CS Mamta Binani, President, The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, while speaking to the Press stated that, “The Institute of Company Secretaries of India is a premier national professional body constituted under an Act of Parliament in 1980 is fully engaged in the propagation and promotion of Company Secretaries as Governance Professionals. With about 40000 members and about 4,00,000 students, the Institute is in constant endeavor towards the transitioning of Company Secretaries as Governance Professionals.”
The President outlined the major initiatives of ICSI as under:
ICSI SIGNATURE AWARD
In a major step forward, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has instituted “ICSI Signature Award” for the topper in the Bachelor’s Degree examinations in Commerce conducted by the Central, State Universities and specialised programmes/papers of Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) & Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) in India. The Central Universities and State Universities in India will be as per criteria followed by University Grants Commission from time to time.
The ICSI Signature Award will be awarded only to the Topper (One Medal) in the University examinations. The medal as per the specifications provided by the Institute will be arranged by the concerned University for distribution during Convocation or other ceremonies.
The ICSI Signature Award along with a certificate will be distributed annually in the Convocation of the University or any other appropriate function, preferably in the joint seminar with the ICSI if it is conducted in a particular year.
The top three students of the Universities and qualifications as covered under this Scheme will be eligible for full waiver of Registration Fee for Executive Programme Stage. This award will be presented to a candidate of sufficient merit of a minimum score of 60%.
CS Olympiad
In a Landmark move, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) will be conducting CS OLYMPIAD in September, 2016. CS Olympiad will be conducted for the 11th and 12th standard students appearing in the respective examinations in each academic year in schools across India. The first ‘CS Olympiad’ is scheduled to be held in September, 2016.
The Logo of CS OLYMPIAD was unveiled at the hands of CS Mamta Binani, President, ICSI in the presence of the ICSI central Council Members at New Delhi recently.
CS Mamta Binani, President, ICSI informed that "We are very pleased with the release of a visual identity for the CS Olympiad which is very relevant and will help us celebrate the essence of competitiveness. The present logo for the CS Olympiad manifests ICSI's philosophy besides depicting the essence of the event.
ICSI has entered into an MOU with Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) for conduct of CS Olympiad in schools across India.
ICSI STUDY CENTRES
The Institute is setting up “ICSI STUDY CENTRES” for imparting quality education & other basic services to the ICSI students in association with universities / colleges in order to create synergy between the university education and professional education to enhance the quality of education imparted to the ICSI students,
The ICSI Study Centres shall be set up in cities/ locations where the Regional/ Chapter Office of the ICSI does not exist.
Study centre shall be run by faculty or Department of Commerce or any other department having relevance to CS Course, by whatever nomenclature, on self-sustainable basis.
The respective department of the university/ college shall operate and manage the ICSI study centre. Head of respective department of university / college in which the study centre has been set up or his representative will be designated as Director of the CS Study Centre.
INITIATIVES FOR STUDENTS
* A Merit Scholarship Scheme through ICSI Students Education Fund Trust has been developed under which highly meritorious students will be granted monthly scholarships for three years subject to the passing the various stages of CS Course at the first available opportunity.
* Online facilities for syllabus switchover, claiming qualification-based paper-wise exemption, change of elective subject, etc have been made available on www.icsi.edu.
* The Institute has completely switched over to Online Mode for Registration of Students w.e.f. 1st January, 2014.
* The Institute has completely switched over to Online Mode for Examination Enrollment w.e.f. 1st October, 2013.
* A Grievance Solutions Cell has been established to look into the grievances of the students through a Grievance Portal and also through a dedicated E-Mail Id solutions@icsi.edu.
* The syllabus of Foundation Programme, Executive Programme and Professional Programme have been revised.
* The Institute has also introduced Open Book Examination(OBE) system for the Elective Papers where student can select one subject out of five subjects and give an Open Book Examination for the same.
* OMR based Examinations and Computer-based Examinations are conducted for Foundation Programme Stage.
* OMR based Examinations for three papers under New Syllabus of Executive Programme.
* An online English Learning course has been launched. Students can register online for the same onwww.icsi.edu.
* The Study Materials are also available in PDF Format as well as E-Book form which can be downloaded by the students free of cost.
* 50% Concession in Registration and Examination Fee has been introduced for War Widows and Wards of Martyrs of military and para-military forces.
* ICSI-SMASH Project - This is an ambitious project of the Institute in progress. Outcome of this project would be an integrated web portal through which the students and members will be facilitated with all sort of online services pertaining to them.
* Introduction the facility of auto SMS to the students on receiving of Quarterly reports and Training completion certificate
* Updation of quarterly reports on the same date of submission has also been made available for students.
* Students can check their training updation in their respective students accounts/Page at icsi.edu by logging into their accounts.
MODIFIED TRAINING STRUCTURE FOR STUDENTS
Under the modified Training Structure a student who has passed the Final examination or Professional Programme examination of the Institute shall be eligible for Associate Membership of the Institute only after he/she has undergone the practical training for a period of:
i. three years on registration for Executive Programme; or
ii. two years after passing the Executive Programme examination; or
iii. one year after passing the Professional Programme examination;
ICSI Launches Skill Development programme for its Students
In an endeavour to develop advanced professional skills amongst the CS Students , The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) has launched a “15 days Academic Program” which shall be applicable for all Company Secretaryship (CS) students who have passed/completed their Executive Program (i.e. passed both/all modules of CS Executive Program) on or after 25th August, 2015.
The Academic programme will be of 15 days and will be providing a comprehensive exposure to various aspects of becoming a well-trained CS Professional and will help the CS Executive Programme students in grooming themselves for playing an effective role as a Company Secretary in the Corporate world.
The Programme has been launched by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India to provide industry ready CS professionals to the corporate world.
Further details are available at institute’s website www.icsi.edu for the reference of the Students of CS Executive Programme. There is also provision for exemptions to those students who are having adequate working experience on case to case basis.
The 15 days academic programme launched by ICSI is also an endeavour to be in line with the ‘Skill India’ initiative of the Hon’ble Prime Minister, which aims to equip the youth of India with all the necessary skills to become a competitive global workforce.
Initiatives for MEMBERS
Institute has about 40000 Members across the country and abroad. The Institute aims to constantly develop competence of its members and the profession by providing specific trainings at various platforms, bringing out effective guidelines on various professional development activities and harnessing many National and International tie-ups, added, President, ICSI.
Practising Company Secretaries :
* PCS Induction programmes are being organised throughout the country and are getting overwhelming response from the members.
* The Institute will be coming out with PIP Videos for the members located at remote places and who are unable attend the programmes physically.
TRAINING PROGRAMMES for Peer Reviewers
* Training Programmes for Peer Reviewers are being held throughout the country after mapping the number of PCS in each region with the number of Peer Reviewers available from that region.
* 1000 Practice Units have been identified using random sampling software for being peer reviewed during the current year.
* Introduction of online facility for registration of Company /PCS / other entities for imparting training.
* PCS are also allowed to impart 15 days specialized training.
CAPACITY BUILDING
* The Institute has Launched PMQ Course in five specialized subjects, namely, Banking Law and Practice; Insurance Law and Practice; Capital, Commodity and Money Market; Intellectual Property Rights – Law and Practice; and International Business – Law and Practice; Launched PMQ course in Competition Law and Restructured PMQ Course in Corporate Governance.
* The Institute has also launched a Course on Valuation.
* The workshops on Capacity building of professionals under the new Company Law are being organised by the Institute across the country.
* The Corporate Laws Committee has identified topics for conducting Capacity Building Workshops on various aspects of the New Company Law. These topics are Secretarial Audit, NCLT, Restructuring and Insolvency, Valuation, Annual Return and e-forms.
INVETSOR EDUCATION & PROTECTION FUND (IEPF)
* The Institute is organizing Investor Awareness Programmes through Regional Councils, Chapters and Resource Persons in coordination with Regional Directors/Registrar of Companies, MCA.
PLACEMENT PORTAL
* The Portal provides “24X7” free of cost online platform for placement service to the corporates members.
