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...

min read

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.

India bears the brunt: Nifty crashes 1,100, Sensex nosedives 3,900 points after US trade shock

Correspondent
Apr 7, 2025
2 min read

India woke up to a financial jolt this morning as its equity markets suffered their steepest fall in nearly a year, shaken by the ripple effects of US President Donald Trump’s aggressive new tariff regime. The Sensex plunged over 3,900 points at opening bell, while the Nifty tumbled more than 1,100 points, dragging Indian stocks to a 10-month low.

This sharp decline follows a global equity rout triggered by Trump's protectionist measures, which have sent panic waves across Asia and raised the spectre of a global recession. Investors dumped shares in a massive sell-off, with Indian benchmarks reacting sharply in early trade. The Sensex dropped to 71,425.01 — down 3,939.68 points — while Nifty slipped to 21,743.65, marking a 3.5% slide from the last session.

Adding to the pressure, the Indian rupee depreciated 30 paise to open at 85.74 against the US dollar.

India Among the Hardest Hit

Trump’s latest tariff hike — framed as a push to restore fairness to global trade — has imposed country-specific duties that go as high as 50%. India has been slapped with a 26% tariff, while a 10% baseline duty applies to all nations. This has set alarm bells ringing among Indian exporters and traders already struggling with global demand volatility.

President Trump, unfazed by the financial carnage, likened the move to a bitter but necessary cure. “Sometimes you need the medicine to fix something,” he told reporters earlier today.

Analysts Urge Economic Safeguards

Market experts believe that India's current market turmoil isn't rooted in domestic issues but is rather a consequence of being tightly woven into global investment flows.

“India will face the heat, not due to domestic reasons, but as an interlinked chain in the global portfolio flows,” said Ajay Bagga, a noted market expert. “India will need a fiscal, monetary, and reform package to protect the domestic economy from this global economic winter that is threatening to settle in.”

Sunil Gurjar, SEBI-registered research analyst, warned that the Nifty50 index has breached its first support level and is approaching the next. "A further breakdown could worsen the trend and accelerate the fall," he cautioned.

Asian Markets Bleed

The tremors from Trump's announcement were first felt in Asia, with key markets suffering steep losses. China's stock markets fell over 4% amid retaliatory tariffs of 34% against the US. Hong Kong's Hang Seng nosedived more than 10%, while Japan’s Nikkei index fell 6.5% after plunging 8% earlier in the day. Taiwan saw a near-10% collapse, and Singapore dropped over 8%.

Wall Street Braces for Impact

US markets, though yet to open, appear set for a rough start. Futures contracts on the New York Stock Exchange are sharply down, suggesting heavy losses once trading resumes.

Market sentiment globally has turned bearish, with fears of a looming recession taking hold. Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management described the scene as “free-fall mode,” noting, “Trump’s team isn’t blinking. The tariffs are being treated as a victory lap, not a bargaining chip.”