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The International Criminal Police Commission, the forerunner of INTERPOL, was founded in Vienna in:
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Answer: Option A — 1923
Detailed Solution
The International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), the predecessor of INTERPOL, was founded in Vienna, Austria, in 1923.
History of INTERPOL:
1914: The first International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco, where police and legal experts from many countries discussed cooperation in catching criminals.
1923: The International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC) was founded in Vienna, on the initiative of Dr. Johannes Schober, the President of the Vienna Police.
1938: After Germany annexed Austria, the ICPC came under Nazi control and largely stopped working as an international body.
1946: It was revived after the Second World War, with its headquarters in Paris.
1956: It adopted a new constitution and became the "International Criminal Police Organization" (ICPO-INTERPOL). The name "INTERPOL" had been its telegraphic address.
1989: Its headquarters moved from Paris (Saint-Cloud) to Lyon, France.
About INTERPOL today:
- It is the world's largest international police organisation, with 196 member countries.
- Its headquarters (General Secretariat) is in Lyon, France.
- It has a Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore (2015).
- It does not have its own police force that arrests people; it helps police forces of member countries to share information and cooperate.
Its "notices" are colour-coded alerts, such as:
- Red Notice: to seek the location and arrest of a wanted person.
- Blue Notice: to collect information about a person.
- Yellow Notice: to help find a missing person.
- Black Notice: to identify unidentified bodies.
India and INTERPOL:
- India joined INTERPOL in June 1949.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is India's National Central Bureau (NCB) for INTERPOL.
- The CBI launched the "Bharatpol" portal in January 2025 to help Indian police agencies send requests to INTERPOL quickly.
- India hosted the 90th INTERPOL General Assembly in New Delhi in October 2022.
Why not the other options?
- ✗1914 is the year the first International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco.
- ✗1945 is the year the United Nations was founded.
- ✗1956 is the year it adopted the name ICPO-INTERPOL.
Quick tip
Remember: INTERPOL's forerunner ICPC = Vienna 1923 (idea from the 1914 Monaco Congress); renamed ICPO-INTERPOL 1956; HQ Lyon since 1989; India joined 1949; CBI = India's National Central Bureau; "Bharatpol" = 2025.
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Organisations & Headquarters — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Organisations & Headquarters, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers national and international organisations: the United Nations and its agencies, regional groups such as SAARC, ASEAN and BRICS, global bodies such as the WHO, ILO and UNESCO, and Indian institutions, with their headquarters, founding years, members and heads. Questions typically ask where an organisation is headquartered, when it was founded, or what its full form is. For example, UNESCO is headquartered in Paris and the WHO in Geneva. Membership and leadership change over time, so pair the static facts here with current affairs for recent changes such as new members or new heads. Practise the organisations and headquarters questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.