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Non-Tech : ICICI Ltd - (Nyse: IC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (405)	3/17/2000 2:36:00 AM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 494

India is 2nd most graft-ridden Asian nation: Watchdog Beijing: Indonesia, India and Vietnam were declared the top three most corrupt nations in Asia. China ranked fourth after the central government passed another year making little effort to stamp out graft at the highest levels, political and economic risk consultancy, Asian Intelligence said in a report received here on Friday. The report, based on responses from 527 expatriates living across Asia, called corruption an "endemic" problem that continues to permeate all levels of China's Communist government. Survey responses were graded on a scale of zero to 10, wherein zero being the best grade possible. According to the 2000 report, Indonesia, India and Vietnam were the three most corrupt nations in the region, with respective scores of 9.88, 9.50 and 9.20. "About the only positive thing one can say about China's corruption problem is that the government admits it exists," the report said, pointing to the high-profile coverage given to the issue during the just-concluded annual session of China's parliament. But it added that China's main strategy for dealing with graft was "to focus on a few high-profile cases and hope that these examples intimidate others participating in corruption to modify their abuses." Analysts have agreed with the prognosis, saying that the execution of Hu Changqing, a former provincial deputy governor and the highest ranking party official to ever by executed for graft, was a carefully timed message sent to cadres who may think themselves above the law. The report pointed to the damaging effects graft had on inefficient use of scarce resources and in its capacity to trigger political instability. "There is a risk that anti-corruption campaigns become quickly politicized in ways that have the potential to threaten the delicate balance of power between competing factions in Beijing." It specifically mentioned a graft case in southeast Fujian province, in which Communist party and army officials are allegedly being investigated for masterminding a smuggling ring that brought in nearly US $10 billion in automobiles, cigarettes and other goods. Although Beijing has thus far not issued any public statements about the case, details of what has been called the largest graft scandal in modern Chinese history have been steadily trickling out through the foreign press and over the Internet. -Bridge News (via indiainfo.com) biz.indiainfo.com