J&K's Kupwara least improved; 9 Bihar districts among bottom 20: NITI Aayog
New Delhi, June 29: Among the 108 most backward districts across the country, Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara has shown the least improvement while Gujarat's Dahod has shown the most, the NITI Aayog said on Friday.
Releasing the first "delta ranking" of the most backward districts in the country -- which the NITI Aayog has dubbed as aspirational districts -- the government's premier think-tank said the purpose of the ranking is to spur a sense of competition among them.
The 20 bottom ranked districts include nine districts from Bihar, five from Jharkhand and three from Odisha.
Apart from Kupwara, Bihar's Begusarai, and Jharkhand's Ranchi and Simdega have fared the worst improvement being ranked at the bottom.
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant had last year said that districts in a few eastern India states were holding India back and there was a need to "name and shame them".
He had then said there was a need to create a baseline survey and monitor these states and districts on a regular basis and put it all in the public domain.
"We need to name and shame these states and districts. We must bring it out that these are the states which are holding India back," he had said.
Districts which have fared well in the rankings include Gujarat's Dahod, West Sikkim and Tamil Nadu's Ramanathapuram ranked first, second and third respectively.
"Asifabad district of Telangana, which was ranked 100 in baseline ranking released in March this year, has made significant improvements in the past two months and stood at 15 in delta ranking," Kant said on Friday.
"Dahod district of Gujarat improved 19.8 points to rank first in the delta ranking (it was ranked 17 in baseline ranking)," he said.
West Sikkim district stood second with 18.9 points, a huge improvement from being in the 30th position in baseline ranking.
"Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh also made significant strides by improving 14.7 points and ranked sixth in delta ranking from 45th position in baseline ranking," Kant said.
The ranking was based on self-reported data of districts in April and May across five developmental areas of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion and skill development, and basic infrastructure.
The next ranking will take into account inputs from the NITI Aayog's knowledge partners - Tata Trusts, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (ID Insights).
"Since these districts face many challenges including legacy, unexploited or weak resource base, deficit of manpower at different levels due to difficult living conditions etc, the ranking is also a tool to identify sectors and indicator specific challenges so that Team India, which is driving this programme, can take immediate corrective measures," Kant said.
A NITI Aayog statement said that this delta ranking takes a step further and looks into specific aspects of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and analyses how districts have performed in last two months across important sectors.
"This grouping and positioning would aid the District Magistrates and Collectors to focus more on these sectors and improve their ranking in future," it said.
Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year, the 'Transformation of Aspirational Districts' programme aims to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts of the country.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
