15-12-2014: MONDAY THE REVIEW OF THE INDIAN PRESS Indian dailies commented in editorial on plan of regular passenger bus services to Dhaka from Guwahati in Assam which is further evidence of improved ties between the two neighbouring countries. Delhi believe that the north east could be transformed into an economic corridor connecting India, and Bangladesh, impacting not only India but the entire sub region, and would pave the way for the integration of India’s north east with the world economy. Such cooperation between the two countries is a message for the entire SAARC region. Papers also discussed greenhouse gas emission cuts agreement at Lima in Peru. THE STATESMAN in its editorial heading RIDE TO DHAKA writes that Guwahati-Dhaka passenger bus service will soon be possible for a Bangladesh-bound bus passenger, metaphorically to have breakfast at Guwahati, lunch at Sylhet and dinner at Dhaka. The claims by Assam and Meghalaya that the services originate from their capitals seem to have been amicably settled. For a long time the Assam had expressed a desire to have regular bus services to Dhaka. The bus will cover the 500 kilometer, 200 km in Indian Territory in 12 hours and will pass through Shillong, Dawki-Tamabil border, Sylhet and finally reach Dhaka. The passengers will have to shift to a Bangladesh bus at the border. Regular bus services between Kolkata and Dhaka started as early as 1999, and between Agartala and Dhaka in 2002. India needs to improve its road conditions. Traffic in Meghalaya is said to have gone awry. There had been several cases of Shillong passengers missing flights from Guwahati because of heavy congestion. Landlocked Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura have welcomed Dhaka’s gesture of allowing India to transport goods through its territory, though a temporary arrangement. During his visit to India last year Chinese premier Li Kegiang emphasised the importance of a neighbour when he said, quoting a Chinese proverb, that “a distant relative may not be as useful as a near neighbour”. THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS in its editorial heading LITTLE FROM LIMA writes that at Lima, in Peru, 196 countries have been trying to come up with an agreement on greenhouse gas emission cuts. The clear indication is, though, even if such an agreement is reached, the cuts prescribed would still be a long way off from the scale needed to stave off global warming. The wrangling between developed, developing and under-developed nations—the latter would need to pare down growth, largely fed by fossil-fuel-based power, for the cuts to come into effect—also threatens to derail any progress that is hoped for. At the core of the proposed climate accord are detailed domestic policy plans to cut hydrocarbon-based emission to be put up by each country in the next six months. These plans are to be then ratified by the UN by December next and implemented by 2020. Given two of the worst emitters, the US and China, have already announced ambitious emission reduction targets, it is for the rest of the world, including India, to show some commitment to cuts by announcing individual targets, even non-binding ones, and work towards their realisation. By placing the onus on every country to act, the new accord departs from the earlier ones, like the Kyoto Protocol which had been scuttled with the US refusing to ratify it because it was perceived as fixing the responsibility to act on climate change solely on developed countries. But it is the fact that the run-up to the new accord will encourage aggressive international monitoring a verification of each country’s cut policy that has pushed the Lima talks to the brink of failure. In sum, the talks at Lima, despite starting with a template that was likely to find wider acceptance than its predecessors, are headed towards ending with a whimper. ______________________
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 09:43:40 +0000
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