Indore cleanest city for 5th time in row in Centre's annual cleanliness survey
New Delhi, Nov 20: Indore was adjudged India's cleanest city for the fifth time in a row in the Central government's annual cleanliness awards while Chhattisgarh retained the first position in the state category.
The second and third positions in the 'cleanest city' category of the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards, 2021' were secured by Surat and Vijayawada, respectively.
Varanasi, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha, has been adjudged the "cleanest Ganga town" while Bihar's Munger and Patna have been ranked second and third in the category.
Although Indore and Surat retained their positions in the 'Swachh Survekshan Awards 2021', Navi Mumbai lost its third spot to Vijaywada and was in the fourth position in the latest survey results announced by the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry on Saturday.
President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the awards in presence of Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and others at an event here.
The ministry said in the latest nationwide cleanliness survey, 4,320 cities were covered in 28 days, adding that over 4.2 core people had given their feedback.
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, having more than 100 urban local bodies, have been adjudged the second and third cleanest state in the country. In the category of states with less than 100 urban local bodies, Jharkhand has been ranked first, followed by Haryana and Goa.
The 10 top-ranked cleanest cities, having a population of more than one lakh, are Indore, Surat, Vijaywada, Navi Mumbai, New Delhi, Ambikapur, Tirupati, Pune, Noida and Ujjain. Lucknow has been ranked the lowest among 25 cities in the same category.
According to the ministry, Vita city of Maharashtra has been ranked the cleanest city with less than one lakh population, followed by Lonavala and Sasvad.
New Delhi Municipal Council secured the first position in the country's cleanest small city category of 1-3 lakh population while Hoshangawad and Triputi emerged as the "Fastest Mover small city" and "Best Small City in Citizens' Feedback" categories, respectively.
Noida emerged as the country's "cleanest medium city" in the category of 3-10 lakh population. Navi Mumbai bagged the first award in the category of 'Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge'. It also got the first position as India's 'cleanest big city' in the category of 10-40 lakh population.
In the category of cantonment boards, Ahmedabad was ranked the cleanest city, followed by Meerut and Delhi.
Surat has bagged the first award in the district ranking category while Indore and New Delhi have secured second and third position, respectively.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
