Turmoil in Bangladesh : India needs to fulfil assurances

23 01 2015

Turmoil in Bangladesh : India needs to fulfil assurances

ASHOK B SHARMA

Peace and development in India is possible, if there is peace and stability in the immediate neighbourhood.. India, being the major economy in South Asia is of course the main driver of growth in the region with its output of about 70%, but the performance of other countries in the region is the contributing factor.

Notwithstanding the continuing global slowdown, the aggregate growth in the economy of South Asia had remained steadfast after suffering an initial dip. It is expected to grow at 4.9% in 2014 as per latest UN survey and is projected to grow at 5.4%.

Let us not forget that though India is a major economy in the region, two of its immediate neighbours – Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are growing at a much faster rate. While India is slated to grow at 5 odd percentage points, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have maintained a strong growth rate of 7.8% and 6.2%.

After the recent political developments in Sri Lanka, the Sirisena government is on the job of pushing for more political and economic reforms to ensure the island country’s stability.

Comparatively, the recent happenings of a series of street protests in Bangladesh that began from January 5 leading to violence like hurling of petrol bombs, cocktails at buses and trains, uprooting railway tracks, derailing trains, attacks on other vehicles and firing at law enforcement offices have raised definite concerns. The attacks are led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Begum Khaleda Zia and Jammat-e-Islami who boycotted the January 2014 polls that brought Begum Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League to power.

In reference to the developments across its borders, India has expressed its intention not to interfere in the matter and has left it to the government and the people of Bangladesh “to determine what sort of a society they want and what are the issues that they face.” That said India wants peace, stability and democracy in Bangladesh.

But India cannot just wash off its hands and remain a mere spectator. It has to honour its longstanding commitments to Bangladesh like the Land Boundary Agreement that envisages the transfers of enclaves and lands in adverse possessions on the 4,156 km border and also sharing of Teesta waters. The Bill on Land Boundary Agreement is also cleared by the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee to be passed in both the Houses of the Parliament. There is a need to pass this Bill !

Similarly, the sharing of Teesta waters should be immediately implemented. The main opposition in the country to sharing of Teesta has come from the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who seems to have a different political agenda and vote bank politics in mind. It seems there are similar political forces working in the Indian side in West Bengal that is preventing Mamata Banerjee from going ahead with the accord on sharing of Teesta waters.

However, it is the responsibility of the central leadership of Prime Minister Narendrabhai Damodardass Modi to overcome the hurdles posed by Mamata Banerjee and go ahead on sharing of Teesta waters.

Apart from river Teesta, there are 53 common rivers between the two countries. There should be agreements between the two countries for adequate water sharing and for facilitating trans-border water transport.

Peace and stability in Bangladesh is crucial for peace and stability in the region including India. Let us not forget the recent Burdwan blast that has Bangladeshi connection. The Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri had declared to bring Indian sub-continent, including Bangladesh within the ambit of the outfit’s operation. Several home grown Bangladeshi militant outfits like Harkatul Zihad, JMBA, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Ansarullah, Taleban and Hizbut Tahrir are already active and are giving Sheikh Hasina challenging moments.

Dhaka and New Delhi took significant steps to formalise security arrangements during the visit of Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010 by inking agreements on mutual legal assistance on criminal matters, transfer of sentenced persons and on combating international terrorism, organised crime and illicit drug trafficking and also signed a coordinated border management plan. Subsequently Extradition Treaty was signed in January 2013 between the two countries. There are two joint task forces in operation, namely for combating smuggling of fake currency notes and for curbing human trafficking.

With such agreements in place the two countries are better placed to handle terrorism. India should help Bangladesh in tracing the war criminals of 1971 Liberation War if they are illegally taking shelter in the country. Bangladesh should also crackdown on insurgent elements, if they are taking shelter on its soil and operating their activities in northeast India. It should also speed up the extradition process of the insurgent Anup Chetia.

Bangladesh has adopted Vision 2001 Document to transform the country into a middle income, science and technology based society and a Digital Bangladesh. It has miles to go. Cooperation with India and it’s all round connectivity in the region including India, Nepal and Bhutan as stipulated by Sheikh Hasina is crucial. The Palatana Power Project in Tripura and export of 100 MW power to Bangladesh is an unique example of power cooperation. Also there are three border haats to facilitate land route trade, namely at Kalaichar (India)-Baliamari (Bangladesh), Balat (India)-Dolora (Bangladesh and the latest one linking Purba Madhugram in Bangladesh. The two countries can explore the possibilities of reviving old road and rail links that were in vogue in the British colonial regime. Bangladesh can explore possibilities of investing in generation of hydro-power in north-east India and subsequently its export.

Peace and stability in Bangladesh is crucial for the progress of both India and Bangladesh While the cooperation under SAARC is held up in hostage due to political differences between India and Pakistan, the prospects of sub-regional cooperation under BIMSTEC looks brighter. Here peace and stability in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand is vital. India should, therefore, play a proactive role in bailing out Sheikh Hasina by honouring its commitments.

(Ashok B Sharma is renowned Columnist writing on strategic and policy issues in many Indian and foreign newspapers and magazines. He frequently writes in The Daily Observer of Bangladesh. He can be reached at ashokbsharma@gmail.com His mobile phone no +919810902204)

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Categories : Opinion, Politics

124TH OFFSHORE SECURITY COORDINATION COMMITTEE MEETING

23 01 2015

1. The 12th meeting of the Offshore Security Co-ordination Committee (OSCC) was held at Mumbai on 23 Jan 15, under the Chairmanship of Vice Admiral AG Thapliyal, AVSM & Bar, Director General Indian Coast Guard, to review the preparedness and effectiveness of the security of India’s offshore installations.
2. Addressing the meeting, Vice Admiral AG Thapliyal, AVSM & Bar, Chairman of OSCC underlined the need for stringent offshore security measures in view of the emerging threats at sea so as to ensure India’s energy security. The Chairman highlighted the effectiveness of inter-agency coordination and attributed the successful interception of a suspicious boat by the Indian Coast Guard on the midnight of 31 Dec 14, to the seamless coordination between various agencies. As a result of this, a major infiltration bid which could have posed serious threat to national security was averted by ICG based on credible intelligence input. The Chairman also highlighted the need for preparedness in view of the threat from adrift derelict vessels especially during the monsoon season
3. The agenda of the meeting agenda comprised of various issues pertaining to offshore security, inter-agency coordination, unregulated fishing around ODAs and establishment of Safety Fairways to facilitate safe passage of shipping traffic in the vicinity of Offshore Development Areas.
4. The OSCC was constituted by the erstwhile Ministry of Petroleum, Chemicals and Fertilizers in 1978, to ensure smooth and effective functioning of offshore security arrangements. The OSCC is the apex body for reviewing and evaluating Offshore Security in India. The Committee was revamped and expanded in 2006 under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The Committee comprises of members drawn from the Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force, IB and ONGC meets every six months to examine issues related to the safety and security of offshore assets.

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Categories : Environment, Legal, Media, Transport

WEST BENGAL WILL FAVOUR SINGLE TAX-SINGLE AUTHORITY GST- DR. AMIT MITRA

23 01 2015

23rd January, 2015

West Bengal Finance Minister Dr.Amit Mitra while addressing a large gathering of trade leaders of all over the Country spelled out in clear terms that dual GST will not be acceptable to Government of West Bengal as instead of simplifying it will further complicate the taxation system and small businesses will not be able to comply with complexities and therefore a Single Tax and Single governing Authority is the only way out to simplify and rationalise the indirect tax structure. He was speaking at All India Trade & Industry Convention held yesterday at Asansol in West Bengal jointly by the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and Federation of South Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Trade Leaders of more than 18 states of the Country participated in the Convention.
Addressing the huge gathering, he said that small businesses in the Country is life line of the economy and as such greater focus must be given to this sector in terms of policy support and providing better business avenues to them. ” The small businesses comprising of entire non corporate sector is providing about 94% employment in the Country and is making more than 45% contribution to national GDP and therefore greater emphasis needs to be laid on this sector in terms of ensuring growth in Indian economy”-said Dr. Mitra.
While spelling out various actions taken by the West Bengal Government to provide relief to traders, he said that West Bengal is the first state in the Country which is having e-taxation system thereby reducing the contact between traders and officials to minimal which has also resulted into rein in the corrupt practices. There is no Check Post or Octroi in West Bengal which provides free movement of goods between the State. He also said that the West Bengal Government is opposed to FDI in Retail and assure the convention that West Bengal Government will take necessary actions to check E Commerce business in the State.
Earlier, CAIT Secretary General Mr. Praveen Khandelwal called upon the West Bengal Finance Minister to draw support policies for the non corporate sector including trading ciommunity since the issue has been included as a fundamental in preamble of recently formed NITI Aayog by the Central Government. He also said that a seprate financial system for the non corporate sector is need of the hour as Banks have failed to provide financial assistance to trading community in last 67 years post Independence which has prompted Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley to declare formation of a viable financial architecture for SMEs in his speech of Budget-2014. Considering the magnitude of contribution being given by the non corporate sector in GDP, employment, domestic manufacturing and exports, the time has come when focus of development should be shifted from Corporate to Non Corporate Sector-said Khandelwal.

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Categories : Business

23 01 2015

The Dean

Faculty of Social Sciences at South Asian University

New Delhi

 cordially invites you to the

‘Contributions to Contemporary Knowledge Lecture – 2015′
 
Gandhi as a Global Thinker:
Legacies of the Anti-Colonial Revolution
By
 
Keith Hart
Centennial Professor of Economic Anthropology
Department of International Development, London School of Economics
and
International Director
Human Economy Program, University of Pretoria, South Africa
 
Chaired by
Sugata Bose

Gardiner Professor of History

Harvard University
 
Date and Time
Thursday, 29 January 2015; 06.00 PM
 
Venue
The Multi Purpose Hall
India International Center
New Delhi

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Categories : Uncategorized

UN Women seminar

23 01 2015

UN WOMEN seminar on equity focused and gender responsive evaluation

(New Delhi, 23 January) The UN Women India Multi Country Office kicked off the International Year of Evaluation by organising a seminar on ‘Equity Focused and Gender Responsive Evaluations’ in New Delhi. Part of Evaluation Week (19-23 January), the seminar was co-organised by National Institute for Labour, Economics Research and Development (NILERD) under NITI AAYOG, the Government of India’s policy think-tank.UN Women believes that equity focused and gender responsive evaluations provide evidence in advancing gender equality and women’s rights in the planning and implementation of existing and new schemes. 2015 has been declared as the International Year of Evaluation – the aim is to advocate and promote evaluation and evidence-based policy making at the international, regional, national and local levels. The Evaluation Week and the seminar were attended by NITI AAYOG officials, representatives from UN agencies, donor organisations, experts, academicians and civil society. The inaugural session began with the handing over of the ‘Evaluation Torch’ – symbolising increasing awareness and knowledge of evaluation – by Marco Segone, Director of the Independent Evaluations Office, UN Women, to the Minister of State for Planning, Rao Inderjit Singh. Mr. Segone’s keynote address focussed on evaluations in sustainable development. “The move towards the Sustainable Development Goals makes 2015 an important year for the global development community,” he said. “India’s new government provides the evaluation community a great opportunity for moving towards effective and efficient monitoring and evaluating.” Mr. Segone also emphasised the importance of mainstreaming gender and social equity in evaluations. “We are looking at an evaluation process which not only looks at eliminating structural bottlenecks but also contributes to the empowerment process. Evaluation can be an agent of change for the world we want.” The seminar included interactive discussions on evaluating the Joint Review Mission of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, school based evaluations, gender integrated health interventions, evaluating the World Food Programme’s ‘Food for Work’ Programme, and challenges and methodologies. The seminar ended on a constructive note with an all-inclusive group discussion. For more information on the International Year of Evaluation, visit http://mymande.org/evalyear/

About UN WomenUN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their rights worldwide. For further information: Ellora Guhathakurta ellora.guhathakurta@unwomen.org