Bonjour, new guests from small-town India
Puneet Dhawan of Accor is brimming with ideas on ways to revive the hospitality sector
The role of CAs
Apropos your editorial on the ICAI celebrating its 71st birthday (June 30), the technological advancements such as artificial intelligence and data mining can only simplify and not replace the role of auditors, whose interpretation and conclusions are still indispensable. It is here that their integrity assumes significance. While they may advise their clients on taking advantage of the changing rules, helping them ‘evade the law by fudging accounts’ is wrong.
The various sensational scams and frauds, starting right from Enron and Satyam to the more recent and near collapse of some banks in India, are a fallout of the massive evergreening of non-performing assets. All this could not have occurred without the negligence, or active connivance, of the auditors who inspected their books. .
As a chartered accountant needs to keep abreast of all the relevant laws that are current, as well as historical, the ICAI needs to make the profession one of continuing education, besides translating its vision of being ‘a regulator and developer of trusted and independent professionals’ into reality.
V Jayaraman
Chennai
Focus of auditors
Automation should be viewed as a helping tool and not as a serious threat to the audit profession as machines have inherent limitation, especially when tackling unusual situations. In fact, auditors’ true aim nowadays should be to provide analysed information and act as another set of eyes and ears for the various set of stakeholders. To fulfil the expectations, auditors need to have a futuristic perspective as well an open and inquisitive mind. A backward looking view can no longer be of any help in achieving the goal of improved performance.
Quality audits should be a combination of both compliance and performance evaluation. And by making use of defined and agreed-to measurement criteria, the audit report should categorically tell whether controls (covering financial, operational, compliance, including risk management) exist and are adequate.
What’s needed is to thoroughly prepare for the audit, conduct the evaluation with a high degree of professionalism, and present the report in meaningful terms to the intended audience.
Hanseswar Ghosh
Gurgaon, Haryana
Banning Chinese apps
India banning a clutch of popular apps of Chinese proprietorship, is no more than creating ripples with a pebble. It would need a boulder to create a splash and a wave. The Chinese 5G predator Huawei was a threat to top global telecom equipment and electronic component majors of the West. The western nations joined hands in banning the company and Canada even arrested the Huawei CFO. In banning a few Chinese apps, we have neither Indian companies in this sector to protect and promote nor does the message carry political overtones heavy enough to confront belligerence.
R Narayanan
Navi Mumbai
Covid effects
The Covid crisis has led to some positive outcomes too — increased use of digital transactions, fillip to indigenous products, Indian apps looking to replace the Chinese ones, scaling up of the production of ventilators and PPEs, etc. Also, due to the disruptions caused by the crisis, the current year can be closed by end-December, to take stock of all the losses and start afresh from calender year 2021. The Union Budget may be presented by January 1, and all companies and banks could start the financial year from January. Also, the academic year can also begin from the calender year.
S Mohanakrishnan
Chennai
The GST journey
This refers to ‘The GST journey has been transformative’ (July 1). Despite several hurdles and technical glitches, the Centre has been able achieve the core purpose of rolling out GST, namely, ‘One Nation One Tax’. However, issues such as simplifying the return forms and flexible norms for tax payment still need to be addressed.
This will not only help improve ‘the ease of doing business’ but also attract overseas investments.
NR Nagarajan
Sivakasi
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.
Puneet Dhawan of Accor is brimming with ideas on ways to revive the hospitality sector
Citroen’s first vehicle sports a novel design and European interiors. It is also meant to be as comfortable as ...
The pandemic is only the tip of the iceberg that the country’s cash-poor airlines — both regional and national ...
The government is yet to specify the framework of its recently announced old vehicle scrappage policy
Here is a checklist that equips you to discern the market nuances
Sensex, Nifty 50 have witnessed sharp decline
The fund has consistently outperformed S&P BSE 100 TRI over one, three and five years
Returns are superior to immediate annuity plans, but SCSS can secure better rates for new investors sooner if ...
With the public looking beyond mainstream media for reports from the ground, independent digital platforms are ...
The country hasn’t had a quiet moment since the military seized power on February 1
The Tatmadaw sees itself as an embodiment of the nationalist soul of Myanmar. But their brand of nationalism ...
While Supreme Court has cleared the way for women seeking longer tenures and senior roles in the Indian Army, ...
Its name is the starting point of a brand’s journey and can make a big difference in the success sweepstakes
Sober spirits are the in thing
A peek into where ad spends went last year and where they are headed tomorrow
Can Swiggy Instamart disrupt the ecommerce groceries space, currently ruled by the Amazons and Big Baskets? ...
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor