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By:

Vinod Chavan

30 September 2025 at 3:04:23 pm

Birder Cop finds an Australian tagged bird

Latur: G. Thikanna, serving in the Andaman Police Department as an Assistant Sub-Inspector in Communications was posted on one of the most remote and lesser-inhabited islands in the world to complete a one-month tenure. This island lies about 140 nautical miles away from the capital city, far from his family and loved ones in Port Blair. Life there is challenging, with no mobile network and no regular power supply. The only source of electricity is a portable generator that runs for about...

Birder Cop finds an Australian tagged bird

Latur: G. Thikanna, serving in the Andaman Police Department as an Assistant Sub-Inspector in Communications was posted on one of the most remote and lesser-inhabited islands in the world to complete a one-month tenure. This island lies about 140 nautical miles away from the capital city, far from his family and loved ones in Port Blair. Life there is challenging, with no mobile network and no regular power supply. The only source of electricity is a portable generator that runs for about three hours a day just enough to charge communication devices and essential equipment. This was his second visit to the island in 2025. On the morning of June 16, 2025, during a routine inspection of the shoreline, he noticed a small bird moving along with the tidal waves. What caught his attention, however, was that the bird was having some colour tags on it legs. The photographs revealed that the bird had three tags: a red flag leg above the knee and a yellow tag under the knee on it right leg. The left leg had a metal ring. The red flag had a code which read DYM. In March 2026, Dr. Raju Kasambe, ornithologist and former Assistant Director at Bombay Natural History Society, and founder of Mumbai Bird Katta, visited South Andaman for a birding trip by his venture. Thikanna shared his observation and photographs with him. Dr. Kasambe took great interest and asked Thikanna to send the photographs. He identified the bird as Sanderling (Calidris alba), which breeds in the extreme northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America. After studying the shorebird Colour Marking Protocol for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) Dr. Kasambe realized that the bird was tagged in South Australia. He informed the EEAF team and Ms. Katherine Leung reverted with the information about the tagging of this tiny migratory wader, which weighs just 40-100gramms. The wader was tagged on 13 April 2025 by Ms. Maureen Christie at the Danger Pt, Brown Bay, near Port Macdonnell, in South Australia. That means the wader had reached Narcondam Island after two months and three days on its return journey back the its breeding grounds in extreme northern parts of Asia. The straight-line distance the bird had flown was an amazing 7472km and it hadn’t yet reached its final destination – the breeding grounds. This is first record of resighting of any tagged bird on the Narcondam Island, as the island remains mostly inaccessible to bird watchers. Interesting, the Island is home to the endemic Narcondam Hornbill, a species which is not found anywhere in the world. Mr. G. Thikanna is associated with the Andaman avians Club which conducted bird watching and towards creating awareness about birds in the Andaman Island. Other members of the club have congratulated him on the great find in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

'Fauji' kid driven to serve nation early on

  • PTI
  • May 7, 2025
  • 3 min read

New Delhi: Being a 'fauji' kid, Sofiya Qureshi grew up listening to tales of valour and sacrifice of the army shared by her grandfather, who was a soldier. Many years later, when she expressed her desire to join the armed forces, her family didn't hesitate and stood firmly behind her decision.


A colonel in the Indian Army today, Sofiya Qureshi, was chosen to brief the nation about India's 'Operation Sindoor' on Wednesday.


A multi-generation officer in the Army who imbibed the spirit of serving the nation at an early age, Qureshi is an officer from the Corps of Signals and spoke in Hindi while Singh shared the details in English, complementing each other.


In a panel discussion hosted in 2017, Qureshi shared about her journey into the armed forces and what inspired her to don the olive-green uniform.


“Being a 'fauji' kid, I was exposed to the army environment. My mother wanted either of us two sisters to join the Army. I applied for it and got it. My grandfather was also in the Army, and he used to say, 'It is our responsibility, as every citizen, to be alert and stand up for our country and defend the nation. ' It is a dignified and honourable job,” she had recalled.


She also said that when she "joined the academy, the Kargil war was going on".


The colonel's family members said they were surprised and proud to see her live on television.


"We are very happy with what our daughter has done for the country. Everyone should educate their children, especially daughters, and make them capable so that they become officers and do something for the country," Qureshi's mother told PTI Videos.


"When she was young, her grandfather used to tell her stories about the army. When she grew up, she said that she wanted to join the army... We didn't stop her," she added.


Her brother said he was proud of her achievements.


"When I saw her on TV, I couldn't believe my eyes. It took a while for me to realise that the person speaking was my sister. It is a matter of pride for all of us," he said.


Speaking about India's action, he said that now the score has been settled with Pakistan.


Born in Gujarat's Vadodara in 1974, she graduated with a Master's in biochemistry from Manonmaniam Sundaranar (MS) University in 1997, a source said.


An officer in the critical Corps of Signals, in the past, she had been picked for the role of a military observer in Democratic Republican of Congo in 2006, and been part of flood relief operations in the Northeast region.


The Army officer had broken the glass ceiling when in 2016, she became the first woman officer to lead its contingent at a multi-national field training exercise, Force 18, hosted by India for interoperability in sustaining peace among ASEAN nations.


“1st woman officer to lead an Army training contingent at Force18 - #ASEAN Plus multinational field training exercise in 2016. She was the only Woman Officers Contingent Commander among all #ASEAN Plus contingents. #WomensDay #IWD2020 #EachforEqual #SheInspiresUs," the Ministry of Defence had said in a Women's Day post on X, sharing a photograph of Qureshi.


She has also been to other countries as part of the United Nations training team, where she received many accolades. The Army officer has conducted workshops for uplifting and motivating youths, especially girls, in insurgency-prone areas of Kashmir and in West Bengal, sources said.


In her journey so far, she has picked up many awards along the way and inspired many citizens, especially young women, to take up a career in the armed forces.

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