From the International Desk

The International role of the Supreme Audit Institution of India extends to following areas:

• Association with INTOSAI
• Association with ASOSAI
• Participation in Global Audit Leadership Forum(GALF) & other international multilateral bodies
• Bilateral relations with other SAIs
• Audits of International Organizations

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India occupies several important positions in INTOSAI and ASOSAI. The prominent ones among these are Chair of INTOSAI Committee on Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services (KSC), Chair of the INTOSAI Working Group on IT Audit (WGITA) and member of INTOSAI and ASOSAI Governing Board. The SAI India has recently also taken over the responsibility of Chairmanship of the INTOSAI Compliance Audit Subcommittee (CAS).

A Forum for INTOSAI’s Professional Pronouncements (FIPP) has been established by the INTOSAI Goal Chairs (i.e. PSC, CBC and KSC). The FIPP is chaired by Ms. K. Ganga, Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (CRA) which has 15 other members from various SAIs.

CAG of India is a member of the UN Board of Auditors (Board) for the period July 2014 to June 2020. Germany and Tanzania are the other members of the Board. As per the work allocation among the three members of the Board, SAI India is the lead auditor in respect of following UN organisations:

1. UN Secretariat (Volume I)
2. UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
3. UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services)
4. UNJSPF (United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund)
5. UNCC (United Nations Compensation Commission)
6. Escrow Account
7. ITC (International Trade Centre)
8. CMP (Capital Master Plan)
9. UMOJA (ERP system of UN)
10. Information & Communication Technology Strategy
11. ITC (International Trade Centre)
12. Concise Summary

Besides above, SAI-India is having six PKO Missions under its audit portfolio where SAI-Germany is the lead auditor.

CAG of India is also the external auditor of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) for the period of six years from July 2012 to June 2018.

INTOSAI NEWS

1. 27^th Meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on IT Audit, Sydney, Australia, 17-18 April, 2018 and Seminar on “Embedding Data assurance to drive audit efficiency and Quality” on 19 April, 2018

The 27^th meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on IT Audit (WGITA) was held at Sydney, Australia from 17-18 April, 2018. The seminar on “Embedding data assurance to drive audit efficiency and Quality” was also held in conjunction with the WGITA meeting on 19 April, 2018.

The meeting was inaugurated by Mr. Grant Hehir, Auditor-General for Australia and was presided over by Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi, Comptroller & Auditor General and Chair of WGITA.

Over 50 delegates from the 23 member countries/observers attended the meeting. The meeting discussed various issues in connection with the WGITA Work plan 2020-22 in the context of next Strategic Development Plan 2020-25 of IFPP. The five project teams presented the progress reports on their respective projects. Member SAIs of Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Turkey and an Observer ISACA presented their country papers on various topics during the meeting. Various features of the WGITA webpage in the INTOSAI Community Portal was shown to the members. iCISA was designated as the Global Training Facility (GTF) of WGITA in the meeting.

The 28^th meeting of the INTOSAI Working Group on IT Audit will be held in Fiji.

2. 2^nd INTOSAI Working Group on Big Data, Washington, DC, USA, 19-20 April, 2018

The INTOSAI Working Group on Big Data (WGBD) held its 2^nd meeting at Washington D.C., at the Headquarters of the Unites States Government Accountability Office from 19 -20 April, 2018. 43 participants from 19 SAIs took part in this meeting. During the meeting the participants shared their experience in big data analytics in their respective countries. A presentation on the topic “Guidelines on Data Analytics –SAI India” was presented by Mr. Neelesh Kumar Sah, representative of SAI-India during the meeting.

The Working Group is chaired by CNAO, China with GAO, USA as vice Chair. It has currently 25 members, which are Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Senegal, Thailand, United Kingdom and three observers are AFROSAI-E, European Court of Auditors and Estonia.

3. 5^th Global Audit Leadership Forum (GALF), European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg, 26-27 April, 2018

The Global Audit Leadership Forum (GALF), a group of twenty four Auditors General (including the CAG of India), meets annually for organised yet informal discussions on current and emerging issues of concern to their Governments and to explore opportunities to share information and work closely. The 5th GALF meeting was held at European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg from 26-27 April, 2018 and was attended by Mr. K. S. Subramanian, Director General (International Relations). The discussions focused on two topics “Carrying out Performance Audits in a political context: what are the limitations” and “Communicating audit findings in a digital world: challenges and opportunities”. The next meeting of GALF would be held in China in 2019. India will host the 2020 meeting.

4. INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee (PSC) meeting, 29 May, 2018 and 15^th meeting of the Steering Committee of PSC, 30-31 May, 2018, European Court of Auditors, Luxembourg

The INTOSAI Professional Standards Committee (PSC) meeting held its 15^th Steering Committee of INTOSAI at European Court of Auditors in Luxembourg of PSC meeting were held from 30-31 May, 2018.

The main themes discussed were: Implementation of the Strategic Development Plan (SDP) for the INTOSAI Framework of Professional Pronouncements (IFPP). PSC-SC members were presented with SDP project status updates, and there was broad recognition on the SDP’s value, as well as the accomplishments of various project groups. Likewise, lessons learned from implementing the SDP were discussed, and solutions were suggested to help plan the next SDP. The FIPP’s added value to the standard-setting process was also acknowledged. The revised Terms of Reference (ToR) for the FIPP was approved, as well as the number of members, which, including the Chair, stands at sixteen. The revised ToR also clarifies member qualifications and the selection process for the FIPP Chair. PSC-SC also approved the process to develop the IFPP’s next SDP.

Mr. Nand Kishore, Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General and Mr. V. Kurian, Director General (Commercial) attended the meeting on behalf of CAG of India as member of PSC Steering Committee and Chair of Compliance Audit Subcommittee.

The next PSC Steering Committee meeting will be held in Luxembourg.

5. Task Force on INTOSAI Auditor Professionalization, Stockholm, Sweden, 18-19 June, 2018

The 2^nd Annual meetings of the Task Force on INTOSAI Auditor Professionalization (TFIAP) was held in Stockholm, from 18-19 June, 2018. TFIAP was created at the XII INCOSAI under the Capacity Building Committee (CBC) with a mandate to continue researching enabling mechanisms required to facilitate and structure professional development in INTOSAI, and to utilize the competency framework to provide INTOSAI with a set of professional pronouncements on auditor competence.

The meeting saw presentation and discussion on the draft guide to utilizing the INTOSAI competency framework to develop public sector audit professionals in the most context-appropriate way. SAI Senegal presented an update on Project 3 – competency requirements of SAIs with jurisdictional responsibilities.SAI Austria, France, Japan and USA also presented their approach to professionalization of staff. Mr. Praveen Kumar Tiwari, Director General (International Relations) participated in the meeting on behalf of KSC.

6. Conference on Motivating and Equipping SAIs to carry out Peer Reviews, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 20-22 June, 2018

The Supreme Audit Office of Slovak Republic and Chair of Sub-Committee on Peer Reviews hosted an expert conference on “Motivating and Equipping SAIs to carry our Peer Reviews” at Bratislava, Slovak Republic from 20-22 June, 2018.

Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi, Comptroller and Auditor General of India and Mr. Praveen Kumar Tiwari, Director General (International Relations) attended the conference. CAG of India delivered the opening address of the conference.

In keeping with International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) 12, “Values and Benefits of SAIs—Making a Difference to the Lives of Citizens,” along with the emergence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the conference explored ways of employing peer reviews and using the various INTOSAI tools to measure performance.

The conference included panel and roundtable discussions focused on the following three themes:

• Theme I: SAIs Leading by Example Through Carrying Out Peer Reviews;
• Theme II: Peer Review Tools to Improve SAI Performance; and
• Theme III: Good Practices in a Peer Review.

Organized with support from INTOSAI’s Capacity Building Committee, the conference underlined the position and supported global application of peer review as a method to apply various INTOSAI assessment tools. The conference also saw presentation of testimonials and lessons learned on peer review tools.

7. Regions Coordination Platform Meeting, Oslo, Norway, 25-27 June, 2018

The first International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI)-Region Coordination Platform meeting was held in Oslo, Norway from 25-27 June, 2018. This platform provides INTOSAI with a single point of contact for all INTOSAI organs and regional organizations and acts as a forum to coordinate, consult, explore synergies and align INTOSAI efforts to support the successful implementation of the INTOSAI Strategic Plan 2017-2022. CAG of India presented the opening brief emphasising on the importance of coordination, integration, creating synergies between INTOSAI and the Regional Organisation.

The Coordination Platform aims to identify, elevate and discuss crucial issues that impact the INTOSAI community. The meeting highlighted several INTOSAI-wide topics, programs. More than 60 delegates and INTOSAI organ executives took part in this meeting. The CAG of India, being the Chair of Goal -3 of INTOSAI, Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Services Committee delivered the opening address. SAI India was represented by Mr. Praveen Kumar Tiwari, Director General (International Relations).

ASOSAI News

The Asian Organisation of Supreme Audit Institution (ASOSAI) sponsored Workshop/meetings are organized by ASOSAI every year to facilitate knowledge sharing among members SAIs. SAI Japan (Capacity Development Administrator of ASOSAI) organised the ASOSAI sub-regional meetings as part of ASOSAI Pilot Capacity Development Program on IT Audit from 25-29 June 2018 and its pre-meeting from 21-23 June 2018 at iCISA, Noida. The meeting was attended by Ms. Geetanjali Chintapalli, Assistant Audit Officer as resource person. Mr. Abhay Singh, Deputy Accountant General and Mr. Rohit Khanna, Assistant Audit Officer attend the meeting as participants.

Bilateral and Multilateral relations

1. Visit of Mr. Teruhiko Kawato, President, Board of Audit Japan and Capacity Development Administrator of ASOSAI from 9-13 January, 2018

Mr. Teruhiko Kawato, President, Board of Audit Japan and Capacity Development Administrator of ASOSAI along with delegation consisting of Mr. Masaaki Koike, Personal Secretary to the President and Mr. Masaaki Tanino, Senior Director, Research and International Division visited India from 9-13 January 2018.

During the visit, the President met the CAG of India at the Headquarters office and also visited our international training centers, i.e. the International Center for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA) at Noida and the International Center for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED) at Jaipur. The purpose of the visit was to discuss issues related to ASOSAI’s Capacity Development activities and its future direction and to learn from SAI India’s experience on the audit of Information Technology (IT) and on the establishment and management of training centers.

2. 17^th Indo-Polish Seminar in Jaipur, Rajasthan, 16-19 January 2018

The 17^th Indo-Polish Seminar on ‘Audit of Sustainable Development Goals’ was held held in Jaipur, Rajasthan from 16-19 January 2018. The seminar was attended by a four member delegation consist of the Mr Krzysztof Kwiatkowski, President of SAI Poland, Mr Andrzej Styczeń, Director General of NIK, Mr Augustyn Kubik, Advisor to the President of NIK and Ms Kamila Żyndul, International Relations Officer. The Indian delegation was headed by Mr. Venkatesh Mohan, Additional Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (NR) and other members were Ms. Mamta Kundra, Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure),New Delhi and Mr. Faisal Imam, Accountant General (A&E), Punjab, Chandigarh.

The seminar was preceded by a meeting of the Polish delegation with the CAG of India on 15 January 2018.

3. Visit of a five member delegation from SAI Maldives to India, 11-17 March 2018

A five member delegation headed by Mr. Mr. Hussain Niyazy, Assistant Auditor General from SAI Maldives visited SAI India from 11-17 March 2018 for sharing of knowledge and expertise between the two SAIs. During their visit, the delegation met with Mr. Nand Kishore, Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (DCR), Ms. Sudha Krishnan, Director General (Professional Practices Group), Ms. Parveen Mehta, Director General (Training), Mr. K.S. Subramanian, Director General (International Relations) and Mr. Khalid Bin Jamal, Principal Director(SMU) at CAG Headquarters. The delegation also visited the International Center for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA) at Noida and the International Center for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED) at Jaipur.

4. Visit of four member delegation from SAI Sri Lanka to India, 2-10 May 2018

A four member delegation from the Audit Service Commission of SAI Sri Lanka consisting of Mr. V. Kandasamy, retired Deputy Auditor General, Justice Sunil Rajapaksa, Retired Judge of the Court of Appeal of Sri Lanka, Mr. W.A.S. Perera, Sri Lanka Administrative Service Officer (Retired) and. Mr Gamini Abeyrathna, retired Deputy Auditor General visited India from 02 May to 10 May 2018 for an awareness program in SAI India establishment to gain some foreign exposure with regard to execution of matters related to management of audit service activities. During their visit the delegation met with Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (CRA&IS), Deputy Comptroller & Auditor General (RC & Communication), Director General (PPG), Director General(IR), Director General (Training), Principal Director (Personnel), Principal Director (Staff) and Principal Director (SMU).

The delegation also visited the International Center for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA) at Noida, the International Center for Environment Audit and Sustainable Development (iCED) at Jaipur and National Academy of Audit and Accounts, Shimla.

5. Bilateral Meeting with Auditor General, Norway and Chairman of IDI Board, Oslo, Norway, 25 June, 2018

Comptroller and Auditor General of India met the Auditor General of Norway and the Chairman of Board of INTOSAI Development Initiative on the side lines of the Regions coordination Platform meeting in Oslo on 25^th June, 2018.

The meeting focused on discussing the framework of cooperation to provide for a long term, continuous and scaled up cooperation between SAI India and IDI. SAI India and the IDI have had a long tradition of cooperation for contributing to the implementation of INTOSAI strategic plan and supporting SAIs in the INTOSAI community.

UN Audit

Completion of audit assignments for the financial year 2017

CAG of India is a member of the UN Board of Auditors (UNBOA/Board) for the period July 2014 to June 2020. Germany and Tanzania (to be replaced by Chile from July 2018) are the other members of the Board. CAG of India is also the external auditor of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a period of six years from July 2012 to June 2018.

Audit of all UN Organizations/Agencies was completed as per timelines fixed by UNBOA Secretariat. In total, 33 audit teams were deployed for these UN audit assignments. Outcome of these audits is in the form of following 11 Audit Reports where SAI India is the lead auditor. These audit reports will be approved and signed by the UNBOA Members in the regular session of the Board scheduled to be held at UN Headquarters in New York in July 2018. :

1. UN Secretariat (Volume I)
2. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
3. UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) 
4. UNJSPF (United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund)
5. UNCC (United Nations Compensation Commission)
6. Escrow Account
7. ITC (International Trade Centre)
8. CMP (Capital Master Plan)
9. UMOJA (ERP system of UN)
10. Information & Communication Technology Strategy
11. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)

Further as Chair of the Board, India is also responsible for preparation of the Concise Summary, a consolidation of key audit findings of various reports.

Besides above Audit Reports where SAI India is the lead Auditor, draft Audit Reports of other members of the UNBOA (Germany & Tanzania) were also processed and examined in the given timelines.

Capacity Development Programs for SAIs

Assignment of IT Auditing Experts from SAI India to SAI Kuwait

Mr. A.K. Behera, Accountant General (A&E), Maharashtra (Team Leader) and Mr. Anurag Krishna, Assistant Audit Officer, iCISA were nominated for delivering a training course on IT Audit in two phases theoretical and practical for duration of three weeks each. The first phase was conducted from 16 April 2018 to 3 May 2018. The second phase is scheduled in September 2018 during which the experts will guide the SAI auditors in quality assurance of audit work and report finalisation of audit conducted by SAI Kuwait.