Arms scam: Hunter and the hunted!

On a day when the Central Bureau of Investigation filed an FIR against him in connection with alleged irregularities in a defence deal, former defence minister George Fernandes shot off a letter to President A P J Abdul Kalam, demanding the dismissal of the United Progressive Alliance govenment on the issue of alleged corruption citing an international anti-graft watchdog report.

Referring to the report by Transparency International, which rates India as the worst performer on the Bribe Payer's Index (BPI),

Fernandes in his letter on Tuesday said this means that there was violation of the law and the Constitution by those who hold office in the government.

"There cannot be anything more demeaning for our country than being a nation that has been declared as the number one corrupt nation in the world," he said, adding: "Please dismiss this government and order elections to relieve the country from the humility that we are presently subjected to by the corrupt establishment of the government."

The BPI is based on propensities of companies from the world's 30 leading exporting countries in bribing abroad. India's has been ranked at the 30th position in BPI with a score of 4.62.