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Things are looking good for India as its ranking in the world corruption list has improved, according to the latest global corruption index released by Transparency International.

Denmark and New Zealand came first and second, respectively, in the Corruption Perception Index while South Sudan, Somalia and Syria were at the bottom.

India moved up three places to occupy the 78th place on the list where occupying the top positions in the list denotes that the country is less corrupt.

"As India gears up for its upcoming elections, we see little significant movement in its CPI score, which moved from 40 in 2017 to 41 in 2018," Transparency International said in its report.

It added, "Despite spectacular public mobilisation in 2011, where citizens demanded that the government take action against corruption and advocated for the passage of the comprehensive Jan Lokpal Act, these efforts ultimately fizzled and fell flat, with little to no movement on the ground to build the specialist anti-corruption infrastructure required."

China was in for a shock when it dropped 10 places to the 87th position and Pakistan is in the 117th position.

"The massive 'Belt and Road Initiative' is probably adding to the negative perception of graft-busting as being more for domestic consumption," Eugene Tan, associate professor at Singapore Management University's School of Law was quoted as saying by PTI.

The United States, for the first time, is not featured in the top 20 with a score of 22 in the 2018 list. It fell by six points after it occupied the 16th position the previous year.

"The Asia-Pacific region is stagnating in the fight against corruption. A lack of progress is unsurprising given the prevalence of weak democratic institutions and a lack of laws and enforcement mechanisms," The Washington Post said.

The CPI stated that the global democracy index revealed that corruption is directly linked with the health of democracy in the country.

"With many democratic institutions under threat across the globe - often by leaders with authoritarian or populist tendencies - we need to do more to strengthen checks and balances and protect citizens' rights," said Patricia Moreira, Managing Director of Transparency International.