The Chartered Accountant
The Chartered Accountant
The Chartered Accountant
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own residential Centre of Excellence at Jaipur,<br />
the foundation stone of which was laid in September,<br />
2008, is going on and I am confident<br />
that this Centre of Excellence will become operational<br />
by next year. This will help us in making<br />
the 3-month residential course mandatory<br />
for all CA students before they are admitted as<br />
members of the Institute.<br />
Residential Course for Senior Members<br />
at Hyderabad<br />
<strong>The</strong> aforementioned three-month residential<br />
programme for students and newly qualified<br />
members was started to groom chartered accountants<br />
into a class of matchless professionals.<br />
However, at the same time there is a pressing<br />
need to ensure that senior members who<br />
did not have the opportunity of undergoing<br />
such a residential course, both in industry and<br />
practice, also have an opportunity to enhance<br />
their competitive competence and communication<br />
skills as well as their practical skills and<br />
professional and leadership abilities. Accordingly,<br />
it has been decided to start residential programmes<br />
of short duration for senior members<br />
as well and to have a Centre of Excellence for<br />
them. I am very happy to inform you that the<br />
ICAI’s first such Centre of Excellence is going<br />
to be inaugurated at Hyderabad by the end of<br />
December, 2008. This Centre of Excellence at<br />
Hyderabad is spread over about three acres of<br />
land and is being equipped to have world-class<br />
facilities for holding a top level residential programme.<br />
This Centre of Excellence at Hyderabad<br />
has been conceptualized to be a landmark<br />
in the field of education and training, a learning<br />
and research hub for accountancy in India, and<br />
also a centre to help formulate economic and<br />
financial policies. In the Diamond Jubilee year<br />
of its service to the nation, this will indeed be<br />
yet another feather in the ICAI’s cap.<br />
Revamped Online Payment System<br />
It has been our constant endeavour to improve<br />
the functioning of the systems in the Institute<br />
to suit modern-day requirements. As part of<br />
this process, the online payment system of the<br />
Institute has been totally revamped to facilitate<br />
easy and real time online payments towards<br />
membership fees, enrollment of members,<br />
registration of students, registration for examination,<br />
ordering of publications, registration<br />
DECEMBER 2008 948 THE CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT<br />
FROM THE PRESIDENT<br />
for conferences/seminars, registration for elearning<br />
courses, donations if any and many<br />
other services being offered by the Institute.<br />
I may assure you that the new online services<br />
portal is highly reliable and user-friendly payment<br />
gateway.<br />
Need to fulfil CPE Requirements<br />
As you know, the main objective of the Continuing<br />
Professional Education (CPE) requirements,<br />
which are mandatory for all members<br />
of the Institute with effect from 1st January<br />
2008, is to enhance the skills and capabilities<br />
of the professionals. Tremendous efforts are<br />
being put to fulfill this objective of CPE by<br />
organizing a series of programmes in different<br />
areas of professional and related activities for<br />
the benefit of members. During the period 1st January, 2008 to 10th November this year, the<br />
total number of CPE hours generated has been<br />
a mammoth 7,65,000. Even more encouraging<br />
is the fact that out of the total membership<br />
of 69,582 holding Certificate of Practice<br />
(excluding the senior members and members<br />
residing abroad) around 14,000 members have<br />
already completed the minimum requirement<br />
of 20 CPE hours in the calendar year 2008<br />
much before the stipulated time. I congratulate<br />
all such members for completing the CPE<br />
requirements so enthusiastically.<br />
However, I am concerned about a large number<br />
of members who have apparently not<br />
taken the CPE requirements seriously. It is<br />
disturbing to note that despite the fact that<br />
first calendar year 2008 of the rolling threeyear<br />
period 2008-2010 is nearing its close,<br />
many members are yet to initiate the process<br />
of acquiring CPE hours for 2008. I appeal to<br />
all such members to complete CPE Credit requirement<br />
for the calendar year 2008 and plan<br />
their work schedules for 2009 in such a manner<br />
that they complete the CPE requirements<br />
comfortably throughout the year instead of<br />
making a last minute rush for the same in the<br />
last months. Completing the CPE Credit requirements<br />
hurriedly, just for the sake of it, is<br />
hardly desirable. This defeats the very purpose<br />
of the CPE and is not in the interest of the<br />
profession.<br />
You could verify the number of CPE credit<br />
hours earned by you through the CPE Portal,