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The Hindu:Securing the pace of India-Pakistan talks
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s touchdown( उतरना) in Islamabad
marks a decisive(सोचा समझा) moment in the Narendra Modi government’s Pakistan policy. While
she is in Islamabad ostensibly(प्रकट रूप से) for a
conference on Pakistan,
it is clear from the flurry( हलचल ) of meetings that bilateral
engagement is back on track. After 18 months of starts and stops, New Delhi has
taken a considered position to re-engage with its most difficult relationship
in the neighbourhood, a decision that must be lauded( प्रशंसा करना). It is also
clear that some lessons have been learnt from the past.
First, the meetings have been held without hype(प्रचार करना) or
announcement, with expectations being kept low. Second, after the Paris
meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
as well as the Bangkok meeting between the National Security Advisors and
Foreign Secretaries of both countries, the joint messaging in Islamabad and
Delhi has been kept unified and simple. Finally, both sides have managed well
the opposition within their own flanks over(एक किनारे खड़ा किया जाना) the reasons
for the re-engagement; very few discordant(प्रतिकूल) voices have
been heard from the military establishment in Rawalpindi or the BJP’s
headquarters and the party’s Sangh Parivar allies, the kind that marked
previous engagements.
It is to be hoped that all talks from this point onwards will
follow the same path, building from one meeting to the next, until they produce
concrete results. A start would be the announcement of a structured set of
meetings to be held on a regular basis between officials at different levels
that will protect the process from disruptions(विघ्न , खलल ). Next, it is important that the
confidence-building measures already agreed to, on trade and visa liberalisation,
are implemented at the earliest. Finally, the way forward on Jammu and Kashmir
and terrorism, the two lasting issues between India and Pakistan, must be
charted out. This is by no means the first government to attempt to do all of
this. Others, including some with more experience, tried and failed.
The Modi government would therefore be well-advised to strike a
different path and be more forthcoming(आगामी), in public, on
just why they are meeting and what they hope to achieve. Despite his famous
speech on “breakfast in Amritsar, lunch in Lahore and dinner in Kabul”, former
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh didn’t articulate(सुस्पष्ट) just where his
talks with the Pakistan government on Kashmir had led, until it was too late to
shape public opinion about them.
Mr. Modi must explain his vision for peace with Pakistan and
what has spurred( उकसाना) this new round of negotiations,
especially since none of the conditions for talks that he and his Cabinet
Ministers had spoken of over the past few months has been met. In Pakistan, the
way forward should be even clearer: end support to all terror groups,
especially those who seek violence against India. While it is hardly possible
to put behind the decades of bad blood between the two countries any time soon,
it is possible to pause, and to envisage( संभावना का ध्यान करना) a new chapter
in relations.
The Hindu
Amber( त्रिणमणि)
signal on Delhi pollution
The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has announced a slew(झटके से घूमना) of measures to
address the very poor air quality and pollution in the nation’s capital. It is,
in principle, a largely welcome move that could push the needle for
anti-pollution measures to be adopted by other Indian cities as well. These are
possibly the most significant steps taken after the introduction of Compressed
Natural Gas-powered vehicles in the city that are widely accepted as having
helped reduce pollution. (However, it is debatable if they will together have
the kind of effect the CNG shift had.)
The benefits of this emphasis(ज़ोर) by the
government on regulations to address the city’s alarming air pollution levels
will depend on the manner of implementation as well as other concomitant(संलग्न) actions. The
announced measures include the closing down of two thermal power plants,
pushing the entry time of trucks into the city late into the night, the
advancing of the cut-off date for Euro-VI emission(उत्सर्जन) norms, among
others.
But the proposal(प्रस्ताव प्रस्ताव ) that has predictably received
the most attention is the one on regulating private vehicle use by means of
licence plate restrictions. These curbs(नियंत्रण रखना), that are to
be implemented temporarily from January 1, 2016, will allow private
four-wheelers and two-wheelers access to Delhi’s roads only on alternate dates
based on even/odd licence plate numbers. Cities such as Bogota, Beijing, Mexico
City and Paris have implemented such restrictions in the past, amongst other
reforms to decongest(सर्दी खाँसी की दवा) vehicle traffic and to reduce air pollution through expanding
public transport and zoning certain areas as “low emissions only”.
Licence plate restrictions by themselves are somewhat(कुछ-कुछ) problematic:
all private vehicles are treated equally, irrespective(का विचार किए बिना) of their
purpose and the fuel they use. To mitigate(कम करना) this, the
Delhi government has relaxed the restrictions in the case of emergency use.
Other exceptions such as car-pooling by multiple commuters(नियमित आने-जाने वाला) should have
also been considered. The larger point is that, without a concomitant(संलग्न) expansion and
improvement in public transport, the introduction of licence plate restrictions
could only have a limiting effect.
The state of public transport in Delhi is relatively better than
in most metropolitan cities in the country, with the capital enjoying a
privileged(गौरवान्वित) position in the fiscal scheme of things. But despite
that, the public transport system is still not fully equipped to handle the
consequent(परिणाम ) increase in the number of
commuters that could possibly occur due to the restrictions in place. Easing(मुक्ति) and expanding
public transport must be the Delhi government’s priority.
The government had recently discontinued(बंद) the Bus Rapid
Transit System — instead of addressing its design problems and furthering its
intended(भावी) purpose of decongesting routes for public transport and
enticing(मोहक) private vehicle users to shift. The licensing regulations must
be part of a package of well-sequenced and thought-out steps if they are to be
more than a traffic decongestion measure.
Business Standard
A job for NDMA
As the flood waters recede( पीछे जाना) in Chennai,
India's fourth-largest metropolis slowly limps(कठिनाई से आगे बढ पाना) back to normalcy.
The floods, which followed an unprecedented(अद्वितीय) cloudburst,
took at least 280 lives and caused colossal(विराट) damage. While
the relief efforts featured sensible coordination between local authorities and
the army, genuine questions must now be asked about whether the institutional protection
against such disasters(आकस्मिक दुर्घटना) in India is strong enough. As man-made global warming
intensifies, it is likely that weird(भाग्य ) weather events
will get more frequent. It is necessary that India's pattern(स्वरूप () of development
- especially in sensitive areas like deltas and in the high mountains where
landslides( जमीन के एक बड़े टुकड़े का पहाड़ पर से फिसल जाना) can occur -
should respond to this change. However, it is far from certain if there is even
capacity within the government to deal with the changing scenario(दृश्य योजना).
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which was set
up in 2005, has not distinguished(विख्यात) itself in
various disasters so far. In many ways, the first response to any disaster is
run by the states, and the NDMA's most important role at the moment is to
ensure(निश्चित कर लेना) that state disaster management agencies are equipped with
know-how(तकनीकी जानकारी) and expertise, and that they can coordinate with each
other. However, there has been so far an understandable focus on efforts to
mitigate the effects of natural disasters, and on relief after such events. It
is clear from occurrences like these floods - and from the floods(बाढ़) and landslides
in Uttarakhand two years ago - that it is also important to have a constituency(चुनाव-क्षेत्र) within the
government coherently(संगतिपूर्वक) arguing for development plans that take into account
the susceptibility( अतिसंवेदनशीलता ) of any region
to disasters.
For example, many cities have over-built on flood plains. This
was a factor in the Chennai rains and also in the Uttarakhand disaster;
however, in the latter case, it has been reported that the same mistakes have
been made again in the rebuilding process. Other warnings could and should be
issued. For example, it has been observed worldwide that some crops, such as
maize, cause the soil to lose its ability to retain water and thus help cause
the run-offs that lead to floods. Trees along riverbanks are crucial( अत्यंत महत्वपूर्ण), too: research
shows that water sinks into the earth around trees 67 times more than into soil
on which grass or weeds have been planted. Dredging( तलकर्षण) of rivers can
squeeze more water into the channel - but cannot prevent floods, which require
the flood-plain intact( अक्षत).
These various lessons from experience elsewhere and in India
need to be collated(मिलान करना) and acted upon. Various scenarios dealing with conceivable(कल्पनीय) natural
disasters should be scientifically outlined( सीमांकित), and their
impact in the case of various different development possibilities examined. One
location in the government for such thinking could be the ministry of
environment and forests, but its mandate is to protect the environment and not
to discuss how natural disasters are created or their effects minimised.
Ideally, the thinking on this subject should be conducted( संचालित) by the NDMA,
and what is learned must be passed on to state authorities - and thence( तदनंतर) into the
development planning process. Without an advocate for disaster prevention in
the government, unregulated and unplanned building and development will
continue to put lives, livelihoods and habitations(निवास स्थान ) at risk
.
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