The Bay of Bengal (BoB) region is emerging as an important focal point for climate security risks. This is largely due to a multi-layered interplay of geopolitical, geostrategic, and climate-related regional dynamics. It forms the final leg between West and East Asia. The region is one of the most climate-vulnerable …
THE ban comes at a time when the region's economy is in an inertia and is desperate for an economic miracle. The post-ban realisation of the economic potential of forests and the apex court's instruction to measure the sustainability of forests comes as a reminder of the development model that …
Ban blessing Some people in the region regard the ban as a blessing in disguise. Though the situation was difficult initially, they have ventured into other sources of income. In Tirap district, many people once involved in timber trade have now switched to tea cultivation. Says Mithi: "We are promoting …
Reinforcing laws The court acted methodically. First, it asked states to define forests. Interestingly, a clear definition of forests is not given in the existing legal instruments - Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980, Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 1988, and the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Under Section 2 of the FCA …
for years the rainforests of Assam have suffered the ignominy of isolation and neglect. Attempts are now underway to conserve this national heritage with active public participation. As a measure of this enterprise, a three-day festival rejoicing the cultural and spiritual links between these rainforests and the local communities was …
The Mynmar government is falsifying statistics on AIDS cases to cover the fact that the disease has reached epidemic levels, alleges a us expert on AIDS. Chris Beyrer, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, says that 3.46 per cent of adults in Mynmar are …
what makes a nation strong? Democracy? Dictatorship? What makes a people happy? Economic liberalisation? Centrally planned economy? Well, the people who know and count in today's world, seem to consider only these two alternatives. But a few fools think of the possibility of a third path. I consider myself to …
The hoolock gibbon (Hylobates hoolock) was once secure in its dense tropical monsoon forest habitat extending from the south of the Brahmaputra river in Assam to the Chindwin river in Myanmar. Not very long ago, these forests would have echoed with its spectacular call, the music to an awesome war …
geoscientists and physicists in Assam have warned that the northeastern parts of India and western Burma are likely to be rocked by mega-earthquakes, measuring about eight on the Richter scale, any time during the next decade. The region is one of the six most earthquake-prone areas in the world with …
TACHILEK bustles with activity. A busy tourist market, its streets are thronged by buyers, who have travelled many miles to get here. In smuggling circuits, Tachilek is known for selling everything from US-made Marlboros to Chinese fabric. However, buyers flock to this town, not for American cigarettes or cheap Chinese …
MYANMAR'S minister of forestry Chit Swe has launched, with much fanfare, an ambitious project to artificially inseminate a 6,000-strong herd of elephants, which lift heavy logs in the teak forests of Myanmar. Swe has enlisted the help of Michael J Schmidt, chief research veterinarian of the Washington Park Zoo, in …
THE RADICAL Khmer Rouge has won enough seats in the May 1993 Cambodian elections to pose a definite threat to the newly elected Norodom Sihanouk government. But to sustain its success, the Khmer Rouge has ensure its teak trade with Thailand - a major source of its income - gets …
THE MYANMAR military junta's plans to use income from oil and gas concessions to buy weapons to keep its brutal dictatorship going have run into a snag, as many of the disenchanted international oil companies have decided to pull out. After three years in fruitless exploratory drilling, most of the …
