Lack of sustainable development pushing India downwards in happiness index: Pranab Mukherjee
Kolkata : Former Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said lack of holistic approach and narrow-vision focus on economic development is pushing India downwards in the World Happiness Index in spite of its steady economic progress.
Hailing India for becoming the sixth largest economy in the world, Mukherjee said the country should strive for "sustainable development" by focusing on the concept of "Triple bottom line".
"Despite our country's economic progress, India is constantly going downwards in the happiness index. It has dropped down to 133rd place in 2018. This indicates a lack of holistic approach towards development.
"The quest of happiness is closely tied to the quest for sustainable development which is a combination of social inclusion and environmental sustainability," Mukherjee said while speaking at a seminar on People, Planet and Profit organised by the Indian Chamber Of Commerce.
"A narrow vision focus on economic development may have given us a better GDP and increase in per capita income but moved our focus from environmental sustainability, social welfare, emotional and mental wellbeing of our people. These are the primary reasons of our ranking in the world happiness index year after year."
The veteran politician said in scenarios as this the concept of 'triple bottom line' - an accounting framework that puts equal focus on social, environmental and financial development - becomes important.
Mukherjee pointed out while India has managed to bypass France with substantial figures in terms of its value of economy, it must be remembered that the current progress was not achieved in the last couple of years.
He said the country has shown steady improvement in GDP, national per capita income, life expectancy, literacy and food production while managing to bring down the poverty ratio significantly over the past 70 years.
"The recent World Bank report has placed India above France in terms of the value of economy in US dollar terms. But obviously it did not happen in the last couple of years or even in a couple of decades. IT has happened over seven decades," he added.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
