1. THE BAY OF BENGAL INITIATIVE FOR MULTI-SECTORAL TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION (BIMSTEC)
TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
THE CONTEXT: Recently, the first-ever Foreign Ministers’ meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) concluded in Bangkok, Thailand. Areas of coordination challenges, including health and energy security, were discussed.
EXPLANATION:
What is BIMSTEC?
- BIMSTEC is a regional organisation that was established in 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration.
- The member countries are India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka.
- Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organisation is now known as BIMSTEC, with Myanmar joining towards the end of 1997 and Bhutan and Nepal in 2004.
- Around 22% of the world’s population lives in the seven countries around the Bay of Bengal, with a combined GDP close to $2.7 trillion.
- All seven countries have sustained average annual rates of growth between 3.4% and 7.5% from 2012 to 2016. A fourth of the world’s traded goods cross the bay every year.
- Cooperation within the BIMSTEC had initially focused on six sectors in 1997 (trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, and fisheries) and expanded in 2008 to other areas.
- India gave the forum a renewed push in October 2016, a month after the terrorist attack in Uri. Alongside the BRICS summit in Goa, India hosted an outreach summit with leaders of BIMSTEC countries.
- In 2021, a reorganisation led to each of the Member States leading certain sectors. India focuses on security, along with counter-terrorism and transnational crime, disaster management and energy.
India and BIMSTEC:
- With shared values, histories, ways of life, and destinies that are interlinked, BIMSTEC represents a common space for peace and development.
- For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’.
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra had said BIMSTEC not only connects South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal.
BIMSTEC and other countries:
- Bangladesh views BIMSTEC as a platform to position itself as more than just a small state on the Bay of Bengal.
- Sri Lanka sees it as an opportunity to connect with Southeast Asia and serve as the subcontinent’s hub for the wider Indo-Pacific region.
- Nepal and Bhutan aim to connect with the Bay of Bengal region and escape their landlocked geographic positions.
- For Myanmar and Thailand, “connecting more deeply with India would allow them to access a rising consumer market and, at the same time, develop an alternative to China’s massive inroads into Southeast Asia”.
Countering China:
- The Bay of Bengal is crucial for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean.
- As China has undertaken a massive drive to finance and build infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative in almost all BIMSTEC countries except Bhutan and India.
- BIMSTEC is a new battleground in the India-China battle for dominance.
- BIMSTEC could allow India to push a constructive agenda to counter Chinese investments and instead follow best practices for connectivity projects based on recognised international norms. The Chinese projects are widely seen as violating these norms.
- The Bay of Bengal can be showcased as open and peaceful, contrasting it with China’s behaviour in the South China Sea. It could develop codes of conduct that preserve freedom of navigation and apply existing laws of the seas regionally.
2. COMPREHENSIVE AND PROGRESSIVE AGREEMENT FOR TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP (CPTPP)
TAG: GS 2: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
THE CONTEXT: Britain has formally signed a treaty to join a major Indo-Pacific trading bloc through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Supporters of Brexit say the move will boost UK growth, but opponents say the benefits are marginal compared with EU trade.
EXPLANATION:
- It is said the pact would boost UK exports by 1.7 billion pounds (€1.9 billion, $2.23 billion), imports to the UK by 1.6 billion pounds and gross domestic product (GDP) by £1.8 billion pounds in the long term. The pact is expected to take effect in the second half of 2024.
What is CPTPP?
- The CPTPP is a landmark pact agreed upon in 2018 that cuts trade barriers among 11 countries, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
- The pact requires countries to eliminate or significantly reduce tariffs and make strong commitments to opening services and investment markets.
- It also has rules addressing competition, intellectual property rights and protections for foreign companies.
- CPTPP is seen as a bulwark against China’s dominance in the region, although Beijing has applied to join, along with Taiwan, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Ecuador.
Why is the CPTTP so important to the UK?
- CPTTP will cut tariffs for UK exports to Asia Pacific countries, and with UK membership, the trading bloc will have a combined GDP of 12 trillion pounds and account for 15% of global trade.
- It will help Britain to deepen trade ties in the Pacific after Brexit in 2020, as the UK has been pushing a “Global Britain” strategy since it gave up EU membership.
- Since Brexit, the UK has sought other trade deals with countries and trading blocs around the world and is struggling to achieve free trade deals with large powers like China and the United States.
- CPTTP can compensate for the economic damage sustained by leaving the now-27-member EU the world’s largest trading bloc and collective economy.
- The UK already has trade deals with 10 of the 11 other CPTPP members, and the eventual economic boost is likely to increase GDP by just 0.08% annually.
Highlights of the CPTTP meeting:
- The grouping is currently undertaking a membership process by information-gathering process on whether aspirant economies can meet the CPTPP’s high standards, taking into account their experience on their trade commitments.
- A decision on who will join and when will be made collectively.
3. GAMBUSIA FISH
TAG: GS 3: ENVIRONMENT
THE CONTEXT: The Andhra Pradesh government has released approximately 10 million Gambusia fish into the state’s water bodies to combat mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.
EXPLANATION:
- Andhra Pradesh is reporting high dengue and malaria cases in the state, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (MoHFW).
- State Government released this fish to combat mosquito-borne diseases.
- However, the release of these invasive alien fish species has raised concerns about the potential harm that will be sustained by native species that are present in the state’s freshwater bodies.
Gambusia Fish:
- The fish is known as mosquitofish and is widely used as a biological agent for controlling mosquito larvae.
- Gambusia affinis (G affinis) is native to the waters of the southeastern United States.
- G affinishas a sister species, Gambusia holbrooki (G holbrooki), also known as the eastern mosquito fish.
- A single fully grown fish eats about 100 to 300 mosquito larvae per day.
- Gambusia has been a part of mosquito-control strategies for over a century in various parts of the world, including India.
- Mosquitofish has been part of various malaria control strategies in India since 1928, including the Urban Malaria Scheme.
- Fish has a high breeding capacity as a single female may produce between 900 and 1,200 offspring during its lifespan. The young females have two gestations per season, while the older females may have up to six generations per season. A season lasts about 30 days, and young ones are released in broods of 25-30 at a time.
- The fish can also survive in diverse environments. It is this adaptability that has allowed the fish to survive on six out of seven continents and has made the International Union for Conservation of Nature declare Gambusia one of the 100 worst invasive alien species in the world.
Concerns:
- The fish are generally understood to be a good biological control method against mosquito breeding but can only be a part of an integrated approach that involves various other methods like chemical spraying and, most importantly, source reduction.
- There are also studies that reported that Gambusia’s predatory efficacy reduced when they were introduced in running water streams, water bodies with high insecticide levels and waterbodies with thick vegetation.
- Multiple countries, including India, have listed Gambusia as invasive species. Known to outcompete and prey upon native species, Gambusia also get aggressive in environments where they need to compete with other species for resources. They are known to eat the eggs of competing fishes and frog tadpoles.
- In India, mosquitofish affected the ecosystem health of the lake after its introduction into the Nainital Lake in the 1990s to control malaria.
Steps that can be taken:
- Instead of relying on Gambusia, it has been suggested to encourage “biologists and fish taxonomists to come up with river basin-based lists of native fish species that can control mosquito larvae and release them into the natural environment.”
- Reducing the number of mosquito breeding sources like puddles and open drainages and clearing vegetation that mosquitoes feed on must be prioritised over releasing fish into waterbodies.
4. THE NATIONAL MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INDEX
TAG: GS 2: SOCIAL JUSTICE
THE CONTEXT: The National Multidimensional Poverty Index says 13.5 crore people came out of multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21 with Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh top the list in index.
EXPLANATION:
Findings of the index:
- It is prepared based on the latest National Family Heath Survey of 2019-21 and is the second edition of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
- Marked improvement is witnessed along all the indicators of the index.
- According to the‘National Multidimensional Poverty Index: A Progress Review 2023’, India has registered a significant decline of 9.89% in the number of multidimensionally poor, from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-2021.
- The report said rural areas witnessed the fastest decline in poverty, from 32.59% to 19.28%, primarily due to a decrease in the number of multi-dimensionally poor in States such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
- Delhi, Kerala, Goa and Tamil Nadu have the least number of people facing multidimensional poverty along with the Union Territories.
- Multidimensional poverty in urban areas, during the same period, saw a decrease from 8.65% to 5.27%.
- Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in a number of poor, with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty.
- According to the report, between 2015-16 and 2019-21, the MPI value has nearly halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty has reduced from 47% to 44%.
- The remarkable progress achieved through extremely low deprivation rates, especially for electricity, access to bank accounts and drinking water, reflects the Government’s unwavering commitment to improving citizens’ lives.
The National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI):
- It is released by NITI Aayog, which ranks States and Union Territories based on their performance.
- It is aimed at deconstructing the Global MPI and creating a globally aligned and yet customised India MPI for drawing up comprehensive Reform Action Plans with the larger goal of improving India’s position in the Global MPI rankings.
- The National MPI measures simultaneous deprivations across the three equally weighted dimensions of health, education, and standard of living that are represented by 12 SDG-aligned indicators.
- These include nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts.
- With our own national MPI, India is poised to gain a deeper understanding of poverty’s complexities and forge solutions that ensure inclusivity for all.
- The district-wise estimation of the national MPI will also prioritise reaching out to the furthest behind first through focused efforts on specific indicators and dimensions.
- The results and findings of the index provide valuable insights for both policymakers and the wider community.
- It helps the country to achieve the target of reducing multidimensional poverty as per the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, also known as Agenda 2030.
5. CRIMEAN-CONGO HAEMORRHAGIC FEVER (CCHF)
TAG: GS 3: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE CONTEXT: As Europe is already facing heatwave and wildfires, the rising temperatures have also raised fears of the spread of viruses such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), which is generally not found in colder climates.
EXPLANATION:
- Scientists are warning that CCHF can kill between 10% and 40% of patients, and is spreading northward and westward in Europe. Cases have so far been reported in Spain, Russia and Turkey, and the UK.
- In India, one person succumbed to CCHF in June 2023 in Gujarat, the state that reports the majority of the country’s cases of this disease.
What is CCHF?
- According to the WHO, it is a viral haemorrhagic fever usually transmitted by ticks and has a high fatality rate ratio (10–40%).
- It is endemic to Africa, the Balkan countries, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.
- The disease was first detected among soldiers in the Crimean Peninsula (near the Black Sea) in 1944; in 1969, it was found that an ailment identified in the Congo Basin was caused by the same pathogen. Thus, the disease was named the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
- The first fatality from the disease in Europe was in Spain in 2016.
- The virus is present in the tick family of insects. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), animals such as cattle, goats, sheep and hares “serve as amplifying hosts for the virus.
- It can be contracted through contact with viraemic animal tissues (animal tissue where the virus has entered the bloodstream) during and immediately post-slaughter of animals.
- Transmission to humans occurs through contact with infected ticks or animal blood.
- It can be transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infectious blood or body fluids, such as sweat and saliva.
- The ticks can also be hosted by migratory birds, thus carrying the virus over long distances.
What are the symptoms, cure of CCHF?
- According to the WHO, its symptoms include fever, muscle ache, dizziness, neck pain, backache, headache, sore eyes and sensitivity to light.
- There may be nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and sore throat early on, followed by sharp mood swings and confusion. After 2–4 days, the agitation may be replaced by sleepiness, depression and lassitude.
- There is no vaccine for the virus in either humans or animals, and treatment generally consists of managing symptoms.
- According to the WHO, the antiviral drug ribavirin has been used to treat CCHF infection with apparent benefit.
