KARACHI: The country may not be performing well in several fields but it has moved up the corruption ladder, from the 42nd rung in 2009 to 34th this year.
According to Transparency International’s report for 2010, Pakistan is more corrupt today than it was last year.
The report released here on Tuesday by TI Pakistan’s chief Adil Gilani and in Berlin by its president Huguette Labelle said that on a list of 178 countries Pakistan fared worse than Bangladesh and India.
The perception of the most corrupt government was in 1996 when Pakistan had achieved the second position.
Mr Gilani claimed that billions of rupees were siphoned off through corruption which seriously affected the country’s progress.
The report showed that nearly three-fourth of the 178 countries had scored below five on a scale from 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10, indicating a serious corruption problem.
The country perceived to be most corrupt was Somalia with a score of 1.1, followed by Afghanistan and Myanmar with 1.4.
Denmark, Singapore and New Zealand were perceived to be the most honest countries with a score of 9.3.
Mr Gilani said that Bangladesh was perceived to be the most corrupt country in 2001, 2002 and 2003, but it took corrective measures and this year it was placed at number 39. Owing to decrease in corruption, Bangladesh’s GDP grew by five per cent, compared to Pakistan’s 2.4 per cent last year.
Mr Gilani said that over the past two years there had been unprecedented cases of corruption involving tens of billions of rupees in public sector organisations which should have been taken up by the National Accountability Bureau.
He claimed that the government lacked the political will to fight corruption because of which the Supreme Court had to take suo motu action against organisations like the National Insurance Corporation, Pakistan Steel and rental power plants.
He said a delay in setting up an independent accountability commission by parliament might aggravate the situation.
He said that the direct impact of increased corruption was witnessed in the shape of up to 120 per cent rise in food prices within a year -- sugar from Rs54 a kg to Rs80, pulses from Rs50 a kg to Rs110, eggs from Rs35 a dozen to Rs60, etc.
Mr Gilani said the perception of corruption had caused a drop in foreign direct investment to $2.21 billion during 2009-10 from $371 billion the previous year. The foreign debt increased from $40 billion in 1999 to $46 billion in 2008 and $53 billion this year.
He said that an across-the-board application of the rule of law, merit-based appointments and easy access to justice were the only solutions to the problem of corruption which was responsible for poverty, inflation, terrorism, illiteracy, lack of electricity and hoarding of essential food commodities.
He said the Supreme Court in its order in the NIC case had considered violation of public procurement rules as a criminal act and a federal crime and this would help reduce corruption.
The TI’s president Huguette Labelle said in a message that the results again showed that corruption was a global problem that must be addressed through global policy reforms.
She said that it was commendable that the Group of 20 in pursuing financial reforms had made strong commitments to transparency and integrity ahead of its November summit in Seoul, but the process must be accelerated.
She urged the G20 to mandate greater government oversight and public transparency in all measures they took to reduce systematic risks and opportunities for corruption and fraud in the public as well as in the private sector.
Comparing the level of corruption perception in the region, the report said that Pakistan held the position of the second most corrupt country in 1996 and now it had improved to be placed at the 34th number, while India had improved from 9th to 91st position and Bangladesh from 4th to 43rd position during the period.
India had lost a flurry of wickets to slip to 124-8 but Sharma contributed 31 valuable runs in his partnership with Laxman, who was batting with a runner due to a bad back, before the hosts scrambled over the finish line in a frantic climax.
“One of the best, one of the most exciting Test matches I have played and I have played some 150 now,” Australia captain Ricky Ponting said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“The Ishant-Laxman partnership was outstanding, it made the difference,” he added.
When play began, India needed 161 runs to win while Australia required six wickets in an absorbing test but the ever-reliable Laxman kept his head as wickets tumbled, managing the tail to perfection in denying Ponting a first win in India as skipper.
Tuesday’s innings adds to Laxman’s reputation as a thorn in Australia’s side with all but one of his five 150-plus scores coming against them, including a 281 in Kolkata nine years ago that led a following-on India to a stunning win.
“He is a remarkable batsman. If he is at the crease, whatever field you set, he can rotate strike, hit boundaries and keep the scoreboard ticking. He is really an amazing batsman... he was very special,” India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said.
Going into the final day, local hopes rested on overnight batsman Sachin Tendulkar (38) but the prolific and talismanic batsman threw his wicket away with a poor shot to depart just when his team needed him most.
Earlier, Nathan Hauritz had made Australia’s initial breakthrough by ending overnight batsman Zaheer Khan’s 34-ball vigil.
Paceman Doug Bollinger then took over, removing Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh, the latter wicket coming after Dhoni had ran himself out to compound the home side’s crisis.
Laxman and Sharma, however, did not panic and played deliveries on merit as the hosts eventually completed what is the fourth-highest successful chase on Indian soil.
Dhoni echoed Ponting’s sentiments in rating the match as one of the best he had played in and said the India-Australia rivalry was always capable of reaching such heights.
“Heartbeat goes up, a typical thing. I think that’s what make test cricket interesting,” Dhoni added.
“When the match started, no one expected a result within four-and-half days but bowlers from both sides forced one.”
Khan, who was named man of the match for his eight-wicket haul, felt India had played marginally the better in clinching a contest that had numerous momentum swings throughout the course of the five days.
“It was a great game of cricket. Australia fought really hard and we did just enough to be on the winning side,” said the pacer, the latest member of the 250-test wicket club.
Bangalore hosts the second test from October 9.
“I don’t think it is a cultural thing. When you agree to host (a Games) you are required to provide the basics in terms of health and hygiene for the athletes,” Australia Olympic Committee president John Coates said.
“The Games shouldn’t have been awarded to Delhi in hindsight.”
As athletes begin arriving in Delhi, authorities are still working on completing Games venues, forcing some teams to take up temporary accommodation at hotels.
Cyclist Greg Henderson earlier on Friday became the first New Zealand athlete to withdraw over concerns about health and security.
Olympic cycling champion Geraint Thomas and three other Welsh riders also opted out of the Games, due to start on October 3.
India had hoped to use the Games to display its growing global economic and political influence, rivalling China.
Instead, they have become a major embarrassment for the government, which is trying to fend off criticism of poor construction, inadequate security and dirty accommodation.
The Games, held every four years for mostly former British colonies, are estimated to have cost $6 billion.
The Delhi Games may turn out to be the most compromised since a 1986 boycott of the Games in Britain, when 32 nations stayed away because of then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government’s position over apartheid South Africa.
Several nations have voiced concern over the state of the Games. India, Asia’s third largest economy, was awarded the Games in 2003 but did not begin proper preparations until two years ago.
Australian and New Zealand prime ministers said they understood if their athletes decided not to take part.
But England said it would send 551 athletes to the Games because there were signs of improvement on the ground in New Delhi, and said the first group of 22 was leaving on Thursday.
Kenya said it would send a 240-strong team after receiving security assurances from India, officials said, though several of its top athletes have withdrawn because of illness or fatigue.
Wales also gave its team the all-clear to go.
New Zealand, Canada and Scotland have opted to delay their arrivals because of poor athletes’ accommodation at the New Delhi Games village, with heavy monsoon rain and a dengue epidemic adding to images of filthy apartments and roaming stray dogs.
Suspected militants shot and wounded two foreign visitors in New Delhi on Sunday.
“SECURITY IN PLACE”
Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper said he was hopeful the Games would get off the ground, given a new sense of urgency among Indian officials.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reviewed preparations with senior ministers, an official in his office said, in what was seen as a last-ditch effort to avoid teams withdrawing.
England said in a statement that its advance party “are now seeing the improved levels of resourcing which are required” but added that it would monitor the situation daily “to ensure the village and stadia are safe and fit for purpose”.
Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Delhi organising committee, said no team would pull out.
“I can assure you that security is well in place. Now if some people have their own conception (of security), I can’t help,” he told reporters.
In a sign of desperation, the federal government ordered the organising committee to hand over management of the Games Village, which will house 6,500 athletes, to the government.
By contrast, preparations for November’s Asian Games in China, which held a successful Olympics in 2008, are on track, with organisers in Guangzhou handing over the athletes’ village to the Asian Games authorities for sign-off this week.
Many sporting events have hit trouble before opening, such as the 2004 Athens Olympics, and some of Delhi’s infrastructure projects, including a new metro and airport, have won praise.
But polls in newspapers show that a vast majority of Indians are ashamed. Singh has been accused of failing to recognise that events like the Games carry huge international prestige. Much of the Congress-led government remains focused on its rural vote.
Organisers have sent more than 1,000 workers to clean the Games Village apartments.
New Zealand chef de mission Dave Currie said organisers had ignored problems. “Every time we raised an issue (we were told) ‘yes that will be fixed tomorrow’, but you know clearly that it won’t be fixed tomorrow,” he said. “And they weren’t.”
World discus champion Dani Samuels of Australia pulled out because of concerns, as did England’s world triple jump champion Phillips Idowu. Four other champions have quit for various reasons, including injuries.
Triple Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica is the highest-profile athlete to skip the event.
A portion of false ceiling in the weightlifting venue caved in on Wednesday, a day after the collapse of a footbridge by the main stadium, injuring 27 workers.
Severe delays in the completion of the athletes’ village led Commonwealth Games Federation president Michael Fennell to contact the Indian government Tuesday and urge them to finish work on the accommodation – which many have described as “unlivable” – in time for the October 3-14 games.
“Many nations that have already sent their advanced parties to set up within the village have made it abundantly clear that, as of the afternoon of September 20th, the Commonwealth Games Village is seriously compromised,” Fennell said in a statement.
“The CGF has asked the Cabinet Secretary to immediately deploy the necessary resources to fix all the outstanding issues to an acceptable level.”
The athletes’ village is due to open to the first 7,000 athletes and officials on Thursday. The Times of India newspaper reported that only 18 of 34 residential towers at the village are complete.
New Zealand team manager Dave Currie said the games may not go ahead.
“In the time frame that is left, unless there is tremendous effort and energy and problem-solving ability to get it done, it’s going to be extremely hard to get across the line,” Currie told New Zealand radio network newstalkZB. “If the village is not ready and athletes can’t come, obviously the implications of that are that (the event) is not going to happen.”
Currie said New Zealand would consult with other countries before making a final decision on whether it will take part in the games.
“That’s not a decision that we’ll make (alone), but there are some realities,” he said.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also weighed in.
“The areas (of concern) aren’t insurmountable although there are real concerns about whether they can be achieved in the timeframe,” he said, adding that it was “unlikely that New Zealand would make a call that other countries weren’t prepared to make.”
The build-up to the Commonwealth Games has been plagued by problems with construction of venues and infrastructure falling behind schedule, causing concern over the safety and quality of the buildings and speculation of corruption in the awarding of contracts and structural compliance certificates.
But the delays in construction have been overshadowed more recently by safety concerns, heightened on the weekend after two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot and wounded two tourists near the Jama Masjid, one of India’s biggest mosques.
Other countries also voiced concern about the athletes’ village.
Commonwealth Games Scotland said the area allocated to the team was “unsafe and unfit for human habitation,” while Commonwealth Games England said “there is a lot to be done in the village and this needs to be done with some urgency so that it is ready for the arrival of our first athletes on Friday.”
Australia’s chef de mission, retired marathon runner Steve Moneghetti, said that Indian organizers “have got two days to do what’s probably going to take about two weeks.”
Fennell said advance parties from the international Commonwealth Games Associations had been impressed with the international zone and main dining area within the village, but the condition of the residential zone shocked the majority of them.
“Despite (the CGAs) attempts to work with the organizing committee in a constructive manner since arriving on Sept. 15, significant operational matters remain unaddressed,” Fennell said. “The problems are arising because deadlines for the completion of the village have been consistently pushed out. Now, the high security around the site, while vital, is slowing progress and complicating solutions.”
CGF chief executive Mike Hooper said organizers had not lived up to promises on delivery dates.
“The conditions continued to be appalling and so we felt the matter needed to be elevated. That is why our chairman spoke to top Indian government officials,” Hooper said Tuesday in New Delhi. “Organizing committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi now tells me that the cabinet secretary took a round of the village and assured that everything possible would be done.”
Hooper said newspaper reports of human excrement around the village were true.
British bookmaker William Hill i offering 5-1 odds that the games will fail to go ahead as scheduled, and 2-1 that either England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland will pull out.
“Environment and accommodation are key components in the preparations of athletes. Should reports from Delhi be true, it is understandable why governing bodies would want to stay away,” Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said.
At least 20 people were feared drowned when their boat capsized on Monday during a prayer ceremony on the river Ganges in northern India, a senior local official said. The vessel, with about 60 people on board, turned over in the fast-flowing water, district administrator Senthil Pandyan said by telephone from Uttar Pradesh state, where the accident occurred. "So far we have recovered 10 bodies. We suspect another 10 people have drowned," Pandyan, the chief official for Ballia district, said. "This group wanted to perform some special prayers that required them to be in the middle of the river. When the boat got to the middle, it capsized in strong currents," Pandyan added. Some of those on board managed to swim to the banks of the Ganges, which is revered as a holy river by Hindus. Rescue efforts were underway to find the missing people. Boat accidents are common in India, mainly caused by overcrowding, poor maintenance of vessels and a lack of life jackets and other safety equipment.
India has relaxed citizenship norms for certain categories of Pakistani nationals staying in India and asked state governments and Union territories to sympathetically consider requests for extension of long-term visa (LTV).
The categories of Pakistani nationals who would be covered include members of minority communities in Pakistan (Hindus and Sikhs), Pakistani women married to Indian nationals and staying in India, Indian women married to Pakistani nationals and returning due to widowhood/divorce and having no male member to support them in Pakistan and other cases involving extreme compassion, said a home ministry official Thursday.
In its direction to state governments, India's home ministry said since “such Pakistani nationals have come to India permanently with the intention to attain Indian citizenship”, state governments should sympathetically consider cases for extension of LTV without insisting on validity of passports as per the provisions of the gazette notification issued on 15 May 2010.
But “only such Pakistani nationals are eligible to be considered for grant/extension of LTV who have come to India on or before 31 December, last year,” the ministry said.
The issue was examined jointly by the Union home ministry, the ministry of external affairs and the Union law ministry. They unanimously decided to grant LTV to these categories of Pakistani nationals from the provisions of Rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.
The government is also considering grant of LTV in the case of male Muslim community members who went to Pakistan after Partition leaving behind family in India and returned on a valid passport issued by the Pakistan government and settled in Kerala so that they can acquire Indian citizenship, said the official.
The 20-year-old right-hander hit 111 off 118 balls at Harare Sports Club as Sri Lanka reached 270-4 with 10 balls to spare in response to India's 268-9.
The Sri Lankans now meet host Zimbabwe in Wednesday's final. The two teams also play on Monday in the last of the preliminary matches.
India captain Suresh Raina refused to blame his team's elimination on players' lack of experience of 50-over cricket.
''They have been playing first-class cricket back home and they have been doing well,'' Raina said. ''The youngsters need to raise their game. They need to work on their fitness, work on their game. They need to work on their mistakes and move on.''
Chandimal's innings included six boundaries and five sixes. He shared a 114-run third wicket stand with Nuwan Kapugedera, who scored 42 off 60 balls.
Man-of-the-match Chandimal, who made his debut against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo in this series, played aggressively, having a go at anything short of a decent width.
Kapugedera played the supporting role before his miscued shot in the 37th over found Pankaj Singh in the deep off Pragyan Ojha's bowling.
Sri Lanka's chase faltered when captain Tillakaratne Dilshan on 21 pulled a delivery from Ashok Dinda to Yusuf Pathan at mid-on.
Opener Upul Tharanga was caught by Virat Kohli from spinner Ravichandra Ashwin's turning ball in the 15th over.
But Chandimal and Kapugedera's partnership eased the worries of a Sri Lanka collapse. Chandimal was only removed in the 41th over when he missed a straight ball from Ashwin and was stumped.
Jeewan Mendis (35 not out) and Thusara Samaraweera, unbeaten on 28, finished it off for Sri Lanka with relative ease after 48.2 overs.
Earlier, Kohli had top-scored with 68 as India totaled 268-9. Batting at number three, Kohli faced 94 balls, hitting five boundaries on a flat wicket. Pathan chipped in with 44 runs.
Pace bowler Thilan Mirando was the pick of the Sri Lanka bowlers, taking 3-57, while offspinner Suraj Randiv claimed 2-38.
Dilshan said his team will go all out against Zimbabwe on Monday. ''We will go into it 100 per cent'' he said. ''We are not going to relax.''
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