India, Corruption | featured news

Giuseppe Orsi of the the Italian state-controlled defense group Finmeccanica was arrested in an investigation centered on the sale of helicopters to the Indian government.

NEW DELHI — He was supposed to be a faceless accountant, but he has become a household name in India and perhaps the central actor in the nation’s battle against corruption. The slim, silver-haired Vinod Rai is the government’s chief auditor, a man appointed on the recommendation of the prime minister more than five years ago. Now he has turned into one of the government’s greatest scourges, a hero to many but a source of controversy to others.

The Indian joint venture of Wal-Mart Stores Inc has suspended its chief financial officer and other employees as it investigates alleged violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws, a development that could hamper India's efforts to open its domestic supermarket sector to foreign investment.

Lawmakers endorsed demands by Anna Hazare, the anticorruption campaigner who has been on a hunger strike, for legislation to fight graft.