Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index: Bangladesh is one of the countries that improved the most in world corruption!

[bujhee kom]

Yo yo, bros to the pros, check this out yo! Alhamdulillah! Go Bangladesh!!

Afghanistan slips in corruption index despite aid


By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER, Associated Press Writer Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 20 mins ago

BERLIN – Afghanistan has slipped three places to become the world's second most-corrupt country despite billions in aid meant to bolster the government against a rising insurgency, according to an annual survey of perceived levels of corruption.

Only lawless Somalia, whose weak U.N.-backed government controls just a few blocks of the capital, was perceived as more corrupt than Afghanistan in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

Iraq saw some improvement, rising to 176 of 180 countries, up two places up from last year. Singapore, Denmark and New Zealand were seen as the least corrupt countries in the list based on surveys of businesses and experts.

In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai's inability or unwillingness to tackle cronyism and bribery the past five years have resulted in an increase of support for the Taliban insurgents. That has prompted calls by the Obama administration for Karzai to tackle the practice or risk forfeiting U.S. aid.

Since 2001, the U.S. Congress has appropriated more than $39 billion in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for Afghanistan, according to a report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction. European nations send about 1 billion euros ($1.49 billion) a year, a total of 9 billion euros since 2002.

International donors are increasingly questioning how much of the billions of dollars in aid might have been misappropriated.

The report said examples of Afghan corruption ranged from the sale of government positions to daily bribes for basic services.

Karzai unveiled an anti-corruption unit and major crime fighting force on Monday after heavy pressure from Washington.

In reaction to the report, Ershad Ahmadi, the deputy director general of the High Office of Oversight and Anti-corruption in Afghanistan, said that "corruption is a phenomenon that will not go away overnight. It is a problem that will continue to be with Afghanistan for a long time.

"Until we achieve that sort of national awakening that business as usual is not in the interest of a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan, you will not be able to achieve success in your anti-corruption campaign," Ahmadi said.

Robin Hodess, Transparency's director of policy and research, said Tuesday that for a country to improve on the corruption perceptions index, it is imperative that "citizens believe that they have a government that works for them."

The governments have to show "that there is the political will to respond to the needs of the people," Hodess said.

In Iraq, corruption has become widespread since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 with scarcity of serious government measures against corrupted officials.

That has undermined the largest nation-building efforts with siphoning billions of dollars away from the country's struggling economy, increasing frustrations among Iraqis mainly over corruption, lingering violence and poor public services.

A Bertelsmann Foundation report used in the corruption index noted that in Iraq "non-security institutions remain weak and debilitated. The Iraqi leadership faces many structural constraints on governance, such as a massive brain drain, a high level of political division, and extreme poverty."

The United States, which was in 19th place compared with 18th last year, remained stable despite Transparency's concerns over a lack of government oversight of the financial sector.

The report also pointed out that the U.S. legislature is another reason for concern, as it is "perceived to be the institution most affected by corruption."

There were some bright spots in the new report — Bangladesh, Belarus, Guatemala, Lithuania, Poland and Syria were among the countries that improved the most.
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Associated Press Writers Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad and Fisnik Abrashi in London contributed to this report.
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Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091117/...rruption_index
On the Net: http://www.transparency.org

[Rabz]

Ah, there you go.
We just gave those crooks a licence to go on a binge, now that they can afford to fall back few places.
And wait till the tota pakhi (Trade Minister Faruk Khan) and gongs to wake up in the morning.

[auntu]

BAL gonna cracks all over the media claiming their দিন বদলের (যাত্রা) পালা is working full swing. Though I don't see any change from the partisan কত খাবি খেয়ে যা attitude.

[FagunerAgun]

In the corruption perception index report (TIIR 2009) of 2009, BD ranks 139th in the world along with Pakistan, the best principled country is New Zealand followed by Denmark, Singapore and Sweden; the worst corrupt country is Somalia followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan.

In this index Canada ranks 8th, US 19th, UK 17th, India 84th, Mauritius 42nd, Saudi Arabia 63rd, Sri Lanka 97th, Maldives 130th, and Nepal 143rd,

In 2008, BD was 147th in this index.

It does not mean necessarily that BD has improved in integrity, it may go to other direction, that other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar have worsened than BD in corruption.

But the genuine lip services of our politicians know the correct direction(s).

[revolver]

wow cudnt imagine it

[Purbasha T]

A funny set of incidents that happened to me and that I think should shared with you people:

2006:
Incident 1: BD was on top of that TI index.
Incident 2: I moved out to the UK.

2007:
Incident 1: One of my best mates that I made in the UK within a short period of time cheated (too strong a word, but anyway) on me by using my contract phone to make International calls that eventually ended up with a massive bill. I managed to get half of that amount from him, but the rest he didn't pay me..and as a result, the friendship went to ashes.
Incident 2: Nigeria replaced Bangladesh as the most corrupted country in the world.

The Joke Part: That friend of mine was a Nigerian.

PS: I have nothing against Nigeria..but it was just a really funny coincidence.

...

Really good to see BD moving off the top spot. But have things really improved over there? I don't know.

[Ajfar]

Originally Posted by Purbasha T
A funny set of incidents that happened to me and that I think should shared with you people:

2006:
Incident 1: BD was on top of that TI index.
Incident 2: I moved out to the UK.

2007:
Incident 1: One of my best mates that I made in the UK within a short period of time cheated (too strong a word, but anyway) on me by using my contract phone to make International calls that eventually ended up with a massive bill. I managed to get half of that amount from him, but the rest he didn't pay me..and as a result, the friendship went to ashes.
Incident 2: Nigeria replaced Bangladesh as the most corrupted country in the world.

The Joke Part: That friend of mine was a Nigerian.

PS: I have nothing against Nigeria..but it was just a really funny coincidence.

...

Really good to see BD moving off the top spot. But have things really improved over there? I don't know.

LMAO i remember you telling me about this when i went to your house.

[BANFAN]

Very small change. Still too low in ranking. Needs to improve. It might just happen, that other guys got worse.

[Alien]

If BD has moved up or down by say 20 or so in ranking, I'd say we made some improvement. Reshuffling of other countries also affects our ranking may not necessarily mean we improved.

Besides since the country voted for Hasina again, a genuine improvement is the last thing expected. Cant wait to hear her brag about it now. First we gotta improve our voting skills before anything else.

[Neel Here]

Originally Posted by FagunerAgun
In the corruption perception index report (TIIR 2009) of 2009, BD ranks 139th in the world along with Pakistan, the best principled country is New Zealand followed by Denmark, Singapore and Sweden; the worst corrupt country is Somalia followed by Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sudan.

In this index Canada ranks 8th, US 19th, UK 17th, India 84th, Mauritius 42nd, Saudi Arabia 63rd, Sri Lanka 97th, Maldives 130th, and Nepal 143rd,

In 2008, BD was 147th in this index.

It does not mean necessarily that BD has improved in integrity, it may go to other direction, that other countries like Afghanistan, Sudan, Myanmar have worsened than BD in corruption.

But the genuine lip services of our politicians know the correct direction(s).

funny thing is, look at the fast growing major economies
Brazil 75
India 84
China 79
(russia has fallen off BRIC)

moral : you need to be corrupt but not too much !

BD needs to move in to the 75-85th most corrupt nation bracket !

[FagunerAgun]

Originally Posted by Neel Here
funny thing is, look at the fast growing major economies
Brazil 75
India 84
China 79
(russia has fallen off BRIC)

moral : you need to be corrupt but not too much !

BD needs to move in to the 75-85th most corrupt nation bracket !

Here lies the difference between developed countries and developing or fast emerging countries.