Benny Kuruvilla(1)
Focus on the Global South
August 2008

South Asia’s talking shop – the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - held yet another annual summit from 2 -3 August 2008 with the usual entourage of ministers, bureaucrats, media, think tanks and NGOs descending into Colombo. Over 1200 delegates attended the 15th summit of the 8 member club, considered the world’s largest regional grouping(2). The spotlight was expected to be on the food and energy crisis, but bombings in the last week of July in the Indian cities of Bangalore and Ahmedabad ensured that the ‘fight against terrorism’ became the centre piece of the conclave. The Colombo declaration titled ‘Partnership for the growth of our people’ emphasised, more than anything else, the need for the strongest possible cooperation in fighting terror and trans- national organised crime (3). There were sections on climate change and a separate statement on food security. This was a positive step as concrete initiatives to deal with the climate crisis, rising food prices, declining agrarian incomes and ensuring food security will be welcome. But there was also a lame section in the declaration on the nearly defunct free trade treaty for the region, the Agreement for a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA). The absence of any serious commitment from the SAARC political leadership to move ahead on SAFTA met with criticism from business quarters. Expressing disappointment on the lack of concrete steps to invigorate free trade in the region, Tariq Sayeed the President of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SAARC CCI) said ‘hunger and terrorism are undoubtedly vital issues for a region like South Asia, but promoting trade and entrepreneurship could be the best answer to deal with such issues’ (4).

Report of the discussion on Proposed modification to DCR 33(9) (Cluster approach to redevelopment)

13th August 2008

To cope with the growing needs of the city and ambitions of the elite to make Mumbai a world-class Shanghai-like city, the government of Maharashtra is floating various urban development, urban renewal, and redevelopment schemes. The most recent one is the proposed modification to DCR 33(9) for Greater Mumbai. The intention of this said policy is incentivising redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings / cessed buildings through cluster approach in Urban Renewal Scheme.