CORRUPTION -What and Why?

CORRUPTION – Menace & Measures to mitigate

What and Why?
Oxford dictionary defines corruption as dishonest or unmoral behavior or activities. So, when we talk about corruption, it implies dishonest conduct in public life. Immorality generally does not mean corruption, as we popularly understand it. Corruption ordinarily means, demanding or taking something, which the other person is not legally bound to give. 
Public life involves lot of activities   at various levels of Government.   Public servants have to deal with numerous functions. These both involve doing things or abstaining from doing things. .

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  1. Think of any department or system and we may see, rules being flouted and illegal money or favors changing hands.   Go to the doctor, prescription may contain   medicines which are not needed, which are not of standard quality coming from obscure manufacturing companies. 
  2. Come to police, there is well defined system for administration of justice but when it comes to victim he may find himself at receiving hand at the police stations it the other party is resourceful enough to manage the system.
  

WORLD BANK

http://www.worldbank.org/

The World Bank is an international institution that has the duty to provide poorer countries with finance to reduce poverty. The headquarters are located in Washington, D.C. furthermore, the World Bank is consisting of two institutions and each one has its different strategies and goals to achieve. These institutions are: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA).

Moreover, the World Bank has a very vital source for financial and technical assistance to countries where people are suffering from poverty by helping these countries through its financial ability as well as experience. Its major concentrations are, to aid poorest countries, increasing their economic growth and improving quality of life. Moreover, with more than 100 countries’ partnership, the institution is aimed to improve health and education, to tackle corruption, inject funds into agriculture sectors, build public facility such as roads and ports as well as protecting environmental issues. Furthermore, the World Bank supports international investments to invest in countries where catastrophe took place or war had occurred in order to help rebuilding these countries.http://www.worldbank.org/

Pakistan’s misfortune

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 After Quaid-e-Azam’s death has been a string of either weak, ineffective, corrupt, demagogic, non-visionary dictatorial rulers or leaders without much exception. The continuance of all-pervasive, anachronistic and highly damaging feudal system has become a fixed frame of mind for the nation. This is in direct conflict with democracy, progress and freedom both economic and political. Total neglect of education has widespread socio-economic implications and clear-cut effects on the society’s moral fiber. This neglect is only the trend of a feudal society like ours. Constitutional acrobats of 1956, 1962, 1973 and later undemocratic amendments destroyed the system of government badly and uprooted the structural integrity. Weak political and military governments paved the way for abuse of official power, nepotism and favouritism for private gains by the civil and military officials, politicians and rulers. The masses trapped in a vicious triangle of bread, cloth and shelter are suffering inescapably. The press and electronic media are largely state-sponsored. Those who claim their freedom forget the unlimited restrictions. The press also failed to highlight the mounting corruption because state functionaries were far expert in hiding their corrupt practices; they relied on the advantage of secrecy of state and official correspondence and transaction. Distorted and weaker laws provided no authority to the judiciary and law-enforcement agencies to dispense justice and relief to the masses. So they also joined hands with the corrupt regimes and officials, and became tools of oppression, instead.

Corruption is not a simple phenomenon

Corruption prevails all over the world

 

 equally in developed and developing countries. The level of corruption may vary between developed and developing countries but it cannot be restricted only to the developing and poor countries. The series of scandals surfaced recently in the United States indicate that corporate leaders can also be spectacularly corrupt. The intricate and much touted regulatory system that oversaw the working of the American corporations turned out not to be strong enough to prevent Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco and WorldCom from indulging in immensely corrupt practices and for a reputable accounting firm Anderson to sanction them. The crimes committed by these corporations were big and punishable. So corruption is not unique to the developing world. It is clearly understood that any deviation from the conduct or behaviour permitted by law will be punished. And punishment will be consistent with the magnitude of the committed crime. However, this relationship between crime and punishment often breaks down. It collapses when legal and regulatory systems become dysfunctional. This happens when the power of the strong cannot be constrained by the weak. This is exactly what happened in America’s go-go capitalism. Here the power wielded by corporate boards and corporate executives was considerably greater than that exercised by common shareholders and common consumers. 



Undeniably, poor and developing countries are more prone to corruption. Lack of rule of law, inequality, injustice and bad governance cause vulnerability to moral and financial corruption eventually. This time it is Bangladesh, which leads the list, followed by Nigeria in Africa, Indonesia in South East Asia, and Azerbaijan in Central Asia. This list is drawn up by Transparency International (TI), a Berlin-based organization, on the basis of the perception of foreign businessmen and fifteen surveys from nine independent institutions. Not all the branded countries are as poor as Bangladesh, which tops the list. Nigeria is truly oil rich and yet it is often listed as the first, second or third most corrupt country. This year its position is second. Not that these countries are in Asia or Africa that they are poor and corrupt. Singapore, for example, is in Asia as well but happens to be the fifth least corrupt country in the world followed by Hong Kong, also in Asia, which is the fourteenth least corrupt country in a list of a hundred and two states. Corruption has thrived even in a very rich state like Kazakhstan, which has been ranked the fifteenth most corrupt state. What all that means is that the form of government or the extent of natural resources or the potential for becoming far rich does not matter. What matters is the quality of government, the kind of governance and the transparency in administration it ensures. It does help when a country is as small as Finland which tops the list of least corrupt countries followed by Denmark and New Zealand, for a small country it is necessary to have efficient administration and least corruption. Even larger federations like that of Canada and Australia and a confederation like Switzerland are able to achieve a very low level of corruption. 

Corruption is a menace

The scourge of corruption and white-collar crimes has become a cause of serious concern.  that can never be eliminated completely from society. Some traces of corruption always exist in every society. The extent of such corruption in each is inversely proportional to the level of justice, accountability and indiscriminate application of law. As long as injustice and poverty prevail one cannot hope to eradicate corruption. A society based on the rule of law and equality caters for the genuine needs and wants of its members. But a society where the rule of law is absent, the vacuum is filled by the rule of nuisance value. The rights, privileges and respect in such a society depend upon how much you can browbeat a man or woman. One may acquire an official position by virtue of which one is able to cause harm to others or to give them favour and advantage. 



Corruption inducted by the government functionaries or the corporate managers damages both national character and the economy. But what hurts the common man is the bribery he confronts at every step. He is required to pay not to get an undue advantage but more often, just to avoid harassment, injustice or delay. Thus it has become extortion – ever worse than bribe. Tragically, bribe is no longer viewed as a perversion of integrity. It is a necessity or need for both its giver and taker. For its wide gamut and many forms, the pithiest definition of corruption one come across is “the abuse of public office for private gain”. Corruption has become a way of life and it permeates every segment of our society. It is not endemic to the public sector alone but extends to private life as well. Defining corruption as a disease is wrong since it really is a symptom of a wider malaise. It is now a pervasive evil. 

VIRTUAL REALITY...CORRUPTION

http://corruptioniseverywhere.blogspot.com

ThERE was conducted to determine if virtual reality has a place in education. Three platforms that were looked at in the study were: Second Life, Specific Learning Virtual Software and Forgotten Planets.   Examples of implementation into education along with results will be discussed. Advantages and disadvantages will also be presented.   It is hoped that this report will encourage educators to use virtual reality programs as a teaching tool.   

With the struggle of ICT and Divisional policy regarding the use of the network, coupled with the slow process of requests being granted, Second Life and Virtual Software were not put through a formal study.   The next best platform that could be used was the internet game called Forgotten Planets, which is a massive multiplayer online real time strategy game. The game was used to discover if the positive and negative aspects of Second Life are present in this platform.
Introduction

Virtual reality is slowly becoming an integral part of the educational learning process for students at many levels.   It could be used to learn a specific skill such dissecting an animal in biology or how to be more constructive in conversation with another human being.    corruptioniseverywhere.blogspot.com