• At inaugural edition of DigiTech Conclave 2019 of The Times Group after launching ET Government portal, in New Delhi

Key words from Address:

• Launch of ET Government Portal
• Quoting to a recent study conducted by McKinsey Global Institute, the Vice President said that India was the second fastest digitizing economy after Indonesia.
• Ease of living
• Happiness quotient

Ease of Living Index 2018:

• Launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
• Aim- to help cities assess their livability vis-a-vis global and national benchmarks and encourage them to move towards ‘outcome-based’ approach to urban planning and management
• Andhra Pradesh has topped the charts among States Andhra Pradesh has topped the charts among States.
• First ever ‘Ease of Living Index’ covering 111 Indian cities on 13 August, 2018,
• AP, ODISHA & Madhya Pradesh Bag award of Three Best Performing States In “Ease of Living Index”
• Ease of Living Index is A Transformative Initiative of The Ministry to Help Cities Assess their Liveability Vis-À-Vis National & Global Benchmarks.
• The ‘Ease of Living’ Index seeks to assist cities in undertaking a 360-degree assessment of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats”,
• linkage with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 8 goals are directly linked to India’s ease of living assessment framework with SDG 11”

Ease of Living Parameters include

• 1. Institutional (Governance),
• 2. Social (Identity, Education, Health, Security),
• 3. Economic (Economy, Employment) and Physical factors (Waste Water and solid waste management, pollution, housing/ inclusiveness, mixed land use, power and water supply, transport, public Institutional and social parameters carry 25 points each, physical factors have weightage of 45 points and economic factors 5 points totalling to 100.

Happiness quotient:

• World Happiness Report 2019 India figures at 140th place, seven spots down from last year. World Happiness Report is released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations by the UN General Assembly