-Reuters Chinese and Russian firms are the most likely to pay bribes while operating abroad, and the most corrupt sectors are public works contracts and construction, according to Transparency International's latest "Bribe Payers' index". China and Russia rank bottom, in 27th and 28th place respectively, in the 2011 index released on Wednesday, while the Dutch, Swiss, Belgians, Germans and Japanese get the top scores. Britain and the United States rank eighth and...
More »SEARCH RESULT
BASIC countries show united front by Ananth Krishnan
India, China, Brazil and South Africa — the BASIC group of developing countries — on Tuesday sought to bridge their differences and strike a common position ahead of this month's climate change conference in Durban, calling on the West to ensure the extension of the Kyoto Protocol as well as step up financial and technological assistance to developing countries. The Durban conference, they said in a joint statement, “should achieve a...
More »4% of govt purchases will have to be from dalit, tribal-run firms by Subodh Ghildiyal
Ahead of its battle with dalit czarina Mayawati, the Congress-led Centre has made it mandatory for all central bodies to make at least 4% of their annual purchases from small scale industries owned by dalits and tribals. The decision, a leg up for developing entrepreneurship among SCs/STs, came as part of the new public procurement policy cleared by the Union Cabinet on Tuesday which mandates Union ministries/PSUs to make 20% of...
More »Steady rise in HDI value but not fast enough to pull all of India up
-Express News Service The Human Development Report (HDR), 2011 released today has ranked India at 134th among 187 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI). With an HDI value of 0.547 — where 1 is the highest and zero lowest — India fares worse than the average global value of 0.682, and compares with the HDI value of 0.548 for the South Asian region. Norway sits on top of the pile. India has,...
More »Gender gap divides India from the rest
-Express News Service For a country making strides as an emerging economic power, gender inequality remains an area where it compares poorly with the rest of the world. India is placed 129th among 146 countries in terms of GII, or gender inequality index, far behind neighbouring Sri Lanka at 74 and lagging most other countries in the region. Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan are ranked 112, 113 and 115 in terms of this...
More »