The Integrity Bulletin April 2019

Say No to Corruption

The Integrity Bulletin April 2019

Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose Takes Oath as India’s First Lokpal

An Editorial Initiative of Raman Media Network Editor: Rakesh Raman

Corruption News | Anti-Corruption Campaigns | Policy Initiatives | Research Awareness | Law & Justice | Events

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 1

Main Stories in This Issue

People

Lokpal Expected to Resolve Rafale Case Women Whistleblowers Campaign

Law and Policy

Legislation to Protect Whistleblowers in Europe Global Asset Registry Workshop

Corruption Cases

Bureaucrats Defy Anti-Corruption Laws in India

Awareness

Transparency International School on Integrity

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 2

Women Whistleblowers Campaign Exposes Fraud and Corruption A whistleblower is a person who takes risk and reveals illegal or unethical practice such as corruption in their own organization.

The Women Whistleblowers campaign is stated to be about women who have exposed wrongdoing in different organizations.

Among them – according to the campaign - are Enron whistleblower Sherron Watkins, JP Morgan Chase whistleblowers Alayne Fleischmann and Linda Almonte, and PG&E whistleblower Erin Brokovich.

Women Whistleblowers These women challenged large corporations and agencies to bring about positive outcomes for the public. Women Whistleblowers seeks to help women expose fraud and wrongdoing within their organizations, including healthcare, the pharmaceutical industry, banking, and government administration.

So many women are in ideal positions to observe and record fraud, such as bookkeepers and administrators, and are ready and willing to speak out to protect the public.

Currently, the Women Whistleblowers campaign is seeking a law firm partner willing to represent these women.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 3

"We hope to keep building momentum and help women expose fraud and corruption​," says Jessica Copen, senior writer. "With the right law firm partner, we can ensure these courageous women's voices are heard and protected."

A whistleblower is a person who takes risk and reveals illegal or unethical practice such as corruption in their own organization.

Transparency School on Integrity Offers Anti-Corruption Program The School on Integrity is organized in cooperation with Mykolas Romeris Law School in Vilnius.

Transparency International School on Integrity is an annual anti-corruption and accountability training program. The upcoming School will take place during 8-14 July, 2019 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Transparency International School on Integrity The School exposes its participants to the latest developments in the field of anti-corruption and accountability and offers real opportunities to try and implement their ideas in practice.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 4

Students spend 7 days learning from leading anti-corruption and accountability professionals.

Transparency School seeks to create a peer-to-peer learning and integrity-building environment that links theory with practice and helps young leaders to acquire skills to better convey the message of anti-corruption.

School lectures, seminars, trainings, and field trips provide the School participants with international and local knowledge, while also challenging students to approach the subject from a new perspective and offer novel, previously untested solutions.

Since 2010, Transparency School has enrolled more than 1000 youth leaders from about 120 countries worldwide.

The School on Integrity is organized in cooperation with Mykolas Romeris Law School in Vilnius. Its mission is to educate young people to become creative, innovative, and productive members of society in all areas, from science to culture and technology. Click​ here​ for more information.

Download Previous Issues of The Integrity Bulletin October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

March 2019

New Legislation to Whistleblowers in Europe

Protect

In the coming weeks and months, both the European Council and European Parliament will have to endorse this preliminary agreement.

The European Parliament and EU Council have agreed to introduce a piece of legislation that will help protect whistleblowers around Europe. The political agreement for the legislation was reached on March 12.

The proposed legislation will give greater protections for individuals who wish to come forward when they encounter corruption or illegality in the workplace and will provide both public and private sector employers with greater legal certainty around their rights and obligations.

“Today is a historic day for those who wish to expose corruption and wrongdoing,” said Nick Aiossa, senior policy officer at Transparency International EU. “Whistleblowers in the EU, like Howard

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 5

Wilkinson, the Danske Bank whistleblower, have spent far too long facing unjust retaliation for speaking out. It is quite an accomplishment that negotiations between the institutions have come to a positive end.”

While certain provisions can be strengthened, the draft legislation provides a strong foundation for potential whistleblowers to be protected under EU law. The directive affords much-needed harmonization, as up until now, EU countries have had patchwork of protection for those who wish to expose the truth.

Ireland, for example, already has good laws in place however Member States such as Cyprus have practically none. We await the publication of the preliminary text in order to scrutinize it more closely.

However, according to Transparency, one of the most crucial structural issues of the directive was successfully addressed.

Protect Whistleblowers in the EU “We commend the EU in recognizing that whistleblowers should be able to first report wrongdoing to the relevant law enforcement or regulatory authorities,” added Nick Aiossa.

During the negotiations, Transparency reports, petitions demanding that whistleblowers should be granted protection if they reported wrongdoing externally first gathered over a quarter of a million signatures. Over 80 organizations and whistleblowers themselves also sent letters to the institutions to demand a robust directive.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 6

In the coming weeks and months, both the European Council and European Parliament will have to endorse this preliminary agreement. It will then have to be transposed into national laws in Member States. As this directive only relates to EU competences, Transparency suggests that Member States should use this opportunity to also incorporate national laws in the transposition process.

Transparency International, working with a broad coalition of civil society organizations, trade unions and journalist associations, has been advocating for a comprehensive whistleblower directive for many years.

A whistleblower is a person who takes risk and reveals illegal or unethical practice such as corruption in their own organization.

Download and Read RMN Publications TechWise Today

The Integrity Bulletin

Clean Climate

Legal Directions

Young Learner

Real Voter

Bureaucrats Defy Anti-Corruption Laws in India Since most politicians, bureaucrats, and members of the judiciary are corrupt, the implementation of corruption-prevention laws is very weak in India.

While rampant ​corruption is happening at every step in India, the untamed bureaucrats are blatantly defying laws that are supposed to prevent corruption. The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International ​reveals that India is among the most corrupt countries of the world.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, asserts that India, with a score of just 41, is ranked 78 in the world. In other words, India is more corrupt than 77 other countries.

Most anti-corruption departments in India are working as toothless ​outfits and police as well as other law-enforcement officers are not fully trained to deal with corruption cases.

The corrupt ​bureaucrats in almost every department of India handle public complaints in a perfunctory manner and harass the complainants who file corruption complaints. Government officials keep sending complaints from one office to another or respond in an ambiguous manner, but rarely catch and punish the corrupt officials.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 7

When complainants get tired of the slow and callous response from government officials, they stop pursuing their complaints. Then the government shamelessly shows that the complaints have been resolved and disposed of.

Since most politicians, bureaucrats, and members of the ​judiciary are also corrupt, the implementation of corruption-prevention laws is very weak. The complainants, therefore, fail to get relief and corruption is increasing exponentially in India.

Since corruption is a form of white-collar crime, no direct evidence is required to prove the offence.

Only the circumstantial evidence in terms of non-compliance of different regulations should be enough to prosecute, catch, and punish the culprits.

Office of the Registrar Cooperative Societies (​RCS​) of Delhi Government which is perhaps the most corrupt department in the national capital.

However, various ​inquiries into corruption cases treat corruption as a conventional crime and exonerate the corrupt officials with the excuse that the evidence was not sufficient. The laws and administrative systems are cleverly designed to protect the corrupt officials.

You can study a slew of such cases on ​Clean House anti-corruption service in India’s capital New Delhi.

You will find that either the bureaucrats deliberately protect the corrupt officials or superficial corruption inquiries keep lingering for years while corruption continues.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 8

New Lokpal Expected to Resolve Rafale Corruption Case The immediate task before the Lokpal will be to resolve the pending corruption cases in which top politicians and bureaucrats are facing serious corruption charges.

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind​, administered the oath of office to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose as Chairperson, Lokpal, at a ceremony held on March 23, 2019 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Justice Ghose will be the head of India’s first Lokpal (the top anti-corruption ombudsman) office. The Judicial Members of the Lokpal will be Justice Dilip B. Bhosale, Justice Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Justice Abhilasha Kumari, and Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi.

The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, administering the oath of office of the Chairperson, Lokpal to Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, at a swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on March 23, 2019. Photo: PIB Also, according to a government communique, members other than the Judicial Members will be Dinesh Kumar Jain, Ms. Archana Ramasundaram, Mahender Singh, and Dr. Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.

While most anti-corruption institutions such as the Central Vigilance Commission (​CVC​), Central Bureau of Investigation (​CBI​), and the Supreme Court of India exist as toothless outfits that have

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 9

repeatedly failed to handle serious corruption cases, the Lokpal office is expected to weed out massive corruption from India.

As rampant corruption is happening at every step in India, the untamed bureaucrats are blatantly defying laws that are supposed to prevent corruption. The latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by Transparency International reveals that India is among the most corrupt countries of the world.

The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, asserts that India, with a score of just 41, is ranked 78 in the world. In other words, India is more corrupt than 77 other countries.

The immediate task before Lokpal will be to resolve the pending corruption cases in which top politicians and bureaucrats are facing serious corruption charges. The Rafale corruption case – in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the prime accused - is at the top of the list.

In fact, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to file a complaint against PM Modi in the Lokpal. An AAP leader Gopal Rai said recently that his party will file Rafale and Sahara-Birla corruption complaints against Modi with Lokpal.

Although it is not clear how Lokpal will deal with high-profile corruption cases, people hope that Lokpal will be able to reduce corruption in the country.

Support New Research Project on Corruption in India Political and bureaucratic corruption is the main cause of poverty, pollution, sickness, and hunger in India.

The humanitarian organization RMN Foundation has planned to start a comprehensive research project to compile an exclusive report on corruption in India. The research report will carry detailed information on corruption including data, interviews, and case studies from primary as well as secondary sources.

Individuals, organizations, students, educational institutions, ​volunteers​, and other professionals are invited to collaborate in the project.

The unique selling proposition (USP) of this report will be to sensitize different stakeholders in India and abroad about the limitations of the Indian governments in deploying information-driven processes to deal with corruption, although it will also cover traditional aspects.

Working Title​: India Corruption Research Report 2019 (ICRR 2019)

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 10

Support the Project Indian donors may please send in their contributions using the following bank details: ● ● ● ● ● ●

Bank Name: ICICI Bank Bank Branch: HL Square, Plot No. 6, Sector 5 (MLU), Dwarka, New Delhi 110 075 Account Number: 025005004368 Account Name: RMN Foundation Type of Account: Current IFSC Code: ICIC0000250

You can ​click here​ to donate with PayPal, credit card, or bank account.

A sick, homeless man sleeping on a road in Delhi. Political and bureaucratic corruption is the main cause of poverty, pollution, sickness, and hunger in India. Photo: Rakesh Raman / RMN News Service Research Report Components – Evolving Corruption Definition and Scope – Findings from a Primary Perception Survey – Corruption Data from Secondary Sources – Corruption Laws and Limitations

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 11

– Anti-Corruption Agencies and Functions – Government-to-Citizen Interfaces and Limitations – Interviews with Corporate and Government Executives – Corruption Case Studies – Major Corruption Cases and Trends – Findings The research project will be spearheaded by ​Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He has been covering local and international corruption issues for years.

Now he runs an exclusive community-driven free online social service under the banner “​Clean House​” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption in group housing societies where millions of people live. Click ​here​ for details.

Call for Papers: Global Asset Registry Workshop You can submit abstracts of up to 500 words, along with the required supporting information.

The global asset registry (GAR) aims to provide the missing wealth data. Such a registry would allow wealth inequality to be measured and understood. It also will facilitate discussions on the desired degree of inequality, and support appropriate taxation to reduce inequality and its negative consequences.

In addition, a registry would provide a vital tool against illicit financial flows, by ending impunity for hiding and using the proceeds of crime and corruption, and for removing legitimate income and profits from the economy in which they arise for tax purposes.

The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) held a conference in New York in September of 2018 to discuss a roadmap to a GAR, as described in this declaration​ published on 25 March 2019.

Based on these initial steps, ICRICT, the World Inequality Lab project, Tax Justice Network, and Transparency International are co-hosting a workshop to develop the framework for a Global Asset Registry in Paris on July 1-2.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 12

You can submit abstracts of up to 500 words, along with the required supporting information, using an online application form by May 15, 2019. The review panel will communicate decisions in May 31, 2019. Final papers will be due by June 2019.

Appeal for Donations RMN Foundation is a humanitarian organization that was formed in May 2015 as an educational and public charitable Trust for the benefit of humanity at large.

It is registered with the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi at New Delhi, India.

Currently, all the activities of RMN Foundation are being managed single-handedly (without any support) by RMN Foundation founder Rakesh Raman who had left his job a few years ago to run this charity.

As RMN Foundation has embarked upon some major humanitarian projects during the past over 3 years, now it needs a significant amount of funds in the form of ​donations to expand the scope of its activities.

Individual Indian donors can help RMN Foundation with their contributions using the following bank details:

Bank Name: ICICI Bank Bank Branch: HL Square, Plot No. 6, Sector 5 (MLU), Dwarka, New Delhi 110 075 Account Number: 025005004368 Account Name: RMN Foundation Type of Account: Current IFSC Code: ICIC0000250 Or you can c ​ lick here​ to donate with PayPal, credit card, or bank account.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 13

Environmental Damage and Pollution in India Appeal to Global Community

A new IQAir AirVisual report, which covered 3,000 cities of the world, has revealed that Gurugram (a.k.a. Gurgaon) a suburb of India’s capital New Delhi is the most polluted city of the world while 22 of the top 30 polluted cities are in India. Also, Delhi remains the most polluted capital across the world.

As pollution levels remain dangerously high throughout the year in India, all travelers including business executives, tourists, and diplomats need to exercise utmost caution while planning to visit India – particularly India’s capital New Delhi.

Moreover, companies and investors must not come to Delhi for setting up their businesses or for trade conferences as ​pollution can harm them as well as their families. Foreigners who have come to stay in India for their work, should preferably go back to their countries. Or, at least, they should not keep their children with them because ​Delhi’s pollution is very harmful for children.

Delhi Government, the Indian Government, and the pollution-control ​agencies are not taking proper steps to control pollution because most politicians and bureaucrats in India are corrupt, uneducated, and careless.

The extreme pollution in Delhi is being compared to the poisonous gas chambers used by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust for the genocide of millions of European Jews. As pollution in Delhi / India is harmful to millions of Indians as well as people in other parts of the world with its impact on global warming and climate change, its lethal effect is equivalent to weapons of mass destruction.

The Indian government - including bureaucrats and politicians - is causing serious environmental damage which is harmful for the entire planet. Therefore, the global ​community including the UN and the U.S. Department of State and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (​OFAC​) must impose strict economic, diplomatic, and trade sanctions on India and Indian officials.

Rakesh Raman

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 14

Write for The Integrity Bulletin RMN Foundation - the humanitarian organization in India - has launched The Integrity Bulletin which is a monthly newsletter on global corruption news and issues. Currently, the newsletter project is being managed by Mr. Rakesh Raman who is a national award-winning journalist and founder of RMN Foundation.

The Integrity Bulletin ​invites anti-corruption organizations, social activists, professionals, and experts to contribute their editorial articles for the newsletter. You may please submit the articles with your brief profile to Mr. Rakesh Raman (Email: contact@rmnfoundation.org). People from all across the world are also invited to ​participate​ as volunteers in this project.

Meet the Editor The editor of ​The Integrity Bulletin ​Rakesh Raman is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. Besides working at senior editorial positions with leading media companies, he was writing an exclusive edit-page column regularly for The Financial Express (a daily business newspaper of The Indian Express Group).

Nowadays, for the past about 8 years, he has been running his own global news services on different subjects. He also has formed a free Education and Career Counselling Center for deserving children at a poor J.J. Colony in Dwarka, New Delhi under his ​NGO​ – RMN Foundation.

He runs an exclusive community-driven anti-corruption social service “​Clean House​” to help the suffering residents of Delhi raise their voice against the growing corruption and injustice. He also has formed an environment-protection group called​ Green Group​ in Delhi.

He creates and distributes a number of ​digital publications that cover areas such as technology, law, environment, education, politics, corruption and transparency. He has created a comprehensive online information service to educate the Indian voters for the ​Lok Sabha election scheduled to happen in 2019.

Earlier, he had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development.

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 15

About The Integrity Bulletin Project The Integrity Bulletin content project is being carried out by RMN Foundation. ​The Integrity Bulletin newsletter is being circulated among the top anti-corruption organizations, law-enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, social activists, politicians, and others in India and abroad.

RMN Foundation is looking for collaborators across the world who can join hands with us to carry out major campaigns and projects to engage with different stakeholders in the anti-corruption domain.

Contact

Rakesh Raman Founder RMN Foundation

463, DPS Apts., Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka, Phase I New Delhi 110 078, INDIA

Contact by email

The Integrity Bulletin on Global Corruption News and Issues. April 2019. 16