Saturday, September 30, 2006

Life of a Company Secretary

Life of a Company Secretary..............
A Company Secretary to his wife, on returning from office....

Husband: Hi Dear, mark my attendance.

Wife: You are too late today.

Husband: No problem I am ready to pay the additional fee.

Wife: Be serious, we had a plan to go for movie.

Husband: I know this matter can be taken at any other meeting.

Wife: I really have done a wrong by marrying you.

Husband: Yes, also you should know that it is an un-compoundableoffence.

Wife: Lets finalize whether we should live together or be separated.

Husband: Don't be silly; proxies are not allowed to speak.

Wife: Please, leave me alone.

Husband: No I can't let the meeting conducted without quorum.

Wife: I will just be mad.

Husband: Contract with or by any Lunatic person is void ab initio.

Wife: I just want to go my fathers house, take these keys of your house.

Husband: Presently I don't have any buy-back offer.

Wife: I just want to be separated from you.

Husband: You have to apply to the Court for demerger.

Wife: I think we both are unable to settle our disputes.

Husband: No problem lets apply the court for voluntary winding up

Friday, September 29, 2006

Opening with a PCS

Contact bhagavathi on 98865 18114 for the following opening -

PCS - Mr. Ravishankar, Practising company Secretary, Infantry Road, Bangalore
Is looking out for a 15 month Management Trainee. One group intermediate pass students may also apply.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Openings

Please contact Bhagavathi on 9886518114 for the following openings

1) Semi qualified company secretary - for the post of a Secretarial Officer

Company - Britannia

2) Opening for an inter pass Chartered Accountant with 1-2 years experience. Completion of articleship also acceptable as experience.

Remuneration around 18-20K.

Friday, September 08, 2006

Going bankrupt is still tough to do

Something very interesting we found at www.dnaindia.com

NEW DELHI: First the good news. Starting a company in India has become easier, says the Doing Business, 2007 report, an annual publication of the World Bank and its private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation. The process now takes 35 days against 89 days in 2005.

But the bad news remains. India comes last among 175 countries in terms of efficient bankruptcy (closing a business takes 10 years) and is third from the bottom in enforcing a simple commercial contract (56 procedures and four years). Overall, though, India has improved its ranking in ease of doing business, from 138 in 2006 to 134.

What did India do to make starting new businesses easier? The ministry of company affairs’ MCA-21 initiative, for one, which provides a single window for online filing of various forms relating to registration of companies. That apart, notes Rahul Garg, executive director at PricewaterhouseCoopers, some regulatory approvals have been put on the automatic route and various tax-related procedures outsourced.

“The MCA-21 initiative has been a huge change, cutting down registration time and making touts redundant,” commends Anil Bharadwaj, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Small and Medium Enterprises. This was a promise the government had made when the Doing Business in 2006 report kicked off a row over India’s low ranking.
The government kept its promise on this one, but other much-needed reforms are completely stalled.


Closing a business is fraught with problems. Countries where it is easier include Chad, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Ecuador, and Mauritania. A Companies (Amendment) Act for, inter alia, setting up a National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to replace the Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) and speed up the liquidation of companies was passed by Parliament in December, 2002, and received presidential assent in 2003.

Then the Sick Industrial Companies Act (SICA), under which BIFR had been set up was repealed and presidential assent given in 2004. But both these acts have not been notified, because the formation of the NCLT was challenged in court and stays there. So sick companies continue to be referred to the BIFR (which alone can recommend winding up of companies) and cases pile up there.

“This is the only case of a body being kept alive even after the final rites have been done,” rues Kishore Soni, chief executive, Sircons. Or take the issue of reforming the judicial system, which Bharadwaj blames for the trauma of enforcing contracts. When contracts can’t be enforced through courts, firms resort to other means. “There is a cost attached to this and it affects competitiveness,” he contends. Countries that did better than India in enforcing contracts include Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Congo and Chad. The only two countries to do worse were Bangladesh and Timore-Leste.

Garg feels some of the blame lies with the litigation-happy businessmen themselves. “Companies are just not willing to accept arbitration awards and keep appealing,” he rues. The typical life of an income tax dispute case is 15-20 years. Enforcing court awards is even more difficult, with enforcement agencies not being very effective, he points out.
The report identifies reducing tax rates and the administrative hassles that businesses endure when paying taxes as the second most popular reform. The only reform against India’s name is the shift to VAT.


But Vivek Mehra, executive director at PwC, feels this is a step in the right direction but until a national VAT or goods and services tax is introduced, state VAT alone won’t helped integrate the country as a market.

The various state-specific indirect taxes will be a major irritant for a pan-Indian company. There’s also the lack of transparency in tax administration. “The taxman is unfriendly and the tax policy is not business friendly,” he says.

The low ranking of India in Doing Business in 2006 perhaps stung the government into speeding up the MCA-21 Initiative. Industry is hoping the lowest ranking on bankruptcy procedures provoke it to act on this front as well.

December 2006 exam - Coaching classes update

Financial, Treasury and Forex Management

Mr. Sriram
Commences on - 09.09.2006

First Session : 3.30-5.00Pm Sat
Subsequent Sessions will decided on Sat
Fees Rs. 2300/- (Faculty to confirm)

Venue -
Mr. Sriram
115, Premier homes,
2nd Flr, 3rd main,
Btw 7 & 8th Crs,
Chamrajpet
Bangalore – 18

For more information contact - Prasanna - 94487 22282

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Direct taxes

Mr. Vikas Oswal
proposed time and venue - 11.00 AM to 1.00 PM on every Sunday at his office premises.

Those interested may contact Mr. Manikantha on - 99455 15483