CA MAGAZINE LATEST

DOHA CHAPTER

THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF
INDIA

CHAPTER TIMES

E-Magazine: 2018

www.icaidohachapter.org

WE QATAR

www.icaidohachapter.org

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Dear members,

It is a proud moment for all of us to witness the 70th year of our
Institute in service of the nation, and be part of the Platinum
Jubilee Celebrations. A continuous journey with a glorious past
and a strong future.

We the Doha Chapter of ICAI, the oldest oversees Chapter, is also

celebrating the success of 37 years. I congratulate all our Chapter
member’s on the Chartered Accountants Day and feel happy to

present the 1st edition of the e-magazine 2018.

A professional person is resilient. He/ She doesn't back off when a
problem or situation gets tough, rather he/she chooses to be part
of the solution. Our fraternity helps us to gain that experience and
explore the way that leads to success.

The year 2018 has been a great journey so far. Here we present
the glimpses of what our Chapter with the support of the
members have achieved at the onset of 2018. Also included are
informative articles, recent updates and information for aspiring
CA students.

Equipped with enormous talent and the supportive culture of the
members, our Chapter has an even brighter future.

“Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless
when facing them.” With these words of wisdom from
Rabindranath Tagore, I wish a healthy and a successful future to
all our members.

Happy reading..

CA Rukkaiya Pachisa CA Ankit Agarwal
Vice Chairperson Ex-com Member
Editor Sub-Editor

www.icaidohachapter.org 3

INDEX

SL. NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1 ABOUT DOHA CHAPTER OF ICAI 6

2 MANAGING COMMITTEE 7

3 CHAIRPERSON’S MESSAGE 8-9

4 PROBLEMS-OPPORTUNITIES IN DISGUISE 10-12

5 IFRS-15 & CHALLENGES IN ITS 14-19
IMPLEMENTATION

6 EVENT-INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 20-21

7 EVENT-INDIAN UNION BUDGET 2018-A 22

CHANGE AGENT IN REFORMING INDIA

8 WEALTH MANAGEMENT 24-26

9 EVENT-ANNUAL CRICKET FIESTA 2018 27-28

10 EVENT-MOTIVATIONAL TALK TO STUDENTS 29

11 INTERNATIONAL TRADE-CHANGING 30-32
LANDSCAPE 34-35

12 MEMBERS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

13 CRYPTOCURRENCIES DIGITAL MONEY OR 36-40
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE??

14 HOW LEADERS DEFINE WORK/LIFE ‘WINS’ 42-43

www.icaidohachapter.org 4

INDEX

SL. NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

16 QATAR STATE OF AFFAIRS 2018 44-45
46-47
17 SYNOPSIS OF PAST CPE EVENTS 48
49
18 ENGAGING & CELEBRATING 50
51
19 EVENT-CSR INITIATIVE 52-55
56-57
20 MEDIA COVERAGE 58
60-62
21 BEST CHAPTER AWARDS 65-66
67
22 ICAI LATEST NEWSFEED 68

23 OUR PARTNERS IN PROGRESS

24 UPCOMING ACTIVITIES

25 PICTURES GALLERY

26 STUDENT’S DESK

27 JUST FOR LAUGH

28 CELEBRATING THE PAST, INSPIRING THE
FUTURE

www.icaidohachapter.org 5

ABOUT DOHA CHAPTER OF ICAI

The Doha Chapter was established in the year 1981 and is the oldest
among the 31 overseas Chapters of the ICAI. The membership of the
Chapter has grown steadily since its founding days and presently has over
300 members who hold key positions in various private and public
companies in Qatar. The Chapter is actively involved in enhancing and
updating the professional knowledge of its members and to meet this
objective, periodically organizes professional lectures and seminars. The
Chapter is affiliated to Indian Cultural Center under the aegis of Indian
Embassy in Qatar. Doha Chapter of The Institute of Chartered Accountants
of India LLC (G) is registered under Qatar Financial Center (QFC) laws.
The Chapter is the first professional membership body to be licensed in
QFC. Doha Chapter of ICAI has been awarded best overseas chapter under
category II by ICAI for the year 2016 & 2017.
The day to day affairs of the Chapter are managed through its Constitution
and by an elected eight member executive committee headed by a
Chairman. Chapter members, students & visitors of the web-site are
encouraged to provide feedback about any seminar or event
at [email protected]

www.icaidohachapter.org 6

MANAGING COMMITTEE

CA RUPALAKSHMI SETTY CA RUKKAIYA PACHISA
CHAIRPERSON VICE CHAIRPERSON

CA SANDEEP CHOWDHARY CA NIRLEP BHATT
SECRETARY TREASURER

CA JITHU KOSHY CA ANKIT AGARWAL
EXCOM MEMBER EXCOM MEMBER

CA ABDUL NASSAR CA JAISON P.T.
EXCOM MEMBER EXCOM MEMBER

www.icaidohachapter.org 7

CHAIRPERSON MESSAGE

CA RUPALAKSHMI SETTY
CHAIRPERSON

In this world of Digitization and technological advancements, DCICAI has
decided to go green and reach out to our members through electronic edition
of first half yearly Chapter Times 2018. With this environmentally
friendly change, we’re able to save trees, save time and save money. Please
consider the environment before you decide to print this newsletter.

As Chairperson of Doha Chapter of ICAI, I wish to extend my heartiest
congratulations to our parent body ICAI on completing 69 years as Partner in
Nation Building and on entering the 70th Platinum Jubilee year, an occasion
for celebration.

This is a significant milestone and a proud moment for all of us, members of
the CA fraternity. We are part of an illustrious institution which since its
establishment by an act of parliament in 1949 has been upholding the highest
standards of professionalism and integrity in audit and accounting profession.
We salute the mighty edifice that the Institution has evolved into. It has
bound the CA fraternity together since its inception and has spread its arms
far and wide to all corners of the world. Rightly, it serves as a benchmark in
professional cooperative growth that other professional bodies can aspire to.

www.icaidohachapter.org 8

CHAIRPERSON MESSAGE

We look forward to the continued exchange of knowledge across borders and
the sharing of the vast pool of professional experience and knowledge.

Doha Chapter of ICAI has itself completed 37 years of service to the Qatar
CA community and has served as a beacon of knowledge sharing and
dissemination of a wide and varied range of latest developments of interest to
our professional members in this part of the world.

As a vibrant chapter, we host the techno-centric continuous professional
education events regularly, annual International conference, in addition to
CSR Events, sports events, networking & family events that give the CA
community a much needed sense of camaraderie.

This year too we have lined up a selection of highly regarded industry
leaders, subject matter experts, academics to enlighten us and share with us
their wealth of knowledge and experience.

We pledge to continue to support the vision of collective professional growth
espoused by ICAI and spread the light of knowledge of our glorious
profession.

“Your positive action combined with
positive thinking results in success”

www.icaidohachapter.org 9

PROBLEMS.....OPPORTUNITIES IN DISGUISE?

In current era, there is no one in the this world that has CA Amit Desai
been spared from having to face challenges (problems)
in life. These challenges are not given to us to make us
weak and be disheartened. They are in fact the stepping
stones of how we can slowly reach our goals. In our
daily work life, we come across many situations where
we encounter problems. Anything that does not work
the way we want is termed as ‘Problem’. Some people
are bogged down by these problems, whereas others
don’t seems to be affected by them. Some people even
look forward to problems!

Controllable Problems: These problems can be overcome by us because we
know their root cause and can, therefore, take corrective action to eliminate
them. Although these problems can be tackled, many people do not care to go
for systematic diagnosis and, therefore, do not come to the root cause of the
problem.
Uncontrollable Problems: Some problems are caused by the reasons outside
the person’s control. For example, changes in government policy, political
developments in other countries may create some problems for export units.
Problems created by us: You may be surprised to be told that several
problems are our own creations. A negative attitude or wrong behavior may
lead to many human relations problems.
How to treat a problem: Once the type of problem is diagnosed correctly, it
should be treated in such a manner that the root cause is eliminated to the
extent possible. Controllable problems call for corrective actions, where as
uncontrollable problems calls for adaptive actions. Self-created problems
require only an honest self-analysis to come to the root cause so that it can be
eliminated forever.
Attitude of mind: Locating and solving problems is an attitude of mind.
Once the right type of attitude is manufactured , many problems can be
solved without conscious effort on the part of the individual.

10

www.icaidohachapter.org

PROBLEMS.....OPPORTUNITIES IN DISGUISE?

Self created problems would cease to exist. Controllable problems would also
be taken care of.
Problem-avoiders hate problems. They will do everything they can to ensure
that problems do not come to them. If their junior brings a genuine problem to
them, they shout at them. They dislike any problem situation. These people
dream of utopia where problems don’t dare to show their face.
These managers do not have any respect for systematic diagnostic techniques.
They are not interested in finding out the root cause – they just want the
problem to disappear! Some of their subordinates do oblige them by not
bringing any problems to them. The problems don’t disappear; they are only
brushed under the carpet. Such an attitude of mind creates more problems than
solves them!
Problem-solvers equip themselves with systematic problem solving techniques
so that they are not upset with any problem whatsoever. They can come to the
rational solution of each and every problem. If the rational solution calls for
corrective actions, they take them. If it calls for adaptive action, they adapt to
the situation. These managers are ready to face the problems. They are in high
demand in any organization because they can apply logic creativity to arrive at
the solution. They maintain their cool irrespective of gravity of the situation.

Apart from these two types of people, we find another breed of managers fast
emerging on the corporate scene. These are the problem-hunters who look
forward to problems very aggressively. Are these people pessimists? Some
people firmly believe so because of their habit of trying to locate a problem in
any given situation. Why do they hunt for problems? What do they get from it?

These are the managers who firmly believe that Every problems is an
opportunity in work clothes. They look forward to problems because they want
to tap the underlying opportunities. What the caterpillar calls the end of the
world, the Master calls a butterfly! These are the most optimistic people
because they believe that all existing situations can be improved upon – the
only stumbling block being identification of such opportunities.

11

www.icaidohachapter.org

PROBLEMS.....OPPORTUNITIES IN DISGUISE?

And opportunities manifest themselves as problems.
Unless we hunt for defective and wasteful practices, quality cannot be
improved upon. There is no point in being complacent about the present
situation – there is always a scope for improvement.
Why do these managers care so much for quality? The answer lies in their
attitude towards quality defects. The reason behind their quest for Zero defect
is the Japanese experience that quality improvements can lead to substantial
reduction in operations costs. These managers firmly believe that every
problem, when solved, jacks up the quality and brings down the cost!

Change your attitude: If we want to improve quality of our products, our
service and our work life, let us change our attitudes towards problems.
Problems are not to be avoided. In fact, problems are welcome. Because with
every little problem comes a tiny little opportunity to improve our work
practices.

www.icaidohachapter.org 12



IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

The world today is packed with different kinds of products,

services, transactions and many other activities that people

and business do. It is sometimes very challenging for

accountants to determine when and even whether to

recognize revenue in the financial statements. That is

exactly the main aim of the standard IAS 18 which is to

provide guidance on revenue CA Mohammad Shahid

recognition and help in the application of the revenue recognition criteria.
However, on May 28, 2014, the FASB and IASB issued their long-awaited
converged standard on revenue recognition. Almost all entities will be
affected.
IAS 18 provided limited guidance on many important revenue topics such as
accounting for multiple-element arrangements. Transition to IFRS 15 intends
to cover the gaps from the previous standards such as IAS 18 and IAS 11 and
offers detailed guidelines for different type of transactions, such as sale with a
right of return, non-refundable upfront fees (and some related costs),
principal versus agent considerations and consignment arrangements, others.
Transition to IFRS 15 is a joint exercise involving consultants, auditees, and
auditors. Thus transition has wide range of impacts on business covenants,
banker’s analysis and is complex in application. Complexities present
challenges and every challenge is a professional opportunity

www.icaidohachapter.org 14

IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

Issue date Supersedes

o Issued May 2014. o The previous revenue

o Sets out the requirements for Standards:

recognising revenue that apply IAS 18 Revenue

to all contracts with customers IAS 11 Construction Contracts,

except for contracts within the o The related Interpretations

scope of; on revenue recognition:

• leases, IFRIC 13 Customer Loyalty

• Insurance contracts and Programmes,

• Financial instruments. IFRIC 15 Agreements for the

(Effective from 1 January 2018. Construction of Real Estate,

Earlier application is permitted) IFRIC 18 Transfers of Assets from

Customers and

SIC-31 Revenue – Barter

Transactions Involving

Advertising Services.

Convergence Quick forward

o Joint project between IASB and For straightforward contract

FASB, such as retail transactions, IFRS

o Establishes a single, 15 will have little, if any, effect

comprehensive framework for on the amount and timing of

revenue recognition. revenue recognition.

o To be applied consistently across For other contracts, such as

transactions, industries and long-term service contracts

capital markets, and will improve and multiple-element

comparability in the ‘top line’ arrangements, IFRS 15 could

o The IASB and the FASB have result in some changes either

formed Transition Resource to the amount or timing of the

Group a group of external revenue recognised by a

stakeholders to identify and company.

discuss issues that may arise.

www.icaidohachapter.org 15

IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

Brief comparison IFRS 15

IAS 18 /11 Single model for performance
obligations:
Separate models for: Satisfied over time
Construction contracts Satisfied at a point in time
Goods
Services

Focus on risk and rewards Focus on control

Limited guidance on: More guidance:
Multiple element arrangements
Variable consideration Separating elements,
Licences
allocating the transaction

price, variable consideration,

licences, options, repurchase

arrangements and so on….

Need for change

o Significant diversity in revenue recognition practices.

o Limited guidance on many important topics, such as accounting for

arrangements with multiple elements.
o Difficult for investors and analysts (‘investors’) to understand and

compare a company’s revenue.

o Difficult to apply to complex transactions due to lack of basis for

conclusions.

o Numerous industry and transaction specific requirements, which often

resulted in economically similar transactions being accounted for

differently.

o A new type of transactions emerges.
o Inadequate disclosure or information disclosed was often ‘boilerplate’ in

www.icaidohachapter.org 16

IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

nature or was presented in isolation and without explaining how the revenue
recognised related to other information in the financial statements.
IFRS 15 addresses those deficiencies by specifying a comprehensive and
robust framework for the recognition, measurement and disclosure of
revenue.

Overview of the framework

Framework for determining when to recognize revenue and how much
revenue to recognize.
The core principles “a company should recognize revenue to depict the
transfer of promised goods or services to the customer in an amount that
reflects the consideration to which the company expects to be entitled in
exchange for those goods or services”

The framework five steps

Step 1 - Step 2 - Step 3 - Step 4 - Step 5 - Recognize
Identify the Identify the Determine Allocate the revenue when (or
contract performance the transaction as) a performance
with the obligations in transaction price. obligation is
customer. the contract. price. satisfied.

STEP 1

• Agreement between two or more parties that creates enforceable rights and

obligations.
• No contract unless customer committed, criteria include: -it is probable that the

entity will collect the consideration to which it will be entitled.
• Combine two or more contracts with the same customer when: -negotiated as a

package with a single commercial objective; -amount of consideration to be paid

in one contract depends on the price or performance of the other contract; or
• goods or services promised in the contracts are a single performance obligation

(see step 2)

www.icaidohachapter.org 17

IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

STEP 2

• Performance obligations are promises to transfer goods or services to a

customer that are: explicit, implicit, or
• Arise from customary business practices.
• Identifying performance obligations is critical to measurement and timing of

recognition.

STEP 3

• Probability weighted or best estimate.
• More specific guidance covering:-time value of money-constraint on variable

consideration-non-cash consideration
• Consideration payable to customers: reduction to transaction price unless for a

distinct good or service.

STEP 4

• Allocate transaction price to separate performance obligations based on

relative standalone selling price:
• Actual or estimated
• Residual ‘approach’ if selling price is highly variable or uncertain (change

from current practice)
• Initial allocation and changes to variable consideration might be allocated to a

single performance obligation if:
• Contingent payment relates only to satisfaction of that performance obligation,

and
• Allocation is consistent with the amount the entity expects to be entitled to for

that performance obligation.

STEP 5

• Guidance applies to each separate performance obligation
• First, evaluate if performance obligation satisfied ‘over time’
• Recognize revenue based on the pattern of transfer to the customer
• If not point in time
• Recognize revenue when control transfers.

www.icaidohachapter.org 18

IFRS 15 AND CHALLENGES IN ITS
IMPLEMENTATION

Transaction cost Disclosures

o Incremental costs of obtaining a contract o Both qualitative and quantitative

required to be capitalised if expected to information including;

be recovered (e.g. sales commissions). -Disaggregated information

May be expensed if expected contract -Contract balances and a description of

period less than 1 year significant changes.

o Contract fulfilment costs -Amount of revenue related to remaining

-Look to other guidance first (inventory, PPE) performance obligations and an

o If out of scope of other standards, explanation of when revenue is expected

required to be capitalised if: to be recognised.

-Relate directly to a contract and -Significant judgments and changes in

-Relate to future performance and judgments.

-Expected to be recovered

o Amortise capitalised costs as control

transfers.

o Impairment reversals required.

Challenges Success factors
o Technical accounting application o Start preparing now to figure out how
o Increased management judgement.
o Project management the standard affects your financial
o Operational process and system picture, your investors, and the way you
do business.
changes
o Data gathering & analysis o Develop an approach that effectively
o Communications leverages the transition period–
o Changing business models measured approach.

o Establish robust governance structure.

o Agree project management and
change management protocol.

o Document as you go–maintain an audit
trail.

Conclusion

It‘s important that entities which apply this new standards to start to analyses
the impact of the new requirements on their business. Understanding the new
requirements may involve different costs for public/ non-public entities such
as: costs for changing/ updating the software, costs for training the
professional staff from accounting, sales, tax, juridical, or other departments,
etc. So, the implications of the new standard are complexes and must be
carefully implemented. This standard provides more useful information for
users of financial statements

www.icaidohachapter.org 19

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
CELEBRATION

Doha Chapter (“The Chapter”) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of
India (ICAI), celebrated the International Women’s Day by conducting a full
day seminar on 9th March 2018. The morning session focused on “Women as
value drivers”, while the post lunch session covered the “Indian Budget 2018 -
A change agent for Reforming India”.
Over 150 finance professions, in senior positions in businesses and
organizations across Qatar attended the event.

CA Rupalakshmi Setty, Chairperson, Doha Chapter of
ICAI, in her opening remarks said that every woman is
inspiring in her own way and it is very essential to use
the example of successful women to encourage and moti-
-vate other women who are facing their own challenges and struggles, to help
them realize how unique, strong and beautiful they are.

CA R M Vishakha, MD and CEO of India First Life
Insurance, connected with the audience, speaking from the
heart on her own experiences and challenges in rising to the
CEO level in her organization.

CA Sripriya Kumar, Central Council member of ICAI,
India speaking on gender quality mentioned that women are
taking up leadership roles

CA Rukkaiya Pachisa, Vice Chairperson, Doha Chapter 20
of ICAI in her concluding remarks insisted that we the
educated women, should use our voice for the voiceless,
helpless and the most vulnerable women in the society.

www.icaidohachapter.org

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
CELEBRATION

The chapter felicitated the women achievers who attended the event
including CA RM Vishakha (MD, CEO India First Life Insurance), CA
Sripriya Kumar(Central Council Member ICAI), CA Leena Dasani
(Chairperson- Doha Chapter of ICAI 1999-2000), CA Aastha
Rangan(Chairperson- Muscat Chapter of ICAI), CA Shanti Krishnakumar
and Mrs Sangeetha Seetharaman for their contribution to society and CA
fraternity on occasion of International Women’s Day.

www.icaidohachapter.org 21

INDIAN UNION BUDGET 2018 – A
CHANGE AGENT IN REFORMING INDIA

Shri Pitambar Das, Director (Tax Policy & Legislation ) for
Central Board of Direct Taxes from Ministry of Finance, India
spoke on Indian Union Budget 2018 – A Change agent in
reforming India.

He also mentioned that in order to boost the Government's effort to create a
world class financial center, the budget provides for capital gains exemption
on transfer of certain capital assets such as GDRs, rupee denominated bonds,
derivatives, foreign currency bonds in International Financial service centers
which are traded in foreign currency.

CA Dr. R Seetharaman, the CEO of Doha Bank was the
Chief Guest for the Indian Budget 2018 session. He spoke
about Indian Growth Journey with its progressing
economy.

www.icaidohachapter.org 22



WEALTH MANAGEMENT

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Wealth management is about managing your wealth or
surplus funds to achieve a financial goal e.g. to ensure capital
invested is kept intact or the investment risks are well
managed at all times..

CA Deepak Patel

HOW TO START?

You need to determine the financial situation and financial goals for both you

and your business. To do this, you need to:
• Understand your business and personal financial goals and constraints.
• Analyze your business and personal financial position using net worth and

cash flow analysis
• Assess your business risks and personal risk profile.
• You need to take into account your Personal financial situation because as a

business owner, your financial situation is closely tied to the state of your

business. Once you have determined your net worth and set your goals, you

will need to have an action plan to achieve these goals.

WHAT ARE THE ASPECTS OF WEALTH MANAGEMENT?

A comprehensive wealth management plan should generally include ways to
maintain, grow and distribute assets which would involve the following:
Debt / cashflow planning to enable efficient and optimum use of credit for the
business
Investment planning and management to maintain wealth and ensure
adequate returns
Insurance planning for business protection (e.g. fire, theft, marine or key-man
insurance) and personal protection (death, disability, critical illnesses and
household)

www.icaidohachapter.org 24

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Tax planning to minimize unnecessary cash outflows and ensure efficient
cashflow management.
Retirement and welfare planning for employees to ensure retention of key
staff for business continuity. Retirement and succession planning to ensure
that the business can continue to operate smoothly when the business owner
leaves the business
Estate planning to ensure efficient wealth transfer to successors /
beneficiaries.

CASH FLOW PLANNING
Proper management of your cash flow would allow you to utilize any surplus
funds to your benefit based on their availability over the short, medium or
long term and also allow you to meet your obligations as they become due.

INVESTMENT PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Your investment plan would depend on your financial goals and your
willingness to take risks. You need to monitor and perform regular review
on the performance of your investments to ensure that you are on track to
achieving your goals. Your investment plan may be modified based on the
performance of your investments or changing market conditions.

In designing an investment plan, you need to consider:
• Your investment objectives
• An asset allocation strategy to meet the Investment objectives
• The types of investment products to meet your goals.

INSURANCE PLANNING

An insurance program should be part of your plan to protect against the

risk of unexpected financial losses. This will include protection for losses

from fire, flood and other risks to your business and the purchase of health

and life insurance for yourself and your employees. The amount of

insurance depends on your needs, the circumstances as well as the

objectives. Insurance protection should be reviewed regularly to ensure

that the protection is adequate based on your current situation.

25

www.icaidohachapter.org

WEALTH MANAGEMENT

TAX PLANNING
The goal of tax planning is to manage your financial affairs to minimize
your tax payable. The amount of tax payable will affect your decisions on
the following:
• Investment
• Borrowing
• Savings

RETIREMENT AND SUCCESSION PLANNING
Retirement planning is an essential aspect of wealth management. As a
business owner, you will need to consider the following issues:
The timing of your retirement• The amount of money you need to continue
your current lifestyle adjusted with inflation.
• The succession plan as to who and how the business will be run after you
retire. This is to ensure that there is a plan in place which will maximize the
selling price of your business or enable the business to continue with minor
disruption.
Factors to consider when developing a retirement plan are:
• Future retirement needs.
• Current living standard / style and future expenses.
• Total funds accumulated (investment & savings) taking into account
inflation, insurance and taxation.
• Family circumstances (number of dependents, age, education needs, etc.).

CONCLUSION

Optimum utilization of funds by maximizing the return with
minimum/reasonable risk is the key to wealth management.

www.icaidohachapter.org 26

ANNUAL CRICKET FIESTA 2018

Doha Chapter of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
organizes Annual Sports Flagship event Cricket Fiesta 2018 with
India’s Arjuna awardee recipient and commonwealth Gold Medalist
in Table Tennis Shri S Raman as Chief Guest.

The Doha Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
(ICAI) organized the Grand Finale of its 22nd Annual Cricket Fiesta on
April 28, 2018. The event was well attended by more than 300 Chapter
members and their families. Shri S Raman on his address to chapter
members stressed upon giving your best and getting the best in return. In
the recently concluded commonwealth games, with Table Tennis
receiving highest medals, there was lot of excitement on his arrival to the
event.

Team Go Mosafer made a remarkable score of 165 runs on the board with
the help of blazing innings from CA Harikrishna Mahadevan who scored
42 runs off 22 balls. On the other side, Quantum Global Solutions
portrayed an outstanding show chasing the score in 19.1overs. The star
batsman Rajesh Singh and Rajeesh Gopinath remained not out with 40
plus runs to help the team win the Champions trophy. CA Rajesh Singh
was the man of the series and CA Rajeesh Gopinath was the man of the
match.

Shri S Raman
Chief Guest
Commonwealth Gold Medalist in
Table Tennis

www.icaidohachapter.org 27

ANNUAL CRICKET FIESTA 2018

This year ICAI Doha Chapter added a new flavor to its much awaited 22nd
Annual Cricket Festival by having women’s cricket match. It was the first of
the kind cricket for ladies and was highly looked up to by all members and
their families and well appreciated. The Team A was who emerged as
Champions was captained by Varshini Gopal and the runner up team was
captained by CA Rupalakshmi Setty.

CA Rukkaiya Pachisa was awarded the “Women of the Match” with her All-
round performance on the field.

In the prize distribution ceremony, dazzling trophies were awarded to both
the winning & the runner-up teams by Shri S. Raman. It was followed by the
most awaited & exciting lucky draw for families.

28

www.icaidohachapter.org

MOTIVATIONAL TALK TO STUDENTS

MOTIVATIONAL TALK TO SCHOOL STUDENTS BY ARJUNA
AWARDEE AND COMMON WEALTH GOLD MEDALIST IN TABLE
TENNIS SHRI S RAMAN ON APRIL 29, 2018 AT BIRLA PUBLIC
SCHOOL (BPS) AUDITORIUM

On 29th April 2018: Doha Chapter (“The Chapter”) of the Institute of
Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), organized the motivational talk for
students who wants to do well academically and also are eager to perform
well in sports. It was a good opportunity for students to interact with Mr.
Subramaniam Raman, an Olympiad and 1998 Arjuna Awardee Table Tennis
player.

With BPS school principal, Shri AP Sharma and Shri S Raman Addressing
the students at BPS Auditorium

www.icaidohachapter.org 29

INTERNATIONAL TRADE-CHANGING
LANDSCAPE

I would like to touch upon some of the evolving areas of
the international trade from a finance person’s

perspective.

Net back pricing mechanism:
As per business dictionary, net back is defined as “The

total cost that is connected to bringing crude oil to the

marketplace and the revenues from all the products that

are generated from it. This term only applies to companies

who that are oil suppliers”. CA Abdul Nassar

On a practical aspect, net back pricing mechanism can be applied to

improve operational efficiency, reduce cost and affectively utilize

infrastructure by sharing the same by different oil producing companies.

Oil producing companies can form another venture to export their products

at a net back price without competing each other and creating havoc by

building duplicate infrastructure. However, the legal structure of the

venture should be thoroughly studied and formed taking into account

various antitrust and competition law requirements of various jurisdictions.

Antitrust and Competition Law:
US has its own Antitrust law, European Union has its Competition Law
and in addition each country may have its own competition law. The main
objective of all these laws is to promote competition, prevent unlawful
behaviors like the abuse of dominance, price fixing, market sharing etc

Therefore, it is important to have a well-designed policy and arrangements
within the company to prevent or reduce risk of exposure for such hectic
fine and penalties. The employees should be trained periodically to
improve their awareness on these laws.

Bill of Lading Document- Electronic Version:
BL document is issued by the master of ship or his agent to acknowledge
receipt of cargo for shipment. A bill of Lading must be transferable, and
serves three main functions:

www.icaidohachapter.org 30

INTERNATIONAL TRADE-CHANGING
LANDSCAPE

• it is a conclusive receipt, i.e. an acknowledgement that the goods have
been loaded; and
• it contains or evidences the terms of the contract of carriage; and
• it serves as a document of title to the goods.
The challenge is the shipping industry is still doing business or operating in
its own fashion and a long way to go to cope up with the automation. That
means, if you want to automate your invoicing process and send the invoice
and other document electronically to your customer, as the BL document is
still issued in its physical form and with signature, you may still need to
dispatch the hardcopy of BL document alone to your customer by courier or
postal service.
Taxation- Royalty, Online subscriptions and Service of Consultants:
Many countries have Tax Deduction at Source provisions, or withholding
tax provisions in their Direct Taxation (Income Tax ) laws. These provisions
requires the service receiving company or the company who makes payment
to non-resident vendors, to deduct certain percentage of payment as tax and
remit to Government. In case a Double Taxation Agreements exists, these
non-resident vendors can claim set offs or refunds, subject to some
formalities. There can be many challenges to determine whether the type of
service (for example online subscriptions, e-commerce, service of
consultants etc.) is provided in the country or outside the country.

Sanctions
These days any customer, vendor or country itself may hit by sanctions as a
surprise for so many reasons. This might cause great impact on your business.
Your risk mitigation tools should have considered and covered all these
aspects. Before selecting your customers and vendors you must have done
your due diligence and homework thoroughly to ensure that the counterparty
and its directors are not on any black list and have good trustworthy track
record. There are many technological tools available these days to have more
access to publicly available information. Also it is worth to have a look at
your contracts on the flexibility to shift the transaction currency to another in
case of any emergencies.

www.icaidohachapter.org 31

INTERNATIONAL TRADE-CHANGING
LANDSCAPE

Automation
We are all observing major development in artificial intelligence in recent
past. Full automation of business processes are most efficient way of doing
business in coming days. Most of the finance processes , For example,
Invoicing, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliation and
Accounting of transactions, it is very easy to implement 100% automation.
Hope to see a major shift in using the human intelligence productively for
analyzing the numbers and supporting the leaders in decision making than
doing repetitive routine tasks which we can easily automate. This will bring
more efficiency, less chances of human errors and mistakes.
Insurance
Companies normally cover their business and operational risks by appropriate
mitigation tools (eg, Insurance policy).

However, it is also prudent to assess that whether directors liability,
environmental hazards (eg, Oil Spillage due to well leakage or accidents
during transportation) etc. are properly and sufficiently covered.

Business Continuity Process:
It is very critical to have a well-tested and defined business continuity and
disaster management process in place. On a periodic basis, test drills should be
conducted to ensure that the process is working as designed and fit for the
purpose.
Consolidation
In the recent past, we have seen many Oil & Gas companies across the globe
consolidating its operations through mergers and acquisitions. Hope to see the
trend continuing as this will mostly support them to be more competitive.

www.icaidohachapter.org 32



MEMBERS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

CA Dr R Seetharaman
CA Dr R Seetharaman, CEO Doha Bank, has been
honored with the "CEO of the Year Award" at the
EMEA Finance Middle East Banking Awards 2017
Ceremony on Feb 28, 2018 in Dubai for bringing
about transformational leadership in Doha Bank with

focus on technology and sustainable development.

CA Sundaresan Rajeswar
Past Chairman – Doha Chapter of ICAI, has been
unanimously elected as District Director of newly
Chartered District 116P of Toastmasters
International.

CA Jithu Koshy

Winning at the Club level and at the Division level, he
represented the CAs Toastmasters Club in an Inter-
Country competition amongst Qatar, Bahrain &
Kuwait.
Also, as part of the team Phoenix he won the 3rd prize
in recently concluded Hackathon by Ooredoo for self-
diagnosis & net-work performance of connected
devices, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence
and robotics.

www.icaidohachapter.org 34

MEMBERS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

CA Abdul Nassar P
Winner of the “Sports Excellence Award 2018” in Men
category for participation in endurance sports for
successfully competing in Marathon across several
countries, Triathlons and Ironman competitions. The
award was given by Indian Sports Center under the agies
of Indian Embassy Qatar

CA Rukkaiya Pachisa
Current Vice Chairperson – Doha Chapter of ICAI has
been awarded the Certificate by Supreme Committee
for Delivery & Legacy (SC) as a representative of
Indian Community under Community Engagement
Programme.

CA Girish Jain
Past Chairman – Doha Chapter of ICAI, has been
unanimously elected as Division Director for Division A,
District 116P of Toastmasters International this year.

CA Raja Gopalakrishnan
Past Chairman – Doha Chapter of ICAI, has been appointed

as District Finance Manager for District 116P of

Toastmasters International this year.

““EVERY ACCOMPLISHMENT STARTS WITH THE
DECISION TO TRY””

www.icaidohachapter.org 35

CRYPTOCURRENCIES – DIGITAL MONEY OR
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE?

Do you know that more than 103 million search
results will be shown when you type the word
‘cryptocurrency’ on google? Do you know 5 years
back there were hardly 15 cryptocurrencies in
circulation with a market capitalization of $1.5 billion
and today the number has swelled beyond anyone’s
Imagination.Currently there are more than 1,600
Currencies available for trading with a market cap of

CA Girish Jain
$333 billion and Bitcoin leading the race by 38% share of the cap.

Below rising bars can explain the surge.

US-Senator Thomas Carper rightly said, “Virtual currencies, perhaps most
notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among
others, and confused the heck out of the rest of us.”
Today cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon still even bankers
have limited knowledge about it. So let us try to understand what is
cryptocurrency, how it has emerged as a side product of digital cash,
creating millions of jobs and if it’s really a bubble waiting to be burst?
Satoshi Nakamoto, inventor of Bitcoin, the first and still most valuable
cryptocurrency, never intended to invent a currency. His goal was simply to
invent something completely decentralized with no server or central authority
which many people failed to create earlier. It is this decision which gave birth
to the cryptocurrency. To realize digital cash you need a payment network
with accounts, balances, and transaction and one major problem every

www.icaidohachapter.org 36

CRYPTOCURRENCIES – DIGITAL MONEY OR
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE?

payment network has to solve is to prevent the so-called double spending:
to prevent that one entity spends the same amount twice. Usually, this is
done by a central server which keeps record about the balances. In a
decentralized network, you don‘t have this server. So you need every
single entity of the network to do this job.
But how can these entities keep a consensus about these records?
If the peers of the network disagree about only one single, minor balance,
everything is broken. They need an absolute consensus. Usually, you take,
again, a central authority to declare the correct state of balances. But how
can you achieve consensus without a central authority? Nobody believed it
was even possible but Satoshi proved it was.
How miners create coins and confirm transactions
A cryptocurrency like Bitcoin consists of a network of peers. Every
peer has a record of the complete history of all transactions and thus
of the balance of every account.

[Picture source - https://blockgeeks.com ] 37

www.icaidohachapter.org

CRYPTOCURRENCIES – DIGITAL MONEY OR
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE?

The transaction is known almost immediately by the whole network. But only
after a specific amount of time it gets confirmed. Confirmation is a critical
concept in cryptocurrencies. When a transaction is confirmed, it is set in stone. It
is no longer forgeable, it can‘t be reversed, it is part of an immutable record of
historical transactions: of the so-called blockchain.
What are miners doing?
Only miners can confirm transactions. This is their job in a cryptocurrency-
network. They take transactions, stamp them as legit and spread them in the
network. After a transaction is confirmed by a miner, every node has to add it to
its database. It has become part of the blockchain. For this job, the miners get
rewarded with a token of the cryptocurrency, for example with Bitcoins.
Principally everybody can be a miner. Since a decentralized network has no
authority to delegate this task, a cryptocurrency needs some kind of mechanism
to prevent one ruling party from abusing it. Imagine someone creates thousands
of peers and spreads forged transactions. The system would break immediately.
So, Satoshi set the rule that the miners need to invest some work of their
computers to qualify for this task. In fact, they have to find a hash – a product of
a cryptographic function – that connects the new block with its predecessor. This
is called the Proof-of-Work. In Bitcoin, it is based on the SHA 256 Hash
algorithm.

[Picture source - https://blockgeeks.com ]

After finding a solution, a miner can build a block and add it to the
blockchain. As an incentive, he has the right to add a so-called Coinbase

www.icaidohachapter.org 38

CRYPTOCURRENCIES – DIGITAL MONEY OR
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE?

transaction that gives him a specific number of Bitcoins. This is the only way to
create valid Bitcoins.

Transactional properties of cryptocurrencies are – 1. Irreversible, 2.
Pseudonymous, 3. Fast and global, 4. Secure and 5. Permission-less.

Monetary properties:
1.) Controlled supply: Most cryptocurrencies limit the supply of the tokens. In
Bitcoin, the supply decreases in time and will reach its final number somewhere
in around 2140.

All cryptocurrencies control the supply of the token by a schedule written in the

code.

2.) No debt but bearer: The Fiat-money on your bank account is created by
debt, and the numbers, you see on your ledger represent nothing but debts. It‘s a

system of IOU.

While cryptocurrencies are more used for payment, its use as a means of

speculation and a store of value has belittled the payment aspects.

Cryptocurrencies has given birth to an incredibly dynamic, fast-growing market
for investors and speculators. It‘s common that a coin may gain 10% to 100%

and lose the same next day.

Lets look at the most popular cryptocurrencies of today.

Bitcoin the one and only, the first and most famous cryptocurrency. Bitcoin

serves as a digital gold standard in the whole cryptocurrency-industry, is used as

a global means of payment and is the de-facto currency of cyber-crime like

darknet markets or ransomware.

Ethereum the brainchild of young crypto-genius Vitalik Buterin has ascended to

the second place in the hierarchy of cryptocurrencies.

Ripple has a native cryptocurrency – XRP – it is more about a network to

process IOUs than the cryptocurrency itself. Banks, adopt the system with an

increasing pace.

Litecoin was one of the first cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin and tagged as the

silver to the digital gold bitcoin. Faster than bitcoin, with a larger amount of

token and a new mining algorithm. 39

www.icaidohachapter.org

CRYPTOCURRENCIES – DIGITAL MONEY OR
MENANCE OF THE FUTURE?

Monero is the most prominent example of the cryptonite algorithm. This
algorithm was invented to add the privacy features Bitcoin is missing.

Job Trends In Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency has exploded over the past year or two and from crypto startups
to established companies, the job market has never looked so good. According to
research from job search site Indeed, job postings mentioning “blockchain”,
“bitcoin” or “cryptocurrency” increased by 621% since November 2015. And
supply is growing along with demand: they also report a 1,065% growth in
searches for jobs mentioning those three terms.
From developers to project managers to miners to data scientists, there's a broad
spectrum of jobs available in the cryptocurrency business. There are crypto-
focused jobs for traders, Sales associates, reporters, DevOps engineers,
consultants, technical product managers, and more.

What is the future of Cryptocurrency?
Bitcoin was invented in 2008 and so celebrating 10th anniversary this year. In
my opinion, cryptocurrencies are here to stay to change the world. People all
over the world are buying Bitcoin to protect themselves against the devaluation
of their national currency. Mostly in Asia, a vivid market for Bitcoin remittance
has emerged, and the Bitcoin using darknets of cybercrime are flourishing. More
and more companies discover the power of Smart Contracts or token on
Ethereum, the first real-world application of blockchain technologies emerge.
Institutional investors have started buying cryptocurrencies. Banks and
governments have already realized that this invention has the potential to draw
their control away. The revolution is already happening. Now you can either
stand beside and observe – or you can become part of history in the making, you
decide!

[Above article is based on information taken from various website sources]

www.icaidohachapter.org 40



HOW LEADERS DEFINE WORK/LIFE ‘WINS’

These days, work-life balance can seem like an impossible feat. Technology
makes us accessible around the clock. Now, most event planners and
working professionals are essentially available and accessible 24/7 without
a definitive breakpoint between the office and home. The compounding
stress from the never-ending workday is damaging. It can hurt
relationships, health and overall happiness.

Aside from hitting the pause button and unplugging from our busy
schedules, is there a better way to achieve harmony between your
professional career and home life? Let's look at how one savvy professional
figured out how to balance all this modernity with grace and successfully
combining work and personal life, family relationships and leisure time
into a satisfying life.

Work Life Balance is one of the mantras nowadays in the
corporate world to ensure that we stay healthy in mind and
body, be happy and give the best output at
work. Fortunately, this was always in my DNA, and that
had helped me enjoy my work all through my career.
Seldom you will get what you want in all situations, but

the adaptability to what you get and turn that in to your comfort zone is
important to ensure that you remain passionate with your work. I practice this
always and I am able to see the positive side of every situation at work and use
that positivity to define the path to achieve the results.

As one grows up in the professional career, the added responsibilities always
come with added pressure and stress, but it is of paramount importance to
master the art of prioritization of tasks and the art of delegation. There will be
multiple and overlapping demands of our time, and unless we prioritize the
tasks, we will find it difficult to stay afloat, and without knowing whom to
delegate and how much to delegate, invariably we will end up doing tasks
which can be performed by your subordinates and this again will increase the
stress level.

www.icaidohachapter.org 42

HOW LEADERS DEFINE WORK/LIFE ‘WINS’

I am a firm believer that unless you remain happy at work and enjoy what you
are doing, you will not get the desired output. I always tell my staff that
weekday should be as enjoyable as weekends – as during weekdays also we are
with a family of colleagues, so be happy, laugh around and enjoy as we work.

People always ask me how I get time to engage myself in so many tasks and
attend different events in day, spend the time with family and remain active in
social media as well– my answer has always been that if you are passionate of
what you are doing, you will always find the time required. I am passionate of
everything I do in my life and my engagement with friends through social media
is a positive pill to energize me continuously. We all see and read so many
hazards from the social media and the time spent by us on that, but everything
in the world has a positive and negative side of it; I only see the positive side of
the engagement in social media, share what gives me happiness and happiness
when shared with people it has a multiplier effect, and it does act as a major
stress buster for me.

So my message to my friends is that stress is unavoidable in a professional life,
but everyone should define their own stress busters, to remain calm and healthy
in mind which translates in to happiness in personal and professional life. And
yes, celebrate life – every moment in life is precious, so don’t postpone your
celebration.

‘Make balance as much a priority as
your financial results’

www.icaidohachapter.org CA Gopal Balasubramaniam
43

QATAR STATE OF AFFAIRS 2018

QATAR’S FINANCIAL AND OTHER AFFAIRS OF THE
POST BLOCKADE ERA. CAN AN ECONOMY LIKE QATAR

AFFORD TO REMAIN ALOOF AT THIS JUNCTURE??

“The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you have

come,” said Mick Kremling. Qatar continues to live up to this dictum. We

kept moving forward without being defined by how others expected

conditions to emerge. That is a huge victory by itself irrespective of the

impact on the economy that blockade had caused.

The blockade broadly raised risk-related concerns on (1) Sustainability to

provide essential items to people regarding physical availability and fiscal

capability (2) Safeguarding of national assets including from cybersecurity

threats (3) Honoring commitment to host mega sports event FIFA 2022.

From a broader risk perspective, these would translate into continuity,

financial and reputational categories of risks. Measurement, monitoring,

and mitigation of these risks call for high caliber risk management.

A year later, as we objectively analyze, these risks are not on the horizon

looming large as major threats. The reason undoubtedly should be attributed

to extraordinary and exemplary acts by leadership. There has been deep-

rooted and evident patriotism that propelled inclusive intents with far-

reaching results.

The blockade neither affected the fulfillment of commitments to supply gas
to Qatar’s customers in the world nor harmed the stability of the national

currency. The Qatari economy is blessed with good resources, and newer

policies permeated business diversifications and infrastructure

development. The government took the role as an importer, and with

commercial acumen attracted varied sources that helped to maintain the

price of essential products. There was a well-directed strategy for ensuring

the expansion of storage capacities for food security and logistics. Banking

sector reports indicate buoyancy with the evident rising of deposits,

business credit expansion and improving liquidity. 44

www.icaidohachapter.org

QATAR STATE OF AFFAIRS 2018

The country’s Islamic-banking sector that accounts for a quarter of total
banking assets is stated to have grown in recent times. That begs the
question on the cliché statement “We live in a global village. No country
can live in isolation of others like Robinson Crusoe.” -Li Keqiang. It is
very tempting to think that, as the world is rapidly becoming a global
village.
Even the word “village” has implications for small, friendly, connected,
and a place where “we are all one.” But is this really so? “The process of
changing a relationship requires a willingness to change. It requires a
sense of openness, a sense of reciprocity, a kind of vulnerability. You must
be willing to be influenced by another person.” Simon Goland. The impact
of “togetherness or separation” is more perception oriented than driven by
cost factors such as economies of scale, etc. “We are here to awaken from
the illusion of our separateness.” – Thich Nhat Hanh. The success story set
to unfold from Qatar will be something worth wait and watch.

SUNDARESAN RAJESWAR
BA, FCA, CIA, CISA, CFE, CCSA, CFSA, CGAP,
CRMA

www.icaidohachapter.org 45

SYNOPSIS OF PAST CPE EVENTS

TOPIC :- MIDDLE EAST
CONSTRUCTION RISK &
DISPUTE RESOLUTION
VENUE :- DOHA BANK
TOWER
DATE :- 17TH JAN, 2018

TOPIC :- 36TH ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
VENUE :- CROWN
PLAZA
DATE :- 21st FEB, 2018

TOPIC :- INDIAN UNION
BUDGET 2018
VENUE :- CROWN PLAZA
DATE :- 9TH MAR, 2018

TOPIC :- WOMEN AS 46
VALUE DRIVERS
VENUE :- CROWN PLAZA
DATE :- 9TH MAR, 2018

www.icaidohachapter.org

SYNOPSIS OF PAST CPE EVENTS

TOPIC :- DATA THEFT-
THE NEW 21ST CENTURY
CRIME
VENUE :- CROWN PLAZA
DATE :- 2nd APRIL, 2018

TOPIC :- THE NEW ERA TOPIC :- COMBATTING
OF BLOCKCHAIN & MODERN DAY
CRYPTO CURRENCY FRAUDSTERS WITH
VENUE :- DOHA BANK DIGITAL TOOLS
TOWER VENUE :- CROWN PLAZA
DATE :- 6th MAY, 2018 DATE :- 3rd JUNE, 2018

www.icaidohachapter.org 47

ENGAGING & CELEBRATING

GALA MUSICAL EVENING
RADISSION BLU HOTEL

26TH JAN 2018

DCICAI WALKATHON 48
QATAR NATIONAL SPORTS DAY

13TH FEB 2018

www.icaidohachapter.org

CSR INITIATIVE

Joy of Giving Iftar Food Boxes to Workers
A CSR Initiative of Doha Chapter of ICAI

A journey of
thousand

miles begins
with a single

step and
today DCICAI

have taken
this single
step towards
bringing joy
and smile
amongst the
workers. Glad
we could be
part of this
noble cause
during the
Holy month of
Ramadan.

www.icaidohachapter.org 49

MEDIA COVERAGE

www.icaidohachapter.org 50