describes the innovative tools the firm uses to bring an ‘idea
meritocracy’ to life, such as creating ‘baseball cards’ for all employees that
distil their strengths and weaknesses and employing computerised
decision-making systems to make believability-weighted decisions. While the
book brims with novel ideas for organisations and institutions, Principles
also offers a clear, straightforward approach to decision-making that Dalio
believes anyone can apply, no matter what they’re seeking to achieve.

 

Here, from a
man who has been called both ‘the Steve Jobs of investing’ and ‘the philosopher
king of the financial universe’ (CIO magazine), is a rare opportunity to
gain proven advice unlike anything you’ll find in the conventional business
press. He kicks off by explaining that ‘Good principles are effective ways of
dealing with reality’ and that ‘To learn my own, I spend a lot of time
reflecting.’

 

The book
consists of three parts. In the first, titled ‘Where I’m coming from’, Dalio
looks back at his career and the founding of Bridgewater. ‘Life Principles’ is
the name of the second part and covers Dalio’s approach to life’s challenges
and opportunities. And part three covers Dalio’s ‘Work Principles’.

 

Let me share my
key takeaways from Principles, starting with Dalio’s Life
Principles:

 

Embrace reality
and deal with it

Dalio shares an important equation which in his view makes for a successful
life: Dreams + Reality + Determination = A Successful Life. For the
‘reality’ component of this equation to work, Dalio encourages readers to be
radically open-minded and radically transparent.

 

Pain +
Reflection = Progress

– One can see how someone like Dalio has gone through his own share of pain to
get to where he has reached.

 

Using the
5-step process to get what you want out of life
– Start with having clear goals (step 1),
followed by identifying but not tolerating the problems that stand in
the way of your achieving those goals (step 2), then you accurately diagnose
the problems to get at their root causes (step 3), design plans that
will get you around them (step 4) and, finally, do what’s necessary to
push these designs through to results (step 5). Dalio depicts this as a
continuous process and readers can benefit from applying this model to achieve
their goals.

 

Understand
that people are wired very differently
– Dalio stresses the fact that all people are
wired differently and zooms in on the differences between left and
right-brained thinking.

 

Dalio’s Work
Principles
are dominated by the concept of an Idea Meritocracy
i.e., a system that brings together smart, independent thinkers and has them
productively disagree to come up with the best possible collective thinking and
resolve their disagreements in a believability-weighted way. He successfully
implemented an ‘Idea Meritocracy’ at Bridgewater and shares the components of
such a system in his book:

 

Idea
Meritocracy = Radical Truth + Radical Transparency + Believability – Weighted
Decision-Making

 

Radical
Truth
– Talking openly
about our issues and have paths for working through them.

 

Radical Transparency – Giving everyone the ability to see
everything. Radical transparency reduces harmful office politics and the risks
of bad behaviour because bad behaviour is more likely to take place behind
closed doors than out in the open.

 

Believability – Dalio defines believable people as
‘those who have repeatedly and successfully accomplished the thing in question
– who have a strong track record with at least three successes – and have great
explanations of their approach when probed.’

 

Thoughtful
Disagreement
– The
concept of Believability is closely linked to the art of Thoughtful
Disagreement; the process of having a quality back-and-forth in an open-minded
and assertive way to see things through each other’s eyes.

 

Weighted
Decision-Making
– At
Bridgewater, employees have different believability weightings for
different qualities, like expertise in a particular subject, creativity,
ability to synthesise, etc. Dalio explains that in order to have a true Idea
Meritocracy one needs to understand the merit of each person’s ideas.

 

Prerequisites
for an Idea Meritocracy

– To have an Idea Meritocracy three conditions need to be in place.
Firstly, put your honest thoughts on the table. Secondly, have thoughtful
disagreement. Thirdly, abide by agreed-upon ways of getting past disagreement.

 

Mistakes are
part of the game

Dalio has a refreshing outlook on the role and value of mistakes, which he
treats as ‘a natural part of the evolutionary process’. It’s important in this
respect to assess whether people recognise and learn from their mistakes. Dalio
distinguishes between people who make mistakes and who are self-reflective and
open to learning from their mistakes, and those who are unable to embrace their
mistakes and learn from them.

 

Get people
to focus on problems and outcomes
– Assign people the job of perceiving problems, give them time to
investigate and make sure they have independent reporting lines so that they
can convey problems without any fear of recrimination. To perceive problems,
compare how the outcomes are lining up with your goals. Dalio also offers some
valuable tips on how to best diagnose problems.

 

Avoid the
‘Frog in the boiling water’ syndrome
– Apparently, if you throw a frog into a pot of
boiling water it will jump out immediately, but if you put it in water at room
temperature and gradually bring it to a boil, it will stay in the pot until it
dies. If one uses this syndrome as a metaphor for professional life, it
signifies people’s tendency to slowly get used to unacceptable things that would
shock them if they see them with fresh eyes.

 

Don’t just
pay attention to your job
– Instead, pay attention to how your job will be done if you’re no
longer around. Dalio talks about the ‘ninja manager’ as ‘somebody who can sit
back and watch beauty happen, i.e., an orchestrator. If you’re always trying to
hire somebody who’s as good as or better than you at your job, that will both
free you up to go on to other things and build your succession pipeline.’

 

I feel that
Dalio’s principles can provide great direction for all people working in
organisations big or small. His reflections on things such as transparency and
decision-making will be valuable to anyone reading this great book.

 

The book is
aesthetically beautiful in the design and typography, making it a real treat to
read. I really appreciate the biography section of the book that solely focuses
on Ray Dalio’s life and journey towards where he is today. It offers you a
brief insight into what made him the person he is today. Even very humbling experiences,
such as being the only person left in the company that he built and having to
start all over again.

 

In Principles: Life and Work,
Dalio shares the principles that have led to his success. Told with honesty and
enlightening examples, Principles is a fascinating look at how
Dalio has created the largest and most successful hedge fund in the world. You
need only read the first few pages to discover the uniqueness of his approach;
he encourages readers to doubt everything, suggesting that radical open-mindedness
is the best way to learn.

Society News

SECOND BCAS LONG-DURATION COURSE ON GST

 

The second BCAS Long-Duration Course
on GST was conducted at the BCAS Hall from 4th to 19th
October, 2019. It was held over three consecutive Fridays and Saturdays with
six sessions per day and a total of 36 technical sessions on important areas
under GST. Each technical session was conducted by experienced faculty having
vast experience and knowledge in the area of indirect taxation. The course was
aimed at imparting basic and middle-level knowledge on conceptual aspects of
GST law and procedures which were explained in interactive sessions along with
talks, practical examples and case studies. The last two sessions were combined
and designed as a ‘Brain Trust’ session, moderated by BCAS Immediate
Past President and present Co-Chairman of the IDT Committee, Sunil
Gabhawalla
, along with renowned faculties S.S. Gupta and Parind
Mehta
as ‘brain trustees’ who answered innumerable questions put to them by
the participants and highlighted various issues in GST.

 

The course
received very good response. A total of 71 participants enrolled for it; they
came from 12 different cities. The participants were all praise for the course.

 

Those who
attended at least 75% of the course were presented with participation
certificates by the Society. The overall verdict from the feedback forms
received was encouraging, as almost all participants appreciated the design,
structure, timing, faculties and so on.

 

HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

 

‘Non-violence
is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the
mightiest weapon of destruction’,
said Mahatma Gandhi.

 

The HRD Study
Circle organised a talk on ‘Non-Violent Communication’ (NVC) by Ms Leonie
D’Mello at the BCAS Hall on 10th October, 2019. (Earlier, in
memory of the Mahatma, BCAS organised a special programme ‘Bapu@150’ on
2nd October, 2019 in its Conference Hall.)

 

The speaker
made several key points while delivering her talk. Among them were the
following:

 

‘Non-Violent Communication is a simple
tool to defuse arguments and create compassionate communication with family,
friends, etc. It is an amazingly effective language for saying what is on your
mind and in your heart. It is simple on the surface, challenging to use in the
heat of the moment and powerful in its results.

 

Non-Violent
Communication is a way of getting things done in the right way with both sides
willing to dialogue and resolve conflicts.

 

It involves expressing honestly and
receiving emphatically. When we learn to connect our needs with our feelings,
we empathise with ourselves and others. We learn to be compassionate with
ourselves and with others.

 

NVC shows us
to focus on what we truly want, rather than on what is wrong with others or
ourselves. It gives the tools and understanding to create a more peaceful state
of mind.

 

NVC is a very interesting way to
communicate effectively.’

 

Those who attended the talk expressed a
desire to learn even more about non-violent communication – so that they could
communicate with others successfully and more effectively.

 

LECTURE
MEETING ON ‘RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN GST’

 

A lecture meeting on ’Recent Developments in
GST’ was held on 11th October, 2019 at Bhatia Wadi, near Savarkar
Garden, Borivali (West), on 11th October, 2019.

 

Well over a hundred professionals and others
attended this first-of-its-kind meeting. BCAS President Manish Sampat,
in his opening remarks, underlined the objective of this particular lecture. He
said this was the first initiative to reach out to the suburbs for the benefit
of scores of members and others living and / or working in Borivali and nearby
areas.

 

Immediate Past President Sunil Gabhawalla
explained the various important developments which had taken place due to the
change in the law and also through various notifications and circulars after
its enactment. In a sense, the members were taken on a ‘GST journey’ starting
from inception to execution, the hurdles and hindrances along the way and so
on. The speakers answered all the queries raised from the floor of the house.

 

The interactive meeting ended with
announcements about future BCAS events and a vote of thanks proposed by Dushyant
Bhatt.

 

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE MEETING

 

FEMA Study Circle Conveners Kirit P.
Dedhia
, Niki Shah and Parag Kotak joined hands to organise a
very interesting discussion on ‘ODI Contraventions: Reporting and Regulations’
at the BCAS Conference Hall on 15th October, 2019.

 

The choice of Ms Aarti Karwande as
Group Leader proved to be a good decision. For, in the course of her
presentation she covered various case laws pertaining to ODI contraventions.
This paved the way for a lively and thought-provoking discussion on the
applicable FEMA regulations. The topic of discussion being so interesting, the
room was packed with professionals with a sprinkling of students.

 

Ms Karwande pointed out that Overseas Direct
Investment had rapidly evolved over the years. Therefore, it was important to
understand the regulations and the reporting pertaining to the subject –
because any contravention could have several adverse ramifications.

 

The Study Circle meeting served to clarify
matters and set the professionals on the right track to tackle this key subject
(Overseas Direct Investment).

 

‘ESTATE
DUTY – A TRIGGER FOR SUCCESSION PLANNING’

 

The BCAS organised a lecture meeting
addressed by Mr. Ketan Dalal on ‘Estate Duty – a Trigger for Succession
Planning’ on 16th October, 2019 in the BCAS Conference Hall.

 

Introducing the subject, President Manish
Sampat
pointed out the importance of estate / succession planning all over
the world and in India, too. He stated that in recent times, the focus on
succession planning had increased amongst high net-worth Indian business
families so as to minimise the loss in value while transferring assets /
businesses from one generation to another.

 

In the last few years, especially during the
time of the presentation of the Union Budget, there had been a great deal of hype
about the re-introduction of estate duty (which had been abolished in 1985).
That had triggered the need for succession planning. People had started looking
beyond wills and probates and were approaching lawyers, chartered accountants
and attorneys for succession planning, the President pointed out.

 

Mr. Ketan Dalal started the session with a brief history of estate planning all
over the world, especially in countries like the USA where estate duty laws
have been in force for many years. He then explained the earlier estate duty
law in India and its main features, the challenges it faced and the reasons why it was abolished. He gave an overview
of succession planning and how it was a much wider concept than mere mitigation
of estate duty issues.

 

He stated that succession planning was very
important in India even without any estate duty law being in place. Various
structures were used by people for succession planning; they faced several
issues in doing so and were being made aware of the timelines involved in the
whole succession planning process.

 

Mr. Dalal
described the integrated approach to be adopted for structuring such planning
and shared his experience on the issues that arose, on the basis of the
innumerable cases handled by him.

 

He also explained some of the key issues
that one could come up against under various laws in India dealing with trusts,
family settlements and restructuring. He then answered a plethora of questions
from the eager participants on gifts, nominations, wills, probate, etc.

 

The meeting was
well appreciated as the speaker articulated several aspects of succession
planning very well.

 

President Manish introduced the
speaker, Vice-President Suhas Paranjpe presented a memento to him and
Convener Hardik Mehta proposed the vote of thanks.

 

SUBURBAN STUDY CIRCLE

 

The Suburban Study Circle organised a
meeting on ‘Amendments to Income-tax Act, 1961’ vide an ordinance, the Taxation
Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, on 18th October, 2019 which was
addressed by Mr. Milin Bakhai.

 

The speaker made a detailed presentation on
the amendments and explained each change clause by clause. The group had a
detailed discussion on the possible outcomes of selecting the option u/s
115BAA.

 

He walked the participants through a
comparison of companies under different tax rates and the various pros and cons
for selection of the new tax rates. He also examined section 115BAB in detail
and the various references which were drawn from different judicial precedents
to explain the same. He gave examples to describe which arrangements would be
considered as reconstruction and / or splitting.

 

The participants lauded the speaker for his
erudition and his easy-to-understand presentation.

 

INTERNATIONAL
ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

 

The International Economics Study Group held
its meeting on 5th November, 2019 to discuss ‘Issues &
Implications of Banking & Financial Crisis in India’. CA Harshad Shah
and CA Paresh Budhdev led the discussions and presented their thoughts
on the subject.

 

They pointed out that Indian banks (mostly
PSUs and some private banks) had been facing serious NPA crises for the last
five years. Besides, many well-known promoters had been facing huge liquidity
challenges and a few of them had filed for bankruptcy themselves or their
lenders had done so. This got further aggravated and spread to NBFCs and
private banks with problems at some well-known ones. Many more lenders were
likely to be added to the list due to stress in the real estate, automobiles,
MSME sectors and the rural and agricultural economy. At the same time, there
were governance issues in small savings funds, EPF and LIC, too.

 

As per RBI data, the aggregate gross
advances of PSU banks increased from Rs. 11.33 lakh crores as on 31st
March, 2008 to Rs. 34.03 lakh crores as on 31st March, 2014 (a
three-fold increase in six years). The primary reasons for the spurt in
stressed assets had been aggressive lending practices, including phone banking,
directed lendings, wilful default / loan frauds / corruption in some cases and
overall economic slowdown.

 

India’s banks were grappling with roughly $150
billion in stressed assets (Rs. 10 lakh crores)
; about 85% of these NPAs
were from the loans and advances of PSU banks. In the last decade, the gross
NPAs of banks had increased from 2.3% of total loans (2008) to 9.5% (in 2019),
indicating that an increasing proportion of a bank’s assets had ceased to
generate income for the banks, lowering their profitability and ability to
grant further credit. Bank NPAs were expected to shrink 350 bps over two years
to 8% by March, 2020, compared with the peak of 11.5% in March, 2018.

 

The International Economics Study Group also
discussed the NBFC crisis and its domino effect on the Indian economy. There
were 11,400+ shadow banking companies (NBFCs) with a combined balance sheet
worth around Rs. 22.1 trillion ($304 billion) and their loan portfolios had
grown at nearly twice the pace of banks. According to RBI data, gross NPAs
(non-performing assets) or bad loans of NBFCs stood at 6.6% at the end of
March, 2019 against 5.3% a year ago. On the other hand, bank lending to NBFCs
had also seen a substantial rise. NBFCs owed an outstanding amount of Rs. 6.4
lakh crores at the end of March, 2019. This was a 22% increase compared with
the previous year when the debt was Rs. 4.9 lakh crores. NBFCs and HFCs had a
balance sheet of Rs. 36 lakh crores as of March, 2019. If the extent of
under-reporting was around 5% of advances, there could be Rs. 1.8 lakh crores
of more bad news yet to be recognised.

 

The risks of contagion were rising in the
Indian financial sector and any failure of a large shadow lender could lead to
a ‘solvency shock’ to banks. India’s shadow lenders got a substantial part of
their funding from banks – the weaker ones had seen a sharp rise in their
borrowing costs, and a big drop in their equity values. High business risk is
inherent in NBFC business models that rely on short-term market borrowings for
long-term loans. The resulting risk aversion by lenders had landed NBFCs and
HFCs with high asset-liability mismatches in hot water.

 

The way forward suggested was: (1) Regulators and investors need to recognise that both the ALM
(asset liability mismatch) and liquidity crises are restricted to a handful of
NBFCs / HFCs which require closer regulatory supervision, along with the firms
accessing public deposits or retail NCDs requiring close scrutiny. (2) With
default and the string of credit rating downgrades, which undermined market
confidence in credit ratings and the accounting practices of NBFCs, regulator/s
need to undertake special audits. This is essential to shore up market
confidence in the sector. (3) NBFCs / HFCs with retail participation and good
quality books may need a liquidity lifeline to ward off solvency issues. (4) It
is not the absence of regulations but ineffectual supervision by the regulators
that has left the doors open for the NBFC crises to play out. Hence, instead of
adding to their voluminous regulations, regulators need to deploy additional
manpower and acquire forensic capabilities to more closely monitor the frequent
statutory filings of these firms.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1.    Pendency
of time-barring
e-assessments

 

Jurisdiction

Pending %

Delhi

92

Mumbai

89

Gujarat

87

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

87

Pune

84

 

Source: Income Tax
Department – MIS Report

 

2.    Ease of doing business

 

Particulars

Score
2019

Score 2020

Rank 2019

Rank
2020

Starting a business

81

81.6

137

136

Dealing with construction permits

72.1

78.7

52

27

Getting electricity

89.2

89.4

24

22

Registering property

47.9

47.6

166

154

Getting credit

80.0

80.0

22

25

Protecting minority investors

80.0

80.0

7

13

Paying taxes

65.4

67.6

121

115

Trading across borders

77.5

82.5

80

68

Enforcing contracts

41.2

41.2

163

163

Resolving insolvency

40.8

62.0

108

52

Overall

67.5

71.0

77

63

 

Source: World Bank

 

 

3.    GDP Growth 2019

 

Country

GDP growth %

India

7.3%

China

6.3%

Indonesia

5.2%

Pakistan

2.9%

US

2.3%

Brazil

2.1%

Spain

2.1%

Nigeria

2.1%

Netherlands

1.8%

Saudi

1.8%

Russia

1.6%

Canada

1.5%

France

1.3%

UK

1.2%

South Africa

1.2%

Germany

0.8%

Italy

0.1%

Japan

1%

Turkey

-2.5%

Iran

-6%

 

Source: IndiaStatistics
twitter – IMF

 

4.    Highlights of e-filing

Source: Income Tax India
e-filing website

5.  ITR filing growth between previous FY and
current FY

 

 

Source: Income Tax India
e-filing website

 

6. Share of informal employment
in total employment (%)

 

Source: International Labour
Organisation

 

SOCIETY NEWS

“Long Duration Course on Goods and Services Tax Act” held on 5th, 6th, 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

BCAS, as a NACIN accredited training partner has been at the forefront of creating awareness about GST and supported the Government in ushering this reform by organising various lecture meetings, seminars and workshops related to GST. As a part of this endeavour, Indirect Taxation Committee of BCAS organised a Long Duration Course on Goods and Services Tax Act at BCAS Conference Hall, spread over 4 weeks in the month of October, 2018 on Fridays and Saturdays. The course consisted of 36 sessions of 1hr 15 min each. It was conducted by 34 domain experts in GST who covered various theoretical as well as practical aspects of the GST law.

The Course was attended by 97 participants including outstation participants as under:

The profile of participants consisted of practising chartered accountants, chartered accounts in employment as well as accounts and finance staff of various entities. The course was interactive and participants discussed various issues such as deemed supply, cross charge/ISD, ineligible ITC under the Act, issues concerning valuations, place of supply including zero rated supplies/deemed exports and imports related provisions, computational provisions, penal provisions, assessment provisions and procedural provisions like accounts and documents, payments, E-way bill, returns and Audit.

With the backup of excellent faculties, participants enriched their knowledge and experience in this collective learning process. The course facilitated GST learning of 45 hours per participants.

Students Study Circle on ‘’Benchmarking under Transfer Pricing” held on 23rd October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Students Forum under the auspices of HRD Committee organised a Students’ Study Circle on the topic “Benchmarking under Transfer Pricing” on Tuesday, 23rd October, 2018 BCAS Conference Hall which was led by group leaders Mr. Rishabh Jain and Mr. Piyush Randad under the mentorship of CA. Jitendra Gupta. Ms. Neelam Soneja, the student co-ordinator introduced the mentor and group leaders. CA. Jitendra Gupta, the mentor for the session gave his opening remarks and briefly explained the topic.

Both the group leaders discussed the topic with the help of case studies and shared their practical experience in conducting transfer pricing audit. The study circle was very interactive. Overall, it gave a brief insight on various aspects that should be kept in mind while conducting transfer pricing audit.

The mentor CA. Jitendra Gupta then presented the certificates to the Group Leaders and appreciated the meticulous presentation made by them. Mr. Jason Joseph, the student co-ordinator thanked the group leaders and mentor for sharing their knowledge on the subject and briefed the participants about the forthcoming events which will be organised by the Students Forum.

The participants benefitted a lot from the session.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

Meeting on “21 Lessons for the 21st Century & Clean Disruption” held on 24th October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

International Economics Study Group conducted a meeting on 24th October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall to discuss the topic “21 Lessons for the 21st Century & Clean Disruption” which was addressed by CA. Abhay Bhagat.

The Speaker presented the findings from the books: (1) Prof. Yuval Noah Harari’s bestselling books: Sapiens- A Brief History of Humankind (2) Homo Deus- A Brief History of Tomorrow and (3) 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. The book 21 Lessons from the 21st Century brings out that in a world deluged by irrelevant information, clarity is power. The Speaker explained that 21 Lessons for the 21st Century cuts through the muddy waters and confronts some of the most urgent questions on today’s global agenda. Some of the main learnings are: Whoever owns the data wins, which is why everyone struggles for it. Education must show us how to navigate information and not give us more of it.

CA. Abhay Bhagat also presented his findings on Tony Saba’s book – Clean Disruption Technology, Mega Trends Disrupting Public & Private transportation wherein the author brings out Technology based disruption – A disruption happens when a new product or service helps create a new market and significantly weakens, transforms or destroys existing market.

The author explains that the key technologies that are disrupting transportation are Self Driving vehicles, Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage, Mobile Internet/Cloud, Sensors /IoT & Big Data. The self-driving cars are disruptive as these would be 5 times more efficient than existing cars, cheaper fuel (10 times), life cycle of car (from currently 1.5 lakh km to 5.0 lakh km), present car has 2000 moving parts and EV has 18 to 20 moving parts and EV is computer tablet on wheel.

The author brings out the case for Self-driving vehicles because (1) Millions of people die from road accident and main cause of the accident is driver’s mistake 2) No parking space required as these Self-driving cars can run 24 hours (3) all cars will talk to one another and decide fastest route and giving direction to nearest car.
The meeting was quite interactive and had a huge takeaway for the participants.

A D Shroff Memorial Lecture on “The Importance of Independent Regulatory Institution The Case of Central Bank” held jointly by Forum of Free Enterprise, A. D. Shroff Memorial Trust, Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society and Indian Merchants’ Chamber on 26th October, 2018

The A D Shroff Memorial lecture meeting on The Importance of Independent Regulatory Institution ‘The Case of Central Bank’ was held jointly by Forum of Free Enterprise, A. D. Shroff Memorial Trust, BCAS and Indian Merchants’ Chamber on 26th October, 2018 at IMC Hall. The meeting was addressed by Dr Viral V. Acharya, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

The Speaker explained that a central bank performs several important functions for the economy. It controls the money supply, sets the rate of interest on borrowing and lending money, manages the external sector including the exchange rate, supervises and regulates the financial sector notably banks, often regulates credit and foreign exchange markets and seeks to ensure financial stability, domestic as well as on the external front.

He also elaborated as to why is the central bank separate from the Government? He mentioned that the world over, the central bank is set up as an institution separate from the Government. Its powers are enshrined as being separate through relevant legislation. Its tasks being somewhat complex and technical, Central Banks are ideally headed and manned by technocrats or field experts–typically economists, academics, commercial bankers and occasionally private sector representatives, appointed by the Government but not elected to the office and they exercise their powers independently.

He also elucidated the role of Reserve Bank in regulating Monetary Policy, Debt Management and Exchange Rate Management and ongoing challenges in maintaining independence of Reserve Bank i.e. regulation of Public Sector Banks, RBI’s Balance Sheet strength and Regulatory Scope.

In his concluding remarks, the Speaker thanked Mr. Malegam for inviting him to address the lecture meeting and extended his warm gratitudes to late A. D. Shroff for his contribution to the economy and in co-founding of Free Forum Enterprise Think Tank in the year 1954. The meeting was a huge takeaway for the participants who got enlightened from the lecture delivered by the learned Speaker.

DIRECT TAX LAWS STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on ‘E-Assessments” held on 30th October 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

Direct Tax Laws Study Circle conducted a meeting on E-Assessments Proceedings under the Income Tax Act on 30th October, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall. The Chairman of the session, CA. Ameet Patel gave his opening remarks and pointed out to various initiatives taken by the Government and Income Tax Department regarding digitalisation and e-governance of various compliances, reporting and proceedings.

The Group leader CA. Romil Jain gave a brief background regarding the rationale of introduction of e-proceedings which has been a part of E-governance initiative, to facilitate ease of communication between the taxpayer and the Tax Authorities through electronic means. He educated as to how the concept of e-assessments was inserted and integrated in the provisions of the Income tax Act. He pointed that currently there are 3 branches of e-proceedings which are in operation – (1) E-return processing (2) E-assessment and (3) E-issue of refund.

CA. Romil Jain also took the group through step-by-step method for making submissions though e-assessment tab available on the income tax website. He pointed out to certain key points which one needs to keep in mind:

  • Considering the auto-closure of e-filing window 7 days before the time barring date, assessee must act vigilantly and avoid keeping submissions till the last date.
  • Considering the fact that e-filing portal has idle session time of 15 minutes, assessee should be ready till all the attachments to be uploaded in 1 folder, before login to e-filing website.
  • Retain exclusive email address and mobile number of the authorised person for communication with Tax authorities.
  • Any proceedings conducted manually (in case of exceptions, as listed in CBDT Instructions) shall be kept on record by way of mentioning about the same in subsequent online submission.
  • In the absence of personal hearing, legal issues and commercial rationale should be drafted very clearly and concisely, to avoid any incorrect interpretation.

The meeting was very fruitful for the participants experiencing rich knowledge sharing by the learned Speaker.

BEPS STUDY GROUP

Meeting on “Continuation of Action Plans 8 to 10 – Aligning Transfer Pricing Outcomes with Value Creation” held on 2nd November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall.

BEPS Study Group organised the captioned meeting on 2nd November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall wherein CA. Ganesh Rajgopalan and CA. Shreyas Shah led the discussion. The Speakers put forth several examples and case studies and explained concepts relating to intangibles and their ownership and also to whom returns from intangibles to be allocated. A short presentation on the concept of risk, the principles of control over risk and capacity to assume risk were also deliberated. Some aspects of hard to value intangibles were explained by the group leaders.

The meeting was very interactive and the participants benefitted a lot from the sessions.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on “Eye Health and Eye Vision” held on 13th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall by Presenter: Viram Agrawal of Vision Yoga

Human Resource Development Study Circle organised a meeting on the captioned subject at BCAS Conference Hall which was presented by Mr. Viram Agrawal of Vision Yoga who is working to spread awareness about “better eyesight at any age”.

The Speaker provided some useful insights on the subject as listed below:

(1) Preservation of good eyesight is almost impossible without proper eye education and mental relaxation (2) Keep your eyelids half closed, while reading or watching a distant object (3) Shift your glance constantly from one point to another (4) All errors of refraction are functional and therefore curable (5) Mental strain creates an error of refraction and mental relaxation can cure it (6) Eyewash tones up the eye muscles (7) Vision Yoga is a holistic method of treating eye disorders which is a part of the Vedic tradition as given in the Chakshushopanishad and Netra Dwayam – Upanishads of the eyes (8) This Yoga course benefits all eye disorders like myopia, hypermetropia, presbyopia, squint, cataract, nystagmus, etc.

The Speaker believes that exercises can help to avoid Glasses, Lasik Surgery and improve eye vision and also explained some eye treatments for eye ailments.

The participants were hugely benefitted from the presentation by the learned Speaker.

Intensive Study Course on “Data Analytics for Internal Audit” held on 16th and 17th November, 2018

The GRC subgroup of the Accounting and Auditing Committee organised a 2-day hands-on workshop on “Data Analytics for Internal Audit – using Microsoft Excel at Hotel Parle International, Parle East. The Speaker for the entire 2-day workshop was CA. Nikunj Shah.

This workshop was an immersive learning experience that enabled participants to understand, appreciate and experience the power of MS Excel for performing data analytics for Internal Audit. CA. Nikunj Shah captivated the audiences in his multi-lingual style, narrating anecdotes and stories, spinning a magical web for the spell-bound audiences. The case study based teaching method adopted by the Speaker with real data, enabled the participants to gain a first-hand experience of using data analytics with confidence.

His depth of knowledge, his mastery of MS Excel and his love for teaching together made for a workshop that was insightful, entertaining and educating. Nikunj successfully ignited the fire in the participants to explore and integrate Data Analytics to deliver superior internal audits. The meeting was quite participative and was a huge takeaway for the participants.

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on “Current and Capital Account Transactions” held on 22nd November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

A FEMA Study Circle Meeting was held on 22nd Novemeber, 2018 where CA. Manoj Shah led the discussion on the topic of “Current and Capital Account Transactions”. He deliberated upon the concept of current and capital account transaction which draws its importance from “Balance of Payment”. The members present discussed the definition of the Capital Account Transactions at length and raised various issues arising out of inbound and outbound contingent liabilities. The group leader and members discussed at length an issue as to whether indemnity given by Resident to Non Resident can be treated same as guarantee? The group leader also discussed implications under FEMA in relation to the gift of money, foreign security and immovable property by resident to the non-resident and vice-versa. The discussion also took place on setting up of a Trust where beneficiaries are non-resident Indians. The discussion also took place about trade payable outstanding for more than six months and few compounding orders on the same subject were discussed. The members appreciated the efforts put in by the group leader and requested him to take up the balance slides in the next study circle meeting.

HERITAGE WALK 2018 AT LONAVALA

Heritage Walk 2018 jointly with NGO “SAMPARC (Social Action for Manpower Creation)” held on 25th November, 2018 at Lonavala

A heritage walk was organised by the HRD Committee in association with NGO SAMPARC (Social Action for Manpower Creation) with a vision of enlisting heritage monuments – Bhaje, Karla, Bedse Caves and Visapur & Lohagad Fort in UNESCO heritage list.

Apart from supporting a cause, the walk gave all the participants an opportunity to meet new people from different walks of life and interact with them. The walk was enhanced by folk culture such as cultural events and traditional cuisines.

The aim and vision of SAMPARC Heritage Walk 2018 enshrined:

(1) Spreading awareness about the cleanliness and care requirements of heritage monuments. (2) Enabling citizens and tourists to relate to our varied culture and mesmerising history. (3) Attracting tourists and people from urban areas towards a historical heritage of our country. (4) Encouraging and inspiring people to preserve the precious heritage and help enlist Bhaje, Karla, Bedse Caves and Lohagad, Visapur fort in UNESCO Heritage list. (5) Motivating people from different communities to come together for protecting and supporting underprivileged children.

The walk commenced from footsteps of Bhaje Caves up to Lohagad Fort, which is 3,389 feet above the sea level. Total climb uphill and the same route downhill was approx. 7.2 kms. Along the walk the participants savoured the traditional Maharashtrian delicacies such as pithala-bhakari, thecha, vada pav, corn, etc., and enjoyed the undiscovered panoramic views. They also got an opportunity to feel traditional elegance and view various cultural performances including lavani, bhajan, potraj, tulsi vrundavan, Mallakhamb, etc.

The Heritage Walk was indeed a very pleasant and inspiring experience for the participants to preserve the beauty and identity of our ancient heritage.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

Meeting on “Fear: Trump in the White House” and Current Economic Developments held on 28th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall

International Economics Study Group organised the captioned meeting on 28th November, 2018 at BCAS Conference Hall, to discuss Bob Woodward’s book “Fear: Trump in the White House” and Current Economic Developments. CA Harshad Shah led the discussion and presented his findings of the book. He explained that Bob Woodward is an American journalist and author who reported on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post which led to Nixon’s resignation. The book chronicles initial years of Trump’s presidency and portrays the Trump White House as chaotic and disloyal to the president. The book’s title is derived from a remark that then-candidate Trump made in an interview with Woodward in 2016, “Real power is Fear”. Woodward has a reputation for meticulous note-taking and interviewing, combined with recording nearly all of his interviews.

The main focus of the book is national security, economic policy, North Korea, Trade, Afghanistan, Syria & the Mueller investigation. Probably the most significant and worrying claims are about Trump’s foreign policy impulses and his not understanding the way the US government debt cycle & balance sheet worked, confused of the federal debt and US monetary policy and trade. The Book brings out that Trump was clueless that orders were removed from his desk. Trump ran a campaign and promised to eliminate the entire federal debt during his presidency and offered a solution “Just run the presses – print money” which would be detrimental to the fiscal and economic health of the US.

The Group also discussed 32 % slide in oil prices over past two months in which Brent crude dropped from $86.70 a barrel to a low of $58.41, lowest levels in over a year (Since October 2017) and this decline happened due to increased supply, lower demand forecast, dilution of American sanctions against Iran, Trump`s prompting to Saudi Arabia & massive unwinding of positions by hedge funds. This would bring relief to India in terms of lower energy prices, inflation, current account deficit & currency.
The Group also deliberated on emerging geo political situations in our neighbourhood such as Pakistan & Afghanistan which might have long term impact on our security concerns.

The meeting was a good learning experience and participants benefitted a lot from the session.

Book Review

Title: Bond to Baba – Successful
Strategies

Author: Ninad Karpe, Chartered Accountant


James Bond, Formula 1 racing, Alexander the Great and Baba Ramdev – what do
these have in common? If I were asked this question two weeks ago, I would
admit that I don’t see anything in common. If, however, I were asked this
question today, I would say ‘Strategy lessons for business’. Bond to Baba is
the latest book on business strategy by Ninad Karpe, who is a Chartered
Accountant and has led Aptech, one of India’s largest education
companies.

 

Before you frown on the subject of ‘business
strategy’ due to its perception as a subject meant exclusively for thinkers,
senior executives and management gurus; Bond to Baba is one book that has
simplified strategy to make sense to a 12 year – old while exploring enough
depth to add value to a seasoned business executive. The book addresses success
stories from films, sports, history and politics; explores the causes of
success in each of these stories, bridges it to what businesses can learn from
them and summarises them into timeless lessons for business.

 

Bond to Baba has been published in 2018 by Popular
Prakashan
, one of India’s leading publication houses, and retails at INR
250. It is also available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. As of
August 2018, this book has been rated 4.5 out of 5 stars by more than 66
reviewers and has swiftly made its way to the list of ‘Memorable business books
of 2018’ by Amazon.

 

The book begins with exploring the James
Bond movies and the factors that have caused the franchise to appeal to
generation after generation. If you think you are a Bond fanatic, think twice!
Ninad has picked up a surgeon’s knife to analyse scenes from Bond movies in
minute detail and linked them to lessons for business. He addresses how the
James Bond brand has been reinvented and represented through the past decades
to keep it updated to evolving expectations of the audience. I am browsing
through Netflix archives as I type this to watch Spectre and Skyfall once again
to experience Ninad’s observations.

 

The book then moves on to explore what
businesses can learn from Formula 1 races. Ninad is a Formula 1 enthusiast for
more that 20 years and amalgamates his depth in the sport as well as business
to produce business lessons. He explains that businesses can learn about
agility, efficiency and exploiting data from Formula 1. “If it takes less than
two seconds for a (pit stop) crew to change four tyres, can we justify a delay
beyond 24 hours in responding to an email?” This is a statement in the book
which is worth pasting on the walls of every office in the world.

 

The book has also elucidated lessons from
history which can be applied even in a contemporary business scenario. The
description of the Battle of Gaugamela, where Alexander’s forces go head to
head with King Darius, was so picturesque that I was transported to that
battlefield in 331 BC and forgot that I was reading a book on business
strategy. In this section, the reader learns that the right strategy, agility
and understanding the opponent can help win the war even with a deficiency in
resources.

 

Ninad has sought inspiration for this book
not just in James Bond, but also in movies like Bahubali and Sairat. In fact,
the lessons that this book presents from these moves are analogous but yet, in
sync. Bahubali can teach businesses to think big, quite literally; while Sairat
can teach businesses to think local. A large vision and local thinking are both
sine-qua-non for any business to flourish in the long run.

 

The book educates the reader about the art
of brand extension by exploring the story of none other than Baba Ramdev. He
maintains that companies must be clear about and enhance their core competency
which is yoga for Baba Ramdev while high quality beverages is the core
competency of Starbucks. This section deliberates on other tools like high
visibility and brand extension that helped Baba Ramdev and his pet company,
Patanjali touch revenues of INR 105,610 million.

 

After business lessons from movies, sports,
food, history, and godmen; perhaps the only gamut remaining untouched was
business lessons from politics. The readers will not be disappointed to find
that the book also dwells on the political stints of Hardik Patel and Arvind
Kejriwal. Ninad explains how Hardik did not evolve his strategy as he gained
more political mileage and hence faded into oblivion not soon after he rose.
Through Arvind Kejriwal’s rapid rise to popularity, he explains the important
and forgotten essence of simplicity. By focussing on something as simple and
relatable as ‘corruption’, Kejriwal could swing the masses in his favour and go
on to become the Chief Minister of Delhi.

 

I enjoyed the classic and contemporary
examples and every section provoked me to think how it is linked to business
lessons and strategy. As a reader, I was also looking forward to the author’s
experience in applying these business lessons in his professional life owing to
his rich experience of running an international company. I am hopeful that the
readers will have the opportunity to read about them in one of his future
books. This book, meanwhile, can be described as a fun to read, informative
document which will leave you thinking long after you have devoured it and
parked it on your shelf.

 

Today, books don’t command the monopoly they
once did for being the only sources of knowledge. They face competition for
attention from videos, audiobooks, podcasts and high quality blogs. Bond to
Baba delivers content in bite sized capsules with the right blend of stories
and analysis. It avoids unnecessary management jargon or excess beating around
the bush. In these aspects, it is one of the easiest to read books I have come
across and the kind of book we need today.
 

 

Representations

Date:  12th
July 2018

 

To

 

Mr. Upender Gupta,

Commissioner GST,

Department of Revenue, Government of India,

GST Policy Wing, North Block,

New Delhi.

 

Respected Sir,

 

Sub:
Recommended Draft Reconciliation Form 9-C for Audit under section 35(5) of CGST
Act.

 

With reference to the above subject, we take this
opportunity to present to you our recommendations on simplified format of GST
Audit Report. The preliminary draft format of audit report was discussed with
the Commissioner Goods and Service Tax, (Maharashtra State) and some of the
State Department Officers. After incorporating their inputs, on 4th
July 2018, a detailed discussion was held on the said draft report with your
goodselves, Mr. Siddharth Jain and your two other team members for your inputs.

Based on the above interactions and inputs, we are
enclosing herewith the revised draft after incorporating your suggestions. Our
attempt is to devise a simple yet a complete report which serves the purpose of
all the stakeholders. As discussed, though the main report has been kept
simple, various fields in the said report may be explained to the tax payers
and tax professionals to facilitate the effective and complete reporting
through a detailed instruction/guidance sheet to facilitate the filling of main
form. We are in the process of preparing the same and it will be submitted to
your office based on your feedback on the contents of the form. We reiterate
the philosophy and principles underlying our recommendations as below

We refer to the following provisions of the Goods and
Services Act, 2017

1. Section 35(5) of the CGST Act, 2017 (The Act)
prescribes certain obligations for every registered person whose turnover
during a financial year exceeds the prescribed limit  of Rs. 2,00,00,000 (specified registered
persons/auditee). The obligations are to get his accounts audited by a
chartered accountant or a cost accountant (auditor) and to submit a copy of the
audited annual accounts along with the reconciliation statement under section
44(2) of the Act and such other documents in such form and manner as may be
prescribed. Rule 80(3) requires the reconciliation statement to be duly
certified.  The said section 44(2)
further provides that the annual return along with a copy of the audited annual
accounts and a reconciliation statement reconciling the value of supplies declared
in the return be furnished for the financial year with the audited annual
financial statement and such other particulars as may be prescribed.

2. On a conjoint reading of the above provisions, it
appears that specified registered persons are required to undertake two
distinct obligations:

a. Get his accounts audited by a chartered accountant
or a cost accountant (auditor) and submit a copy of the audited annual accounts

b. Submit a reconciliation statement reconciling the
value of supplies declared in the return furnished for the financial year with
the audited annual financial statement, and such other particulars as may be
prescribed.

3. In connection with the above, we would like to
highlight that in most of the cases, the accounts of the auditee would be
audited under some other Statute, the most common being Companies Act, 2013 and
Income Tax Act, 1961. It is therefore recommended that the audit under the
relevant statute and the submission of the said audited annual accounts should
be considered as sufficient compliance with the first obligation mentioned
above. Currently also, this is an accepted practice under all the VAT
Legislations and also under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Considering the fact that
the only benchmark for the obligation to get the accounts audited is turnover
above Rs. 2 crores, it appears that in most of the cases, there will be audited
annual accounts under relevant statute available for submission to the GST
Authorities.  If the said audited annual
accounts are accepted by the GST Authorities, the additional obligation on the
auditee would be to submit a reconciliation statement in Form 9C duly
certified by the auditor
. Till date, the contents of Form 9C are not
prescribed and no draft format is placed in public domain for their comments.

4. In this connection, Bombay Chartered Accountants’
Society being the largest voluntary body of chartered accountants (with a
membership of around 9000 members) in India, we wish to recommend a format of
the reconciliation statement, for your kind perusal. The same is enclosed as Annexure
“A” to this communication. The broad parameters underlying the said format are
explained hereunder.

(i) On a reading of Section 44(2) it is evident that
the primary emphasis of the certification of the reconciliation statement
appears to be the reconciliation between the value of supplies declared in the
return furnished for the financial year with the audited annual financial
statement. We have therefore suggested a detailed reconciliation between the
turnover as reflected in the return with the turnover as reflected in audited
financial statements. The said reconciliation statement will be handy to the
Department authorities in clearly explaining the reasons for any variation in
the turnover and will assist them in identifying consequent leakages if any in
output taxes.

(ii) We believe that the elaborate transaction level
uploads and matching requirements on the GSTN Portal has provided the
Department with more than sufficient details on many of the other parameters
for a correct assessment. Such parameters were not available under the earlier
regimes where the data upload was not at a transaction level. Our
recommendation as regards additional particulars to be provided in Form 9C
therefore considers this aspect and avoids duplication of efforts and any
ambiguity. Simultaneously a conscious attempt is made to keep the format simple
for the auditee to compile and the auditor to certify at the threshold of the
new legislation.  Nevertheless,
information necessary for the GST Authorities to identify cases of non-payment
of taxes and wrong claim of credits is included in the additional particulars
in Form 9C.

5.In the backdrop of
the above objectives, the recommended format of reconciliation statement under
Form 9C includes the following:

a. Statement of Reconciliation
between return turnover and turnover in audited financial statements for entity
as a whole

b. Statement of
Calculation of Outward Tax Liability and the manner of discharge of the
said  tax liability & Statement of
Liability under Reverse Charge Mechanism for Inward Supplies specified under
Section 9(3) & 9(4) – to be prepared for each GSTIN

c. Reconciliation of Input Tax Credit as per Books and
as per GST Returns along with detailed breakup of blocked and apportioned
credits under Section 17 and reversals and reclaims of credits – to be prepared
for each GSTIN

6. We believe that the above format is simple,
utilitarian and sure to serve the purpose of the revenue to check leakages. In
our view, any reconciliation format which extends beyond 4 to 5 pages can be
surely cumbersome and onerous for the auditee to compile given the challenges
of the implementation of the GST law.  It
may also increase the costs of small and medium sized auditees and may result in
undue hardship and avoidable duplication. We therefore strongly recommend that
redundant additional information requiring elaborate certification and
verification of documents (especially on the side of inward supplies) should be
avoided especially in view of the nascent stage of the law, various other
difficulties faced in basic implementation of the law and also the fact that
GST was introduced in the middle of the year and many transition provisions
were not suitably aligned. The above along with a plethora of notifications,
periodic clarifications and systems related issues in the initial months of
implementation may compound the challenges of the auditee. Therefore, the
format recommended by us may be considered with or without modifications as
felt appropriate at this initial stage.

7. We would also like to highlight that it is very
common for any law to start with baby steps and then bring in additional
obligations after the law stabilises and the industry matures and also based on
experiences of the initial years. The mention of a few precedents may not be
out of place:

a. The initial format of the tax audit report under the
Income Tax Act consisted of only a few pages (4-5) and it was only after 10 to
12 years that the format was made more elaborate. Even today, the tax audit
report under the Income Tax Act, 1961 does not require a certification of
computation of income nor a certification/compilation of payment of taxes.

b. Many States have simple VAT Audit Reports running
into 3 to 4 pages.

We therefore believe that it would be more appropriate
for the Government to notify a simple but functional reconciliation certificate
and then gradually build upon the same in subsequent years rather than start
with an ambitious document running into dozens of pages.

We are sure the
above recommendation having practical applicability would be considered while
drafting and notifying Form 9C. We would be more than happy to meet you in
person to explain and discuss the detailed format.

 

Thanking You

 

Yours truly,

 

 

CA. Sunil Gabhawalla                                                       CA.
Deepak Shah

President,                                                               
              Chairman,

Bombay Chartered
Accountants’ Society                   Indirect Taxation Committee

 

Note:
For full representation, visit our website www.bcasonline.org


 Representation

                                                                                                                                  
             Date: 15th
July 2018

 

To

 

Mr.
Upender Gupta,

Commissioner
GST,

Department
of Revenue, Government of India,

GST
Policy Wing, North Block,

New
Delhi.

 

Respected
Sir,

 

Sub: Recommendations on the
Proposed Draft Amendments in the GST Act.

 

We have read with detail the draft of the 46
amendments proposed to be carried out in the GST Act and are happy to note that
many of the said amendments are in the right direction. However, we believe
that a few amendments (notably, those proposed at Sr. 29 & 30 dealing with
the manner of cross-utilisation of credits and at Sr.37 dealing with denial of
transition credit for accumulated balances of cess) could be avoided since they
conflict with the basic philosophy of free flow of credits. We also would like
to highlight that in certain amendments, there are certain further
recommendations from our side, which we have tried to incorporate in a tabular
format.

 

In addition to the proposed amendments, we
believe that there are certain pressing issues facing the industry which also
require immediate attention and legislative amendment. We shall send you a
separate comprehensive representation on all such issues in due course.

 

In the meantime, we request you to kindly
consider our representations made above favourably and oblige. If need be, we
would be more than happy to meet you in person to discuss the above
recommendations

 

Thanking You

 

Yours truly,

 

                                                                                                                                                        

CA. Sunil Gabhawalla                                                   CA.
Deepak Shah

President,                                                                   
Chairman,

Bombay Chartered Accountants’
Society                      Indirect Taxation Committee

 

Note:
For full representation, visit our website www.bcasonline.org


Representation

 

                                                                                                                                           Date: 16th July, 2018

 

The Chief General Manager-in-charge,

Reserve Bank of India,

Foreign Exchange Department,

Foreign Investment Division,

Mumbai – 400 001

 

Subject:
Issues relating to filing of Entity Master File

 

We appreciate Reserve Bank
of India’s (RBI’s) effort to simplify reporting under Foreign Exchange and
Management Act, 1999 (FEMA). However, in the process of simplifying the
compliance procedures, technical impediments and procedural hitches have
cropped up in filing the Entity Master Form (EMF). The most pressing issues
which need to be addressed immediately by the RBI are as follows:

 

Key technical impediments:

1. A company is required to
report inflow from the inception of the company. Moreover, the RBI has also
mentioned that if there is no Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) currently, then
FDI has to be reported as NIL. However, the RBI needs to provide clarity on two
aspects:

 

“Whether foreign investments received under
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1973 (FERA) regime are required to be
reported?”

“If a company has NIL FDI today, whether
previous foreign investments received needs to be reported?”

It is pertinent to note that obtaining such
historic data may be arduous. Also it is not possible to collate data for an
indefinite past.

2. Provide guidance on companies in the
process of liquidation:

Whether an entity with FDI is required to
file EMF even if it is under liquidation?”

It
is important to recognize that it is difficult to obtain such data as an
official Liquidator.

3.
Provide clarity in the cases of companies undergoing a scheme of amalgamation /
de-merger :

“Whether separate reporting is required for
the merged or demerged entity or the resulting company should prepare a
consolidated report?”

 4.
Provide guidance on reporting venture capital from foreign investors:

“How to report investment by Foreign Venture
Capital Investor (FVCI) and whether investment by FVCI needs to be reported
even for those cases where Form FC-GPR has not been filed earlier?”

Key procedural hindrances:

1. The website1 for filing EMF is
functioning slowly. The website keeps crashing and it takes at-least 30 minutes
before the website starts responding again. The signing up procedure which
requires validation of an entity user by the RBI consumes valuable time. The
sign up procedure can be streamlined by allowing the Directors of the company
to be the entity user for filing of EMF.

2. The EMF website does not provide for “Save
as Draft” option i.e. all the information is required to be submitted at one
go. The only solution is a “Reset” button which is available to reset the wrong
inputs. Additionally, there is no “timer” for letting the entity user know when
the session expires. The EMF was available only a week before and therefore it
is a herculean task for any client to collate the data immediately and submit
all the data in one go. It is recommended that a “Save as Draft” option be
immediately implemented to ensure unencumbered reporting.

In view of the above mentioned hardships, we
request your good selves to extend the deadline to submit the EMF to 31st
August, 2018
.

We
would be glad to meet in person to explain the above points and some other
relevant issues which will help RBI to implement the new requirement seamlessly.
We request for an appointment at any convenient time to your good selves.

 

 

Thanking You,

 

CA Hinesh
Doshi
                                                                 CA
Sunil Gabhawalla

President                                                                               President

For The Chamber of Tax
Consultants
                                              For
Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________

1   https://firms.rbi.org.in/firms/faces/pages/login.xhtml                                                                                                      
                            



Representation

Date: 21st July, 2018

 

The Chairman

Central Board of Direct Taxes,

Ministry of Finance,
Government of India,

North Block,

New Delhi-110001.

 

Respected Sir,

 

Subject:
Representation and request for relaxation in levy of fee under section 234F of
the Income-tax Act

 

Vide the Finance Act, 2017, a new section 234F has been
made applicable whereby a fee is mandatorily levied for failure to furnish the
income tax return u/s. 139(1) in respect of income tax returns required to be
filed for A.Y. 2018-19 and onwards.

The above provision for levying of fees is a genuine
hardship and cause of worry and great concern for the non-corporate assessees.
In this respect we have to represent as under:

1. Section 234F has been introduced with a view to
ensure that returns are filed within the due dates specified in section 139(1).
However, fees proposed under section 234F will be leviable on all assessees who
have furnished return beyond the due date specified under section 139(1)
irrespective of the reason for such delay and whether all the taxes have been
paid through TDS or advance tax. The earlier provisions of section 271F
provided for discretionary levy of penalty of Rs. 5,000/- by the Assessing
Officer but the fee u/s. 234F is a compulsory fees to be paid without
considering any reasonable cause of the assessees.

Also, the assessee can not justiy his cause of delay
under any appeal.

2. The time period for filing of ITR has also been
reduced from 2 years to 1 year and the interest u/s. 234-A, 234-B and 234-C
continue to be levied. When the interest for late filing of ITR u/s. 234-A is
already being levied, the fee u/s. 234F is a double whammy and is an injustice
to the assessee.

3. Unfortunately, this new section 234F does not give
you any opportunity to justify the reason for late filing of returns. Whatever
may be the practical difficulties, calamities, medical emergencies, if one is
late in filing the income tax returns, one has to bear the brunt of it.

4. As per the present TDS provisions under the Act ,
the TDS payable as on 31/03/2018 is to be paid by 30/04/2018, the relevant
quarterly e-TDS statement for Q4 is required to be filed by 31/05/2018 and the
TDS certificates are to be issued by 15/06/2018. Once the assessee receives the
TDS certificates by 15/06/2018 he is practically left with only one and a half
months to file his income tax return that becomes due by 31/07/2018. Besides it
is often seen that a TDS deductor either does not file his quarterly e-TDS
statements, or files it late or files a wrong statement, consequently making
the innocent deductee suffer for his TDS credit. This in turn causes forcible
delay in filing his personal returns.

5. For A.Y. 2018-19, The Schema for the online return
filing for ITR 2 and ITR 3 have been updated and changed as late as on 7th
July, 2018 and for ITR 5 the same have been updated and changed as late as on
13th July, 2018 making it difficult for the assessees and tax
professionals to file the ITRs within the due date.

6. Further, the due date of filing of ITR u/s. 139(1),
in the present case by 31/07/2018, gives the time for filing of ITR for 4
months i.e. from 1st April, 2018 to 31st July, 2018.
However, the new online tax filing utility was not available as on 1st April,
2018 and also considering the various other contradictory provisions such as
the TDS certificate receipt due date of 15th June, 2018 and the
amendment and updation of Schema till as late as 13th July, 2018,
for all practical purposes, the ITR filing available time is limited to less
than a month.

7. The small and SME businessmen are also presently
coping up with the GST filing difficulties and hence, may not be able to cope
up with the ITR filings by 31st July, 2018.

8. Of late there has been heavy rainfall since the
first week of July in most parts of the country and hence it is also becoming
administratively difficult for the assessees to comply with the various
statutory deadlines including the ITR filing deadline by 31st July,
2018.

Though we respect and acknowledge the Income Tax Laws
and the levying of the fees u/s. 234F, considering all the above difficulties
faced by small assessees, we humbly request to not levy the fees u/s. 234F for
returns filed for A.Y. 2018-19 and give necessary instructions/issue circular
in this regards. If our humble request is accepted, then necessary amendments
should also be made in the CPC’s return processing software so that at the time
of processing of the returns u/s. 143(1) wherever there is a delay in filing
the return, the fee u/s. 234F is not automatically levied.

We humbly request you to kindly take into consideration
all the facts and circumstances mentioned above and accede to our request in
the larger interest of thousands of tax payers of the country.

 

Thanking you,

 

Yours sincerely

 

Sunil Gabhawalla                            Chintan Doshi                                       Raghavendra
T.N.                       Gyanesh Verma

President, Bombay Chartered                                                                       President,
Ahmedabad Chartered            President,
Karnataka State                                      President,

Accountants’ Society                    Accountants’Association                   Chartered Accountants’            LucknowChartered Accountants’

                                                                                       Association                                                                               Society

Representation

Date:  24th July 2018

 

To

 

The
Chairman

Central
Board of Direct Taxes

Task
Force on New Direct Tax Law

Department
of Revenue

Ministry
of Finance, Govt. of India

North
Block,

New Delhi
– 110001

 

Sir,

 

Sub: Representation on Important
issues/provisions in the Proposed New Direct Tax Law

               

We are pleased to submit herewith our
considered suggestions on important issues that may be addressed in the
proposed new Direct Tax Law.

 

We have made suggestions on following lines:

 

1) Path breaking suggestions for making the
law more taxpayer friendly by rewarding and encouraging compliances;

2) Suggestions for reducing litigations by
providing clarity;

3) Suggestions for “Ease of Doing Business
in India”.

 

We hope that these suggestions will find
your favour.

 

We would be glad to meet you in person and
explain/discuss various points arising from this representation or otherwise,
therefore we request you to grant an opportunity for the same.

 

Thanking you,

 

Yours truly,

 

For Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society

 

 

 

CA Sunil
Gabhawalla                                 CA
Mayur Nayak                                              CA
Ameet Patel,

President                                                  Chairman
                                                        Chairman

                                                                International
Taxation Committee                       Taxation
Committee

 

Note: For the full representation, visit
our website www.bcasonline.org

 

Representation

                                                                                                                     
            
                                                                                                                                                         Date: 24th
July, 2018

To

 

Mr. Rajiv Jalota

Commissioner SGST,

Government of Maharashtra

Mumbai

 

Respected Sir,

 

Sub:
Recommendations for Simplification of GST for Small and Medium Enterprises
(SME).

 

We have read with detail the recommendations of the 28th GST
Council Meeting and we are happy to note the efforts taken by the Council to
simplify business processes especially for the Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs). In particular, we appreciate the following steps, which we believe are
steps in the right direction:

 

1.   Recommendation of a new
process requiring the filing of a single return.

2.   Increase in the Eligibility
Limit for Composition Scheme upto Rs. 1.5 crores and permission to opt for
composition even in cases where there are insignificant value of services
rendered.

3.   Eligibility to issue single
debit/credit note against multiple invoices.

4.   Reopening of the GST Migration
Window in certain cases.

 

While the above steps clearly suggest the intent of the Government to
resolve possible issues and usher in a tax-payer friendly regime, there are
certain issues which continue to bother the tax payers, more particularly the
small and medium enterprises (SME).

 

Accordingly, we
would like to make recommendations, which, if carried out, will significantly
ease the compliance burden at the SME level, bring in certainty and clarity of
provisions and reduce the cost of doing business.

 

In addition to the recommendations, we
believe that there are certain pressing issues facing the SME Sector in terms
of challenges on the GSTN Portal which also require immediate attention and
process amendment. We shall send you a separate comprehensive representation on
all such issues in due course.

 

In the meantime, we request you to kindly
consider our representations made above favourably and oblige. If need be, we
would be more than happy to meet you in person to discuss the above recommendations.

 

Thanking You

Yours truly,

 

CA. Sunil Gabhawalla                                                       CA.
Deepak Shah

President,                                                                 
            Chairman,

Bombay Chartered
Accountants’ Society
                  Indirect
Taxation Committee

 

Note: For full
representation, visit our website www.bcasonline.org

 

 



 

Society News

57TH EDITION OF ‘BCAS REFERENCER’ RELEASED

The BCAS Referencer, one of the eagerly-awaited, landmark publications of the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, entered its 57th year of continuous publication this year – and also the 22nd year of theme-based issues.

The release programme was organised at the M.C. Ghia Hall on 2nd August, 2019 by the Seminar, Public Relations & Membership Development (SPR&MD) Committee. Following the lighting of the auspicious lamp, there was a selection of short glimpses of India’s classical dance forms which is the theme of this year’s Referencer.

CA Toral Mehta compered the event and introduced the chief guests of the evening, Mr. Sameer and Ms Arsh Tanna, eminent Bollywood choreographers, and the sponsor, CA Kamal Poddar of Choice Connect.

BCAS President CA Manish Sampat noted in his remarks that the publication, which is recognised as the most dependable knowledge resource and an unparalleled repository of various laws, had been the hallmark of BCAS for the last six decades. He acknowledged all the contributors, specially the youth, and the tremendous efforts put in by the Committee for the release of the Referencer immediately after the Union Budget.

The various Indian classical dance forms – whether Bharat Natyam, Odissi, Kucchipudi, Kathakali, Kathak or Manipuri – were performed by the artists who were actually the members and students of the BCAS. They were led by CA Manori Shah under the choreography of Nita Shah and Vishrut Doshi. Other artists who performed included Chirag Bohra, Jitesh Kakad, Hrudyesh Pankhania, Rishikesh Joshi, Vidisha Shah, Disha Unadkat, Tanvi Parekh, Kinjal Bhuta, Rishita Shah, Richa Agrawal and Vidhi Parekh. The rapt audience appreciated and enjoyed all the dances.

In his address, Committee Chairman CA Narayan Pasari appreciated the efforts of all the contributors, editors, proof-readers, and specially CA Pranay Marfatia who had been instrumental in the publication of the Referencer for several years and for organising the release event. The Referencer was released in the presence of a galaxy of personalities, including the contributors, editors and others and was unveiled by the chief guests.

Chief guest Ms Arsh Tanna said she was amazed by the performances of the artists of the BCAS fraternity and expressed her delight at attending the event which was brilliantly correlated with the theme – Indian classical dance and the contents of the Referencer.

Convener CA Manmohan Sharma proposed a hearty vote of thanks to all present, especially to Choice Connect, the sponsors of the Referencer, Finesse, the printers, the BCAS Events staff and the organising team of the Committee who had put in a lot of hard work.

SUBURBAN STUDY CIRCLE

The Suburban Study Circle organised two meetings on ‘15CB Certification – Who, What, When and How?’, on 16th July and 13th August, 2019, which were addressed by CA Rutvik Sanghvi who made a detailed presentation on the following Rules and Regulations:

(i) Who all are covered under the provisions of section 195?
(ii) What transactions are covered?
(iii) When is the taxation to a non-resident applicable?
(iv) How is it to be applied?

Rutvik explained the nuisances and complexities involved in payments to non-residents in a lucid manner. He explained the importance and requirement of tax residency certificate and taxability of various kinds of payments to non-residents like fees for technical services, royalty, etc. It required two sessions to cover the topic in detail.

The participants benefited from the presentation made by him.

HRD STUDY CIRCLE

The HRD Study Circle met on 13th August, 2019 to discuss ‘Modern Techniques in Physiotherapy.’

The presentation was made by Dr. Rupa Mehta and Dr. Kritika Poddar. Dr. Rupa Mehta and her team run Healthspace clinic at Opera House and have 30 years of experience. They have kept themselves updated with the latest techniques in physiotherapy.

The presentation covered:
(a) Diagnosis and treatment of spine (neck and back), shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle joint pains. (Through her presentation, Dr. Rupa Mehta gave members a detailed explanation for the possible reasons for pain in the joints. She showed simple exercises to address the pain in the initial stages and explained that neglecting it can cause further damage and addressing it early can help avoid surgery);
(b) Bad posture can have a deleterious effect on the body;
(c) It is necessary to improve the core muscles.

The latest techniques used in Healthspace are as follows:
(I) The McKenzie Protocol of exercises
(II) The Mulligan Protocol
(III) Neurodynamic solutions
(IV) Taping
(V) Dry needling
(VI) Core muscle strengthening
(VII) Pilates on the reformer and customised exercise.

Dr. Kritika Poddar highlighted the benefits of pilates. She projected ergonomics with visual inputs and stressed on the need for the right posture. Work life ergonomics and exercises shown by her could be beneficial for all chartered accountants and professionals.

However, the most important point was to spread awareness so that people do not injure themselves and adopt a better lifestyle.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

The group held its meeting on 16th August, 2019 to discuss ‘Economic Slowdown and Global Flash Points’. CA Harshad Shah led the discussions and presented his thoughts on the subject.

He said that based on the definition of slowdown and recession, the Indian economy had slowed down and might have entered into a recessionary phase as the GDP had come down from the high of 8.2% in Q1 FY19 to 7.2% in Q2 and in the last quarter dropped to 5.8%. This fulfilled the technical definition of a recession of two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

At the macro level, the automobile sector was facing its worst crisis in 20 years with the malaise spreading across much of the industry, both in terms of vehicle type and components as well as geographically in the country’s manufacturing hubs, along with the structural reform of pushing for electric vehicles. The real estate sector had been on a downturn since the demonetisation period, with India’s top 30 cities having 1.28 million unsold housing units as of March, 2019. The health of real estate was a major indicator of the state of the economy. It had links with about 250 ancillary industries – bricks, cement, steel, furniture, electrical products, paints, etc., and affected all of them whether there was a boom or gloom in the sector.

FMCG companies had reported a decline in volume growth due to sluggish rural demand which, in turn, indicated less availability of money in villages. All these factors impacted the unemployment rate which had risen to a 45-year high.

India’s household-sector savings, the biggest source of investment for the economy, had ‘worryingly’ come down to 30.5% (as % to GDP) in 2018 compared to nearly 37% in 2008. Poor savings had been a largely ‘unaddressed’ reason for the country’s continuing slowdown. Retail loans to the sector were growing annually in double digits, pointing to profligate consumption by households with a youthful population (70% of the working-age population being aged between 20 and 40 years) that liked to spend. Many economists widely held that a country’s economic growth should be investment-led rather than being driven by consumption, as had been the case with India.

The NITI Aayog CEO attributed the downshift to a spate of measures (structural reforms) such as GST, RERA and IBC that had led to the current slowdown in the country.

The global economy was bracing for a probable recession in 2020 as nearly half (48%) of CFOs in USA and some prominent economists were also predicting this. One of the indicators, the Yield Curve inversion, had already occurred. An inverted yield curve meant that interest rates had flipped on the US. Treasury with short-term bonds paying more than long-term bonds. This was generally regarded as a warning sign for the economy and the markets.

The global economy was also facing some serious headwinds such as Hard Brexit; US vs. China: From Tariff War to Currency War to Economic War, with USA labelling China as a ‘Currency Manipulator’ for the first time; Argentina’s historic market crash with fears of another default; the Hong Kong protests and probable retaliation by Chinese security forces; and the Iran issue. CA Milan Sanghani and many participants expressed their views on all these issues.

FEMA STUDY CIRCLE

The FEMA Study Circle meeting held on 19th August, 2019 covered the issue of ‘FDI in Trading Sector’.

CA Chintan Shah delved into various facets of the subject, viz., Cash and Carry Wholesale Trading, E-commerce, Single Brand Product Retail Trading, Multi-Brand Product Retail Trading and Duty-Free Shops. The FDI in the above activities was covered from scratch, beginning with sectoral caps applicable to each of them and ending with a healthy discussion on understanding the nuances of their respective definitions, the conditions attached thereto and understanding the manner in which businesses were structured in India. It was indeed a very interesting session given the current business environment in the country in which various multinational companies across the globe were exploring business models to expand their markets here.

4TH NARAYAN VARMA LECTURE

The 4th Narayan Varma Memorial Lecture (and the Narayan Varma Memorial Awards) was organised by the Public Concern for Governance Trust, the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, the Dharma Bharathi Mission and the Chamber of Tax Consultants at the Indian Merchants Chamber on 23rd August, 2019.

The programme was organised in memory of Narayan Bhai who was closely associated with these organisations, held various posts in them and mentored and nurtured them with his values, ideology and hard work. He left behind an enduring legacy as a great professional, a philanthropist and, above all, a great human being.

The memorial lecture was delivered by Mr. Y.H. Malegam, the well-known CA and a legend in the financial sector who has been honoured with the Padma Shri.

Three distinguished persons from Mumbai were also recognised for their humanitarian service. The DBM NV Memorial Award was given to the Adhyayan Sanstha, the BCAS Narayan Varma Memorial Award went to Mr. Vishwas Gore and the PCGT NV Memorial Award was bestowed on Mr. Shailesh Gandhi.

The programme was very well attended with all top CAs, auditors and people associated with the social sector in attendance. Kudos to all the four other partner organisations for coordinating their efforts to organise the memorable event.

TAXATION COMMITTEE

The Taxation Committee organised a full-day seminar on ‘Tax Audit’ at the BCAS Conference Hall on 23rd
August, 2019.

President Manish Sampat gave the opening remarks. Chairman of the Taxation Committee Ameet Patel gave a brief overview of the seminar and explained the importance of tax audit in the current scenario. He also informed the participants about the onerous responsibility cast on the tax auditor, given that the selection as well as the assessment is now going to be online.

The following topics were taken up by the learned speakers:

Programme Speakers
Audit aspect of Tax Audit – overview of Tax Audit provisions, reporting requirements, audit quality, verification of documents, documentation in light of ICDS, obtaining and relying on management representation, reliance on test checks, etc. CA Himanshu Kishnadwala
Issues arising with tax audit of companies following Ind AS reporting in clauses 13 to 17, clause 19 and clause 24 CA Manish Shah
Reporting in Form 3CD – Certain clauses (namely, clauses 20 to 23, clauses 25 to 27, clauses 30A to 30B and clauses 42 to 44) CA Sonalee Godbole
Reporting in Form 3CD – Certain clauses (namely, clauses 28 to 29B, clause 31, clause 32, clause 34, clause 36 and clause 36A) CA Jagdish Punjabi

Himanshu Kishnadwala set the ball rolling by highlighting various audit aspects that one should keep in mind while conducting a tax audit. He gave his practical insights pertaining to some of the clauses and stressed on the importance of documentation in tax audit.

Next came Manish Shah who described the impact of ICDS through case studies. He also took the audience through various case studies to explain the impact of Ind AS on various clauses in a tax audit report. Apart from the discussion on ICDS and Ind AS, he also dealt with clauses dealing with presumptive taxation.

Sonalee Godbole made a detailed presentation on clauses relating to secondary adjustment, thin capitalisation, GAAR and CBCR. She explained the concepts in a lucid manner with the help of examples and case studies. She also discussed the requirement of reporting the filing in Form 61A and Form 61B.

The last session was addressed by Jagdish Punjabi who covered a large number of clauses, including those related to TDS. He also discussed the impact of section 56(2) on hybrid instruments issued by the company and its reporting requirement in Form 3CD. Apart from this, he explained the applicability of sections 269SS and 269T to loans by book entry and their reporting requirement in Form 3CD.

All the sessions were interactive, with the speakers sharing their insights on their respective subjects. The participants benefited immensely with the guidance and practical views on various issues.

DIRECT TAX LAWS STUDY CIRCLE

The Direct Tax Laws Study Circle meeting on ‘Income Computation and Disclosure Standards (ICDS)’ was held on 6th September, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall. Group leader CA Darshak Shah gave a brief overview of the applicability of ICDS provisions and the corresponding sections in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (Act). He also explained the general approach to resolve conflicts between the provisions of the Act and ICDS.Thereafter, he discussed in detail the ten ICDS with various examples and relevant case laws. The group leader took questions from the participants with respect to the relevant examples. Besides, he touched upon the possibility of double taxation in case of ICDS – X relating to ‘Provisions, Contingent Assets and Contingent Liabilities’ in a certain scenario.The session concluded with a vote of thanks to the speaker, Darshak Shah.

FELICITATION OF FRESH, YOUNG CAS

Talk on ‘Career Planning & Interview Skills for Fresh CAs’ held on 13th September, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

Yet another programme organised by the Seminar, Public Relations and Membership Development (SPR&MD) Committee was the felicitation programme for the newly-qualified chartered accountants who had cleared the June, 2019 examination. In fact, within hours of the announcement, the online enrolments crossed the record figure of 300, forcing BCAS to close registrations for this crucial programme.

There was a full house of 160+ participants, including some walk-ins. They were greeted at the registration desk with a copy of the BCA Journal and a membership form.

The evening started with Coordinator CA Preeti Cherian welcoming the participants and giving an overview of the purpose of the event. She was followed by President CA Manish Sampat who took the opportunity to walk down memory lane and recall his early days as a qualified chartered accountant, the sound advice that he had received from his seniors to associate himself with the BCAS, to the present when he had taken over as its President. He described the various initiatives of the Society and particularly dwelt on the 5G Annual Plan.
Chairman CA Narayan Pasari candidly admitted that the Youth or Yuva Shakti was an integral part of the numerous activities organised by the BCAS. He also appealed to the new CAs to become members and play an active role in its various activities. While speaking about the Committee’s initiatives, he talked about the Referencer, the annual RRC and other programmes. He proudly shared that the BCAS was very active on social media and its handle @BCASGlobal had recently crossed the 30K mark.

The speaker for the evening was CA Himani Shah who spoke at length on the various jobs available in the finance industry for chartered accountants. She shared tips on interview skills, including first impressions, what to do before the interview, what to wear, how to prepare, guidelines to answer questions, asking the right questions, etc. She also elaborated on the power of visual communication, business etiquette and communication. That her talk was well received could be judged from the fact that many participants had numerous questions to ask of her in the interactive session that followed.
As part of the felicitation programme, each of the participants was presented a pen with BCAS and the word ‘Achiever’ inscribed on it. The event showcased the vibrancy of the participants, many of whom showed great interest in signing up to be members of the BCAS.
A unique feature of the evening was when one of the participants thanked the speaker for clearing the many doubts that she and her fellow participants harboured. The evening ended with a vote of thanks by Convener CA Mrinal Mehta.

MISCELLANEA

I. Economy

 

1.      
Sweeping and slashing to trap
investments

 

Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman’s sweeping reforms slashing corporate tax rates to bring
them at par with most South Asian and Southeast Asian nations are expected to
trap investments headed even to low-tax destinations like Bangladesh and
Vietnam.

 

While markets
saluted the Minister’s sweeping reforms of the corporate tax rates on Friday,
the best is yet to come, according to experts. The tax rates have become
competitive when compared to most other South Asian and even Southeast Asian
investment destinations.

 

A competitive
environment should help India trap some of the capital fleeing China fearing a
worsening of the US-China trade war and imposition of stiffer sanctions on
Beijing. The tariff war touched off by US President Donald Trump has only
worsened with Chinese President Xi Jinping in no mood to relent. India is
eyeing a major share of the capital moving out of China to boost Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, say reports.

 

India’s effective
rate of 25.17% compares well against China’s 25%. The new rates will make India
a good bargain when compared to Pakistan’s 31%, Sri Lanka’s 28% and even
Bangladesh’s 25%. Among the Southeast Asian economies, India can easily steal a
march over the Philippines which has a 30% rate and Indonesia and South Korea
who maintain a 25% rate and Malaysia with 24%. Thailand and Vietnam offer 20%,
but India could score in terms of technically skilled labour and better
infrastructure. Only Taiwan and Singapore with 17% still have a clear advantage
over India.

 

The Finance
Ministry, in consultation with the Ministry of Commerce, has been evolving a
strategy to compete with South Asian neighbours like Bangladesh which have
attracted investors because of the cheaper labour and more conducive land
acquisition laws. Indian officials think the country’s reforms will enhance its
ease of doing business rating and make it capable of taking on even Southeast
Asian competitors. Vietnam, which is drawing a lot of investment fleeing
Mainland China, has been on the Indian crosshairs for some time.

 

Government slashed
the corporate tax rate to 22% from 30% for domestic companies – and proposed a
competitive 15% rate for new investment in manufacturing. The cumulative fiscal
boost emanating from the tax law changes would amount to Rs. 1.45 lakh crores, which
sends a strong signal of the government resolve to revive economic growth, a
report on the The Economic Times website said. To be eligible for the
new concessional tax rates, companies need to forego the existing incentives
and exemptions in force. Even those opting for the status quo, the
minimum alternate tax (MAT) shrinks to 15% from 18.5%. Companies will have the
option of the lower tax rate after the expiry of the tax holidays and
concessions that they enjoy now. Once they choose the new tax rate, they can’t
revert to the concessional regime.

 

Prime Minister
Modi, bound for the US to address the historic ‘Howdy Modi!’ event along with
President Trump, termed the step to cut corporate tax rate ‘historic’, saying
it ‘will give a great stimulus to “Make in India”, attract private investment
from across the globe and help create more jobs.’

 

(Source:
International Business Times – By Prathapan Bhaskaran, 21st
September, 2019)

 

2.      
Recruitment may counter the
slowdown gloom

 

India’s
second-largest employer, Coal India Limited (CIL), is offering 9,000 openings;
4,000 people will be recruited to fill up executive posts and the rest will be
technical and non-technical staff.

 

The massive
recruitment drive to fill up about 9,000 openings in the parent company and
subsidiaries amid the gloom of a general economic slowdown and talk of stiff
divestment targets is cheering up the country’s job market, reports say. Of the
vacancies announced, 4,000 will be of executives in the parent company while
the technical hands will be taken in by the company’s eight subsidiaries, said
a report in the Economic Times. CIL sources say this would be the
biggest recruitment drive of the group in a decade.

 

CIL and its subsidiaries employ about 2,80,000 people, second only to
the Indian Railways, including nearly 18,000 at the executive level. CIL is one
of the public sector undertakings (PSU) that Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has identified for raising Rs. 3.25 lakh crores through divestment
in the next five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s second stint in
office. The target for the 2019-20 financial year is an estimated Rs. 1.05 lakh
crores.

 

‘Coal India is
recruiting so many executives in a single year in almost a decade in an effort
to fill up all the vacancies that have been pending for several years. Last
year, we recruited only about 1,200 people,’ the report quotes an unidentified
senior Coal India executive as saying.

 

‘Of the 4,000
executives Coal India plans to recruit, 900 would be through advertisements and
interviews in the junior category, another 400 would be recruited from campuses
and some 100 would be miscellaneous, such as medical officers, etc. We have
already recruited 400 executives most of whom are doctors. Another 75 have been
recruited and would be joining soon. The company will recruit around 2,200
additional executives through competitive examinations.’

 

The company’s coal-producing subsidiaries will recruit 5,000 workers and
technical hands, including about 2,300 who will be recruited as part of a
policy of offering jobs to families whose land was acquired for various
projects. Another 2,350 people will be hired on compassionate grounds as part
of the company’s policy of offering a job to one family member of a deceased
employee. About 400 openings will be of a non-technical nature, the report
said.

 

Set up in 1975, CIL
has been seeing mass retirement of a large number of employees at
superannuation in recent years. The number of employees who have left this way
in the last three years is pegged at more than 12,300. The posts have remained
unfilled because of a general recruitment ban in the government. While not all
posts will be filled up, the group companies need large-scale recruitment over
the next few years to ensure adequate workforce strength, the reports say.

 

(Source:
International Business Times – By Prathapan Bhaskaran, 18th September,
2019)

 

II. 
Finance

 

3.      
Credit fairs aka ‘loan melas

 

Credit fairs by
public sector banks will bring early festival cheer to consumers as the
corporate tax bonanza will put on steroids PM Modi’s FDI push after ‘Howdy
Modi!’

 

Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman’s big-ticket reforms are focused on a demand boost for the
revival of the domestic economy. For this, the Ministry has set rolling a
series of steps, apart from the headline reform of corporate tax rates that put
the stock market on steroids. The corporate tax reduction that will entail a
revenue loss of Rs. 1.45 lakh crores to the government is expected to help
Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a big splash at the ‘Howdy Modi!’ event after
which he would be meeting top executives of 16 big US corporate houses in his
foreign direct investments (FDI) campaign.

 

The major takeaways
from the series of announcements Sitharaman made were:

 

(i) Credit fairs (loan melas): The public
sector banks (PSBs) will organise fairs for potential borrowers in 400
districts, boosting liquidity and driving demand in the retail sector across
the country. The rural economy survives on retail demand and the increased
liquidity will help drive demand and spending, thus helping the rural revival,
experts believe;

(ii) NBFC role: Sitharaman’s directive to the PSBs
to ensure the participation of NBFCs in the credit fairs will help improve the
liquidity status of the NBFCs. This is particularly important because the
ailing NBFCs have been shown to be behind the economy’s illiquidity, according
to reports;

(iii) Relief for
MSMEs: The injunction on lenders to desist from declaring loans to micro,
medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) as non-performing assets (NPAs) during
this financial year ending on 31st March, 2020, will help reduce
morbidity in a vital segment of the economy, according to experts. With over 60
million units, the MSME segment is second only to the agriculture sector in
employment generation;

(iv)  MSMEs loan restructuring: Banks have been
directed to use the special dispensation that the RBI circular, ‘MSME sector –
Restructuring of Advances’, dated 1st January, 2019, has made
available. ‘We have also requested that at the branch level banks should make
efforts to sit with such stressed asset accounts of MSMEs to get them out of
the situation,’ Sitharaman said. MSMEs that are unable to repay loans within 90
days of the due date will not be stamped with the NPA tag. The facility will be
available to MSMEs whose aggregate exposure, including non-fund-based
facilities, of banks and NBFCs to the borrower does not exceed Rs. 25 crores as
on 1st January, 2019;

(v)        Spreading liquidity: The Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) has said that there is enough liquidity in the economy after its
fifth successive repo rate cuts. Sitharaman says the credit fairs will ensure
that the liquidity reaches the lowest layer of the economy, driving up
consumption;

(vi) All types of
loans: The credit fairs will be organised as public meetings to be monitored by
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur to ensure that the needy get the
loans;

(vii) The reform
announcements ahead of Prime Minister Modi’s meetings in the US will serve to
send a loud message to industrialists across the world to consider India as a
friendly investment destination, especially when the US-China trade wars are
threatening FDI flow to China.

 

(Source:
International Business Times – By Prathapan Bhaskaran, 20th September,
2019)

 

4.      
Just a face to defy the law?

 

PwC India has been fined more than Rs. 230 crores (£ 26.37 m) by the
Indian Enforcement Department for breaches of the Foreign Exchange Management
Act (FEMA).

 

The ‘Big Four’ firm
had been accused of receiving large foreign investments from Netherlands-based
PricewaterhouseCoopers Services BV, which allegedly had been disguised as
‘grants’ to avoid FEMA. The legislation requires foreign investments in
financial services to be approved by the Reserve Bank of India.

 

The Directorate of
Enforcement was brought in by the Indian Supreme Court to investigate PwC’s
affairs following a public interest petition brought by the Centre for Public
Interest Litigation (CPIL), a non-governmental organisation, in 2013.

 

At the time, CPIL
called for a ruling on whether the ‘Big Four’ in general were operating in
India ‘in violation of law in force in a clandestine manner’, whether effective
steps were being taken to enforce the law and, if this was not happening, what
orders were required to ensure proper enforcement. The Indian government later
backed up the original public interest litigation with a second,
similarly-worded petition.

 

PwC was used as an example to illustrate in the petitions how global
firms were exploiting the law to build up their presence in India and gain
access to lucrative audit markets.

 

In February last
year, the Supreme Court ruled that PwC Services BV Netherlands had enabled its
Indian partners to acquire Dalal & Shah, a chartered accountancy firm based
in Mumbai and Kolkata, through a series of interest-free loans to them. This
‘circuitous route’, the judge said, was in violation of the law.

 

The Dutch firm had also shared profits in the form of licence fees and
network charges and made further investments through grants for enhancement of
skills, he said.

 

The judge concluded
that while the court could not involve itself with policy-making, it was
entitled to look at the policy framework to find out whether safeguards for
enforcement of fundamental rights had been maintained. ‘In the present context,
having regard to the statutory framework… it may prima facie appear that
there is violation of statutory provisions and policy framework, effective
enforcement of which has to be ensured’.

 

‘Statutory
regulatory provisions intended to advance the object of law have to be enforced
meaningfully,’ he continued. ‘No vested interest can flout the same by
manifesting compliance only in form. Compliance has to be in substance. The
law-enforcing agencies are expected to see the real situation.’

 

He said that the
large multinational firms’ compliance was in form, not in substance. ‘Having
got registered partnership firms with the Indian partners, the real
beneficiaries of transacting the business of chartered accountancy remain the
companies of the foreign entities. The partnership firms are merely a face to
defy the law.’

 

According to
reports, the Enforcement Department found that PwC had received the equivalent
of Rs. 229 crores in US dollars. The agency said that they were received as
grants and used ‘for various business purposes, including acquisition of other
Indian companies and paying non-compete fee’.

 

(Source:economia.icaew.com/news/september-2019/pwc-india-breached-indian-foreign-exchange-rules)
  

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

 

Thanks for continuing to bring interesting,
timely, topical and thought-provoking articles month on month.

 

I write this email regarding the article Banning
the Auditors
published in the August, 2019 issue of BCAJ. The
article covered the topical issue exhaustively and I thank the author for
sharing his valuable views and the intricate legal aspects involved.

 

In Para 1, page 16, he writes,

‘Post-IFRS and Ind AS implementation and
the use of fair values, the “cushion” that was available in
historical cost regime no longer exists. Regulators and other stakeholders need
to accept the fact that these errors in estimates are inherent to the adoption
of fair value accounting.’

 

While I completely agree that there is more
estimation uncertainty involved under Ind AS, is it a valid expectation  to expect regulators/stakeholders to accept
errors in estimates inherent in fair value? If possible, it would be
interesting to understand further the author’s point of view from the legal
defence point, too.

 

Regards,

Vinayak Pai V.

 

 

MISCELLANEA

I. Technology

 

5. Opposition
to data localisation may come down after international tax law

 

Opposition
to India’s data localisation move from overseas companies may go down once a
globally accepted framework of taxing big technology and digital companies
comes into existence, a senior IT Ministry official has said.

 

Mr. S.
Gopalakrishnan, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT, said
that he was referring to a recent proposal by the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) to expand government rights to tax
multinationals, especially big internet firms, by releasing a methodology for
such taxation.

 

He said
that according to the draft personal data protection (PDP) bill, the law would
only set up the framework regarding necessarily localising ‘critical data’ only
in India without a copy of it being elsewhere.

 

But ‘there
will be a lag between the coming of the law and the implementation since the
regulator would then work out the nitty-gritty of what comprises critical data
and thus needs to be stored only in the country,’ he said, adding that the
entire process would take all the stakeholders into consideration.

 

The
officer further clarified that even then, the law would allow the Indian
government in the meanwhile to strike bilateral data treaties with other
countries wherein companies from the partner countries could even store the
critical data overseas.

 

Mr.
Gopalakrishnan was chairing a session on ‘Data Localisation and Global India’.
His comments came during a panel discussion on how some big technology giants
were opposed to the Indian government’s proposed data localisation rules as
outlined in the draft PDP bill which, he said, could soon be tabled in the
Parliament.

 

Speaking
on the opposition from big technology firms on proposed Indian laws around
privacy and security, he added ‘the global tech companies have so far operated
in a regime without specific privacy laws in the U.S. but are now facing a
situation where there are six states that have come out with privacy laws and a
Federal privacy law is expected. Under such circumstances, legislation of a
privacy law in India should not come as a surprise or a shock to them’.

 

(Source:
economictimes.indiatimes.com)

 

6. Now,
ask Alexa to pay utility bills as Amazon adds voice-based feature

 

In yet
another step towards making online buying and other services completely
voice-based and hinged on its virtual assistant Alexa, Amazon announced that
users in India can now pay their utility bills with Amazon Pay just by voice
commands.

 

This new
Alexa feature supports payment of bills across categories such as electricity,
water, post-paid mobile, cooking gas, broadband and DTH among others. ‘Users of
Amazon Echo, Fire TV Stick and other devices with Alexa built-in can just say
commands such as “Alexa, pay my mobile bill” or “Alexa, pay my electricity
bill” to get started,’ the company said.

 

‘This new
integration of Amazon Pay with Alexa will help reduce both time and effort for
customers who use Amazon Pay for bill payments and repeat similar transactions
every month. We are also excited to share that this is an India-first feature
which Alexa customers in India can enjoy before any other international
customers,’ Puneesh Kumar, Country Manager for Alexa Experiences and Devices,
Amazon India, said.

 

The
company last month announced that Alexa can now speak in Hindi. Going forward,
it is planning to launch its voice assistant in a host of other Indian
languages. Taking the competition to Google Assistant, Amazon is ramping up the
usage of Alexa in India by tying up with speaker manufacturers and mobile phone
companies to make Alexa the primary voice assistant on devices. At the moment
Alexa knows 500 skills in Hindi. In English, Alexa can perform over 30,000
tasks.

 

(Source:
www.business-standard.com)

 

II.  world news

 

7. Ex-PCAOB
leader gets prison time for role in KPMG scandal

 

Former
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Inspections Leader Jeffrey Wada has
been sentenced to nine months in prison for his role central to the
long-running KPMG inspections scandal.

 

Wada was
convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of
wire fraud in March, 2019 for providing KPMG employees with confidential
information on certain of the PCAOB’s 2016 inspection selections in an effort
to cheat the system. In addition to his jail time, he received a three-year
sentence of supervised release.

 

‘Jeffrey
Wada violated not just the terms of his employment with the PCAOB but also the
law when he provided confidential information about upcoming audit reviews to
co-conspirators at KPMG,’ said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman in a statement.
‘Wada hoped to secure a job at KPMG. What he got was a nine-month prison
sentence.’

 

Wada is
the third figure in the KPMG scandal to receive jail time for his actions. In
September, David Middendorf, former national managing partner for audit quality
and professional practice at KPMG and the individual found by Berman to be ‘at
the top of a chain of corruption,’ was sentenced to one year and one day in
Federal prison and three years of supervised release. Cynthia Holder, another
ex-KPMG and PCAOB employee to whom Wada provided the confidential information,
was sentenced to eight months in Federal prison and two years of supervised
release in August.

 

Wada
joined the scheme in the fall of 2015 when he first provided confidential
information to Holder and repeated the crime in January, 2017 after being
passed over for a promotion at the PCAOB. Referring to the confidential
information as the ‘grocery list’ in a voicemail, he again went to Holder in
2017, but this time provided his resume and asked for assistance in gaining
employment at KPMG.

 

Prior to
the scheme, KPMG fared poorly in PCAOB inspections and in 2014 received
approximately twice as many comments as its competitor firms. The cheating
scandal is documented as having taken place from 2015 to 2017.

 

In June,
the SEC settled charges related to the scandal with KPMG for $50 million, in addition
to revealing allegations of cheating on internal exams that were also covered
in the settlement.

 

(Source:
www.complianceweek.com)

 

8. Can
a new apple take over the world?

 

When you hear that a new variety of apple is being launched with a
multi-million-dollar marketing campaign, you might wonder if you weren’t
listening properly and that the product is actually an Apple iPhone.

 

But now, starting to hit grocery shelves in the U.S. and then overseas
early in 2020, is a new American-born apple that its backers are convinced will
become the new global bestseller – the ‘Cosmic Crisp’.

 

‘The stars are aligning for this apple,’ says Kathryn Grandy, Marketing
Director of U.S. fruit firm Proprietary Variety Management (PVM), the company
handling the $10m (£7.9m) launch of the new variety.

 

A cross-breed between two existing varieties (the Honeycrisp and the
Enterprise), advocates of the Crisp describe it as some sort of apple holy
grail. It is said to be sweet, crisp and juicy. But as importantly, it is said
to have a previously unheralded shelf life, staying fresh for up to a year if
kept chilled.

 

You might think that this all sounds like hyperbole, but hundreds of
apple growers in the Crisp’s home state have bet $40m that it is going to be a
hit.

 

The story of the Crisp began back in 1987 when its breeding programme
started at Washington State University. The idea was to develop a new variety
of apple to help Washington’s then beleaguered apple farmers.

 

First made available for commercial planting in 2017, Washington’s apple
farmers had long heard of just how good the new variety was supposed to be. So
much so that demand for the Crisp was so high that farmers had to enter a
lottery to be able to get their hands on the first seedlings. Their names were
randomly drawn by a computer programme. Sales of Crisp seedlings subsequently
boomed. Today, more than 12 million Crisp trees are growing across Washington,
with orchards covering some 12,000 acres.

 

With the first apples now on the shelves, it is estimated that this
giant planting scheme – said to be the biggest and fastest in world apple
history – has cost the growers a combined $30m.

 

In return for this confidence, the Washington farmers have been given the
exclusive rights to grow and sell the Crisp worldwide until 2027. And as the
Crisp is being marketed as a premium variety, its price reflects this.

 

The first apples are now on sale in the U.S. for $5 per pound (454
grams), which is more than three times the cost of standard varieties. For
every 40-lb box sold, a royalty of 4.75% is shared between Washington State
University and its commercial partner, the previously mentioned PVM.

 

More than 467,000 40-lb boxes are now projected to be shipped before the
end of this year, rising to two million in 2020 and 5.6 million by 2021. The
apple even has a trademarked slogan – ‘Imagine the possibilities’.

 

‘The rate at which Cosmic Crisp is poised to come into the US market in
the next five to eight years is unprecedented,’ says James Luby, a Professor of
Horticultural Science at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. ‘If you look
at the past 30 years of apple consumption in the U.S., it’s all flat. And the
profit margins are thin,’ says Prof. Rickard who is an expert in the
agricultural and food sectors. ‘The Cosmic Crisp could increase per capita
consumption of apples in the U.S.’

 

(Source:
www.bbc.com)

 

III. Health

 

9. Kids
and sugary drinks: How clever packaging can deceive parents

 

Though science has shown that sugary drinks are not healthy for
children, fruit drinks and similar beverages accounted for more than half of
all children’s drink sales in 2018, according to a new report.

Fruit drinks and flavoured waters with added sugars made up 62% of the
year’s $2.2 billion children’s drink sales. Healthier drinks, such as water or
juices made from 100% juice, made up 38% of sales during the same year. Many
sweetened drinks have packaging that highlight fresh fruit, when they only
contain 5% actual fruit juice. Experts say children should mainly be given milk
and water to avoid too much sugar.

 

And plenty of money was spent on advertising these beverages. Companies
spent $20.7 million to advertise children’s drinks that contained added sugars.
Children aged 2 to 11 saw more than twice as many TV ads for sweetened drinks
than for drinks without added sweeteners.

 

‘Beverage
companies have said they want to be part of the solution to childhood obesity,
but they continue to market sugar-sweetened children’s drinks directly to young
children on TV and through packages designed to get their attention in the
store,’ said Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, MBA, lead study author and the Rudd
Center’s Director of Marketing Initiatives. ‘Parents may be surprised to know
that paediatricians, dentists and other nutrition experts recommend against
serving any of these drinks to children.’

 

Dr.
Harris’s team evaluated 67 drinks to see the differences between sweetened
drinks and beverages without added sweeteners.

 

Experts say that juice and water blends without added sweeteners have
started to hit the market, but the nutrition claims and images can make it
difficult for parents to pinpoint which drinks are healthier.

 

Sugar-sweetened
fruit drinks marketed to children typically included 5% juice or less, but 80%
of those packages portrayed images of fruit and 60% claimed to have ‘less’ or
‘low’ sugar or ‘no high fructose corn syrup,’ the report said.

(Source:
www.healthline.com)
 

 

REPRESENTATION

1.  Dated: 12th
November, 2019

     To:The Tax policy
and Statistics Division Centre for Tax Policy and Administration OECD

     Subject: Comments
and Suggestions for the Unified Approach under Pillar One – Secretariat
proposal

     Representation by:
International Taxation Committee of Bombay Chartered Accountants Society

 

Note: For full Text of the above
Representation, visit our website www.bcasonline.org

MISCELLANEA

1. Technology

 

25.  Apple contractors ‘regularly
hear confidential details’ on Siri recordings

 

Apple contractors regularly hear confidential medical information, drug
deals and recordings of couples having conversations as part of their job
providing quality control, or ‘grading’, to the company’s Siri voice assistant.

 

Although Apple does not explicitly disclose it in its consumer-facing
privacy documentation, a small proportion of Siri recordings are passed on to
contractors working for the company around the world. They are tasked with
grading the responses on a variety of factors, including whether the activation
of the voice assistant was deliberate or accidental, whether the query was
something Siri could be expected to help with and whether Siri’s response was
appropriate.

 

Apple says the data ‘is used to help Siri and dictation… understand you
better and recognise what you say’. But the company does not explicitly state
that that work is undertaken by humans who listen to the ‘pseudonymoused’
recordings.

 

Apple told the Guardian: ‘A small portion of Siri requests are
analysed to improve Siri and dictation. User requests are not associated with
the user’s Apple ID. Siri responses are analysed in secure facilities and all
reviewers are under the obligation to adhere to Apple’s strict confidentiality
requirements.’ The company added that a very small random subset, less than 1%
of daily Siri activations, are used for grading and those used are typically
only a few seconds long.

 

A whistleblower working for the firm, who asked to remain anonymous due
to fears over his job, expressed concern about this lack of disclosure,
particularly given the frequency with which accidental activations pick up extremely
sensitive personal information.

 

The whistleblower said: ‘There have been countless instances of
recordings featuring private discussions between doctors and patients, business
deals, seemingly criminal dealings, sexual encounters and so on. These recordings
are accompanied by user data showing location, contact details and app data.’

 

Apple is not alone in employing human oversight of its automatic voice
assistants. In April, Amazon was revealed to employ staff to listen to some
Alexa recordings and earlier this month Google workers were found to be doing
the same with Google Assistant.

 

(Source: www.theguardian.com)

 

26.  I found your data. It’s for
sale

 

I’ve watched you check in for a flight and seen your doctor refilling a
prescription.

 

I’ve peeked inside corporate networks at reports on faulty rockets. If I
wanted, I could’ve even opened a tax return you only shared with your
accountant.

 

I found your data because it’s for sale online. Even more terrifying:
It’s happening because of software you probably installed yourself.

 

My latest investigation into the secret life of our data is not a fire
drill. Working with an independent security researcher, I found as many as four
million people have been leaking personal and corporate secrets through Chrome
and Firefox. Even a colleague in The Washington Post’s newsroom got
caught up. When we told browser makers Google and Mozilla, they shut these
leaks immediately – but we probably identified only a fraction of the problem.

 

The root of this privacy train wreck is browser extensions. Also known
as add-ons and plug-ins, they’re little programmes used by nearly half of all
desktop web surfers to make browsing better, such as finding coupons or
remembering passwords. People install them assuming that any software offered
in a store run by Chrome or Firefox has got to be legitimate.

 

Not. At. All. Some extensions have a side hustle in spying. From a
privileged perch in your browser, they pass information about where you surf
and what you view into a murky data economy. Think about everything you do in
your browser at work and home – it’s a digital proxy for your brain. Now
imagine those clicks beaming out of your computer to be harvested for
marketers, data brokers or hackers.

 

Some extensions make surveillance sound like a sweet deal: Amazon was
offering people $10 to install its Assistant extension. In the fine print,
Amazon said the extension collects your browsing history and what’s on the
pages you view, though all that data stays inside the giant company. (Amazon
CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Academic researchers say there
are thousands of extensions that gather browsing data – many with loose or
downright deceptive data practices – lurking in the online stores of Google and
even the more privacy-friendly Mozilla.

 

The extensions we found selling your data show just how dangerous
browser surveillance can be. What’s unusual about this leak is that we got to
watch it taking place. Large swathes of the tech industry treat tracking as an
acceptable way to make money, whether (or not) most of us realise what’s really
going on. Amazon will give you a $10 coupon for it. Google tracks your searches
and even your activity in Chrome to build out a lucrative dossier on you. Facebook
does the same with your activity in its apps and off.

 

Of course, those companies don’t usually leave your personal information
hanging out on the open internet for sale. But just because it’s hidden doesn’t
make it any less scary.

 

(Source: www.washingtonpost.com)

 

27.  UPI is world class and it’s
time to take it international

 

Cryptocurrencies are peer-to-peer electronic cash systems that are
governed not by the authority of a central bank but by digital code.
Transactions are only added to the common distributed ledger if they can be
validated in accordance with the rules stipulated by the code, ensuring that
digital currency once spent cannot be re-spent. For everyone who uses the same
blockchain, its distributed ledger becomes a common source of truth that allows
them to carry out peer-to-peer transactions without the need for validation by
a central entity.

 

Bitcoin is one such cryptocurrency. It uses a decentralised,
permissionless system that allows anyone to validate a transaction, so long as
they meet the technical requirements for operating a node. However, Bitcoin
prioritises decentralisation over speed and scalability. As a result, it is
incapable of processing transactions at the velocity or volume that modern
financial systems demand. As there is a finite limit to the total number of
Bitcoins that will ever be minted, its value fluctuates wildly, resulting in
the sort of volatility that is undesirable in a currency.

 

Facebook recently announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency called
Libra which, it claims, will address the many failings of Bitcoin. Libra has
been designed to operate on a bespoke blockchain running on at least 29 nodes
and backed by a basket of bank deposits and government securities to ensure low
volatility. For the foreseeable future, Libra will function as a permissioned
cryptocurrency to achieve the high transaction throughput and low latency
functionality expected of a global
payment system.

 

Libra will be most useful for underdeveloped countries that lack a
digital financial infrastructure. It will offer them a safe and cost-effective
mechanism for making payments that will scale effortlessly in places where the
use of Facebook and WhatsApp is already widespread. When combined with social
media data, it will allow developers to come up with innovative new products
that incumbent financial sector players will be hard-pressed to match. As the
value of a Libra today is designed to always be close to its value tomorrow and
in the future, it will operate as a currency hedge in countries where exchange
fluctuations are high.

 

I read the Libra White Paper with interest, keen to understand how this
new cryptocurrency would change things for us in India. We are Facebook’s
second largest market outside the US and any financial product it launches is
bound to have an impact on us. However, the more I read, the less convinced I
was that Libra was going to give India anything that it did not already have.

 

In Unified Payments Interface (UPI), India has a robust digital payments
infrastructure that, within just three years of its launch, already
effortlessly processes more than 750 million transactions a month. We have a
network of business correspondents throughout the country who integrate our
online and offline payment systems by converting digital payments into cash and
vice versa. While we may not yet have the data advantage that Libra promises to
bring, once the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture is fully
implemented, it will give us an entirely new way to build financial products
using its digital consent infrastructure. Admittedly, UPI isn’t decentralised,
but given how difficult it is going to be to migrate away from a permissioned
architecture, it’s not as if Libra really offers much better.

 

That said, there is at least one thing Libra has going for it that UPI
does not – the ability to radically transform how cross-border transfers are
effected. India receives more inward remittances from its diaspora than any
other country in the world ($79 billion in 2018). At present, all the
mechanisms for international transfer of funds are costly, cumbersome and
highly inefficient. A digital currency like Libra, pegged as it is to a basket
of stable currencies, and transferable anywhere in the world, will offer overseas
Indians a cheap, digital way to move money to relatives back home at a fraction
of the cost that they currently spend.

 

In its report on deepening digital payments, the Nandan Nilekani
Committee has recommended that it is time to take UPI global. Several different
options have been proposed, including amending UPI protocols to include
currency conversion support and directly connecting UPI to global payments
systems to allow immediate, low-cost remittances to take place over the UPI
system. There was also a suggestion that UPI specifications and technologies
should be licensed to operators around the world to allow the protocol to
spread outside India. This must be accompanied by amendments in Indian
regulations, so that Indians can use UPI from abroad in much the same way as
Chinese citizens use WeChat from wherever they are in the world.

 

Cryptocurrency-based payment systems are slow and computationally
intensive. While the technology can be optimised, we will keep running up against
its inherent limitations that make it hard to scale to population size. UPI may
not be decentralised, but we know it works well at scale even over the
sometimes patchy mobile networks in India.

 

There is no need to optimise blockchain technologies to meet the needs
of developing markets when we already have a proven, world-class digital
payments protocol in India that can easily be internationalised. Let’s back
ourselves and just do it.

 

(Source: www.livemint.com)

 

2. Health

 

28.  ‘My Guru told me that as long
as I have good health, I should continue to serve society’, says Metro Man
Sreedharan

 

E. Sreedharan, who is revered as the ‘Metro Man’ of India, shared that
his Guru, Poojya Shri Swami BhoomanandaTirthaji, told him that as long as he
has good health he should continue to serve the society with the attitude that
it is an offering to God.

 

A recipient of the prestigious Padma Vibhushan in 2008,
Sreedharan also said, ‘When the assignment is for the good of society, I don’t
pull back. It is job satisfaction which excites me.’

 

Answering what keeps him going at 88, he said, ‘I
was very religious in my early years – shaped by my parents that way. And I
moved to spirituality particularly after the association with my guru. I like austerity
and simplicity.’ His habit of waking up and sleeping on time and a disciplined
life kept him fit. ‘I am fastidious about exercise, be it in the open air or
regular yoga. I was a sportsman in my young days, was captain of the college
football team. This addiction to regular exercise has remained with me,’ he
said.

 

At present Sreedharan is directly in charge of the Kochi Metro, while he
is also serving the Jammu and Kashmir government for light metro projects to be
implemented in Jammu and Srinagar cities.

 

He is also serving as a consultant to the Uttar Pradesh government for
the Lucknow, Kanpur and Meerut metro projects. Though he had tendered his
resignation from the post last month because of time constraints, it was not
accepted by the State Government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

 

(Source: www.swarajyamag.com)

 

29.  Passive use of social media
may increase depression

 

Great holiday, fantastic party and incredible food, everyone shows their
life in the best light on social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter, but
researchers have found that people who use these apps passively are in danger
of developing depressive symptoms.

 

‘Being confronted by social information on the Internet – which is
selective and only positive and favourable – leads to lower self-esteem,’ says
study lead author Phillip Ozimek from the Ruhr University Bochum.

 

As low self-esteem is closely related to depressive symptoms,
researchers consider this short-term effect to be a potential source of danger.

 

For the study, published in the journal Behaviour and Information
Technology
, the researchers interviewed over 800 people about their use of
Facebook, their tendency to compare themselves with others, their level of
self-esteem and the occurrence of depressive symptoms.

 

They found a positive correlation between passive Facebook use – not
posting pictures – and depressive symptoms when subjects have an increased need
to make social comparisons of their abilities.

 

‘So, when I have a strong need to compare and keep seeing in my News
Feed that other people are having great holidays, making great deals and buying
great, expensive things while everything I see out of my office window is grey
and overcast, it lowers my self-esteem,’ Ozimek said.

 

(Source:
www.gadgetsnow.com)

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Editor,


I, Mr.
Dineshkumar Sitaram Agarwal, am a member of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’
Society & also a regular reader of Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society
Journal. With reference to the December 2018 Edition, it is my pleasure to tell
you that content in the BCAJ is very well-written and useful.

 

I would like to
make one suggestion. Case laws on Chartered Accountants who happen to be
Ordinary Directors/ Individual Directors/ Non – Executive Directors of a
Company & face criminal/ civil liability under Labour Law or any other law
can be inserted under your “ALLIED LAWS” Column.

 

For example: We
enclose herewith one case law of Kerala High Court where a Chartered Accountant
defended
himself successfully in a prosecution case launched against him under PF Act.

 

We hereby suggest
that similar case laws are included as it would be useful for members at large
& hope that you will consider my suggestion.

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mr. Dineshkumar
Sitaram Agarwal.

B. C. A. M. No.: LA – 000048.  

ETHICS AND U

Arjun (A) — O’ Lord, you have always been telling me the importance of
ethics; but ………

 

Shrikrishna — ‘But what, Arjun?

 

A — In practice, it is very difficult.  I will have to close down my practice.  Whatever I do, there is some misconduct or
the other.  Just not possible to escape.

 

S — (smiles). What you say is largely true.  But ultimately, it is in your own interest to
follow the rules of ethics.

 

A How? 
Many times it is a burden.

 

S You are mistaken.  Yours is not only a profession; but a
mission!

 

A This is very philosophical and idealistic.

 

S Listen, the very foundation of any
profession is credibility.  If that is
lost, not only that individual member but the entire profession suffers.

 

A It’s really a challenge.  Just think, we as chartered accountants are
answerable to so many authorities – MCA, SEBI, Tax authorities, Bankers, RBI,
FEMA, Labour law authorities, authorities under many economic laws and most
importantly, our client!  This is very
unfair!

 

S I appreciate this.  But often when a few members commit
misconduct, the society perceives the entire profession as unethical. Then your
professional brothers also suffer for no reason.

 

A True, we do slog in updating our
knowledge, delivering the quality.  But
one factor is beyond our control.   We
became helpless.

 

S What is that?

 

A Corruption!  Wherever we go, corruption gives frustration
to us.

 

S It is difficult to disagree with
you.  But what do you mean by corruption?

 

A Bribery! 
Even if a case is hundred per cent perfect, it does not reach finality
without some greesing. Professionals are made helpless.

 

S What if you refuse?

 

A The authorities have tremendous nuisance
value.  They can make one’s life
miserable if their demand is not ‘satisfied’, and client gets scared as his
business is disrupted.  In spite of
representing the case perfectly, the client gets an impression that the case
gets ‘settled’ by money and not by merits of our presentation!

 

S Do you feel bribery is the only form of
corruption?  Any compromise on principles
for a personal gain is corruption.

 

A What do you mean?

 

S Have there been times when you sign a accounts
without diligently verifying its correctness, or sometimes even knowing the
deficiencies in the accounts?  And you
take fees.  Is it not corruption?

 

A It is a point worth thinking about!

 

S Arjun, corruption is of thoughts
also.  Tell me, you CAs are perceived to
be those who can ‘manage’ things!  Many a
time it is perceived that, you people help find loopholes in the laws. .

 

A Yes. 
I have also experienced that.  It
is very painful as most of us are not of that sort.

 

S So, you need to introspect.  Just think, you people manage even your ‘CPE’
hours!  Some pay the seminar fees; but
often not remain present.  Even if you
are physically present, you enjoy your ‘siesta’.  Is it not ‘corruption’?

 

A Lord, now don’t give me any more
instances!  I feel more and more guilty;
if not ashamed!  We are burdened by so
much unnecessary and useless matters and are surrounded by such imperfections
of the society such as complicated legal systems. Tell me what is the solution?

 

S Unity amongst yourselves and strong
leadership.  Don’t allow it to be a
spineless profession.  You need courage
to stand up and fight.  After all you are
financial ‘police’.  You cannot help or
ignore the thieves!

 

A We also need strong leaders.

 

S How can you expect strong
leadership?  Even your elections are
fought on the basis of caste, community, language and such irrelevant factors
whereas merit and motivation to serve should be the sole criteria.  This, I say, is corruption of ‘thoughts’.

 

A I agree that we can bring about the
change only by united action with strong leadership.  It will be my ‘New Year Resolution” for 2019!

 

S New Year Resolutions are never acted
upon.  Take it as life mission!  Then only you will get ‘Divine Support and
blessings’!

 

A Yes Bhagwan.

 

Om Shanti

This dialogue is meant for reinforcing the
importance of ethics and the need for unity to achieve the triumph of
righteousness over evil.

Book Review

Title: Indian Taxation Decoded – An MNC
perspective

Author: Ketan Dalal, Chartered Accountant

 

Of late, newer business models have been
transforming conventional ones and increasing industry competitiveness, while
digital economy has taken over traditional brick and mortar enterprises. India,
along with the other emerging markets, is at the centre stage of this
disruption.

 

With the Indian government’s focus on
reforms through schemes such as ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and ‘Make in India’,
and FDI liberalisation (including in retail), the country is becoming an even
more important investment destination for global MNCs.The traditional image of
India is changing from that of a cost saving location (cheap processing and
outsourcing work) to that of a digital technology hub.

 

The government’s efforts to convert the
informal sector into formal, through regulatory and tax reforms have been noted
and recognised by the international business community and various fora.

 

In such a scenario, it is important for tax
professionals dealing with MNCs to be well versed with various tax and
regulatory issues in India. A lot of material is available on the said topic,
but it is spread out and not inter-linked. This book, titled “Indian Taxation
Decoded – An MNC perspective” by Ketan Dalal, is a welcome guide on the topic
providing a comprehensive framework of tax and regulatory aspects, laid out
briefly and yet methodically.

 

The book covers tax and regulatory aspects
for MNCs operating in India under the following chapters:


1.   Chapters I to IV – Introduction,
Residential Status, Taxation of foreign companies, India’s Treaty Network &
Key issues

The chapters cover
the basics of taxation (encompassing residential status, various heads of
income, India’s tax landscape, determining the residential status, presumptive
tax regimes, GAAR etc.) which could be a helpful read for an individual with
limited understanding of MNC taxation issues. These chapters contain the key
issues, setting the tone to what follows in the book.

 

2.   Chapters V & VI – Business Connection,
Permanent Establishment, Business income, Royalty and FTS

 

The key issues for an MNC operating in India
revolve around the aforesaid topics. The chapters discuss the concepts in
detail covering the relevant landmark and recent judgements, the tax
implications, quantum of taxability (i.e. attribution of income) etc. The
impact of changing business models on taxability as Royalty and FTS, has also
been touched upon.

 

3.   Chapter VII – Transfer Pricing – The India
Landscape

 

While some
parts of Transfer Pricing implications are covered in other chapters, this
portion covers the basics of Transfer Pricing regulations in India, spanning
from adoption of the regulations in India, definition of ‘international
transaction’ and ‘associated enterprises’, the various methods prescribed for a
benchmarking analysis and determination of the most appropriate method. The
chapter goes on to throw light on the concept of Specified Domestic
Transactions, Dispute Resolution Mechanism. The chapter endeavours to also
cover the more recent topic of OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
Action Plan (AP) 13. The chapter also covers some landmark rulings and judicial
precedents, which are good to have in hand for any new reader.

 

The chapter starts at the very basic and
gradually builds up to give the reader an all-encompassing synopsis of the
Transfer Pricing environment in India.

 

4.   Chapters VIII & IX – Taxation of
Expatriates and Foreign-Held Domestic Entities

 

With a significant increase in movement of
human capital in and out of India, the topic has greater significance in
today’s times. The chapter provides a detailed commentary on various tax
provisions impacting the inbound and outbound expatriates as well as the
employer.

 

The chapter on foreign held entities deals
with tax and regulatory issues impacting corporates and LLPs of foreign MNCs in
India. The chapter is broadly divided into (i) Tax regime for domestic entities
(ii) Computation of taxable income (including general and specific deductions
available, thin capitalisation rules, ICDS, etc.) and (iii) Tax rates.

 

5.   Chapter X – Mergers and Acquisitions

 

With an increase in
M&A activity, this chapter covers the key tax and regulatory provisions
impacting the said activity (encapsulating Mergers, Demergers, Share
acquisitions, Business acquisitions) of MNCs in India. The fact that this
covers cross border MnA as also by the Indian arms of MNCs makes it
particularly useful.

 

6.   Chapter XI – Sectoral Issues

 

In this chapter,
the author has discussed direct tax aspects involving certain nuances and
peculiarities relevant for sectors such as Shipping, Aviation, Media and
Entertainment, BPOs and KPOs, E-commerce, Infrastructure and Financial
services.

 

7.   Chapters XII & XIII – Procedures and
Compliances, Non-tax Regulations

 

The chapters
encapsulate the procedures and compliances as laid down in income-tax law and
cover certain relevant non-tax laws (such as Companies Act, LLP Act, SEBI Act,
Stamp duty regulations, FEMA and the Competition Act) which may be relevant for
a preliminary understanding by the personnel of an MNC operating/ looking to
setting up operations in India.



8.   Chapter XIV – Tax Management in India

 

The chapter covers
the practical aspects from a tax and regulatory perspective that an MNC should
take cognisance of, while operating in India. This chapter throws light on
certain softer nuances of business, such as practical issues of facing tax
litigation in India, beefing up an in-house tax team and the considerations to
be paid heed to, while choosing a tax advisor for the MNC.

 

9.   Chapter XV – Goods and Services Tax

 

The chapter covers
the basic provisions of the newly introduced GST law from the perspective of
MNCs and their India presence, at a broad and conceptual level.

 

Holistically, the book helps provide an
understanding of all tax and related laws from a bird’s eye view. By
interlinking the various tax and regulatory provisions impacting an MNC in
India, the book offers a fresh perspective of tax and regulatory issues in
India from an MNC standpoint.

 

The summary provided at the beginning of
each chapter and the key takeaways at the end of each chapter explain the
content of the topic in brief. The Appendices provided by the author are
reader-friendly and helpful for references at any point of time. What makes the
book truly unique from what otherwise is available in the market, is the
summary coverage of pertinent rulings, relevant to the topics covered. However,
certain repetitions of topics / judgements could have been avoided by the
author or covered in a focused manner. Having said this, the book serves as a
one-stop reference guide for anyone, whether with a well-read tax background or
not, who would like to get an understanding of dealing with MNCs’ tax and
regulatory issues in India. The book would serve as a ready reckoner to
students as well.


The author, who has vast and long experience
in this field, has dedicated the book to his father, thanking the latter for
“giving me the wings to fly”. The book probably just does the same, to someone
who wants to understand the complex world of the Indian tax regimen in a
simplified and lucid manner.
 

 




Ethics and You

Arjun
(A) — (chanting bhajan) Ram Krishna Hari ! Ram Krishna Hari ! (opens his
eyes and looks around in despair)

 

A — O
Lord ! Where are you? Please save me ! Please save me ! Ram Krishna Hari !

 

Shrikrishna
(S) — (appears with a smiling face) Re Arjun, you are chanting my bhajan
today. Anything special?

 

A — What else can we do?

 

S — Why? You said, in July you don’t have time even to
think about me. I avoided meeting you in July. You remembered me. So I had to
come.

 

A —This time there is a penalty for late filing of tax
returns. But clients did not turn up with data. They take it casually.

 

S — Yes. All of them must have flocked in during last
week of July.

 

A — Yes. As if each one of them is our only client !

 

S — But this is your annual ritual to keep crying !
Nothing new about it. I think, you are afraid of something else.

 

A — You are right ! Truly, you are ‘antargyani’.
You can read our minds. Many of my friends wanted to fall on your feet. They
want to surrender before you !

 

S — Surrender what? Certificate of practice?

 

A — May be, you can’t rule it out !

 

S — How can you run away from your profession? It’s your
mission !

 

A — But this mission has become ‘bheeshan’
horrifying !

 

S — What happened? Some new draconian law has come?

 

A — No Lord ! Same law; but new approach. Full of
prejudice and negativity.

 

Really, don’t understand what to do. ‘To practice or not
to practice’ —— that is the question.

 

S — Oh ! you are talking like Hamlet. But why this
dilemma after so many years? I remember, you were in a similar dilemma before
Mahabharata War.

 

A — Absolutely true. The regulation is so much that we
cannot cope up with it.

 

S — If you are a small practitioner, all this will always
keep on frightening you. Grow Big, Arjun, you must think Big !

 

A — Bhagwan, I am talking about ‘Big’ CAs only.
Many of the big CA firms have left the audit assignments of big corporates which
they were doing for number of years !

 

S — Surprising ! What made them do so?

 

A — Fear ! Every CA is now finding the profession very
risky. Whatever you do, there is some flaw or the other. And now it is becoming
fatal.

 

S — But why such sudden change?

 

A — It is change of attitude of Government. Change of
approach of regulators. All these years, we were watchdogs, but now they want
us to be blood-hounds.

 

S — So, all of you need to be ‘Duryodhana’ and not
‘Yudhishthira’. You need to be always suspicious; smelling some foul.

 

A — You said it ! We can’t afford to remain as mere
auditors; but need to act as investigators. Businessmen – our clients – are
never hundred percent honest. They cannot survive with honesty. Government
forces them to be dishonest.

 

S — And they pay you fees to audit their accounts ! And
Government wants you to be ‘independent’ ! Interesting !

 

A — And real problem is that the businessmen will never
mend their ways. They have to commit irregularities. So all those
irregularities, these auditors have tolerated for years ! Now, it is difficult
to continue the audits knowing the irregularities. At the same time, you cannot
discontinue by stating this reason ! Then you are fully exposed ! Very
difficult situation. Catch 22 !

 

S — So you need to be more diligent; more organised; more
pro-active; and more bold.

 

A—But if we start doing the audit in this ‘ideal’
fashion, we will land up completing only one year’s audit over a period of 2 to
3 years ! !

 

S — I think, we need to discuss it more; but not now. I
am busy in regulating the monsoon, it has started behaving strangely !

 

A — The ship of our profession is in the troubled waters.
YOU ALONE can steer it through!

 

NOTE: The above
dialogue is describing the current scenario and the dilemma faced by audit
profession.
 

 

SOCIETY NEWS

BEPS STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle meetings held on 2nd May, 2019 and 11th
May, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The BEPS Study Circle
meeting was held on 2nd May, 2019 to discuss “Article 7 of MLI with
reference to Principal Purpose Test – Analysis of provisions using case
studies”. The discussion was led by Ms Sonia Agarwal and Mr. Rutvik Sanghvi.
They gave a well-prepared analytical presentation which was followed by an
interesting discussion between members.

 

Meanwhile, CBDT has come
out with a draft report for public consultation on amendments to the Rules for
Profit Attribution to Permanent Establishment. The report outlined the formula
for calculating “profits attributable to operations in India” giving weightage
to sales revenue, employees, wages paid and assets deployed. To understand the
implication of the draft report at a very short notice, a study meeting was
held on 11th May, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall. Mr. Ganesh
Rajgopalan analysed the report in his masterly way. Thereafter, Mr. Rashminbhai
Sanghvi explained the background and implications of the draft report. The
meeting was very interactive and the participants benefited tremendously from the
discussion.

 

ITF STUDY CIRCLE

 

Meeting on Taxation of
Agency PE in the light of OECD Commentary (BEPS Action Plan) – Part II &
III held on 9th May, 2019 and 23rd May, 2019 at BCAS
Conference Hall

 

The discussion was led by
Mr. Kartik Badiani.

 

At the Part II meeting on 9th
May, 2019 a brief recap of the earlier session was given to summarise the
discussions. The group leader took the members through the various provisions
of article 12 of the Multilateral Instrument relating to the measures for
preventing avoidance of a permanent establishment. He explained the
commissionaire arrangement and why it is not very relevant in the Indian
context. He also described the expanded scope of the Agency PE arising out of
the new provisions, especially regarding activities of dependent agents in
respect of contracts for the transfer of the ownership of, or for the granting
of the right to use, property owned by that enterprise, or that the enterprise
has the right to use for the provision of services by it.

 

Then, he compared the MLI
provisions with the newly-substituted Explanation 2(a) to section 9(1)(i) of
the Income-tax Act. The scope of the substituted Explanation and its
applicability to purchasing activities for export or otherwise was also
discussed.

 

Mr. Badiani explained
Articles 5(4), 5(5) and 5(6) of the existing treaty along with the OECD
commentary. He also took the gathering through the proposed changes vis-a-vis
the existing treaty provisions.

 

In Part III, which was held
on 23rd May, 2019 the group leader, after giving a recap of the
previous sessions, deliberated on nuances of the MLI and BEPS action plan on
Agency PE. Apart from a case study on low risk distributor, treaty shopping and
liaison office, an in-depth deliberation on the latest judicial precedence in
the case of General Electric and Daikin was also taken up by the Speaker, Mr.
Badiani.

 

DIRECT TAX STUDY CIRCLE

 

Discussion on ‘Issues
relating to Re-assessment’ held on 21st May, 2019 at BCAS Conference
Hall

 

The Chairman of the
session, CA Sanjeev Pandit,  in his
opening remarks pointed out that the number of notices issued u/s. 148 by the
Income-tax department had been increasing over the years due to various
reasons.

 

Later, Group Leader CA
Navin Gandhi analysed section 147 along with provisos and the explanation to
the section. The group discussed concepts such as “Reasons to believe”, “Income
chargeable to tax”, “May assess or re-assess” which are crucial for the
application of section 147. He then referred to the conditions to be fulfilled
by the AO for issuance of notice u/s. 148 after four years from the end of the
relevant assessment year and the distinguishing factors about issuance within a
period of four years from the end of the relevant assessment year. The Supreme
Court decision in GKN Driveshafts (India) Ltd vs. ITO (2003) 259 ITR 19
(SC)
, a landmark ruling on the issue, was also briefly touched upon by
CA Navin Gandhi.

 

Thereafter, the group
discussed the following issues along with relevant case laws relating to
reassessment proceedings:

 

  •      Issuance of notice u/s. 143(2) during
    the course of reassessment proceedings;
  •      Reopening of proceedings based on
    change of opinion;
  •      Reopening on ground of
    “oversight, inadvertence or mistake”;
  •      Before issuing notice u/s. 148, the AO
    must have reasons to believe that the income has escaped the assessment;
  •      Time limit u/s. 149(1)(a) / (c);
  •      Retraction of the statement on which
    reassessment is based;
  •      Right to make inquiry of unrelated
    issues;
  •      Sharing of evidence during the course
    of proceedings;
  •         Right to cross-examination; and
  •      Notice issued u/s. 148 on a deceased
    person.

 

Lastly, the decision of the
Bombay High Court in the case of CIT vs. Jet Airways (I) Ltd. (2011) 331
ITR 236
was discussed wherein it was held that where the ground on
which reassessment notice u/s. 148 was issued was dropped while passing
reassessment order, the AO could not reassess or assess any other income which
had escaped assessment.

 

Lecture meeting on ‘AI,
ML and Future of Internal Auditing’ held on 24th May, 2019 at BCAS
Conference Hall

 

BCAS and IIA Bombay Chapter jointly organised a lecture
meeting on “AI, ML and Future of Internal Auditing”. The speaker was Mr.
Shailesh Haribhakti who said that in today’s hyper-connected world, the
expectation from internal audit had undergone a sea change. The new rules of
the game were: More from less, Faster, No waste, No damage to Environment,
Continuous auditing and Continuous improvement for process excellence.

 

Mr. Haribhakti insisted
that internal auditors need to have pride in what they are doing; they need to
be determined and have integrity and ambition, too. Today, data flows were
creating and generating accounting. Everything and everyone was working through
portals, such as tax portals, legal portals, operations portals, etc. By
integrating accounting at the time of data generation, errors and wastages
could be avoided.

 

Internal audit had to be
ready 24×7 and with due diligence. It had to be ready to do and face forensic
audit.

 

They needed to be online
with all their documentation every day; offer solutions and not ideas; stay on
course every single day; demand more from themselves and others and make
winning a habit; establish morality of processes; make themselves relevant;
contribute and promote values continuously; have a dashboard to monitor
themselves and the organisation, continuously upskill themselves. Transparency,
trust and technology had to be the key drivers.

 

Internal auditors also had
to get themselves upgraded with the latest trends such as Robotic Process
Automation, Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. Today, an internal
auditor had to be a data scientist as well. This was because expectation had
moved from insight to foresight. Data was all about pattern and trends; for example,
can the past data be back-tested to check the current findings?

 

Mr. Haribhakti said that in
today’s world, primarily, financial risks were being assessed, but technology
risks, environment, social and governance (ESG) risks were ignored. The
approach wherein one just ticked a box would not do. AI tools could help assess
every component in the audit and risk universe. They could also help find
patterns.

 

His key takeaways were as
follows: Create a vigil mechanism; power it with AI / ML; create dashboards to
monitor the pulse of the organisation, including KPIs / KRIs; continuously
challenge the status quo; evolve rapidly and be ahead of the trends.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

 

Meeting on ‘Economic
Impact of Modi 2.0’ held on 28th May, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The International Economics
Study Group held its meeting on 28th May, 2019 to discuss “Economic
Impact of Modi 2.0
“. CA Shalin Divetia led the discussion presenting
key differences between the mandates of 2014 and 2019, such as enhanced moral
authority due to the stronger second mandate, better grip over administration,
better relationship with the RBI, key challenges identified and fundamental
changes implemented – GST and IBC. Prime Minister Modi is facing challenges
such as past excesses of the financial / banking sector, creation of jobs
amidst automation / protectionism, the aspirational burgeoning population,
farm-sector woes, judicial activism and NGO-led foreign interference.

 

CA Shalin Divetia also
threw light on the “circle” of national economy – ultimate objectives of
welfare state and national security funded mostly by tax revenues which will
generate consumption – which should come from domestic production – which
ideally requires increased capex and efficient infrastructure – which, in turn,
will impact monetary liquidity – which results from low-cost funding arising
out of low inflation – which is impacted by low CAD and low fiscal deficit
impacted by tax revenues!

 

Therefore, he highlighted
the Modi government’s focus on increasing tax revenues for which he presented
data of buoyancy in tax collection over the last three years which had been
showing in an improved tax-to-GDP ratio. He also presented data on fiscal
deficit, inflation, cost of funds for businesses, monetary liquidity,
government spending on infrastructure and encouragement to domestic
manufacturing which would result in control of CAD and fiscal deficit.

 

Members also discussed “Modi
Sarkar 2.0: What Should We Look Forward to?
” wherein they analysed the
reasons for the stupendous success registered by him. They also dwelt on his
long-term vision and the most important aspect of taking India’s current $2.5
trillion economy to a $5 trillion economy by the year 2025 and $10 trillion by
2032. They noted that the BJP’s “Sankalp Patra” (election manifesto) had
indicated investments of $1.44 trillion. The election results in key states in
the Hindi heartland and in Bengal were also discussed.

 

Indirect Tax Study
Circle meeting held on 30th May, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

CA Janak Vaghani played the
perfect mentor when the Indirect Tax Study Circle held an interesting meeting
on the important topic of “Real Estate-Related Recent Notifications – GST” This
was the second part (Part II) of the series highlighting the crucial issue.

 

Thanks to Group Leader CA
Adit Shah, who conducted the proceedings admirably well, the members took part
in a detailed interaction at which they exchanged views on the case studies and
issues that had been forwarded to all the participants in advance. As a result, most of them
came well prepared for the meeting and were able to make their reasoned points
in detail.

           

Apart from this, a few
other points were identified and set aside for future representation to the
government bodies concerned.

 

Mentor Janak Vaghani and
Group Leader Adit Shah formed a very good team as they steered the discussions
adeptly and kept the proceedings on track.

 

The meeting concluded with
a vote of thanks to the duo of Janak and Adit.

 

Training Session for CA
article students on ‘GST Audit from Article’s Perspective’ and ‘Filing of
Annual Return’ held on 31st May, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The Students Forum under
the auspices of the HRD Committee organised this training session for CA
article students on the above-mentioned topics.

 

The first session on GST
Annual Return was conducted by CA Jigar Shah; it was followed by the session on
GST Audit by CA Raj Khona. Ms Devyani Choksi, the student co-ordinator,
introduced the speakers and described the upcoming events for students. CA
Anand Kothari, Convener of the HRD Committee, welcomed both speakers with a
memento.

 

CA Jigar Shah explained the
entire Form GSTR-9 clause by clause and dealt with the various issues /
complexities involved in the annual return form by giving practical examples.
He highlighted a few key areas which article students should keep in mind while
filing the annual returns.

 

 

In the second session, CA
Raj Khona gave a brief insight into various aspects of GST Audit and thoroughly
explained the entire form GSTR-9C. He also gave useful tips to the article
students on how to effectively conduct GST Audit and highlighted the key
challenges. Both the sessions were highly interactive and the speakers answered
all the queries raised by the participants.


With the due dates for GST
Audit fast approaching and every CA firm wanting its articles to be well
equipped with the nitty-gritty’s of GST Annual return and GST Audit, the
training session saw a record participation by over 100 students. The session
ended with the Convener, CA  Anand
Kothari, proposing the vote of thanks to the speakers for sparing their
valuable time and to the audience for participating in huge numbers.

 

Training Session for CA
Article Students on ‘Preparation and Filing of Income Tax Returns for July,
2019’ held on 07th June, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

 

The Students’ Forum, under
the auspices of the HRD Committee, organised this training session for CA
Article Students from 6 pm on 7th June at the BCAS Conference Hall.

 

The session was conducted
by CA Divya Jokhakar. The Student Co-ordinator, Mr. Aniruddh Parthsarthy,
introduced the speaker for the session and spoke about the upcoming events for
students.

 

CA Divya Jokhakar first
highlighted the new amendments pertaining to A.Y. 2019-20. She then spoke
briefly about the applicability of various forms to certain categories of
assessees. She also gave useful tips to the article students on how to
effectively prepare and fill the ITR Forms and highlighted the key challenges.
The session was highly interactive.

 

With the due dates for
Income-tax returns fast approaching and every CA firm wanting its articles to
be well-informed and well–equipped, the training session saw eager
participation by more than 70 students. The session ended with Convener CA
Anand Kothari proposing the vote of thanks to the speakers and to the audience
for their participation.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1. The average cost of 1GB of mobile data in 2019

 

Country

Average Cost

India

$0.2

Russia

$0.9

Malaysia

$1.1

Pakistan

$1.8

Nigeria

$2.2

Brazil

$3.5

Spain

$3.7

UK

$6.6

Germany

$6.9

China

$9.8

Canada

$12

US

$12.3

South Korea

$15.1

Switzerland

$20.2

 

Source: cable.co.uk

 

2. Four-fold surge in online payments in rural and semi-urban India

 

Particulars

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Transactions*

4.57

10.10

13.72

17.37

17.38

Value**

1,558.1

3,717.3

7,120.6

23,795.5

28,243.2

Electricity Bills

Transactions*

0.24

0.32

0.49

0.56

1.00

Value**

108.7

138.7

239.5

308.4

1,198.4

Insurance Premiums

Transactions*

0.02

0.04

0.08

0.11

0.17

Value**

2.1

9.1

23.9

48.7

77.3

 

*Crore; **Rs. In crores

 

Source: Common services
centres data

 

3. Market size of the music industry across India (in billion rupees)

 

Source: Statista 2019

 

 

4. Retail inflation eases marginally

 

Source: Economic Times

5.  Electricity Consumption
(in kWh per capita)

 

Source: The Spectator Index

 

6. GST Returns filing summary for financial year 2019-20

Source:
www.gstcouncil.gov.in

 

 

7. Only 15% of taxpayers have filed GST returns (as of 9th August,
2019)

Source: ET Online Aug 9,
2019; at 11.12 am IST

 

Society News

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on ‘Simplify Accounting with QuickBook’ held on 19th July, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Technology Initiatives Study Circle of the Technology Initiative Committee of the BCAS organised a meeting styled ‘Simplify Accounting with QuickBook’ by CA Paresh Panchal on 19th July 2019.

Paresh explained how to set up QuickBooks online and introduced implementation aspects of QuickBooks that fellow Chartered Accountants could apply for small and mid-sized businesses. A brief overview of various aspects of the software was provided, namely, invoicing, taxing, expenses tracking with payment due dates, cash flow, bank integration and on-time balance along with cash flow movement. The session was followed by questions and answers.

Participants enjoyed the talk and the Q&A session that followed. All queries were answered by the speaker. The session was telecast live for the benefit of outstation members.

TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE COMMITTEE

Meeting on ‘Hands-on Workshop on Dashboard Reporting with Advance Excel’ held on 2nd August, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

Another programme organised by the Technology Committee of the Society was a half-day programme called ‘Hands-on Workshop on Dashboard Reporting with Advance Excel’ at the BCAS Conference Hall on Friday, 2nd August, 2019.

The session was led by CA Nikunj Shah. He explained that Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence platform that offers a business analytics toolset designed to assist businesses in their efforts to systematically analyse data and share insights.
Nikunj introduced several features on how to use external data to create a pivot table, thereby converting data into information and further into insight by creating a dashboard. He conducted the demonstration of various features of Excel such as creating interactive charts, updating charts with live data and linking charts with the data source for automatic update of charts; he shared his in-depth knowledge with the participants.

The session was highly interactive, and the speaker demonstrated:
(i) New functions of Excel 2013
(ii) Interactive controls to make the dashboard more useful
(iii) Dos & Don’ts of Dashboard
(iv) Dashboard FAQs

In short, participants learned new ways of working more effectively in a business environment. Nikunj answered all the questions raised by the participants who appreciated the efforts put in by the speaker and the group leaders.

TREE PLANTATION AND EYE CAMP BY HRD COMMITTEE

BCAS Tree Plantation Drive and Eye Camp 2019 – Visit to Dharampur-Vansda, Gujarat, on 3rd – 4th August, 2019

The Human Resource Development Committee of the BCAS, jointly with the BCAS Foundation, in the constant pursuit of contributing to the socio-economic development of tribals in the remote interiors of Dharampur district, organised an ambitious social cause visit on 3rd and 4th August, 2019. The visit was for two purposes – tree plantation as part of the mission the ‘Grow Green Drive’, along with captive plantation on farmers’ land at Khadki-Dharampur (at Sarvodaya Parivar Trust – SPT), and an eye camp for cataract surgery at Vansda, Gujarat (at Dhanvantari Trust – DT).

A team of 44 enthusiastic volunteers from BCAS collected over Rs. 5 lakhs as a contribution towards the twin noble causes and set off to visit Dharampur to personally fuel the mission with their active participation. The journey started on a morning when it rained very heavily, all the way from Mumbai to Valsad; this was followed by a bus journey to the little village of Khadki.

The Sarvodaya Parivar Trust is involved in empowering the tribals and making them self-reliant. It engages in various welfare activities in the fields of education / health / agriculture / water management / environment / public awareness programmes and so on.

With the help of local farmers, the enthusiastic BCAS members assisted in planting various saplings of custard apple, mahogany, ambli, kher and bamboo on the outskirts of village Pindval-Khadki. They also distributed and planted mango saplings on the farmers’ land. The team then visited the nursery developed and nurtured by Trustee Sujataben, who has dedicated her entire life to the SPT.
The BCAS Foundation has committed itself to the plantation of 10,000 trees and has already made a contribution of Rs. 3,00,001 received through generous donations from several donors.
The BCAS team was overwhelmed to meet a villager, Pandu, who donated his entire holding of three acres of land to the SPT for carrying out its activities. He has been associated with the SPT ever since then, giving
his selfless service for the noble cause of benefiting the tribal villagers.

The team also visited the residential school run by SPT at Pindval-Khadki and distributed various educational games / stationery / chocolates to the children. It was a pleasure to see the commendable developments that had taken place over the last few years, thanks to the earlier projects done by BCAS with the help of SPT’s selfless team, which has certainly made a difference to the quality and standard of living of tribals at such a remote, interior village.

The team expressed its gratitude and affection for fellow respected CA Virendrabhai and Ashaben Virendra Shah, a lovely, jovial couple dedicated to SPT, living life as per the Gandhian philosophy; they took charge of all the arrangements for the project and treated the visitors from Mumbai like family.
The night halt at Tithal energised all the participants for their visit the next day to the Dhanvantri Trust at Vansda where they organised an eye camp for cataract surgery of the tribal people. The DT trustees were delighted to take the team through the hospital ward to meet and interact with patients and discuss the selfless activities carried out by them.

The Dhanvantri Trust was founded by the Late Dr. Kirtikumar Vaidya, a doctor who left Mumbai at a young age and dedicated his life for the socio-economic development of tribal villages of South Gujarat. With divine blessings and inspiration from his Guru Sant Shri Ranchhod Dasji Bapu, he started the eye hospital in Vansda. Till date, it has performed more than 42,000 successful cataract surgeries and has expanded to a multi-specialty ward.

The BCAS Foundation has committed to help perform 200 cataract surgeries and has made a contribution of Rs. 2,00,001 received through generous donors.

The team departed with a heavy heart and innumerable memories to board the train back to Mumbai. The youth team that participated in the event was deeply moved with the deliberations of the senior members and the interactions with the trustees of the NGOs, inculcating in them values of life and inspiring them for selfless service to society. In turn, the senior members got enthused with the zeal of the young participants and their new and dynamic ideas. The bonding that was shared amongst them was indescribable and all felt truly blessed at the end of the journey.

Indeed this soulful trip was an elevating and enlightening experience for everybody to feel a bit of a shift within from sympathy to empathy.

DIRECT TAX STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on ‘Angel Taxation’ on 5th August, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The group leader, CA Mahesh Nayak, gave a brief overview of the introduction of section 56(2)(viib) of the Income-tax Act, 1961. The provision was then analysed in detail. The group leader next dwelt on the meaning of ‘company in which the public are substantially interested’, with illustrations.

Thereafter, the group discussed the exemptions in the case of investments by certain AIFs, the exemption for investment in startups and the investment restrictions applicable to them. The consequences of non-compliance of investment restrictions were discussed by way of an illustration.

Finally, the valuation methodology to be adopted as per Rule 11UA was discussed along with relevant case laws and the interaction of section 56(2)(viib) and section 56(2)(x) of the Act.

SOCIETY NEWS

CORPORATE AND ALLIED LAWS COMMITTEE

“Company Law Conclave – 2019” held on 15th & 16th March, 2019

A two-day Company Law Conclave – 2019 was organised by the Corporate & Allied Laws Committee on 15th & 16th March, 2019 at Hotel Orchid, Mumbai, with distinguished speakers and panellists sharing their in-depth knowledge and experience on the subject. President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla gave the inaugural remarks, followed by opening comments from the Chairman of the Corporate and Allied Laws Committee, CA. Chetan Shah.

CA. Nilesh Vikamsey, Past President of ICAI, delivered the keynote address and highlighted the journey of various amendments in the short period since the enactment of the Companies Act, 2013 including a statistical analysis thereof; he also highlighted the challenges faced, especially by professionals, in various compliances thereunder.

The first technical session was taken up by CA. Bhavesh Vora who dealt with the topic Significant Beneficial Ownership (SBO). He explained the difference between registered owner and beneficial owner, stages of Money-laundering leading to the rationale behind the introduction of SBO declarations, the applicability and non-applicability of SBO declarations, etc. He also gave valuable insights on provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 relating to Acceptance of Deposits and Dematerialisation of Shares and touched upon the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019 which was promulgated on 21st February, 2019.

The second session was a panel discussion on Recent Trends of actions from Regulators such as SEBI, Stock Exchanges and MCA with respect to Audit Committees, Auditors and Directors, including Independent Directors. The esteemed panellists were CA. Shailesh Haribhakti, CA. Dolphy D’Souza and CA. Bhavesh Vora. The session was ably moderated by CA. Sandeep Shah who made the proceedings informative and interesting.

In the third session, CA. Manish Sampat, Vice President, BCAS, explained the relevant provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 relating to Loans and Investments, Borrowings, Related Party Transactions and Foreign Companies – establishing liaison/project/branch office in India and shared his practical experience. He also gave a brief overview of FEMA provisions.

Thereafter, Mr. Amit Tandon apprised the participants about the Dawn of proxy/voting advisory firms in India and corporate governance trends evolving in India. He expressed the view that shareholder engagement had been increasing in India in the recent past and shared specific examples of how effective shareholders’ engagement had resulted in not allowing the Board to have its own way.

In the last session on Day 1, CA. Avil Menezes dealt with Corporate Insolvency (winding up) in IBC Era. He explained the liquidation process under the IBC and responded to several queries of the participants in this regard.

Day 2 began with the session on Accounts, Audit and CSR’ under the Companies Act, 2013 by CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala. He elaborated the financial statements – AS and Ind AS, reopening of financial statements, declaration of dividend, NFRA and CSR provisions applicable to the companies, and shared insights on audit and auditors’ responsibilities and other services that can be rendered by the auditor/its affiliate or associate.

This was followed by a panel discussion on Role & Responsibilities of Directors, Conflicts of Interest other than related party transactions and Directors’ Potential Liabilities in Insolvency. The distinguished panellists, viz., CS. Shailesh Rajadhyaksha, CA. Uday Chitale and Adv. Bharat Vasani, shared their views and rich experience. Adv. Bharat Vasani, with his legal background, threw light on the Directors’ responsibilities and liabilities under the Companies Act as well as some other laws. The session was ably moderated by CA. Nawshir Mirza who made the interaction more educative and effective.

Thereafter, the session on Schemes of Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations – Procedural aspects was taken up by Adv. Bhumika Batra. She, inter alia, covered the benefits, governing statutes and various stages of schemes of compromise and arrangements. The concluding session on Day 2 was taken up by CS B. Renganathan on Schemes of Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations – Some Peculiar Illustrations. He discussed some of the path-breaking schemes of compromises and arrangements.

The event garnered good response and saw attendance from outstation participants from various cities. Overall, the Company Law Conclave was an enriching experience for the participants.

Training Session on “Practical Aspects of Bank Audit from Article’s Perspective” held on 22nd March 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Students’ Forum under the auspices of the HRD Committee organised a training session on the above-mentioned topic on 22nd March, 2019 in the BCAS Conference Hall which was led by CA. Pankaj Tiwari, a proficient speaker on the subject. Ms. Divya Jadav, the student co-ordinator, introduced him to the participants. She was followed by CA. Jigar Shah, HRD Committee member, who also addressed the students.

CA Pankaj Tiwari spoke about the current banking scenario and briefed the students on various recent circulars issued by the RBI. He covered several issues and aspects which needed to be looked into by the article students while conducting a bank audit. He meticulously explained the issues involved through case studies and practical examples; he gave useful tips to the article students on how to effectively conduct Bank Audit and provided a checklist of the critical areas to be focused upon.

The training session ended with Mr. Jason Joseph, student co-ordinator, proposing the vote of thanks to the speaker for sparing his valuable time and the audience for participating in huge numbers. With the “Bank Audit season” round the corner, the topic had its own importance which could be easily seen by the tremendous response received from the students. Overall, the session was very informative and the participants benefited a lot from it.

ITF STUDY CIRCLE

Study Circle on “Agency PE – Analysis of Amendment under the Act and MLI” held on 25th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The ITF Study Circle organised a meeting on Agency PE – Analysis of Amendment under the Act and MLI on 25th March, 2019 in the BCAS Conference Hall. It was led by the Group Leader, CA. Kartik Badiani who took the members through the various provisions of Article 12 of the Multilateral Instrument relating to the measures for preventing avoidance of a permanent establishment. He explained the commissionaire arrangement and why it is not very relevant in the Indian context.

CA. Kartik Badiani also described the expanded scope of the agency PE arising out of the new provisions, especially regarding activities of dependent agents in respect of contracts for the transfer of the ownership of, or for the granting of the right to use property owned by that enterprise, or that the enterprise has the right to use for the provision of services by that enterprise.

He then compared the MLI provisions with the newly-substituted Explanation 2(a) to section 9(1)(i) of the Income-tax Act. The scope of the substituted explanation and its applicability to purchasing activities for export or otherwise was also discussed.

The meeting was very interactive and presented a huge takeaway for the participants.

Lecture Meeting on “The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019” held on 28th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society organised a lecture meeting on ‘The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019’ on 28th March, 2019 in the BCAS Conference Hall which was addressed by CA. Sandeep Shah.

CA. Sandeep discussed the background of the Ordinance and its applicability and then covered key definitions, the genesis, salient features, administration and challenges and confusion, as also the offences under it. He touched upon the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 and the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 1999 to put forth his views. He also talked about the types of schemes such as “Ponzy” and “Pyramid Schemes” and explained the applicability and the exemptions under the Ordinance. He described the characteristics of regulated and unregulated deposit schemes and the offences covered by the Ordinance, i.e., inducement and punishment, etc., thereof.

Thereafter, the speaker described the challenges and confusions faced in implementing the Ordinance and the administrative aspects and penalties imposed for indulging in contravention of the Ordinance, including imprisonment, fines, etc. He also outlined and emphasised the role of an auditor in stricter compliance of the Ordinance and the consequences of non-compliance with laws and regulations of the Ordinance.

The lecture was followed by a Q&A session in which the participants raised queries which were emphatically answered by the learned speaker. The participants were enlightened with the interesting and important developments in the financial domain which were effectively explained by the speaker, CA. Sandeep Shah.

“Blood Donation Drive” organised on 29th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

BCAS continues with its initiative of connecting with and contributing to the society at large for a non-professional cause. Its blood donation drive encourages a sense of “Personal Social Responsibility” (PSR) among its members, their relatives and friends.

The BCAS Foundation, along with the Seminar and Membership Development (SMD) Committee, organised its 3rd Blood Donation Drive on 29th March, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), one of the renowned hospitals in Mumbai with its sophisticated blood bank facilities. TMH also provided a knowledge desk for platelet donation for the benefit of members and for creating awareness about the basics of platelet donation.

Awareness and messages were widely spread by the BCAS team for the drive, especially in all the offices, educational institutions and government offices in and around the New Marine Lines area. CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, President, BCAS, and CA. Narayan Pasari, Chairman, SMD Committee, led the drive along with some committee members and encouraged and inspired many people to become donors.

For the blood donation, the donors had to follow a step-by-step procedure covering various parameters before actually donating blood. The specialised team of doctors and supervisors from TMH was very careful with regard to the health and physical condition of the donors to ensure that he/she was fit for donating blood and also completely fit and fine after donating blood.

The donors were given Blood Donation Certificates by TMH and BCAS along with a token gift in appreciation of their participation. BCAS received an overwhelming response to the drive and TMH officials were very happy with the units of blood collected.
It was a great team effort by the 12 volunteers from TMH, the coordinators of the event from the SMD Committee, CA. Sohail Kapasi, CA. Maitri Ahuja and CA. Yogesh Patel, along with other members of the BCAS and the BCAS staff who actively extended their support. It was indeed a memorable experience through which BCAS gave an opportunity to inculcate/nurture a sense of PSR amongst members as well as non-members.

(Note: PSR can be called a “twin sister” of CSR which stands for “Corporate Social Responsibility”.)

BCAS TECH SUMMIT 2019 HELD ON 30th MARCH, 2019

The Technology Initiatives Committee of the BCAS organised the 1st BCAS Tech Summit 2019 on 30th March, 2019 at Courtyard by Marriott. The event commenced with an inaugural address by President CA. Sunil Gabhawalla, followed by the opening address by CA. Nitin Shingala, the Chairman of the Committee.

The keynote address was delivered by CA. Deepak Ghaisas, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Gencoval Group, and Vice-Chairman, i-flex Solutions. He highlighted the technological trends affecting different sectors and how each trend is an enabler for a chartered accountant to expand his practice.

The panel discussion on Accounting Softwares was led by the moderator, CA. Shariq Contractor. The participants included Ms. Aditi Puri Batra, Intuit, CA. Harsh Vardhan Dawar and CA. Prashant Gupta. The panel discussed the current requirements of the clients and ways to identify accounting software that meets a client’s needs. They also discussed the tools integrated with accounting software that would enable customisation of information. In addition, the panel highlighted transformation in the accounting software with cloud-based accounting applications.

CA. Ameet Patel led the panel discussion on Tax & Compliance Software. The panellists were CA. Raj Mullick, Reliance Industries, CA. Harit Gandhi, TCS, Mr. Rakesh Dube and Mr. Vijaya Mankaragod. While CA. Raj Mullick shared his journey of adapting to technologies to manage GST compliance, CA. Harit Gandhi spoke about developing technologies for GST and VAT compliance and offered his insights into the proposed changes in GST compliance.
Mr. Vijaya Mankaragod highlighted the practices adopted by developed countries in digitising taxation and how Indian tax administration is adapting to these changes. He described the big data analytics being adapted by tax administrations across the world and shared his views on future trends that would drive the taxation sector. Mr. Rakesh Dube, on the other hand, explained the need for having a tax compliance software that worked well with the ERPs to ensure timely compliance with various tax laws. CA. Ameet Patel made the session lively with his wit and humour.

The panel discussion on HR, Payroll & Labour Law compliance software was led by CA. Nitin Shingala, Chairman of the Technology Initiatives Committee himself, and those who took part in it were Mr. Madhu Damodaran, CA. Harish Chopra and Mr. Girish Rowjee.

CA. Nitin initiated the discussion with the current scenario impacting payroll management as nobody could go without pay day except when grounded. Mr. Madhu Damodaran shared his experiences in administering complex HR processes and ensuring employment law compliance through setting up businesses/processes/vendor management systems. CA. Harish Chopra and Mr. Girish Rowjee highlighted trends in payroll accounting and management, future opportunities available and shared tips on how to grow HR and payroll practices.

Another panel discussion, on Practice Management — Leveraging Digital Technologies for Accelerated Growth, was led by CA. Vaibhav Manek. The panellists included CA. Rajeev Sharma, Mr. Suresh Kumar and Mr. Kris Agarwala, Wolters Kluwer. They discussed the trends driving practice management by CA firms and the use of software and applications to ensure efficiency, productivity and training of the employees, when partners can focus on client management.

The session on Robotics Process Automation (RPA) was jointly led by Mr. Ashish Sharma and Mr. Prasad Godbole. They introduced participants to the future trend of robotic accounting and explained how robots can undertake end-to-end transaction processing. The future opportunities available in such a scenario were also highlighted; the case studies and examples discussed by them kept the audience engrossed.

The venue of the 1st BCAS Tech Summit 2019 also featured an exhibition section with product demonstration by Wolters Kluwer, Intuit — Quickbooks, Reliance Jio, TCS IoN, Clear Tax, Firmway, Greytip, Tax Genie and Kredence Digital, all of which opened new vistas for the participants at the event.

The sharing of insights and experiences by the experts, and also the interactions during the networking breaks brought a sense of wonder and created some unforgettable memories of the 1st BCAS Tech Summit 2019.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES COMMITTEE

Human Development Study Circle meeting on “Vidur Niti from Mahabharata” held on 9th April, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The Human Development Study Circle organised an interesting discussion on “Vidur Niti (containing the lessons of wisdom narrated by Vidur to Dhrutrashtra before Mahabharta War) on 9th April, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall which was presented by CA. C. N. Vaze. The Speaker talked about some important teachings in relation to human behaviour i.e. Sandhi (Joining), Vigraha (Disconnect), Yana (Aggression), Asana (Sit on compound – non-aligned) and Dwaidhibhav (create dilemma) and also sources of happiness such as to stay healthy, fearless, debt free, in company of good people, be professional and do justice to the profession etc.

Vidur was one of the most respected gurus in the Kingdom of Hastinapur. He had vowed allegiance to the throne (and not to the person occupying it), as a result of which he had to face a lot of hardships when things started going wrong in the kingdom. Before and during the period of the Mahabharata war, he continued to live in Hastinapur – but he did not eat even a single morsel of food from the King’s kitchen. For his consumption, he grew his own grains, fruits and vegetables because he did not want to be contaminated by consuming food served by the “evil” forces that were ruling the land and the ill wind that was blowing over it. He lived by himself and was always willing to give advice in the court – but there was hardly anyone to listen to him. It was his disciples who noted down his sermons and came up with what is called “Vidur Niti”.

It was an extremely interesting session and the participants learned about several hitherto unknown aspects of the respected sage, seer and guru, Vidur.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Full-Day Workshopon “Effective Leadership and Executive Presence” held on 13th April, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall

The HRD Committee organised a full-day workshop for enhancing executive gravitas and developing better leadership acumen. It was conducted by the young and dynamic CA. Mudit Yadav who is a skilled and internationally-certified success coach.

He stressed on the following 4 modules:

(1) How a leader can motivate his team by making subtle changes in his vocabulary and leadership style that will inspire his team and hence get more work done.

(2) How to convey feedback in an effective manner that hurts the least but hits the most and thus being able to identify the strengths of the team and balance them with opportunities and team expectations.

(3) How to influence people like successful political leaders, by learning techniques in interpersonal interactions with the team and clients and making effective presentations, speeches and the use of a power vocabulary.

(4) What to wear, how to walk and ways to talk to enhance your presence and thus building respect and reverence in the minds of your colleagues, further addressing the body language, wardrobe and postures that leaders can apply on themselves to build greater presence.

The session was very interactive and the group activities conducted by CA. Mudit Yadav helped the participants to sharpen their skills and take home a valuable lesson at the end of the workshop.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

International Economics Study Group meeting on “How Foreign-Funded NGOs (Professional Agitators) are Hurting Economic Growth” held on 16th April, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall

The International Economics Study Group held its meeting on 16th April, 2019 at BCAS Conference Hall to discuss “How Foreign-Funded NGOs (Professional Agitators) are Hurting Economic Growth.”

CA. Deepak Karanth led the discussions and presented his thoughts on the subject, describing how concerted efforts by select foreign-funded NGOs ran “rent-an-agitation” stirs to “take down” mega developmental projects in India in order to adversely impact the economic growth of the country.

Thousands of NGOs were involved in genuine social service and health-related activities; they had become part of a wide variety of activities: aid, development, healthcare, education, feminism, the environment, human rights, conscientisation (sic), organisation, etc. But sometime back, the Intelligence Bureau had submitted a report to the PMO suggesting that many foreign-funded NGOs protesting against coal and mining projects in the country were stalling India’s development and had negatively impacted GDP growth by 2 to 3%.

Many such “Professional Agitators” (funded by well-known philanthropies in western countries) had tried to stall large projects. These NGOs had received funds in the form of “research funding”. Cracking the whip on this trend, approximately 20,000 NGOs in the country had been barred from receiving foreign funds by the government following cancellation of their FCRA registrations, said CA. Deepak.

The Intelligence Bureau report said that among the agitations pursuing ”anti-developmental activities” were those that were against nuclear infrastructure development, coal-fired power plants, genetically-modified organisms; Posco in Orissa, Vedanta in Orissa, the Narmada Bachao Andolan; the agitations against extractive industries in the North East and the agitation against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project.

CA. Paresh Budhdev led the discussion on the impact of debt defaults arising out of cases like IL&FS on mutual funds’ debt schemes and provident and pension funds (government as well as privately-run employees’ PFs) and the overall debt market.

The meeting was very interactive and participants benefited a lot from the discussion.

MISCELLANEA

1. Technology

 

5. Amazon workers are listening to what you tell Alexa

 

Tens of millions of people use smart speakers and their voice software
to play games, find music or trawl for trivia. Millions more are reluctant to
invite the devices and their powerful microphones into their homes out of
concern that someone might be listening.

 

Sometimes, someone is.

 

Amazon has employed thousands of people around the world to help improve
the Alexa digital assistant powering its line of Echo speakers. The team
listens to voice recordings captured in Echo owners’ homes and offices. The
recordings are transcribed, annotated and then fed back into the software as
part of an effort to eliminate gaps in Alexa’s understanding of human speech
and help it better respond to commands.

 

The Alexa voice review process, described by seven people who have
worked on the programme, highlights the often-overlooked human role in training
software algorithms. In marketing materials Amazon says Alexa “lives in the
cloud and is always getting smarter.” But like many software tools built to
learn from experience, humans are doing some of the teaching.

 

The team comprises a mix of contractors and full-time Amazon employees
who work in outposts from Boston to Costa Rica and from India to Romania,
according to the people who signed non-disclosure agreements barring them from
speaking publicly about the programme. They work nine hours a day, with each
reviewer parsing as many as 1,000 audio clips per shift, according to two
workers based at Amazon’s Bucharest office, which takes up the top three floors
of the Global Worth building in the Romanian capital’s up-and-coming Pipera
district. The modern facility stands out amid the crumbling infrastructure and
bears no exterior sign advertising Amazon’s presence.

“We have strict technical and operational safeguards and have a zero
tolerance policy for the abuse of our system. Employees do not have direct
access to information that can identify the person or account as part of this
workflow. All information is treated with high confidentiality and we use
multi-factor authentication to restrict access, service encryption and audits
of our control environment to protect it.”

 

Amazon, in its marketing and privacy policy materials, doesn’t
explicitly say humans are listening to recordings of some conversations picked
up by Alexa. “We use your requests to Alexa to train our speech recognition and
natural language understanding systems,” the company says in a list of
frequently asked questions. In Alexa’s privacy settings, Amazon gives users the
option of disabling the use of their voice recordings for the development of
new features.

 

(Source: www.bloomberg.com; 11th April, 2019)

 

6. Huawei can bring 5G to India in 20 days if given the green light

 

At a time when Indian telecom operators are looking to speed up 5G
roll-outs, Huawei India said that it is fully prepared to bring 5G to the
Indian market and can do so in a matter of 20 days once given the green light.
Addressing the India Mobile Conclave, Huawei India CEO Jay Chen said, “We are
committed to the India market and will be happy to work with service providers
and enterprises to bring 5G faster, safer and smarter to this market.”

 

Chen said that India’s rapid pace of digital adoption is being driven by
the government’s commitment towards digitising key aspects of the digital
economy. “In the last couple of years almost every new innovation introduced to
this market is introduced by Huawei. Massive MIMO is a word we first introduced
in India 5 years back.”

 

Elaborating on the potential of 5G for an emerging digital economy like
India, Chen said that “5G is like electricity” which will enable all industries
and help realise the digital mission and the goals set by the National Digital
Communications Policy (NDCP). Huawei is a global leader in 5G and it already
has 30 5G commercial contracts globally,” Chen added.

 

(Source: The Economic Times; 22nd March, 2019)

 

2.  World News

 

7. Executions are falling worldwide

 

By one measure, at least, the world might be getting a bit less grisly.
The number of death sentences carried out worldwide fell by 30%, from 993 in
2017 to 690 last year, according to the latest annual count published by
Amnesty International, a human rights organisation. Those numbers are
consistent with the downward trend since the recent high of 2015 when 1,634
people were executed.

 

A reason to rejoice? Perhaps not. Amnesty’s count includes only known
executions, so it should be treated as the lowest possible estimate of judicial
killings. China, which is considered the most ruthless country when it comes to
capital punishment, has not been included in the total since 2009. Executions
there are thought to be in the thousands.

 

(Source: www.economist.com; 10th April, 2019)

 

8. Uber warns it might never make a profit

 

Uber Technologies has 91 million users, but growth is slowing and it may
never make a profit, the ride-hailing company said in its initial public
offering filing. The document gave the first comprehensive financial picture of
the decade-old company that was started after its founders struggled to get a
cab on a snowy night and has changed the way much of the world travels.

 

The S-1 filing underscores the rapid growth of Uber’s business in the
last three years and also how a string of public scandals and increased
competition from rivals have weighed on its plans to attract and retain riders.
The disclosure also highlighted how far Uber remains from turning a profit,
with the company cautioning that it expects operating expenses to
“increase significantly in the foreseeable future” and it “may
not achieve profitability”. Uber lost $ 3.03 billion ($ 4.25 billion) in
2018 from operations. The filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission
revealed that Uber had 91 million average monthly active users on its
platforms, including for ride-hailing and Uber Eats, at the end of 2018. This
is up 33.8% from 2017, but growth slowed from 51% a year earlier. Uber in 2018
had revenue of $ 11.3 billion, up around 42% over 2017, again below the 106%
growth the previous year.

 

Uber set a placeholder amount of $ 1 billion but did not specify the
size of the IPO. It was reported this week that Uber plans to sell around $ 10
billion worth of stock at a valuation of between $ 90 billion and $ 100
billion. Investment bankers had previously told Uber it could be worth as much
as $ 120 billion. Uber would be the largest IPO since that of the Chinese
e-commerce company the Alibaba Group in 2014, which raised $ 25 billion.

 

After making the public filing, Uber will begin a roadshow of investor
presentations on April 29. The company is on track to price its IPO and begin
trading on the New York Stock Exchange in early May. Uber faces questions over
how it will navigate any transition towards self-driving vehicles, a technology
seen as potentially dramatically lowering costs but which could also disrupt
its business model.

 

One advantage Uber will likely seek to play up to investors is that it
is the largest player in many of the markets in which it operates. Analysts
consider building scale is crucial for Uber’s business model to become
profitable.




(Source: www.afr.com; 12th April, 2019)

 

9. Will technical factors push Bitcoin to $ 50,000 in the coming years?

 

Veteran trader Peter Brandt recently made a bold prediction, saying that
Bitcoin could reach $ 50,000 in the next two years. Credited with forecasting
Bitcoin’s more than 80% decline in 2018, Brandt cited market history and
technical analysis when providing this estimate.

 

“I believe that charts reflect underlying supply and demand fundamentals
and that’s how we have to look at it,” he stated on Yahoo Finance YFi PM. After
bottoming out in 2015, Bitcoin prices enjoyed a parabolic advance, emphasised
Brandt. Now, he expects crypto currencies will once again enter a parabolic
bull market.

 

While several analysts emphasised that Brandt’s prediction certainly
could materialise, many were understandably sceptical, emphasising their
wariness of price forecasts. “Peter Brandt’s assessment is purely based on
technical indicators and market history,” noted Joe DiPasquale, CEO of crypto
currency fund of hedge funds, BitBull Capital. “While technical analysis has a
place in all markets, past performance is no guarantee for future results,” he
stated.

 

“Meanwhile, however, the current rally is consolidating nicely and we
can expect further price appreciation if the trend continues,” added
DiPasquale. Several analysts emphasised the key importance of Bitcoin expanding
its user base, noting that if the digital currency makes enough progress on
this front, it could hit $ 50,000.

 

(Source: www.forbes.com; 10th April, 2019)

 

10. Vietnam orders monks to stop profiting from karma rituals

 

Vietnamese authorities have ordered monks at a popular Buddhist pagoda
to stop “soul summoning” and “bad karma eviction” ceremonies after an
investigation found the rituals were a scam.

 

Tens of thousands of worshippers have been paying the 18th
century Ba Vang pagoda in northern Quang Ninh province between one million and
several hundred million dong ($ 45 to $ 13,500) to have their bad karma
vanquished, according to the state-run Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper. The
Committee for Religious Affairs, a government body, issued a statement on its
website on Friday saying “the ritual goes against Buddhist philosophy and
violates Vietnam’s law on religion and folk beliefs.”

 

“It has a negative impact on social order and security,” it added.

 

Three times a month, monks hold a two-day ceremony to “summon wandering
souls” and “remove bad karma,” demanding donations, supposedly representing
good deeds, to help cure bad karma and make up for supposed bad deeds in
previous lives. Such rituals have been going on for years, but the practice has
drawn unfavourable attention as the amounts demanded by the monks soared to the
point where they began taking payments by bank transfers and by instalments.

 

Ba Vang pagoda was built on a mountain slope in Uong Bi district of
Quang Ninh province. It was recently renovated and expanded to become one of
Vietnam’s largest pagoda complexes. Only a minority of Vietnam’s 95 million
people follow Buddhism, but many non-Buddhists go to pagodas and temples and
practise a form of folk religion that includes some Buddhist practices.
Religions that are not registered with the government are prohibited. The Ba
Vang pagoda belongs to a registered Vietnamese Buddhist association.

 

(Source: www.apnews.com; 22nd March, 2019)

 

11. Black hole snapped: How the picture of one of the universe’s most
secretive objects was clicked

 

By definition, a black hole can’t be seen. As a cosmic gobbler of all
matter on its periphery, these sinkholes have gravitational fields so powerful
that even light cannot escape them, rendering their contents invisible. As the
concept of black holes (the cemeteries of spent stars above a certain mass and
massive cosmic objects) followed from Einstein’s theories of general
relativity, scientists have had intricate mathematical descriptions and
speculation on how they look, how many of them exist, how they behave, where
they might be located and their relationship to the universe. Based on this,
there has been a plethora of visual and artistic descriptions of black holes.
However, there has never been visual confirmation of their existence, until
now.

 

On 10th April, 2018 astronomers shared an image, now
christened on Indian Twitter as a “giant medu vada in the sky,” from the
black hole at Messier 87 or M87. It was a blurred, yellowish orange frame
surrounding a black centre. While this wasn’t vastly different from how
astronomers and artists have visualised black holes for decades, it’s still
great to see reality correspond to imagination. The black hole measures 40 billion
km. across – three million times the size of the earth – and is 55 million
light years from earth. (A light year is about 9.46 trillion km.). It is bigger
than our entire solar system and a scientist described it to the BBC as “the
heavyweight champion of black holes in the universe.” The image has been
analysed in six studies co-authored by 200 experts from 60-odd institutions and
published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.

 

Since the 1970s, astronomers have known that there are “super massive”
black holes (about a billion times heavier than the sun) in the Milky Way or
galaxies close to it. While black holes themselves are invisible, the region
around them – the luminous frenzy of charged particles from matter in their
vicinity – is, in theory, “visible”. Since black holes are the result, mostly,
of heavy stars collapsing in on themselves, radiation emitted by particles
within the disc are heated to billions of degrees as they swirl around the
black hole at close to the speed of light, before vanishing into them.

 

The astronomers used a technique known as interferometry, which combines
radiation from eight telescopes from around the world in a way that it appears
as one single telescope capture. What this virtual telescope could capture were
traces – electromagnetic radiation – from jets of particles spewed from the
event horizons of the black hole. This faint radiation, in the form of mostly
radio waves, would have travelled trillions of kilometres and for the telescope
to observe them would be the equivalent of trying to snap a picture of an ant
from the moon.

 

(Source: www.thehindu.com; 13th
April, 2019)
   

 

BOOK REVIEW

“Democracy
on the Road – A 25-Year Journey Through India” by Ruchir Sharma

 

Ruchir
Sharma is the head of the Emerging Markets Equity team at Morgan Stanley and is
responsible for
managing
over $ 25 billion (as AUM or assets under management). He has been with the
firm for 19 years and
is currently a member of the executive committee of Morgan’s investment
management division.

 

The
World Economic Forum in Davos selected him as one of the world’s “Top Young
Leaders” in 2007. In 2012,
he
was named one of the top global thinkers by Foreign Policy magazine. And
Bloomberg said in 2015 that he was one
of the “Top 50 Most Influential” people in the world.

Ruchir Sharma has been
writing for many years, drawing
on
his travels as a global investor. He typically spends one week every month in a
different emerging market where he meets
leading CEOs and top politicians, among others. He writes for the New York
Times, Foreign Affairs, The Wall
Street
Journal, Financial Times
and The Times
of India.

 

His
first two books, Breakout Nations (2012) and The Rise and
Fall of Nations (2016)
, were both international bestsellers.

 

Passionate
about politics, he is part of an informal group of senior editors and writers
who travel extensively before
major
state and national elections; logging over 1,000 miles in 4 to 5 days, they
meet with the nation’s top leaders
to get a first-hand feel of local politics. At times this group calls itself
the “limousine (or Cadillac) liberals”.

 

In
Democracy on the Road, Ruchir takes readers along on his travels
through India. On the eve of the landmark
2019
election, he offers an unrivalled portrait of how India and its democracy work,
drawing from two decades on the
road, chasing election campaigns across every major state, travelling the
equivalent of a lap around the earth.
Democracy takes
readers on a rollicking ride with this merry band of scribes as they talk to
farmers, shopkeepers and
CEOs from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and interview leaders from Narendra Modi to
Rahul Gandhi.

 

Few
books have traced the arc of modern India by taking readers so close to the
action. Offering an intimate glimpse
into
the lives and minds of India’s political giants and its people, he explains how
the complex forces of family, caste and community, economics and development, money
and corruption, Bollywood and godmen have conspired to elect and topple leaders
since Indira Gandhi. The most encouraging message from his travels is that while
democracy is retreating in many parts of the world, it is thriving in India.

 

The
book is divided into 6 parts and 40 chapters. Starting from his childhood and
student days, it provides
a
ringside view of Indian elections from 1998 onwards. The concluding part, “Back
in Balance”, deals with the current
political situation in which Ruchir summarises his observations, offers his
conclusions and shares
the
wisdom gained from a close assessment of Indian elections as an international
investor.

 

Here
are some nuggets from the cauldron of Indian electoral politics:

  •  “The odds are
    against Indian politicians holding on to their offices. In theory, the seated
    government has big
    advantages,
    starting with the fund-raising capacity to meet the ever-growing expenses
    involved in fighting an
    election.
    It can dole out favours and contracts…”
  •  “Yet,
    incumbents don’t usually win, challengers do. Voters, though glad to pocket
    expensive campaign gifts,
    still
    vote their own minds.”

  •  “Ultimately,
    power resides not with the candidates or their moneybags but with the Indian
    voter.”
  •  “Small shifts
    in the vote, or the allegiance of one small alliance partner, can make or break
    state or national
    governments.
    It all looks like a recipe for instability.”

  •  “But minority
    governments, built on compromises among rival parties, are not a special
    problem of Indian
    democracy.
    They are a standard feature of parliamentary democracy.”

  •  “A multi-party
    parliamentary democracy can produceserial political and economic crises, as in
    Italy, but also
    long-term
    success, as in Germany.”

  •  “Have weak
    minority governments hurt India’s development? History suggests not. The
    economy limped along at the so-called ‘Hindu rate of growth’ under mostly
    strong Congress governments until the 1980s, then started to reform and pick up
    speed under the weak coalition governments that followed.”
  •  “India has so
    many parties because it has so many different communities, separated by caste,
    religion, tribe
    or
    language and each one wants its own representative.”

  •  “While in some
    opinion polls Indians express a growing desire for a strong leader, unshackled
    from an
    often
    gridlocked parliament, the electoral reality is that the country rebels against
    domineering political bosses.”

  •  “Ever since
    Indira Gandhi imposed the Emergency and fell in the backlash, no Prime Minister
    has been able
    to
    gain political momentum without triggering fears that they were growing
    dangerously strong and inspiring the
    fragmented
    opposition parties to unite…Modi may face a similar obstacle.”
  •  “Supporters
    praise Modi for raising India’s stature in the world. But more than once we
    have seen Indian
    leaders
    lionised by the global elite from Mumbai to New York, only to be thrown out by
    the Indian voters who care
    more
    about the government’s impact on their daily lives.”
  •  “Voters express
    impatience with the pace of progress and at unresponsive democracy, but not all
    take it out on
    politicians
    with the same intensity.”

  •  “When do seated
    leaders buck the odds? While single factors such as high inflation, spiralling
    corruption
    scandals,
    or a united opposition can bring down the incumbent, winning is more
    complicated;….to win,
    political
    parties have to pass a series of tests.”
  •  “A shortlist
    culled from my years on the road would include tests of community, family,
    inflation, welfare,
    development,
    corruption and money. They are not equally weighted. For all the social
    progress that India has made,
    community
    identity is still the key to politics.”
  •  “Understanding
    the dynamics of caste and religion down to the local and personal level is the
    necessary
    condition
    for winning, but it is often not sufficient.”

  •  “Family
    dynasties pervade our politics. Though it is bitterly critical of the Gandhi
    dynasty, the BJP has many
    leaders
    with children active in politics.”

  •  “More and more
    single politicians are rising to power on the argument that freedom from family
    ties protects
    them
    from the temptation to profit from office. The cultural winds suggest single
    candidates will maintain their
    advantage
    going forward…”
  •  “The point is,
    there is no consistent formula: Candidates can pursue any mix of development
    and welfare models,
    but…the
    elections will remain as unpredictable as a ‘cat on the wall, which way will it
    jump’?”

  •  “Alongside
    inflation, corruption is the other big incumbent killer, though it works in
    strange ways…one of
    the
    supreme ironies of Indian politics is that corruption charges seem to hurt more
    than convictions.”

  •  “In other
    emerging countries politicians may come back after a jail term, but rarely does
    time in the lock-up
    provide
    a career boost the way it does in India.”

  •  “Winning
    campaigns need to understand the ties that bind Indian voters to community and
    family, their
    frustration
    with government and the slow pace of economic progress, the pain of rising
    prices, and their
    sense
    of disgust with both corruption and the justice system…Often, challengers
    prevail by simply watching
    the
    incumbent fail one or more of these tests.”

 

The
author concludes on a positive note. He opines that the bigger lesson is that
there are many reasons for optimism.
India’s
political DNA is fundamentally socialist and statist. The same socialist DNA
runs through the veins of all the leading parties.
There is no real support for systematic free-market reform, either amongst the
voters or the political elite, and no
sign
of what is generally considered good economics will ever become a consistent
election-winning strategy. The more powerful
a politician gets, the more voters expect, and the more frustrated they get
when those expectations are not met.
India
does not grow as one economy, it grows as many, less like the United States
more like the European Union. It is less a
country than a continent, more diverse in its communities and languages than
Europe or the Middle East.

 

The
real strength of our democracy – both economic and political – lies in its
diversity. In no country are the
community
and the family roots of political battles more complex or intense, or the
behind-the-scenes battles to build
winning alliances more fierce.

 

Finally,
Ruchir says the 2019 election is being cast as a nationwide showdown between
Modi and the rest, a
referendum
on India’s appetite for a strong man’s rule and commitment to democracy…and
the outcome will depend on whether
the opposition parties work together to unseat him.

The 2019 ballot will offer
a choice between two different
political
visions, one celebrating the reality of many Indias and the other aspiring to
build One India. Clearly, when democracy
is in retreat worldwide, it is thriving in India.

Society News

WORKSHOP BY ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING COMMITTEE

 

On 6th September, 2019, the Accounting and Auditing Committee organised a full-day workshop on ‘Changes Relevant for Preparation of Financial Statements and Audit Reporting thereon for 2018-19’ (with focus on private limited companies and public companies other than to whom Ind AS applies). The workshop, held at the BCAS Conference Hall, began with opening remarks by President Manish Sampat. He was followed by Accounting and Auditing Committee Chairman Himanshu Kishnadwala who briefed the participants on the need for the workshop and the relevance of the topics selected.

 

The following topics were taken up at the workshop by the various speakers:
(i) Audit of SMEs – Some important aspects: Nikhil Patel;
(ii) Important provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 (as relevant for audit of financial statements for the F.Y. 2018-19): Paresh Clerk;
(iii) Critical FRRB observations on financial statements and audit reporting (with focus on items applicable to private limited companies for 2018-19): Abhay Mehta;
(iv) Audit reporting requirements (including CARO and ICFR reporting; with focus on audit of private limited companies): Zubin Billimoria.

 

Nikhil Patel, who set the ball rolling, highlighted the important aspects involved in the audit of SMEs. He took up various case studies regarding rotation of auditors, applicability of Ind AS and important aspects of the existing Accounting Standards as applicable to SMEs and recent changes in disclosure requirements of Schedule III and their impact on financial statements.

 

Taking up the second session, Paresh Clerk dealt with important provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 as relevant for the audit of financial statements for the financial year 2018-19. He discussed the interplay between various definitions under the Companies Act, 2013 and those under the relevant Accounting Standards. He also covered important sections of the Companies Act, 2013 which included deposit rules, managerial remuneration, loans to directors, dividend and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) which are relevant for the financial year 2018-19.

 

In the penultimate session,  Abhay Mehta took the participants through critical observations made by the Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB) based on the reviews of the financial statements conducted by the Board and stressed upon the need for course correction in auditing the financial statements for the financial year 2018-19. His presentation covered critical observations in the areas of accounting standards, auditing standards and company law compliances.

 

Last but not the least, Zubin Billimoria took up audit reporting requirements, including ICFR and CARO reporting and recent changes in audit reporting requirements as applicable for the reporting period 2018-19. His presentation included important aspects such as evaluating ‘Going Concern’ assumption, ‘Emphasis of Matter’ (EOM) paragraph, modified report, qualified report and disclaimer of opinion.

 

All the sessions were very interactive and the speakers shared their experience and insights on their respective subjects.
The workshop was well appreciated and the participants benefited from the guidance and practical views expressed by the experts.

 

FULL-DAY SEMINAR ON ‘CHARITABLE TRUSTS – CRITICAL ASPECTS’
The Corporate and Allied Laws Committee organised a day-long seminar on ‘Charitable Trusts – Critical Aspects’ jointly with the Chamber of Tax Consultants on 14th September, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall.

 

The seminar, at which recent developments and critical aspects in the sector were debated, was opened by President Manish Sampat who briefed participants about recent developments in the non-profit organisation sector. He also highlighted the challenges as well as the opportunities available to the practising chartered accountants in this field. Vipul Choksi, President of the Chamber of Tax Consultants, appreciated the initiative taken by BCAS in organising such an event and shared his views on compliance and other related issues of charitable trusts.

 

The seminar was inaugurated by the Hon. Charity Commissioner of Maharashtra, Mr. Sanjay Mehare. He addressed the first session on ‘Important Procedural Aspects for Trustees and Professionals’ wherein he shared his views on the recent changes in the Bombay Public Trust Act, FCRA, etc., and various other procedural aspects relating to the formation and compliance requirements for charitable trusts. His past experience and the examples he gave held the audience spell-bound.

 

The second session was addressed by Gautam Shah who spoke about various advantages and disadvantages of charitable institutions vis-a-vis private trusts. The new concept regarding Social Stock Exchange as announced by the Finance Minister, Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman, during her Budget speech was covered in detail by him. He also addressed some issues related to formation of minority status trusts.

 

Gautam Nayak, in the third session, discussed various issues regarding taxation of charitable trusts, including the issues arising out of the rejection of the registration of charitable organisations. He also spoke briefly on dissolution of charitable trusts and gave an insight into the implications of section 115TD of the Income-tax Act. The participants in the seminar appreciated the discussion on the recent controversial decisions in direct tax for trusts.

 

The next session was conducted by advocate Rakesh Pandey on the hardships faced in the Office of the Charity Commissioner. The requirements specified in some of the sections of the Maharashtra Public Trust Act and their intricacies, the difficulties in complying with such requirements in the current environment at the Charity Commissioner’s office were also addressed.

 

Next, Sunil Gabhawalla took the podium for the much-awaited session on issues under Goods and Services Tax (GST) for NGOs. The participants had several queries regarding the applicability and liability of GST which were addressed by him in detail. He cleared most of their doubts regarding the applicability of GST. He also explained the reverse charge mechanism and whether it was applicable to trusts.

 

Taking up the sixth session, Anil Sathe enlightened the participants about issues relating to the registration and renewal of FCRA licence. He also discussed the common issues relating to separate bank accounts, administrative expenses and other important aspects to be considered during the filing of FCRA returns. He then deliberated on the issues arising from the changes which are to be submitted online; these attracted a lot of questions by the participants. Anil Sathe also briefly touched upon the issues arising out of CSR donations in relation to unspent amounts and penalty for non-compliance.

 

Mr. Mallikarjun Utture, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, took the mike for the next session and addressed issues of charitable institutions from the income tax point of view. It was very essential to understand their problems so that these institutions did not have to face tax liabilities when they were eligible for exemptions. He engaged the audience by presenting landmark judgements and necessary elements for getting 12AA registrations and the basis on which these can be rejected.

 

At the end of the seminar, there was a panel discussion moderated by Chetan Shah. Mr. Mallikarjun Utture, Gautan Nayak, Sunil Gabhawalla and Anil Sathe discussed various issues relating to charitable trusts. Finally, the floor was opened for a Q&A session when the panellists answered all the queries of the participants.

 

The interactive seminar was full of insights into charitable trusts and the participants were truly enriched with the presentations and the in-depth analysis offered by the speakers. It received overwhelming response from the industry as well as practising chartered accountants in the field of non-profit organisations.

 

INDIRECT TAX LAW STUDY CIRCLE

 

The Indirect Tax Law Study Circle organised a meeting on ‘Practical implication of RULE 42 & RULE 43 of GST Act’ on 16th September, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall.

 

Over 50 persons attended the detailed interaction, discussion and exchange of views with the Group Leader and Mentor on the issues that had been forwarded in advance. There was an in-depth analysis of all the issues at the meeting.

 

The Group Leader was Darshan Ranawat while the Mentor was Mandar Telang.

 

Nearly 50 members were present for the detailed interaction and discussion, and to hear the views of the Group Leader and Mentor on the issues that had been forwarded in advance. It was an in-depth analysis of all the issues with reasoning. The Group Leader dealt with all the issues placed before him in the allotted time. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to Group Leader Darshan Ranawat and Mentor Mandar Telang.

 

Study Circle Conveners Chirag Mehta, Dushyant Bhatt and Suresh Choudhary stated later that the participants in the Study Circle meeting had several genuine queries and all of them were answered in great detail.

 

‘SABKA VISHWAS – LEGACY DISPUTE RESOLUTION SCHEME 2019’

 

The BCAS organised a lecture meeting on ‘Sabka Vishwas – Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019’ on 17th September, 2019 which was addressed by Advocate Rohit Jain. It was held in the BCAS Conference Hall.

 

Introducing the topic, BCAS President Manish Sampat pointed out that the scheme was a one-time opportunity for resolving disputes related to Central Excise, Service Tax and 26 other indirect tax legislations. Eligible persons opting for the scheme could declare their unpaid tax dues and discharge the same. Declarants under the scheme would be granted immunity, including from interest, penalty and prosecution. He also introduced the speaker. BCAS Vice-President Suhas Paranjpe presented a memento to the speaker.

 

Mr. Jain started the session with a brief history of indirect tax litigations pending with various judicial forums, past amnesty schemes and the constitutional validity of such schemes. He took up the following major areas of
the ‘Sabka Vishwas – Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019’:

 

(i) Coverage of various indirect tax acts and cesses under the scheme;
(ii) Relief granted under various case scenarios;
(a) SCN or one or more appeals arising out of such notice,
(b) SCN for late fee or penalty only,
(c) Amount in arrears,
(d) Inquiry or investigation or audit,
(e) Voluntary disclosure.
(iii) Benefits, waivers and eligibility. The relief under the scheme includes waiver of tax ranging from 40% to 70%, 100% relief of interest and penalty;
(iv) Relevant clarifications issued in circulars;
(v) Detailed process for application under the scheme;
(vi) Discharge certificate.

 

Mr. Jain also highlighted some key aspects of the scheme such as ineligibility of convicted assessees, payment under the scheme being allowed only through cash, non-availability of tax paid under the scheme as input tax credit, declaration not treated as admission of tax liability and so on.

 

INTERNAL AUDIT 101: LET’S START AT THE VERY BEGINNING

 

The newly-formed Internal Audit Committee organised a two-day Foundation Course on Internal Audit styled ‘Internal Audit 101’ at the Orchid Hotel on 19th and 20th September, 2019. With 103 participants, the course witnessed a full house, with participants both from the profession as also from the industry. This unique foundation course was curated and designed last year to provide a strong foundation to internal audit professionals. The Committee plans to host this programme annually in Mumbai and other locations as a ‘foundation course on Internal Audit’.

 

The course attracted 73 non-members for many of whom this was their first introduction to a BCAS event. This helped in spreading awareness about the Society amongst non-members, some of whom will become members in the coming months.

 

Interestingly, the course lived up to its promise of delivering sessions in a ‘story-telling’ style with anecdotes, real-life incidents and practical insights to make it a unique and interesting experience for the participants.

 

President Manish Sampat’s welcome address and opening remarks by Chairman Uday Sathaye set the tone for the event. Co-Chairperson Nandita Parekh welcomed the participants and explained the structure of the event and the proposed future events of the Committee.

 

Satish Shenoy’s first session unfolded the ‘lifecycle of an Internal Audit’ by narrating various anecdotes and experiences that educated the audience and also kept it entertained.

 

The second to speak was Jyotin Mehta who provided an overview of Internal Audit and the regulatory framework within which it operates, giving useful insights to help participants understand the larger framework within which Internal Audit operates.

 

Next up was Deepjee Singhal who focused on the meeting point of technology and Internal Audit and covered the entire gamut of areas where the use of technology would be a game-changer. He also covered key considerations for an IT Systems Audit and the crucial need to understand the IT system architecture to conduct a meaningful and efficient Internal Audit.

 

It was then the turn of Himanshu Vasa who engaged and enthralled the participants as he conducted a session on ‘The Art of Telling a Good Story’. He not only shared his thoughts on what it takes to write a good report, but also covered areas of personal presentation, soft skills and oral communication, including the importance of posture and gestures. His marathon session and his expressions left a good impression on the participants.

 

Atul Shah in his presentation took participants through the tools and tricks of the trade, sharing audit techniques deployed at each stage of audit.

 

Talking about specific cycle audits was Ashutosh Pednekar who spoke of covering several audit cycles. He threw light on recent developments, the use of technology and the understanding of process risks. His real-life examples and interesting stories captivated the audience.

 

Nandita Parekh took everyone back to the drawing board on the basics of risks and controls – the simplicity of her talk, along with a vivid presentation, reinforced the core concepts that form the heart of Internal Audit. She explained the concept of risks and controls with reference to everyday experiences and anecdotes; this helped demystify the area of risks and controls and the jargon that has developed around the subject.

 

The two-day session ended with closing remarks by Chairman Uday Sathaye and a few light moments presented by Vice-President Suhas Paranjpe.

 

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS STUDY GROUP

 

The International Economics Study Group held its meeting on 20th September, 2019 when it discussed the ‘Emerging Economic Situation – Global and Indian Economy’.

 

Harshad Shah stated that fears of another global economic slowdown are rising as reliable data (endorsed by many economists and CFOs of U.S. Corporations) indicates that the USA – the world’s largest economy – may be headed for another recession. That’s bad enough for global markets, but what’s worse is that many of the world’s other top economies may also be headed for troubling downturns. Japan faces a recession and it has recently entered into a nasty trade dispute with South Korea. South Korea is encountering woes with growth, with a negative first quarter and is embroiled in a trade war with Japan.

 

Months of protests in Hong Kong have brought the financial hub’s economy to a standstill with the looming threat of a possible Chinese military intervention. Singapore is also on the brink of recession. Eurozone faces Category 5 economic storms (double shock of impending global recession and a no-deal Brexit). Growth has essentially stopped in Italy and a political crisis there doesn’t inspire much confidence; it is already in a recession since 2018.

 

Germany’s economy declined in the last quarter with a slump in the export of cars. Europe is stuck between the United States and Russia (gas pipelines and sanctions), China (trade war) and Iran (oil and tankers). Argentina just went through one of the worst stock market crashes. Brazil and Mexico, two leaders of Central and South America’s economies, are expected to perform poorly this year due to slumping commodity prices. On top of it all, China’s growth rate has slowed down due in large part to the trade war launched by President Donald Trump. China’s economy grew by 4.8% in July, the lowest rate since 2002.

 

Put it all together and the world’s economic outlook looks pretty bleak. The IMF, a world body that helps keep the global economy stable, also sees it that way. Last month, it cut its projection for global growth to 3.2 %, the lowest rate since 2009.

 

Why are so many countries headed for recession / slowdown? First, Trump’s deeply misguided trade war. The effects of this go beyond just the US and China’s bilateral trade relationship. Too many nations are facing immense political turmoil at home.

 

Is the USA bracing for a recession in 2020? The American and global economies will experience challenging times ahead with indicators like:

 

Inverted yield curve: The inversion of the yield curve (has already happened), a historical precursor of a recession, has forced the markets to wake up and take stock of the situation. The yield curve is considered inverted when long-term bonds, traditionally those with higher yields, show certain trends.

 

Negative interest in many developed economies: During economic downturns, central banks often lower interest rates to stimulate growth which can go negative also. The notion is that negative rates will provide even more incentive for commercial banks to make loans. There is currently more than $17 trillion in negative yielding debt around the world.

 

A leveraged-asset bubble is building up as the effect that artificially low interest rate has on an economy is pernicious. For corporates, borrowing becomes preferable instead of issuing equity.

 

Trade war turning into an economic cold war over technology as China and America are vying for dominance over the industries of the future – artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, 5G, etc.

 

The Indian economy is experiencing turbulence with the latest GDP at 5.0% (25 quarter low), with slump in growth in various key sectors and the global growth environment gloomy. Many believe that four major disruptions (demonetisation, RERA, trade war and the IL&FS and NBFC crises) and three key economic reforms (GST, IBC and inflation targeting by RBI) led to a drift down in the Indian economy. Stress in NBFCs percolates faster owing to greater interconnectedness (to MFs, banks and the corporate sector), leading to sharp decline in auto and auto-ancillary, manufacturing and MSME, real estate and construction, exports (effect of trade war) and FMCG. There is visible stress in rural areas and agriculture due to drop in income arising out of low food inflation, the weather and the cow crisis. Unemployment is at a 45-year high, income is falling and the savings rate has slumped to 30.5% (37% in 2008), all of which suggest that we in India are in continuing slowdown mode.

 

Milan Sanghani stated that this slowdown could be handled by addressing the ‘demand’ side of the economy, whereas the government has so far brought in measures to address supply-side issues.

 

As regards the USA, he explained that the economy is growing at reasonable pace with unemployment at a 49-year low. Negative rates aren’t fully reflected in actual borrowing and lending rates. Regulations require banks to maintain customer deposit bases. The fear of losing customers dissuades those banks from cutting deposit rates too far. In Europe, only large corporations have faced negative rates. As net interest rate margins (difference between lending and borrowing rates) contract and profits are squeezed, banks raise fees or turn to other revenue measures to boost earnings. This keeps actual borrowing costs relatively high, undercutting the whole point of a negative rate policy. As the economy continues to sputter, central bankers keep on further reducing rates. Government bond yields grow increasingly negative and the yield curve flattens. Banks, which hold substantial amounts of government debt, see their profits decline even further.

 

Rashmin Sanghvi said that government was showing lower fiscal deficit by shifting many items to National Savings (funds of Rs. 16.85 lakh crores) and LIC (assets of Rs. 31.11 lakh crores [US $450 billion], 29 crore policy holders) putting the money of small savers at risk. The main reason for the Indian GDP growth rate falling may be the fear psychosis created by government.

 

LECTURE MEETING ON ‘PARADISE REGAINED…’

 

A lecture meeting was organised by the Society jointly with the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) and the Indo-American Chambers of Commerce (IACC) on 24th September, 2019 at the Babubhai Chinai Hall, IMC. The guest speaker, Lieutenant-General Syed Ata Hasnain, delivered a talk on ‘Paradise Regained – The Impact of the Momentous Decision of 5th August, 2019’ in light of the resolution passed by the Indian Parliament to abrogate Article 370.

 

Introduction of both the topic and the speaker was done by IMC President Ashish Vaid and IACC President Naushad Panjwani, who also thanked the sponsors of the event, the royal family of Abu Dhabi.

 

Lt.-Gen. Ata Hasnain stressed the need to see the sensitive issue in the historical perspective to understand why mistakes made in the past needed to be corrected to spare India from bleeding. He pointed out that after losing three conventional wars with India, Pakistan which said that for it Kashmir was its ‘existential core’, started engaging in proxy war under the guise of religion. This strategic initiative was launched in 1989 to gain maximum advantage when India was politically unstable, financially weak and socially insurgent. Pakistan, on the other hand, had successfully helped America win the Afghan war against the USSR by providing logistic and strategic support. It had mastered guerrilla warfare and had access to sophisticated weapons which had no state ownership on record. It had the geo-political advantage as it was bordering five different cultures where it could boast of its importance.

 

This proxy war to tire out India and force her to the negotiation table was also backed by psychological propaganda to project alleged violation of human rights of the religious minority in J&K that was aimed at creating a religious chain-link from the Middle East to Kashmir with Pakistan as a central, moderate state. The first phase of what was called terrorism started with mass killings and the subsequent exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley and converting the Sufi culture of Kashmir into a Wahabi culture by bringing hard-core maulanas from UP and Bihar to impart fundamentalist religious training. Thus started a jihadi movement, resulting in several killings that virtually deprived the valley of its moniker of ‘Paradise’ that it so proudly deserved till then.

 

Lt.-Gen. Ata Hasnain then explained how the traditional Indian response over the years was passive, with the country failing to see the larger design by the enemy. India only focussed on killing incoming terrorists and not the system that bred them. It failed to differentiate between terrorists and terrorism. While the terrorist was only a by-product, terrorism was an eco-system that bred, nurtured and supported terror. It involved human resources, logistics, finances and the ideological propaganda machinery. What India needed to do was to target terrorism, the eco-system that was nurtured to inflict damage on India.

 

He also explained how Pakistan had smartly colluded with China by entering into an agreement giving them land in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for building an economic corridor. This made China also an interested party to the claim for Kashmir. India was getting pushed into an impossible situation and would have lost Kashmir if the historic decision to abrogate Article 370 had not been taken. This action, therefore, was a correction of
past mistakes.

 

However, before this action there had been a lot of strategic planning and several actions had taken place. India, over the last three years, had started attacking the terrorist eco-system and also started a hybrid war to counter Pakistani propaganda. It engaged its army in winning the goodwill of the locals and fortified its borders with increased surveillance. It took the right political pitch by cultivating excellent relations with world leaders and made its economy strong enough to attract the world to her large market. All these actions had won India some brownie points and she had definitely scored some short-term gains evidenced by the fact that there was no major opposition from the world on its action on Article 370. However, in order to convert this into a permanent advantage, what was needed, in the speaker’s opinion, was action on the following points:

 

(1) Stabilise the secular environment by understanding the cultural terrain and by integrating Jammu and
Kashmir valley;
(2) Promote intra-state integration;
(3) Enable effective governance by ensuring that welfare funds and schemes’ benefits reach the lowest section of the people across the terrain; and
(4) Engagement with the hearts of the people, bringing harmony by tactical, strategic and operational support.

 

It is these measures that will make the resurgence of terrorism difficult and ensure long-term gains of the decision taken.

 

Lt.-Gen. Ata Hasnain’s talk was heard attentively by the assembled gathering. After all, he has had vast working experience in Kashmir as a commissioned officer at various levels. In the course of his talk, he also touched upon the way the Indian Army operates and how religion does not come in the way in the working and camaraderie of its troops. While sharing his experiences, he also described different nomenclatures such as Line of Control, Line of Actual Control, International Border, Actual Ground of Line of Control and so on.

 

The meeting attracted a large audience which heard the speaker in rapt attention. The talk was followed by a question and answer session. President Manish Sampat proposed the vote of thanks.

 

‘BAPU@150’ ON 2nd OCTOBER, 2019 AT BCAS CONFERENCE HALL

 

The H.R. Committee of the Society organised a programme on 2nd October, 2019 to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation and ‘Bapu’ to everyone. It was styled ‘Bapu@150’.

 

After the National Anthem and the invocation prayer, some members sang bhajans selected from Ashram Bhajanavali (the book regularly used at Bapu’s Ashram) and a few other books. It was truly a ‘recollection’ of Bapu’s personality, faith and values.

 

Music was arranged by Vijay Bhatt, with assistance on the tabla by Mr. Kiran. Members Toral Mehta, Ryan D’Sa, Kartik Srinivasan and Tej Bhatt gave voice to the bhajans and Mukesh Trivedi anchored the programme.

 

After the bhajans, young CA members performed a skit which aimed to connect the younger generation with Bapu’s ideology. It sought to depict how the young generation, with very little or no knowledge about Bapu and his values, often talk about him in a sarcastic tone and without any respect; it went on to show how they were enlightened about Bapu’s virtues and values by two elderly gentlemen sitting nearby and overhearing their conversation.

 

Young members Jigar Shah and Pankaj Singhal wrote, directed and acted in the play. Other actors were Harshal Shah, Raj Mehta, Jekin Dedhia, Jagat Mehta, Tej Bhatt, Dyanesh, Chirag Mehta and Utsav Shah. Nidhi Shah helped them in the backstage and lighting arrangements and Tej Bhatt was responsible for the music. The young members’ creative way to pay respect to Bapu was heartening.

 

In the second half of the programme, keynote speaker Mr. Dinkar Joshi (a well-known Gujarati writer and scholar) shared many anecdotes from Bapu’s life. He highlighted Bapu’s unique qualities of putting into practice what he preached, inspiring others to do the same. He stated that Bapu’s entire life was transparent and that he was one of the greatest thinkers.

 

Welcoming the guests before the keynote address, President Manish Sampat and Chairman Rajesh Muni shared some thoughts on Bapu.

 

The BCAS Journal specially commemorating Bapu’s 150th anniversary on 2nd October was released by the keynote speaker. Editor and past president Raman Jokhakar described in brief the articles covered in the Journal. He also shared Bapu’s inspiring values.
Past Presidents Pradip Kapasi, Shariq Contractor and Mayur Nayak also remembered Bapu with reverence, sharing his inspiring values. Snehal Muzoomdar highlighted that one of the most important contributions of Bapu was to revive music in Gujarat. Mihir Sheth anchored this part of the programme and Krishna Kumar Jhunjhunwala proposed the vote of thanks.

 

The programme concluded with the national song Vande Mataram.

 

INDIRECT STUDY CIRCLE

 

The Hon’ble Bombay High Court recently delivered a very important judgement dealing with the applicability of GST on compensation received for the illegal use of premises. The decision went into the fundamentals of what could be regarded as ‘supply’ under the GST law.

 

Mr. V. Sridharan, Senior Advocate, who was amicus curiae in the said matter, chaired the session. A large number of members and others attended the meeting held at the BCAS Conference Hall on 3rd October, 2019.

 

The subject under discussion was quite elaborate, viz., Bai Mumbai Trust and Ors. vs. Suchitra w/o Sadhu K. Shetty‘Implications under GST’.

 

Those interested in the topic had been requested in advance to come prepared in order to ensure active participation. The idea behind the chosen topic was to deliberate and discuss in depth certain important aspects of the subject under GST.

 

Both Group Leader Somesh Jain (Advocate) and Mentor V. Sridharan (Senior Advocate), made interesting presentations and also answered several questions from the floor of the house.

 

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks to the Group Leader and the Mentor.

 

The Study Circle Conveners are Suresh Choudhary, Chirag Mehta and Dushyant Bhatt.

MISCELLANEA

1.   
Technology

17 Google made $4.7 billion from the news
industry in 2018

 

It’s more than the
combined ticket sales of the last two “Avengers” movies. It’s more than what
virtually any professional sports team is worth. And it’s the amount that
Google made from the work of news publishers in 2018 via search and Google
News, according to a study by the News Media Alliance.

 

The journalists who create that content deserve a cut of that
$4.7 billion, said David Chavern, the president and chief executive of the
alliance which represents more than 2,000 newspapers across the country,
including The New York Times. “They make money off this arrangement,” Mr.
Chavern said, “and there needs to be a better outcome for news publishers.”

 

That $4.7 billion is nearly as much as the $5.1 billion
brought in by the United States news industry as a whole from digital
advertising last year – and the News Media Alliance cautioned that its estimate
for Google’s income was conservative. For one thing, it does not count the
value of the personal data the company collects on consumers every time they
click on an article like this one.

 

(Source:
www.nytimes.com)


18 Facebook will launch its new
cryptocurrency soon

 

Facebook is preparing to
launch its own cryptocurrency sooner than you expect. The company plans to hand
over control of the currency system to outside backers as part of a move to
reassure financial regulators. Facebook has reportedly been in discussions with
dozens of financial institutions and tech companies that will oversee the new
cryptocurrency and contribute capital to the programme. The payment system
would be free of transition fees and is designed to be used all over the world,
especially in developed nations.

The digital token is
reportedly designed to serve as a global currency – one that Facebook hopes
will facilitate peer-to-peer payments among its more than two billion users.
Zuckerberg hinted at Facebook’s crypto ambitions during the company’s developer
conference in May. “When I think about all the different ways that people
interact privately, I think payments is one of the areas where we have an
opportunity to make it a lot easier,” Zuckerberg said.

 

In recent weeks, several
news outlets have reported that Facebook is planning to launch its own
payments-focused cryptocurrency. People will be able to use the currency to
transfer funds and make purchases on Facebook messaging platforms such as
WhatsApp and Messenger.

 

The news has caused quite
a stir in the crypto world – and on Wall Street. Anthony Pompliano, founder and
partner at blockchain-focused investment firm Morgan Creek Digital, believes
Facebook’s cryptocurrency could quickly become the “most used product in
crypto.”

 

(Source: www.wsj.com
and www.finance.yahoo.com)

 

19 Hottest cryptocurrency is up by
360% this year and its name isn’t Bitcoin

 

Litecoin, which has gained
more than 330% since the beginning of the year, is outpacing all its crypto
peers, including Ether and XRP, as well as the best-known and largest token
Bitcoin. It has a market cap of about $8.4 billion, making it the
seventh-largest digital asset, according to data compiled by Mosaic Research
Ltd.

 

The rally can partly be
attributed to Litecoin’s upcoming halving (also known as halvening), whereby
the number of coins awarded to so-called miners is slashed by 50%. The idea is
that a cut in supply will not only drive up its price but will also prevent an
erosion of value. Miners currently receive 25 new Litecoins per block, but
following the halving – which is expected to fall on August 6 – they will
receive 12.5.

Halving typically happens
roughly every four years and the run-up to it has, in the past, coincided with
a rally in the underlying tokens. Four years ago, when the last Litecoin
halving occurred, the coin gained about 60% in the three months beforehand
according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. And the phenomenon isn’t isolated to
Litecoin, either – Bitcoin is set to undergo its next halving in May, 2020 and
its biggest proponents are already seizing on the drop in supply as a catalyst
for further gains.

 

“Every time we’ve seen a
halving event in Bitcoin or Litecoin, the price has risen astronomically,” said
Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at trading platform eToro, in a phone
interview. “So if that pattern continues, what we’ve seen so far is small
potatoes in comparison,” he said. “This is quite normal for the crypto market.”

 

These developments, among
others, have pushed up the price of Bitcoin by 120% since the beginning of the
year. Ether, too, has gained close to 100%. Litecoin, which was trading below
$30 at the end of last year, is now worth $130.

 

(Source:
www.hindustantimes.com)

 

20 Coding & App-making just a
child’s play for these school kids

 

Vyom Bagrecha loves to
read, draw and play computer games. Just like any other nine-year-old, albeit
with one exception. Vyom also does software coding and has already created a
health app that is now available on Google Play Store for mobile users on the
Android platform.

 

“I’m now working on a
parking-related application, and when I’m older I want to be able to code
robots to save the environment,” said the 4th grade student of Nahar
International School in Mumbai. Vyom’s curiosity about how games work made his
mother enrol him for an online coding programme. Very few schools taught
mathematics during the Industrial Revolution and there was widespread
unemployment till schools added it to the curriculum. I see that happening with
coding and think it should be a part of the curriculum, says his mother.

 

Vyom’s app is a basic
health tool which, for example, converts the number of glasses of water one has
had into litres, and such like. Children are creating all kinds of things
online, including simple drawings to games developed by children as young as
ten.

 

Schools, too, are starting
to impart coding skills to kids, making the shift from teaching traditional
computer programmes. Some schools are setting up coding clubs, while some are
even adopting such programmes over the traditional computer science textbooks

 

Manju Rana, Principal at
Seth Anandram Jaipuria School in Ghaziabad, says the school started a coding
club about a year ago to foster logical reasoning and encourage kids to find
their own ways and methods of learning. Since most children are taking to this
as a hobby, it takes away the pressure associated with learning something as
part of their core curriculum. Corporates, too, have started school-level
initiatives to expose kids to coding.

 

(Source:
tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com)

 

2. World news

 

21 PwC’s $5.8 mn UK fine strengthens
demand to break up big-four audit firms

 

PricewaterhouseCoopers was
fined 4.55 million pounds ($5.8 million) by the U.K.’s accounting watchdog over
failings in its handling of technology firm Redcentric Plc, giving fresh
ammunition to critics calling for a breakup of the so-called “Big-Four”
auditing firms.

 

The penalty was reduced
from 6.5 million pounds after the company admitted its wrongdoing ahead of a
final decision by the Financial Reporting Council. Two PwC partners, Jaskamal
Sarai and Arif Ahmad, were each fined a reduced 140,000 pounds after admitting
breaches in the standards of their work and were also given a “severe
reprimand.”

 

The breaches were
“numerous and in certain cases were of a basic and / or fundamental nature,
evidencing a serious lack of competence in conducting the statutory audit
work,” according to an FRC statement.

 

This latest transgression
adds to the scrutiny of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, EY and KPMG, which
together control more than 90% of UK audits for large companies. The
Competition and Markets Authority has urged a split of their operations amid
allegations of conflicts of interest and a failure to spot a series of
high-profile corporate failures, including the wake of building contractor
Carillion Plc.

 

The FRC’s sanctions follow
an investigation that began more than two years ago into PwC’s handling of
Redcentric’s financial statements for 2015 and 2016 after an initial review
showed that Redcentric had overstated its net assets and profits after tax by
20.8 million pounds.

“We are sorry that our
work fell below the professional standards expected of us,” PwC said in an
emailed statement. The firm said it has taken numerous steps to strengthen
processes and is investing 30 million pounds “to provide greater focus on the
quality and public interest responsibilities of PwC’s statutory audit
services.” An outside spokesman for Redcentric declined to comment.

 (Source:
www.business-standard.com)

 

22 US wants to stall digital tax,
hoping to wear down allies

 

The Trump administration is deep in talks with 129 other
countries on implementing a new standard for taxing digital companies,
including Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc – but its
heart lies elsewhere in the discussions. Rather than usher in with allies a new
era of technology taxation, the United States’ goal is to fend off foreign
taxes aimed at American companies.

 

The strategy: String out
the negotiations for as long as possible to delay the pain and hold out for an
agreement with softer edges, say people involved with and briefed on the talks
at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). By
slow-walking the discussions, American officials hope they can reach a global
agreement that amounts to a small-scale tax increase on global companies, but
averts a massive tax increase by foreign countries that see US companies as
sources of revenue.

 

It is in the interest of the
US to prevent a proliferation of unilateral digital services taxes, said Jeff
Vander Wolk, an international tax lawyer at Squire Patton Boggs LLP and an OECD
official until last year. The way to get them to back off is to get them into a
multilateral agreement. Any future pact would likely create a whole new set of
rules governing which countries have the right to tax the companies, which
corporate profits were taxable and how to resolve the inevitable disputes that
would arise.

 

Deciding where profits should
be taxed is no easy feat in a digital economy. Corporations can have their
headquarters in the US, intellectual property stored in Ireland, engineers
developing some of the algorithms in India and users all over the world. The US
is hoping to harness this complexity and use the power of roadblock, according
to lawyers and tax experts who have discussed the project with Treasury
Department officials.

 

Striking a deal could mean
that American companies pay more in taxes, but the US could lose out on tax
revenue. Yet, the absence of the deal could be even worse. If talks break down,
every country is likely to pass its own laws. That could mean American
companies are taxed multiple times on the same profits from a number of
countries.

 

The new tax rules would
mean that taxes are paid based on where users are located. That would allocate
tax revenue away from countries containing lots of headquarters – such as the
US, Sweden, Ireland and other European countries – and to populous nations.

 (Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com)

 

3. Health

23 Why spending just two hours a week
in nature is good for you

 

Anyone who’s watched a
child run free in a forest or play in a stream doesn’t need a research study to
tell them that spending time in nature is good for kids’ health. It’s something
that most parents know intuitively. When kids have the chance to play free in
nature, they’re happier, better behaved and more connected socially.

 

Most adults know that
nature is good for them, too – that’s why we often leave behind the stress of
work to vacation in beautiful, natural places. But how much time in nature do
we need to be healthier? A group led by researchers in the United Kingdom tried
to answer that question, in what they describe as a first step towards coming up
with a nature version of national physical activity guidelines.

 

In the study published
recently, researchers surveyed more than 19,000 people in the United Kingdom
about the recreational time they spent in nature during the past week, along
with their self-reported health and well-being. They found that people who
spent at least 120 minutes a week in nature saw a boost in their mental and
physical health, compared to people who didn’t spend any time in nature.

 

The researchers say the
size of the health benefits was similar to what people would get by meeting the
guidelines for physical activity. However, it didn’t matter how or where people
racked up the 120 minutes – many short walks near home were just as effective
as a longer hike on the weekend at a park. The researchers point out that this
is just a first step towards being able to recommend that people spend a
certain amount of time each week in nature.

 (Source:
www.healthline.com)

 

24 For the third time, WHO declines to
declare the Ebola outbreak an emergency

 

Even with more than 1,400
dead, the World Health Organization says the risk of the disease spreading
beyond the region remains low and declaring an emergency could have backfired.
For the third time, WHO has declined to declare the Ebola outbreak in the
Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency, though the outbreak has
spread into neighbouring Uganda and ranks as the second deadliest in history.

 

An expert panel advised
WHO against it because the risk of the disease spreading beyond the region
remained low and declaring an emergency could have backfired. Other countries
might have reacted by stopping flights to the region, closing borders or
restricting travel, steps that could have damaged Congo’s economy.

 

Dr. Preben Aavitsland, a Norwegian
public health expert who served as the acting chairman of the emergency
committee advising WHO, said there was “not much to be gained but potentially a
lot to lose.”

At the same time, the
committee of ten infectious disease experts said in a statement that it was
“deeply disappointed” that donor nations have not given as much money as needed
by WHO and affected nations to battle the outbreak.

But some global health
experts have argued in recent months that WHO should declare an emergency to
bring the world’s attention to the Ebola crisis. Dr. Jeremy Farrar, director of
the Wellcome Trust, a health foundation based in London, said that such a
declaration would have strengthened efforts to control the outbreak. “It would
have raised the levels of international political support and enhanced
diplomatic, public health, security and logistic efforts,” he said. WHO
Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus accepted the committee’s
recommendation, saying that even if the outbreak did not meet the criteria for
an emergency declaration, “for the affected families this is very much an
emergency.”

 

WHO has requested $98 million for its response and has
received only $44 million so far. In an interview before the announcement, Dr.
Tedros said it had recently received commitments from Britain, the United
States and Germany.

 

“We’ve never seen an
outbreak like this,” he said. “It happened in a chronic war zone and overlapped
with an election that politicised the whole situation. Militia attacks kept
interrupting the operations, and when that happens, the virus gets a free
ride.”

 

(Source: www.nytimes.com)

BOOK REVIEW

“Indian
Accounting Standards (Ind AS) – Interpretation, Issues & Practical
Application” by Dolphy D’Souza, Chartered Accountant

 

Many years ago
the author had published two small pocket-edition books on accounting
standards. From those days till now, we have seen the ever-widening scope of
accounting standards. These two volumes, and they are voluminous, contain
exhaustive guidance to help understand the principles and practices prescribed
by these ‘principle-based’ accounting standards. It goes without saying that
Ind AS has made accounting not just complex but also complicated and
treacherous.

 

The author has
been an eminent writer and contributor to the BCAJ on a monthly basis
for more than 16 years. He has been involved in the standard-setting process at
the ICAI as well as at the IASB. Hence his ‘word’, to be fair, carries both
weight and value.

 

Coming to the
book under review, it is structured to cover all Ind AS’s. Specifically, it
contains a special segment of about 350 pages on the new Ind AS 115/116. It
handles these with illustrations, examples, issues as well as the author’s
response and that, too, industry wise. A section that covers the
differentiation between IFRS and Ind AS is of particular academic interest
especially for first-time users. The book is replete with numerous
illustrations and examples. Some of the examples feature actual working cases
and solutions with comments.

 

Ind AS’s are
particularly complicated when one comes to Financial Instruments (FI). The book
devotes 250 pages to FIs. Business combination draws particular attention.
Charts, explanations of definitions, accounting, group re-organisation issues
and more offer the clarity that one seeks. The book also covers MAT aspects
under Ind AS.

 

The book
reproduces the text of both Ind AS and ICDS. A handy illustrative financial
statement blending Schedule III and Ind AS in the accompanying CD makes it
especially beneficial for preparers. The last part of the book consists of some
useful analytical articles on perennial themes such as acquisition date vs.
appointed date, demerger accounting, FAQ on PPE, consolidation of trusts, GST
accounting and more.

 

Although there
is enormous literature on IFRS and quite a bit on Ind AS, this book carries it
in two volumes and a CD loaded with practical resources. The author deserves a
pat on the back for writing on a subject which is in a constant state of flux
(changing, blurry and ephemeral). I am sure that this book, like Dolphy’s
previous works, will remain a handy tool for both practitioners and preparers
.

SOCIETY NEWS

Three-day Workshop, the ‘9th Intensive Study
Course on Advanced Transfer Pricing’, held from
18th to 20th April, 2019 at the BCAS Conference Hall

The 9th Intensive Study Course on Advanced Transfer
Pricing was conducted at the BCAS Conference Hall
from 18th to 20th April, 2019 where nine eminent faculties
conducted the sessions.

The course was aimed at imparting advanced
knowledge on the practical aspects of understanding
and implementing the benchmarking study.
The sessions began with the theoretical aspect
of benchmarking and thereafter delved deep into
identifying the functions performed, assets utilised
and risks assumed by the comparable companies.
They also touched upon the importance of designing
an efficient and effective transfer pricing system and
as to when and how to apply various transfer pricing
adjustments that are defensible before tax authorities
and in court.

The sessions focused on data mining for fact
determination and correct application of adjustments
wherever applicable. All the topics were explained
along with presentations, practical examples and case
studies. International and Indian court rulings were also
discussed. The speakers gave different perspectives
on the current theme – tackling challenges arising
from the benchmarking exercise. The participants were
presented with a hands-on and thought-provoking
approach for determining the right set of comparables
and for making right economic adjustments to arrive at
arm’s length margin. BCAS also arranged for course
play facility that had two participants attending the
course online.

The course was very well received and appreciated by
the participants who felt enriched with the knowledge
shared by the learned speakers.

Lecture Meeting on ‘Important Amendments
Relevant for Audits of FY 2018-19 (Companies
Act, 2013, Accounting and Auditing Standards)’
held on 24th April, 2019 at the BCAS Conference
Hall

A lecture meeting was organised at the BCAS
Conference Hall on 24th April, 2019 covering various key
amendments of the Companies (Amendment) Act, 2017
which need to be addressed for audits of FY 2018-19,
the format of the audit report for audits of the financial
year 2018-19, the impact on revenue recognition under
Ind AS 115, presentation of going concern in the audit
reports, key audit matters and requirements of UDIN.

The learned speaker, CA. Himanshu
Kishnadwala, shared his knowledge
and experience in the most practical
manner on various amendments to
the Companies Act, changes in
accounting standards, intricacies of
reporting requirements and
expectations from auditors and
preparers of financial statements which were well covered and explained with practical examples, to
better explain the complexities of the various changes
in the simplest way.

The lecture meeting was attended by more than 120
participants from various industries and the practice
arena. The interaction between the participants and the
speaker was commendable and the participants said
that they had benefited immensely from the lecture by
CA. Himanshu Kishnadwala.

Full-day seminar on ‘Tax Deducted at Source
(TDS)’ held on 27th April, 2019 at the BCAS
Conference Hall

The Taxation Committee organised a full-day seminar
on TDS on 27th April, 2019 at the BCAS Conference
Hall. The event attracted a full house with an attendance
of about 100 eager participants, including some who
came from outside the city. President Sunil Gabhawalla
made the opening remarks.

The following topics were taken up at the seminar by the
speakers:

CA. Nilesh Kapadia started the
session by highlighting some
practical and important aspects of
TDS. He gave various examples and
case studies to explain and guide the
participants in selecting the best
practical approach in a given situation wherein there are diverse views; he stated that litigation is
not free from doubt. He also provided insights on the
recent changes and the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ that one should
keep in mind for clients.

Next, CA. Rutvik Sanghvi explained
the provisions of section 195 in depth
and threw light on the checklist to
follow while making remittances
outside India. He also gave his views
on some burning issues and the
approach to take in such situations.

He was followed by CA. Divya
Jokhakar who spoke on specific
issues and a few landmark
judgements. She also explained the
importance of relevant provisions
and circulars impacting real-life
scenarios.

CA. Yogesh Thar dwelt on a different
and new topic under the TDS
mechanism. He spoke about how the
AIF/REITS/INVTS operate and the
applicable tax provisions on them, as
well as in the hands of contributors.
He discussed the background,
advantages and operational challenges with a case study
and summarised the tax impact on the same.

Listing some of the precautions while
E-filing TDS statements, CA. Avinash
Rawani came up with practical
solutions for common inquiries
leading to high-pitched demands. His
approach was to follow the three
“Ds”, that is, Deduct, Deposit and
Declare to avoid any further litigation.
He gave his views on the rights and duties of the taxpayers
for appropriate compliance of TDS provisions and
E-filing. He also highlighted precautions to be taken while
complying with the procedure in each quarter.

The final session was conducted by
Advocate K. Gopal on the penal and
prosecution provisions related to
TDS and some of the recent
measures taken by the government
in this regard. He shared his
experience while dealing with various complex issues and the expectations from the
tax-payers on provisions related to TDS and guidelines
for compounding of offences under direct tax laws.
All the sessions were highly interactive and the speakers
shared their insights on their respective subjects. They
also answered the queries raised by the participants who
benefited immensely from the guidance and practical
views of the faculty.

SUBURBAN STUDY CIRCLE

Meeting on ‘GST – Practical Issues on GST Annual
Return and GST Audit’ held on 4th May, 2019

The Suburban Study Circle organised a meeting on
“GST – Practical Issues on GST Annual Return
and GST Audit” on 4th May, 2019 at Bathiya &
Associates, Andheri East. It was addressed by CA.
Prerana Shah.

The speaker made a detailed presentation on the GST
Annual Return form GSTR-9 and GST Audit Reconciliation
and Certificate in GSTR-9C which was recently released
on the GST portal. Since there were many unresolved
issues and the participants had several practical queries,
the speaker made an effort to address each and every
one of them and explained the form clause-wise and in a
detailed manner.

Apart from this, a discussion was also held on GST audit
where the speaker CA. Prerana Shah deliberated on the
requirements for such an audit. She explained the various
points to be kept in mind (as this is the first year of GST audit) while finalising the GST audit in a time-bound
manner.

The practical examples explaining the form clause-wise
helped the participants in understanding the requirements.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Study Circle Meeting on ‘Stress Management,
an Art to Healthy Living’ held on 14th May, 2019
at the BCAS Conference Hall

The HRD Study Circle organised this much-needed
meeting on stress management on 14th May, 2019. It was
addressed by Ms Jacqueline Vales.

The speaker explained that of late stress had become part
of our lives. Sometimes, stress could result in a fight, or
in flight, or a person may just freeze, with the energy flow
being blocked. But there are “tapping” techniques that
help release the blockages that cause stress. A majority of
our diseases are psychosomatic. Stress releases certain
chemicals which are harmful for us, making it difficult to
function normally.

Ms Vales also suggested some techniques to relieve
stress that can help to get rid of fear, negativity, anxiety
and depression.

Overall, it was an interesting and enriching experience
for the participants who received some tips on healing
through “tapping” a few points on the body to release
negative energy.

MISCELLANEA

1. Economy

12

Govt
to soon come out with format to lodge complaints with Lokpal

 

The Central Government will
soon come out with a format for lodging a complaint with anti-corruption
ombudsman Lokpal, officials said on 16th May. As per norms, a
complaint shall be filed in the prescribed form to be notified by the
Government. “The form will be made public soon,” said a senior
Personnel Ministry official. Although the form for filing a complaint has not
yet been notified, the Lokpal decided to scrutinise all the complaints received
in its office till 16th April, 2019 in whatever form they were sent,
according to the anti-corruption ombudsman’s website.

 

“After scrutiny, complaints that did not fall within the
mandate of the Lokpal were disposed of and complainants are being informed
accordingly,” it said, without giving details of the complaints.

 

Lokpal Chairperson Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose inaugurated
the website – www.lokpal.gov.in – in the presence of all the eight members of
the anti-corruption ombudsman. As per the website, the office of Lokpal is at
“The Ashok” Hotel in Chanakyapuri in the national capital.

 

President Ram Nath Kovind had administered the oath of office
to Justice Ghose as the Chairperson of Lokpal on 23rd March. Justice
Ghose, 66, had retired as a Supreme Court judge in May, 2017. He had last
served as a member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

 

Eight members of the Lokpal panel were administered the oath
by Justice Ghose on 27th March. Former Chief Justices of different
high courts – Justices Dilip B. Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari
and Ajay Kumar Tripathi – took the oath as judicial members of the Lokpal.

 

Along with them, the first (former) woman chief of the
Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra Chief Secretary
Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS
officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam were sworn in as the Lokpal’s non-judicial
members.

 

According to the rules, there is a provision for a
Chairperson and a maximum of eight members in the Lokpal panel. Of these, four
need to be judicial members. The Lokpal Act, which envisages appointment of a
Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas in States to look into cases of corruption
against certain categories of public servants, was passed in 2013.

(Source: Business Today
– PTI, New Delhi, 16th May, 2019)

 

13

RBI
releases ‘Vision 2021’ for payment system to increase digital transactions

 

The RBI said the payment systems landscape will continue to
change with further innovation and entry of more players which is expected to
ensure optimal cost to the customers and freer access to multiple payment
system options.

 

Aiming at a ‘cash-lite’ society, the Reserve Bank of India on
15th May, 2019 released a vision document for ensuring a safe,
secure, convenient, quick and affordable e-payment system as it expects the
number of digital transactions to increase more than four times to 8,707 crores
in December, 2021.

 

The ‘Payment and Settlement Systems in India: Vision
2019-2021’, with its core theme of ‘Empowering Exceptional (E)payment
Experience’, envisages to achieve ‘a highly digital and cash-lite society’
through the goalposts of competition, cost effectiveness, convenience and
confidence (4Cs).

 

The RBI said the payment systems landscape will continue to
change with further innovation and entry of more players which is expected to
ensure optimal cost to the customers and freer access to multiple payment
system options.

“The Reserve Bank of India will implement the approach
outlined in this ‘vision’ during the period 2019-2021,” it said. The
previous ‘vision document’ covered the period 2016 to 2018. The latest document
said payment systems like UPI / IMPS are likely to register average annualised
growth of over 100% and NEFT at 40% over the ‘vision’ period (up to December,
2021). The number of digital transactions is expected to increase more than
four times from 2,069 crores in December, 2018 to 8,707 crores in December,
2021.

 

“While the approach of the RBI will continue to be of
minimal intervention in the pricing of charges to customers for digital
payments, all efforts will be made towards facilitating the operation of
payment systems which are efficient and price-attractive,” it said.

 

The basis shall have to be that pricing is reasonable to
encourage usage and also pass on to the customer the benefit of cost saved on
managing cash in the system, it added. The document talks about creating
customer awareness, setting up a 24X7 helpline and a self-regulatory
organisation for system operators and service providers, among others.

 

In all, the ‘Payment
Systems Vision 2021’ has 36 specific action points and 12 specific outcomes.
The aim is to enhance customer experience, empower payment system operators and
service providers, enable the payments ecosystem and infrastructure, put in
place forward-looking regulations and undertake risk-focused supervision.

 

The ‘no-compromise’ approach towards safety and security of
payment systems remains a hallmark of the ‘vision’, the RBI added.

 (Source: Business Today
– PTI, New Delhi, 16th May, 2019)

 

2. Corporate

14

Corporate
Affairs Ministry amends rules related to incorporation of companiess

 

The Corporate Affairs
Ministry has amended the rules pertaining to incorporation of companies to
provide more clarity and uniformity in choosing names for companies, according
to an official. The Ministry has brought in amendments to the Companies
(Incorporation) Rules, 2014.

 

The move comes against the backdrop of instances where
applications by companies for registering their names have been rejected due to
various reasons, including trademark issues and proposed names being too
general.

 

The official said the changes have been made to ensure more
clarity, uniformity and transparency in approving the names for companies at
the time of incorporation. He also noted that the rules have been updated so
that there is clarity for people to apply, as well as for officers to process
the requests appropriately.

 

Among others things, the Ministry has now provided
illustrations regarding applicability of various names.

 

(Source: Business Today, PTI, New Delhi 16th
May, 2019)

 

3. Science

15

NASA’s
asteroid warning: Gigantic rogue body heading towards earth at 93,000 kmph

 

This rogue asteroid is more than 1,280 feet long and it is
heading towards earth at a breathtaking speed of 93,000 kilometres per hour
(kmph). NASA has confirmed this development.

 

Asteroid trackers of the US space agency revealed that this
massive space body will make a close fly-by to planet earth in the early hours
of 20th May, 2019.

 

As per NASA, 2019 JB1 is a near-earth object (NEO). NASA
considers all asteroids and comets in an orbit of the sun at a distance of 1.3
astronomical units as near-earth objects. It should be noted that one
astronomical unit is equal to about 92.95 million miles and is actually the
distance between the earth and the sun.

 

On 20th May, 2019, JB1 may come as close as 6.4
million km. to earth. A distance of 6.4 million km. may seem too huge in human
terms, but considering the depth and vastness of the universe, this distance is
quite small in astronomical terms. Even though the chances of 2019 JB1 hitting
the earth are very few, NASA believes that any impact from such gigantic space
bodies could bring about cataclysmic effects in the affected area.

 

“If a rocky meteoroid
larger than 25 metres but smaller than one kilometre (a little more than half a
mile) were to hit earth, it would likely cause local damage to the impact area.
We believe anything larger than one to two kilometres (one kilometre is a
little more than one-half mile) could have worldwide effects,” wrote NASA
on its website.

In the meantime, NASA is busy developing its planetary
defence weapon to protect the earth from dreaded asteroid hits which may happen
in the future. NASA scientists believe that this weapon, which is basically a
spacecraft, can deviate rogue space bodies from its trajectory.

 

A few weeks back, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine also
revealed that the possibilities of an apocalyptic asteroid hit are not
something reserved for Hollywood disaster movies. In a recent speech at the
Planetary Defence Conference, Bridenstine predicted that life-threatening
asteroid hits could happen in the future.

(Source: International Business Times, By Nirmal
Narayanan, 16th May, 2019)

 

4. Technology

16

Google
is fixing the most annoying thing about internet browsing

 

Google is rolling out a new feature that will let you delete
your location and web activities automatically.

 

Privacy is one of the biggest concerns in our modern society.
Everybody wants to hide their web habits, app usage and location data. But
Google aims to make its product helpful to the users. And for that, Google
needs to know about your web habits and the location where you love to go. So,
if you are concerned about your privacy and also want a helpful Android, then
you just need to delete your activity manually. This is a very painful and
time-consuming task. That changes now.

 

In an official blog post from Google, the internet search
titan is talking about a new privacy feature that all the users are going to
love. After receiving feedback, Google is going to launch a new privacy feature
that will help you to auto-delete your location and web activities.

 

Google has confirmed the feature will roll out in the coming
weeks. Currently, you just have a feature to control off / on your location and
activity history and you can delete your history manually.

 

Google’s new auto-delete feature works on a timed system and
users can set the time duration to delete the data. You have two options: 3
months or 18 months. Google will automatically delete your location and activity
from your account after the selected time duration.

 

It’s certainly a positive step for Google towards privacy.
The blog post also hints that the feature will also come soon to other aspects
of your Google experience, but it’s coming first to location history and your
web and app activity.

 

Prior to this, an AP investigation revealed that Google was
still steering and storing the location history of users who had turned off the
history and the search giant used this data for target ads.

 

This month is very important for Google as the I/O annual
conference is going to commence on 7th May and Google is going to launch its
budget Pixel 3a and 3a XL devices in the conference. With these devices, Google
is going to foray into a mid-budget smart phone. The new pixel series is also
coming to India on the same day of launch. Apart from the Pixel 3a, Google will
also do some innovative announcements during the annual conference. So, stay
tuned for more updates

 

(Source: International Business Times, By
Ratnesh Kumar, 3rd May, 2019)

BOOK REVIEW

“Advice & Dissent – My Life in Public Service” by Y.V.
Reddy

 

Dr. Y.V. Reddy is well
known as an economist and the 21st Governor of the Reserve Bank of
India (2003-08). In 2010, the President awarded India’s second highest civilian
honour, the Padma Vibhushan, to him. At present he is Honorary
Professor, Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad. After
completing his M.A. in Economics from Madras University, he obtained a Ph.D.
from Osmania University, Hyderabad. Joining the Indian Administrative Service
in 1964, he rose to the position of Secretary (Banking) in the Ministry of
Finance in 1995. He moved to the Reserve Bank of India in 1996 as Deputy
Governor and then to the International Monetary Fund in 2002 as Executive
Director on the Board. He was also the Chairman of the 14th Finance
Commission of India.

 

Looking back at his long
career in public service, he says that he was firm and unafraid to speak his
mind but avoided open discord. He writes about decision-making at several
levels and gives an account of the debate and thinking behind some landmark
events and some remarkable initiatives of his own whose benefits reached the
man on the street.

 

Reading between the
lines, one recognises controversies on key policy decisions which reverberate
even now. The book provides a ringside view of the licence permit raj, drought,
bonded labour, draconian forex controls, the balance of payments crisis,
liberalisation, high finance and the emergence of India as a key player in the
global economy.

 

As RBI Governor from 2003
to 2008, he presided over a period of high growth-low inflation, a stable rupee
and ample foreign exchange reserves – a far cry from the 1991 crisis he lived
through and describes in vivid detail, when the country had to mortgage its
gold to meet its debt obligations. He is credited with saving the Indian
banking system from the sub-prime and liquidity crises of 2008 that erupted
shortly after his term at RBI ended. Dr Reddy provides insight into the
post-crisis reflection undertaken by several global institutions on the
international monetary system and the financial architecture. In addition, he
describes the preparation of the 14th Finance Commission report,
which he chaired, and which is considered a game changer.

 

During his time as RBI
Governor, his cautious approach to markets was often at loggerheads with the
eternal market optimism of Mr. P. Chidambaram. The author presents a
fascinating narrative of his last five years in government, covering the
foreign exchange crisis of 1991 and the liberalisation initiated by the late
Mr. P.V. Narasimha Rao. However, he does not seem to sense the concomitant rise
in economic crime, hawala dealings and export earnings falsifications.
He was an early supporter of gold import liberalisation.

 

In essence, he believed
that the RBI must always counter the Finance Minister’s large fiscal deficit
with a tight monetary policy so that the nation does not face inflation. The
tension between the FM and the RBI is eternal and systemic. No government has
yet won an election on promises or achievement of economic growth and sound
money. The political belief is that only economic populism can win elections.

 

Dr. Reddy’s crowning
achievement, of course, was keeping India out of the global financial storm of
2008. His correct reading of the global economic situation was aided by his
innate market scepticism and he was able to take early steps against the
overheating of the economy even in the face of political opposition. The nation
must remain ever grateful to him for this. However, his cautious approach to
markets was destined to face resistance from the eternal market optimism of Mr.
Chidambaram. After several cat-and-mouse encounters, the then FM and the
political class lost faith in him and denied him further extensions.

 

He offers explicit
counsel in his book:

(1) “Never compromise
long-term professional credibility while pursuing advocacy that the compulsions
of immediate circumstances demand.”

(2) “This idea of
drawing from various beliefs and ideologies and arriving at what appears to be
an appropriate solution to the context became the guiding principle for me.”

(3) “Respect for people
without reference to hierarchy.”

(4) Speaking a local
language introduced a level of informality and personal connect in discourse.

(5) Economists often
advocate the desirable. Bureaucrats focus on what is feasible. It is possible
to begin with the search for the desirable, then move towards the feasible,
while at the same time assessing the costs and benefits of the distance between
the two. This is a way of reconciling and balancing the feasible and desirable,
always keeping the desirable in view. Similarly, starting from international
best practices, one can assess how the Indian situation is different. The goal
should be to move towards policies that are tailored for our requirements while
being consistent with international best practices. Or, to put it another way,
match the international best practice, but in our context.

(6) At the end of the
day, a key to realising reform is to make the powerful feel the pain of the
status quo.

 

POLICY LESSONS – Dr. Reddy offers a very useful primer for prudent
liberalisation of the external account for any country. Recognising and
establishing the hierarchy of capital flows is very important for ensuring
financial stability.

 

“Low inflation, low
non-performing assets of the banking sector, and low fiscal deficit are key to
fuller convertibility.” Again, he is quite right and hence, on this basis,
India is a long way off from capital account convertibility.

 

Further, Indian imports
are related more to the level of economic activity rather than the exchange
rate. Policy makers should make a note of this. A weaker exchange rate might
push up the import price without discouraging it and encouraging domestic
production.

 

India’s dalliance with
high growth rates has always ended in tears – in the Eighties, in the
mid-Nineties and between 2003 and 2008. Frankly, the economy is not ready. As
to why this is so, read his comments on the features of the Indian society and
economy mentioned earlier.

 

Dr. Reddy is rather forthright on the farm loan waiver that
the UPA government announced in 2007. He thinks it was against the financial
reforms. He felt that reform of the domestic banking system was a pre-condition
for liberalisation of the banking sector for foreign ownership.

 

Thanks to his experience at
the IMF and from his keen observations, he had become increasingly wary of
financial liberalisation and the role of international financial conglomerates.
It is not hard to imagine the sources of pressure that were brought to bear on
the Indian Finance Ministry.

 

Reform of the domestic banking system is an unfinished task
for him. He feels that several public sector banks did not come under the
Banking Regulation Act and hence RBI could not regulate them effectively. He
also did not want RBI nominees on the Board as it would mean conflict of
interest. His recommendations on the procedures for the appointment of members
to the Boards of Public Sector Banks and to the positions of Chief Executive
Officers have not been heeded by governments. Unfortunately, this is still the
case. The Bank Boards Bureau has been dormant and ineffective. Governance of
Indian public sector banking leaves a lot to be desired and yet, many still
want to preserve it as it is, without any reform!

 

ON CENTRAL BANK INDEPENDENCE – Government ownership of
the banking system is one of the reasons why he feels that the so-called
independence of the Central Bank is constrained. He dedicates several pages to
the subject, dividing it into three aspects: operational, policy and
structural:

  • Operational independence for the Central Bank:
    He favours it.

  • Policy matters: In consultation with the
    government.
  • Structural matters: In close coordination with
    the government.

 

He admits that he was
prepared to ‘irritate’ and ‘frustrate’ the sovereign but not defy it. As a
legal construct of the government, without a constitutional authority, he is
clear that RBI cannot be equal to its creator.

 

Dr. Reddy ends the book on a high note with a chapter on his
stewardship of the 14th Finance Commission. He points out that the
former President, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, had praised him for addressing many
fundamental issues with his work on the Commission. That is quite an apt note
to end the book by a man who has indeed addressed many fundamental issues on
monetary policy, too – hierarchy of capital flows, capital account
liberalisation, financial sector liberalisation, etc.

 

Leavened with his irrepressible sense of humour,
Advice
and Dissent
is a warm, engaging account of a life that
moves easily from a career in the districts as a young IAS officer to the
higher echelons of policy making, in a trajectory that follows the changes in
the country itself. To the reader’s delight, the narrative is interspersed with
often deeply ironic vignettes and humorous tales of encounters with the high
and mighty.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1. Category and Income Range wise filing count for current financial year (Updated till October 2018)

Source: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

2. State wise filing count for the current Financial Year

Source: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
Note: States considered above are the one in which more than 5,00,000 returns have been filed during the period 1st April 2018 to 31st October 2018.

3. ITR wise receipt of e-Return (October 2018)


Source: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

4. Highlights of e-Filing


Source: www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

5. Cash growth during Diwali week highest ever


Source: Economic times

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

1. A. Direct tax collection up to 2017-2018
B. Direct tax collection for 2018-2019

3.         Pre-Assessment and Post-Assessment collections
4.         Cost of Collection


5.  Drop in income tax e-filings

ETHICS AND U

Shrikrishna
— Arrey Arjun, I am waiting for you for a long time. Why so much delay?

 

Arjun
— What to tell you, Bhagwan! A most disorganised client who has no
discipline at all was with me.

 

Shrikrishna
— He must be in financial stress.

 

Arjun
— Exactly. He wants to apply for some loan and wanted his balance sheet of 31st
March, 2019 instantly!

 

Shrikrishna
— But are the accounts ready?

 

Arjun
— That’s the main problem. Somehow, he has got it done. Volume is not much and
it is a private limited company.

 

Shrikrishna
— Have you signed his balance sheet?

 

Arjun
— Yes, I was helpless.

 

Shrikrishna
— Did you obtain signatures of at least two directors?

 

Arjun
— It was a fire-fighting situation. I have signed in good faith. One of the
directors has signed. The other one will sign it later.

 

Shrikrishna
— This good faith is very dangerous. There are cases where the other director
refused to sign due to dispute between them. Result – the auditor was held
guilty.

 

Arjun
— Oh my God! But these are nice people. They won’t ditch me.

 

Shrikrishna
— Don’t be overconfident. Don’t take things for granted. This is kaliyug
and anything can happen. What about the other directors of the private company?

 

Arjun
— Actually, there are four directors. But only two are active.

 

Shrikrishna
— That is an additional risk. What is important is the approval of accounts in
the board meeting. Signing by two or three directors is consequential. The
board approves the accounts and authorises two or three of them to sign the
accounts on behalf of the company. This is extremely important. You must obtain
a confirmation that the board has approved the accounts.

 

Arjun
— Oh, really? We have never obtained such confirmations.

 

Shrikrishna
— It has been held to be a misconduct. Another important thing, have you issued
the audit report?

 

Arjun
— Yes, they wanted it. My assistant just changed the year in last year’s
report. It was a copy-paste as there was virtually no activity.

 

Shrikrishna
— Are you sure that no change was required?

 

Arjun
— Overall, I saw facts and figures were practically the same.

 

Shrikrishna
— My dear Arjun, are you aware that the format of company audit report
has been changed?

 

Arjun
— No. When was it changed? Is the change applicable to accounts for the year
ended on 31st March, 2019?

 

Shrikrishna
— It is very much applicable to accounts for the year ended on 31st
March, 2019. The changes are not very significant. Three standards have been
revised and one is newly introduced. Go rush and hold that report before it is
released. Arjun, I never expected you to be so negligent.

 

Arjun
— What to do? My colleagues are enjoying their vacation. Senior articles are on
exam leave. Exams were postponed due to Lok Sabha elections. I am fighting all
alone.

 

Shrikrishna
— You must now gear up for the audits for the year ended on 31st
March, 2019. Please try to implement all those things which you have so far
taken very lightly.

 

Arjun
— Like what?

 

Shrikrishna
— Writing for independent confirmations of balances of debtors, creditors,
loans, banks and so on. Also you need to carefully maintain the working papers.
Moreover, also ask the companies to update their registers of directors,
shareholders; and also minutes of meetings.

 

Arjun
— I agree. We have been taking these things lightly. But now we cannot afford
to continue to do so. Audit is becoming more demanding. We need to change.
Thank you for opening my eyes.

Shrikrishna
— Take care.

 

!!Om Shanti!!  

 

[This dialogue is in the
context of the recent changes in company audit reports; new SAs and general
preparation for ensuring audits. Standard on Auditing 700, 705 and 706 have
been revised and Standard on Auditing 701 is newly introduced.
]

REPRESENTATIONS

 

1.  Dated: 28th March, 2019

     To: Prime Minister and Finance
Minister of India.

     Subject: In the interest of
taxpayers of the country.

     Representation by: Bombay Chartered
Accountant Society; Chartered Accountants Association, Ahmedabad;  Chartered Accountants Association, Surat;
Karnataka State Chartered Accountants’ Association; Lucknow Chartered
Accountants’ Society.

 

2.  Dated: 30th April, 2019

     To: Revenue Secretary, Ministry of
Finance, Govt. of India; Commissioner GST, Govt. of Maharashtra; Commissioner
GST, New Delhi.

     Subject: Representation on certain
issues in GST.

     Representation by: Indirect Taxation
Committee of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society.

 

3.  Dated: 17th May, 2019

     To: Secretary (FT&TR)-I (1),
Central Board of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance

     Subject: Comments and Suggestions
with regard to Amendment of Income-tax rules relating to Profit Attribution to
Permanent Establishment as per Rule 10 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

     Representation by: International
Taxation Committee of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society.

 

4.  Dated: 24th May, 2019

     To: Joint Secretary TPL, Central Board
of Direct Taxes, Ministry of Finance

     Subject: Suggestions for amendments
in the Income Tax Act.

     Representation by: Taxation
Committee of the Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society.

 

Note: For full Text of the
above Representations, visit our website www.bcasonline.org

RIGHT TO INFORMATION (r2i)

part A I DECISIONS OF THE SUPREME COURT

  • Parties under RTI: Supreme Court notice to Centre,
    Election Commission

The Supreme Court on 15th April, 2019 issued
notice to the Centre, the Election Commission and six national political
parties – the BJP, the Indian National Congress, NCP, CPI, CPI(M) and BSP – on
a writ petition that political parties be brought under the ambit of the Right
to Information Act. The petitioner submitted that political parties held
significant power and hold over the legislature and the executive as well as
their own candidates. And this hold had been made absolute because of the power
of political parties to disqualify elected MPs and MLAs under the Constitution
(anti-defection law). He also submitted that political parties received huge
sums of money from the public as donations and were not liable to pay any taxes
and must, therefore, be made accountable to the public.

 

The
petitioner pointed out that the political parties had defied the CIC order for
several years and sought greater transparency and accountability in the
functioning of all recognised national and regional political parties in the
country. Great harm was being caused to public interest due to lack of
transparency in the political system and the political parties; the electoral
system was generating huge amounts of black money and large sums were being
spent on every election, thus leading to violation of the citizen’s rights
under Article 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution.

 

(Source:https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/160419/parties-under-rti-supreme-court-notice-to-centre-election-commission.html)

 

  • Centre can’t withhold docs under RTI citing national
    security, says Supreme Court

The
Supreme Court on 10th April, 2019 said the Centre cannot withhold
documents from disclosure under the RTI Act citing national security if it is
established that retention of such information produces greater harm than
disclosing it.

 

The
observation was made by Justice K.M. Joseph in his 38-page separate but
concurring judgement in which the Supreme Court allowed the plea relying on
leaked documents for seeking review of its judgement on the Rafale fighter jet
deal with France. It dismissed the government’s preliminary objections claiming
“privilege” over them.

 

Justice
Joseph said the RTI Act through section 8(2) has conferred upon the citizens a
“priceless right by clothing them” with the right to demand information even in
respect of such matters as security of the country and matters relating to
relations with a foreign state.

 

“No
doubt, information is not to be given for the mere asking. The applicant must
establish that withholding of such information produces greater harm than
disclosing it,” Justice Joseph said.

 

He
said the premise for disclosure in a matter relating to security and
relationship with a foreign state is public interest.

 

“Right
to justice is immutable. It is inalienable. The demands it has made over other
interests has been so overwhelming that it forms the foundation of all
civilised nations. The evolution of law itself is founded upon the recognition
of right to justice as an indispensable hallmark of a fully evolved nation.

 

“The
Preamble to the Constitution proclaims justice – social, economic or political,
as the goal to be achieved. It is the duty of every State to provide for a fair
and effective system of administration of justice. Judicial review is, in fact,
recognised as a basic feature of the Constitution,” he added.

 

“The
most important aspect in a justice delivery system is the ability of a party to
successfully establish the case based on materials. Subject to exceptions, it
is settled beyond doubt that any person can set the criminal law into motion.
It is equally indisputable, however, that among the seemingly insuperable
obstacles a litigant faces are limitations on the ability to prove the case
with evidence and, more importantly, relevant evidence.

 

“Ability
to secure evidence thus forms the most important aspect in ensuring the triumph
of truth and justice. It is imperative therefore that section 8(2) must be
viewed in the said context. Its impact on the operation on the shield of
privilege is unmistakable,” he said.

 

Justice
Joseph said that a citizen can get a certified copy of a document under the RTI
Act even if the matter pertains to security or relationship with a foreign
nation if a case is made out. If such a document is produced before the Court,
then surely a claim for privilege cannot be made by the government.

 

“It is
clear that under the Right to Information Act, a citizen can get a certified
copy of a document under section 8(2) of the RTI Act even if the matter
pertains to security or relationship with a foreign nation, if a case is made
out thereunder. If such a document is produced surely a claim for privilege
could not lie,” he said.

 

(Source:https://www.ptcnews.tv/centre-cant-withhold-docs-under-rti-citing-national-security-says-supreme-court/)

 

part b I RTI ACT, 2005

  • RTI Act supersedes Official Secrets Act

Delivering
a separate judgement in the Rafale case, Justice K.M. Joseph has made the
following observations:

  • The Right to Information Act confers on ordinary citizens
    the ‘priceless right’ to demand information even in matters affecting national
    security and relations with a foreign state;
  • Justice Joseph’s
    judgement countered the claim made by the government for privilege over Rafale
    purchase documents under the Official Secrets Act (OSA), saying it affected
    national security and relations with France;
  • The Right to
    Information (RTI) Act overawes the OSA. Under section 8(2) of the RTI Act, the
    government cannot refuse information if disclosure in public interest
    overshadows certain ‘protected interests.’

 

Justice
Joseph in his judgement has stated that through section 8(2) of the RTI Act,
Parliament has appreciated that it may be necessary to pit one interest against
another and to compare the relative harm and then decide either to disclose or
to decline information. If higher public interest is established, it is the
will of Parliament that the greater good should prevail though at the cost of
lesser harm being still occasioned.

 

(Source:https://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/tags/right-to-information-act)

 

part c I INFORMATION ON
& AROUND

  • Only 24% government vacancies filled in
    past 5 years: RTI

Only 8,23,107 positions (about 24%) have got filled out of
more than 33 lakh job vacancies in the State over the last five years,
according to a Right to Information (RTI) query.

 

The query was sought specifically for various agencies and
institutions run by the State government. It was also stated that more than 35
lakh persons have registered themselves as ‘unemployed’, according to the Directorate
of Skill Development, Employment and Entrepreneurship of the State government.

 

The information revealed that 2014 had the least percentage
of job positions filled at 10. However, in the succeeding years positions were
filled at only 22%, 25%, 54% and 25% in the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018,
respectively.

For the year 2019, 48,292 positions had been filled out of
1,16,281 vacancies. Meanwhile, 7,26,982 persons had been registered as
unemployed in 2018.

 

(Source:https://www.asianage.com/metros/mumbai/
210419/only-24-per-cent-govt-vacancies-filled-in-past-5-years-rti.html)

 

  • No record of pathology labs in city: BMC’s reply to RTI
    query

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Public Health
Department does not have a record of the number of pathology laboratories in
the city, its response to a Right to Information (RTI) application has
revealed.

 

Responding to the plea seeking a list of pathology
laboratories, their owners, staff pathologists and contact details in the city,
officials said since the laboratories are not registered under BMC, the
information is not maintained by them.

 

The civic body’s failure to collect this information is in
contravention of a 2018 directive by the Directorate?of Medical Education and
Research (DMER), which asked all civic bodies in the State to submit a detailed
report of pathology laboratories in order to keep a check on illegal clinics.

 

(Source:https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/no-record-of-pathology-labs-in-city-bmc-s-reply-to-rti-query/story-UIxySSakkKot51UGIXj96H.html)

 

  • Electoral bonds of Rs. 10 lakhs, Rs. 1 crore dominate
    donations: RTI application

Almost 99% of donations received by political parties between
March, 2018 and January, 2019 were as electoral bonds of Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs. 1
crore, a social worker has reportedly found through an RTI application.

 

Donors purchased bonds worth Rs. 1,407.09 crores of which Rs.
1,403.90 crores were in the highest denominations of  Rs. 10 lakhs and Rs 1 crore, said Chandrashekhar Goud, who got the data from
the State Bank of India through an RTI query.

 

The donors bought 1,459 electoral bonds of the denomination
of Rs. 10 lakhs and 1,258 bonds of Rs. 1 crore denomination. They purchased 318
bonds of Rs. 1 lakh, 12 bonds of Rs. 10,000 and 24 bonds of Rs. 1,000
denomination.

Parties redeemed electoral bonds worth Rs. 1,395.89 crores.

 

(Source:https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/electoral-bonds-of-rs-10-lakh-rs-1-cr-dominate-donations-rti-application-119041400559_1.html)

 

  • Can’t deny AI
    disinvestment info under RTI: CIC

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the
Civil Aviation Ministry to provide Lucknow-based activist Nutan Thakur
information regarding the disinvestment of Air India (AI).

 

The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the Ministry had,
under section 8(1)(i) of the RTI Act, denied Thakur information related to the
records of the deliberations of the Cabinet.

 

According to the PIO, the Cabinet had in principle approved
the proposed disinvestment of the national carrier, though the process had not
been completed.

 

Information Commissioner Divya Prakash
Sinha said that the Ministry had grossly erred in invoking section 8(1)(i) of
the RTI Act to deny information to Thakur, despite the PIO himself admitting to
the Cabinet decision in this regard.

 

The Commission directed the PIO to provide Thakur within 15
days the information available with the Ministry and send it a compliance
report.

 

(Source:https://www.moneylife.in/article/cant-deny-ai-disinvestment-info-under-rti-cic/56732.html)

 

part D I RTI CLINIC –
SUCCESS STORY

The BCAS RTI Clinic was approached by Capt. R. Khadiwal
(Retd.) whose tenure of service was miscalculated as 26 years instead of the
correct tenure of 37 years for purposes of calculation of retirement benefits.
The matter was escalated to a second appeal with the CIC. Air India’s CPIO was
penalised on grounds of delay in providing information; besides, the
Appellant’s claim for compensation of expenses for attending the hearings were
accepted by the CIC’s order.

RTI Clinics in June, 2019, on the 2nd,
3rd, 4th and 5th Saturdays, that is, on 8th,
15th, 22nd and 29th of June.


Time: 11 am to 1 pm at the BCAS premises

LETTERS FROM THE READERS

Dear Nitin,

 

At the outset, wish you a great year ahead.

 

I just read through your article in the BCAJ
(Dec edition) in ‘Top books of Professional Service Management ‘.

Really incisive and practical.


One of my goal setting this year would be to
read and try implement some learnings from the books you have recommended.

 

CA. Krishnan Parameshwaran.