Profiting from India's Fight Against Corruption

Thousands of supporters rallied to meet Indian anti-corruption leader Anna Hazare after he left prison with plans to mount a two week hunger strike to call attention to his fight against corruption. Hazare was arrested earlier this week by police who wanted to limit the number of protesters allowed to take part in his public protest, as well as how long the protest would be held. The anti-corruption leader wouldn't agree to their terms and was arrested but the Indian government quickly moved to release him in order to prevent the peaceful demonstrations from escalating. However, Hazare refused to be released from jail until the government granted him the right to conduct a peaceful protest at the venue of his choice. He plans a hunger strike to be held at a site called Ramlila Ground for the next two weeks. After he left jail, Anna Hazare gave a brief speech to supporters who had gathered to see the charismatic leader. The fight against corruption in India has become a matter of national pride to Hazare, who compares his current battles to India's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom. Thousands of Indians watched from their homes and businesses while others were undeterred by the rainy weather and joined his procession as it made its way to the protest site. Hazare implored his followers to fight against corruption in a peaceful manner and to avoid confrontation and the damage of property. While a hunger strike poses obvious dangers for the healthiest of people, Hazare is in his seventies so his undertaking is all the more daring. Upon his release from jail, Hazare said that even if he died, the fight against corruption in India would live on. Corruption is huge problem in India that is holding the country back from even greater economic growth then the it has been experiencing. If Hazare is successful in his attempts to make the Indian government push through effective reforms against corruption, the country could become more competitive with its regional rival China. The the iShares S&P India Nifty 50 Index

and the iPath MSCI India Index

are two ETFs traded on American stock exchanges that could see their share prices climb higher if corruption in India is seen to be on the decline. The stocks of well-run Indian companies like Tata Motors

, Sterlite Industries

and HDFC Bank

should also get a boost once less money is being diverted by corrupt government officials.