Author: Ramaeshwara Heravdakar

Explanations beginning to emerge after worst terror attack in Israel’s history They might as well have been sitting ducks. They are the tatzpitaniyot, mostly female soldiers stationed on the IDF bases near the Gaza Strip, their eyes glued to security cameras and other feeds of the border. Last Saturday morning, the Hamas terrorists who entered some of those bases with hang gliders shot at cameras and jammed some communications systems. They shot at the combat soldiers who were stationed at those bases, as well as at the tatzpitaniyot. “Yes, they surprised us, and we weren’t ready for it,” said a female soldier…

The parliaments of Iran and Tajikistan signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday to expand cooperation between the two legislative bodies. The signing ceremony, reported by the Iranian Students’ News Agency, took place in Tehran, with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and National Assembly of Tajikistan Chairman Rustam Emomali leading the initiative. The agreement was further endorsed during a meeting between Emomali and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who emphasized the importance of this collaboration as a support for the political and economic partnerships between the two nations. President Raisi also highlighted the role of bilateral cooperation in combating…

Heavy rains and strong winds are battering India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state as a severe cyclonic storm makes landfall. Nine people, including a child, have died in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Tamil Nadu state in rain-related incidents. Authorities have evacuated thousands of people from low-lying areas in both states. Many residential areas are flooded, and videos show cars floating in water. Cyclone Michaung has made landfall between Nellore and Kavali in Andhra Pradesh, the state chief minister’s office said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had said that the storm will have wind speeds up to 110km/h (68mph), which will reduce…

At just nine years old, Devika Rotawan survived the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Shot in the leg, she later identified the lone surviving gunman in court. Fifteen years on, the BBC’s Soutik Biswas reconnects with her to explore the changes in the life of a survivor living in the aftermath of the massacre. I first met Devika Rotawan in a slum in Mumbai in 2010. Barely two years had passed since the frail girl survived the deadly terror attacks that had convulsed India’s financial and entertainment capital. The 60-hour siege of Mumbai had begun on 26 November 2008. Attacks…

Frankfurt (18/12 – 14) That there are remarkable advantages in being ignored is not generally recognized. Central Asian countries, historically under the thumb of Moscow, all through the 70+ years of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were more or less cut off from the outside world. There was little trade or other exchange. The USSR was in fact a grab-bag of ethnicities, religions and languages, controlled with an iron fist by Stalin and afterwards with unbroken dominance through subsequent regimes. Under Soviet management, Central Asia had stayed poor and ignored; it had not developed any hydrocarbon resources to lure…

London (15/11 – 67) Colombo Supreme Court rules that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, former Prime Minister Mahinda, were among several government officials whose conduct contributed to Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades. The court was ruling on a petition filed against 13 former officials by rights group Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) which said the Rajapaksa brothers and others were responsible for the crisis. “Their actions, omissions and conduct contributed to the crisis,” the ruling said. The court did not order any punishment, according to a statement by TISL. The two Rajapaksa brothers, two former central…

The Ahmedabad crowd’s hostile behaviour and ‘Islamophobic’ chants targeting Pakistan’s cricket team have trigged criticism in India. It started with deafening boos when Pakistan captain Babar Azam took his turn to speak after the toss in the middle of the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and carried on long after India had inflicted another heavy loss on their neighbours in the ICC Cricket World Cup. The Pakistani cricketers were at the receiving end of incessant hostilities from the crowd during their match against the hosts at the world’s biggest cricket stadium, named after India’s prime minister and leader of the right-wing Bharatiya…

The vicious head of the terror snake meticulously searches for a burrow to strengthen and nourish its body of destruction. The burrow, being political, social and regional instability, makes Sri Lanka a pertinent base for the re-emergence of terrorism — both ideological separatism and religious extremism. As Sajith Premadasa promised in March, an Arab Spring-style protest-riot compilation emerged against the Gotabaya administration that effectively led to regime change in the country. Amidst the raging support for the ‘Aragalaya’ movement in Sri Lanka, one key factor is consistently left out of the equation — the potential resurgence of terrorism on the…

Last month, popular Punjabi rapper Shubhneet Singh’s forthcoming India tour was cancelled after tensions erupted between India and Canada. The reason was a controversy that broke out over an old social media post where he had shared an incorrect map of India. The Canada-based singer (known to fans as Shubh) was accused of supporting the demand for Khalistan, or a separate Sikh homeland – a sensitive topic in India, which saw a violent insurgency over the movement in the 1980s. Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside India’s Punjab state, and is home to popular Punjabi diaspora musicians who divide their…

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) received Saker Scout unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with artificial intelligence. The country’s Ministry of Defense reported this on its telegram channel . Saker Scout complexes consist of a flagship reconnaissance drone and FPV-type kamikaze drones, which are adjusted, in particular, with the help of the first. Advanced optics allows Saker Scout to detect and record the coordinates of even carefully camouflaged enemy equipment and transmit information in real time to command posts. This reduces the risk of human error and allows for more accurate and rapid response to changing battlefield conditions, the ministry says. The maximum flight range of the Saker…