India Narrative

Chris Blackburn is the Communications Director of the Swiss InterStrategy Group based in Zurich, Switzerland. He is the recipient of a “Friend of Bangladesh” award from the Government of Bangladesh for his work on counterterrorism and seeking justice for war crimes committed during the War of Liberation in 1971. Blackburn was also formally acknowledged by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his work in international relations and security in January 2022. Blackburn is the head of European Outreach at Global Friends of Afghanistan (GFA), a US-based think tank that is working with Afghan figures from around the world. Blackburn speaks with India Narrative at length about India’s standing in the world and how the country is navigating itself through the global chaos in the region and the wider world. Excerpts from the interview: Q: What is your view on the dystopian state of the world - the Covid-19 crisis, Russia-Ukraine war, Taiwan under a constant threat, economies under stres

Amid concerns over global food shortage, India-- the world’s largest producer of millet—is looking at expanding its public distribution. The short nutritious grains may be distributed for mid-day meals and also at the Anganwadi centres. While it is imperative to reset focus on production of these short grains with their growing acceptance within the country and outside and rising threats of food insecurity, experts said it must be done in a well-planned manner ensuring that it does not lead to “lower cultivation of other staple crops such as rice and wheat.” Millet crops are essentially resilient to drought and floods and can be produced even at drylands. "Increased production of millets should enlarge the overall food plate, not lower it by reducing other crops yields," a food analyst with one of the industry bodies told India Narrative.  Compared to other cereals such as wheat, rice and maize, production of millets is still low in the country. “The increase in millet output

Climate change is a fact that can’t be wished away and now to understand its impact on both flora and fauna, scientists are conducting many studies. One such as per a report in sciencealert.com delves on how species are struggling to relocate to new habitats. Moving to places which are at a higher altitude raises two points. These are temperatures which are colder and also thinner, meaning they have less oxygen and make breathing harder. To comprehend these two issues, a group of Anna’s hummingbirds also known as Calypte anna were moved to a place 1,200 metres or 4,000 feet above their usual home. Researchers made a rather odd observation when they found that the metabolic rates of these birds lowered as they lingered around while there was lesser efficiency in flying shorter durations, most probably due to wanting more oxygen. Though in future the temperatures may become warmer, the study’s cool environs had a drastic consequence on their sleep patterns. Dozing off these creatures wen

Amreen Bhat (35), Kashmir’s first entertainment Vlogger and YouTuber, shot dead in terrorist violence at her home in Budgam’s Chadoora area on Wednesday, 25 May, has left behind big shadows of fear. In the last 24 hours, at least 6 female singers and artists made frantic phone calls to a senior television and theatre producer, whispering to him that they were all frightened after Amreen’s brutal assassination. They were advised to be ‘calm’. Married in 2012 and divorced in just two months, Amreen discovered a small livelihood in her petty performances in some songs and drama serials at Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar. Soon she quit television and explored better opportunities in social media—Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. As her followers and subscribers multiplied on all platforms, she became the sole bread-earner for her small family—an elderly father, Khizar Mohammad Bhat, and sister Razia who lives at the same parental house with her husband and 11-year-old son Farhan, at

India has once again stressed the urgent need to find constructive ways to ensure peace and stability in Afghanistan and combating risks from terrorism emanating from the region. In a meeting with the top security heads of the region in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe today, National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval batted for enhancing capability of Afghanistan to counter terrorism and terrorist groups which pose a threat to regional peace and security. The NSA's of Tajikistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan and China took part in the meeting which essentially carried forward the spirit encapsulated in the Delhi Declaration from the 3rd Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan held in New Delhi in November 2021.  While highlighting that India has historical and civilisational relations with Afghanistan and continues to stand by the people of Afghanistan, Doval said that the foremost priority should be right to life and a dignified living as well as protection

For archaeologists and historians artefacts and objects of the past reveal a lot about the period and people they belong to and so do teeth of ancient human beings and cultures. Take for instance the ancient Maya who gave a lot of importance to their teeth as per a report in sciencealert.com and had them filled with jade, gold, jet, turquoise or hematite gems. Irrespective of their gender or economic status, men and women from across the society paid a visit to the dentist to have their teeth drilled and filled with minerals, expensive stones and jewels. While the inlays which survived the individual’s lifetime had a spiritual significance there was more to it than just aesthetics as a new study suggests that the material used for cementing the gems to the teeth had therapeutic and hygienic attributes. The adhesive used held the gems in place for not just a lifetime but thousands of years and the ingredients used to make it had properties and potential to combat tooth decay and also ch

The first Eurasian Economic Forum kicks off in Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek on Thursday as Russia battles unprecedented sanctions amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine which is having much wider ramifications not just in the region but all over the world. The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, will be meeting in the backdrop of Moscow vowing to raise cooperation with post-Soviet states located in the region to a "qualitatively new level of allied relations" to counter a wide range of "modern challenges and threats". Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak at the plenary session virtually and share his views on 'Eurasian economic integration in an era of global change - New opportunities for investment activity'. Read more

Bacteria are found in most unexpected places – deserts which are arid, lakes which are toxic and acidic and now scientists have discovered them in one of the unexpected habitats -- the venom of spiders and snakes said a report in sciencealert.com. This finding is contrary to the previously held belief that since these venoms had antimicrobial compounds, they therefore were presumed to be sterile with no microbes thriving in them. This means that with the bacteria already in existence in the venom, a person who is bitten by a snake or spider may need to be treated for infection. Stressing the importance of this find, Sterghios Moschos a molecular biologist from Northumbria University in the United Kingdom said: "We found that all venomous snakes and spiders that we tested had bacterial DNA in their venom. Common diagnostic tools failed to identify these bacteria correctly – if you were infected with these, a doctor would end up giving you the wrong antibiotics, potentially making m

Availability of abundant prey is vital for the conservation of a huge number of large predators and that is precisely happening in the Northern Territory of Australia. A report in smithsonianmag.com mentioned that the population of saltwater crocodiles of this region are thriving as they are getting to eat more feral pigs than earlier. Suggesting this in a study published in the journal Biology Letters, scientists have compared the bones of crocodile specimens which are 40 to 55 years old and kept in museum with those of the present-day reptiles and noted the change and shift in their diet over a period of time. In a statement, the Director of Griffith’s Australian Rivers Institute, Stuart Bunn said: “We measured the naturally occurring carbon and nitrogen isotopes extracted from the crocodile’s bones and other tissue which are derived directly from the animal’s diet. This gives truth to the old adage ‘you are what you eat’.” This comparison of the bones highlighted that the modern rep

The Russian-controlled administration in southern Ukraine's Kherson region has once again reiterated its intention of joining Russia and also urged Moscow to establish its permanent military base to guarantee full security. Kirill Stremousov, Deputy Head of the military-civilian administration of the region, has said Kherson will not "rush to a referendum" since its results "will not be recognised by Western countries anyway". The integration into the Russian Federation, he told the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday, would be gradual after establishing a peaceful life on the territory. The Russian language will also be given the status of a state language along with Ukrainian in the due course. "According to our plan for integration into the Russian Federation, we must complete the process of transition to all standards of Russian legislation by the end of the year, and only then we can decide on a referendum and our future status,"