FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of events from 11 October to 31 October 2025: The return of Israel hostages; Ireland’s new PM; the Trump roll in Asia; the heist of the century; and India Women’s Cricket.

HOSTAGE RETURN

On 13th October, after ‘Trumped-up’ efforts and execution of the agreed and signed first phase of the United States mediated 20-Point Peace Plan, all 20 living hostages were released by the terrorist Hamas. They were handed over to the Red Cross and subsequently transported home to Israel for medical check-ups, and rejoining with families. With this, there is not one living hostage under captivity, ending the 736 hostage saga, in the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza.

Recall, the hostages were taken on 7th October 2023 during that barbaric attack on Israel, by Hamas. Israel breathed in relief after two years of unbelievable agony, especially the families of the hostages-dead and alive.

However, Hamas did not fully keep its promise of handing over the bodies of the 28 dead hostages at one time. It delayed, with only 4 bodies being handed over at the start and now the count has tortuously reached 15. And tensions swelled again.

President Donald Trump arrived in Israel to receive the hostages, address Israel’s Parliament, and receive its highest civilian honour-the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honour. This, of course, is for his role in brokering the Gaza ceasefire and securing the release of Israeli hostages.

The honour is to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to Israel or to humanity. Former US Presidents, Barack Obama received the award in 2013, and Joe Biden in 2022, for promoting friendship between Israel and America and in building up Israel’s military capabilities.

The ceasefire deal moves to more treacherous grounds of-return of the bodies of the remaining dead hostages is a carry forward item- execution and further phases of the Peace Plan. Israel’s forces remain inside the boundary designated by a Yellow Line, as agreed. Any default by Hamas could result in an immediate strike by Israel. And there was indeed a strike in Gaza on the 28th October after Israel accused Hamas of killing a soldier and staging the discovery of a deceased hostage. The strike killed at least 105 people, making it the deadliest day since the ceasefire.

It’s beyond my comprehension on how anybody can take the side of Hamas in the name of Palestine in the present conflict. For e.g., Ireland’s newly elected President (she won by a Landslide), Catherine Connolly has in the past labelled Israel as a ‘Terrorist State’ and defended Hamas as ‘part of Palestine society’. She is an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions in the Gaza and probably needs to be put on ‘a program to change her mindset’ as is envisaged in the Peace-Deal with Israel. A civilisational, transformational, mindset change is require across borders – not only in Gaza.

Staying with Ireland, the 68 years old Catherine Connolly secured 63% first preference votes-a record in Irish presidential election history. She takes over from Michael Higgins who completed two terms. Irish Presidents are elected directly by the people for a seven-year term and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.

Catherine Connolly comes from a family of 14 children. Her mother died when she was nine years old, when the youngest child in the family was a one-year-old baby. Her two elder sisters stepped into the breach, spending their teenage years looking after and raising their younger siblings.

Catherine Connolly has worked as a clinical psychologist before becoming a barrister, and then entering politics. She is a passionate Irish speaker and a keen sportswoman who ran marathons and played competitive badminton. She is married to Brian McEnery-a woodwork teacher-and has two grown-up sons. The couple have been married for a ‘wood solid’ 33 years.

JAPAN: A NEW PM

In September this year, Japan was engulfed in a political crisis when its Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stepped down after less than a year in office, following two major election losses. This came a day before his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was expected to vote on whether to hold an internal leadership vote that could have forced him out. The LDP has governed Japan for most of the past seven decades, but under Ishiba it lost its majority in the Lower House for the first time in 15 years and then lost its majority in the Upper House, as well, in July, this year.

Then stepped-in Sanae Takaichi, a former government minister and TV host, and once a drummer in a heavy metal band, who announced her candidacy for the LDP Presidency, in the resulting leadership election. Her challenger was the agricultural minister in government, Shinjiro Koizumi.

In the election held on 4th October, Takaichi received 183 votes (31%) during the first round, the most of any candidate. Koizumi came in second with 164 votes (28%). As no candidate achieved a majority in the first round, a run-off election was held between Takaichi and Koizumi. Takaichi won the runoff by a 54.25% to 45.75% margin, becoming the first woman to hold the post of LDP President.

Meanwhile, Tetsuo Saito, the leader of Komeito party announced, on 10th October, that his party would break with the LDP and leave the governing coalition, citing disagreements with Takaichi’s leadership and the LDP’s handling of a recent government scandal. This led to the collapse of the 26-year-old LDP–Komeito coalition: as a result, the parliamentary election to choose Japan’s next prime minister was pushed back from 15th to 20th October.

Takaichi then replaced her coalition partner-Komeito Party-with the right-wing Japan Innovation Party, known as Ishin, led by Hirofumi Yoshimura. The leaders of both parties signed a coalition agreement on 20th October, clearing Takaichi’s path to the premiership.

At the 21st October meeting of Japan’s Parliament-the Diet-both houses nominated Takaichi to be the country’s first female prime minister. Takaichi avoided a runoff in the Lower House, garnering 237 votes against Constitutional Democratic Party leader Yoshihiko Noda’s 149. She was officially appointed Prime Minister by Emperor Naruhito in a ceremony at the Imperial Palace later that day.

Japan’s first female leader is an admirer of Britain’s conservative Prime Minister ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher, and hopes to take some leaves out of her book. In her first speech as PM, Takaichi said that defence is a priority for her country as the region experiences uncertainty with Russia, China and North Korea.

THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY

If you haven’t heard by now, the Louvre-the world’s busiest museum-was cooly robbed on Sunday, 19th October. But this wasn’t the stuff of an Ocean’s Eleven film or The Da Vinci Code, conducted in the middle of the night and avoiding laser security systems.

In a daring well-planned operation, lasting less than 10 minutes, a group of four thieves broke into the Louvre Museum, in broad daylight, within an hour of opening. They parked a truck right out front with a retractable ladder, did a smash-and-grab of the King’s Jewels, and then drove away from the centre of Paris on scooters: in what can be described as the ‘slowest escape and the one with the highest visibility’.

The four Robbers arrived with a vehicle-mounted mechanical lift to gain access to the Gallery of Apollo, leading to the first-floor, via a balcony, close to the River Seine.

Two of the thieves got inside by cutting through the window with power tools, including an angle grinder, to smash two display cases containing priceless jewels. This after threatening the guards, who evacuated the premises.

It was later revealed that one in three rooms in the area of the museum raided had no CCTV cameras. The thieves were inside for four minutes and made good their escape on two Yamaha TMax scooters promptly waiting outside.

Eight items were stolen including diadems (a jewelled headband), necklaces, ear-rings and brooches. All are from the 19th century, and once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers. A tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III; an emerald necklace and a pair of emerald earrings from Empress Marie Louise; a tiara, necklace, and single earring from the sapphire set that belonged to Queen Marie-Amelie and Queen Hortense; a brooch known as the ‘reliquary brooch’. Between them, these pieces are adorned with thousands of diamonds and other precious gemstones.

Empress Eugenie’s crown was found damaged on the escape route, apparently having been dropped during the escape. The stolen jewels are described as priceless and of immeasurable heritage value.

What will the thieves do? The jewel thieves are not going to keep them intact; they are going to break them up, melt down the valuable metal, re-cut the valuable stones and hide evidence of their crime. Crowns and diadems can easily be broken apart and sold in small parts. If the Police cannot recover the stolen jewels within a week’s time they are probably gone forever!

Let’s look at the history of similar Museum thefts. And it’s quite interesting.

In 1911, an Italian museum employee was able to make off with the Mona Lisa under his coat after lifting the painting-which was then little-known to the public-straight off the wall of a quiet gallery. It was recovered after two years and the culprit later said he was motivated by the belief the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece belonged in Italy. Fewer chances are taken with the Mona Lisa these days: the painting, one of the most renowned in the museum’s collection, hangs in a high-security glass compartment. In 1998, the Le Chemin de Sevres – a 19th century painting by Camille Corot – was stolen and has never been found. The incident prompted a massive overhaul of museum security. In November 2024, seven items of ‘great historic and heritage value’ were stolen from the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris. Only five were recovered recently. The same month, armed robbers raided the Hieron Museum in Burgundy, firing shots before escaping with millions of pounds worth of 20th century artworks.

Sometimes the truth is stranger, or in this case, funnier than fiction, and the ‘snakes & ladders were out’ on social media. There were plenty of references to Inspector Clouseau of the famous Pink Panther series, others climbed to Knives Out’s, Benoit Blanc (starring Daniel Craig), and of course, Agatha Christie’s legendary Hercule Poirot. I had Sherlock Holmes, Enola Holmes, and even James Bond, in mind, as the best fit to catch the thieves!

While thieves made merry and decamped with French Jewels former French President Nicolas Sarkozy become the first French ex-President to go to jail, and he started a five-year sentence for conspiring to fund his election campaign with money from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. His singer, songwriter, and fashion model wife, Carla Bruni, walked him down the steps leading to jail, holding his hand. Sarkozy, who was President from 2007-2012, has appealed against his jail term at La Sante prison, where he will occupy an unfashionable small cell in the jail’s isolation wing. Lots to think over!

US President Donald Trump’s on a roll, literally. He arrived in Asia for a whirlwind week of diplomacy which included a much-anticipated meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on trade-and area where tensions between the countries has been soaring.

He first landed in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur as a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) began on Sunday, 26th October.

He oversaw the signing of a ‘historic Peace Deal’ between Thailand and Vietnam on a long standing border dispute-that’s another step closer the next Nobel?

He then flew to Japan where the newly-minted Japanese PM rolled out the red carpet, promising-you said it-a Nobel nomination, and foreign investments in the US. The also signed a deal on rare earth minerals and a document heralding a new golden age of US-Japan ties. Sanae Takaichi basked in Trump’s sunshine and it was a show of white teeth and cryptic smiles all over.

In the last leg, finally Trump met Xi Jinping in the City of Busan, South Korea – a first in over 5 years. Trump declared that the US’ dispute with China over the supply of rare earths had been settled, China would resume buying US soybeans, and the US would reduce its tariffs on China. He said President Xi Jinping had agreed to work ‘very hard’ to prevent the production of the synthetic opioid fentanyl – blamed for many American deaths. And in exchange the US would reduce fentanyl-linked tariffs from 20% to 10%, lowering China’s overall tariff burden from 57% to 47%.

WATER WORLD

Cyclone Montha and Hurricane Melissa occupied space and news in the sky.

Rains before, during, and after Montha got into the skin of people living in Tamil Nadu-off the Bay of Bengal- especially the capital Chennai. Despite promises of usefully using INR 4000 crore, many parts of the city went underwater and people were left searching for the money that went down the drain.

Not to be left unnoticed, Hurricane Melissa ripped a path of destruction in the Caribbean storming through Jamaica after making landfall as one of the most powerful and devastating hurricanes on record. It lashed the Island nation with brutal winds- at speeds of about 200km per hour-and torrential rain before taking aim at Cuba.

INDIA’s WOMEN

India stunned title holders, Australia, in a record run-chase to reach the final of the 13 edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup. The One Day International (ODI), Cricket World Cup is being hosted jointly by India and Sri Lanka. It is India’s fourth time hosting -after the 1978, 1997, and 2013 editions- and Sri Lanka’s first. The tournament began on 30th September and will close on 2nd November.

In the opening ceremony, Bollywood singer Shreya Ghoshal performed the official World Cup anthem, ‘Bring it Home’ and it looks like India’s women have taken the theme song seriously. India hopes to dance to it on 2nd November!

Set 339 runs to win after a wonderful century from Australia’s opener Phoebe Litchfield, India’s women cooked their nerves well in a mammoth pursuit, with Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur firing the way with a 167-run stand. This game in Navi Mumbai will go down as an instant classic and with the defending champions dumped out, there will be a new name on this year’s trophy.

Harmanpreet fell for 89, with 113 runs still needed, but Rodrigues remained, reaching her hundred from 115 balls, and she was there up to the very end as the highest successful chase in women’s ODI history was achieved with nine balls to spare.

This will be the first Women’s World Cup final to not feature either Australia or England, as India will face South Africa on Sunday, 2nd November, at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai.

More thrilling stories playing-out in the weeks ahead. Watch the world with Freewheeling.

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of events from 16 September to 26 September 2025: Rumblings of a Palestine State; Trump at the UN; more Tariffs on India; Leprosy concerns; and a cure for Huntington’s Disease.

Rumblings

France’s President Macron is clearly off the grid, saying, “The recognition of a Palestinian State is the best way to isolate Hamas”. Well, without anyone asking, that was what Israel did- albeit in a different way-in the year 2005. It unilaterally, and with the best intentions, wholly vacated the Gaza Strip, even going to the depth of digging up graves of buried Israelis and shifting them to mainland Israel. It left behind flourishing businesses, especially modern Green Houses, which were destroyed and parts cannibalised for making and sending rockets into Israel, in an endless cycle of violence. The Palestinians in the Gaza Strip voted for Hamas to rule them, and look what’s happened. Instead, Macron needs to be schooled-maybe even slapped on the face by his once-upon-a-time Teacher wife, to say, “Release the 48 hostages, give-up arms, show us you can peacefully co-exist alongside Israel, and we’ll think about recognising or helping you establish a peace-loving Palestine State”. Some sense does prevail in the world with countries such as Singapore, Japan, New Zealand saying exactly that. I wished India, which recognised Palestine way back in the 1980s, would re-consider and ‘de-recognise’, on similar lines. Diplomacy is a tough task; some things cannot be undone?
Some States are formed on pure love; some on unalloyed hatred.

US President Donald Trump stormed the United Nations (UN) with a commonsensical, blunt speech, after he and wife Melania Trump were almost knocked off an Escalator, which suddenly stopped working. And thanks to their great fitness levels, they stood standing. Trump used the Escalator malfunction to talk about the ineffectiveness of the UN in preventing wars. He boasted of having stopped seven wars and it being the UN’s job to stop wars, it was nowhere in sight, did not even call him to ask; only writing letters of condemnation. And not paying attention to the matter.

He flung Climate Change out of the Sky back onto Planet Earth, saying the ‘Go Green’ initiative is the biggest cheat and fake thing happening in the world: with all the noisy windmills and acres of solar panels stifling real green vegetation. Become friends with coal- fall in love with it – gas, and oil and use these resources to grow and develop. And he had a word on Immigration that each country should safeguard its borders – else they will find themselves heading to hell. What with people who have nothing to do with your culture and faith entering your country – built on the shoulders, the blood, sweat, and tears of your forefathers (wish Churchill was around – he would have imposed a 100% tariff on stealing his famous lines)? He rambled on to say, the jails of Germany, Austria, and beautiful Switzerland are filled with immigrants, who refuse to follow your rules!

The load on India cannot get heavier. Donald Trump, with his Bull-in-China-Shop attitude, imposed at $100,000 fee per H1 B Visa for ‘talent’ coming into the US, from India. That works out to about ₹89 Lakhs. Initially, it was thought that it would apply annually and to everyone, but then it was said to be a one-time fee and only for the newcomers. Better India keeps its good stuff within its borders. And why did India not think of holding its great talent pool, incubated in its superb Institutions, instead of letting them walk to America? Do we need a Trump to show us what is wrong with our systems?

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the field of cinema, given by the Government of India and presented annually at the National Film Awards. The recipient is honoured for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema and is selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000. It is named after Dadasaheb Phalke, who is regarded as the father of Indian cinema. He directed India’s first full-length feature film, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ in the year 1913.

This year, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award Selection Committee selected Malayalam Actor Mohanlal Viswanathan, 65, for the Award. Mohanlal is a legendary actor, director, and producer, who with his unmatched talent, versatility, and relentless hard work has set a golden standard in Indian film history. The Award was presented at the 71st National Film Awards ceremony on 23 September 2025.

Mohanlal predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, and has also occasionally appeared in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. He has a prolific career spanning over four decades, during which he has acted in more than 400 films. The Government honoured him with Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2019, Mohanlal was named as one of ‘the men who changed the face of the Indian Cinema’ by CNN.

A little known fact is, he is married to famous Tamil Actor and Filmmaker K Balaji’s daughter Suchitra. The couple have two children.

Leprosy

The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) latest update, which recorded nearly 182,815 new Leprosy cases world-wide rings alarm bells. A tails-up approach is required. India reported 107,851 of these, a 59% share of the world’s new cases. 20 years earlier, the global tally stood at 451,325 and India’s share then was even more, at 81 %, with 367,143 cases.

Leprosy is a Neglected Tropical Disease, which still occurs in more than 120 countries with about 200,000 cases reported every year. As per Year 2023 data, Brazil, India, and Indonesia continue to report over 10,000 new cases, every year.

Leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by a Bacteria, Mycobacterium Leprae, which affects the skin and peripheral nerves (nerves and ganglia which lie outside the Brain and Spinal Cord – the Central Nervous System), mucosa of the upper respiratory tract, and eyes. If left untreated it may cause progressive and permanent disabilities.

Transmission is via droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with untreated people having the disease. It does not spread through casual contact such as shaking hands, hugging, sharing meals or sitting next to an affected person. Leprosy is curable with Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT). And the best part is, the person stops transmitting upon initiation of treatment.

Leprosy manifests itself through skin lesions and enlargement of the peripheral nerves. Cardinal signs are, definite loss of sensation in a pale or reddish skin patch, thickened peripheral nerves with loss of sensation or weakness of muscles supplied by that nerve. And by microscopic detection of the bacilli is a slit skin smear.

India has set itself a target of year 2027 for eradication of Leprosy through The National Leprosy Eradication Programme (NLEP). The aim is to achieve zero transmission, zero disability, and zero discrimination by 2027.

Leprosy was declared a Notifiable Disease in 2025. Any disease that is required as per law to be reported to the Public Health Authorities is a Notifiable Disease. Besides Leprosy, eleven other notifiable diseases in India are: Cholera; Diphtheria; Encephalitis; Plague; Malaria; Measles; Hepatitis A, B, C, and E; Meningitis; Dengue; Tuberculosis; and AIDS.

Huntington’s Disease

One of the most devastating diseases in the world, Huntington’s Disease, has been successfully treated for the first time, marking a break-through milestone in medicine. It is a genetic disease-hence hereditary-runs through families, and is known for killing brain cells. The symptoms resemble a combination of dementia, Parkinson’s, and motor neuron disease.

The disease gets its name from George Huntington, an American physician who contributed a classic, clinical description of the disease. We do not get to know about a lot many things until someone catches it by the collar and effectively pins it down by an understandable description. By George, Huntington did just that!

He described this condition in the first of only two scientific papers he ever wrote in 1872, when he was just 22, a year after receiving his medical degree from Columbia University in New York. It is said that, “In the history of medicine, there are few instances in which a disease has been more accurately, more graphically or more briefly described.”

It is a throughly wretched disease, characterised by the jerky movements of the sufferers. The first symptoms of Huntington’s disease appear in your thirties or forties, and progresses without control leading to senility and premature death within two decades of its onset.

Huntington’s Disease is because of a gene, gone rouge-one mutation in the HTT gene-which produces a protein called huntingtin. The mutation turns the gene into a ’neuron-killer’.

The huntingtin protein is one of the most complex proteins in the human body, and we have no idea what it is actually for. Somebody will hunt it down, one day!

In the United Kingdom, Huntington’s Disease Centre Professor Sarah Tabrizi spoke after the disease had been successfully treated for the first time. The Research Team said the data showed that the disease slowed by 75% in patients. The decline patients usually expected in one year would ultimately take four years after treatment, giving patients decades of a ‘good quality’ of life.

The new treatment is a type of gene therapy given within 12 to 18 hours of a delicate brain injury. It uses cutting-edge genetic medicine combining gene therapy and ‘gene silencing’ technologies. It starts with a safe virus that has been altered to contain a specially designed sequence of DNA. The virus then acts like a microscopic postman – delivering the new piece of DNA inside brain cells, where it becomes active. This leads to lower levels of mutant huntingtin in the brain. In the new treatment there’s a 50% chance that one will inherit the altered gene. The future looks bright and promising.

More healthy stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay watchful with Freewheeling.

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the storyline, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run of events from 15 August 2025 to 31 August 2025: Trump & Putin; Trump & Europe; India’s dogs; Israel goes all-out; Putin-Modi-Xi axis.

Trump-Putin: Alaska Stays Cold

United Sates President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met across the Bering Strait in Alaska – almost a Putin swag walk from Russia. A reminder that that America and Russia are so awfully close – just a Strait away.

The Summit was broadcasted as a vital step towards peace in Ukraine and the blue background banner of the Trump-Putin Press briefing had the title, ‘Pursuing Peace’.

Trump waited for Putin on the red carpet, clapped a ‘welcome back to the world stage’ message, and shook hands before Putin accepted a lift in Trump’s armoured Presidential Limousine. Ever since Russia’s war on Ukraine, Putin had almost become a pariah- sanctioned and shunned by the West. And this was probably his comeback moment. That broad laugh on the back-seat of The Beast said it all.

There was no cease fire announced on the Russia-Ukraine War and the talks ended sooner than expected with Putin gathering all his English and telling Trump, ‘Next time in Moscow’. In Trump parlance, “There were many points that we agreed on” and adding that great progress had been made in an extremely productive meeting, ending with “We didn’t get there”.

The wide grins, firm hand-shakes, and B2 Stealth Bombers ‘guarding Putin’s head’ were the key takeaways. I reckon tomorrow is another day!

Back to School

Following the Alaska Summit, Trump called over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House for a chat on the next steps. Zelensky needed armour and several European leaders who also flew to Washington to attend the meeting provided exactly that. The scene of all of them seated in the Oval Office was much like a School principal meeting with his School Teachers, was a memorable photo – one that would hang around for a long time to come. Peace or no-peace.

Given his trenchant previous visit to the Oval Office in February, the Ukrainian President went to considerable lengths to charm his American host – including a flurry of six ‘thank yous’ within the first few minutes of the meeting. This time, Zelenksy was wearing a dark suit rather than his traditional military garb, which caused Trump to quip, “all dressed up today”.

Again, nothing significant was achieved beyond the Super Star gathering of Heads of European Countries. There was no concrete commitments to security guarantees or steps towards a peace deal. Trump told Zelensky the US would help guarantee Ukraine’s security in any deal to end the war, without specifying the extent of any assistance. Trump did not offer US boots on the ground.

The Next would probably be a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelensky to find that elusive, shielded cease fire button. President Donald Trump said he thought it’d be better if President Zelensky and Russian President Putin meet without him. That sure is Great Thinking.

Israel

In the Israel-Hamas War, Israel has scaled-up the offensive and is going all-out in seizing control of Gaza City and hoping to rescue the remaining 48 hostages in the process. Preparations are underway to fully capture Gaza’s biggest city after nearly two years of war, despite warnings the campaign will have disastrous and unbearable consequences for Palestinians in the besieged region.

The bodies of two hostages, Ilan Weiss and Idan Shtivi, who were killed in the 7 October 2023 savagery by Hamas, have been recovered on 29th August. Initially, Idan Shtivi could not be identified, but after analysis at Israel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine, it was confirmed. Weiss’ wife and daughter were kidnapped on 7th October, but released during the first ceasefire in November 2023.

Israel’s pain grows every day.

India’s Dogs

In recent times, India’s Supreme Court has been barking louder than ever before. And what better opportunity when the issue of stray street dogs, prowling the streets of New Delhi and The National Capital Region, stands before it on all legs! It ordered all of them to be caught and housed in Dog Shelters. Stories of children and all kinds of people being attacked by street dogs, blood flowing on the streets, and the scare of Rabies was the sound in the air.

The Dog-lovers, instead of putting their tails between their legs, began squealing and fighting for the right of dogs to bite and to be fed.

This is a comprehensive failure of the administration, which should have kept the dogs under leash. In India, everything goes to the Supremes. What next, I go to court on a sewage overflow?

Then in a second coming, the Supreme Court modified its previous Order directing that all healthy stray dogs be sterilised, vaccinated, and returned to their original locations, in line with the Animal Birth Control Rules. Rabid or aggressive dogs, however, are to be kept in separate facilities. The court also ‘nudged’ the creation of feeding areas for dogs in each ward.

That sure was a denouement. Long live the dog in the Country of the Dogs?

India’s Honest Elections

India’s Leader of the Opposition decided that he cannot win elections without fraud and challenged the Election Commission of India on its cleanliness. A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being conducted in the State of Bihar -ahead of Legislative Elections in November this year. And of course, it was challenged in the Supremes, which barked rightly and said ‘go ahead’. And it said that it’s actually an inclusive exercise. The opposition called it ‘vote dacoity’ and that the exercise is being used to manipulate the vote list in favour of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

If indeed that was the case, then how did the BJP fall short of a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, and how did the Opposition clean-sweep some States? Tamil Nadu, for example!

The SIR Electoral Roll is a unique voter list verification process, and its importance is ensuring accurate, fraud-free elections through comprehensive voter validation. The process is still ongoing, with the first draft already published.

In the first findings, about 22 lakh names have been marked as deceased, 7 lakh voters were found registered in more than one place, and about 35 lakh people were untraceable or had permanently moved away.

Such is the scale of fraud: certainly this needs to be brought under control and voter data updated to make elections more accurate and meaningful.

Tariffs and India

US tariffs of 50% -among the highest in the world -on goods from India kicked-in from Wednesday, 27 August, as Donald Trump sought to punish India for buying Russian oil and weapons.

India shrugged-off the Trump Tariff mania and cooly continued its purchases, calling the tariffs unfair and vowing to choose the best deal on buying oil to protect its people. But fears lurk that exports and growth could suffer with India trying to improve its ‘world’s fifth largest economy’ status. The US was, until recently, India’s largest trading partner.

The tariff setback has sent India into (fire) fighting mode, with an aggressive positive stance.

Earlier this month, India’s Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi promised to cut taxes to mitigate the impact of the tariffs, which will disrupt millions of livelihoods across the country’s export-driven industries that supply everything from clothes to diamonds and shrimp to American consumers. He used his 15th August Independence Day Address, from the ramparts of Delhi’s Red Fort, to drive home confidence and healthy fight-back measures.

PM Modi promised Next-Generation Goods & Service Tax (GST) reforms by Diwali-a Diwali gift in the form of a massive tax bonanza- which will reduce taxes on daily essentials, benefiting MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Scale), local vendors, and consumers, while simultaneously stimulating economic growth and creating a more efficient, people-friendly economy. Modi also urged small shop owners and businesses to put up boards of ‘Swadeshi’ or ‘Made in India’ outside their stores. “We should become self-reliant-not out of desperation, but out of pride,” he said. “Economic selfishness is on the rise globally, and we mustn’t sit and cry about our difficulties, we must rise above and not allow others to hold us in their clutches.”

A Task Force for Next-Generation Reforms will be formed, which will evaluate all current laws, rules, and procedures related to economic activities. The Task Force will work within a set timeline to: reduce compliance costs for startups, MSMEs, and entrepreneurs; provide freedom from fear of arbitrary legal actions and ensure laws are streamlined for ease of doing business.

Over the past years, India has undertaken a historic wave of reforms, abolishing over 40,000 unnecessary compliances, and repealing more than 1,500 outdated laws. Dozens of other laws were simplified in Parliament. In the recent session alone, over 280 provisions were removed, making governance simpler and more accessible to the people.

A High-Powered Demography Mission will be launched aimed at ensuring India’s unity, integrity, and security, tackling both strategic and social challenges.

India will launch ‘Made in India’ semiconductor chips by the end of 2025, reflecting the nation’s growing strength in critical technology sectors.

And in a grande finale rebuff to Trump’s flagrant behaviour, PM Modi visited China to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). The meeting was in China’s port city of Tianjin. Putin called Modi his ‘dear friend’ and gave him a lift in his armoured limousine. Lots of armoured lifts and rides these days!

China and India are the biggest buyers of crude oil from Russia. And despite Trump, there is no sign that India or China are going to stop buying cheap oil, anytime soon.

PM Modi welcomed recent efforts aimed at stopping the war in Ukraine, which he hoped would end as soon as possible. And reaffirmed his support for a peaceful settlement during a telephone conversation with Ukraine’s President Zelensky.

Well, if PM Modi can magically bring about a ceasefire, literally out of the Magician’s Turban, he will give Trump a run for his Nobel Peace Prize ‘case-building’.

More wagging and biting stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay solid with Freewheeling.

FREEWHEELING

About: A break free commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world. Any comments beyond the story, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run from 23 April 2025 to 21 May 2025. Superpower India; a New Pope; Old Wars; Eurovision, and the Met Gala 2025.

India: Pahalgam Terror

It was a beautiful, quiet Tuesday afternoon on 22 April 2025, cool breeze in the air, in India’s ‘mini Switzerland’, Baisaran Valley, Pahalgam, about 95 km east of Srinagar in India’s Jammu & Kashmir State. It was a full-blown tourist season. Hundreds had flocked to the accessible-by-foot-only spot, either on foot or climbing-up a pony for a ride. Honeymooning couples were doing Instagram reels, and children were frolicking on the lush green grass.

Suddenly, a group of gun-wielding and body-camera mounted Islamic (as identified later) terrorists, wearing Army fatigues, emerged from the dense pine forests surrounding the scenic spot. They approached the group of unsuspecting tourists and started firing indiscriminately, triggering fear and confusion. The men folk were rounded up: made to stand in a line, names asked, and their pants pulled down (to check for circumcision). They were told to recite the Kalma (a formal declaration of Islamic faith) and when they couldn’t, proving they were not Muslim, and that they were Hindu, the men were shot dead at point-bank range, leaving out the women. Recounted a woman survivor, after the killing of her husband she asked the attackers to kill her too. One of them responded -“I won’t kill you. Go tell this to Modi”.

By the time the Police/Army arrived the terrorists had vanished. It was about 20 minutes of unalloyed mayhem: one of the bloodiest Islamist attacks on Hindus in India- 26 men killed in cold blood. The Resistance Front, an affiliate of the Pakistan-based and sponsored, Laskhar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the bloody attack.

India was quick of the retaliatory-block spewing a volley of ‘potential energy’ loaded measures to strangulate and bring Pakistan to book. The Indus Water Treaty (IWT)-said to be unfair to India from the beginning-signed in 1960 was suspended indefinitely; Pakistan’s Diplomatic mission in India was downgraded reducing the level of official engagement; Pakistan’s military diplomats and Intelligence Officials declared as persona non grata; the Wagah-Attari Border was closed and the ceremonial beating the retreat parade was suspended; all currently valid Pakistan visas were revoked and Pakistanis asked to leave India within 24 hours; Indian airspace was closed for Pakistani commercial aircraft; trade ties snapped; shipping ties suspended; postal ties kept at abeyance; and a crackdown was launched on Pakistani origin digital and broadcast content.

The World Bank-brokered IWT allocates the waters of 6 rivers in the Indus Basin. India controls the eastern rivers (Sutlej, Beas, Ravi) with unrestricted use, while Pakistan has primary rights over the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab), though India can use them for non-consumptive purposes like hydropower. With the suspension of the IWP, Pakistan’s Punjab and Sindh provinces, key agricultural hubs, would face severe water shortages followed by reduced crop yields, food insecurity, and economic losses. The Wagah border crossing, near Amritsar (India) and Lahore (Pakistan), is a key trade and cultural link, famous for its daily flag-lowering ceremony. Closing the vital trade route will particularly impact trade in agricultural products and cement.

Meanwhile, India prepared for kinetic action and launched a very appropriately named ‘Operation Sindoor’. Sindoor is the vermilion, married Hindu women wear on the forehead, near the hairline, to signify that they are married.

Operation Sindoor: India Rises

On 7 May 2025, in a focused, measured, and non-escalatory manner, India’s Armed Forces struck nine places of Terrorist infrastructure-indoctrination, training and logistics facilities-inside Pakistan. Military facilities of Pakistan were deliberately not targeted with India demonstrating superb restraint in selection of targets and method of execution in its first kinetic response to the barbaric terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

About 100 terrorists were smoked out of their dens and killed. But this was just the beginning. Pakistan vowed revenge, on the grounds that it has been attacked. The question of what will Pakistan attack in India was the ‘Elephant In The Room’ – with India having ‘no terror bases to boast’.

India then sent another strong and significant message by holding a Press Briefing to disseminate outcomes of the action by the Armed Forces. Two lady Officers, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, along with the Foreign Secretary, Vikram Misri engaged with the media. The women took the lead, sharing details of the military’s precision strikes on terror targets in Pakistan. And they became instant hits on social media. It was a spectacular performance and my chest swelled with pride.

The next day, on 8th May, Pakistan retaliated with a massive drone swarm attack across India’s western states. India’s multi-layered air defence network-domestically built and augmented by Israeli and Russian systems-effortlessly neutralised nearly all of them. With this unwarranted attack, Pakistan had crossed a line. Should not they fight the terrorists rather than India? And Pakistan Army Officers were seen attending the funerals of the dead terrorists! Does India need more evidence of Pakistan’s complicity?

Then on 9th May, India took the fight to Pakistan, with additional strikes on six Pakistani military airbases and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) coordination hubs.

Meanwhile, India went on a war mode waking up its territorial forces and doing mock war drills across major cities. It declared that any further attack will be treated as an ‘Act of War’ and the response will be swift and brutal. India’s Prime Minister gave the Army Forces a free-hand to strike Pakistan at a time and place of their choosing. The Navy- targeting Karachi-the Army and the Air Force- other parts of Pakistan- were fully mobilised to beat the living daylights of Pakistan.

India not only defended its own airspace with a robust, layered architecture, but also in successfully penetrating the Chinese-made systems fielded by Pakistan. It’s a reminder that defence is not about what you buy—it’s about what you integrate. And after differentiation, India has integrated well.

On 10th May, an overwhelmed and bewildered Pakistan pleaded for a temporary halt in firing, which India thoughtfully accepted. India did not call it a ceasefire: the military referred to it as a ‘stoppage of firing’-a semantic but deliberate choice that reinforced its strategic control of the situation. Then, India declared that any further talks with Pakistan will be only on two issues: (1) Terror, and (2) the return of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK) to India.

After just four days of calibrated military action and precision strikes, it was objectively conclusive that India achieved a massive victory. Operation Sindoor met and exceeded its strategic aims-destroying terrorist infrastructure, demonstrating military superiority, restoring deterrence, and unveiling a new national security doctrine. This was not a symbolic force. It was decisive power, clearly applied.

India handled this crisis without seeking international mediation. It enforced a doctrine on sovereign terms, using sovereign means. And it was not about occupation or regime change. It was a limited war executed for specific objectives.

Initially, I was disappointed by the quick ‘stoppage of firing’. I thought that India should have gone deeper, for the kill, ‘finishing Pakistan’ and retaking POK. But then, strategic success isn’t about the scale of destruction-it’s about achieving the desired political effect. India was not fighting for vengeance. It was fighting for deterrence. And it worked.

India’s restraint cannot be seen as weakness: it is evolved maturity. It imposed costs, redefined thresholds, and retained escalation dominance. India didn’t just respond to an attack. It changed the strategic equation. India also showcased ‘Made in India’ weaponry, which performance exceeded expectations (and killed the doubting Thomases). The Indian armed forces, under the leadership of veteran commanders, employed a powerful combination of air strikes, drone warfare, cold intimidation by a ready-to-strike Nadu, and ground intelligence to ensure maximum impact with minimal collateral damage.

In an age where many modern wars spiral into open-ended occupations, ‘forever wars’ or political confusion, Operation Sindoor stands apart. This was a demonstration of disciplined military strategy: clear goals, aligned ways and means, and adaptive execution in the face of unpredictable escalation-that too will a nuclear Power. India absorbed a blow, defined its objective, and achieved it—all within a contained timeframe. That kind of clarity is rare in modern war. The world could learn.

India showcased its ability to strike any target in Pakistan at will—terror sites, drone coordination hubs, even airbases. Meanwhile, Pakistan was unable to penetrate a single defended area inside India. That is not parity. That is overwhelming superiority. And that is how real deterrence is established.

Once the dust and the smoke settled, it was apparent that Pakistan had suffered Himalayan losses, and India had probably struck its nuclear bases, which unleashed a radioactive fear causing them to beg for an immediate ‘stoppage of firing’.

India easily won the war, but Pakistan made some ground in establishing a false narrative – which was lapped by foreign media and a few inside India- about Indian jets being downed, despite the Indian Air Force declaring that all Pilots returned safety to their respective bases.

The world with that deer-caught-in the headlights look woke up to a different India. Many countries tried to down-play India’s surgical war victory. And thanks to Pakistan’s devilish response, India got a fabulous opportunity to test its strategies, indigenous weapon systems, intelligence gathering and modern warfare techniques. Pakistan just woke up a sleeping Giant. And it’s never going to be the same again.

Other Wars

On 13th May, the terrorist Hamas released the last known living American Hostage in Gaza, Elan Alexander, 21, ending an 18 month ordeal that began on 7 October 2023. This decision by Hamas coincided with US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East. Probably to please him?

A native of New Jersey, Alexander was serving in the Israeli military near the Gaza border when he was abducted by Hamas. With this release, there are still 58 hostages out there. And Israel has decided to capture and fully control the Gaza Strip by mounting an unprecedented attack with the goal of ‘total victory’, to end the War.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Authority Leader of the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas unloaded on Hamas, yelling, “Sons of dogs—hand over the hostages!” In a rare public rebuke, Abbas demands Hamas release captives, disarm, and cede control of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. He also slammed Hamas for giving Israel the excuse to destroy Gaza and warned of a new Nakba (ethnic cleansing of Palestine Arabs).

In the Russia-Ukraine war, both countries, goaded by the US President, are struggling to meet to find peace and end the war. A cease-fire hangs in the air, but the tough customer that Russia is, it would probably be on its terms.

Habemus Papam! We Have a Pope

On 7 May 2025, under the domed ceiling of the Michelangelo painted Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City, 133 Cardinals gathered to vote and elect the Catholic Church’s 267th Pope. Of the 135 eligible Cardinals, two-from Spain and Kenya-could not attend due to health reasons. 89 votes was required to obtain the two-thirds majority to elect a new Pope.

Once inside the Chapel, each one of the Cardinals took an oath of secrecy with one hand resting on a copy of the Gospel. This precludes them from ever sharing details of how the new Pope was elected.

Since the Conclave began in the afternoon, on Day One, only one set of Ballot Papers was distributed to the Cardinals, which ended-up in a black smoke off the Chimney of the Sistine Chapel. The morning session of Day Two began with two ballots and once again black smoke emerged signifying that no Pope was elected – this after three rounds. Then after lunch, after the fourth round of voting white smoke appeared in the evening, signifying the election of a new Pope. Habemus Papam. That was awfully quick!

Then it was announced that the 69 years old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, accepting to be Pope, and choosing the name of Leo XIV would be the next Pope – the first American Pope. Keeping with tradition, the new Pope stepped onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica and greeted the world with the blessing, ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the City-of Rome-and the World) followed by a message in Latin and Spanish.

The new Pope-known as Bob to his friends- also the new Bishop of Rome – was born on 14 September 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martinez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martin and John Joseph.

Prevost grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, studied and earned a Degree in Mathematics at the Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He also studied Philosophy. In August 1981 he took his solemn vows and went on to receive his theological education-a Diploma-at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. At the age of 27, he was sent to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquina, where he was ordained a priest on June 1982. Prevost obtained his licentiate in 1984 and thereafter spent decades as a missionary. He speaks multiple languages and plays amateur tennis besides reading, walking, and travelling-to new and diverse places.

Prevost spent 20 years in Peru, where he is a naturalised citizen and served as a Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2015 to 2023. He is a dual citizen of the US and Peru.

The late Pope Francis made him an Archbishop in January 2023 and created him a Cardinal in September that year, assigning him the Diaconate of Saint Monica, which he officially took possession of in January 2024.

The choice of regnal name aligns him with a lineage of Pope known for strong leadership and doctrinal clarity.

The newly-minted Pope looks fresh and full of energy, and I’m hoping he spreads the right Word across the world.

Music and Gala

Austrian Singer Johannes Pietsch (stage name JJ), 24, won the 69th Eurovision Song Contest held in Basel, Switzerland on 17 May 2025, Saturday with the song ‘Wasted Love’, which features operatic, multi-octave vocals with a techno touch, coming from JJ’s classical music training. JJ said that his song is about failed romance conveying the message that ‘love is the strongest force on planet Earth, and love persevered’. He is the first Eurovision winner with Filipino ancestry, and to be identified as homosexual.

Israeli musician and pop music singer Yuval Raphael, 24, was placed second for the song, ‘New Day Will Rise’, but topped the Eurovision Public Vote. Her performance was marred by tensions over Israel’s participation amid its ongoing conflict in Gaza. Over the past year the European Broadcasting Union, which conducts the Eurovision, steadfastly refused any and all calls for Israel to be barred from the competition.

Fashion’s biggest night out, The 2025 Met Gala was held on 5 May 2025 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, United States, with the theme, ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’ focussing on black dandyism and its various iterations. The dress code of, ‘Tailored for You’ centred on menswear challenged designers to reinterpret tailoring traditions for their female clients. It sought to examine the importance of clothing and style to the formation of black identities in the Atlantic diaspora.

Celebrities included Zendaya, Demi Moore, Diana Ross, Rihanna (showing off her third baby bump), Colman Domingo, Formula One Star Sir Lewis Hamilton, Pharrell Williams, Dapper Dan, Kylie Jenner, Halle Berry (in a stunning sheer mermaid gown with an endlessly plunging neckline and strategically placed stripes), Anne Hathaway, Dua Lipa, Gigi Hadid, Kim Kardashian, Cynthia Erivo, Cardi B, Pop legend Madonna (in a cream tuxedo and cigar combo)… to list a few. Punjabi musician Diljit Dosanjh, in a first appearance, emulated an early Indian dandy of the 20th century. Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan walked in with a cane and statement jewellery hugging his neck.

A slick array of blazers, pants, and ties abounded. Whether shorts suits formal tailcoats, or vests worn without jackets, suiting dominated the night in all different forms and iterations. Zendaya’s Louis Vuitton three-piece cream suit and wide-brimmed hat was a standout tailored look. A few gowns and skirt looks also stole the show. A memorable one was American rapper Andre Lauren Benjamin (Andre 3000) showing-up with a black and white piano strung to his back and a black trash bag as a purse.

Overall, it proved to be one of the most stylish, memorable Met Gala carpets in history.

The most popular star was a 28-year-old debutant, Lalisa Manoban, K-pop star Lisa, best known for her stint with the band ‘Blackpink’ who ruled the roost, with a staggering USD 21.3 million in Media Impact Value (MIV). This means that her red carpet appearance at the Gala earned her USD21.3 million through just social media.

Lisa appeared dressed in a Louis Vuitton (Lisa is Global Ambassador for the brand) outfit, a black bodysuit with an eyelet long-sleeved jacket over the top. She paired the bodysuit with a pearl and gold waist chain, a pair of Vuitton branded tights and a black and white bowler bag. Lisa faced some backlash for featuring American civil rights activist Rosa Park’s face on her underwear. But the controversy did help Lisa trend on social media for a considerable amount of time, potentially leading to her topping the Power Rankings this year.

More stylishly tailored and precision stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Freely wear Freewheeling.

FREEWHEELING

About: A footloose commentary on events on our Planet, anchored on the news of the world, garnished with humour. Any comments beyond the story, are entirely mine, without prejudice -take it or leave it. This is a run from January 2025 to 13 March 2025.

It looks like the New Year 2025 had just begun, and we are already in the middle of March, moving at the speed of light, trying to spy Einstein on the stands. It appears that Elon Musk (and his little son) is the only person living on the Planet, and at some distance is Trump trying to find his space. Suddenly, Elon’s Starlink is already rocketing into India, riding with Jio (Hello Reliance) and Airtel (Hello Bharti) linking up in mysterious ways to space the air waves in this part of the world.

The United States (US) President Donald Trump began his new term with a big-bang, giving an awfully blunt, straight-talking, commencement of presidency address. His disruptive ideas had everybody in a swoon-deeply shaken and stirred: deporting illegals in America to all parts of the world in handsome chains; throwing tariffs around like hitting balls of various shapes out of the ground; boxing with Ukraine’s President in the White House, pushing Ukraine to the red corner; and making love to Russia’s President Putin (who surely accepted the advances and smiled like a Cheshire cat). Trump’s Vice-President, Vance sent Europe scurrying to do things it thought it could never do-but is the best for it -and had it fuming through every available nostril.

Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister earned a great negotiator medal in the US’ White House; hugged France’s Macron-too tight for Brigette-in France; and found a new winning streak in State Elections in India. Talk about the Modi magic rising-up again. The comeback of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) in Delhi was after 27 years and people hope to see more stars in clearer skies, and breathe longer with cleaner air while imbibing the ‘spirits’ of Scotland & Ireland. Last heard, India’s PM was in Mauritius adorning himself with yet another Highest Award medal. I reckon, the 56-inch chest can hold…and perhaps is growing wider, to match India’s GDP.

Israel saw many of its hostages, held by the barbaric terrorists Hamas, released in bits and pieces in a ceasefire that kicked-in, in January and seems to be holding. The large-scale fighting is off the hook, while the small-scale surgical strikes keeps the fire burning. Trump issued yet another ultimatum to release all the hostages or face the wrath of Israel. The bad guys have been holding Israel to ransom for almost two years and Israel is pregnant with revenge. Rightfully so.

I say, one state of Israel is the best solution-from the River to the Sea-with its people digging their heels, living in the land that was always their homeland. Think about the biblical Moses-the promised land and the Ten Commandments; Samson- strength in the hair; David- sling-shot Goliath; Solomon -oozing wisdom…and many others. So much to look up to! I wish every country in the world would stand-up and scream, ‘Release the hostages now-bring them Home’ or forget we can do any kind of business with you.

After some spanking in America and hot desert talk in Saudi Arabia, Ukraine has agreed to a cool 30 days cease-fire with Russia. And Russia is still cogitating over it-eyeing more land and sea? Hope to see Ukraine’s President wearing a nice suit, soon. And America gleaming with rare-earth metals on its chest. Else, the laughs are on Ukraine?

With the United Nations loosing all its teeth (did it have any at all?) and becoming redundant in these war spring times, we need a make-over. If I were Russia, I would say, disband NATO and yell at Europe to find other means of safeguarding themselves: how about learning some self-defence. And we are always ’near-by’, across the Border, to lend a helping hand and offer a ‘Bear Hug’. Ask India if you have any doubts!

The world’s largest gathering of people in one place, the Maha Kumbh Mela happened in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, and other upstream and downstream places on the River Ganges between 13 January and 26 February 2025. The Mela was at the Triveni Sangam-the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna, and mythical Saraswati rivers, after a gap of about 144 years due to a rare celestial alignment, making it a once-in-a-lifetime event for Hindus all over the world. Believers swelled the banks, and it was a sight of humanity, to behold, with visitors of one 660 million making the pilgrimage. The world is surely a cleaner place-in many dimensions-what with past mistakes and sins of life cleansed with a holy dip in the holy Ganges. Special cleansing bacteria took care of the rest, claimed some scientists.

In India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu, a Russian name wearing Chief Minister created havoc on learning a third language. Never mind Russian, he thought in Tamil and fumbled in ecstasy in English. His Members of Parliament rocked Parliament, black & red, on a perceived insult and extracted an apology from the Centre’s Education Minister, while quietly worshipping (and building statues for) a man who called the Tamil language barbaric; unfit even to earn beggar wages; and encouraged everyone to talk to their maids in English. And advocated that at least Tamil Nadu remains forever a British State. Caught in the headlights are the kids who dream of learning three languages to improve their cognitive and learning abilities: says the New Education Policy of India. Early in the year, the Russian name Chief Minister claimed that the technology of smelting Iron was developed in Tamil Nadu about 5,300 years ago. The Iron Age just got older. Other claims have rusted. Wonder, who will come out with more shine!

The Oscars -the 97th Academy Awards- was staged in March 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, US. The film ‘Anora’ won a leading five awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included ‘The Brutalist’ with three awards; ‘Dune: Part Two’, ‘Emilia Perez’, and ‘Wicked’ with two awards each.

Adrien Brody, acting in The Brutalist, won the Best Actor Award; Mikey Madison, being Anora, dressed-up to become Best Actress. The Brutalist is about a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrates to the US to achieve the American Dream. Anora is about a stripper from New York marrying the wealthy son of a Russian Oligarch in a Cinderalla moment. The fairytale hits the ground when the Russian parents try to annul the marriage.

In Tennis sport, Australian Open 2025, Italy’s Jannik Sinner swept aside Russian Alexander Zverev to retain the men’s singles title. In the Women’s singles final, America’s Madison Keys beat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka to get the keys to the Cup. Afterwards, Jannik found out he had sinned and accepted a three-month suspension after testing positive for dope-the banned substance clostebol- during the 2024 Indian Wells tournament. That seems a light punishment -until the next sin?

And in New York, two men were hospitalised with histoplasmosis (a lung infection) after growing weed using bat poop! Innovation is the real word, these days. Nothing artificial about it.

In cricket sport, Team India became Champions in the Champions One-Day Cricket Tournament held in Dubai, sending the Kiwis wingless to New Zealand. This is India’s third grasp of the Cup, and they won without losing a match. India’s iconic cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, now firmly bats in the commentary box, danced the game of his life-on the border of the field- and had Bollywood’s dancing stars looking bewildered. Even the costume was clever, with Gavaskar wearing pants of what could have been the better part of the mini-skirt of his fellow woman Anchor. How do they face this kind of competition?

More stories ahead. Wheel with ‘Freewheeling’.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-50

About: the world this week, 8 December to 14 December 2024: Argentina’s chain-saw President; Shaken & stirred South Korea; a restored Cathedral; Syria’s President scoots; Israel-getting cleverer by the war; Chess euphoria in India; and Test Cricket Down Under.

Everywhere

Shining Stripes of Argentina

Argentina, under its maverick President Javier Milei, declared that for the first time in 123 years Argentina has no deficit and instead a sustained fiscal surplus, free of default.

When he took office in December 2023, Milei committed himself to transforming Argentina-and took it dead seriously. The foremost task he set himself was to eliminate the fiscal deficit-primarily through reducing public spending-and stopping the financing of the treasury by printing Central Bank Money with the goal of eradicating inflation. And he has delivered on that promise.

Javier Milei’s aggressive cost-cutting measures significantly brought down Argentina’s expenses. He inherited an economy battered by inflation so chronic that supermarkets adjusted the price of goods every day. But his famous ‘chain-saw’ no-nonsense, stay-lean, austerity approach-shutting down or merging various unnecessary Government departments-has brought stability to Argentina. Javier Milei is surely setting an example for Governments to follow. Already looking in this direction is the ‘under formation’ America’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. More chain-sawing in this part of the world?

Stirred and Shaken South Korea

Last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made a shocking and disastrous attempt at imposing martial law in the country. This would have given the military sweeping emergency powers to root out what he called ‘anti-state forces’ and overcome obstructionist political opponents. But, following Parliament’s-The National Assembly-rejection of the martial law, he did a quick U-turn and rescinded the Order.

This week the President spoke to South Koreans in a televised address, “I leave it up to my party to take steps to stabilise the political situation in the future, including the issue of my term in office,” he said, promising there would be no second attempt to impose martial law (if he is still President).

Last Saturday he survived an impeachment vote in Parliament, but the leader of his party said the President would eventually step down. Yoon’s People Power Party (PPP) boycotted the impeachment vote, put forward by the main opposition Democratic Party, and the motion was scrapped after not enough lawmakers participated. After the vote, however, PPP leader Han Dong-hoon said the party had decided that Yoon would resign, saying, “The declaration of martial law was a clear and serious violation of the law”.

The opposition needed at least eight votes from Yoon’s PPP to reach the two-thirds majority needed to impeach. But almost all PPP lawmakers departed after casting votes on a separate motion and only three from the party voted.

Restored Cathedral

Late last week on the 7th December, the Notre-Dame de Paris, a medieval iconic Catholic cathedral and a world-famous landmark in Paris, France, was reopened following the completion of restoration work. About five years ago, in April 2019, a fire destroyed the cathedral’s spire and roof and caused extensive damage to its interior. And French President Emmanuel Macron had promised to re-open, within 5 years, which he did.

The reopening ceremony was presided over by the Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, in the presence of the French president, and other heads of state and government. This was followed by an inaugural mass on 8th December at which a new altar was consecrated, and a series of public services over the following days.

Uncertain Syria: Assad Scoots

After more than 50 years of Assad family rule, and 13 years of civil war, the Syrian capital of Damascus fell to rebels this Sunday, following a lightening offensive that began in Aleppo and ripped through the major cities of Hama, and Homs. The main rebel coalition, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led by Ahmad al-Sharaa – better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, declared Syria ‘free’ and pledged to establish a pluralistic government. Fireworks lit up the streets of Damascus as Syrians celebrated their newfound freedom. But the events left Syrians at home and millions of refugees abroad hopeful yet deeply uncertain about their country’s future.

Bashar al-Assad stepped down as President and left Syria hours after rebel forces took control of the capital Damascus. Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to decamp to Russia where he had been granted political asylum. Instead, aides, officials and even relatives were deceived or kept in the dark.

Assad fled Damascus by plane on Sunday, 8th December flying under the radar with the aircraft’s transponder switched off, escaping the clutches of rebels storming the capital. The exit was dramatic: deception, despair and flight ended his rule of 24 years and brought the civil war of 13 years to an abrupt halt. He flew to Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, and from there on to Moscow. Assad’s immediate family, wife and their three children, were already waiting for him in the Russian capital. Assad didn’t even make a last stand. He didn’t even rally his own troops. He let his supporters face their own fate. Remember, Syria ran one of the most oppressive police states in the Middle East during the Assad family rule.

The next day, Assad’s Prime Minister said he had agreed to hand power to the rebel-led Salvation Government. Assad has not been seen in public since he met the Iranian foreign minister in Damascus a week ago. That day, he vowed to ‘crush’ the rebels seizing territory, with dizzying speed. Turns out he left with speed.

Later, during the week, Mohammad al-Bashir was installed by Al-Golani to lead an interim administration- the Syrian Transitional Government. He said his aim is to bring back millions of refugees, create unity, and provide basic services. But rebuilding would be daunting with little funding on hand.

Mohammad al-Bashir is a Syrian politician and engineer and served as the 5th prime minister of the Syrian Salvation Government, the civilian administration of HTS , between his election on 13 January 2024 and appointment to the current role.

In a televised statement, Al-Bashir announced that officials from the Salvation Government met with representatives of the previous government to facilitate the handover of power. And that his cabinet from the Salvation Government would assume their corresponding roles in the transitional government.

On his part, Al-Golani said that he would dissolve the security forces of the former regime, close its notorious prisons and hunt down anyone involved in the torture or killing of detainees.

Meanwhile, the world is carefully watching to see if Syria’s new rulers can stabilise the country and avoid unleashing violent revenge.

Israel: Cleverer By The War

Pouncing upon the opportunity of Syria’s chaos, Israeli unleashed mayhem on weapons and military facilities in Syria. Its warplanes carried out a wave of over 350 strikes across the country, including in the capital Damascus wiping out the Syria Air Force, strategic weapons stockpiles, and much more, rendering Syria’s fighting capability toothless. A research centre with suspected links to chemical weapon production was among the sites hit. Israel’s said the attacks were meant to stop weapons falling into the hands of extremists following the overthrow of the Assad regime. Israel has also sent troops into a buffer zone on its border with Syria in order to impose a ‘sterile defence zone’ in southern Syria.

Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel for almost 60 years, will remain part of Israel ‘for eternity’. This is amid a growing criticism of an Israeli takeover of a previously demilitarised buffer zone in Syrian-controlled territory.

Israel’s soldiers also took control of Syrian army positions on Mount Hermon – the highest point in Syria- and in Quneitra province after the Assad troops abandoned their posts. The Israeli military intends to use deterrent fire against any attempts to breach the border fence, ordering residents of five Druze Syrian villages to stay at home until further notice.

Meanwhile, Leaders and Representatives of many South-western towns and villages in Syria, which have large Druze populations, the biggest being the town of As Suweida, are demanding to be annexed by Israel and to become Israeli citizens.

The Druze faith is one of the major religious groups in the Levant (Middle East to the East) with between 800,000 and a million adherents. They are primarily located in Lebanon – 5.5% (of the population) Syria – 3%, and Israel- 1.6%, with smaller communities in Jordan.

The Druze who call themselves Al-Muwahhidun are an Arab esoteric religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and syncretic religion whose main tenets assert the unity of God, reincarnation, and the eternity of the soul. Although the Druze faith developed from Islam, Druze do not identify as Muslims. They maintain Arabic language and culture as integral parts of their identity, with Arabic being their primary language. Most Druze religious practices are kept secret, and conversion to their religion is strictly not permitted for outsiders.

Australia Down India, Down Under

After a thumping 295 run win-hammering Australia-in the first Cricket Test Match at Perth, it was a sobering defeat for India in the second test at Adelaide-the City of Churches. The Aussies prayed hard?

India’s skipper Rohit Sharma who missed the first Test, to be present at the birth of his second child, returned to captain the side in the second test, a Day-Night Test using Pink Balls. He won the toss and decided to bat first, to make best use of the pitch at the Adelaide Oval, but India were rattled out for 180 thanks to some top-class bowling by Mitchell Starc. He claimed a career-best Test figure of 6 wickets giving 48 runs, as Australia seized the initiative on day one.

In its first innings reply, Australia made 337 for the loss of 10 wickets with Travis Head smashing 140 runs in 141 balls including three sixes and ten boundaries. This is Travis’ hometown and he bludgeoned his way to a third century at the iconic venue, in just 111 deliveries. They say he has a love-affair with the Adelaide Oval, and he went level with the great Donald Bradman’s three hundreds at the same venue. India’s Jasprit Bumrah took 4 wickets for 61 runs and Mohammad Siraj took 4 wickets for 98.

Australia then dismissed India for 175 in their second innings, thanks to a Pat Cummins blitzkrieg, taking five wickets for 57 runs. The Aussies then comfortably chased down the 19-run target to win the Pink-Ball Test by 10 wickets, levelling the five-match series 1-1.

It took less than two and a half days, not even a third night – under seven sessions – for Australia’s bowlers to take apart India either side of Travis Head’s hundred. It was bowling so venomous that it made up for a consistent weakness of team’s, which is relying on one player’s big score to rescue an otherwise floundering innings.

The Third India vs Australia Test match will begin on 14th December, Saturday, in Brisbane.

Chess Euphoria Strikes India

This week, India erupted in euphoria over 18-years-old Indian Chess Grandmaster Gukesh Dommaraju winning the World Chess Championship, beating the reigning world champion, China’s Ding Liren. He is the youngest ever, in the history of Classic Chess Championship to win the title. The Championship tournament was held in Singapore between 25 November and 12 December 2024. It was played to a best of 14 games, with tiebreaks as required, and Gukesh won by 7.5 to Ding’s 6.5. Gukesh won three games and Ding won two games. He takes home prize money of about INR 11.45crore.

The previous youngest was Russia’s Garry Kasparov at age 22 and 210 days and quickly behind is Norway’s Magnus Carlsen at 22 years, 357 days. Gukesh has also broken the 39 years old record of the youngest World Chess Champion, held by Garry Kasparov.

The first World Chess Championship match was held in the year 1886 and won by Wilhelm Steinitz – a Bohemian-Austrian and later American -who defended his title again in 1889, 1890 and 1892. Gukesh is only the second Indian to win the title after Vishwanathan Anand held the title in 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2012. India becomes only the second nation besides the old Soviet Union to produce multiple world Champions. The Next Championship Title is after two years.

There are many who feel that as along as Norway’s Magnus Carlsen remains the most dominant player in the game the title carries little weight. And in the opinion of Chess great Gary Kasparov, “It’s an official title, which in my opinion has no historical relevance”.

This places in perspective the fact that Gukesh has to work even harder to become the best player in the world. And this is a first, steady, strong move to get to position.

Gukesh is the third-youngest grandmaster in history, the third-youngest to reach a chess rating of 2700, the youngest to reach a rating of 2750, and is the eighteenth-highest rated player in history with a peak rating of 2794.

Gukesh was born in Chennai and lives in Tamil Nadu. His family hails from Andhra Pradesh. For more on Gukesh’s background and his climb to the top, read:

https://kumargovindan.com/2024/04/27/world-inthavaaram-2024-17/

Said the Godfather of Indian Chess, Vishwanathan Anand, “Gukesh’s win will go a long way for Chess in India”. No truer words!

It’s generally believed that the game of chess originated in India about 1,500 years ago. Its earliest known predecessor was called ‘chaturanga’, which translates to ‘four divisions (of the military)’: infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry. These forms are represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern-day pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. In a sense, Chess has come back home – young again.

More classic stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay for the long haul, with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-49

About: the world this week, 1 December to 7 December 2024: Yet another war in the Middle East; South Korea messes-up martial law; Japan’s grisly problem; and Cyclone Fengal strikes.

Everywhere

Does the end of the year make people go crazy-trying to quickly finish unfinished business’ of the year(s)? As if the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon (now under a ‘diaphanous’ cease-fire with Hezbollah) and Turkey’s airstrikes against the Kurd militant targets in Syria and Iraq are not enough, Syria has joined the list, but of countries such as Sudan, Myanmar, which are at war with themselves. Then there is a severe unrest in Bangladesh with the hate-war against Hindus on a steady boil and now suddenly South Korea, feeling left-out, almost strayed-in but quickly recovered. Even as the Earth rotates tilting mores on its axis (under pressure?) the World moves in circles. And what good does war do? Swallow fire, bite bullets? Oh, tell me!

(For a change, Ukraine and Israel are off the Table in World Inthavaaaram)

Assad’s Syria

Syria’s civil war is back with a loud bang. It is in the spotlight after a new rebel coalition launched a surprise attack, sweeping into the country’s second largest city, Aleppo, which was once Syria’s largest city by population and its economic capital. It is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. This is the first time forces opposed to the Government have seized territory in Aleppo since 2016, shattering the stalemate of a war that never formally ended. The renewed conflict, which has killed more than 300,000 people and sent nearly 6 million refugees out of the country, also has wide ramifications across the region and beyond, especially in the background of ongoing wars in the region.

Let’s go back to when it all stared.

Once upon a time, at the height of the Arab Spring in 2011, pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets in Syria calling for the ouster of its authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad. The protesters were met with deadly force and the movement brutally crushed. However, an armed opposition began to form made up of small organic militias, various armed rebel groups such as the ‘Free Syrian Army’ and some defectors from the Syrian military. This marked the beginning of the Syrian Insurgency, which by mid 2012 escalated to a full-blown civil war. The opposition forces- the insurgency- were supported in various ways by neighbouring Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, as well as, of course, the United States.

But as the anti-government forces grew, Syria’s allies Iran and Russia scaled-up their support for Syria. On the ground, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as well as its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah helped fight the armed rebel groups. In the skies, the Syrian Air Force was bolstered by Russian warplanes. To add to the potboiler extremist Islamists including Al Qaeda and ISIS were swayed, taking up a common cause with the moderate Syrian opposition who did not welcome a jihadist involvement.

By 2014 the extremists dominated and ISIS began sweeping across the country. Fearing Syria would become a permanent terror hotbed, an international coalition led by the US stepped in with a focus on eliminating the group but without confronting the Syrian regime.The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-a US partner made up of Kurdish fighters -fought against ISIS, effectively ending the group’s territorial existence. The SDF was formed from a group known as the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), which is considered a terrorist organization by neighbouring Turkey.

In 2016, Syria’s civil war shifted in President Bashar Al-Assad’s favour after a Russian blitzkrieg on Aleppo helped him regain control over the city.

In 2020, Russia and Turkey agreed on a ceasefire in the last remaining opposition-held province, Idlib, agreeing to establish a security corridor with joint patrols.

There have been no major flare-ups since then, but Syria’s government never regained all of its territory. And as recent events in Aleppo reveal, armed resistance never fizzled away.

Now, coming to the present.

In just over 72-hours last week, in a surprise attack, a coalition of Syrian armed rebel groups operating under the banner of ‘Deterrence of Aggression’ captured Aleppo, dealing a significant blow to President Assad and causing a major escalation to a largely dormant war. By Tuesday, Syrian rebels reached the northern countryside of Hama.

The rebel coalition consists of well-established armed Islamist factions who, despite differences, are united in fighting Assad, ISIS, and Iran-backed militias. The offensive began on Wednesday after rebels formed a new coalition called the ‘Military Operations Command’. They quickly swept through villages outside Aleppo and residents have now said they control much of the city, meeting little resistance on the way. In response to the rebel advance, the Russian and Syrian air forces launched an aerial offensive in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and has ploughed manpower and resources into the war. Russia is Assad’s main partner in the sky. Meanwhile, Iran has suffered a series of attacks from Israel, in particular landing heavy blows on Hezbollah. This time, Assad’s allies are sweating it out in continuing to help him.

Aleppo was also the main rebel stronghold until Assad took it over in 2016. With the rebels regaining a foothold again, they are no longer cornered in Idlib, which could potentially trigger a domino effect.

The new grouping is made up of a broad spectrum of opposition forces, from Islamist factions to moderates. Leading them is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria that used to go by the name Al-Nusra Front. The group headed by Abu Mohammed al-Golani, officially cut ties with Al Qaeda and has been the de facto ruler in Idlib. It is designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US and the United Nations. They have been joined by groups backed by Turkey and others previously supported by the US. Complicating the situation is that some of the rebel groups are also fighting the SDF. The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, which is part of the rebel coalition that took control of most of Aleppo city, said it had seized control of the city of Tal Rifaat and the towns of Ain Daqna and Sheikh Issa in the northern part of the Aleppo governorate. It also claimed to have captured the villages of Shaaleh and Nairabiyyeh in Aleppo’s northern countryside. Those territories were previously held not by the government of Bashar al-Assad but by the SDF.

A quagmire. The head spins, right? So many people fighting for control. Wonder, what do they want. An Islamic State? Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas, Hezbollah, now HTS?

South Korea: Declare and UnDeclare

This week, in an unbelievable stunning act, South Korea’s President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an Emergency Martial Law across the country in a Television Address. He accused the opposition of controlling the parliament and sympathising with North Korea. The shock decision comes in the aftermath of his People Power Party and the opposition Democratic Party disagreeing over a budget bill. The move plunged South Korea into political chaos.

Equally surprising, the country’s parliament voted to defy the move.

According to South Korea’s Constitution, the President can declare martial law to cope with a military threat or to maintain public safety and order by mobilising military forces. The decision must be reviewed by the cabinet and the National Assembly must also be notified about the decision. The law also dictates that if South Korea’s parliament requests the lifting of martial law through a majority vote – as has happened – then the President must comply. Since South Korea’s establishment as a republic in 1948, there have been more than a dozen instances of martial law declaration.

Special forces of the army stormed the parliament building, while soldiers surrounded part of the parliament and clashed with citizens who rushed to oppose martial law. Later when the forces tried entering Parliament, Lawmakers barricaded themselves inside, stone-walling doors with desks, sofas and fire extinguishers. There was no further escalation, with the heavily-geared battle-ready Forces showing discretion.

South Koreans were ‘dumbfounded’ when they first heard the news that martial law had been declared – and some thought it was a ‘hoax’.

President Yoon Suk Yeol made a wild gamble in a bid to dig himself out of a political impasse – but will now likely face calls for his removal from power. He has made his position much more difficult, if not impossible.

Yoon Suk Yeol has been in power since 2022, after narrowly winning the election by just 0.7 % points. He has struggled to get his agendas through as South Korea’s parliament is controlled by the opposition. Unable to pass his own laws, he has instead been vetoing any bills the opposition hoped to pass.

The next day on Wednesday, better sense prevailed, and Martial Law was aborted with the President announcing he will lift martial law in accordance with the vote. Soon after, his Cabinet approved the end of the decree.

Now the pressure is on the President to step down. After a whirlwind night of political upheaval in South Korea, the president’s future is in jeopardy as calls grow for impeachment following the thwarted attempt to impose martial law.

This is certainly one of the greatest political errors a President can make. And at the end of the day, ‘democracy worked’; it prevailed in restoring the system.

By the end of the week, probably to save himself, the President ‘gunned-down’ the Defence Minister – he was sacked.

Japan’s Bears Problem

Japan is grappling with an-unable to bear-growing Bear problem complemented by a dwindling and ageing band of Bear Hunters. A record 219 people were attacked by Bears, 6 of them fatal, in the twelve months through March 2024, while more than 9,000 Bears were trapped and culled over that period.

Japan is home to two species of Bears: the Japanese Black Bear and the Hokkaido Brown Bear. Most of the Black Bears live on the main island of Honshu, with a small number in Shikoku. The Black Bear is slightly smaller than its kind in China. The Brown Bear is found in the northern island of Hokkaido and is the biggest land animal in Japan. And is among the largest types of Brown Bear in the world.

Both species of Bears have been cleverly expanding their habitats. The number of Brown Bears in Hokkaido, more than doubled to about 11,700 in the three decades through 2020, though other estimates put their numbers at roughly 44,000 – a threefold increase since 2012!

Over recent decades, restrictions on hunting practices and greater emphasis on conservation contributed to a surge in the Bear population. With Japan’s rural areas experiencing rapid demographic decline, Bears are venturing closer, than before, in to towns and villages, and abandoned farmland, to occupy precious space.

Although some hunters stalk Bears as a hobby, many are not thrilled about culling trapped Bears for local governments. And they also risk clashing with authorities. Bear Hunters have also become a ‘vanishing species’, with people moving on to more ‘lucrative habitats’! In response to increased Bear attacks, this year Japan proposed relaxing rules around gun use to make it easier for hunters to shoot Bears in urban areas.

Experts say depopulation and a decline in the amount of managed farmland, in recent decades, may have emboldened Bears to approach towns for food. A clearer demarcation between habitats would help humans and Bears coexist. Bears are also raising cubs closer to human settlements, causing young Bears not to fear people as much as before. Climate change-driven shifts in the ripening and flowering of fruits, nuts and leaves may drive Bears to raid crops when their usual food sources are low.

“What we need is a daily, consistent effort to make sure that Bears don’t enter human areas,” says a Bear Expert.

Bears hibernate in the winter, lowering their body temperature and using stored fat for energy. They spend the hibernation period in their dens, which are typically built in the hollows of trees, between rocks, or even dug from the ground. And the floor is cushioned with dead leaves and branches. Females give birth to their cubs during this period, and spend at least two months inside the den.

With Japan’s population ageing and shrinking, some companies are turning to technology to manage Bears. Propped on four rods, the ‘Monster Wolf’ robot sold by a Company, Wolf Kamuy, emits growls, barks, and threats from a loudspeaker, triggered by a sensor. Priced at about 400,000 yen (about USD 2,550) and powered by solar energy, the gleaming-eyed beast has demonstrated some success in warding off Bears, though its sensor can be triggered by other animals (humans included?)

Beware of Bears!

Cyclone Fengal

This week, cyclonic storm Fengal a deadly tropical cyclone that originated from a tropical disturbance off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on 14 November ripped through Southern India’s state of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka and making landfall on 30 November. Going by the structured naming process, ‘Fengal’ was named by Saudi Arabia and means a ’strong wind’.

Cyclone Fengal brought significant flooding and damage on its path. It is the fourth cyclonic storm of the 2024 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Many places in Tamil Nadu faced incessant rains for almost three whole days. Previously thought dead & buried Rivers suddenly sprang to life wearing a fresh muddy coat of paint.

Given last year’s disastrous flooding in Chennai, the State Govt armed itself to the teeth with boats & water pumps and the kind, and boldly proclaimed it can handle anything. That followed severe criticism of its abysmal handling of the previous years’ floods. Cyclone Fengal must have heard and this time it changed direction and wrecked havoc in Villupuram, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam – 800 acres of farmland sent underwater -Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Dharmapuri, Salem, in addition to sending the adjacent State of Puducherry under water. Historic, never before… were the words thrown around. Nevertheless, Chennai did suffer and for some it was a deja-vu with about 130mm of rain.

The Temple Town of Tiruvannamalai saw a never-before landslide kill at least 7 people. Sudden release of water to the tune 1.80 lakh cusecs from the nearby Sathanur Dam without adequate warning caused severe flooding and loss of cattle, downstream. The Government maintains it followed SOPs, but most residents complained that they did not receive adequate warnings. A resident of Puthur Chekkadi, which is home to over 500 houses, said that only a few people in the village received SMS alerts from the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority, that too on Monday morning, when the village was already flooded.

In the aftermath, the States are limping back to normalcy.

More flooding stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Bear-up and stay above water with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-48

About: the world this week, 24 November to 30 November 2024: a belligerent Russia; Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire; rowdy Bangladesh; Australia under-16; India State Elections; Earth’s tilt; small in Argentina; and India’s cricket, down under.

Everywhere

Russia Ups The Ante

The Russia-Ukraine war moves on fiercely, with the threat of escalation and spill-over in the region a dangerous possibility.

Last week, Russia demonstrated its Oreshnik (hazel tree) hypersonic weapon system-without a warhead-to checkmate NATO and the United States, and also issue a warning to the West. It is a devastating, unstoppable surgical strike weapon that basically drops metal lightning out of the sky like Thor’s Hammer or the comets of God. The Oreshnik missile is capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 10 and currently lacks any known countermeasure in missile defense systems.

This week, Russia escalated the conflict in Ukraine with more lethal weaponry and deploying troops from Yemen to bolster its front-lines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘opened a door’ to end the conflict, praising US President-elect Donald Trump as ‘intelligent and experienced’ and capable of finding solutions. Trump had pledged, during his campaign, to end the war in Ukraine ‘within 24 hours’. Of course, without saying how!

It’s absolutely clear that this war cannot end in a victory by either side. Talks and negotiations are the only means of stopping the madness-before it engulfs the world.

Israel and Hezbollah Ceasefire

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah-operating out of Lebanon-took effect this Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the United States and France. Israel’s security cabinet approved the deal in a 10-1 vote.

The deal stipulates a 60-day halt in hostilities, and hopefully lays the foundation for lasting truce in the region. It requires Israeli ground troops to withdraw from south Lebanon, and, on its turn Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the border south of the Litani River and retreat 40 kilometers away from the Lebanon-Israel border. The vacated spaces will be filled by Lebanon’s Army, which will be deployed in the region-originally a Hezbollah stronghold-within 60 days.

The agreement will maintain Israel’s freedom of operation to act in defence to remove threats posed by Hezbollah and enable displaced Israeli residents to return safely to their homes in northern Israel. On its part, Lebanon would implement a more rigorous supervision of Hezbollah’s movements in the border areas and south of the Litani River to prevent Hezbollah militants from regrouping. Will the ceasefire hold?

Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was ready to implement the ceasefire and would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah. And added that the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the threat from Iran, replenish depleted arms supplies and give the army a rest; and to isolate Hamas, and focus more on war in Gaza and release of the hostages.

Netanyahu said, “We have successfully killed approximately 20,000 Hamas terrorists in Gaza since the war began”.

On the other side, it’s estimated that Israel lost 806 IDF soldiers in the process.

Rowdy Bangladesh

The boil in Bangladesh ever since the widespread political violence, which led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, continues. And tensions over minority rights and deadly violence against Hindus in particular, bludgeons the headlines. The new military-backed interim government led by Nobel Prize Winner Mohammed Yunus has faced criticism for failing to curb a spike in violence against minorities. In recent months, Hindu businesses, homes, and temples have been vandalised, with the unrest worsening every day.

Hindus comprise about 8% of Bangladesh’s 170 million people.

This week, Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, a Hindu priest, an ISKCON monk, and a religious minority leader in Bangladesh, was arrested in Dhaka when he staged a peaceful protest against attacks on Hindus by radical Muslim outfits.

The arrest follows protests led by Hindus in the city of Rangpur, about 300 km north of the capital Dhaka, demanding stronger legal protections and a ministry dedicated to minority affairs.

Chinmoy Brahmachari was detained at Dhaka airport and his arrest comes after a sedition case was filed against him earlier this month – said to be for his outspoken stance against violence targeting Hindus. Earlier this month, sedition charges were filed against 19 people who participated in a minority rights rally in Chittagong.

Later in the week, the Government prosecutor argued that the ISKCON – International Society for Krishna Consciousness – is a ‘religious fundamentalist organisation’ and should be banned. That’s a horrible thing to say given the global nature of ISKCON and its humanitarian services in Bangladesh itself – during the recent floods – and the world over. Bangladesh’s High Court rightfully refused to go into the ban and volleyed the case back to the Government.

Australia’s New Under-16 Law

This week, Australia’s Parliament after an intense, emotive debate, approved and brought into law a Social Media Ban for children under the age of 16 years. This is now one of the World’s strictest laws of the kind.

The Law forces Tech Giants such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, and X to stop minors from logging in to their platforms, or face fines up to USD 32 million. Gaming and messaging platforms are exempt, as are sites that can be accessed without an account, say YouTube. A trial of enforcement methods will start in January 2025, with the ban kicking-in within a year.

‘We are making sure that Mums and Dads can have that different conversation today and in future days’, said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

India’s State Elections

It’s awfully stale and tiring, these elections in India: some people, somewhere are forever voting and the political class is dashing all over the country to make speeches and attend rallies. And makes one wonder whether all this voting works and the people get what they vote for. Or, is democracy only about elections and voting? The Air Quality Index in the New Delhi, for example, flirts above the danger mark ever so often while political parties sound the election bugle-adding noise to the already heavily polluted air-and blame each other.

Late last week, the results of Elections in the State of Maharashtra, which holds Mumbai the commercial capital of India, were declared. And it was a thumping landslide for the ruling The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured an overwhelming mandate. The BJP won 132 out for the 149 seats it contested – an impressive strike rate of 89% – and partners, the Shiv Sena won 57 and the Nationalist Congress Party, 41.

The Opposition MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) Alliance bit the dust, getting a paltry 49 seats. India’s Grand Old Party, the Congress, part of the MVA, won just 16 and was decimated. The House has a total of 288 seats and the majority mark is 145.

This is a shocking turnaround for the Devendra Fadnavis led BJP in the State after an underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year. Maharashtra becomes the 6th state in India where the BJP has won back-to-back three elections. Others being Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, and Haryana.

However, in the State of Jharkand the BJP was pushed to second place with 21 seats and the local Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) winning 34 seats, and along with its Alliance partner, the Congress’ 16 seats (another 16 for the Congress!) will form a coalition Government. It was a mighty comeback for the JMM after its leader Hemant Soren was arrested and jailed by the Enforcement Directorate in January in a land scam case, which caused his resignation as Chief Minister. However, he obtained bail from the Jharkhand High Court and returned as Chief Minister to lead the INDI Alliance to victory. 2024 has become Soren’s comeback year.

The Jharkhand Assembly has a total of 81 seats with 41 being the majority mark.

The JMM in particular stressed on adivasi asmita (tribal pride) and showcased its Mukhyamantri Maiya Samman Yojana Scheme, which provides Rs 1,000 per month to eligible women. The turnout of women-4% higher this time-seems to have put the JMM over the top. Credit must also go to Kalpana Soren, who entered politics after her husband was sent to prison. Though the BJP derisively dubbed the power couple ‘Bunty aur Babli’ ahead of the polls, she is credited with revitalising the party and keeping the cadres ‘warmed-up’, in Soren’s absence.

In the bye-elections of various States, it was a wonderful comeback victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh State winning 7 out 9 seats in the Assembly. This, after a surprise loss in the Lok Sabha Elections, which was responsible for the BJP falling short of a majority on its own at the Centre.

The Earth’s Tilt

When an object the size of Mars, named Theia is thought to have crashed into the newly formed planet Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, it knocked our planet over and left it (dazed and) tilted at an angle. Ever since this impact, Earth has been orbiting the Sun at a slant. This slant is the axial tilt, also called obliquity and is measured as 23.4 Degrees.

Since Earth orbits the Sun at an angle, solar energy reaching different parts of Earth is not constant, but varies during the course of the year. This is the reason we have different seasons, and why they are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

Now Scientists have found that the Earth has tilted 80.01 centimetres (31.5 inches) over the last two decades. But the tilt had nothing to do with weird space phenomena, mysterious asteroids, the sun’s gravity, or solar flares, and everything to do with how people are pumping groundwater and shipping it across the planet, a study found. The findings of a study from June 2023 are making headlines over a year after it was published. The planet continuing to tilt is because humans are pumping and moving an obscene amount of groundwater across the planet and redistributing it, according to the study’s press release. This pumping contributed to about 6 centimetres rise in global sea levels. The water was pumped for drinking, agriculture, and industrial use. That makes sense, doesn’t it? Everything you do on the Planet counts, mind it!

While the current shift in Earth’s tilt is not ‘great enough’ to affect weather patterns or seasons immediately, researchers caution that continued groundwater depletion could have long-term climatic impacts.

Oh Deer!

Argentina is celebrating in a small way, of things small.

A rare Pudu fawn was born in a Biopark in Argentina earlier this month, giving scientists and conservationists a unique chance to study and collect data on the tiny deer. We are learning about this after almost a month – giving time for the tiny fawn to get on its feet.

Weighing just 1.21 kilograms the delicate, fragile, and white-spotted male pudu fawn was named Lenga after a tree species endemic to the Andean Patagonian forest of Chile and Argentina.

Pudus are one of the smallest deer species in the world, growing up to 50 centimetres tall and reaching a weight of about 12 kg. They are enigmatic, elusive, hard to see, and flee in zig-zags when chased by predators. The tiny deer face threats from wild dogs and species introduced into southern Argentina and Chile. There are only about 10,000 Pudus living in the world and are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Lenga is spending his days exploring the park with his mother Chalten and father Nicolino. He will be breast-fed for the first two months until he can handle a herbivorous diet. After that, Lenga will lose his white spots and grow the mottled colour that helps Pudus camouflage themselves in their environment from both daytime and nighttime predators. After about one year, hopefully, Lenga will develop antlers that typically- for Pudus- reach up to 10 cm.

Oh India!

India’s cricket team is touring Australia from November 2024 to January 2025. The plan is to play five Test matches and three first-class warm-up matches against the Australia’s cricket team. The Test matches form part of the 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship.

The 1st Test was played at Perth between 22nd November and 26th November and India hammered Australia, down under, in a historic test win. This was Australia’s first loss in a Test match at the Perth Stadium, with India became the first visiting team to win a Test match at the ground. This was also India’s biggest victory in terms of runs in Australia. Records are made every day in cricket!

With the absence of skipper Rohit Sharma and star batsman Shubman Gill, the popular belief was that Team India would face a torrid time in the first test. However, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah stepped in as Captain and did a swashbuckling job.

India won the toss and elected to bat, scoring 150 runs in the first innings and blowing out Australia for 104 runs. With a 46 run lead, India went into the 2nd innings to score 487 runs, declaring with 6 wickets down. And giving the Aussies a run-chase of 533 to win.

In the chase, Australia kept losing wickets at regular intervals as India bundled them out for 238. For India, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah scalped three wickets each, while Washington Sundar took two wickets. Centuries by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli, followed by Jasprit Bumrah’s magnificent bowling helped India thrash Australia by 295 runs.

India’s Jaiswal scored 161 while Kohli brought up his memorable 30th Test ton breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s record of most test centuries (7) for India in Australia. India’s KL Rahul scored his 3,000th run in Tests.

With this win, India takes an early 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

More hitting stories – small and big – coming-up in the weeks ahead. Watch and grow with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2024-40

About: the world this week, 29 September to 5 October 2024: Hydra-headed Hezbollah; US Election Debates; India State Elections; Hurricane Helene; SpaceX’s Dragon docks with the ISS.

Everywhere

Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a brilliant, precise strike on the terror organisation Hezbollah’s central headquarters, embedded under residential buildings in the heart of Dahieh, Beirut, Lebanon. Hassan Nasrallah, 64, the leader of Hezbollah – was without-doubt – the target of the attack. Initially, there were confusing reports that he had survived, however, after several hours, his death was confirmed by both Israel and Hezbollah. Nasrallah suffocated to death from toxic gases inside his secret bunker after it was demolished by about 80 tons of ‘bunker-busting’ bombs. A number of other commanders, including Ali Karaki, the commander of the southern front, who had all probably come over for a meeting, were also eliminated in the strike. This is a significant, game-changing development in the region terrorised by Hezbollah-which is solidly backed by Iran.

Hassan Nasrallah himself became the leader of Hezbollah after the Israelis knocked-off the previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi, in 1992. Nasrallah is well-known for his strident anti-Israel actions and has repeatedly called for the end of the State of Israel. He also has the blood of United States (US) citizens on his hands with Hezbollah being involved in numerous anti-US terrorist attacks in Beirut: the suicide truck bombings of the US Embassy in April 1983, the US Marine barracks in October 1983, and the US Embassy Annex in September 1984. Naturally, the US ‘welcomed’ his elimination.

Nasrallah played a pivotal role in various attacks and wars against Israel. In particular, the 2006 Lebanon War against Israel solidified his status as a resistance leader in the Arab world. He was also involved in regional politics, supporting the Assad regime in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Under him, Hezbollah transformed from a guerrilla group focused on resisting Israel into a significant political player in Lebanon, holding seats in the Lebanese Parliament and participating in government coalitions.

Nasrallah believed that Islam holds the solution to the problems of any society, once saying, “With respect to us, briefly, Islam is not a simple religion including only prayers and praises, rather it is a divine message that was designed for humanity, and it can answer any question man might ask concerning his general and personal life. Islam is a religion designed for a society that can revolt and build a community”.

Israel has done the world a huge favour, and after Osama Bin Laden was killed in a special military operation by the United States, Hassan Nasrallah was one who deserved the same treatment.

Nasrallah’s immediate successor, Hassan Khalil Yasinm was also ‘instantly’ taken down by the IDF. This is a culmination of a recent trend in which Israel has repeatedly targeted Hezbollah’s leadership structure and has wiped-out the entire command structure.

Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah is now Hezbollah’s new leader. The third since Nasrallah was killed. Wonder, how long he will last, but there is chance that all Hezbollah members will become leaders, one by one. But this is a hydra-headed problem, cut one head off another grows, and takes its place.

In Greek mythology, the Hydra is a gigantic water-snake-like monster with about nine heads, one of which is immortal. The monster’s haunt was in the marshes of Lerna, near Argos, Greece, from which it periodically emerged to attack people and livestock. Anyone who attempted to behead the Hydra found that as soon as one head was cut off, two more heads would emerge from the fresh wound.

The destruction of Hydra was one of the 12 Labours of Hercules. For that and other labours, Hercules enlisted the aid of his nephew Iolaus. As Hercules severed each mortal head, Iolaus was set the task of quickly cauterising the fresh wounds so that no new heads would emerge. When only the immortal head remained, Hercules cut it off too and buried it under a heavy rock. Further, he dipped his arrows in the monster’s poisonous blood to be able to inflict fatal wounds. It’s now up to Israel to find the cauterising fire… and the poison.

Israel’s breathtakingly ballsy strike on Hasan Nasrallah has opened up the possibility of a brand new Middle East: one where Iran doesn’t call the shots. Israel is making the moves the West hasn’t for decades: demonstrating that aggression will be countered with complete evisceration.

This week, Israel also begun the ground invasion in Southern Lebanon-a limited ground operation-against terrorist targets and infrastructure of Hezbollah. The start was bloody with eight Israeli soldiers being killed in combat as its forces pushed into Lebanon.

What has Iran got to do with all of this? Iran has probably crossed many a red line in supporting, arming, and providing safe haven for terrorists such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi’s of Yemen, in an anti-Israel stance known as ‘The Iran–Israel proxy conflict, The Iran–Israel proxy war or Iran–Israel Cold War. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias- the Hezbollah. In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups-the Hamas.

In turn, Israel has supported Iranian rebels, such as the People’s Mujaheedin of Iran, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria and assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists in a long history of tit-for-tat tactics.

Israel’s Prime Minster made a direct appeal to the people of Iran to throw out their tyrant rulers and work towards peace with Israel. But then someone else seems to have heard-got the opposite message-and on Tuesday Iran dispatched about 200 ballistic missiles into Israel, earning the wrath of Israel and the world. The war now grows in yet another direction.

Israel countered the aggression of the ‘Iran missile rain’ with perfect activation and synchronisation of its famous missile defence systems: The Iron Dome detonated the short range missiles within the 70 km range; The David’s Sling system dealt with the mid-range missiles up to about 300 km; and then the Arrow system, which can literally detonate missiles that can fly outside of the earth’s atmosphere in a range of about 2,400 km! The United Kingdom and the United States fell behind Israel and helped shoot-down some of Iran’s missiles.There were no deaths reported on the Israel side except for a lone Palestinian, in the West Bank.

Iran is definitely a menace in the region – a nation gone astray. They need to be dealt with, in a calibrated and wise manner. Maybe Israel (and the US) are upto the task this time around. Meanwhile, the world waits for Israel’s ‘promised’ response.

Towards the end of the week, in yet another attack, Israel not only eliminated Hezbollah’s new leader, but also the entire Shura Council, the committee that nominates Hezbollah leaders.

US Elections: Debates

This Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate between running-mates, Republican J D Vance and Democrat Tim Walz felt like a civil and relatively restrained conversation about the issues at the top of American voters’ minds going into the 5th November election. In that, it was unlike the two fiery presidential debates earlier this year.

If Vance was picked because he puts ideological meat on the bones of Trump’s conservative populism, during the debate he put a polite, humble face on them, as well. And the debate’s lasting impact may be to convince members of his party that the young, only 40 years old, Ohio Senator has a future in national conservative politics, given his ability to clearly advance their ideological priorities on the brightest of stages.

The overall view was that Vance trumped over Walz and made meat of him.

India’s State Elections

Elections in India’s State of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) ended on 1st October, which was the third and last phase for the 90 member Legislature. The first was on 18th September and the second on 25th September. Counting of votes will be on 8th October. This is the first assembly election since J&K’s special status was revoked and fully integrated with the rest of India. However, J&K remains a union territory and statehood is expected to happen sometime after the assembly elections.

The State of Haryana goes to the Polls in a single phase on 5th October for 90 seats. Counting of votes will also be on 8th October.

It’s a coincidence that it’s 90 seats in both States. Going by opinion polls the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-at the Centre-is unlikely to win in any of these States. Despite the fact that in J&K, it should be rewarded for bringing back peace after abrogation of J&K’s special status under Article 370 of India’s Constitution. In Haryana anti-incumbency again the ruling BJP is high. The results could be knocking.

Elections seem to be taking place all the time in India, and the Government is hell-bent on pushing through its new legislation of ‘One Nation One Election’ through the Parliament benches and making it law. That’s a work in progress.

Hurricane Helene Devastates

Hurricane Helene, a large, deadly, catastrophic, and fast-moving tropical cyclone, the strongest on record to strike the Big Bend region of Florida devastated parts of southeastern United States(US). It is the eighth named storm, fifth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Helene developed gradually from a mid-September disturbance in the western Caribbean Sea within a broad area of low pressure known as the Central American gyre. And then Helene moved inland for the kill.

Some of Helene’s deadliest, most catastrophic flooding unfolded in western North Carolina. It turned the western part of the state into a ‘post-apocalyptic’ landscape.

At least 130 people have died across six states and the death toll can rise. Many more remain missing, perhaps unable to leave their location or unable to contact family where communications infrastructure has been washed away.

Among the demolished towns was the tiny hamlet of Bat Cave, about 160 km west of Charlotte, where in what climate scientists are describing as a 1,000-year event, the Broad River rose to unprecedented levels, washed away homes and broke through the town’s bridge. “It’s so overwhelming. You don’t even know how to fathom what recovery looks like, let alone where to start,” said a survivor.

SpaceX Docks with ISS

This week, SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS), and when it returns after a few months it is expected to bring back stranded Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore. The incoming spacecraft had two astronauts in the driver’s seat(s), with ‘space’ for the returning two.

Astronauts Nick Hague, the Dragon Crew 9 commander and cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, the Crew 9 mission specialist were given a ‘weightless welcome’ when they met the others on the Space Station, after crossing over.

The space station’s population has temporarily increased to 11 after this Sunday saw the arrival of Crew 9. The orbital residents spent Monday unpacking Dragon and handing over mission responsibilities as the next quartet prepares to return to Earth.

More docking stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Weigh the world more with World Inthavaaram.

This is my Blog where I essay stories on life about and around me, on subjects that stir and shake me up, as I turn, and make life's pages count: hoping to inspire you to live your own story!

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India’s State Elections

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Everywhere

Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran

US Elections: Debates

India’s State Elections

Hurricane Helene Devastates

SpaceX Docks with ISS

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