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The arc to Southeast Asia

 India and ASEAN must draw up a functional road map to enhance ties
 Republic Day celebrations in a dramatic declaration of intent by New Delhi to boost India’s
ties with Southeast Asia
 Year 2017 was an important landmark as India and
• ASEAN commemorated 25 years of their partnership,
• 15 years of summit – level interaction, and •
• 5 years of strategic partnership
 Challenge now is to map out next steps in India-ASEAN partnership at this time of unprecedented geopolitical flux in the wider Indo-Pacific.
 Overcoming disillusionment(मोहभंग)
 ASEAN member states have been disappointed that India continues to punch below its
weight in the region- India’s capacity to provide development assistance, market access
and security guarantees remains limited
 Modi government’s ‘Act East’ policy is aimed at enhancing India’s strategic profile in
East and Southeast Asia.
 Main focus remains on South Asia and the Indian Ocean region
 India moving away from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to the
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-SectoralTechnical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
 But it is no match for China’s regional profile
 India’s export sector remains weak and the government’s focus has shifted to boosting
manufacturing domestically.
 The three Cs of commerce, connectivity and culture
 They also need to focus on areas such as digital technologies
 Chinese giants begin to dominate the digital space in Southeast Asia
 Indian IT sector may take some advantage of the seeming reluctance of ASEAN states to
put all their eggs in the Chinese basket.
 India as a facilitator of the ASEAN-wide digital economy would not only challenge
China but also emerge as an economic guarantor of its own
 Focus on projects
 Delhi now needs to focus on more effective delivery of projects it is already committed to.
 India-Myanmar-ThailandTrilateral Highway, which will run from Moreh in Manipur
to Mae Sot inThailand via Myanmar, is key
 plan is to extend this highway to Cambodia, Laos andVietnam in an attempt to project India’s
role in the emerging transportation architecture
 China having three times more commercial flights than India to Southeast Asia, improving air
connectivity between India and ASEAN countries should also be high on the agenda
 Bay of Bengal can be used as an exploratory ground for the development of an India-ASEAN
maritime framework.
 Finally, the cultural connect between the two needs strengthening.
 While India o•ers scholarships to students from ASEAN states to study at Nalanda University,
this initiative should be extended to the IITs and the IIMs.Tourism too can be further encouraged
 The need now is to focus on functional cooperation and make the idea of an
India-ASEAN partnership more exciting.

A turtle recovery plan

 Integrated conservation measures are needed to protect sea turtles
 Every year, thousands of sea turtles are accidentally captured,injured or killed by mechanised boats
, trawl nets and gill nets operated and used by comercial •fishermen.
 Each year, environmentalists record a high number of dead turtles washing up ashore
 When turtles begin migrating to their nesting grounds on beaches
 Five species in Indian waters — Leatherback, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Green and Olive Ridley.
 In India, though sea turtles are protected under the IndianWildlife ProtectionAct of 1972,
under the Schedule I Part II, they face grave threats.
 Concern for maintaining marine biodiversity.
 Turtle breeding season is usually between November and December- moving towards beaches
 Role in marine ecosystem
 Sea turtles, especially the leatherback, keep jelly•fish under control, thereby helping to
maintain healthy fish stocks in the oceans – Green turtle feeds on sea grass beds
 Under current regulations, mechanised trawl boats are not allowed to operate within 8 km of the shore in Andhra Pradesh, 5.5 km inTamil Nadu and 5 km in Odisha.
 However, these limits are not being enforced
 All areas where •fishing boats land need to be monitored.
 U.S., all trawl shrimp •fishing vessels need to be equipped with turtle excluder devices orTEDs, which are two-dimensional net inserts with large escape openings for turtles
 If used correctly, TEDs have been found to reduce turtle captures by 90%.
 These small but meaningful measures will help the sea turtles that are our marine heritage have another chance at survival.

Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis

Page-1,10,13- Govt. unveils •2.1 lakh crore bank recapitalisation plan
Package will be spread across the current •- financial year 2017-18 and the next year 2018-19 says Arun Jaitley

Page-1– Five-year jail term for Lalu in third fodder scam case

Page-1,10- Delhi HC declines to give relief to AAP MLAs

Page-5- Submit time-bound action plan on Bellandur lake: NGT

The National GreenTribunal (NGT) onWednesday rapped the Karnataka government for not taking measures to prevent recurring •res at the severely polluted Bellandur lake, most recently on January 19, when it raged for over 24 hours.
Page-5– Actor Krishna Kumari passes away
Yesteryear actorT. Krishna Kumari, 84, who acted in over 230Telugu,Tamil and Kannada films
Page-10- New Delhi brims with ‘Look East’ vibes