Additional Information

• The EAS is the only leader-led forum in the Indo-Pacific that brings together all key partners to discuss political, security and economic issues of strategic importance.
• The EAS operates on the principles of openness, inclusiveness, respect for international law, ASEAN centrality, and ASEAN’s role as the driving force.
• The idea of an East Asia Grouping was first proposed by then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in 1991.
• The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.

Members:

• The EAS comprises 18 members: the 10 ASEAN countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and eight dialogue partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia and the United States).

EAS Meetings and Processes:

• The EAS is usually held alongside ASEAN Leaders’ meetings in the fourth quarter of every year.

Additional Information

• The EU Nature Restoration Law aims to harmonise nature conservation across the EU and actively seeks synergies with other priorities, particularly the EU’s climate commitments. 
• The Nature Restoration Plan is part of the EU’s European Green Deal, which aims to establish the world’s most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets while also positioning the bloc as the global point of reference on all climate concerns.
•  The Nature Restoration Law is the first law of its sort to apply to the entire continent. It is an important component of the EU Biodiversity Strategy, which establishes binding targets for restoring damaged ecosystems, particularly those with the greatest potential to collect and store carbon, as well as preventing and mitigating the effects of natural disasters.
• Member States are required to develop comprehensive plans to restore 30% of terrestrial, coastal, freshwater, and marine ecosystems to good condition by 2030 and improve biodiversity indicators in forest and agricultural ecosystems. 
  • This includes restoring and partially rewetting 30% of drained agricultural peatlands by 2030. 
• The EU Nature Restoration Law also provides a legal framework to enhance pollinator biodiversity and populations in Europe, and to develop a standardised monitoring method for pollinators across the EU. 
• In marine areas, EU Member States are encouraged to coordinate their restoration efforts with the fishing activities of neighbouring EU Member States. 
• Furthermore, the EU Nature Restoration Law encourages Member States to contribute to restoring at least 25,000 km of rivers into free-flowing rivers and to plant at least three billion additional trees by 2030, two commitments outlined in the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030.  
• The Law requires EU Member States to prepare National Restoration Plans by 1 September 2026, which will detail how they plan to meet the Regulation’s targets and obligations.

Additional Information

• • Horseshoe crabs are marine and brackish water arthropods of the family Limulidae and the only living members of the order Xiphosura.
  • They have been around for more than 300 million years, making them even older than dinosaurs. They look like prehistoric crabs, but are actually more closely related to scorpions and spiders. 
  • The horseshoe crab has a hard exoskeleton and 10 legs, which it uses for walking along the seafloor.
  • Female horseshoe crabs are about one-third larger than the males.
  • It is known as a marine ‘living fossil’.
  • There are four extant horseshoe crab species:
    • The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) along the eastern coast of the USA and in the Gulf of Mexico,
    • The tri-spine horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus),
    • The coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas) 
    • The mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda) 
  • The last three are Indo-Pacific species found mainly in the coastal waters of India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan.    
  • Odisha is the largest habitat of horseshoe crabs in India.
• Conservation status 

• • Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule IV
  •  IUCN Status
    • American horseshoe crab: Vulnerable
    • Tri-spine horseshoe crab: Endangered
    • The two other species are not listed yet

Medicinal Use

• A horseshoe crab’s bright blue blood is used to test vaccines, drugs and medical devices to ensure that they aren’t contaminated with dangerous bacterial toxins. 
• A horseshoe crab’s blood contains a special clotting agent limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) which detects a contaminant called endotoxin. If even tiny amounts of endotoxin make their way into vaccines or injectable drugs, the results can be deadly. 
• Therefore, it has been essential for testing the safety of biomedical products since the 1970s, when it replaced rabbit testing. 

• The 38th parallel north divides North Korea and South Korea.

Additional Information

• The 38th parallel is the popular name given to latitude 38° N that in East Asia roughly demarcates North Korea and South Korea. 
• The line was chosen by U.S. military planners at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945) near the end of World War II as an army boundary, north of which the U.S.S.R. was to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces in Korea and south of which the Americans were to accept the Japanese surrender.
•  The line was intended as a temporary division of the country, but the onset of the Cold War led to the establishment of a separate U.S.-oriented regime in South Korea under Syngman Rhee and a communist regime in North Korea under Kim Il-Sung.

Explanation

• The World Bank’s executive board has approved the establishment of a financial intermediary fund (FIF) to support Ukraine, with contributions expected from the United States, Canada, and Japan.
• The World Bank-managed fund will help achieve the Group of Seven (G7) nations’ vow to provide Ukraine with up to $50 billion in additional financial support by the end of 2023.