Gopu R Nath

Indian Accounting Standards

Accounting is the art of recording transactions in the best manner possible, so as to enable the reader to arrive at judgments/come to conclusions, and in this regard it is utmost necessary that there are set guidelines. These guidelines are generally called accounting policies. The intricacies of accounting policies permitted Companies to alter their accounting principles for their benefit. This made it impossible to make comparisons. In order to avoid the above and to have a harmonised accounting principle, Standards needed to be set by recognised accounting bodies. This paved the way for Accounting Standards to come into existence.

Accounting Standards in India are issued By the Institute of Chartered Accountanst of India (ICAI). At present there are 30 Accounting Standards issued by ICAI.

Objective of Accounting Standards

Objective of Accounting Standards is to standarize the diverse accounting policies and practices with a view to eliminate to the extent possible the non-comparability of financial statements and the reliability to the financial statements.

The institute of Chatered Accountants of India, recognizing the need to harmonize the diversre accounting policies and practices, constituted at Accounting Standard Board (ASB) on 21st April, 1977.

Compliance with Accounting Standards issued by ICAI

Sub Section(3A) to section 211 of Companies Act, 1956 requires that every Profit/Loss Account and Balance Sheet shall comply with the Accounting Standards. 'Accounting Standards' means the standard of accounting recomended by the ICAI and prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards(NACAs) constituted under section 210(1) of companies Act, 1956.

Accounting Standards Issued by the Institute of Chatered Accountants of India are as below:

Careers in Commerce

Commerce is one of the three fundamental academic streams, the other two being humanities and science. While pursuing a course in the field of commerce, one acquires the knowledge of business or trade, nature and fluctuations in market, basics of economics, fiscal policies, industrial policies etc. The concept of commerce consists of a wide range of interdisciplinary branches including Accountancy, Business Administration, E-Commerce, Finance, Economics and Marketing. Since the Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies among the third world countries, the need for talented professionals, who can contribute towards the growth of the economy, is increasing. To serve the purpose, many commerce colleges in India are imparting quality education. A commerce aspirant can pursue course related to the field at any of the colleges and work in organizations that deal with finance and commerce.

Course Details
Several commerce colleges and institutes in India are imparting courses in the field of commerce at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. At the undergraduate level, one can pursue Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com), a three-year full time program and Master of Commerce (M.Com), at the postgraduate level. To be eligible for undergraduate course, the candidates have to pass 10+2 level examination in commerce stream, from any recognized state/national Board. For the PG level program, one should have done Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com), from any statutory University/Institute.

Career Prospects
After completing course in the field of commerce, a student can join any private or government organization as a specialist in any of the streams of commerce, such as economics, accountancy or work as management executive, accounts executive, junior accountant or pursue a career in auditing or banking.

Institutes Offering
Some of the top commerce colleges in India are Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) Delhi, Loyola College (Chennai), St Xavier's College (Kolkata), Presidency College (Chennai), Symbiosis Society's College of Arts & Commerce (Pune), St. Joseph's College Bangalore, Narsee Monjee College, BM College of Commerce (Pune) and St. Xavier's Mumbai.

Remuneration
Remuneration in the field of commerce largely depends upon the standard of organizations and the area of specialization. Private and government organizations have their own policies regarding salary of professionals working in the field of commerce.

Fiancial Crisis

New Delhi, 30 Sep. It is often said that when the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. This three-part series looks at how India, China, and Russia have been affected by the US financial crisis.
Before we get into detail about how much this US problem is spreading globally, we should understand the severity of it and the possible consequences in the US. How sick is the US?
Some have compared the situation in the US with the Great Depression of 1929, but this situation is far from a depression – in fact it’s not even a recession. In the Great Depression there was no work and there was widespread poverty. People struggled through the winter with no heating and no food. We are not seeing such extensive suffering in the US.
In the US, August 2008 unemployment figures were at 6.1%, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In the Great Depression unemployment was higher than 25%. The Commerce Department reported that GDP growth was at 2.8%, hardly indicative of a recession, although this was revised down from the 3.3% figure it projected a month ago.

But one cannot ignore yesterday’s 777 point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after the $700 billion bailout plan failed to pass through Congress. These paper losses of more than a trillion dollars may be the sneeze that disrupts global markets.
Even before this controversial rescue plan was shot down, Indian markets took a dive of their own on Monday 29 September. The stock market sank to an 18-month low and the rupee a 5-year low. The stock market dropped 5.3% to 12,595.75.
According to Business Standard, vice-president of Karvy Stockbroking Ambareesh Baliga, said, “We are advising our clients to stay away from trading till selling by Foreign Institutional investors (FIIs) stops. Also, there is no support to the markets from any domestic institution. While markets are below their fundamental levels, fear has gripped investors and there is panic selling.”
While US investors and consumers are concerned about who will foot the bill for this $700 billion plan, to Indian and non-US markets that doesn’t matter. They just want it to happen so as to restore confidence and of course liquidity.
Sify.com reported Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of the Delhi-based SMC Group saying, "The first major point of nervousness is that the US bailout plan will now be in three tranches of $250 billion, then $100 billion and finally $350 billion and the second and third tranches will require further Congressional approval. This means effectively, only $250 billion is now available for buying troubled assets of banks instead of $700 billion outright. This doesn't really solve the problem of liquidity."
Crowds gathered outside the Bombay Stock Exchange to watch the markets drop, with many investors angry. Why should failure of the world’s most advanced financial system hurt individual Indian investors? But the fact remains that the “Bush administration's failed economic policies” as speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi described it, is everybody’s business.
Charles Cole, EconomyWatch.com

Japan's Tsunami

Japan's most powerful earthquake since records began has struck the north-east coast, triggering a massive tsunami.

Cars, ships and buildings were swept away by a wall of water after the 8.9-magnitude tremor, which struck about 400km (250 miles) north-east of Tokyo.
A state of emergency has been declared at a nuclear power plant, where pressure has exceeded normal levels.
Officials say 350 people are dead and about 500 missing, but it is feared the final death toll will be much higher.
In one ward alone in Sendai, a port city in Miyagi prefecture, 200 to 300 bodies were found.

The quake was the fifth-largest in the world since 1900 and nearly 8,000 times stronger than the one which devastated Christchurch, New Zealand, last month, said scientists.

Thousands of people living near the Fukushima nuclear power plant have been ordered to evacuate.
Japanese nuclear officials said pressure inside a boiling water reactor at the plant was running much higher than normal after the cooling system failed.
Officials said they might need to deliberately release some radioactive steam to relieve pressure, but that there would be no health risk.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier said the US Air Force had flown emergency coolant to the site.
But US officials later said no coolant had been handed over because the Japanese had decided to handle the situation themselves.
The UN's nuclear agency said four nuclear power plants had shut down safely.
Measured at 8.9 by the US Geological Survey, it struck at 1446 local time (0546 GMT) at a depth of about 24km.

The tsunami rolled across the Pacific at 800km/h (500mph) - as fast as a jetliner - before hitting Hawaii and the US West Coast, but there were no reports of major damage from those regions.

Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the states of California, Oregon and Washington.
The biggest waves of more than 6-7ft (about 2m) were recorded near California's Crescent City, said the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre.
A tsunami warning extended across the Pacific to North and South America, where many other coastal regions were evacuated, but the alert was later lifted in most parts, including the Philippines, Australia and China.
Strong waves hit Japan's Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, damaging dozens of coastal communities.
A 10m wave struck Sendai, deluging farmland and sweeping cars across the airport's runway. Fires broke out in the centre of the city.

Japan's NHK television showed a massive surge of debris-filled water reaching far inland, consuming houses, cars and ships.
Motorists could be seen trying to speed away from the wall of water.

“Start Quote

This is the kind of earthquake that hits once every 100 years”

End Quote Akira Tanaka Restaurant worker

In other developments:

Four trains are missing along the coast, says Japan Railways; and a ship carrying 100 people was swept away
Fire has engulfed swathes of the coast in Miyagi prefecture's Kesennuma city, one-third of which is reportedly under water
A major explosion hit a petrochemical plant in Sendai; further south a huge blaze swept an oil refinery in Ichihara city, Chiba prefecture
Some 1,800 homes are reported to have been destroyed in the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture
A dam burst in north-eastern Fukushima prefecture, sweeping away homes, Kyodo news agency reports
At least 20 people were injured in Tokyo when the roof of a hall collapsed on to a graduation ceremony

In a televised address, Prime Minister Naoto Kan extended his sympathy to the victims of the disaster.

Deadliest earthquakes

27 July 1976, Tangshan, China: est 655,000 killed, 7.5
12 Jan 2010, Haiti: 222,570 killed, 7.0
8 Oct 2005, Pakistan: 80,361 killed, 7.6
31 May 1970 Chimbote, Peru: 70,000 killed, 7.9
Source: USGS

As aftershocks rattled the country, residents and workers in Tokyo rushed outside to gather in parks and open spaces.

Many people in the Japanese capital said they had never felt such a powerful earthquake.
In central Tokyo, a number of office workers are spending the night in their offices because the lifts have stopped working.
"This is the kind of earthquake that hits once every 100 years," said restaurant worker Akira Tanaka.
Train services were suspended, stranding millions of commuters in the Japanese capital.
About four million homes in and around Tokyo suffered power cuts.