The Valedictory Session of the 7th Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crime and Asset Recovery for South Asia being held on Friday in the CBI (HQ), New Delhi.
New Delhi/Jalandhar, February, 2014: The Valedictory Session of the 7th Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption, Financial Crime and Asset Recovery for South Asia was held on Friday in the CBI (HQ), New Delhi. Union Minister of State for PMO and Personnel, Pensions & Public Grievances V.Narayanasamy was the Chief Guest at the function.
Addressing the Valedictory function, V.Narayanasamy said India is committed to provide the institutional framework to improve governance and ensure that the fruits of development reach the poorest of the poor and for this, he said, it is important to have adequate laws to prevent corruption. Defining corruption, the Minister said it is misuse of public office for private gain which has both demand and supply sides to it. In India, he said that the efforts to rein in supply side corruption started in the early years of the millennium with the introduction of Integrity Pacts. In modern time, he referred to the recently enacted Company Act which has penal provisions for Corporate Misconduct and also the amendments that the government has proposed to cover this aspect in the Prevention of Corruption Act which will further strengthen the laws to combat corruption.
Narayanasamy said that Article16 of the UNCAC requires criminalization of the bribery of Foreign Public Officials (FPOs) and Officials of Public International Organisations (OPIOs) in international business transactions, which is not covered under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Hence, the Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organisations Bill, has also been introduced in the Parliament. He underlined that both these Bills will adequately cover both passive and active bribery and place them on equal footing.
Referring to the Whistle Blower Protection Bill, MoS(PP) said that it is under consideration of the Parliament to provide statutory protection to whistle blowers and protect them from harassment. Besides, Benami Transaction Prevention Bill is also under consideration of the Parliament which provides a comprehensive framework in confiscating wealth accumulated through corrupt means. In 2013, Money Laundering Act has been amended incorporating best international practices in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) principles.
Complementing the CBI and the Anti Corruption Sub Directorate of Interpol for choosing New Delhi as a venue for their South Asian Training Programme, Narayanasamy said that in the past three years, as many as seven Capacity Building Programmes have been conducted in association with INTERPOL for the benefit of Indian and South Asian Law Enforcement Agencies. The Capacity Building Programmes of this nature promote a culture of collaboration and cooperation which are crucial for fighting this global menace.
Director CBI Ranjit Sinha who also addressed the participants from South Asia said Interpol and CBI have partnered frequently to host the Capacity Building Programmes for South Asian Nations particularly not only in the area of anti-corruption investigations but also in Counter Terrorism, Wildlife Crime and Organized Crime. Referring to the white collar and organised crime, Shri Sinha said that laws in India are not only being revised to tackle them, but are also being fine-tuned to the requirements of the International Conventions like the United Nations Conventions Against Corruption (UNCAC).
Sinha said, this Training Programme not only covered the important International Conventions and laws regarding Corruption and Foreign Bribery, but also focused on the detection of bribery by companies and private entities, patterns and scheme of bribery, methods of freezing corruption money, forensic accounting, use of modern gadgets and skills, such as, art of interrogating. The programme, he said, provided an excellent opportunity to share the Best Practices with other countries in the geographical region, a platform for discussions between participants and a unique opportunity for investigators forge alliances for multi-jurisdictional operations.
He further said that it is his fervent hope that the wide ranging deliberations of this training programme will be exchanged into actionable results to achieve the goal to combat corruption.
The five day Interpol Global programme (10-14 Febuary, 2014) was attended by 41 participants from seven South Asian nations i.e. Afghanistan; Nepal; Pakistan; Sri Lanka; Maldives; Bangladesh & Bhutan and 24 participants from India. Senior Officers of the Interpol, US Department of Justice and US Securities & Exchange Commission also participated. There were 16 Sessioss which were addressed by Experts from Interpol; CBI; PMO(India); Computer Forensic; US Deptt. of Justice; US Securities & Exchange Commission and Law Enforcement Agencies.
Dr. S.K.Sarkar, Secretary(Personnel), Govt. of India; Daniel Clegg, Legal Attache, FBI and S.Jagannathan, AD, Interpol also addressed the participants.
Anil Sinha, Special Director, CBI delivered the vote of thanks.//New delhi news, New delhi current news, New delhi news live, New delhi breaking news, New delhi headlines, New delhi latest news, india news, world news,