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India's ranking has dropped by five points to 85 this year in a global passport index, topped by Singapore for the second consecutive year. The data draws from Henley Passport Index released by citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners on Wednesday. "With historical data spanning 19 years, the Henley Passport Index is the only one of its kind based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index includes 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations," according to its website. The index is considered the standard reference tool for global citizens and sovereign states when assessing where a passport ranks on the global mobility spectrum, it said. As per the index for 2025, India stands at 85th while the ranking of Pakistan and Bangladesh stood at 103rd (101st in 2024) and 100th (97th in 2024), respectively. India's ranking in the Henley Passport Index for 2024 was 80th globally. According to a data chart available on the firm's
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to citizens in 2023, registering an annual growth of nearly 15 per cent. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this while commending the personnel for efficient passport-related service delivery. The MEA commemorated the 12th Passport Seva Divas on Monday to mark the enactment of the Passports Act on June 24, 1967. Coinciding with this, a three-day Regional Passport Officers (RPO) conference was organised in Delhi. "I am happy to note that in 2023, the ministry rendered 1.65 crore passport-related services to our citizens," Jaishankar said in a message to the conference. "The year 2023 noticed a commendable annual growth of nearly 15 per cent in passport and other related services," the minister said. The monthly submission of applications crossed the 14 lakh mark in 2023, he said. The external affairs minister also underlined the need for leveraging the power of the latest technologies to
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written a second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take "prompt and necessary" actions to cancel the diplomatic passport of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexually abusing women. He said that it is "disheartening" that his previous letter on the issue had not been acted-upon, despite the gravity of the situation. The chief minister earlier on May 1 had written to Modi urging him to move the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal. Recently, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the state government to probe the serial sex abuse charges against the MP, had also written to the Ministry of External Affairs to cancel his diplomatic passport, on the basis of an arrest warrant issued against him by the court. "I write to you once again to draw attention to the grave series of incidents that Prajwal Revanna has been accused of
As many as 2,46,580 Indians surrendered passports from 2014 to 2022 across India with Delhi registering the maximum 60,414, according to data provided by the government in Rajya Sabha. In Punjab, 28,117 people surrendered passports during the period while the numbers in Gujarat, Goa and Kerala were 22,300, 18,610 and 16,247, respectively. The state-wise number of Indians who surrendered passports were provided by Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan while replying to a question. The total number of Indians who surrendered their passports from 2014 to 2022 stood at 2,46,580, he said. According to the data furnished by the minister, over 24,000 Indians surrendered their passports in over 35 countries during the period 2019-2022.
Every citizen has a legal right to hold a passport and authorities cannot refuse to renew it merely on an apprehension that the earlier passports might have been misused, the Delhi High Court has said. The court, while dealing with a petition by an Indian citizen seeking a change in the date of birth mentioned in his passport, said denial of the travel document seriously impedes the rights of a citizen, and the authorities can refuse to renew a passport or cancel it only on grounds prescribed in law. In the present case, the authorities had refused to renew the petitioner's passport with the updated date of birth on the ground that the claim for correction did not seem to be genuine. The counsel for the passport authority told the court that approximately 14 years have passed since the issuance of the first passport to the petitioner, and he might misuse the travel document if the same is renewed or re-issued with a new date of birth. Rejecting the objection, the court noted that t