Why a bridge in Bangladesh is making waves
For India, the inauguration of the new structure on the Padma river means giving real shape to the Asian Highway towards the East. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had tears in her eyes as she stood up to inaugurate the multi-level road-rail bridge over Padma river on an overcast, humid morning of June 25. She has reasons to be emotional, and India to be relieved, since what was once decried as a ‘white elephant’ being pushed by an “India-loving regime” is finally operational. We are nowhere close to Sri Lanka. Our projects are not ‘white elephants’. We collected Rs 2 crore in toll over the Padma river in the first five to seven days. Projects have to be taken up in a prudent manner. Some may be of interest to China but we have to be circumspect. It is a constant challenge to balance relations in a very jittery world where friends get easily upset. Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary. She has reasons to be emotional, and India to be relieved, since what was once decried as a ‘white elephant’ being pushed by an “India-loving regime” is finally operational. A bridge over a river ought not to be a big deal. But Padma is not an ordinary river. Simply put, at the spot where the bridge has been built, it is the Ganga (called Padma in Bangladesh) plus the Brahmaputra (Jamuna). Leaving aside over 4 km of approaches, the bridge proper stretches up to the horizon along with the Padma. While the double-layer steel truss bridge has a four-lane highway on its upper level, on the lower level runs a single-track railway line. After Hasina came to power for the second time in 2009, surviving an assassination attempt and a medically debilitating spell of detention, Dhaka abandoned the previous regime’s policy of blocking meaningful trade with India and harbouring almost the entire leadership of several terror organisations such as the United Liberation Front of Assam. It helped that the UPA Government had dropped the reciprocal hostility that had marked the previous NDA government’s approach.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.