Fifty Years of Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan. (2000-6)

 

The Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan was established in 1951 by (Late) Muhammad Shoaib, who himself was Cost & Works Accountant from UK and founder of Institute of Cost and Works Accountants, India. He envisioned a powerful contributory role for Cost and Management Accountancy in the growth of national economy, which the members of this Institute have played credibly. Mr. Shoaib later rose to become the Finance Minister of Pakistan. The Institute was granted statutory status in 1966 under the Cost and Management Accountants Act, 1966. It has maintained high standard, both in imparting education and testing and has been meeting an important national human resource need through a steady flow of professional management accountants in the economy. Continuous improvement in its programs is an important part of its philosophy. The objective is to produce high caliber business managers by equipping them with specialized skills of management accountancy to meet emerging challenges of an increasingly competitive and demanding business world.

MISSION STATEMENT

To promote efficiency and effectiveness by providing competent and high caliber professionals in the area of Management Accountancy.

MEMBERS AND STUDENTS OF THE INSTITUTE

ICMAP has over 1,600 members, who hold senior positions in trade, commerce, industry and government. A good number of them are employed abroad, viz, Middle East, UK, Australia, USA, Canada, etc. The number of registered students is over 25,000 which makes ICMAP one of the largest professional institutions in Pakistan.

INTERNATIONAL AFFILIATIONS

The Institute is member of the following International Accounting bodies:

a)International Federation of Accountants (IFAC)

b)International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC)

c)Confederations of Asian Pacific Accountants (CAPA)

d)South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA)

PUBLICATION

The ICMAP takes out bi-monthly journal \"Management Accountant\" which is one of the leading professional journals in Pakistan having circulation of over 10,000. A Research newsletter is also issued every month.

EMERGING AVENUES OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTANT

The new millennium is of Management Accountants. The prominent accounting bodies of the world agree on the point that bookkeeping and taxation services are now withering away and accountants, for their survival and growth, will have to become business managers:

communicative and productive users of information technology. ICMAP has already planned to prepare its students on these lines. In the United Kingdom, 58% of accounting jobs are filled by management accountants and ICMAP also plans to follow.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Members of the Institute who are known as Management Accountants offer quality services in the following areas:

a)Management Accounting

b)Cost Audit

c)Financial Audit d)Sales Tax Audit/Advisory Services

e)Certification under Prudential Regulations

f)Corporate Advisor

g)Management Consultancy

h)Withholding Tax Audit

i)Other Services

ASSISTANCE TO GOVERNMENT

The Institute is represented on the advisory Council of the Finance Division of the Government of Pakistan. It provides opinion on matters of financial policy to the Government from time to time on request. The Institute has been assisting Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for a long time in the task of introduction of Cost Accounting Records/Audit for manufacturing industries under the Companies Ordinance 1984.

GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

Year 2000-2001 is the Golden Jubilee Year of the Institute. It will hold a number of Seminars and Conferences during this span of time to give an educational touch to the celebrations. To recognize the meritorious service of the members, teachers and employees of the Institute, who contributed in a significant manner in furthering the cause of the Institute, befitting awards will be given to them.

To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Institution Pakistan Post Office is issuing a set of 2 commemorative Postage Stamps of Rs. 2/- and Rs.15/- denomination on June 23, 2000.

Birth Anniversary of Mahomedali Habib. (2000-5)

 

Mahomedali Habib born on 15th May 1904 in Bombay, the third son of Habib Ismail was endowed with exceptional qualities of leadership and tremendous vision and foresight. He was destined to play the most important role in establishing the \"House of Habib\". He founded \"Habib Bank Ltd.\" in August 1941 (with the full support of his brothers particularly Dawood Habib). Habib Bank, the flagship of the House of Habib formalized the Habib Group\'s Merchant Banking activities (since 1841).

To pay a tribute to the memory of his much-loved father, Mahomedali Habib named the Bank after him. Habib Bank soon became the largest and the most important Bank of Pakistan.

Mahomedali Habib, in an amazingly short period of time, created a family business empire covering banking, insurance, shipping and many other industries. The Group companies were market leaders in everything they did and employed more than 7,000 people.

Mahomedali Habib was not only Advisor to Quaid-e-Azam, but was also one of the leading figures of the Pakistan movement. Of the numerous meritorious services of Mahomedali Habib to the nation, he is best remembered for the Blank Cheque that he presented to the Quaid-e-Azam to meet the newly established state\'s financial obligations in the wake of partition, when Pakistan\'s Treasury was empty. The Indian Government had willfully not transferred the funds of Pakistan from the Exchequer of undivided India, which had created a crisis situation averted by the timely assistance from Mahomedali Habib. The loan thus given, in hundreds of millions of rupees to the Government of Pakistan was interest-free.

He was an Architect, Builder, Patriot, Philanthropist, Champion of the poor, a devout Muslim and a true believer in God. He compiled a translation of Holy Quran with footnotes and other religious literatures, which he published under his pen-name M.H. Shakir. His deep concern for the welfare of the poor led him to establish more than 20 Benevolent Trusts for Education, Medical relief, Hospitals, Housing for the poor, Orphanages, Mosques, food, clothing etc. and even Burial Grounds.

Mahomedali Habib was a family man, a loving husband and a very caring father. He had the ability to make every member of the Habib family feel special and created time for everyone. A remarkable motivator of people, he was very successful in training the young generation of Habibs to accept the challenges of the future and commanded a level of loyalty and respect that has become a hallmark. A keen sportsman, his motto was \"work hard, pray hard, and play hard\".

Mahomedali Habib, a legend of a man, died peacefully on 30th March 1959, at the age of 55 years.

Courtesy: House of Habib

To commemorate the Birth Anniversary of Philanthropist of Pakistan Mahomedali Habib, Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Rs. 2/-denomination on May 15, 2000.

Centenary of Edwardes College, Peshawar. (2000-4)

 

AD MAJOREM DE GLORIAM is the motto of Edwardes College, Peshawar, which means \"To the greater Glory of God\". Edwardes college began as a missionary foundation at the high watermark of British Rule in the sub-continent. Edwardes College was established in 1900 with the efforts of Sir Herbert Edwardes KCB GSCI, Commissioner of Peshawar in 1853. According to the annals of our college, the first classes were started on 1st May, 1900 and the founding principal was Rev. H.J. Hoare. During these years there were about 30 students in the college. In 1903 the Principal reported:

“...The college continues to do good work in a quiet way ... and will in the near future prove a very real force in the moral and social culture.”

Even in 1913 after the start of BA classes the total enrollment was mere 42. Hoare, however was a man of considerable determination. He had come to the frontier in 1890 and is remembered as a man completely dedicated to his work. It is said that he personally inspected every brick from the kiln and selected those which fully passed his inspection. On Friday, 7th January, 1910 the new College Building (the present famous Arts Block) was opened by the Rt. Reverend, the Bishop of Lahore. A plaque in the Shalimar Quad tells us that the hostel building was constructed with a \"generous gift from a member of the University of Oxford - Fellowship in Furtherance of the Gospel\'. The college was known at this stage as Edwardes Church Mission College and it was affiliated with the University of the Punjab. It was the only college in the frontier.

The college has the honour of being visited thrice by the founder of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Rev. Dalaya was the Principal at the time. During the same period, distinguished visitor to the college include Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Ghandi, Khawaja Nazimuddin, Dr. khan Sahib, Liaquat Ali Khan and Sheikh Abdul Hamid, After the short - span principalship of Canon Hawkes and Rev K.W.S. Jardine, there came legendary Dr. Phil Edmonds as a principal in March 1955. During his 23 year tenure, Edwardes Students came to occupy high positions in government, civil service and other professions. After Dr. Edmonds, there came Dr. J.D. Murray, Rev. N. Green, Dr. T. Woolmer, Dr. RH. Pont and now Mr. P. Brooke Smith (since 1995). Mr. Brooke-Smith felt intensely the need to bring changes in the college to enable it to meet the challenges of 21st Century. He gave a comprehensive \'system and procedure\' to the entire administration, started construction (now complete) of the Centenary Building for Computer Science and Electronics Department, Seminar Rooms and Learning Resources Centre. Many other development projects are going on. Mr. Brooke Smith has an obsession to see Edwardes College an Educational Institution of international standards in near future and he is endeavouring for it.

The college has maintained such a unique character fort he last one hundred years that to be an \'Edwardian\" means an enviable status and a high quality and character. For the last one hundred years the college is proud to produce men of great integrity, intellect, loyalty and honour.

Contributed by: Principal Edwardes College, Peshawar.

Pakistan Post Office is also participating in the centenary celebrations by issuing a commemorative postage stamp of Ps. 2/- denomination on April 24, 2000.

Pakistan Convention on Human Rights and Human Dignity. (2000-3)

 

The recent report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan for the year 1999 makes for very depressing reading. It confirms the well-known fact that during the last 10 years of democratic government in Pakistan, instead making the substantial improvements widely expected with the restoration of democracy after a decade of military rule, there has been continued deterioration in the country\'s human rights record.

The present military government has taken a highly unusual initiative to help rectify the situation. For the first time in the country\'s history a national convention is being held on the subject of human rights awareness and education. This is clearly the need of the hour. It appears quite unbelievable that there has never been any formal teaching of human rights in the entire education system of the country in the last 52 years of its history. Unless there is widespread awareness of the subject in the country, it is naive to expect any improvement in human rights abuse in the future.

There is the need to introduce the subject in the formal education system of the country, at various levels. To enable teachers to teach the subject in schools and colleges, they themselves have to first be taught through a comprehensive Teachers Training Program. On both these issues the Fazaldad Human Rights Institute has started work already. The measures being taken will surely have positive and very welcome results in the years ahead. But it is equally important, if indeed not more so, to do something about it immediately. The government and the Fazaldad Institute are both equally convinced that the entire population of the country today has to be reached and made aware of human rights and human dignity so that a better citizenry emerges in the land. To achieve this there is an urgent need for a mass awareness program as well.

MASS AWARENESS

During the convention it is intended to develop a comprehensive mass awareness program which will be launched on the very day of the Inaugural (21 at April) by the Chief Executive and will continue with full intensity till 31St December, 2000.

The media intended to be availed for the campaign will include, but not be limited to, the following:

Television

Radio

Print Media

Seminars

Street Theatre

Pakistan Post

The subjects that are likely to be covered in the mass media campaign will include spots on TV and radio, interviews of prominent persons and of victims; Group discussions; dramas; and theme song or songs & Postage stamps.

EDUCATION

On the subject of education it is intended during the convention to study two aspects in detail:

1.Curriculum. It is intended to make suggestions on amendments to the curriculum of the education system at appropriate levels to cover the teaching of human rights and human dignity. This will also require developing appropriate textbooks and other learning materials.

2.Teachers Training. As the subject has never before been taught in the educational institutions of the country, our teachers themselves have very limited knowledge on which they can base their teaching of the subject in schools and colleges. It is therefore imperative to develop and implement an effective program for the training of teachers as rapidly as possible. Courtesy: Chairman, Fazal Dad Human Rights Institute.

To Commemorate the occasion Pakistan Post Office is issuing a commemorative Postage stamp of Rs. 2/- denomination on April 21, 2000.

Centenary of International Cycling Union (UCI) (2000-2)

 

Once upon a time there was the International Cyclist Association. Until 14th April 1900. On that day, in Paris, seven men decided to change the history of world cycling.Once upon a time there was the International Cyclist Association. Until 14th April 1900. On that day, in Paris, seven men decided to change the history of world cycling.

After handing in their resignations to the ICA, these delegates, representing the National Federations of Belgium, France, the USA, Switzerland and Italy, Went on the found the Union Cycliste International.

The first minutes taken were finally signed by Mr. Emile de BEUKELAER, who was appointed President Mr. Alfred RIGUELLE and the Count de VILLERS, Mr. Victor BREYER, Mr. Paul ROUSSEAU and Mr. Mario BRUZZONE, the treasurer of the new Federation.

The long journey has thus begun, and the first UCI Congress took place at the Hotel de Russie in Paris on 11th August 1900, just before the World Championships.

Since the beginning of this century, cycling and the UCI have grown at a constant and equal rate, going through all the necessary stages of technical and structural evolution, resulting, in 1993, in the merger of the FIAC (International Federation of Amateur Cyclists) and FlCP (International Federation of Professional Cyclists). After Paris, the UCI\'s activities were divided up between Geneva, Rome and Luxembourg. Olympic Capital, was finally chosen as the site of the headquarters.

Today the Union Cycliste International is one of the biggest sports federations in the World, managed with the most modran criteria and techniques, still committed to its mission which is almost 100 years old: to support and promote cycling.

Courtesy:lnternational Cycling Union (UCI)

To celebrate the Centenary of International Cycling Union Pakistan Post Office is issuing one commemorative Postage stamp of Rs. 2/- denomination on April 14, 2000.