'Name and shame' has helped improve states' biz rankings: Kant
Davos: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant today said some states have improved in terms of ease of doing business after they were ranked very low on an index, as he credited the change to "name and shame".
Speaking at a session here at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Kant said he is a great believer in "name and shame" and that seemed to do the trick for poorly ranked states.
Talking about the government's focus on improving ease of doing business across the country, Kant said, "When we started ranking states on ease of doing business, we saw that the states that were ranked lower in first year, they started improving later."
He was speaking on how real time data management can help in the economic growth process.
"We are doing this with real time monitoring of data and now we are going to rank districts. We are doing these rankings on different parameters," Kant said.
He said the data is not designed by government officials but by independent entities like Tata Trusts and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
This real time data is helping capture the reforms undertaken by the concerned state on a continuous basis and results in appropriate change in the rankings.
He explained how real-time data monitoring is proving to be a game-changer in improving outcomes in health, education and financial inclusion for the people of India.
He said the government is using indices to achieve development goals and making states compete with one another.
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Coast Guard seizes vessel carrying 6,000 kg methamphetamine
Port Blair (PTI): In a major anti-narcotics operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) seized a vessel with six Myanmarese crew carrying 6,000 kg of contraband Methamphetamine near Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an official said on Monday.
The drugs were found packed in around 3,000 packets of 2 kg each, which are worth several crores of rupees in the international market.
On November 23, the pilot of a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft while on routine patrolling noticed a suspicious movement of a fishing trawler near Barren Island which is nearly 150 km from Port Blair, the Defence official said.
"The trawler was warned and asked to lower its speed and in the meantime, the pilot alerted the Andaman and Nicobar Command. Immediately, our nearby fast patrolling vessels rushed towards Barren Island and towed the fishing trawler to Port Blair on November 24 for further investigation," the official said.
"We have arrested six Myanmarese nationals from the fishing trawler and it is believed that the Methamphetamine was meant for India and its neighbouring countries. We have informed the Andaman and Nicobar Police for joint interrogation," the defence official said.
This is not the first time that such banned contraband was seized on Indian waters in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In 2019 and 2022, similar drugs were seized from foreign vessels while they tried to enter Indian waters.
Methamphetamine is mainly used as a recreational or performance-enhancing drug.
