Corruption, defined as the pursuit of illegitimate personal gain through illegal activities such as bribery and embezzlement, significantly harms democracy and human rights while facilitating organized crime. Notable scams in India include the 2G spectrum scam involving former minister A. Raja and the Fodder scam tied to Lalu Prasad Yadav, showcasing a widespread culture of corruption among politicians. Proposed reforms like the establishment of the Lokpal aim to enhance anti-corruption measures, while international efforts in places like Hong Kong and Australia focus on reducing corrupt behavior globally.

2. WHAT ARE
CORRUPTION
AND ANTI
CORRUPTION?

3.  The word corruption in the financial sense refers to the
individuals whether in politics, governments or the
corporate world who choose to seek illegitimate personal
gain via a form of illegal activity. The illegal activity may
take the form of bribery, extortion, embezzlement, theft
or other abuse of power to gain unfair and illegal
advantage.
 It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to
violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the
quality of life and allows organised crime, terrorism and
other threats to human security to flourish.

14.  A scam worth Rs.
176,000 crore had former
Union Cabinet Minister for
Communications and
Information Technology,
Andimuthu Raja at the
centre. A. Raja as he is
generally called, was the
prime accused in the 2G
spectrum scam, which was
the largest that the
country had seen in a long
time. Following the
shocking exposure, Raja
was indicted and forced to
resign. Presently, he too
has been lodged at the
Tihar jail and is awaiting
his trial.

16.
 The biggest scam that
rocked Lalu's political
career was the fodder scam
which involved the
embezzlement of Rs. 950
crore approximately. The
accusation of nepotism
against him has come up
time and again but hardly
any action has been taken
against him owing to his
'connections' in the
government.

17.  Former Jharkand Chief Minister,
and only the third independent
legislator to assume the office of
chief minister in India, Madhu
Koda was responsible for a scam
worth over Rs. 4000 crore. The
man exploited the state's natural
resources by licensing illegal
mining leases and stashing away
the wealth amassed during the
undertaking. Furthermore, the
Maoists received a 30% share of
the booty. Koda was arrested on
charges of money laundering and
is still in prison following the
rejection of numerous bail
applications.

18. 
 Mulayam Singh Yadav is also
known as one of the most
corrupt ministers in the country
despite not being directly
involved in any major scams.
Apart from his name being
involved in appointments of
tainted officers and mishandling
of his power as chief minister,
Mulayam Singh had one major
allegation levelled against him–
accumulation of disproportionate
assets. The case drew limelight
on his sons and daughter-in-law
as they too were holders of the
assests that amounted to crores
of rupees.

19.  M. Karunanidhi was accused of
lending support to the LTTE and
was indicted for abetting the
LTTE in the interim report
which oversaw the investigation
into Rajiv Gandhi's
assassination.
 Karunanidhi reportedly
institutionalized corruption in the
South. He was a leading player
in the cash for votes scams that
are common in the southern
region, as well as notorious foe
extreme nepotism shown under
his rule. Not so surprising, is
the fact that the main accused
in the 2G scam, A, Raja,
considers him to be his mentor.

20.  Every now and then, Pawar
draws flak for alleged
investments made by him and
his family in various illegal
projects. He was named by
Abdul Karim Telgi, during a
narcoanalysis test, stating
that it was Pawar's brainchild
to print fake stamp papers
across the country and mint
money. He was also accused in
a multi-crore scam involving
wheat imports and institutions
headed by him and his close
associates were served
notices by the Bombay High
Court for showing favoritism
to his family

21.
 The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
has a staggering 46 corruption
cases against her. Amongst the
various scams were the Rs. 70
million coal import scam, Tansi land
deal case, case of disproportionate
assets and colour TV case, amongst
many others. A raid in her
residence and business
establishments led to the seizure
of some 28 kg of jewellery (worth
Rs 51 crore), 91 wrist-watches,
41 air-conditioners, 10,500
sarees, 750 pairs of footwears,
etc. She along with her former
cabinet colleagues and senior
bureaucrats who worked with her
are still facing investigation with
regard to corruption.

22.
 The most recent politician to be
caught in the web of corruption
is former Chief Minister of
Karnataka, B. S. Yeddyurappa.
While he has a number of
corruption lying against him, the
one that toppled his career was
his alleged involvement in the
illegal iron ore export scam in
districts of Karnataka. A lot of
blame game followed and ended
up with Yeddyurappa losing his
ministerial post last month.
Despite his denial, his image as
one of the most corrupt
politicians of the country will
not fade anytime soon.

24. Some important features of the proposed bill are:
 To establish a central government anti-corruption institution called Lokpal,
supported by Lokayukta at the state level.
 As in the case of the Supreme Court and Cabinet Secretariat, the Lokpal
will be supervised by the Cabinet Secretary and the Election Commission.
As a result , it will be completely independent of the government and free
from ministerial influence in its investigations.
 Members will be appointed by judges, Indian Administrative Service
officers with a clean record, private citizens and constitutional authorities
through a transparent and participator process.
 A selection committee will invite short-listed candidates for interviews,
video recordings of which will thereafter be made public.
 Every month on its website, the Lokayukta will publish a list of cases dealt
with , brief details of each, their outcome and any action taken or
proposed. It will also publish lists of all cases received by the Lokayukta
during the previous month, cases dealt with and those which are pending.

28. Arvind Kumar Kejriwal (born 16 June
1968) is an Indian social activist
fighting for greater transparency in
Government. He was awarded Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Emergent
Leadership in 2006, for activating
India's Right to Information
movement at grassroots and social
activities to empower the poorest
citizens to fight corruption by
holding the government answerable
to the people.Kejriwal is also a Saathi
(fellow) of the Association for India's
Development , a Global Impact award
winning NGO.

30. N. Santosh Hegde

32. HONG KONG
The Independent Commission Against Corruption
(ICAC) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (HKSAR) of the People’s Republic of China
was set up in 1974. The ICAC, the principal
agency with a statutory charter to investigate
and prevent corruption in Hong Kong, is totally
independent from the executive branch of the
Government and reports directly to the Chief
Executive

33. AUSTRALIA
 Australia's anti-corruption for development policy provides a
framework for planning, resourcing, and reviewing anti
corruption activities on a country and regional basis. The overall
goal of Australia's anti-corruption for development policy is to
assist developing countries bring about a sustainable reduction in
corrupt behaviour for the purpose of improving economic and
social development. Australia's approach to anti-corruption will
focus on three mutually reinforcing elements:
 Building constituencies for anti-corruption reform
 Reducing opportunities for corruption
 Changing incentives for corrupt behaviour:

34. CHINA
•Corruption is endemic in China, with huge amounts of
money involved, and the ruling Communist Party has said
repeatedly that the problem threatens its hold on power.
China has launched a program to try to stop corrupt
officials from fleeing the country by monitoring transfers
of funds and reviewing applications for overseas travel, a
government management body said Friday. The program is
the latest of numerous efforts in recent years by the
central government to curb graft, often a focal point of
protests by ordinary Chinese. But it remains common among
party and government officials.