life's a kick

“There is a difference between the dishonest bribe and the honest bribe. The dishonest bribe is the same in every country, but the honest bribe is India's alone.” - Gregory David Roberts, Author of Shantaram Transparency International (TI), the international NGO leading the fight against corruption , defines the malaise as ‘the abuse of entrusted power for private gain’. In simple words, corruption implies the unjust use of power either to withhold rightful dues or to provide undue favours. TI’s Corruption Perceptions Index places India at 94 th position out of 176 countries, reinforcing the perception that corruption is an accepted way of life in the Indian subcontinent. In trying to understand the role of technology in fighting corruption, it is important to understand what causes corruption in the first place. The reasons can broadly be classified into two categories: One, of human frailties, such as greed, impatience and lack of values, and two, of syste...