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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.

Timeline of Indo-Pak armed conflicts

  • May 7, 2025
  • 2 min read
Local people gather near parts of an unknown jet that crashed after midnight at Wuyan in Pampore of Pulwama district in J&K. Pic PTI
Local people gather near parts of an unknown jet that crashed after midnight at Wuyan in Pampore of Pulwama district in J&K. Pic PTI

1947 (first Indo-Pak War): The war, also known as the First Kashmir War, broke out over the then princely state of Jammu and Kashmir between the newly independent nations India and Pakistan. It began in October 1947 when Pakistan-backed tribal militias invaded the princely state. In response, post the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to the Indian Union by Maharaja Hari Singh, India sent its troops to defend the region, leading to full-scale conflict between the two nations.


The conflict continued until January 1949, when a UN-mediated ceasefire was implemented, resulting in the division of Kashmir between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).


1965 (second Indo-Pak War): The armed conflict broke out on August 5, 1965 over Kashmir. It was triggered when thousands of Pakistani soldiers, disguised as local insurgents, infiltrated the Indian territory across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.


The covert operation, known as 'Operation Gibraltar', aimed to destabilise the region and provoke local uprisings. India responded by launching a military counter-offensive, which escalated into a full-scale combat along the international border. The war continued until September 23, 1965, when both sides agreed to a ceasefire, brokered by the Soviet Union and the United States.


1971 (Bangladesh Liberation War): The 1971 Indo-Pak War was triggered by Pakistani military's crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and its demand for independence. India entered the war in support of the Bangladeshi independence movement, and after intense fight on both the eastern and western fronts, Pakistan's forces surrendered on December 16, 1971.


The war led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent nation.


1999 (Kargil War): The 1999 Kargil War was a high-altitude conflict between India and Pakistan, fought from May to July after Pakistani troops and terrorists occupied peaks in the Kargil sector of Jammu and Kashmir. India launched 'Operation Vijay' to reclaim the territory, supported by the Air Force's 'Operation Safed Sagar'. The war ended on July 26 with India regaining control, a day now marked as 'Kargil Vijay Diwas'.


2016 (Uri Attack): Following the terrorist attack on an Indian Army base in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, on September 18, 2016, which killed 19 soldiers, India conducted a surgical strike on September 28–29 across the LoC. The Indian Army targeted multiple terrorist launch pads in PoK, claiming significant casualties among terrorists preparing to infiltrate.


2019 (Pulwama attack): On February 26, 2019, the Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist training camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel. Using fighter jets, India targeted the camp deep inside Pakistani territory, marking the first such airstrike since the 1971 war.

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