Carriage by Road Act, 2007, which came into force from March 1, is considered by many in the road transport sector as a landmark step towards reform. The Act provides, among other things, compulsory registration of all common carriers by August 31, 2011. The earlier deadline was May 31, 2011, which has since been extended in view of the unsatisfactory response. Is the Government slow to enforce the provisions of the Act? So it appears. No concrete figures are available on how many common carriers have registered themselves under the Act. While the Tourism Ministry has succeeded in enforcing compulsory registration of all approved tour operators in the country, there is no reason why a similar operation cannot be carried out in the road transport sector.

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China's trains under scanner

The recent fatal train accident in China that killed a number of passengers has raised questions about the nation's high-speed-rail ambitions. It has also strengthened the hands of critics, who have been insisting on more investments in slower technology. The Government has already promised to take a relook at the plan for network expansion from the present 91,000 km to 120,000 km by 2015, and has announced reductions in top speed following safety concerns. Debt is another worry. Reports have it that the Railway Ministry's liabilities tripled in the last two years. China embarked upon a massive spending exercise five years ago to build the world's largest high-speed rail network in record time. Today, the Chinese rail system carries an estimated 25 per cent of the global freight and passenger traffic on 6 per cent of the world's lines.

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