Chennai / Vijayawada :
A 23-year-old BCom graduate from Chennai, James John Britto, has emerged the national topper in his maiden attempt in the final Chartered Accountant exam, the results of which were announced on Sunday. Trailing him was Mohan Kumar Nagolu from Thottamledu, a non-descript hamlet under Chodavaram village panchayat near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district in Andhra, who emerged second.
A resident of Mogappair, Britto completed his graduation in Loyola College. The final exam of one of the most toughest and rigorous professional courses in the world was conducted in November. Britto’s overall score was 595 out of 800 (74.38 per cent) which secured him the first rank in the country. The CA exams are divided into three levels — Common Proficiency Test (CPT), Integrated Professional Competence Course (IPCC) and the Final Examination.
“After clearing the foundation exams (CPT), I started preparing for the intermediate exams (IPCC). Since I did not wish to discontinue, I was preparing for the IPCC alongside my UG course,” said Britto.
On strategies he adopted to clear the exam, which people with even five to 10 years of professional CA experience find tough, he said, “I stuck to my basic plan of studying hard for 10-12 hours on an average everyday and this eventually peaked during the last few weeks of preparation.”
When asked about his future plans, one thing Britto was clear about was that he wanted to work in the city.
“As of now, I am looking at employment and have kept options open regarding the nature of the company. But one thing is for sure, I wouldn’t prefer working abroad as I love working here in the city,” said Britto, son of A Raja, a leading chartered accountant.
His father being in the field for nearly 30 years was one of the factors that Britto said contributed to his great success. “My father, who is in the same industry for close to 30 years, helped me a lot during the preparations and I would say his role was crucial throughout the CA exam journey.” Of the 42, 469 candidates who took up the exam last November, only 2,440 (5.75%) managed to clear the exam.
Nagolu Mohan Kumar from Tirupati and Avinash Sancheti from Kolkata secured the second and third rank in the final exam with scores 572 (71. 5 per cent) and 566 (70.75 per cent) respectively. When Mohan received a call from Manoj Fadnis, the president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), informing him about his results, Mohan Kumar was literally on cloud nine.
“My happiness knew no bounds when Manoj Sir called me up and told me that I had secured the all-India second rank. The call was immediately followed by another one, this time from M Devaraj Reddy, vice-president of ICAI. I was thrilled and shared the news with my family,” Mohan Kumar told Express over the phone. Mohan, who pursued the CA course right from Intermediate, took coaching from Superwhiz in Vijayawada and did his articleship with Datla and Associates in Hyderabad. He attributed his success in the CA final to hard work. “Since November, four months prior to the commencement of exams, I had been studying 12 to 13 hours a day, including Sundays,” he said, opining that systematic preparation is the key for success in CA exams.
Mohan Kumar’s father N Nagaraju Reddy is a farmer, while his brother Bhanuprakash has completed his BTech. Kumar’s entire family celebrated his success with the villagers also joining them.
Going forward, Mohan Kumar said, he wanted to work with a good MNC for three-four years before going for own practice.
Meanwhile, Superwhizz principal S Venkateswara Rao said along with Mohan Kumar, the institute had bagged three more ranks within the first 50 ranks. J Harsha Sai bagged the 7th rank, M Swathi the 32nd and P Pradeep Rai secured the 50th rank at the national level. The ICAI also released results for the CPT exams conducted during the December 2015 on Sunday. The overall pass percentage for this exam was around 34.45 percent as only 34,129 out of the 99,077 candidates who appeared for it cleared the test.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service / January 18th, 2016