What’s in the news?

• India ranked 93 out of 180 countries on the corruption perceptions index (CPI) for 2023, according to the latest report released by Transparency International. 
• The index, which lists countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, ranked Denmark at the top, followed by Finland, New Zealand and Norway.
• Transparency International emphasised that the results of CPI-2023 indicated minimal progress in addressing public sector corruption globally, as the average global score remains unchanged at 43 for the twelfth consecutive year, with over two-thirds of countries scoring below 50. 
• While western Europe and the European Union remained the top-scoring regions, its regional average score dropped to 65 this year, as checks and balances weakened and political integrity eroded.
• In South Asia, both Pakistan (rank 133) and Sri Lanka (rank 115) are grappling with their respective debt burdens and ensuing political instability.
• Noting that China (rank 76) has made headlines with its aggressive anti-corruption crackdown by punishing more than 3.7 million public officials for graft over the last decade, the report said the country’s heavy reliance on punishment rather than institutional checks on power raises doubts over the long-term effectiveness of such anti-corruption measures.
• The bottom of the index included Myanmar (162), Afghanistan (162) and North Korea (172). At rank 180 was Somalia with the lowest score of 11.

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-corruption-index-cpi-2023-corruption-perceptions-index-public-sector-corruption-9135717/