'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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Hormuz Strait disruptions have caused huge economic impact, energy instability in region: Navy chief
Mumbai (PTI): The Strait of Hormuz disruptions have caused severe economic impact and energy instability in the region, Indian Navy chief Admiral D K Tripathi said on Thursday amid the war in West Asia.
Speaking at an event where INS Sunayna, an offshore patrol vessel, set sail from Mumbai as Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) Sagar, the admiral said competition at sea has no longer remained confined to oil and energy.
It is now expanding towards resources that will shape future growth - such as rare earth elements, critical minerals, new fishing grounds and even data, he said.
The West Asia crisis began on February 28 after a joint attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
Iran's strikes on its neighbours along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world's energy supplies with effects far beyond West Asia.
"With the conflict in West Asia well into its fifth week, the disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have caused severe economic impact and energy instability in the region," Tripathi said.
There is significant increase in the marine survey, deep-sea research activity, and Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU), often encroaching upon the sovereign rights of littoral nations and exploiting gaps in monitoring and enforcement, he said.
Alongside these, threats such as piracy, armed robbery and narco-trafficking backed by unimpeded access of advanced technology to non-state actors, have also become more complex and challenging to counter, the Navy chief pointed out.
Last year alone, the Indian Ocean Region witnessed a staggering 3,700 maritime incidents of varying nature, the admiral said.
Additionally, narcotics seizures in the region exceeded USD 1 billion USD in 2025, highlighting the persistence and spread of such challenges in the region, he said.
