Deepak UPSC Notes

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Golden crescent and golden triangle Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 BIMSTEC Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 BIMSTEC

It is a regional organization whichcomprises seven countries.

Five of these seven countries- India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Bangladesh- are from South Asia while the remaining two, Thailand and Myanmar, are from Southeast Asia.

The group remained dormant for many years till it was revived a few years ago as an alternative to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which despite having the potential, has not been able to move forward due to friction between India and Pakistan.

Secretariat: Dhaka, Bangladesh. Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 PANEX-21

Quick Facts For Prelims

GS Paper - 3

Why in News

Recently, a Curtain Raiser Event for PANEX-21 for the member nations of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries was held recently.

About:

It is a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief exercise.

It will be participated by subject matter experts and delegates from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

A Multi-Agency Exercise (MAE) comprising a static display showcasing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HDR)equipment employed by the Indian Armed Forces and various civil agencies will also take place.

Aim:

To foster joint planning and build regional cooperation for responding to natural disasters.

Natural disasters are sudden ecological disruptions or threats that exceed the adjustment capacity of the affected community and require external assistance.

Natural disasters can be broadly classified into categories including geophysical such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, hydrological such as floods,meteorological such as hurricanes; climatological such as heat and cold waves and droughts; and biological such as epidemics

Importance of the Exercise:

Covid-19 pandemic along with other natural disasters have brought out new lessons which involve a change in drills and procedures for carrying out disaster mitigation and management of disaster. 

The exercise is being conducted keeping in mind these changes and the challenges after the pandemic. Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Palk Bay Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Katchatheevu

Katchatheevu is a controversial uninhabited 285-acre (1.15 km) island situated on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary. It has a Catholic shrine and has been declared as a sacred area by the government of Sri Lanka. The shrine attracts devotees from both the countries.

This island was with India till 1974 when it was ceded to Sri Lanka by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Since then, Indian people from Tamil Nadu have demanded to get it back from Sri Lanka. On the other hand, Sri Lanka had claimed that it had belonged them only right since British Era. Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Fishermen issue between India and Sri Lanka

INTERNATIONAL/ SECURITY

Topic:

GS-2: India and its neighbourhood

What is the conflict between Lankan navy and Indian fishermen?

Depleting Resources in Indian region: 

As in the past, fishermen from Rameswaram and nearby coasts continue to sail towards Talaimannar and Katchatheevu coasts (now a part of Sri Lanka), a region famous for rich maritime resources in Sri Lanka. 

Indian fishermen continued to enter Lankan waters because of depletion of marine resources on the Indian side.

Proliferation of trawlers in Indian coast

Plenty of catch in this oceanic region had triggered a proliferation of fishing trawlers in Tamil Nadu coast in the past three decades. 

Trawlers are mechanised boats with highly exploitative fishing nets unlike most of the poor fishermen in Sri Lankan coast who use traditional fishing methods.

At times fishermen have employed bottom trawling that is banned in Sri Lanka. 

Bottom trawling, an ecologically destructive practice, involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea-floor, causing great depletion of aquatic resources. 

Threats to Livelihoods

Hoping for a better profit, too many people started buying trawlers in Rameswaram and nearby Tamil Nadu coasts. 

Smaller coastal stretches like Rameswaram, Mandapam, Pamban areas alone have about 2,500 trawlers; which means at least two dozen families depending on each trawler through various means such as about six people who work on board, fish, prawn, dry fish merchants, supporting staff for loading etc..

The Sri Lankan Navy arrested over 450 Indian fishermen in 2017 and 156 in 2018 on charges of poaching. A total of 210 arrests were made in 2019. This has impacted the livelihoods of considerable sections of fishermen population living along Rameswaran coast

Enhanced monitoring of maritime border by Sri Lankan Navy: 

Access to Sri Lankan waters by Indian fishermen was easier at the time of Sri Lankan civil war where it was preoccupied with its war against the LTTE. 

As a result, its northern province and maritime boundaries nearby were never tightly guarded. 

But that changed in 2009 with the end of civil war. There is now enhanced monitoring of maritime border by Sri Lankan Navy leading to increased number of arrests of Indian fishermen crossing international maritime borders

Conflict of Katchatheevu island:

Tamil fishermen had traditional fishing rights of uninhabited Katchatheevu island for centuries. 

However, in 1974, the island was ceded to Sri Lanka after an agreement was signed by Indira Gandhi between the two countries without consulting the Tamil Nadu government. 

The agreement allows Indian fishermen “access to Katchatheevu for rest, for drying of nests and for the annual St Anthony’s festival” but it did not ensure the traditional fishing rights.

The agreement forced Indian fishermen to restrict themselves to a meagre area in their fishing forays Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 India Srilanka fishermen dispute Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Panama papers leak Ochish/sharhlash

2021-12-21 03:02:32 Ochish/sharhlash