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Tired of potholes, MP residents throw party on road

Setting the mood with party music, the residents could be seen having a blast, enjoying drinks and snacks…reports Asian Lite News

In an effort to draw the attention of the authorities towards the poor condition of roads ridden with potholes, the residents in Anuppur district in Madhya Pradesh have found a unique way of protest.

In a viral video filmed to highlight the poor condition of a road connecting Anuppur with Bijuri Manendragarh, the residents of the area could be seen sitting on chairs on a big crater on the road, dipping their legs in the muddy water that has accumulated after the rains to “chill”.

To add to the ambience, they also put up some disco lights with dance music playing in the background along with beach balls to play.

Setting the mood with party music, the residents could be seen having a blast, enjoying drinks and snacks.

The video also shows saplings planted in the smaller potholes around the crater as decoration.

In a similar symbolic protest last year, the residents of Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district planted paddy on the muddy road leading up to their village in order to highlight the poor condition of the road.

Civic polls

Amid the Madhya Pradesh local body elections, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said that when Kamal Nath was the Chief Minister, he used to threaten police and administration and continues to do so.

While speaking at a public meeting in Raisen in Madhya Pradesh, Chouhan said, “Even when Kamal Nath was the CM, he used to threaten police and administration and is still threatening. They have understood that Congress has lost badly and that the defeat has to be blamed on someone or the other.”

Earlier in the day, Kamal Nath while speaking to the mediapersons in Bhopal, said that the Saffron party is using police, money and administration in the local body elections.

“I am getting many calls that pressure is being put on the administration, police and money. If they had public support, would they need these things? The public is fed up with the false declarations of Shivraj. Now 50 rupees have been increased on domestic gas. Recently, 5 per cent GST was increased on flour, paneer. I have faith in the people of the state,” he added.

In the first phase of local body elections, a total of 101 candidates for the post of mayor in 11 municipal corporations are in the fray. There are 2,850 candidates for councillor posts in 133 bodies. Out of these, 42 have been elected unopposed.

The elections are for the remaining 2,808 posts. A total of 11,250 candidates contested the elections and 3,296 polling stations are sensitive.

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-Top News Bangladesh India News

V-P lays foundation of road project to boost trade with B’desh

Expressing his happiness that insurgency in the region is coming down, Naidu underlined that “peace is prerequisite for progress”…reports Asian Lite News.

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday laid the foundation for upgrading the 64.21 km road that connects Meghalaya capital with Dawki border town, along the India-Bangladesh border.

The Rs 1,600 crore project on National Highway-40 would shorten travel time between Shillong and Dawki and would connect the Meghalaya capital Shillong with the Bangladeshi border towns and to boost tourism, trade and economy between the two countries.

Speaking on the occasion in Shillong, the Vice-President stressed the importance of better road connectivity in the northeastern region to fully tap its tourism potential, ease the transport of goods, improve delivery of services and contribute to the overall development of the region.

The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at the foundation stone laying ceremony of improvement/widening of Shillong-Dawki section of National Highway-40, in Shillong (PIB)

Naidu called for fast-tracking of all the developmental activities in the NE states, utilising the funds provided by the Centre for various projects with transparency and accountability. “If we can expedite all projects here-without delay or diversion, northeastern states have the potential to become the growth engines of the country,” he said and stressed that development of the country is incomplete without the development of northeast.

Expressing his happiness that insurgency in the region is coming down, Naidu underlined that “peace is prerequisite for progress”.

Referring to the complexities of road connectivity in the northeastern region, the Vice-President also highlighted the importance of improving connectivity through air travel. Noting a marked improvement in air connectivity for the region under the Regional Connectivity Scheme, he called for more direct flights from and to the northeast with the rest of the country.

The Vice-President congratulated Rebecca Vanessa Suchiang, who was present during the event and a woman belonging to the local indigenous community becoming the first Chief Secretary of Meghalaya.

Meghalaya governor Satya Pal Malik, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, Deputy Chief Minister P. Tynsong among other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari also participated through a recorded video message.

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-Top News ASEAN News India News

India pushes for trilateral highway via B’desh

The trilateral project, conceived in 2002, is a 1360 km transnational highway connecting Moreh in India, Bagan in Myanmar and Mae Sot in Thailand. Though there have been delays in execution, the project, that is expected to boost trade and people to people connectivity besides other things, is likely to be completed in the next couple of years, reports Mahua Venkatesh

Bangladesh is likely to finally join the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project. The issue was discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Dhaka last week as both India and Bangladesh have decided to remain engaged with Myanmar notwithstanding its internal political dynamics. The project will provide Bangladesh direct connectivity with the south east Asian nations which is expected to boost its trade.

Sources said that the project also gives India along with other nations an opportunity to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative while enhancing connectivity for the landlocked northeastern states of the country.

Sources said that though the project implementation is underway as per plan, there could be some delays as it stretches across geographical boundaries.

“There are two aspects to this project. First Bangladesh gets to connect with Myanmar on a positive note as it is part of the BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka in South Asia and Myanmar and Thailand in Southeast Asia) connectivity projects. Dhaka is already part of BIMSTEC. Second, this gives an opportunity to counter China’s plans of infrastructure connectivity,” said Joyeeta Bhattacharjee, senior fellow Observer Research Foundation.

Modi meets Hasina(IANS)

Bhattacharjee added that withdrawal from engaging with Myanmar is not the solution. “Our position to leverage and influence will remain intact only when we engage though many voices have come up to suggest that we must withdraw,” she added.

Read also: PM opening new bridge to cement India Bangladesh ties

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The project also assumes importance as it gives a further push into the Indo-Pacific geopolitical dynamics.

“Bangladesh joining this project was almost a given. The benefits of this mini-quad cooperation go far beyond logistics and trade efficiencies. It has strategic implications – which shows India’s seriousness in moving from simply Look East to Act East,” Sandip Ghose, political analyst said, adding that the project would also bring in the northeastern states into the mainstream, while pushing development in that region.

An article published in the Diplomat, Dhaka’s interest in the trilateral project with India, Myanmar, and Thailand along with the BBIN connectivity can be useful for both India and Bangladesh. “It will facilitate the development of India’s much-neglected Northeast region, which brings for New Delhi both economic and strategic benefits,” it said.

As India looks to intensify its Act East policy under the Narendra Modi government, it could even look at extending the highway through other countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

“Vietnam will be quite excited about such a proposal, but it is unclear how Cambodia and Laos will respond, given their deep economic and strategic engagement with China,” the article said, adding that Vietnam, their close strategic partner, has had difficulties in these relationships in recent times because of China.

“The focus will be on improving connectivity in the region including the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) so that there is easy mobility within the region,” an official said.

Bangladesh is likely to finally join the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project(IANS)
Importance of the trilateral highway project

The trilateral project, conceived in 2002, is a 1360 km transnational highway connecting Moreh in India, Bagan in Myanmar and Mae Sot in Thailand. Though there have been delays in execution, the project, that is expected to boost trade and people to people connectivity besides other things, is likely to be completed in the next couple of years.

Sources said that the trilateral highway could feed into a much larger undertaking, in the end, connecting landlocked Bhutan with Da Nang in Vietnam.

The key to this massive undertaking is the 19.2 kilometer Dhubri-Phulbari bridge over the Brahmaputra. the gigantic effort will merge two parallel initiatives – the trilateral high New Delhi-led India-Myanmar- Thailand trilateral highway and the East-West, Economic Corridor (EWEC) marshalled by Japan in partnership with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The joint foray is a fusion of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and Japan’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ strategy.



With Mae Sot as the junction, the 1,450-km EWEC route passes through Thailand’s Province of the Mukhandan – the gateway to Laos, which is connected by the 1.6 km-long Second Thai-Lao friendship bridge over the Mekong, built with Japanese assistance. From Savannakhet in Laos, the next stop in the corridor, the passage heads east towards Da Nang, 486 km away. On the way, the Japanese have also been involved in constructing the 6.28-km Hai Van tunnel, the longest in Southeast Asia, which links Hue, a city in Central Vietnam, with Da Nang.

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