Accountancy
Give `em more
ONE communication that most CAs do not look forward to from the Institute is the fee reminder. Before a cheque is made out for despatch, many grumble about the outflow. Fellows holding certificate of practice dish out at the rate of almost Rs 6 per day,
and there are umpteen Associates out there who, though eligible to be called Fellows, refrain from applying for the `F' because of the fee differential.
Analyst objectivity
AMERICAN financial professionals often boast, and not without reason, that their country's financial reporting, auditing and independence standards are the best in the world. Transparency, accuracy and thoroughness are important to Americans, and certain
ly to some extent, the overall openness accounts for the country's financial stability and economic growth.
An exception to harmonisation
ACCOUNTANTS the world over have displayed a rare unanimity in clamouring for uniform accounting standards to foster comparison and easy consolidation. Further, uniform accounting standards is also desirable to make accounting a universal language of com
munication and to deny any leeway for manipulation or window-dressing. Going a step further, both accountants and tax practitioners, especially in India, have often been heard pining for a complete harmony between tax provisions and accounting diktats en
shrined in accounting standards though sceptics as well as some fiscal experts dismiss this out of hand, as an idle romanticism.
Economy
Travails of a surplus economy
IT IS amazing how, over the last decade, the economy has transformed into `a surplus economy'. Does this reflect its vibrancy? How desirable is it for a country with one of the lowest per capita incomes and one of the highest poverty levels `to boast' of
becoming a surplus economy? These are, no doubt, vital issues, but we seem to be clueless on how to resolve the acute dilemmas of the present economic situation.
Editorial
Hardly stirring
IN A BITS-AND-PIECES speech from the Red Fort on Independence Day, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, stuck to a drilled diet of promises that would have enthused none. In spanning events from the Agra initiative to economic reforms, he made su
ch lofty claims as India being one of the ten fastest growing economies apart from being a top ranker in information technology and missile technology.
Health
Treating infertility and handling trauma
WORLD over, there is a lot of wrong perceptions on infertility and the various lines of treatment available for it. In India, the tendency is to first blame the woman if a couple is unable to have a child. But times are changing and male infertility too
is being recognised as a fact of life. In fact, according to certain infertility centres, nearly half their patients are men, says Dr Jayant Mehta, Scientific Director, Institute of Reproductive Medicine (IRM) at the Madras Medical Mission in Chennai.
Miscellaneous
Flag waving is fashionable
FIFTY-FIVE years of freedom and how meaningless have the rituals connected with it become! The television channels are not planning anything particular for Independence Day, one newspapers said, but if you had switched on your TV set at 8-30 a.m. on I-Da
y, you would have found a Zee presenter grinning goofily and wearing what looked like the Indian flag.
Technology
A benign bug
ALL along, people have been jettisoning the attempts of their managements to internalise new technology, fearing job loss.
