PRELIMS BOOSTERS – 2018: Western tragopan (western horned tragopan ) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

PRELIMS BOOSTERS – 2018

Western tragopan (western horned tragopan ) and Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

western tragopan (western horned tragopan )

1. Vulnerable (VU) — IUCN
2. state bird of Himachal Pradesh
3. Local Lame – Jujurana (king of birds)
4. western tragopan is mostly arboreal but feeds on the ground
5. Habitat

• prefer little-disturbed temperate coniferous and deciduous forests, with heavy understory.  In winter, they to grassy or shrubby gullies with less snow cover.
• endemic to the western Himalayas, occurring from Kohistan, east through Kashmir into Himachal Pradesh and possibly Uttaranchal, north-west India

6. Threats

• Habitat degradation and fragmentation through subsistence farming
• browsing of understorey shrubs by livestock
• tree-lopping for animal fodder and fuelwood-collection
• Hunting and trapping for its meat (especially in winter)
• Disturbance by grazers and particularly collectors of edible fungi and medicinal plants may seriously interfere with nesting

7. Conservation

• CITES Appendix I.
• Schedule – I of wildlife (Protection) act, 1972

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

1. established on 6 June 1997 through Bangkok Declaration
2. permanent secretariat —  Dhaka
3. Leadership is rotated in alphabetical order of country names
4. India provides 33% of its expenditure
5. member states— countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal

Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan, and Nepal

6. Origin

• 1997 — BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• 22 December 1997 — Myanmar became a full member, resulting in the renaming of the grouping to BIMST-EC.
• 1998– Nepal became an observer
• 2004 — Nepal and Bhutan became full members.
• 2004 — grouping was renamed as BIMSTEC or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

7. Objective : technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and southeast Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal. Commerce, investment, technology, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles, leather etc. have been included in it
8. founding principles of BIMSTEC are as follows:

• Cooperation within BIMSTEC will be based on respect for the principle of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, political independence, no-interference in internal affairs, peaceful co- existence and mutual benefit.
• Cooperation within BIMSTEC will constitute an addition to and not be a substitute for bilateral, regional or multilateral cooperation involving the Member States

9. BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise-2017 (DMEx-2017)

• held in New Delhi
• conducted by — National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) 
• main focus — create synergy and synchronize efforts to institutionalize regional cooperation and inter-governmental coordination efforts on disaster response among Member States
• objective — help strengthen effective utilisation of Search & Rescue Teams for Disaster Relief & Emergency Response, including Emergency Rapid Assessment Teams and Management of mass casualties, especially in situations involving breakdown of communication and infrastructure.