Coastline Capitalism : Southeast Asian corridor eyes business opportunities via Bay of Bengal

India’s decision to stay out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) may increase Southeast Asia’s dependence on China, but a recently opened corridor between Thailand and Myanmar could ease those concerns by bringing new business opportunities for five ASEAN countries and India.

 

The Deltas of seafaring and commerce.

The new bridge – part of the East-West Economic Corridor between Thailand and Myanmar that opened a few weeks ago will give Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam access to the vast Indian market and reduce heavy reliance on China, ET has learnt.

The second Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge across the Moei River, which connects Myawaddy, a city in Myanmar’s eastern region, and Mae Sot district in western Thailand, was built at a cost of about $140 million, according to the Thai government. Distribution of goods will become smoother on this new highway link.

The East-West Corridor is a project to build a large economic bloc along a 1,700-km land route from Vietnam to Myanmar via Laos and Thailand. From there, Southeast Asian states can gain access to India over the Bay of Bengal.

India has built a port at Sittwe in Myanmar, which will be linked to Mizoram state in the north via a multi-modal transport network. Besides, a highway connecting India with Thailand via Myanmar could become operational by 2020 and may be expanded to Vietnam. India and Thailand recently signed pacts for port connectivity, adding meat to the Act East Policy and the Indo-Pacific vision.

Besides, India is expediting a maritime connectivity link between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Aceh in Indonesia, where it will build a port in Sabang. India has major plans to expand its presence in the Ganga-Mekong region, which covers the five ASEAN states.

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మిలిటరీ రోబోట్స్ Top 5 Military Robots in the World Military Robotics & Autonomous in Telugu

https://youtu.be/eJPgDZcaFzw

As the Army-2018 international military expo opens its doors, the Kalashnikov Concern stands ready to present one of its latest creations to the public – the Soratnik (‘comrade’ in English) unmanned combat vehicle. Soratnik is a tracked armored vehicle fitted with a computerized control system, as well as detection and surveillance equipment, and can carry a variety of weapon mounts. Furthermore, the vehicle can operate in conjunction with other unmanned vehicles, including UAVs. But while Soratnik is an impressive military robot in its own right, there are also plenty of remotely-controlled unmanned systems out there worthy of note. The Recon Scout is probably the most compact of the mass-produced spy robots. This unmanned unit, which weighs only about 700 grams, can be fitted with a thermal imaging system, making it an invaluable tool for covert reconnaissance. It should be noted that while Russian scientists did develop an analogue robot that may even possibly surpass the Recon Scout, it is yet to be adopted by the military. The DOGO tactical combat robot, created by General Robotics Ltd, serves as proof that light unmanned recon systems can be quite deadly as well. This remotely-operated device is equipped with a 9mm Glock pistol, and can be deployed to swiftly neutralize enemy targets without endangering the personnel. The Foster-Miller TALON is probably the most mass-produced military robot out there, with over 3,000 units already made. This small tracked remotely-operated vehicle was actively employed by US forces in Afghanistan for explosive ordnance disposal, but it can also be employed for reconnaissance and can be fitted with a wide assortment of weaponry, including a machinegun, a sniper rifle and anti-tank rocket launcher. The Russian-made Uran-9 is likely the heaviest unmanned combat system out there. This 10-ton armored vehicle can be equipped with a 30mm cannon, a high-caliber machinegun, an anti-tank missile launcher and an Igla surface-to-air missile launcher. The vehicle is designed for remote reconnaissance and as a fire support unit.

Freshwater reservoir found at one of Beijing’s artificial islands in the South China Sea

  • Chinese scientists discovered the body of water beneath Fiery Cross Reef and it’s thought to be expanding at a fast rate of 1 metre a year
  • They believe land reclamation has accelerated the process, and similar reservoirs may be forming at other man-made islands.

A fast-expanding body of freshwater has appeared under one of Beijing’s controversial man-made islands in the South China Sea, a Chinese study has found.

The freshwater was discovered beneath Fiery Cross Reef, known as Yongshu in China, and is believed to be growing at a rate of about 1 metre (3.3 feet) per year – more than twice the speed observed on naturally formed islands.
Similar reservoirs could also be building up under other artificial islands across the region, according to researchers from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology in Guangzhou.

They could “serve as an important water resource for local inhabitants and ecosystems”, the team led by marine geologist Xu Hehua said in a peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of Hydrology last month.
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the resource-rich South China Sea, but there are rival claims from its neighbours, and its island-building activities over the past six years have unnerved the region and drawn criticism from the US.

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