Surat, Indore cleanest cities, Maharashtra tops State list (GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- The President of India recently conferred Swachh Survekshan awards 2023 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi hosted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
- 13 awardees received felicitations under categories of Clean Cities, Cleanest Cantonment, SafaiMitra Suraksha, Ganga Towns and Best Performing State were given away.
Cleanest city awards:
- Port city Surat bagged the top honours, alongside Indore, who had conquered the top spot alone for 6 consecutive years. The next best is Navi Mumbai.
- The list of top 10 cleanest cities with a population of more than one lakh includes Greater Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Vijayawada, New Delhi, Tirupati, Greater Hyderabad and Pune.
- In the category of cities with a population of less than one lakh, Sasvad and Lonavala in Maharashtra and Patan in Chhattisgarh secured the top three spots.
State rankings:
- In the State rankings, Maharashtra came first, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Odisha is ranked fourth, followed by Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Karnataka, Goa, Haryana and Bihar.
- In the category of cities with a population of less than 1 lakh, Sasvad, Patan and Lonavala secured the top three spots.
- Mhow Cantonment Board in Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the Cleanest Cantonment Board.
- Varanasi and Prayagraj won the top two awards amongst the Cleanest Ganga Towns.
- Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh won the top three awards for Best Performing State.
- Chandigarh walked away with the award for the Best Safaimitra Surakshit Sheher.
Zonal awards:
- Twenty zonal awards were given to medium and small cities.
- Madhyamgram, Kalyani and Haora, all cities in West Bengal, have the dubious distinction of being placed at the bottom of the list, while the States at the end of the list were Rajasthan, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.
About Swachh Survekshan:
- The Swachh Survekshan, which began with a modest evaluation of 73 major cities in 2016, now covers 4,477 cities.
- The theme of the cleanliness survey 2023 was “Waste to wealth”, while for 2024, it is “Reduce, reuse and recycle”.
Strained ties in India Maldives relations
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tourism push for Lakshadweep triggered a social media spat, escalating into a diplomatic clash between India and the Maldives, worsening the already strained relationship between the Indian Ocean neighbours.
- Disparaging remarks led to the suspension of three Maldivian Ministers.
- India-Maldives relations have hit a rough patch since Mohamed Muizzu was elected President in 2023 on the back of an ‘India Out’ campaign.
What led to the ‘India out’ campaign during Solih’s administration?
- The Maldives is a key maritime neighbour of India in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The country’s location holds significant strategic importance to India, especially amid China’s growing engagements in the region.
- Although Maldives-India ties have been mostly cordial over the years, there was a noticeable tilt towards China during the presidency of Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) leader Abdulla Yameen from 2013 to 2018. It was under Mr. Yameen that China included the Maldives as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Relations under Solih administration:
- Bilateral ties improved when Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) took over the reins from Mr. Yameen in 2018.
- He adopted an ‘India first’ foreign policy to establish a closer relationship with India in the areas of defence, security and economics.
- However, the growing proximity between both countries and high-level military exchanges sparked concern in certain quarters, leading to an ‘India out’ campaign spearheaded by the Opposition.
- The critics of the Solih administration alleged that the government was compromising the sovereignty of the island nation and “allowing Indian boots on the ground.”
- The Opposition sharpened its attack after the government signed the Uthuru Thila Falhu (UTF) deal with India in 2021 to jointly develop the National Defence Force Coast Guard Harbour.
Muizzu’s government:
- In September 2023, Mr. Muizzu won the contest with 54% of the votes, and in November, took oath as the eighth President of the island nation.
- The first signs of a shift in foreign policy emerged when the new Maldivian President skipped India and instead travelled to Turkiye in November on his first official visit. It marked a departure from a long tradition of Maldivian heads visiting India first.
- He has since travelled to the UAE and is currently on a five-day visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Why did President Muizzu insist on the withdrawal of Indian soldiers?
- In his first address to the nation after taking the oath, he insisted on the withdrawal of Indian soldiers from the Maldives as he pledged to safeguard the sovereignty and independence of the Maldives.
- Maldives hesitance to maintain defence ties with India was again evident from the absence of a Maldivian government representative in the latest round of the Colombo Security Conclave held in Mauritius in December 2023.
Why did the decision to revoke the survey pact with India cause a stir in political circles?
- The Muizzu government caused a stir in political and strategic circles with its decision to revoke a key 2019 agreement with India for conducting surveys in Maldivian waters.
- The MoU for hydrographic surveying, signed during PM Modi’s state visit to the islands when President Ibrahim Solih was in power, backed the commitment of the two countries to maintain close cooperation in defence and maritime security.
- Critics of the Solih government, however, had claimed that it harmed national security.
Henley Passport Index 2024
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Why in news?
- The Henley Passport Index 2024 was released recently, highlighting the "power" of passports of 199 countries.
Top scorers:
- The index, which ranks countries based on the number of destinations that allow visa-free entry to their passport, was topped by France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Spain.
- Passports of all these countries have visa-free access to 194 destinations, three more than last year.
- Japan and Singapore have continued to top the list for five years now.
- South Korea, Sweden and Finland rose one spot to take joint second place, with access to 193 countries.
- Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands shared third place, allowing travel to 192 places.
- The UK and US passports ranked fourth and seventh, respectively, with access to 191 and 188 destinations.
Where does India stand?
- According to the latest ranking, India stands at the 80th rank in the list of most powerful passports.
- Its passport has visa-free access to 62 nations, including Angola, Barbados, Bhutan, Bolivia, Djibouti, El Salvador, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal, Qatar and Zimbabwe.
- India shares the rank with Uzbekistan.
- In 2023, too, India's passport was ranked at the 80th spot, up five places from 2022. However, the number of visa-free destinations has jumped from 57 to 62 in 2023.
Which are the least powerful passports in the world?
- The least powerful passport in the world is Afghanistan.
- It ranked at 104th spot with access to 28 countries.
- It is followed by Syria (103), Iraq (102), Pakistan (101) and Yemen (100).
Which passports have shown the most improvement in ranking?
- The United Arab Emirates was the fastest climber over the past decade, jumping to 11th place and offering access to 183 destinations without a visa.
- China, up two spots to 62nd place, has visa-free access to 85 destinations, almost twice as many as ten years ago.
About Henley Passport Index:
- The Henley Passport Index is an annual list put together by Henley & Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm.
- It ranks different passports according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa or can avail of a visa on arrival, a visitor’s permit, or an electronic travel authority (ETA) on entering the destination.
- The rankings are based on the analysis of data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
- It then provides a ‘Visa-free score’ which, essentially, is the number of destinations that the holders of that particular passport can travel to without a prior visa or can avail of a visa on arrival or other similar permits.
