India Narrative

  After having been confused with an existing species, the rose-veiled fairy wrasse found off the coast of the scenic Maldives islands, has been recognised as a separate genus. An article in smithsonianmag.com stated this fish which lives in the range from 131 to 229 feet below the surface has a vivid red-orange colour on its face which becomes yellow and violet when nearing the tail. The waters around the islands of Maldives boasts of species in hundreds but what makes the rose-veiled fairy wrasse or Cirrhilabrus finifenmaa, special is the fact that it is the first one to be described by a Maldivian scientist and that it has the singular distinction of having a scientific name derived from Dhivehi, a local language. The species had to wait for a formal description and recognition as in the past it was mistaken for the red velvet fairy wrasse or Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis. The details of this new species have been published in ZooKeys, a journal. Also read:  New genus of tarant...

  An air force helicopter with Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 13 others on board crashed today in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force has confirmed.  Five charred bodies have been recovered from the crash site crash while four persons have been taken to hospital with severe burn injuries. Further details are not known so far. General Rawat's wife, his Defence Assistant, security commandos and Indian Air Force personnel were reportedly among the 14 on board. The Indian Air Force confirmed in a tweet that the Chief of Defence Staff was on the flight. He had taken a flight from Delhi to Sulur earlier today and that flight manifest had listed nine people. "An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, with CDS Gen Bipin Rawat on board, met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu. An Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident." The crash took place in the Nilgiris shortly after the Mi-series chopper took off from the army base at Sulur in Coimbatore. Al...

  Peoples’ clashes with the Police and security forces, marked by heavy stone pelting and violent demonstrators, which were a routine in Kashmir from 2015 to August 2019, have subsided after withdrawal of the erstwhile State’s special constitutional status. There has been no major news of what a section of the media and politicians used to call ‘agitational terrorism’. The Union Territory’s summer capital of Srinagar has, however, witnessed around 18 encounters between the militants and security forces since January 2020. Besides, around 20 civilians and unarmed Policemen have been killed in Srinagar in different terror strikes. They include one CID Inspector, one probationary Sub Inspector and two constables who were all attacked from behind and shot dead. They also include popular chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo, two non-Muslim teachers and two golgappa vendors who killed selectively. Some of these attacks were captured live on CCTV cameras; some by the assassins’ bodycams, which wer...

  In the two decades since India and Russia declared a new strategic partnership, the global geopolitical landscape has undergone major transformations. While the partnership retains a strong strategic content, its course has inevitably been impacted by shifting equations between major global powers. This aspect is likely to figure prominently on the dialogue agenda of President Putin and Prime Minister Modi on December 6 . Over these two decades, India-US political and economic relations surged and, after the India-US nuclear deal of 2008, defence and technology cooperation took off as well. Among the US motivations to strengthen partnership with India was that a strong, democratic India could be a useful partner for the US in Asia, where China was emerging as a formidable rival. India welcomed this premise, as well as the opportunity to diversify military acquisitions from near-exclusive dependence on Russia. Russia-US relations were already somewhat strained in the early 2000s, ...

  In the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, authorities have initiated verification and fresh registration of around 6,000 non-governmental agencies after a case of human trafficking surfaced in the valley. At least two Covid orphans were found to have been ‘sold’ by an NGO, leading to registration of FIR against the group and arrest of two persons allegedly involved in the human trafficking. Officials said that an investigation was launched by the Police, one FIR registered and two persons of Sambora, Pampore, arrested after it was reported in the national media that some individuals had indulged in offering young Covid orphans for adoption against monetary considerations by some individuals outside Jammu and Kashmir. A collective of clergymen issued an appeal for a “sustained campaign” against trafficking of the young Kashmiri children whose parents had died due to the pandemic in the last 20 months. According to the officials, the Police Station of Pampore received a written...