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Created on Wednesday, 03 December 2014 20:03
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(Image courtesy: UNODC)
It is a tale of two different perceptions about corruption in India. Many citizens are eagerly awaiting Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2014 slated for release on 3rd December to know whether the country has slipped a few notches below its present 94th rank (with a paltry score of 36 out of 100) in the global clean ranking of 177 countries. The two most perceived clean countries perched atop scored 91 marks each under CPI 2013.
There are, on the other hand, no takers for the Indian Government’s maiden self-assessment report (SAR) on compliance with certain provisions of United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC). SAR was prepared during the corruption-tainted UPA regime.
Without seeing the report, one can safely conclude that SAR would be a muted attempt to describe the endemic and institutionalized corruption that thrives in the country. SAR should be accepted with a pinch of salt as it has been written by the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT), which serves as the nodal agency for Indian operations under UNCAC.
DOPT had earlier failed to attract adequate number of reputed consultancy agencies and NGOs to undertake SAR study on its behalf, though it twice solicited bids for the study.
SAR should have been conducted by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). It should be made the nodal agency for anti-bribery initiatives pending constitution of Lok Pal.
In January 2014, the Government submitted SAR to United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which serves as a Secretariat for UNCAC. Neither PIL entities nor RTI activists have got hold of SAR for putting it in public domain. Nor has NDA made the report public. Nor has it disowned SAR as a white-wash job of UPA. After all, perception about corruption is as important as corruption.
Read more: Extend Swachh Bharat Mission into anti-bribery domain
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Created on Thursday, 01 May 2014 18:07
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Image courtesy: BJP
The nation should be grateful to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for narrating a sob story about the slur campaign against her husband, Robert Vadra. She has thus inadvertently turned the national focus on the larger issue of suspicious and perhaps illegal benefits accruing to politically exposed persons (PEPs), their family members & associates.
Mrs. Vadra claims she has eternal faith in the truth. So has the public. Then what is the hitch in the UPA appointing an independent commission to unravel the truth about the wealth amassed by her husband and other such VIPs?
Congress’ bête noir Narendra Modi has publicly challenged UPA to undertake all sort of investigations into his activities to uncover any alleged wrongdoing. Can Priyankaji formally urge the Supreme Court to institute such a probe into all business transactions of the Gandhi family to prove her faith in the truth?
The case for probe against Mr. Vadra is strong as he is a deemed public official by virtue of alloment of a ministerial house, grant of special protection group security and provision of other privileges available to super VIPs in Government.
The proposed commission should be mandated to not only investigate her husband’s real estate deals but also the transactions of all other PEPs’ families right from the initiation of economic reforms in mid-1991. This would effectively rule out political vindictiveness.
Read more: Set up a probe panel to unmask dealings of Vadra & all such VIPs
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Created on Saturday, 14 June 2014 08:34
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Radar Image courtesy: Selex ES
Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) is creating fresh hurdles in the business plans of Italy’s Finmeccanica group. MOD’s rationale for impediments is that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the alleged kickbacks paid under the VVIP Agusta Westland choppers deal.
MOD was first instrumental in convincing Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to delay a decision on Agusta Westland-Tata joint venture’s (JV’s) plea for amendments to its foreign direct investment (FDI) approval. Agusta Westland is wholly owned by Finmeccanica group.
MOD has now led FIPB into deferring approval to the proposed joint venture between Finmeccanica company named Selex ES Ltd and Indus Teqsite Pvt Ltd (ITPL) for production of strategic electronics systems including the ones required by the aviation sector. In the proposed JV, Selex ES would hold 26% equity stake with the balance 74% to be held by ITPL.
MOD has told FIPB that it is not supporting the Selex-Teqsite JV proposal “at this stage” because of ongoing CBI investigation into VVIP/Defence helicopter contract that was terminated about six months back.
Read more: Agusta Westland chopper scam cast its shadow on Finmeccanica’s JVs in India
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