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‘IAI’s Disciplinary Committee report can be precedent for ICAI, other institutes’

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Is the remittance of part of the consultancy fee to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) by an employee as per service condition a professional misconduct?

Yes says, a Disciplinary Committee set up by the Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI).

The IAI Disciplinary Committee’s decision would also have a bearing on the chartered accountants in a similar position as the Committee’s report was also signed by Uttam Agarwal, then President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), said a senior accountant.

The ICAI has similar rules for professional misconduct.

K.Subrahmanyam, retired Executive Director (Actuary), IRDAI, has knocked the doors of Telangana High Court seeking justice against IAI Disciplinary Committee declaring him as guilty of professional misconduct.

He also wondered about the IRDAI’s silence on the issue after issuing him the permission in writing and accepting his remittance for several years.

The IAI’s Disciplinary Committee in 2021 had declared Subrahmanyam as guilty of professional misconduct.

The misconduct he was accused of is the payment of a part of his actuarial consulting fee to the IRDAI while in service between 2000-2011 as per his employment condition.

He was allowed to carry on actuarial consulting practice by the IRDAI subject to the condition that he remits 25 per cent of the consulting fees with the regulator.

“I carried on my consulting practice and remitted 25 per cent of the fee to IRDAI between 2000 and 2011,” Subrahmanyam told IANS.

“As a matter of fact, Subrahmanyam had consulted the Government of Nepal and Sri Lanka apart from others,” a retired senior IRDAI official told IANS preferring anonymity.

In 2017, six years after his retirement from IRDAI, Subrahmanyam got a shock as actuary N. Srinivasan made a complaint to IAI against him for professional misconduct – for remitting part of his fees to the IRDAI.

Incidentally, the IAI did not even consider the IRDAI’s former Chairman N. Rangachary’s communication clarifying the issue while setting up a Disciplinary Committee to proceed against Subrahmanyam.

In his letter to IAI President, Rangachary had said: “The ASI (Actuarial Society of India) which controlled your profession and consisted of very few members most of them in employment possibly outside India.”

The IRDAI was engaged seriously in seeing to it that a vibrant actuarial profession was functional. One such move was to permit some actuaries in employment to take up assignments in the area of attestation, he added.

Referring to the initiation of the disciplinary proceedings against, Rangachary said: “As Chairman of the authority (IRDAI) I had permitted him (Subrahmanyam) to engage himself in practice in a limited number of cases but subject to the regulations of the authority. Since there was an interchange between the regulator and the profession, both of whom were in the early growth stage, it was then prescribed that as is normally adopted by both the government and statutory bodies a small percentage was to be remitted to the employer.”

Nevertheless, the IAI Disciplinary Committee declared Subrahmanyam as guilty of misconduct under The Actuaries Act 2006 Section 31 Part I and sub section 2 which reads: “An Actuary in practice shall be deemed to be guilty of professional misconduct, if he pays by way of remuneration to an employee, pays or allows or agrees to pay or allow, directly or indirectly, any share, commission or brokerage in the fees or profits of his professional business, to any person other than a member of the Institute or a partner or a retired partner or the legal representative of a deceased partner.”

The Chartered Accountants Act has an identical provision for professional misconduct.

“If a similar issue happens in another regulatory institution like ICAI, the same action will be taken. This is fortified by the ICAI President signing the IAI Disciplinary Committee report,” P.S.Prabhakar, President, Society of Auditors, told IANS.

Business

There is no delay in probe into Air India Boeing crash: Govt

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New Delhi, July 27: The Ministry of Civil Aviation informed Parliament on Monday that there has been no delay in the investigation into the Air India Boeing Dreamliner crash at Ahmedabad airport and the inquiry “is progressing as per established procedures.”

The investigations into major aviation accidents depend on several factors and involve multiple variables, making it impossible to specify a fixed timeline for the final report, the ministry said in a written reply to a question in the Upper House.

“The timeline for completing a major air accident investigation cannot be predicted,” the Ministry’s statement said.

It also said that all probable causes and contributing factors leading to the accident are being investigated, indicating that the probe remains comprehensive and no conclusions have been reached so far.

The ministry further informed the Rajya Sabha that the inspection of the complete Thrust Control Module at the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) facility is underway as part of the ongoing investigation.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had earlier, in a reply, also stated in Parliament that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is “transparently” conducting its investigation into the Air India Boeing crash on June 12 last year and “all probable causes leading to the accident are being investigated.”

A preliminary investigation report was published by AAIB on July 12, 2025, and the same is available on their website www.aaib.gov.in. The investigation is in progress, and the final report will be published after completion of the investigation, the ministry stated in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

“As per the ICAO Annex 13 requirements, the interim statement has been published by AAIB on June 12, 2026. The final investigation report will be published after completion of the investigation,” the ministry added.

As many as 260 people were killed when the AI-171 Boeing Dreamliner flight from Ahmedabad to London-Gatwick on June 12 crashed within 35 seconds of taking off. While 241 people on board the Dreamliner lost their lives, 19 people were killed on the ground. One passenger on the plane had a miraculous escape.

The preliminary report released by the AAIB on July 12 stated that both engines of the ill-fated Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner lost thrust after the two fuel cut-off switches moved from the ‘RUN’ to the ‘CUTOFF’ position. However, the cockpit voice recorder has revealed that one of the pilots told the other that he did not turn off the fuel control switches. The fuel switches were then returned back to the RUN position just before the plane crashed.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu earlier said that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau’s report on the Air India crash was based on preliminary findings, and urged against reaching any conclusions until the final report is released.

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Maharashtra first to qualify for second RKVY instalment after timely fund utilisation

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New Delhi, July 27: Maharashtra has become the first state to qualify for the second instalment of the government’s Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana funding after utilising about Rs 260 crore of the Rs 335 crore first instalment, exceeding the 75 per cent utilisation benchmark, an official statement said on Monday.

Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shivraj Singh Chouhan chaired the virtual review meeting to assess the utilisation of funds released under the scheme and to consider the issuance of the second instalment to Maharashtra, the statement said, adding that the process for release is being taken up.

The minister acknowledged satisfactory progress under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture and urged the state to accelerate expenditure on digital agriculture, agriculture extension, the National Horticulture Mission, seeds, oilseeds and agroforestry components.

He also suggested that pending liabilities under the Seeds component be booked expeditiously to improve fund utilisation.

Chouhan said Maharashtra’s overall utilisation exceeding the required threshold reflected effective implementation of agricultural development programmes.

The minister emphasised that timely expenditure should always be accompanied by continuous monitoring to ensure that public funds are utilised strictly for the objectives for which they have been sanctioned.

He also appreciated Maharashtra’s performance in generating Farmer IDs and recalled the state’s prompt financial assistance to farmers affected by floods, wherein compensation amounting to around Rs 14,000 crore was transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts within five days.

During the meeting, a separate discussion was also held on the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). The minister stressed the need for accurate disclosure of information by farmers while applying for crop insurance.

He clarified that both Kisan Credit Card (KCC) and non-KCC farmers are eligible to avail crop insurance benefits, but concealment of KCC status by applying through another account should be avoided.

The proposed declaration on the portal is intended solely to ensure transparency and correctness of information, and not to restrict benefits to any eligible farmer.

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Zen Technologies shares tumble over 10 pc after weak Q1 earnings

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Mumbai, July 27: Shares of Zen Technologies Ltd. fell more than 10 per cent in early trade on Monday after the technology company reported a weak set of earnings for the first quarter of FY27, hurt by lower revenue and a sharp contraction in operating margins.

At around 10:50 am, the stock had plunged as much as 10.39 per cent to an intraday low of Rs 1,585.55 on the BSE. It later pared some losses to trade at Rs 1,688.95, down 4.55 per cent.

The disappointing quarterly performance has shifted investor attention to the company’s order book and management’s outlook for the rest of the financial year.

Revenue from operations declined 10.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 142 crore in the April-June quarter, compared with Rs 158 crore in the same period last year.

The company’s operating performance also weakened, with EBITDA falling 38.8 per cent to Rs 38.7 crore from Rs 63.3 crore a year earlier.

Its EBITDA margin narrowed sharply to 27.3 per cent from 40 per cent in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, indicating increased pressure on profitability despite a relatively modest decline in revenue.

Net profit dropped 27.8 per cent to Rs 34.5 crore from Rs 47.8 crore in the year-ago period. The company said the quarterly performance was also affected by a one-time loss of Rs 3.4 crore.

Meanwhile, the board approved a two-year extension for the utilisation of proceeds raised through its qualified institutional placement (QIP). Zen Technologies had raised the funds in August 2024 and has been regularly updating stock exchanges on their utilisation through monitoring and deviation reports.

On Monday, the stock touched an intraday low of Rs 1,585.55. Over the past 52 weeks, it has traded between a low of Rs 1,224 and a high of Rs 2,023.40 on the BSE.

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