Cancerous Corruption

Under the
second tranche, the selected projects will operate over a period of
three to five years. Of the five organisations that were announced in
the first round today Global Compact Network India is the only Local
Network to get the honour and one of the very few organisations that
have received repeat support from the Siemens integrity Initiative (UNGC
had won the first round in which CAP India was one part of a five
country UNGC – Siemens project). Siemens Press Release was released
today globally (attached) and GCNI effort singled and lauded on a global
platform.

The other organisations awarded funding includes
Ethics Institute of South Africa, which will work to combat corruption
in South Africa and Mozambique, the Ethics and Reputation Society of
Turkey (TEID, the Berlinbased Transparency International Secretariat and
the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) in Vienna.

The second round of Siemens Integrity Initiative supported work in India will focus on the establishment of a Centre of Excellence for Transparency and Ethics in Business in India.”

Bombay Chartered Accountants’ Society has become business partner in its event in Mumbai on 06.02.2014.

Pope condemns graft in Rome:
Pope
Francis, on 31st December, condemned administrators and criminals in
Rome who allegedly pocketed public funds meant to help poor migrants,
saying the eternal city needed a “spiritual and moral renewal”.

Earlier
this month, the police arrested 37 persons suspected of being part of a
“mafia-like” organisation that guided public contracts to people close
to the alleged boss of the organisation, a right-wing extremist with
longtime ties to Rome’s underworld. Investigators said funds were
pocketed by corrupt city administrators and their criminal cohorts
instead of being used to improve squalid conditions. Pope Francis is
also the bishop of Rome, which is both the Italian capital and the
centre of Christianity Calling it “our city”, Pope Francis said, “We
have to defend the poor, not defend ourselves from the poor. We have to
serve the weak, not use the weak”.

After the arrests Rome’s
mayor, Ignazio Marino, ordered a review of city contracts and Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi proposed tougher national laws against corruption.


Graft & BMC:
If corruption in the civic body
could be rou ted out, prices of flats in Mumbai would fall by at least
Rs. 500 per sq. ft. said anti-corruption bureau director general Pravin
Dixit. “I have been told by an MP that if we can stop corruption in the
BMC, flat prices in Mumbai will be reduced substantially,” Dixit said
during a lecture at Pandharpur in Solapur.

Bristled by the
claim, the Shiv Sena, which controls the civic body, has demanded that
Dixit should provide proof. “He must show proof to substantiate his
claim. If he fails to provide the documents, then the chief minister
should take action against him for making irresponsible statements,” a
senior Sena leader said.

Corruption complaints to Banks:
Noting
irregularities, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has told banks
to follow proper procedure in probing corruption complaints received by
them.

“It has come to the notice of the commission that in some
banks, senior bank executives and CMDs as disciplinary authorities are
treating cases or matters in which vigilance angle is perceived as
non-vigilance without following the due consultative process,” the CVC
said in a directive issued to all public sector banks. All banks are
supposed to set up an internal advisory committee (IAC), to scrutinise
the complaints received by them and also the cases arising out of
inspections and audit and determine the vigilance angle.

“All
CMDs and chief vigilance officers are advised to sensitise senior
executives and disciplinary authorities on various aspects of vigilance
administration to ensure all such matters are considered by the IAC set
up in the respective banks,” the watchdog said.

Pledge taken by the officers and employees of CVC office:
In
the week to celebrate “VIGILANCE AWARENESS WEEK – 2014”, the officers
and employees of the Commission affirmed that they shall continuously
strive to bring about integrity and transparency in all spheres of
activities, work unstintingly for eradication of corruption, remain
vigilant and work towards the growth and reputation of the organisation,
and do their duty conscientiously and act without fear or favour.

Corruption in Irrigation Department, Maharashtra:
The
newly appointed water resources minister Girish Mahajan has
unexpectedly made a sensational disclosure. He said at a public meeting
in his home town in Jalgaon, that after he stopped the payment of Rs.
1,100 crore of leading contractors, a leading developer approached him
with an offer of Rs. 100 crore to release the payment. A senior
anti-corruption bureau sleuth said that if Mahajan is serious about
taking on corruption in the irrigation department, he must disclose the
controversial developer’s name to the ACB for probe. Mahajan had
submitted details of cost escalation of key irrigation projects in north
Maharashtra. When the ACB initiates a probe against Ajit Pawar and
Sunil Tatkare, Mahajan is likely to explain to the ACB the modus
operandi adopted by leading politicians and contractors involved in
corruption. A day after he was entrusted with the water resources
portfolio, Mahajan called for all files of the Kondhane irrigation
project, where the cost of the project increased from Rs. 80 crore to
Rs. 580 crore in a brief span of three months. He then suspended more
than half-a-dozen high-ranking engineers of the water resources
department for dereliction of duty and involvement in corruption.
Significantly, the same file gathered dust in the office of Ajit Pawar,
who was then the deputy CM, in-charge of water resources. The file was
submitted to the then CM, Prithviraj Chavan, who ordered a departmental
probe. Both Pawar and Chavan had an opportunity to suspend, but they
preferred to ignore the proposal.