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The enthusiasm to keep up with the family tradition of becoming a Chartered Accountant (CA), enabled Sanskruti Atul Parolia&nbsp;and her twin Shruti Atul Parolia, a step ahead. The Mumbai girls&nbsp;secured an All India Rank (AIR) 2 in the CA 2023 final examination released on Tuesday. The&nbsp;Parolia family consisting of father, brother and sister-in-law are successful Cas, so everyone expected the twins to follow the family tradition. However,&nbsp;in their first attempt, the twins acquired the top positions took everyone with pleasant surprise. &nbsp;
Right from their childhood, the twins were clear on being a CA and had a deep liking for Accountancy and Maths in school. Both Sanskruti and Shruti did their schooling from Mary Immaculate School in Mumbai. Sanskruti secured an AIR 3 in the CA Intermediate exam whose results came in February 2021 after which she also did her articleship in Deloitte. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
The preparation consisted of getting support from the father and brother, which made it robust. &ldquo;Both of us studied for about 8-10 hours. Post attending the coaching, we used to discuss the topics which we felt was not so strong. Our discussions were so fruitful that both of us got the conceptual clarity which benefitted us. We also referred to the previous year&rsquo;s question papers which was instrumental in understanding the pattern of questions,&rdquo; says Sanskruti, talking about her preparation strategy.&nbsp; &nbsp;
Telling about the challenges that the sisters faced during preparation, Sanskruti says, &ldquo;The teachers who taught us in an online mode made the lectures quite interactive. However, during the preparation for CA Intermediate exam, we did face challenges due to a family crisis as our parents had contracted the Covid virus just one and a half month before the exam. We became worried for our parents&rsquo; health and a little anxious too that we might contract the virus. Despite this fact, we still kept our cool. This enabled us to pass this difficult phase with ease, and we came out of it strongly.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Talking about her future plans, Sanskruti says, &ldquo;I would like to pursue MBA in Finance after getting a short work experience. I hope to land a job in a management consultancy or an investment bank and have started seeking help from the seniors in this regard.&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;
&ldquo;Aspirants who will appear for the CA final exam in future should give unaverred attention to the entire syllabus and thoroughly revise the syllabus as many as times possible,&rdquo; says Sanskruti.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

TOPPER TALK: Twin sisters from Mumbai achieve a rare feat by securing top rank in CA finals

In today&rsquo;s interconnected world, the role of accountants extends far beyond national borders, shaping and influencing the global economic landscape and making a significant impact. According to a recent survey, the global market for accounting services reached $544 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $736 billion by 2025. Many thousands of accountants are employed by businesses and other organisations of all sizes in a wide range of roles, ranging from CFOs to business analysts.&nbsp;
The consistent global standards in accountancy, the integration of local knowledge, and the demand for professionals with a worldwide outlook are reshaping the profession. Additionally, the importance of building a cross-border community of accountants, fostering knowledge-sharing and new opportunities that transcend geographical boundaries are also something that needs to be highlighted.&nbsp;
Consistent global standards The promotion of consistent global standards in accountancy, auditing, and sustainability is a vital key to success. The significance of such consistency cannot be overstated. It drives international trade by providing a common language of finance and business. Investors, both local and foreign, are more likely to invest in regions where standards are transparent and consistent, thereby fuelling economic prosperity.&nbsp;
Moreover, these global standards emphasise the shared focus of the profession on ethics and integrity. Accountants, as the custodians of integrity, play a pivotal role in fostering public trust in financial reporting. Ethical conduct and high standards of professionalism are integral to this trust, and this commitment resonates with the global community.&nbsp;
Local knowledge While global standards are essential, they are most effective when complemented by local knowledge Understanding the unique local regulations and economic contexts is imperative. This drives a deep understanding of the nuances that can significantly impact financial reporting and business strategies. This combination ensures that financial professionals can adapt to their specific regional requirements while adhering to international best practices. This allows for the coexistence of local and global perspectives.&nbsp;
International and local perspectives The strength of the global accounting community lies in its inclusivity. Accountants today must be able to embrace international and local perspectives, as this is vital for addressing the unique challenges of an interconnected world. A supportive environment encourages accountants to expand their horizons. The profession is no longer confined to geographical boundaries. Accountants with globally recognised qualifications and experience with international standards and best practices are in high demand by employers in India and around the world. This trend is not limited to large multinational corporations but extends to small and medium-sized enterprises looking for financial experts with a global outlook, particularly those with clients based outside of India.&nbsp;
Opportunities beyond borders One of the most exciting aspects of embracing a global perspective is the opportunity for accountants to connect and collaborate across borders. A global accounting community facilitates knowledge-sharing and networking which can lead to exciting professional opportunities. The power of a global perspective for accountants cannot be overstated. &nbsp;
Accountants also have a vital role in driving forward a more sustainable and more inclusive approach to business. This is also becoming more important because of the increasingly rapid development and adoption of sustainability reporting standards. Accountants who embrace this global perspective are in high demand and enjoy a wealth of opportunities to grow and thrive in a rapidly changing world. This global community is not just a network, it&rsquo;s a catalyst for sustainable progress and prosperity.&nbsp;
(The author is chief executive of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants&nbsp;(ACCA))

How consistent global standards in accountancy are reshaping the profession

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To strengthen the&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;system and participate in the fast-growing&nbsp;banking&nbsp;system, Commerce students are taking up short courses in&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;and cyber security to address the looming threat in the online&nbsp;banking&nbsp;system. Students are getting employable in the&nbsp;e-banking&nbsp;system.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Career options
These short courses are helping students to take&nbsp;diverse&nbsp;job roles&nbsp;such as&nbsp;security analyst, internal auditor, stock analyst, and many more.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;to remain relevant in the field, students will have to upskill by enrolling in short-term courses based on new technologies. With&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;expanding each day, the technological demand is increasing too.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Increasing market demand
Speaking to Education Times, Ketan Upadhyay, dean, Faculty of Commerce, Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, says, &ldquo;These days all the private and public sector banks are encouraging their customers to adopt&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;to reduce the footfall in&nbsp;the&nbsp;branches. Hence due to these evolutionary changes,&nbsp;most&nbsp;students are learning&nbsp;&lsquo;Digital&nbsp;banking&rsquo;&nbsp;courses along with the basic commerce degree.&nbsp;The demand for skilled&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;systems has increased after&nbsp;the pandemic era.&nbsp;The B Com syllabus has a special emphasis on&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking, in the&nbsp;Insurance and&nbsp;Banking&nbsp;subject.&nbsp;At the master&rsquo;s level, we have an&nbsp;advanced module.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
The B Com syllabus has tweaked its curriculum, which now emphasizes Cybersecurity&nbsp;courses&nbsp;along with&nbsp;Digital&nbsp;Banking&nbsp;to&nbsp;regulate the increasing threats of&nbsp;financial frauds and even cyber-crimes.&nbsp;&ldquo;Digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;domain&nbsp;is continuously evolving due to technological&nbsp;advancements.&nbsp;Furthermore, there is&nbsp;an additional thrust on &lsquo;Green&nbsp;Banking&rsquo;, which the students must learn&nbsp;to&nbsp;encourage&nbsp;paperless&nbsp;banking,&rdquo; explains Upadhyay.&nbsp;Most BCom undergrads intern at the Bank of Baroda for hands-on training in&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;products.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Ajay Kumar Singh, head, Department of Commerce, University of Delhi, says, &ldquo;In the current times it is essential to teach the topic of&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;to the students so that the right manpower can be produced in the future to deal with the challenges that arise out of the&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking. After gaining the requisite knowledge of know-how of&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking, students can get employed in Fintech companies like Paytm, Bharat Pay, Google Pay, etc. In addition to this, students can also work to find ways to innovate&nbsp;digital&nbsp;products.&nbsp;The course curriculum of&nbsp;Digital&nbsp;Banking&nbsp;is a combination of&nbsp;Banking&nbsp;and Technology topics.&nbsp;The&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking&nbsp;course is offered at both undergrad and masters levels, which makes the graduates skilled for fintech jobs.&rdquo;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Curricula of Digital&nbsp;Banking&nbsp;
The course includes deeper analysis of subjects including&nbsp;Internet&nbsp;Banking, Mobile&nbsp;Banking, ATM, Forex settlement, ATM,&nbsp;Cryptocurrency, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Deep Learning&nbsp;among others.
&ldquo;There is&nbsp;no provision for professional bankers to specialise in&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking at the university. However, a committee for financial inclusion was recently formed at the university that conducted a workshop on financial inclusion where senior officials from SEBI delivered long sessions for students,&rdquo; says Singh.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;
Placement scenario&nbsp;
In the past five years, placement has increased for graduates specialising in&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking. &nbsp;Almost&nbsp;90% of&nbsp;MBA&nbsp;students&nbsp;with&nbsp;specialisation in&nbsp;digital&nbsp;banking are getting offers from banks and prominent UPI apps. Fresh graduates get initial salaries of Rs 8 to 10 LPA.&nbsp;
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Digital Banking courses to help students understand online banking mechanisms better

With the introduction of the Chartered Accountant (CA) New Course in 2017, the pass percentages for CA Final results among those who opted for it have steadily remained in double figures as compared to the <keyword id="282012" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="old-course" source="Orion">Old Course</keyword>. The increase is being attributed to the introduction of electives at the CA Final level, change in exam pattern and increasing awareness among students of the weightage of marks that questions carry. A comparative analysis of the data reveals that for the CA final November 2022 session, the pass percentage was 11.09%. In May 2022, 12.59% of candidates cleared the CA Final exam. The CA Final pass percentage for the December 2021 cycle for the New Course was 15.31% whereas, for the Old Course, it stood at 1.42%. The Old Course was discontinued in 2022. The CA Final pass percentage for the July 2021 session New Course was 11.97%, while for the Old Course, it was 1.57%. For November 2020 New Course, it was 14.47% and for the Old Course, it was 5.84%. In the November 2014 exams, 8.23% of candidates passed nationally, up from 7.29% in the March 2014 exams. In November 2013, the pass rate was just 3.11%. Debashis <keyword id="2481" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mitra" source="Orion">Mitra</keyword>, President, <keyword id="6364696" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="icai" source="Orion">ICAI</keyword>, says, “In the Scheme of <keyword id="6355445" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="education" source="Orion">Education</keyword> and Training effective from July 1, 2017, the concept of electives was introduced at the Final level, and the students had to choose one out of six elective papers. The assessment for the elective paper was open book and case-study based, with 40% objective type and 60% descriptive questions. This paper pattern assesses the higher-order analytical and interpretational skills and eliminates the requirement for rote learning. In addition, 30% objective type questions were introduced in four papers in intermediate and four papers in Final simultaneously in the new scheme and the corresponding papers in the old scheme to ensure equity. This also helped in assessing whether the student has understood the concepts in the respective papers.” He points out that students were also made aware of the section-wise and skill-wise weightages, so that they can know about the number of marks for which questions can be asked in each section (topics were grouped together under sections). “This has helped students plan their studies in a better manner and improve their performance in the examination. With an aim to develop the next generation of professionals, ICAI has again undertaken a revision of the Chartered Accountancy course in the year 2021 to make it more aligned to the technological changes, international developments, and National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council of the Institute, after deliberating at length on the suggestions received from stakeholders on draft scheme, approved the proposed scheme of Education and Training with certain modifications. The scheme so approved by the council has been submitted to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, along with the corresponding amendments in regulations for final approval,” adds Mitra highlighting that this is for the first time that the CA course is being revised in five years instead of 10 years, as per the past practice. Talking about how the changes in the curriculum affected the candidates' prospects after clearing the CA final exam, Mitra says that the aspect of electives introduced in the new course helps the students to specialise in a particular area, like global financial reporting standards, international taxation, economic laws, risk management or financial services and capital markets. This helps them in getting placed in the area of their interest. “Also, the two-level practical training assessment (optional) introduced thereafter helps in the effective assessment of the practical training undergone by the students. This also increases the employment prospects of qualifying chartered accountants,” he adds. Open-book exams can be scoring Candidates who secured joint AIR second rank say that the open book elective exam enabled them to get a good aggregate. “Introduction of the elective options have benefitted students as they can choose according to their preference,” says Ramyashree, AIR 2, for the CA Final exam held in November 2022, whose optional subject was Economic Laws, and she chose to carry <keyword id="16304033" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="case-study-digest" source="Orion">Case Study Digest</keyword> for the open book exam. Indore-based Shikha Jain, AIR Rank 2, November 2022 session, also found the elective scoring. She had carried the ICAI Case Study Digest and Case Laws book for the open book exam. However, changes in the CA curriculum are not always related to the pass percentage of the exam which is impacted by the demand from the industry. Anshul Agarwal, Unacademy educator, adds, that the CA courses are not updated with the view of increasing the pass percentage, the changes are introduced based on the demand from the industry and the pass percentage merely is an outcome. “With proposed curriculum changes in 2022-23, the number of students opting for CA courses is expected to go up, it will certainly attract new students,” says Agarwal.

CA New Course introduced in 2017 gives candidates an edge in CA Final exam

At the University of Delhi (DU), <keyword id="138022" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="BCom" source="Orion">BCom</keyword> and BCom (Hons) are the among the top draws, widely sought-after by aspirants. With 70,000 seats and 79 undergraduate programmes, Round 1 of UG admissions under the Common Seat Allocation System (<keyword id="2197074" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CSAS" source="Orion">CSAS</keyword>-2022) show that 8,000 students have taken admission for BCom (Hons) and 7,000 for BCom (as per the DU data of October 26). “Around 59,100 candidates (subject to reconciliation) have secured their admission in the First Round of CSAS by paying the admission fee. The admission figure in both BCom and BCom (Hons) in the first round itself (with a cumulative 15,000 seats) is indicative of students’ increasing interest. For the second seat allocation round, the candidates should accept the allocated seat from Monday October 31 to Tuesday, November 1, in which case the figures are likely to go up even further,” <keyword id="335082" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="DU-registrar" source="Orion">DU registrar</keyword> Vikas Gupta tells Education Times. Yogesh Singh, vice-chancellor, DU, attributes the surge in interest to India’s position as a rising economy where a good number of jobs – in the form of fund managers, venture capitalists, financial planners, auditors—have recently emerged. “Though the western part of the country has always evinced a keen interest in commerce-driven fields, the north is now waking up to this reality. India needs commerce graduates to deal with statutory financial compliances, which accounts for its popularity,” he says. Harish Kumar, faculty member, Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), DU, feels the sudden rush is linked to the comprehensively designed curriculum and the industry-focused graduate outcomes of Commerce programmes. Holistic curriculum “Commerce graduates are in demand for their critical thinking and knowledge over wide domains which include (but not limited to) tax, finance, management, accounting, human resources, law, Mathematics, Statistics, and politics. Programmes such as BCom (Hons) provide a high degree of multi-disciplinary learning with the flexibility to choose from several specialisations,” Kumar adds. Referring to the recent admissions in commerce via CUET, he explains that it gives greater choice to the students, making the process more stakeholder oriented. Most importantly, it has reduced the paperwork for colleges, long used to cut-offs and their individual merit lists. Kumar adds further that despite BBA, BMS and other similar courses, BCom/BCom(H) retain their importance for their well-rounded teaching-learning process. Science Vs Commerce On questions being raised about science seats at DU lying vacant and whether it has a direct correlation with students seeking admission in Commerce, vice-chancellor Yogesh Singh dismisses the possibility, saying it is but a normal feature of any admission process, and not a sign of students’ reluctance. “The existing vacancies are due to students’ inability to select the course and college combinations at the appropriate time. With around 10,000 seats (in total) lying vacant, and thousands of students still in-waiting, the seats are likely to get filled in the second admission round,” Singh explains. Inevitable outcome In case of the 850 colleges affiliated to Mumbai University, 80% of them are commerce colleges where admissions for the in-house students happen automatically (on completion of their class XII boards). For the rest of the self-financed students, admissions are conducted by Mumbai University as per a merit list, while only three-four autonomous colleges conduct their own entrance exams. “Presently, over 2 lakh students have secured admission in BCom and self-financed courses such as BCom Accounts &amp; Finance, BCom Banking and Insurance, BCom Environment Management, among others. Mumbai’s status as a commercial hub, makes commerce the obvious choice,” says TA Shiware, chairman, Principal Association, Mumbai University. Package and placements For Bengaluru-based Christ University, Commerce is in high demand along with Economics and Psychology. The CUET for central universities is not an option here as it would delay the academic cycle. “The university has been admitting students through its own entrance exam, also called CUET for BCom programmes for over a decade. If the university were to participate in the CUET of NTA, the academic calendar would have been significantly delayed, affecting the placements and higher education opportunities,” says Anil Pinto, registrar of Christ University that offers six types of BCom programmes: BCom, BCom (Honours) integrated with CISI, BCom (Finance and Accountancy) which is integrated with CA, BCom (International Finance) integrated with CPA US/Australia and CFA, BCom (Professional) integrated with CIMA, BCom (Strategic Finance Honours) integrated with CMA. BCom, he emphasises, focuses on Core Finance which helps provide job offers with high packages, especially in the Big 5 Companies. “It is one of those subjects which has survived major global and national economic shifts unlike other disciplines such as Management, Engineering, Arts, and basic Science,” Pinto adds. Commercial success “While the preference for commerce as a discipline goes back to the early 70s, it gained traction in the liberalisation era of the early 90s. With the influx of foreign capital and growing industrialisation, it was clear that besides engineering, commerce had a vital role to play in the country’s economy. Due to the rise in automation, the need for engineers, skilled and unskilled labour may go down, but in view of the various financial tools to raise capital, the importance of finance professionals has gone up,” says Amarjit Chopra, past president, ICAI and a key resource person at IMF. Ends

Why BCom is popular and science seats are vacant

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) is going to declare the results of the CS Professional and Executive courses tomorrow (August 25). Candidates who have appeared in the June 2022 session Professional and Executive courses exam can download their scorecard on the official website at icsi.edu While the CS Professional programme result will be declared at 11 am, the Executive programme result will be announced by 2 pm. Steps to download scorecard Visit the official website at icsi.edu Click on CS Professional, <keyword id="8021536" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CS-Executive-Result" source="Orion">CS Executive Result</keyword> link Enter your login credentials- user ID and password CS Executive, <keyword id="11972071" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Professional-exam" source="Orion">Professional exam</keyword> results will appear on the screen Download scorecard, and take a print out for further reference Post the <keyword id="658021" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="result-declaration" source="Orion">result declaration</keyword>, the e-result-cum-marks statement of CS Professional Executive examinations will be uploaded on the official website. Should a candidate not receive a physical copy of the result-cum-marks statement within 30 days of declaration of the result, he/she must contact the Institute at exam@icsi.edu with the particulars. ICSI CS exam for the Executive and Professional programme will be held next from December 21 to 30. For further details on the CS result, visit the website at icsi.edu

ICSI CS Professional, CS Executive Results 2022 to be released tomorrow, check details here

In aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia war, it has become imperative that students and young professionals develop insurance, and risk literacy, and strengthen their capabilities in mitigating risks arising from volatile circumstances. “Whether it’s the pandemic or events such as the Ukraine-Russia war or the Sri Lanka crisis, the insurance industry will have to refocus and strengthen its capability in predicting uncertainties and planning for unforeseen events. The more globally aware an insurance professional is, the better he/she will contribute to his/her function. It’s vital that an insurance professional is risk-literate, financially literate, and understands global businesses and interconnected events,” says Dwarika Prasad Uniyal, pro-vice-chancellor, Development &amp; Leadership &amp; founding dean, School of Economics &amp; Finance, <keyword id="12163436" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rv-university" source="Orion">RV University</keyword>, Bengaluru. He suggests risk management should be made mandatory for those aspiring to clear the insurance exam. Where to study Several institutes offer courses on <keyword id="14463413" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="insurance-and-risk-management" source="Orion">Insurance and Risk Management</keyword> in India. Students can pursue <keyword id="14463415" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="masters-of-insurance-and-risk-management" source="Orion">Masters of Insurance and Risk Management</keyword> from Aligarh Muslim University, MBA in Insurance and Risk Management from BHU Varanasi, and Postgraduate Programme in Insurance and Risk Management from IIRM Hyderabad. <keyword id="163572" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="pondicherry-university" source="Orion">Pondicherry University</keyword>’s MBA (Insurance Management) facilitates students to appear for the professional certificate examinations related to Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA), and <keyword id="2240279" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="insurance-institute-of-india" source="Orion">Insurance Institute of India</keyword> (III). Course curriculum The curriculum of the courses largely includes principals of Insurance, Managerial Economics and Business Environment, Insurance Law, <keyword id="2141063" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="liability-insurance" source="Orion">Liability Insurance</keyword>, and <keyword id="14463414" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fundamentals-of-risk-management" source="Orion">Fundamentals of Risk Management</keyword>, Catastrophic Risk Management, and Enterprise Risk Management, Operational Disciplines of Insurance such as Life, Fire, Marine, Motor and Health. Challenges Mainstream MBA colleges often do not offer insurance and risk management courses as a career in insurance is not considered as glamourous as that in marketing or sales. “The institutions find it quite challenging to hire faculty who are insurance experts. Students equate insurance industry job opportunities with sales jobs only though the insurance industry offers jobs in the areas of risk management, claims processing, appraisal and investigation, and actuaries,” says R Sugant, dean, School of Management &amp; School of Economics and Commerce, CMR University, Bengaluru. The insurance sector is still evolving as an industry in India. Technology has started playing a major role in insurance and upskilling is required to understand how underwriting and pricing of insurance are done for online versus offline insurance. Apart from sales agents, newer channels for selling insurance have opened and gained traction like online, web aggregators, and brokers. Also, new products like micro-insurance, education insurance, etc, have emerged. Sugant says that while VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) was the buzzword in the past decade, the pandemic, Ukraine war and economic conditions across the globe have made the management pundits scramble for yet another acronym. The new acronym is BANI (brittle, anxious, nonlinear and incomprehensible) world. Whatever acronym we use, managing risk has become critical in the past three years across industries. <keyword id="9798289" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hersh-shah" source="Orion">Hersh Shah</keyword>, CEO, Institute of Risk Management, India Affiliate, says that the world is facing unprecedented changes with global interconnected events impacting society, individuals, governments, and organizations. With emerging risks like AI, blockchain, health crises, wars, cyber-attacks, and climate change, it is important for budding insurance professionals to learn how to identify opportunities in mitigating enterprise-wide risks through structured and innovative insurance products and risk solutions. He adds that most of the insurance courses focus on developing professionals for key functions but there are other functions that are gradually becoming more critical to the business and operations like fraud investigation, loss control consultant, claims adjuster, and risk manager. The curriculum could include more in-depth coverage of these job roles.

Need for professionals to handle Insurance and Risk Management

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (<keyword id="6364696" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICAI" source="Orion">ICAI</keyword>) is aiming to teach Spanish, German, Japanese, Business English and French to its members and students for which it is organising online beginners’ level courses. The initiative is being taken forward in collaboration with the language and cultural centres of foreign embassies in India. Explaining the motive behind the decision, <keyword id="184546" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Debashis-Mitra" source="Orion">Debashis Mitra</keyword>, president, ICAI, says, “Conducting foreign languages classes is a dedicated move to help students acquire additional linguistic skills. This will make them aware of the culture and language of various jurisdictions under the Champion Sector mandate.” Emphasising on how the professionals will be benefitted in the era of globalisation, he adds, “Today where there is delimitation of jurisdiction, acquiring foreign languages will help <keyword id="635574" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="CA-students" source="Orion">CA students</keyword> and members to overcome language barrier and thereby have enhanced professional opportunities. Knowledge of foreign languages will enhance <keyword id="5298733" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="skill-sets" source="Orion">skill-sets</keyword> of CA students and members and enable them to work efficiently with global companies investing in India or open gateway of professional opportunities overseas.” Learning a new language and culture will help in understanding different businesses better. “To practice the profession in a foreign land, one needs to understand the framework, which differs from country to country but understanding the other country's language will help our professionals to network with other professionals and enhance their acceptability in those areas.” Since last two years ICAI in collaboration with Instituto Cervantes for Spanish language, <keyword id="6389324" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alliance-Francaise" source="Orion">Alliance Francaise</keyword> for French Language, Japan Foundation for Japanese Language and British Council for Business English Language is organising foreign language courses, he adds. In all, more than 1200 members/students have already enrolled under these courses. ICAI will look forward to organising Chinese and Arabic language courses also once the tie up is formalised.

Foreign language will help CAs network with international clients

To promote <keyword id="84" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="commerce" source="Orion">Commerce</keyword> education among students of the <keyword id="6354495" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="kashmir" source="Orion">Kashmir</keyword>, the <keyword id="22866" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="institute-of-chartered-accountants-of-india" source="Orion">Institute of Chartered Accountants of India</keyword> (ICAI) has signed an <keyword id="6368586" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="mou" source="Orion">MoU</keyword> with Directorate of School Education, Kashmir (DSEK). The MoU has been signed for five years to promote education in government and government aided secondary and higher school students. The prime objective of this MoU is to bring out the true potential of students belonging to <keyword id="46337" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="kashmir-valley" source="Orion">Kashmir valley</keyword>, says Debashis Mitra, president, ICAI. “During the academic year 2021-22 in the higher secondary examination the pass percentage of boys from Commerce education was 91% and girls were 95%. Commerce education has a bright future in the valley. With Kashmir having a rich pool of talent, the young students need to be nurtured in the proper way so that the young generation of today shall be able to contribute to the nation.” “Besides guiding the students, the Institute has waived off 75% of the course fee for all levels of CA course for students from the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and north-eastern states,” he adds. The students will be taught through the digital medium, explains Mitra. In the age of digital era, the Institute has ensured that all the learning provided by the institute is easily available on the digital platform. The all-round knowledge hub is created on the digital platform to make the students equipped and abreast with the learnings. By organising counselling programmes in schools, the students shall be given apt career guidance &amp; the opportunity available thereafter,” says Mitra. On how the education will benefit the students, Mitra says, “The commerce education plays an utmost important role in the inclusive growth of industry and the whole economy. Most appropriate qualification for business, trade and industry which will enable the students to showcase their knowledge, skills and experience globally with immense career opportunities.”

ICAI to initiate Commerce education in Kashmir

The <keyword id="22866" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="institute-of-chartered-accountants-of-india" source="Orion">Institute of Chartered Accountants of India</keyword> (<keyword id="6364696" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICAI" source="Orion">ICAI</keyword>) is organising online beginners’ level courses in Spanish, German, Japanese, <keyword id="13595268" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-english" source="Orion">Business English</keyword> and French for its members/students, through respective language and cultural centres of foreign embassies in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. The courses are being offered through its Committee for Development of International Trade, Services &amp; WTO. By acquiring the language skills, CA members and students, gain technical expertise that can add value to their linguistic skills in the respective local work area and can help serve the foreign clients better, notes <keyword id="184546" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="debashis-mitra" source="Orion">Debashis Mitra</keyword>, president, ICAI. Dheeraj Kumar Khandelwal, Chairman, Committee for Development of International Trade, Services &amp; WTO is of the view that these language programmes are gateway for members and students, to other countries. Learning foreign language is all about learning how to truly communicate and connect with others—an incredibly significant life skill that can only be cultivated by interacting with people.

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