Kathmandu,Nepal Dakshin Asiama sabaibhanda bhrasht desh,tesro sthanma. KATHMANDU: Despite Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority’s intensified crackdown on corrupt government staff, Nepal slipped 10 positions on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in one year. With CPI of 29, Nepal ranks 126th among 175 countries, ahead only of Bangladesh and Afghanistan in South Asia. The Maldives’ score and ranking have not been included in the TI’s report. Nepal, with a score of 31, was ranked 116th last year. More than two thirds of the 175 countries in the 2014 CPI have scored below 50, on a scale of zero (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 100 (perceived to be very clean). Denmark tops the 2014 list with a score of 92, while North Korea and Somalia share the last place, scoring just eight points, states a release issued by Transparency International, Nepal. Among South Asian countries, Bhutan tops the list with a score of 65 (ranked 30th), while Afghanistan, with a score of 12 (ranked 172nd), is at the bottom. Nepal’s two neighbours, India and China, are ranked 85th and 100th, with scores of 38 and 36, respectively. China’s last year’s score was 40. Among others in South Asia, Sri Lanka is ranked 85th with a score of 38, Pakistan is 126th, with a score of 29, and Bangladesh 145th, with a score of 25. According to the TI release, Turkey’s CPI saw the steepest fall (-5), while Angola, China, Malawi and Rwanda fell four points on CPI. Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines showed an improvement of five points on CPI, while Afghanistan, Jordan, Mali, and Swaziland improved by four points. CPI is based on expert opinions on public sector corruption. Countries’ scores can be helped by open government where the public can hold leaders to account, while a poor score is a sign of prevalent bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that don’t respond to citizens’ needs, the release added. Transparency International Chair Jose Ugaz said in the release, “The 2014 corruption perception index shows that economic growth is undermined and efforts to stop corruption fade when leaders and high-level officials abuse power to appropriate public funds for personal gain.” Ugaz said countries at the bottom needed to adopt radical anti-corruption measures in favour of their people. “Countries at the top of the index should make sure they don’t export corrupt practices to under developed countries,” he added. Among the 10 least corrupt countries, eight are from Europe, one from Asia (Singapore) and one from North America (Canada). The US, with a score of 74, is ranked 17th. The 10 most corrupt countries are from Asia and Africa.