Dubai(PTI): India batting mainstay Virat Kohli on Wednesday moved up two places to reach the seventh position in ICC rankings for batters, after hitting a terrific 85 in his team's six-wicket win over Australia in the World Cup in Chennai.

Kohli walked out to bat with India placed in a precarious 2 for 2 which soon became 5 for 3 but he lifted his side with a gritty knock that thwarted Australia's progress while adding a match-winning 165 for the fourth wicket with KL Rahul.

Rahul, who struck 97 not out against Australia, moved up 15 positions to reach the 19th spot while World Cup history's fastest century-maker, South Africa's Aiden Markram reached 21st, as he moved up 11 positions.

The ICC issued the release on Wednesday which did not take into account Kohli's unbeaten 55 against Afghanistan, as India recorded their second straight win by 8 wickets and 15 overs to spare.

"Ten centuries across the opening eight matches at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 have shaken up the top end of the ICC Men's ODI Batting Rankings," the ICC said on its website.

Among other Indians, Mohammed Siraj slipped to the second spot having shared the top with Australia's Josh Hazlewood for a while. Siraj lost five points after the game against Australia.

India spinner Kuldeep Yadav moved up three positions to reach eighth but all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja remained outside the top-40 list of bowlers despite his three-wicket haul in Chennai.

At the same time, Quinton de Kock's 84-ball 100 against Sri Lanka in World Cup clash at New Delhi saw the South African move up one spot to reach the sixth position.

England's Dawid Malan, who struck a terrific 140 against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, moved up as many as seven spots to reach the eighth in the rankings, while Pakistan's Imam Ul Haq dropped three positions and was placed ninth.

The ICC rankings had New Zealand's Trent Boult moving up two spots to third and Matt Henry rising four spots to reach the fifth position inside the top 10.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.

Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.

He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.

"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.

The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.

Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.

Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.

Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.

He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.

Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".

The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.

In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.

He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.

Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.

He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.

"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.

The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.

Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.

In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.

He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).

States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.

The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.

In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.

The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.

It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.

The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.

Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.

It has been organised annually over the past four years.

The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.