World corruption index: India 88th out of 159

New Delhi--Though India is still regarded as the most corrupt nations of the world, but according latest findings it has improved its position as far as te corruption level is concerned. India ranks 88 in the world along with Tanzania, Armenia and Moldova in the Transparency International's corruption perceptions index for 2005. Iceland is the least corrupt country.

On a perceptions scale of 10 to 0 (10 indicating most honest and 0 most corrupt), India's score is 2.9. Its neighbour Sri Lanka is 10 places above at 78 with a better index of 3.2. The score of Iceland is 9.7.

India and eight other countries share the 88th position on a list of 159 countries surveyed this year. Last year, India was ranked 90 in a field of 146 countries with a corruption index of 2.9.

The annual report by the Berlin-based corruption watchdog was released worldwide Tuesday. The report was released in New Delhi by the India chapter of Transparency International.

Bangladesh and Chad come in the last place - both ranked 158 - with a corruption index of 1.7.

Pakistan is ranked 144 along with six other countries -- Congo, Kenya, Paraguay, Somalia, Sudan and Tajikistan.

China, where no Transparency International surveys were conducted, does not figure in the index. The United States is ranked 17 (corruption index 7.6) and United Kingdom 11 (8.6).

There is only one country from Asia - Singapore at 6th place - in the top ten "highly clean" countries.

The 'top 10' are Iceland, Finland and New Zealand (sharing the second place with an index of 9.6 each), Denmark (9.5), Singapore (9.4), Sweden (9.2), Switzerland (9.1), Norway (8.9). Australia (8.8) and Austria (8.7).

According to Transparency International, countries like Costa Rica, Gabon, Nepal (rank 117), Papua New Guinea, Russia, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have improved their corruption indice while Estonia, France, Hong Kong and Japan (rank 21) dropped in rankings.

"When countries improve governance and reduce corruption, they reap a 'development dividend' that can include reduction in child mortality rates and increase in per capita income and literacy rates," it says.

Stamping out corruption is critical in realising the crucial human and economic development goals set by the international community, it adds.

The corruption perceptions index of Transparency International is drawn from the perceptions of business people and country analysts about each country. The index is calculated on the basis of 16 different surveys conducted by 10 independent institutions to assess a country's performance. In India, the index was calculated on the basis of 14 such surveys.

Transparency International India had released its corruption index for Indian states in August. Kerala stood out as the least corrupt state and Bihar the most corrupt.