PMs statement on the current economic situation in the country Following is the text of the Prime Minister, Dr.

Manmohan Singhs statement in the Lok Sabha, on the current economic situation in the country: The movement of the exchange rate of the Indian Rupee recently has been a matter of concern. The Rupee has depreciated sharply against the dollar since the last week of May. There are concerns, and justifiably so, of the impact this would have on our economy. What triggered the sharp and sudden depreciation was the markets reaction to certain unexpected external developments. On May 22, 2013, the US Federal Reserve Bank indicated that it would soon taper its quantitative easing as the US economy was recovering. This led to a reversal of capital flows to emerging economies which are now sharply pulling down not just the Rupee, but also the Brazilian Real, the Turkish Lira, the Indonesian Rupiah, the South African Rand and many other currencies. While global factors such as tensions over Syria and the prospect of U.S. Federal Reserve tapering its policy of quantitative easing have caused general weaknesses in emerging market currencies, the rupee has been especially hit because of our large current account deficit and some other domestic factors. We intend to act to reduce the current account deficit and bring about an improvement in the functioning of our economy. In 2010-11 and the years prior to it, our current account deficit was more modest and financing it was not difficult, even in the crisis year of 2008-09. Since then, there has been a deterioration, mainly on account of huge imports of gold, higher costs of crude oil imports and recently, of coal. On the export side, weak demand in our major markets has kept our exports from growing. Exports have been further hit by a collapse in iron ore exports. Taken together, these factors have made our current account deficit unsustainably large. Clearly we need to reduce our appetite for gold, economise in the use of petroleum products and take steps to increase our exports. We have taken measures to reduce the current account deficit. The Finance Minister has indicated that it will be below $ 70 billion this year, and we will take all possible steps to ensure that outcome. These are already showing results with a declining trade deficit in both June and July. The Government is confident that we will be able to lower our current account deficit to $70 billion. Our medium term objective is to reduce the current account deficit to 2.5% of our GDP. Our short term objective is to finance the current account deficit in an orderly fashion. We will make every effort to maintain a macro economic framework friendly to foreign capital inflows to enable orderly financing of the current account deficit. Coming back to the effects of the Rupee depreciation, we must realise that part of this depreciation was merely a needed adjustment. Inflation in India has been much higher than in the advanced countries. Therefore, it is natural that there has to be a correction in the exchange rate to account for this difference. To some extent, depreciation can be good for the economy as this will help to increase our export competitiveness and discourage imports. There are many sectors which are regaining competitiveness in export markets as a result of the fall in the exchange rate. Over the next few months, I expect the effects of this to be felt more strongly, both in exports and in the financial position of exporting sectors. This in itself would correct the current account deficit to some extent.

However, foreign exchange markets have a notorious history of overshooting. Unfortunately this is what is happening not only in relation to the Rupee but also other currencies. The RBI and Government have taken a number of steps to stabilize the rupee. Some measures have given rise to doubts in some quarters that capital controls are on the horizon. I would like to assure the House and the world at large, that the Government is not contemplating any such measures. The last two decades have seen India grow as an open economy and we have benefitted from it. There is no question of reversing these policies just because there is some turbulence in capital and currency markets. The sudden decline in the exchange rate is certainly a shock, but we will address this through other measures, not through capital controls or by reversing the process of reforms. The Finance Minister has clarified this matter at length, and I take this opportunity to reaffirm our position. Ultimately, the value of the rupee is determined by the fundamentals of our economy. While we have taken a number of actions to strengthen those fundamentals, we intend to do more. Growth has slowed down in recent quarters. I expect growth in the first quarter of 2013-14 to be relatively flat, but as the effects of the good monsoon kick in, I expect it to pick up. There are many reasons for this optimism. The decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Investment in reviving stalled projects will start bearing fruit in the second half of the year. The full effects of the growth friendly measures that have been taken over the last six months, such as liberalizing norms for Foreign Direct Investment, resolution of some tax issues of concern to industry and fuel subsidy reform will come into play over the year resulting in higher growth particularly in manufacturing. Exports are also starting to look up as the growth performance of the rest of the world is showing signs of improvement. So I believe growth will pick up in the second half of the fiscal year barring extreme unforeseen eventualities. There are questions about the size of the fiscal deficit. The government will do whatever is necessary to contain the fiscal deficit to 4.8% of GDP this year. The most growth-friendly way to contain the deficit is to spend carefully, especially on subsidies that do not reach the poor, and we will take effective steps to that end. Inflation measured by the Wholesale Price Index has been coming down, even though inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index is still too high. The depreciation of the rupee and rise in dollar prices of petroleum products will no doubt lead to some further upward pressure on prices. The Reserve Bank will therefore continue to focus on bringing down inflation. The favourable monsoon and the anticipated good harvest will help bring down food prices and ease the task of controlling inflation. All in all, the macro-stabilization process which should support the value of the rupee is under way. I expect that as the fruits of our efforts materialize, currency markets will recover. Even while we go about doing what is necessary, it is important to recognize that the fundamentals of the Indian economy continue to be strong. Indias overall public -debt to GDP ratio has been on a declining trend from 73.2% of GDP in 2006-07 to 66% in 2012-13. Similarly, Indias external debt is only 21.2% of our GDP and while short -term debt has risen, it stands at no more than 5.2% of our GDP. Our foreign exchange reserves stand at US$278bn, and are more than sufficient to meet Indias external financing requi rements.

Many foreign analysts worry about banking problems that may arise in the wake of the currency crisis. The Indian banking sector has seen some rise in bad loans. The question that needs to be asked is whether there is a liquidity problem or a solvency problem for the borrowers. My belief is that there is a liquidity problem. Many of the projects are not unviable but only delayed, in contrast to the overbuilding that has characterized the banking sector problems in many other countries. As these projects come on stream, they will generate revenue and repay loans. Our banks are fortunately well capitalized much above the Basel norms and they have the capacity to provide for any non-performing assets until those assets are turned around. The easy reforms of the past have been done. We have the more difficult reforms to do such as reduction of subsidies, insurance and pension sector reforms, eliminating bureaucratic red tape and implementing Goods and Services Tax. These are not low hanging fruit and they need active political consensus. It is here that I urge Honourable Members across the political spectrum to reflect on the need of the hour. Many laws that are necessary are held up for lack of political consensus. Reforms such as the Goods and Services Tax, which everyone agrees is essential to restore growth and boost revenues, require States to come to an agreement. We need to forge consensus on such vital issues. I urge political parties to work towards this end and to join in the governments efforts to put the economy back on the path of stable, sustainable growth. There may be short term shocks to our economy and we need to face them. That is the reality of operating in a globalised economy, whose benefits we have reaped over the last 15 to 20 years. We will need to ensure that the fundamentals of the economy remain strong so that India continues to grow at a healthy rate for many years to come. That we will ensure. We are no doubt faced with important challenges, but we have the capacity to address them. It is at times like these that the nation shows what it is truly capable of. Dollar Hunger Eating Rupee Valuation CA Arun Prakash Swami Vivekananda had once said that Strength is life and Weakness is Death. Nowadays the dollar and rupee have become the synonyms for Strength and Weakness respectively. The dollar rich countries are able to survive and the others are proceeding towards the dead end of economic crisis. So if you are thinking about vacations outside India then think again as it is going to cost more to your pockets. Import intensive industry may shrink the size of its cheques. Oxford degree will be floating at premium. Your grocery bills will have more numbers as cash outflow but less for items inflow. Surprised about these!! Dont be as these are the direct/side effects of the dollar hunger eating the rupee valuation. Before starting the discussion let us understand the meaning of the rupee devaluation. Broadly speaking devaluation represents the decrease in the value of national currency as against the other nations currency. In simple words if by paying a fixed amount of domestic currency we are able to buy fewer amounts of foreign currency then it is a state of devaluation. Usually every country is having a foreign exchange market to deal with its forex requirement or to be more specific trade the currency. Indian foreign exchange system was based on the fixed rate model till 90s. Afterwards it switched to floating rate model. Under the fixed rate model the central bank used to fix the equivalent rate against the foreign currency of dollar, pound etc. However in case of floating rate system the exchange rate is determined based on the free market forces of demand and supply. If demand increases as against the supply the value increases and if supply increases as against the demand the value decreases. So technically if 1$= 40 Rs in January and the

same is Rs 50 in March it means that $ has become costlier by Rs 10 or rupee has devaluated as against the dollar. Though as a concept it may be easy to understand but the effect of it has been very discouraging for our economy. Just peep into the historical outset you will find how much disastrous the devaluation was. Historical Financial Crisis: The first historical crisis broke in 1966 where despite of rigorous efforts the government failed to manage the payment deficits. As the imports were higher than exports and the inflationary conditions added more fuel to it the trade deficit was unavoidable. In simple words if the inflation in one country is higher than the other then domestic goods become more expensive as compared to foreign goods resulting into increased imports. In addition to the abovementioned The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 led the US and other countries friendly towards Pakistan to withdraw foreign aid to India, which necessitated more devaluation of rupee. After 1966 the pace of financial crisis slowed down but it again knocked the door of India in 1991. The condition of balance of payment had worsened leading to serious economic trouble. India was almost at the verge of default as the forex reserves were close to end. This was the time when the financial crisis again hit the Indian economy and the damages were significant. It was the time when India needed to relook its economy and the policies framed to serve the economic needs. As recourse the government had imposed quantitative restrictions, provided export subsidy, and introduced floating exchange rate system. Though the remedial measures may have reduced the risk and restricted Indian economy to reach to a vulnerable position but these were not permanent in nature. The fall in rupee valuation did not stop. And today the devaluation is such that it may paralyze the economy if the right measure at the right time and at the right place is not taken. What is bothering rupee? Why dollar is gaining demand? What has caused the waterfall of Indias domestic currency? Are we back in 1966/1991 state? These are the few questions which are required to be established before we move ahead to decide the remedial measures to be undertaken. Just have a look at the rupee water fall trend:

Major Reasons cooking up the devaluation: Pinch of Euro Zone Recession: The Euro Zone crisis has dampened the investors mindset and restricted them to make any risky investments. The uncertainty prevailing in the Euro zone and the recessionary global conditions have put immense pressure on the foreign investments. Even the Indian trade has been affected adversely on account of the same. Being a vital market for India the reduced demand conditions in the EU Zone has become a barricade for Indian Exports and the same has started declining. The Indian exports which used to make 16% of the total exports to EU in 2008 have declined to approx 13% in 2012. The downgrading of Indias credit rating to BBB has also contributed to the foreign investment sentiments resulting into devaluation of rupees. Dollar shining like gold: Dollar index is shining like gold. The US Federal is not in a mood to print more dollars. The global recessionary conditions including Euro Zone have built more confidence on the federal currency. For Investors also the capital preservation has become as important as the capital appreciation. Even Asian countries including India burdened with higher inflationary pressure and coupled with increasing current account deficits have given momentum to dollar which brought down the rupee to touch a historical low of Rs 64/$. So for investors the dollar heaven i e US has become the safer place to invest. Shrinking GDP Rising CAD: The annual gross domestic product averaged at 5.84% from 1951 till 2013. The FY 13 figures for GDP managed to reach barely 5%. The declining GDP and rising Current Account deficits have always been a problem area for our economy. The reduced exports and increasing imports have caused huge trade deficit. The import of oil usually represented a larger part of the import bill. Other imports including coal increased significantly in last few years resulting into higher CAD. Slowdown in the global economy adversely affected the demand for the Indian goods. The increased unplanned expenditures also triggered the alarming situation of fiscal deficit.

Lower investor Confidence: The economic growth figures are not very encouraging for India. The decreasing growth rate coupled with higher inflation is no boost to the global investor. This has added further selling pressure on rupee. The bleak fundamental outlook, depleting forex reserves and increasing CAD became the biggest barriers for rupee appreciation and capital inflows. The above cited reasons are few important ones having direct impact on the rupee devaluation. Though the exporters will be very happy with depreciating currency but economy as a whole is facing the real challenge at this juncture. Though the fall in oil prices may have offset the depreciating effect of rupee partially but this is just a drop of water in the open ocean. So what are the possible/ probable steps our policy makers can take? Single Window for Oil Bills: The major dollar demand is from the oil companies to pay off the imported oil bill. They are the largest domestic buyers of the dollar. As these companies buy or bid for dollars from different verticals huge demand is created for dollars. As an instant measure even RBI announced that banks should not carry out proprietary trading in currency. Though the similar policy had been announced last year where the state run oil companies had been instructed to buy US currency from single public sector bank to reduce the amount sourced through competitive quotes from multiple banks but the same were never implemented. The policies with body without soul may provide first aid but not a permanent good health. There is immediate need to eradicate these policy paralyses to boost the Indian economy. Review of Foreign Investment Limit: At this point of time the capital inflow to Indian economy is a serious concern. The FDI reduction to US$27 billion in FY 2012 as against the US$ 32 billion in FY 11 has compelled the Ministry of Finance to review its policies in the context of foreign direct investment. Though with the liberalization policy the limits for investments changed from time to time but still the sectors like insurance, pension, aviation, retail and defense have scope for revision. The sectoral caps need to be revisited for enhancement to the maximum extent possible in order to make India an investment destination. Exporters to liquidate their Open positions: In a devaluating state the export intensive country stands to gain. But the same benefit does not extend to India where import bills are huge. The urge to gain more by the exporters in a country like India by holding their gain and not liquidating their open

positions just because they smell further fall in rupee is a serious concern. But as the central body RBI needs to ask the exporters to convert the part or full foreign currency earnings to give immediate relief to the rupee fall story. It may be backed by certain tax incentives from the finance ministry for a particular time frame so as to encourage the dollar supply. Holding the import payments: In order to postpone the payment of import bills the short term restriction may be put by the policy makers. This will provide short term relief with lowering of the demand for dollars. Further the cushion of contract flexibility will help the importers to get the advantage for extended credit period. Foreign borrowings and local lending: The bankers and financial institutions may opt for dollar borrowings at a cheaper rate to lend the same locally. The dollar borrowing shall result in increased supply of dollar. In the past also these measures have proved to be effective. Even the corporate have opted for these dollar loans where their earnings are also linked with dollar to avoid the rupee mismatch. Revisiting the norms for CAD to GDP ratio: Earlier the Rangarajan committee had defined that the tolerance limit for CAD to GDP should not exceed 2-2.5% of GDP. However the same has been overlooked in the recent past. There is a real need to revisit the norms for CAD to GDP ratio and define the various check points as control measures when the same exceeds the tolerable limit. In financial year 201 2-13 the CAD rose to 4.8% of GDP and in December quarter it made a historic high of 6.7%. Utilization of Black Reserves for White Purposes: I may be calling it black reserve because the black money sitting in swiss accounts definitely are not in Indian currency so bringing back the black money will certainly increase the forex reserves of the country. Good part will be that it will not lead to further inflation as the surplus INR will not be injected in the economy. We do have enough opportunities for injection of capital for conversion of the same to product and services worth more than the capital that has been injected which shall result in sustainable growth supporting INR. Though RBI by announcing the single window methodology for buying of dollars for our Oil Companies and SEBI by tightening the exposure norms for currency derivatives to check large scale speculation might have provided an interim relief to Indian rupee but the question remains is that all which our government can do to push our economy? The answer is No. Till the policy makers are not able to implement the policies to its roots we shall keep on fighting for temporary measure to check the rupee volatility. The real growth story needs to be focused. The core sectors needs to be given priority. The unplanned expenditures need to be curtailed. The planned expenditures need to be spent for the purpose for which they are meant. The benefits of the Indian spending must be visible to the domestic and foreign investors. The growth should not only be in numbers rather it should be backed by facts of improvements, developments and success. Unless the real passion for developments is visible from the economic policies the success story of India cannot be written. So allow the rupee to float and save it from sinking. 1. Excellent article Arun! Clearly, negative balance of payment coupled with low GDP is causing this problem. And to add to the misery we are witnessing a very high inflation. If RBI raises the

interest rate the growth in the short term would be impacted. If rates are not hiked, there is excess supply of money and hence inflation. This is tricky- balancing growth, saving rupee and containing inflation. I view another factor -excessive consumption of foreign goods i.e. electronics market is booming and everybody trying to get a sophisticated handsetwhere it is coming from? All imported! With the shift in our lifestyle and demography- we are suffering from consumerism of foreign goods. I think we need to go back to Swadesi- at least to lower the impact! RBI announces Measures to address Exchange Rate Volatility 15TH JULY 2013 The market perception of likely tapering of US Quantitative Easing has triggered outflows of portfolio investment, particularly from the debt segment. Consequently, the Rupee has depreciated markedly in the last six weeks. Countries with large current account deficits, such as India, have been particularly affected despite their relatively promising economic fundamentals. The exchange rate pressure also evidences that the demand for foreign currency has increased vis-a-vis that of the Rupee in part because of the improving domestic liquidity situation. Against this backdrop, and the need to restore stability to the foreign exchange market, the following measures are announced: i. The Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) rate is recalibrated with immediate effect to be 300 basis points above the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF). Consequently, the MSF rate will now be 10.25 per cent. ii. Accordingly, the Bank Rate also stands adjusted to 10.25 per cent with immediate effect. iii. The overall allocation of funds under the LAF will be limited to 1.0 per cent of the Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) of the banking system, reckoned as Rs.75,000 crore for this purpose. The allocation to individual banks will be made in proportion to their bids, subject to the overall ceiling. This change in LAF will come into effect from July 17, 2013. iv. The Reserve Bank will conduct Open Market Sales of Government of India Securities of Rs.12,000 crore on July 18, 2013. Details of the securities included for the OMO sale auction will be announced through a separate press release tomorrow. The Reserve Bank will continue to closely monitor the markets, the liquidity situation and the macroeconomic developments and will take such other measures as may be necessary, consistent with the growth-inflation dynamics and macroeconomic stability. Source- RBI No need to Panic on Rupee and Economic Front : ICAI President ICAI Presidents Message September 2013 (30-08-2013) Dear Friends, I sincerely express our gratitude to everybody who has helped in shaping the journey of the accountancy profession of India in the past. I would extend my deep appreciation to all of them for their sheer sense of wisdom and keenness to guide our profession, and the help and support the profession has received through various platforms and channels. And finally, I must say that it will always be our pleasure and privilege to have their wise presence amongst us. I also take this opportunity to express our professions solidarity with the aggrieved family of our past-President CA. (Dr.) Rustom C. Cooper, who left for his heavenly abode recently. He was 91. He was our Central Council member for two consecutive terms (1958-64). He became our President in the year 1963-64. May his noble soul rest in peace!

Rajya Sabha Passes Companies Bill Now that the Bill has been passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, we will systematically take up our concerns. We have taken up our issues with the competent authorities before. Recently, our Council discussed them too. We sincerely believe that there is a scope to address them through rules which will be exposed for public comments very soon. I will request all of you to send in your comments on the rules. At the same time, we are duty-bound to follow the law of the land and ensure our compliance, and we will, wherever required, also bring out guidance notes for smooth implementation of the provisions of the Bill. Dr. S. Radhakrishnan had showed his absolute trust in our profession almost 55 years back: you have it in your power to do your best to expose corruption, fr aud, leakage and wastage. You must be able to do it. It is only by that test that your services to the country will be tested ultimately. It is not what you do or what you dont do that mattered very much. The important thing is whether you have satisfied your consciencethat must be the supreme canon of public behaviour. We have been walking along these lines while sticking to the highest order of ethical conduct. Here his words become quite relevant. Our nation should know how Dr. Radhakrishnan had visualised our responsibilities: In matters relating to the public enterprises which we undertake, our duty should be to see that monies spent are properly spent and that there is no wastage. That is a thing which you have to promote. You will help us in maintaining high standards of public behaviour by your frank and candid accounting and auditing. Today, the Accountancy profession in India stands on these strong plinths and pedestals. No need to Panic on Rupee and Economic Front It is true that the Indian rupee has crossed the 65-dollar mark against the US dollar recently. Despite that, I am absolutely hopeful and in complete agreement with our Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram that although the rupee has depreciated beyond a reasonable and appropriate level, there is no need to panic and that the situation will improve in the coming months. This hope rightly stems from a series of serious and proactive measures taken by the Finance Ministry in tandem with the Planning Commission. We need not overreact since currency fluctuation is a worldwide phenomenon. The dollar is surging against most of the currencies worldwide, as the US is recovering from its slump and the world continues to have faith in the dollar as its reserve currency. It is true that the Indian rupee has depreciated by more than 7.5% this year, but so have currencies across the Asian and Latin American economies. So, the panic is not local. The RBI has undertaken measures to curb this volatility. The central bank has been selling dollars and buying excess rupees from the system and taking up measures for increasing export, reducing imports and raising the borrowing costs for banks, while closely observing the external developments that may lead to depreciation. I fully support our Finance Minister when he says that the Government is exploring the structural measures to further reduce the current account deficits. RBI Governor Shri D. Subbarao sounds comforting when he says that our country has got adequate foreign exchange reserves to manage the depreciation of the rupee. He has promised that the RBI will continue its cash-tightening measures till the Indian rupee stabilises. As a result of this depreciation, our economy has opened up more than before. Exportoriented sectors are looking forward to some better days. Analysts are of the opinion that the Indian economy will be able to weather currency risks and continue to grow over the next few months. In this scenario, we Chartered Accountants, on our part, should help effectively implement the Governments measures to stem the fall of the rupee and get the countrys fiscal arithmetic right and economy back on track. Our economic credentials are

still the best among emerging economies, and I sincerely hope our macroeconomic indicators will remain fundamentally robust in the long run. We recently formed a Study Group on Indian Economy in order to look into broad parameters of the Indian economy and its relevance to our profession. The Group will analyse how to revive the economy while suggesting both smart short- and long-term goals and measures that can be recommended further up. Using this Group, we can also observe the utility and viability of large-scale socially-funded projects while promoting sustainable competency. Working for Womens Empowerment A UNICEF study on girls education in South Asia has noted: Promoting girls education has been a priority in India for over a century, but discrepancies still persist in learning opportunities. According to this study, public education for rural and poor girls and women basically aims to acquire literacy and numeracy, while superior schools are beyond their reach. It has noted further: Only limited learning opportunities in rural public schools are left for girls from poor and deprived families. The report raises the issue on quality of girls education, since access to education for them is not an issue. Therefore, something concrete needs to be done for womens education in India. Besides what our Government is doing in this regard, I feel it is our social responsibility to see that the benefit of such benevolent schemes reach the desired sections of our society. At ICAI, we provide equal opportunity to the women of our society, whether it is about education or employment. The growing number of female members and students, and their better performance over the years in the recent past are evidences of our women-friendly policies and endeavours. I personally feel, since women in our country have long been denied their dues, it is time to render special attention to them. You will be pleased to know that more than 20% members and more than 34% students at present in our profession are female. When the Companies Bill, 2012 provides for at least one woman director in prescribed class or classes of companies, I would urge our female members to equip themselves with necessary skills so that they would be able to take on the desired responsibility in a befitting manner. Let all our members pledge to help the Government and the society to get the desired results in this regard. ICAI Heads QARC-SEBI To improve the quality of financial reporting by listed entities, SEBI had constituted the Qualified Audit Review Committee (QARC) to review the qualified annual audit reports. As per the circular, the Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB) of ICAI had been asked to assess the materiality of qualification contained in auditors report, based on which QARC may even direct the entity to restate its books of accounts. I am happy to announce that the ICAI representative has been made the head of this Committee that has representatives from BSE, NSE, MCX and SEBI also. CAPA/SAFA Events in Kolkata I am happy to announce that ICAI would be hosting CAPA events in Kolkata on November 19th-20th, 2013, and SAFA events on November 21th, 2013, while the International Conference on Accountancy Profession: Emerging Frontiers of Future Growth is being hosted by the ICAI in the same city on November 22th-23th, 2013. Rising CABF It is satisfying for me to acknowledge that the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Fund (CABF) has received a total contribution of Rs. 85,58,127 since February 2nd, 2013, of which the contribution of Rs. 13,97,127 is voluntary, and this is more encouraging for me and my profession. You will be pleased to know that we have already processed the amount of Rs. 85,13,500 as financial assistance to the families of deceased members of the Institute

during the period. In order to continue to extend help to the families of our deceased members in need, it is necessary that our contribution to the fund should not be stopped. Subject-Specific Webcasts I am happy to inform our students that as part of the Action Plan 2013-14, we have been organising subject-specific live webcasts for our students. We are also planning to organise webcasts in subjects where the candidates did not perform well in the recent examinations. I am confident that such a move would help the students on an all- India basis to improve their performance considerably in the forthcoming examinations. I would earnestly request all our members to inform their articled assistants and other CA students about this initiative of ICAI and encourage them to make greater use of this facility. We are also organising webcasts on various topics for the benefit of our members. Professional Strength and Growth We have always been concerned about our global intellectual positioning. I want my alma mater to be known for its intellectual and technical strength. Our curriculum has to be globally more competitive. Our representations on international forums like IFAC, CAPA, SAFA, XBRL International and AOSSG (Asian-Oceanian Standard-Setter Group) have been helping us in understanding the curve of desired development. I am glad to inform that the total membership strength has gone up to 2,23,390 as on August 15th, 2013, in comparison to 1,92,513 as on 1st April 2012, i.e. an addition of 30,877 members during 2012-13, indicating a growth of around 16.04%. There are 55,944 CA firms registered with us as on August 15th, 2013, which include 16,566 partnership firms and 39,378 proprietary firms. It is again creditable that some 11,47,086 students are registered with the Institute as on August 15th, 2013. After the recent recognitions from IIT Madras, Central University of Jharkhand, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth of Pune and Banasthali University of Jaipur with regard to Chartered Accountants eligibility to pursue PhDs, CAs today can opt to pursue PhD programmes from an institution of their choice from a total of 101 institutions now, i.e. 94 Universities, 6 IIMs and IIT Madras. We are grateful to our nation for taking an increasingly encouraging participative interest in our profession. From our side, in response, we are taking effective measures to provide the best possible professional education, training and opportunities to our members and students. **************** I wish everybody a very happy Teachers Day that we celebrate on September 5th every year while remembering our great teacher-philosopher and second President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, who was born on this day. Festivals that promote togetherness in society are relevant beyond time and space. Eid is one of those festivals. I hope you must have celebrated Eid in its true spirit. In order to connect with members of other professions in particular and our society in general, we had expressed our desire that the prototypes of our Accountancy Museum of India should be installed at offices of the ICAI across the nation, so that our society comes to know how accountants as a professional community have contributed to the financial operations of our nation in various ways. This step will also bring our stakeholders together and, thus, create a force to reckon with. Therefore, we are going ahead with the installation of prototypes of the Accountancy Museum at more branches of the Institute. We had initially set prototypes at all our Regional Councils and Decentralised Offices. In the next phase, we have started the process to install them at 25 more Branches of the Institute. Members of the Institute are invited to visit the Regional Councils and Branches to get a glimpse of the Accountancy Museum of India, i.e. prototype of the Museum.

While acting as a united professional force, I can proudly say that we have raised about Rs. 69,00,000 towards our contribution for the Uttarakhand flood relief, which we will deposit in the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund. I also take pride in sharing information with you that one of our foreign chapters, i.e. Abu Dhabi Chapter of ICAI, has contributed about Rs. 4,50,000 for this cause. Our profession is playing a vital role today. With uncompromising dedication and selflessness, and without caring for powers, we aim to continue working for the development of our nation in every possible way. Best wishes CA. Subodh Kumar Agrawal President, ICAI New Delhi, August 24, 2013