26 JUNE 2015: Govt to speed up BCIM project

Ø  China and India are adding fresh momentum to the establishment of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor, which is expected to develop gradually before more ambitious goals are achieved. Chinese officials acknowledge that unlike in the past, when it was perceived to be dragging its feet, India is now showing enthusiasm over the project, which will link Kolkata with Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, passing through Myanmar and Bangladesh, with Mandalay and Dhaka among the focal points. The focus on linking provinces and States — in this case, Yunnan and West Bengal — seems to have given a new impulse to galvanising the plan. In Kunming, the leafy International Regional Cooperation Office of Yunnan is at the centre of the plans to develop the corridor. In a free-wheeling conversation, its Deputy Director-General Jin Cheng said. The main artery of the 2,800-km, K (Kolkata)-2-K (Kunming) corridor is nearly ready. A stretch of less than 200 km, from Kalewa to Monywa in Myanmar, needs to be upgraded as an all-weather road. India is upgrading the second segment between Silchar in Assam and Imphal in Manipur.

Ø  From the West Bengal capital, the corridor will head towards Benapole, a border crossing town in Bangladesh. After passing through Dhaka and Sylhet, it will re-enter the Indian territory near Silchar in Assam. The rest of the passage will be connected with Imphal and then pass through the India-built Tamu-Kalewa friendship road in Myanmar. Mandalay will be the next focal point of the corridor before the road enters Yunnan, after crossing Lashio and Muse in Myanmar. The Chinese stretch extends from Ruili before reaching Kunming through Longling and Dali.

Ø  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message to popularise ancient Indian medicine practices has found resonance with Rashtrapati Bhavan. On July 25, President Pranab Mukherjee will begin his fourth year in office with the inauguration of an AYUSH wellness centre that will be run from a heritage building in the President’s Estate. Being set up in collaboration with the Ministry of AYUSH, the wellness centre will offer elaborate and therapeutic services, including mud baths and oil massages, physiotherapy and yoga to de-stress the mind and body. The services at the centre, being housed in an old circular building which is currently being renovated, will be offered to residents of the sprawling President’s Estate, said Omita Paul, Secretary to the President. While the President is fond of taking long walks in the immaculately laid out Mughal Gardens, his predecessor APJ Abdul Kalam had introduced a herbal garden. Mr. Mukherjee’s fourth year in office will also include a host of functions such as the biggest-ever conference of 114 institutions of higher learning. The President is Visitor to these institutions and has in the past hosted annual conferences of Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities and started in-residence programmes for artists, students, writers, teachers and grassroots entrepreneurs. A conference of Indologists in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is also in the works.