Indian Prime Minister attended the 5th ‘Eastern Economic Forum’ (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia.
PM announced India would extend a $1 billion line of credit towards the development of the Russian Far East.
India was the first country in the world to open a consulate in Vladivostok.
Engaging closely with East Asia was in line with India’s policy goal of “Act East”.
This gives a new dimension to our economic diplomacy.
Among the participants in the Summit are India, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, and South Korea.
In the last five years as many as 17 different countries have invested in the Far East.
The region has its investment-friendly approach and vast reserves of natural resources.
With this, it has the potential to strengthen India-Russia economic partnership in areas like,
Energy, tourism, agriculture, diamond mining and alternative energy.
Lack of manpower is one of the main problems faced by the Far East.
Given this, Indian professionals like doctors, engineers and teachers can help in the region’s development.
For India, there is immense potential for mid-sized and small businesses.
The two countries agreed for the Chennai-Vladivostok sea route.
EEF
EEF was established by a decree of the President of the Russian Federation, in 2015.
It aims to support economic development of Russia’s ‘Far East’. and to expand international cooperation in Asia-Pacific region.
It takes place each year in Vladivostok.
It serves as a platform for the discussion of key issues in,
World economy, regional integration and the development of new industrial and technological sectors.
The ‘Far East’ is the easternmost part of Russia.
The macro-region borders 2 oceans, the Pacific and the Arctic, and 5 countries,
China, Japan, Mongolia, the United States and the N.Korea.
The Far East is rich in natural resources like diamonds, stannary, gold, tungsten, fish and seafood.
About 1/3rd of all coal reserves and hydro-engineering resources of the Russia are available here.
Chennai to Vladivostok Sea route
A Memorandum of Intent was signed to open a full-fledged maritime route between Russia’s eastern port city and Chennai.
This would allow India access to Russia’s Far East in 24 days, compared to 40 days taken by current route via Suez Canal.
This would also open new opportunities for India, like the India-Russia-Vietnam trilateral cooperation.
In Russian, ‘Vladivostok’ is ‘Ruler of the East’, located on the Golden Horn Bay to north of North Korea and a short distance from Russia’s border with China.
It is the largest port on Russia’s Pacific coast.
Automobiles are a major item of import at the port, from where they are often transported further inland.
India is building nuclear power plants with Russia’s collaboration in Kudankulam, Tamil Nadu.
The opening of a sea route is likely to help in the project.
A vibrant sea route will help in the upscaling of trade relations between the two nations.
It will also increase India’s presence in the Indo-Pacific, and especially the South China Sea.
Lightning Report
The ‘Mid-Monsoon 2019 Lightning Report’ released by ‘Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council’ (CROPC).
CROPC, a non-profit organisation works closely with India Meteorological Department (IMD).
It also convened, ‘Lightning Resilient Campaign’.
The report is prepared using IMD’s lightning forecasts including Nowcast, IITM-Pune’s lightning network data, NRSC, ISRO inputs and ground-based impacts reports.
For the first time, a report has mapped lightning strikes across the country, and the lives they have claimed.
This is part of effort to prepare a lightning risk map of India and identify lightning hotspots.
Lightning strikes have caused at least 1,311 deaths between April to July this year.
UP accounted for 224 of these deaths, followed by Bihar (170), Odisha (129) and Jharkhand (118).
It counted 65.55 lakh lightning strikes in India during April to July period, of which Odisha recorded over 9 lakh incidents.
IMD-installed sensors across India, have been giving alerts.
It is possible to predict, 30-40 minutes in advance, when a lightning strike heads towards Earth.
Location-based SMS services is available, State governments should take the data and start an emergency response system.
But this is not done in many states, resulting in high casualties.
Timely dissemination of this information can save several lives.
After receiving alerts from IMD, they send pre-fixed messages to the grassroots utilising their network.
Vulnerable people have been trained how to respond after hearing the warning siren.
Recent observations confirm that the Chhotanagpur plateau,
which is the confluence of Jharkhand, Odisha, part of Chhattisgarh and West Bengal inhabited by tribals.
It is the most lightning-prone area.
The area is electrostatically and thermodynamically charged, resulting in lightning.
The report also founds that areas prone to heatwaves were also prone to lightning.
Pollution increases aerosols in the atmosphere, which in turn increases lightning.
There have been at least 2 to 3 instances of lightning strikes without rainfall, killing persons in Jharkhand.
