‘Southern silk road’ linking China and India seen as key to boosting ties
October 23, 2013
Ancient trade route between India and China seen offering huge economic potential but New Delhi worries over security implications
An ancient trade route where old suspicions intersect opportunities for trade and exchange between Asia’s two giants will be in focus during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Beijing trip, with China wanting India to fast-track an ambitious regional project.
Beijing is keen to develop a Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor along the “southern silk route” that extends from Yunnan to India. The route, dating back to second century BC, would shorten travel time, cut transport costs, provide landlocked Yunnan province with access to the Bay of Bengal, open up markets and create production bases along the way.
The plan for the BCIM corridor is also at the centre of Premier Li Keqiang’s offer of a “handshake across the Himalayas”. It was during Li’s visit to India this year that the corridor first found mention in official statements, even though it was mooted more than a decade ago.
India, on the other hand, is fearful of the security implications of allowing China direct access to its border states and being overrun by China’s more developed economy. But several Indian experts see in the BCIM plan the promise of economic salvation for the country’s impoverished northeastern states and are urging the government to seize the opportunity.
“As Yunnan is the most advanced in the cluster, India fears that it will become BCIM’s economic centre, with the rest of the region reduced to its periphery,” says Binoda Kumar Mishra, the director of India’s Centre for Studies in International Relations and Development.
Mishra is also the secretary-general of the Kolkata to Kunming (K2K) Forum, one of the organisations behind the first K2K car rally, which crossed the route that makes up the heart of the proposed BCIM corridor.
Land connections – through the central Asian silk route and the Yunnan-India southern silk route – were what drove trade between ancient India and China. In second century BC, Zhang Qian, a Han-dynasty envoy to central Asia, reported that goods from Sichuan and other southwestern regions of the empire were reaching Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) through India. By the seventh century, the route had become a bustling channel for trade and migration.
According to Tansen Sen, the author of Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, there was robust activity along the route during the first half of the 20th century. “Chinese merchants dealing in tea and horses connected southwestern China, Tibet, east and northeast India,” Sen says.
During the second world war, the land route was re-established from Kunming to Ledo in India’s Assam state through the Stilwell Road to support Chinese and allied soldiers fighting the Japanese. It is the shortest land route between northeast India and southwest China.
China was keen to reopen that road, but as the Indian Army was wary it might give China a tactical advantage in case of conflict, China has turned its attention to an alternative – a longer route that runs from Kunming to Imphal in northeast India through Ruili in Yunnan and Mandalay in Myanmar. But even that has failed to allay the fears of Indian strategic analysts, who point to China’s involvement with rebel groups in India’s northeast in the past.
“A BCIM road would give China an opportunity to influence insurgencies in the region. China did this until 1986,” says R. Hariharan, a retired colonel at the Chennai Centre for China Studies, even as he acknowledges the corridor’s economic potential.
The idea of BCIM is to first put in place a highway system along the land route and then turn it into an economic corridor with trading entrepots, tourism infrastructure and manufacturing hubs, possibly hosting production lines displaced from China and creating jobs along the corridor. But the sheer logistics of the 1.65 million square kilometre corridor, encompassing an estimated 440 million people, worry Ravi Bhoothalingam, who is on the Indian government’s panel on BCIM.
“The area is huge, ecologically complex, ethnically diverse and needs the co-operation of multiple administrations,” he says. “All these issues need to be studied.”
To some, like Subir Bhaumik, the author of Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India’s Northeast, that sounds like foot-dragging and “classic Indian insecurity”. Bhaumik, who says a strong defence and commerce ministry lobby in India is blocking BCIM, turns the logic of security concerns on its head.
“The corridor would give China a stake in the Indian economy and hence give it more incentive to maintain peace on the border,” he argues.
India must move on and open up these trade routes, says Sen, who sees in BCIM a chance to revive the commercial bustle of yore.
India, Myanmar, Thailand trilateral highway may start soon
October 23, 2013
By PTI |
“We are presently working with the governments of Myanmar and Thailand to develop the trilateral highway which hopefully will be completed soon,” Sharma said here at a CII function.
The idea of the highway – from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand, via Myanmar – was conceived at the trilateral ministerial meeting on transport linkages in Yangon in April 2002. It represents a significant step in establishing connectivity between India and South East Asian countries.
Myanmar is source of one-third of India’s imports in pulses and one-fifth in timber.
Emphasising on the need to enhance road, air and sea connectivity, Sharma said that India is also working to develop the Kaladan multi-modal transport corridor which comprises waterway and roadway.
Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe port in Myanmar by sea; it will then link Sittwe to Mizoram via river and road transport.
Sharma said the project and the transport corridor will connect these countries (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Mayanmar) with the North-Eastern part of India.
The government is also looking at connecting India and Myanmar through a sea link, he added.
He said: “Connectivity by air, road and sea in important. We have entire north east India which is progressing but still lagging behind the rest of the country because of geography, constraints of infrastructure.”
Sharma was speaking at the CII’s Business Conclave of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Mayanmar.
Further, the minister said that trade between India and the four South East Asian nations is “well below potential”. The two-way commerce between India and these nations stood at USD 8.5 billion in 2012-13.
“We need to do more. We have to look at not only increasing economic relation but deepening and diversifying the priority sectors which hold potential like IT, agri, healthcare, oil and gas and textile,” he said.
Speaking on the occasion, representatives of these four countries sought investments from India in sectors like IT, infrastructure, energy, power and agro processing.
“We have opened our doors for India. We welcome you,” Cambodian Secretary of State, Ministry of Planning, Hou Taing Eng said.
India main exports to these countries include pharma, machinery, vehicles, plastics and cotton while imports are pulses, rubber, wood, mineral oil and spices.
NHAI board rejects plan to suspend tolling on Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch
October 23, 2013
Dipak Kumar Dash, TNN |
The NHAI board, which has members from three different departments and ministries, felt suspension of toll collection would kill the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for road construction and would also go against “contract conditions”.
The board met on Tuesday to decide on several items relating to highway projects including this case. “NHAI had put the toll suspension proposal to bring relief to commuters during delayed construction phase. But the decision had to be taken by the board. Now the authority will serve notice to the private contractor and if fails to meet the targets, NHAI can take over the project,” said a government official.
In that case, the project will come back to NHAI and it will have the tolling right. Sources said this provision is clearly mentioned in the concession agreement and it should be “implemented”. The authority in its original proposal had pitched for toll suspension citing that even if NHAI charges toll, there will be no relief to road users.
“Since there is huge investment of banks and financial institutions, suspending toll collection will have severe implications on the sector as a whole. After taking over the project, NHAI can pay back the loan,” an official said. He added that NHAI will take up regular maintenance and full development of the project.
Those who favoured this decision felt NHAI could push the pace of construction by putting a large portion of the total toll collection in project work. At present, NHAI gets 52% share of the toll collected. Officials said to pump more funds for faster construction, NHAI can defer taking this revenue share.
Although Tuesday’s decision comes as a blow to commuters using this stretch, in case of future six-laning projects, tolling will be suspended in case developers fail to meet the deadline. This decision was taken recently by the Cabinet.
Mangalore lawyer slaps notice for bad upkeep of national highway
October 21, 2013
TNN
MANGALORE: Travelling on bad roads and most of us would probably mutter and curse the authorities concerned under our breaths. But not S S Khazi, city-based advocate and a permanent resident of Someshwar-Uchil, who promptly served notices on them and also sought damages for the agony that he is forced to undergo for being forced to travel on such roads. The road in question is the Talapady-Pumpwell stretch of National Highway 66.His daily travel from Someshwar to the city, some 15-km away where his office is located, proved to be an excruciating experience for this advocate. His grouse is the fact that the bad condition of the road is the failure on part of the National Highways Authority of India, ministry of road transport and highways and Navayuga Udupi Tollway Pvt Ltd that is carrying out four-laning of this stretch to ensure optimal upkeep of the road during construction.
Khazi pointed out that since the last three years, maintenance and repair work on the NH is almost non-existent and even the repair work carried out is shoddy at most places.
The work on four-laning that started in 2010 is crawling, Khazi said, adding that the “repairs” carried out has resulted in more bouncy and dangerous surface. The condition of the road has also prevented him from using the car, Khazi said, pointing out to the difficulty that emergency and public transport vehicles face in traversing this stretch.
Taking umbrage to assurance given by NHAI official that the people can experience beautiful four-lane road in next six to eight months, Khazi said the immediate concern is non-maintenace of the old road. Demanding that all concerned make the highway motorable, Khazi sought a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for failing their legal duty or risk further civil and criminal proceedings. He also sought Rs 5,000 as cost of the legal notice.
Muncicipal corporation to begin road repairs next week
October 21, 2013
TNN
KOLKATA: After an aborted attempt to repair the city’s roads before the Pujas, the civic body is gearing up to take up the job next week.
Earlier, mayor Sovan Chatterjee had asked the Kolkata Muncicipal Corporation (KMC) roads department officials to undertake the repair drive by September 29. The deadline was set after consultation with urban development minister Firhad Hakim. Though the work had started on a war footing after both the mayor and the minister surveyed the worst stretches, the repairs could not be completed due to frequent rain before the Pujas.
“First, we will take up the Anwar Shah Road connector. Large stretches of this vital road are lying in a sorry state. We had tried to repair some of these before the Pujas. But those were merely patchworks. Now we will concentrate on thorough repairs. We have also decided to lay parts of the road with mastic asphalt,” said a KMC roads department official.
After completion of the Anwar Shah Road connector, the civic body will take up the Rashbehari Avenue connector, the official said. “We have to spend around Rs 5crore in the first phase of repair of these two major connectors,” the civic official said.
However, the drive won’t include Diamond Harbour Road, sources in the KMC roads department said on Saturday. “Diamond Harbour Road belongs to state PWD. They have a separate plan for its repair,” said Susanta Ghosh, the MMiC overseeing the KMC roads department.
A PWD official said only patchwork will be done on some stretches of DH Road. “At this point, we can’t undertake thorough repair of the road as the Metro extension work is on and the contractors need to dig the road further,” the PWD official said.
The KMC, however, has plans to repair other roads, too. “We plan to repair Seven Tanks Lane and Bowbazar Street. We had tried to do some patchwork on these roads before the festive season. We also plan to repair Amherst Street, JL Nehru Road, Deshapran Sashmal Road and Anwar Shah Road, among others,” said a KMC roads department official.
These apart, the civic body will also take up repair of roads along tram tracks like Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Road, Nirmal Chandra Street and Rabindra Sarani, among others.
Arunachal Pradesh pursuing tri-nation highway with Centre
October 21, 2013
PTI
TAWANG: A proposed highway through the historic Stillwell road connecting Arunchal Pradesh with South East Asian countries is being pursued with the Centre, Chief MinisterNabam Tuki said today.
Speaking at the inaugural function of the second edition of three-day International Tourism Mart, the Chief Minister said the highway will herald growth of international trade and tourism and be a harbinger of bilateral relations among the nations of South East Asia and North East India.
This in turn would serve to end the insurgency menace, mushrooming of youth organisations and avoidable crimes in the region for lack of socio-economic development, he said.
Air services to the land-locked state would improve considerably with the operationalisation of seven airfields being upgraded by the Indian Air Force at Ziro, Tezu, Pasighat, Mechuka, Anini, Wallong and Tuting, he said.
He pointed out that the Gopinath Bordoloi Airport at Guwahati has been made an international airport to air-link most South East Asian countries to give an impetus to the tourism industry.
Besides this, the Harmuti-Itanagar railway line is nearing completion while construction of a greenfield airport at Itanagar would be started soon to improve air connective, he said.
Organised by the Union Ministry of Tourism with the Northeastern states, the international mart would highlight the tourism potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
Stating that the Northeast has been referred to as ‘the Paradise Unexplored’, the chief minister said “Northeast India has a lot to offer to any tourist visiting this part of the country.”
“You came as strangers, but must leave as friends and forge a lasting partnership with the representatives of the travel industry of Northeast India in generating good business for the region,” the CM said in an appeal to delegates.
He said promotion of tourism sector was top most priority for his state government as it could generate massive self employment avenues while enriching the state exchequer.
Source-http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
Thumbs up from commuters, toll collection on
October 21, 2013
KOLHAPUR: Though some commuters responded to the appeal fromthe Kolhapur Anti-Toll Committee (KATC) at Phulewadi toll plaza and refused to pay the tax to the IRB Company, the majority chose to pay the levy at other eight plazas while entering the city.The KATC on Friday evening changed its agenda and called for civil disobedience to avoid the arrests of its activists. The KATC decided to put up boards at 200 metres from all the nine toll collection plazas appealing to the commuters not to pay toll.
The first of those banners came up on Saturday evening about 100 metres from the Phulewadi toll booth as per the directions from the district police. The banner reads ‘The vehicle owners should refuse to pay the toll and if the collectors force to pay the toll then the vehicle owners should contact the police officials.’
Vasant Deshmane from the Karvir taluka had a smile on his face after he refused to pay the toll at Phulewadi toll plaza. “We are not going to pay the toll for the dirty roads. The city has been turned into a prison by setting up the toll plazas at all the major entrances,” he said.
Like Deshmane, many vehicle owners entering the city were cheered when they registered their protest democratically by not paying the toll. The scene at the toll plaza was dramatic as vehicles owners joined the chorus of “We are not going to pay the toll” after one commuter raised the slogan. The toll collectors also did not force the people to pay the toll.
KATC members said that similar banners will be raised at every toll plaza on Sunday. The leaders of the anti-toll committee were quite enthused with the response their agitation received on Saturday.
“We are protesting democratically. It was believed that the anti-toll movement failed after the toll collection started. However, our message has reached people and they are participating in the movement by refusing to pay the toll,” Nivas Salokhe, KATC convenor, said.
Salokhe further said, “The Bombay high court has given the directives to provide police protection to the toll booths and not for toll collection. However, the IRB Company has started the toll collection despite any orders from the HC. We are going to raise such banners in all parts of the city so that our movement against the toll will bear result without hampering the law and order situation.”
Chandradip Narke, Shivsena MLA from Karvir taluka, appealed to the people to refuse payment of the toll. “The people have participated in the movement by refusing the toll. The police can step up the security at any time but cannot force the people to pay the toll,” said Narke.
Rs 40cr allotted for village roads in district
October 21, 2013
TNN
PUNE: The quality of roads in rural parts of the district should improve with a fresh allocation of Rs 40 crore to undertake construction of roads up to 89 km under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). The work on 16 roads is expected to begin soon.
According to officials, the roads will connect small villages to bigger or prominent roads. The allocation of funds would help increase road network, especially in hilly areas, the officials added.
The Union government has sanctioned works worth Rs 354 crore for the state, which includes 105 road works and 29 bridges. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had submitted a proposal to increase the state’s road network to 639 km.
Funds have been allotted to as many as 10 districts, including Pune. Nandurbar district has got the maximum allocation (Rs 92 crore), followed by Chandrapur (Rs 45 crore) and Pune (Rs 40 crore).
Pune district officials said they would submit proposals for additional funds in the next round of allotment.
PIL seeks inquiry in road development project
October 21, 2013
TNN |
KOLHAPUR: City-based social activist Subhash Vani has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court seeking a thorough inquiry into the work as part of the Kolhapur Integrated Road Development Project (KIRDP) and the land leased to the IRB Company.The high court will on Monday hear the PIL, which will be clubbed with a writ petition filed by the IRB Company seeking police protection for collection of toll. The PIL seeks an inquiry into the cost escalation of the project, which has gone up to Rs 512 crore from Rs 220 crore at the time of the agreement.Vani said, “There should be an probe into the quality of the roads and the pending work. We have also raised the issue of the policy of the build-operate-transfer (BOT) which we believe has failed across the state. Our demand is that the BOT policy should be suspended by the state government.”
He added that as per the agreement, the IRB Company will be allowed to collect toll for 30 years. The developer company may demand extension of the toll collection for a few years to recover the additional money it claims to have invested, he claimed.
Kolhapur was the first city in the state where the Maharashtra Road Development Corporation ( MSRDC) decided to experiment collection of toll on a public-private-partnership basis for an intra-city road development.
On the other hand, city-based communist leader Govind Pansare alleged that there were many flaws while drafting the project proposal and its implementation by the IRB Company. The KMC has leased out the land of about three lakh sq ft at Temblaiwadi in the city at an annual rent of Re 1 since 2009. The IRB leased out the land to a private hospitality firm, which is now constructing the luxurious hotel at the site, he said.
“The developer company has leased out the land given by Kolhapur Municipal Corporation to a hospitality company without taking the requisite permissions from the civic body. We want all these matters to be discussed in the high court and demand a CBI probe. Strict action should be taken against those found guilty,” Pansare told mediapersons.
Misbehaving of Security personnel and delay in passing
October 21, 2013
From: Balasubramanian M. Iyer
Subject: Misbehaving of Security personnel and delay in passing
Message Body:
This is in furtherance to my below mail of 24th May 2013 relating to earlier incident of 17th May 2013 whereby due to irregular arrangement at your Toll Plaza self sufferred loss which have been sorted out amicably is now past affairs.
Now within a span of 5 months another shamful incident occurred on 18.10.2013 midnight (from 2300 hrs. 2400 hrs) at your above said Toll Plaza whereby the security personnel posted by your Department; who were on DRUNKEN MODE attacked my Office colleagues without any wrong doing by us.
Gist of incident:
Around 2300 hrs. on 18.10.2013 while we are returning from our Office duty at Sikka (we are working for Reliance at their RJMT, Port) the Toll booth is closed and no attendee is there to collect cash. (FYI we are having permanent monthly paid card). As we were so tired and reaching Jamnagar by late and are planning to attend duty next day due to closing of collecting point, upon wating of 10 minutes, we alongwith other vehicles behind us tried to push the ENTRY STICK by side as nobody is attending the booth at time, some security personnels blocked our march and thrashed us which created a noisy scene which is unwarranted.
The things become more worse and Police crom City of Jamnagar have intevened over phone as at that time of incident in police post no personnel available.
This type of incident is badly affecting your brand name L&T as a whole and DUE TO NON MANAGING THE BOOTH WITH WELL EDUCATED PERSONNEL BY YOU IS the result of worst adminstration on your part.
Earlier we have suggested to your Mr. Yashsish Trivedi to allot two entry points for Heavy vehicle and 4 for medium vehicle which fallen on deaf ears of your management. It clearly shows letharginess in manning the Toll Plaza by you and similar types of incidents has been occurred in past month too and no remedial action has been taken.
Submitted please for prompt action and improvement.
Mobile: 9725281857
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