The impact of the oil spill off Mumbai on the marine life can be ascertained only after six months to a year, said well-known marine biologist Deepak Apte.
'As she was dragged off the yacht, the princess cried, "I won't go back to the UAE, just kill me now!"' 'She hasn't been heard of since then.' 'Perhaps she is dead.' 'If so, Modi's government has blood on its hands,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
After critically examining the ship 'M V Mu San' at Kakinada port, a team of scientists from Kalapakkam nuclear centre concluded that they found no 'CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear) traces' from the ship, which was detained by the Coast Guard off the Andaman waters in the first week of last month, official sources said in New Delhi.
With the Mumbai terror attacks exposing lack of coordination among security agencies, India today completely overhauled its coastal security apparatus and handed over the overall responsibility of maritime security to the Navy.
With the November 26 terror strikes exposing the vulnerabilities of India's coastline, the country's armed forces are carrying out a week-long joint exercise off the Gujarat coast in which they would validate concepts to counter such threats in the future.
Meanwhile, in a statement, BP also said that the huge oil spill had so far cost the company $350 million.
More than 35 trawlers, carrying 200 fishermen from Goa, have been missing after gusty winds lashed the western coast on Wednesday. Fishermen at Malim jetty, located next to Panaji, said more than 28 trawlers have not returned since Tuesday night and they have lost contact with the base. Coast Guard officials, who have initiated search and rescue operations, said they have been flooded with complaints of missing people since Tuesday.
Future conflict will involve bypassing of frontiers to strike at critical vulnerabilities directly and in the hinterland at the appropriate time, explains Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd), who served as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff and Central Army Commander.
'An expanding army, rising salaries due to the 7th pay commission, and raised pensions due to OROP are consuming money at the cost of badly needed bulletproof jackets, rifles, artillery, submarines, warships and fighter aircraft,' notes Ajai Shukla.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force started landing in Gujarat with the help of the Indian Air Force to undertake preventive evacuation of people living on the west coast, an IAF official said.
The navy had so far maintained that there were 273 persons on board the barge but an official on Wednesday evening said that the company which operated it has informed that there were 261 personnel on board the ill-fated barge.
Two courts in Tamil Nadu have ordered the release of 61 Sri Lankan fishermen arrested between July and November last year.
The ship carrying 14500 metric tonnes of iron ore had titled 50 degrees portside when it was six nautical miles from the port. The mishap was caused due to bad weather. The ship was sailing towards Zhavgiagang in China, informed Padam Shankar Jha, commandant of the coast guard ship Sankalp which finally saved the Chinese crew.
A day after an FIR was filed against 35 persons on board US ship 'M V Seaman Guard Ohio,' detained for straying into Indian waters carrying weapons and ammunition, a multi-agency investigation, including officials from Research and Analysis Wing and Intelligence Bureau, has begun, sources said on Tuesday.
Maharashtra, which has witnessed a number of terror attacks with the latest being on Mumbai, has demanded constitution of a Central Coastal Security Authority.
In the wake of Mumbai attacks, when terrorists used sea route to strike the city, the government today took a host of measures, including acquisition of ships, installation of radars and setting up of new coast guard stations, to strengthen security of coastal areas.
The Navy chief also inaugurated the new Air Traffic Control building there.
Before he boarded the Amtrak train at New York's Penn station, the home minister learnt what novel security measures the New York Police Department, Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were taking to deal with possible terrorist attacks. In the wake of the terror attacks on Mumbai in November last year, the NYPD had incorporated changes to deal with similar attacks from the sea and on soft targets.
A second-generation immigrant born and raised in Roswell, Georgia, Narang had an early appreciation for military service due to her maternal grandfather's career in the Indian Army.
The new regional headquarter of the Indian Navy to be set up in Gujarat will help protect the porous 1660 km long coastline in Gujarat, said Gujarat leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil.
In a bid to prevent the use of the sea route by terrorists as in case of the Mumbai strikes, the Coast Guard has been asked to patrol the shoreline with locally hired fishing boats or trawlers. The task of guarding the Indian coastline has been entrusted to the Coast Guard. The responsibility of overall maritime security rests with the Indian Navy.Coastal states have also been told by the government to speed up implementation of the Coastal Security Scheme.
The bodies of 117 refugees have been recovered in the Mediterranean sea after a smuggling boat carrying mainly African migrants capsized off the coast of Libya
The meeting attended by National Security Adviser M K Narayanan, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, Border Security Force Director-General M L Kumawat and representatives of Navy and Coast Guards had a detailed discussion on the situation along the coastline and the steps being taken to beef up security.
The Pakistani fishing boat apprehended by the Indian Coast Guard on Monday from the Kori Creek area in Kutch district with eight fishermen on board have been handed over to the district police, an official release from the Defence PRO said. Out of the eight people on board the boat, three were teenagers aged between 10 and 16 years, the release said.
If you watch the surge of emotions one thought clearly emerges that people are frustrated, desperate and wants things to change. They want to bury the chalta hai attitude.
In the wake of Mumbai attacks by terrorists who came by the sea route, the Centre on Friday decided to authorise the Coast Guard to check all the "suspicious merchant vessels" prior to entry at the country's ports.
In its search to find the 'mother ship' of the terrorists who have attacked Mumbai, India on Thursday apprehended two Pakistani merchant vessels off the coast of Gujarat in a joint operation carried out by the Navy, Coast Guard and the water wing of the Border Security Force."We have apprehended two cargo ships in a joint operation near the Gujarat coast while they were sailing to Karachi. They are suspected to be the ships that ferried the terrorists near to Mumbai coast,"
The Indian Navy which intercepted and boarded the MV Alpha, a Vietnamese registered ship, let off the ship after questioning the crew and cheking the ship's papers, which were found to be in order. "The ship that was intercepted has been searched in accordance with international laws. Its papers were found in order and nothing suscpicous was found," said Captain Nambiar, PRO Defence, Mumbai.
Armed Somali men, helping out coast-guards in the African waters, have managed to free an Indian cargo ship with 13 sailors on board, after it was hijacked by pirates off the northern coast of Somalia.
Opposition parties in Lakshadweep and Kerala are up in arms against various measures initiated by the Administrator of the group of islands, terming them as 'anti-people' and have sought his recall.
Singh will succeed Admiral Sunil Lanba who retires on May 31.
The agreement on pre-notification of missile tests was signed by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and his Pakistani counterpart Riaz Mohammad Khan.
The cyclone, according to an IMD report early Sunday, is developing into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal and can potentially become a very severe cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours, S N Pradhan, the chief of NDRF said in New Delhi.
The sprawling warship building facility caters to the combat vessel requirements of not only the Navy, but also the Coast Guard.
Sri Lanka's Navy has praised India for its help in countering the LTTE, and said the militant group's "backbone has been broken" after the destruction of several rebel vessels.
'India is ahead only of Pakistan in the amount spent on each soldier a year.' 'The Indian military is a manpower-heavy throng that is poorly armed, equipped, and trained,' observes Ajai Shukla.
Terrorists of various outfits, after being imparted training, could use sea routes to enter India, Defence Minister A K Antony said in reply to written questions.
While the nation deliberates on how it deserves a seat in the United Nations' Security Council and flexes its nuclear muscle against China, an island nation is dictating where Indian fishermen can fish and shoots them at will. While Bensegar and 61 others were undergoing an ordeal, Indian Defence Minister A K Antony was giving a lecture on 'Terrorism from the sea' in New Delhi.
The flood situation in Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh showed signs of improvement on Sunday with most rivers receding even as heavy rains lashed parts of Goa, Rajasthan and Orissa.
Intelligence officials on Wednesday questioned local fishermen to verify reports that their boats had been used by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to attack a Sri Lankan Navy vessel.
