RBI notifies relaxation in remittance norms

RBI notifies relaxation in remittance norms

The Reserve Bank of India has notified relaxation in remittance norms regarding salary earned by foreign nationals employed in India by a foreign company or an Indian citizen employed by a foreign company outside India.

These individuals, according to the RBI, may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and receive the whole salary payable to him for the services rendered to the office/branch/subsidiary/joint venture in India of such foreign company, by credit to such account, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961, is paid on the entire salary as accrued in India.

Hitherto, the amount that could be credited to the foreign currency account with a bank outside India could not exceed 75 per cent of the salary accrued to or received by the expatriate or Indian national from the foreign company.

Further, the RBI said that a citizen of a foreign State resident in India employed with a company incorporated in India may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and remit the whole salary received in India in Indian rupees, to such account, for the services rendered to the Indian company, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is paid on the entire salary accrued in India.

The relaxation in the remittance norm by the RBI follows the Government notifying the same through a Gazette notification

Remittance of Salary - Relaxation

A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 26, dated 14-1-2010

Attention of Authorised Dealer Category – I banks is invited to A. P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 17 dated September 20, 2003 and sub-regulation 8 of Regulation 7 of Notification No. FEMA 10/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000 viz. Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Account by a person resident in India) Regulation, 2000, in terms of which a national of a foreign state resident in India, being an employee of a foreign company or a citizen of India employed by a foreign company outside India, and in either case on deputation to the office/ branch/ subsidiary/ joint venture in India of such foreign company, may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and receive the salary payable to him by credit to such account subject to the conditions mentioned therein, which inter alia, include that the amount to be credited to such account shall not exceed 75 per cent of the salary accrued to or received by such person from the foreign company.

2. The Government of India, has since liberalised the above facility by notifying in the Gazette of India published in part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) dated November 23, 2009 vide G.S.R. 838 (E) [Notification No. FEMA 199/2009-RB dated September 30, 2009], as indicated below:

(i) A citizen of a foreign state, resident in India, being an employee of a foreign company or a citizen of India, employed by a foreign company outside India and in either case on deputation to the office /branch /subsidiary /joint venture in India of such foreign company may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and receive the whole salary payable to him for the services rendered to the office/branch/subsidiary/joint venture in India of such foreign company, by credit to such account, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is paid on the entire salary as accrued in India.

(ii) A citizen of a foreign state resident in India being in employment with a company incorporated in India may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and remit the whole salary received in India in Indian Rupees, to such account, for the services rendered to the Indian company, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is paid on the entire salary accrued in India.

3. A copy of the Notification is annexed.

4. Authorised Dealer Category – I banks may bring the contents of this circular to the notice of their constituents and customers concerned.

5. The directions contained in this circular have been issued under Section 10(4) and Section 11(1) of the FEMA 1999 (42 of 1999) and is without prejudice to permissions/approvals, if any, required under any other law.

RESERVE BANK OF INDIA

FOREIGN EXCHANGE DEPARTMENT

CENTRAL OFFICE

MUMBAI- 400 001

Notification No.FEMA. 199 /2009-RB Dated: September 30, 2009

Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2009

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of Section 9 and clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 47 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999), the Reserve Bank of India makes the following amendment in the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) Regulations, 2000, (Notification No. FEMA 10/2000-RB dated 3rd May, 2000), namely:-

1. Short title and commencement:-

(i) These Regulations may be called the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2009.

(ii) These Regulations shall come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

2. Amendment to the Regulations:-

In the Foreign Exchange Management (Foreign Currency Accounts by a Person Resident in India) Regulations, 2000, (Notification No. FEMA. 10/2000-RB dated 3rd May, 2000), in Regulation 7, for sub-regulation (8) the following shall be substituted, namely:

"(8) (i) A citizen of a foreign State, resident in India, being an employee of a foreign company or a citizen of India, employed by a foreign company outside India and in either case on deputation to the office /branch /subsidiary /joint venture in India of such foreign company may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and receive the whole salary payable to him for the services rendered to the office/branch/subsidiary/joint venture in India of such foreign company, by credit to such account, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is paid on the entire salary as accrued in India.

(ii) A citizen of a foreign State resident in India being in employment with a company incorporated in India may open, hold and maintain a foreign currency account with a bank outside India and remit the whole salary received in India in Indian Rupees, to such account, for the services rendered to such an Indian company, provided that income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961 is paid on the entire salary accrued in India."

Contributed by: CA. V.M.V.SUBBA RAO

Rajasthan High Court Rules Recounting of Votes of Central Council of CIRC

Pursuant to the Orders dated 13th January, 2010 of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jaipur, the counting process pertaining to the 21st Council from Central India Regional Constituency shall be held at 11.00 A.M. on 18th January, 2010 in the premises of the Institute at ICAI Bhawan, Indraprastha Marg, New Delhi - 110 002.

 

The 92 postal ballots earlier held as invalid will be counted and the counting will be resumed.

 

Here is the announcement:

 

15th January, 2010

FOR ATTENTION OF ALL CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE 21ST COUNCIL FROM THE CENTRAL INDIA REGIONAL CONSTITUENCY

Pursuant to the Orders dated 13th January, 2010 of the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan at Jaipur in the matters of T. Karthikeyan, Returning Officer and Secretary -vs- Prakash Sharma and Ors.[DB Special Appeal (Writ No. 35/2010)] and T. Karthikeyan, Returning Officer and Secretary, -vs- Ganesh Sharma and Ors.[DB Special Appeal (Writ No. 34/2010)] the counting of votes, without giving effect to the Order dated 30th December, 2009 issued by the undersigned as Returning Officer during the counting process pertaining to the 21st Council from Central India Regional Constituency shall be held at 11.00 A.M. on 18th January, 2010 in the premises of the Institute at ICAI Bhawan, Indraprastha Marg, New Delhi - 110 002.

You are requested to be present at the counting venue at the aforesaid time and date either in person or through an authorised representative.

All candidates for election to the 21st Council from the aforesaid Constituency have been informed of the above vide our letter No. 54-EL(1)/2/2010 dated 14th January, 2010 and the same has also been forwarded to them through e-mail.

(T. Karthikeyan) Returning Officer and Secretary

Sangli: Branch Elections

Sangli Branch of ICAI conducted Special General Meeting in December, 2009.

Following members were unanimously elected to the Managing Committee for 2010-2013

1) Uday S. Shah

2) Rajendra B. Kothari

3) Ajit D. Hajare

4) Vijay J. Thakkar

5) S. T. Shah

6) Ashok T. Bagde

Kolhapur: Branch Elections

Kolhapur Branch of ICAI conducted Special General Meeting on Tuesday, 5^th January, 2010. In the meeting poll was conducted & 231 members casted their vote.

Following members were elected to the Managing Committee for 2010-2013

1) Sanjay Sane

2) Girish Mule

3) Satish Dakre

4) Anil Jadhao

5) Sunil Nagaonkar

6) Shrirang Kulkarni

Goa: Branch Elections

Goa Branch of ICAI conducted Special General Meeting on Saturday, 12^th December, 2009.

Following members were elected to the Managing Committee for 2010-2013

1) Ashish V. Prabhu Verlekar

2) Ramchandra P. Hegde

3) Virendra Prabhudesai

4) Anup Sinai Borkar

5) Naveen G. Daivajna

6) Kiran K. Kharangate

Nashik: Branch Elections

Nashik Branch of ICAI conducted Special General Meeting on Wednesday, 30^th December, 2009. In the meeting poll was conducted & 358 members casted their vote. The counting was conducted in the evening & results were declared on the same day.

Following members were elected to the Managing Committee for 2010-2013

1) Bardiya Praful Dharamchand

2) Birari Kishor Murlidhar

3) Borse Ulhas Shivnath - Repeater

4) Kulkarni Vikrant Murlidhar

5) Mutha Sanjeev Shankarlal

6) Navsarikar Ujwal Suresh

7) Surana Brijesh Ramanlal

8) Sarode Mrutyunjay Yadav - Repeater

Rajasthan High Court Has Vacated the Stay Order for declaration of Council Results.blo

Rajasthan High Court Has Vacated the Stay Order for declaration of Council Results.
 
Results shall be notify soon.

Nagpur branch had peaceful polls

• Unlike other branches, Nagpur Branch of WIRC of ICAI, holds very healthy elections. There is no panel system at Branch Level & the elections are held, though unbiased yet competitive.
• This time there were 12 contestants for the 8 seats of the committee, out of which 5 were repeaters & 7 were new face, contesting elections.
• Elections held at Special General Meeting held on January 2nd, 2010.
• All the 5 repeaters got elected.
• 3 out of 8 are the lady members in the committee
• Results are as follows
• Total Valid Votes Casted - 762
• Kavita Loya got the highest No. of votes, congratulations Kavita!!
• Congratulations to all members of new team!!

Sl. No.	Name			No. of Votes
1	CA. Kavita Loya	F	Repeater	618
2	CA. Abhijeet Kelkar	M	Repeater	550
3	CA. Shardha Suresh	F	Repeater	526
4	CA. Satish Sarda	M	Repeater	512
5	CA. Swapnil Agrawal	M	Repeater	500
6	CA. Ravindra Temurnikar	M	New	450
7	CA. Ashwini Agrawal	M	New	396
8	CA. Kirti Agrawal	F	New	393

Pimpri Chinchwad goes Prefential Voting in Branch Elections

• Preferential voting is never heard of in Branch elections. But this time Pimpri Chinchwad branch elections were held by preferential voting. Who knows about preferential voting systems, are very well aware that this is a better system of electing the best preferred people who represent the best preferences of the voters.
• But at the same time, this is the most complex system when it comes to counting. It takes a lot of time in counting because it involves lots of calculations and processes of transfer of votes and eliminations. Implementing this system in branch requires lots of expertise and expereince on the part of Returning officer. It requires lots of education on the part of people voting to make sure that they understand how to vote.
• Pimpri Chinchwad went preferential voting this time. Returning officer K B Singhi took this challenge and successfully implemented. But I understand it could be implemented only because the no. of voters casted votes were only 146. So counting 146 in preferential manner, is much easier and quicker. They completed this task in 3 hours.
• But the worst part was of the voter education. Out of total 146 votes casted, 44 votes were invalid. Mostly because people gave more preferences then 6, the maximum no. of seats for managing committee. If 30% of your votes gets invalid then the whole purpose of the preferential voting is defeated.
• Their were close margins between win and loose. People lost even by 0.45 votes.
• Out of total 12 contestants, six could be won, and those were as follows:
• CA Vinod Inamdar
• CA Baban S Dangale
• CA Manojkumar B Agarwal
• CA Suniiel Karbhari
• CA Chandrakumar Chhabra
• CA Suhas D Gardi

Corrigendum to the New Perquisite Rules

New Perquisite Rules – amendment to Rule 3

The Income-tax (13th Amendment) Rules, 2009 was notified on 18th December 2009. It substitutes Rule 3 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The text of the Notification can be downloaded here.

Notification substituting Rule 3 and defining new Perquisite rules

date: 13.01.2010

Corrigendum to the new perquisite rules (24.7 KiB, 557 hits)

By: CA. V.M.V.SUBBA RAO

Ahmedabad: No big Four had interest in ICAI Branches

• One of my friend called me from Pune and asked did  this time big four had a panel in branch election and big four contested? I was wondering why he is asking such question. Then I was traveling from Mumbai to Ahemdabad and one of CA belonging to Ahmedabad working in Mumbai in MNC recognised me and walked to me and introduced and asked the same question. Then I started thinking why people are thinking like this?
• This is the background I thought let me write on this on my blog. If anybody knows about ICAI, is well aware the power is centered in New Delhi and all policy decisions are taken at Central Council. Regional Council are mere extension of branch, or say Regional council are only branches for big metros. Nothing else. Looking at this, as far my understanding goes, big fours are never attracted to even regional councils, forget about branches. The real power center is at New Delhi and big four always want their presence felt at Central Council.
• There have been very few examples of having a big four candidates in regional council. In WIRC I have seen only N C Hegde in last many years who belonged to Big Four. And never at branches.
• What happened at Ahmedabad? In Ahmedabad branch elections, only one candidate Sanjay R Shah out of 17 candidates contesting belonged to Big Four. And I don't think in this any activity by Big Four to control the branch. I look at it like this, Sanjay R Shah had been elected  member of managing committee of Ahmedabad Branch in 2001-2004 too, when he was not part of any Big Four. So merely because he is now part of Big Four can't be looked at as an attempt of Big Four to conquer ICAI branches. I really wonder how the scenario was painted by presence of only one Big Four candidate that Big Four is contesting under a panel?
• What do you think?

Thane Branch Elections: People voted for the panel supported by existing committee

• Thane branch elections like other branches,too were fought very fiercely. There were two panels in the fray. Sources says one plan is said to be supported by first chairman of Thane branch Raj Advani and the other by the people in existing managing committee. The other panel had a very good support of three study circles, Thane study circle, Dombivali study circle and Kalyan study circle.
• Total votes casted in the elections were 895. It was indeed a very high no. of turnout in the election.
• The panel in leadership of existing managing committee member Pankaj Parekh won and did the clean sweep by getting all the eight members elected from their panel.
• Past chairman WIRC, Vipul Choksi was the returning officer and he did splendid job to handle the elections. In all fiercely contested elections, the role of returning officer becomes very very crucial. My compliments to Vipul Bhai.

Here is the list of candidates won:

Sr. No.	Name of Candidates	Votes
1	Pankaj Parekh	504
2	Madhukar Chavan	490
3	Jaydeep Sahastrabuddhe	484
4	Anand Gharpure	476
5	Sameer Sarandhar	455
6	Navinchandra Dedhia	448
7	Rajendra Chaplot	429
8	Madhav Khisti	426

PAN requirement for transmission of shares in physical form

Circular No. SEBI/MRD/DoP/SE/RTA/Cir-03/2010, dated 7-1-2010

1. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) vide circular ref. no. MRD/DoP/Cir-05/2007 dated April 27, 2007 made PAN mandatory for all securities market transactions. Thereafter, vide circular no. MRD/DoP/ Cir-05/2009 dated May 20, 2009 it was clarified that for securities market transactions and off-market/ private transactions involving transfer of shares in physical form of listed companies, it shall be mandatory for the transferee(s) to furnish copy of PAN card to the Company/ RTAs for registration of such transfer of shares.

2. Based on representations/ clarifications sought by market participants and in continuation to the aforesaid circulars, it is hereby clarified that it shall be mandatory to furnish a copy of PAN in the following cases –

2.1. Deletion of name of the deceased shareholder(s), where the shares are held in the name of two or more shareholders.

2.2. Transmission of shares to the legal heir(s), where deceased shareholder was the sole holder of shares.

2.3. Transposition of shares – when there is a change in the order of names in which physical shares are held jointly in the names of two or more shareholders.

3. Incase of mismatch in PAN card details as well as difference in maiden name and current name (in case of married women) of the investors -

3.1. The RTAs can collect the PAN card as submitted by the transferee(s).

However, this would be subject to the RTAs verifying the veracity of the claim of such transferee(s) by collecting sufficient documentary evidence in support of the identity of the transferee(s) as provided for at para. 2 in the SEBI circular no. MRD/DoP/Dep/Cir-29/2004 dated August 24, 2004 read with SEBI circular no. MRD/DoP/Cir-08/2007 dated June 25, 2007.

4. All Stock Exchanges are advised to:-

4.1. implement the above by making necessary amendments to the byelaws and Listing Agreement, as applicable;

4.2. bring the provisions of this circular to the notice of the listed companies for necessary compliance and also to put the same on their website for easy access to the investors; and

4.3. communicate to SEBI the status of the implementation of the provisions of this circular and the action taken in this regard in the Monthly Development Report.

5. All Registrars to an Issue and Share Transfer Agents are advised to:-

5.1. take necessary steps to implement the above decision.

5.2. disseminate the provisions of this circular on their website.

6. This circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under section 11(1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992, read with section 55A of Companies Act to protect interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market.

Results of Elections to Managing Committee of Ahmedabad Branch

Elections to the Managing Committee for Ahmedabad Branch was held on 9th January and Counting took place on 10th Jaunary. Total 2034 votes were cated in a single day for the branch election and it was highest no. of votes.

 

Following are the winning candidates and their votes

 

 

Sr No.	Name of Candidate	No. of Votes
1	NAGRI NIREN MORLIDHAR - 10	1145
2	DOCTOR DEVANG ANILKUMAR - 1	1045
3	SHAH SANJAY RASIKLAL - 14	1039
4	VAKIL JAINIK NAUTAMBHAI - 17	1035
5	TALATI ANIKET SUNIL - 16	1022
6	KHANDELWAL PURUSHOTTAM LAL - 7	992
7	KEDIA SUBODHKUMAR BAJRANGLAL - 6	935
8	SHAH TUSHAR JAYANTILAL - 15	922

 

 

Following are the details of votes of members who contested and lost

 

Sr No.	Name of Candidate	No. of Votes
9	LANGALIA VISHALKUMAR DINESHCHANDRA - 9	875
10	SHAH HIREN DINESHBHAI - 13	864
11	SHAH CHIRAG MAHENDRABHAI - 12	857
12	KHANDHAR AMISH JASHVANTLAL - 8	840
13	PAMNANI CHANDRAKANT HARNAMDAS - 11	822
14	GATTANI SHARAD RAMKRISHNA - 3	818
15	JOSHIPURA JAGDISH PADMAKANT - 5	763
16	DOSHI CHINTAN MUKUNDBHAI - 2	737
17	JHA SATYENDRAKUMAR KRISHANDEO - 4	310

Amendment to Gratuity Act

Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) act, 2009 - amendment in section 2 and insertion of section 13A

An Act to further amend the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

Be it enacted by Parliament in the Sixtieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

Short title and commencement

1. (1) This Act may be called the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2009.

(2) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 3rd day of April, 1997.

2. In the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (39 of 1972) (hereinafter referred to as 'the principal Act'), in section 2, for clause (e), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—

'(e) "employee" means any person (other than an apprentice) who is employed for wages, whether the terms of such employment are express or implied, in any kind of work, manual or otherwise, in or in connection with the work of a factory, mine, oilfield, plantation, port, railway company, shop or other establishment to which this Act applies, but does not include any such person who holds a post under the Central Government or a State Government and is governed by any other Act or by any rules providing for payment of gratuity;'.

3. After section 13 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—

"13A. Validation of payment of gratuity - Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court, for the period commencing on and from the 3rd day of April, 1997 and ending on the day on which the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2009, receives the assent of the President, the gratuity shall be payable to an employee in pursuance of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Labour and Employment vide number S.O. 1080, dated the 3rd day of April, 1997 and the said notification shall be valid and shall be deemed always to have been valid as if the Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Act, 2009 had been in force at all material times and the gratuity shall be payable accordingly:

Provided that nothing contained in this section shall extend, or be construed to extend, to affect any person with any punishment or penalty whatsoever by reason of the non-payment by him of the gratuity during the period specified in this section which shall become due in pursuance of the said notification.".

Stay of Central Council Elections on Postal Ballot issue

The stay on declaration of results of Central council has been granted in the matter related to Postal Ballot. Around 92 postal ballots were received in lot and those were rejected.The case is related to that. Let us wait for the hearing!!

Internal Audit of Credit Rating Agencies

Internal Audit for Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs)

Circular No. SEBI/MIRSD/CRA/Cir-01/2010, dated 6-1-2010

It has been decided in consultation with the credit rating agencies (CRAs) that the audit envisaged under Regulation 22 of the SEBI (Credit Rating Regulations), 1999 shall include an internal audit to be undertaken in the following manner:

a. It shall be conducted on a half yearly basis.

b. It shall be conducted by Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries or Cost and Management Accountants who are in practice and who do not have any conflict of interest with the CRA.

c. It shall cover all aspects of CRA operations and procedures, including investor grievance redressal mechanism, compliance with the requirements stipulated in the SEBI Act, Rules and Regulations made thereunder, and guidelines issued by SEBI from time to time.

d. The report shall state the methodology adopted, deficiencies observed, and consideration of response of the management on the deficiencies.

e. The report shall include a summary of operations and of the audit, covering the size of operations, number of transactions audited and the number of instances where violations / deviations were observed while making observations on the compliance of any regulatory requirement.

f. The report shall comment on the adequacy of systems adopted by the CRA for compliance with the requirements of regulations and guidelines issued by SEBI and investor grievance redressal.

2. The time schedule for the internal audit shall be as under:

a. The CRA shall receive the report of the internal audit within two months from the end of the half-year.

b. The Board of Directors of the CRA shall consider the report and take steps to rectify the deficiencies, if any, and the CRA shall send an Action Taken Report to SEBI within next two months.

3. It is clarified that for the half-year October 2009 - March 2010, the CRA shall receive the report of the internal audit by May 31, 2010. Its Board of Directors shall consider the report and take appropriate measures to rectify the deficiencies and the CRA shall send the Action Taken Report to SEBI by July 31, 2010.

4. This circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 11 (1) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 read with the provisions of Regulations 19(1), 20 and 22 of the SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 to protect the interest of investors in securities and to promote the development of and to regulate the securities market.

Stay of Rajasthan High Court on notificationm of declaration of results of Central Council

ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING NOTIFICATION OF THE DECLARATION OF RESULTS OF ELECTION TO THE COUNCIL AND REGIONAL COUNCILS

6th January, 2010

The Notification of the declaration of results under Rule 36 of the Chartered Accountants (Election to the Council) Rules, 2006 was to be published in the Gazette of India dated 6th January, 2010. While the Notification on the declaration of results of election to the 20th Regional Councils is being notified in the Gazette of India dated 6th January, 2010, however, the notification on the declaration of results in respect of election to the 21st Council is withheld arising out of the Stay granted by the Honourable High Court of Judicature for Rajasthan, Jaipur Bench, Jaipur vide its Orders dated 5.1.2010 in Civil Writ Petitions Nos. 157/2010 and 158/2010.

Please wait for the further Announcement in respect of the Notification on declaration of the results of election to the 21st Council.

(T. Karthikeyan) Returning Officer & Secretary

Pune Branch Elections Called Off

Pune branch elections have been called of by WIRC. Following allegations and counter allegations, the elections have been called off by WIRC and a fresh procedure will be initiated.

Pune: Branch Elections has created lots of controversy, matter goes to court!

• Branch elections has become more controversial than the RC and CC elections. All the major branches in WIRC is having fierce fighting at branch level. It's really disheartening that in the elections of a professional body, such controversy are created.
• It is always welcome if someone make effort to bring the people to consensus and a team of managing committee is elected unanimously which is representing the people at large. But these exercises sometimes lead to bigger divide than cementing the relations. People have alleged pressure, and forced withdrawals in the process.
• For newly elected Central Council Member from Pune, its as said in Sanskrit, "Pratham Grase Makshika Bhakshanam."
• As per my information Pune election has now reached to court. It is expected that the branch elections are likely to be postponed and the election process will be re-initiated.
• The initial notice sent by branch for the Special General Meeting for Pune branch elections mentioned that the SGM is convened at 6 pm on January 7th to elect the new managing committee for Pune branch. The election notification however states that the timing of elections is 8 am to 6 pm on January 7th. As a matter of procedure, the election can not be conducted before the SGM, because the elections are the agenda on the SGM. Later on branch came out with an Errata to change the time to 8 am which created another technical problem of having a minimum gap of 10 days in date of election and list of final candidates.
• Rejections of the nominations of the candidates too have created many controversies. Candidates has challenged the rejections on the basis of mismatching addresses or writing names with surname first or first name first.
• In the whole process the returning officer too has target of candidates ire. Candidates blaming the Returning officer that he has not complied with the procedural requirement with respect to the dates and sequence of events.
• Its really a sorry state of affairs that we the members of such an esteemed professional body can't conduct our branch elections peacefully and matter goes to court of law.
• I have a suggestion, ICAI should conduct branch election too along with RC and CC elections. And if not for all, then at least for big branches having more than 2000 members, the elections should be conducted along with RC & CC. We can vote on three ballot papers instead of two. What do you think? Please comment..

IndianCAs: Goods and Service Tax (GST) Through Frequently Asked Questions

Hello Member,

Do you want to know more about Goods and Service Tax (GST)? Here is the FAQ by T B Chaterjee, you will really like it, if you are interested in the subject.

http://indiancas.blogspot.com/2010/01/faq-on-gst-by-tb-chaterjee.html

If you wish to read about WIRC Office Bearers Elections going on read following postings:

1. WIRC Office Bearers Combination - 2

http://indiancas.blogspot.com/2010/01/wirc-office-bearers-combination-2.html

2. WIRC: Who will make office bearer of WIRC? Combination 1

http://indiancas.blogspot.com/2010/01/wirc-who-will-make-office-bearer-of.html

3. Who will rule WIRC for next three years? Part-2

http://indiancas.blogspot.com/2010/01/who-will-rule-wirc-for-next-three-years_02.html

4. Who will rule WIRC for next three years? Part-1

http://indiancas.blogspot.com/2010/01/who-will-rule-wirc-for-next-three-years.html

Thanks & Regards,

Ashwin Nagar

WIRC Office Bearers Combination - 2

Welcome Back.
So now the combination 2. Why, because Combination 1 has got many problems. Many people and limited posts.

• Vadodara has historically getting position of vice-chairmanship and Vadodara has always been with the winning combination. This time Vadodara is in problem. The challenges are from Surat for the position of vice-chairmanship. Not only Surat, but Pune is also putting a big challenge to the combination and claiming vice-chairmanship. So Who will get this position in addition to B K Patel and Makrand Joshi? Very interesting. If you want to take my view, Vadodara is trusted and old companion, so I bet on Vadodara, Rajesh Bhai, congratulations!!
• Surat is a growing economy and crunching a large no. of chartered accountants every year. Surat has also become politically very active. Historically Surat was always with Mumbai candidates, but now since B K Rathi, Surat wants to make its on presence felt and want to play a role in the region. Surat has proved at many occasions that its not behind Vadodara in any case. It was inactive but it doesn't mean, its incapable. So you can't right off the Surat's claim so easily. Best of Luck Jay Chhaira!!
• Pune is as big or bigger than Ahmedabad. if Ahmedabad gets vice-chairmanship why not Pune. Only problem is that my humble friend Dinesh Gandhi is very sober person. He doesn't believe in position. He is happy even if he gets and even if not.
• C V Pawar is also claimiant for vice-chairmanship, but I think he has been sidelined by the current combination and most likely he will have to find the address of the coffee shop at cuffe parade which I mentioned in my earlier post.
• Secretaries are fixed and happy. Anil Bhandari, Mangesh Kinare and Shardul Shah. No other challenger.
• Treasurership too has become a bone of contention. One of the two Vadodara or Surat will get it. Dinesh Gandhi will another claimaint along with Julfesh Shah. Parag too is there to claim it. So one of the two Parag or Julfesh will get it.

So looking at all this, I think Combination 2 too is working. How?

Chairmen:

• N C Hegde
• Sunil Patodia
• Durgesh Kabra

Vice-Charimen:

• Jay Chhaira
• C V Pawar
• Rajesh Shah

Secretary:

• Anil Bhandari
• Parag Raval
• Vishnu Agarwal

Treasurer:

• Julfesh Shah
• Neel Majithia
• Diensh Gandhi

• What will happen to Ashok Jain? I understand, he is a force in himself, so he will not be part of any group. He will remain out whichever combination succeeds.
• You forgot Dhiraj Khandelwal? No I didn't, I think its a cooling period for his chairmanship claim. He has really worked very hard in his last term.
• Shruti Shah and Dilip Apte will not take any position so far.

What do you think about this combination? And its possibility? Explore till the first combination settle their problems.