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BIMSTEC needs to reinvent itself
BIMSTEC needs to reinvent itself Context: The foreign ministers of BIMSTEC (the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) met virtually on April 1. That they made time to hold their 17th meeting is good news. Their major task was to pave the way for the next summit, the grouping’s fifth, due to be held in Sri Lanka in the “next few months”. While most multilateral groupings from G20 to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) held their deliberations at the highest political level in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, BIMSTEC leaders failed to do so. In contrast to a meeting of even SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) leaders held at India’s initiative a year ago, BIMSTEC could not arrange its ministerial meeting until April 2021. This is due as much to contextual factors as the diplomatic environment prevailing today. B...
Dolphin boom in Odisha’s Chilika lake
Dolphin boom in Odisha’s Chilika lake: Context: Odisha has released the final data on the dolphin census. Key findings: The population of dolphins in Chilika, India’s largest brackish water lake, and along the Odisha coast has doubled this year compared with last year. Three species were recorded during the census, with 544 Irrawaddy, bottle-nose and humpback dolphins sighted this year, compared with 233 last year. The rise in the Irrawaddy dolphin population in Chilika can be attributed to the eviction of illegal fish enclosures. About Irrawaddy dolphins: Found in coastal areas in South and Southeast Asia, and in three rivers: the Irrawaddy (Myanmar), the Mahakam (Indonesian Borneo) and the Mekong (China). They are ‘Endangered’ as per the IUCN Red List. About Indo- Pacific Bottlenose dolphins: Lives in the waters around India, northern Australia, South China, the Red Sea, and the eastern coast of Africa. IUCN status: Near Threatened (Source: Wiki). About Indian Ocean...
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