Flames engulf tanker train in India's Tamil Nadu
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Otters spotted in Kashmir waters, and residents are both thrilled and wary
Hugam, Indian-administered Kashmir – Nasir Amin Bhat, 17, was barely ankle-deep in the water when his school friend and neighbour Adil Ahmad shouted from the riverbank on a breezy summer evening in May. 'Turn back! There's something in the water.' Across the Lidder, a tributary of the Jhelum River, in Hugam village of Indian-administered Kashmir's Anantnag district, a Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) plunged into the glacial waters and started paddling furiously against the current with all four limbs. 'I had no idea what it was,' Bhat, a high school student, told Al Jazeera, 'but I grabbed my smartphone and turned on the camera.' The grainy, nine-second video shows the creature with a fur coat – classified as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List – gliding out of the water and jumping onto the riverbank. After a few clumsy steps, the semiaquatic animal, which can reach elevations of 3,660 metres (12,000 feet) in the Himalayas during the summer, disappears behind a thick grove of bushes, bringing the video to an uneventful end. Long believed to have gone extinct, Eurasian otters seem to be showing signs of resurgence in Kashmir, with three individuals spotted by Indian wildlife officers in two places since 2023. The chance sightings have excited environmentalists and wildlife conservationists while raising hopes of a better future for the Himalayan region's fragile freshwater ecosystems, which have been battered by climate change in recent years. 'Habitat has improved' Indian wildlife biologist Nisarg Prakash believes the sighting of otters in Kashmir was an indicator of high-quality aquatic habitats. 'The reappearance of otters might mean that poaching has come down or the habitat has improved, and maybe both in some cases,' Prakash, whose work focuses on otters in southern parts of India, told Al Jazeera. Protected under India's Wildlife Protection Act, otters were once widely distributed across north India, including the Himalayan foothills, the Gangetic plains and parts of the northeast. A peer-reviewed study by IUCN in November last year noted that the Eurasian otter, known among Kashmiri locals as 'voddur', was found in water bodies of Lidder and Jehlum valleys, including Wular Lake, one of Asia's largest freshwater lakes. However, over the years, their population became 'patchy and fragmented due to habitat loss, pollution and human disturbances', says Khursheed Ahmad, a senior wildlife scientist at the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K). Ahmad said that, due to habitat alterations from human activities and the encroachment of their ideal habitats along riverbanks and other water bodies, Eurasian otters retreated and became confined to areas that were least accessible to humans. 'Although they were not extinct, sightings and occurrences had become extremely rare and they were never documented,' said Ahmad, who heads the Division of Wildlife Sciences at SKUAST-K. Less than two years ago, a research team led by Ahmad accidentally stumbled on otters during a study on musk deer in Gurez, a valley of lush meadows and towering peaks split into two by the Kishanganga River along the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan in the Himalayas. Past midnight on August 6, 2023, two individual otters were captured in a riverine habitat at an altitude of 2,600 metres (8,530 feet) in the valley near the 330MW Kishanganga Hydro Electric Project built by India following a prolonged legal battle with Pakistan at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. After that sighting, the research team focused on documenting the presence of otters on the Indian side of Kashmir. 'Unfortunately, due to heavy disturbance from fishing and other local and paramilitary activities, no further presence was documented,' the IUCN study notes. Ahmed said Bhat's video is only the second photographic evidence of otters in Kashmir.'Too terrified to go there' But in the large farming village of Hugam, comprising some 300 families, residents are both excited and worried. At the crack of dawn, Muneera Bano, a homemaker, wakes to the flutter of crows cawing furiously on the willow trees lining the tributary's banks outside her home in Hugam, located some 58km (36 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar. Bano has stopped washing clothes and utensils on the riverbank after the otter was discovered, something she had done for years. 'There are underwater caves [in the tributary], and it is hiding in one of them. When it comes out in the morning, crows see it and they start screaming. I am too terrified to go there,' she said. Bhat, the teenager who filmed the video, said he often used to bathe in the tributary's glacial waters and sometimes also caught fish. 'Now I can't even think about going there,' he said. The grainy video led to rumours about the presence of crocodiles in the tributary, prompting Indian wildlife officials to set up a camera trap, which confirmed that it was a Eurasian otter – also seen in Bhat's video – and not a crocodile. Some wildlife officials even bathed in the river in the presence of village elders to demonstrate that the water was completely safe. Although otters do not pose any threat to humans, they can turn unpredictable, especially when close to humans. But scientists say these animals can grow accustomed to the presence of humans. Wildlife biologist Prakash said rather than being scared or fearful, curiosity about otters can make them a sight to be enjoyed while watching them fish or swim. 'Otters are largely active around dawn, dusk and after dark, though they can sometimes be seen during daytime as well. Eurasian otters largely prey on fish, eels, and sometimes, waterfowl,' he said. Kashmiri farmer Wasim Ahmad remembers a summer day in the early 1990s when he was on the way back from school situated along the banks of Doodhganga, a major tributary of the Jhelum River. As Ahmad, now in his 40s, turned the corner, he saw a large procession of people walking jubilantly. One man was holding a dead otter while another was walking a dog on a leash. Bagh-e-Mehtab in Srinagar is home to a community of poachers who, in the past, made a living by selling skins of animals such as cats, otters, and other animals. With stricter animal welfare laws in force in India now, the community has given up the old profession. 'Our elders warned us that otters skinned the children and ate them raw,' said Ahmad, who was in ninth grade then. 'But as I grew up, I didn't come across even one person who was harmed by otters. It was basically a tactic to keep the children away from the river.' Ahmad, the wildlife scientist, said the reappearance of otters in Kashmir was a positive sign. 'Now we should see to it that the new habitat is protected from uncontrolled pollution, garbage accumulation, increased carbon emissions and habitat degradation. Addressing these challenges is crucial for their conservation and wellbeing,' he told Al Jazeera. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
The voices in the cockpit fuelling controversy over Air India crash
When the preliminary report into the crash of Air India Flight 171 - which killed 260 people in June - was released, many hoped it would bring some measure of closure. Instead, the 15-page report added fuel to a firestorm of speculation. For, despite the measured tone of the report, one detail continues to haunt investigators, aviation analysts and the public alike. Seconds after take-off, both fuel-control switches on the 12-year-old Boeing 787 abruptly moved to "cut-off", cutting fuel to the engines and causing total power loss - a step normally done only after landing. The cockpit voice recording captures one pilot asking the other why he "did the cut-off", to which the person replies that he didn't. The recording doesn't clarify who said what. At the time of take-off, the co-pilot was flying the aircraft while the captain was monitoring. What we know so far about Air India crash investigation Read the preliminary report Are India's skies safe? Air safety watchdog responds amid rising concerns The switches were returned to their normal inflight position, triggering automatic engine relight. At the time of the crash, one engine was regaining thrust while the other had relit but had not yet recovered power. The plane was airborne for less than a minute before crashing into a neighbourhood in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad. Several speculative theories have emerged since the preliminary report - a full report is expected in a year or so. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Reuters news agency have reported that "new details in the probe of last month's Air India crash are shifting the focus to the senior pilot in the cockpit". Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera claimed that its sources had told them the first officer repeatedly asked the captain why he "shut off the engines". Sumeet Sabharwal, 56, was the captain on the flight, while Clive Kunder, 32, was the co-pilot who was flying the plane. Together, the two pilots had more than 19,000 hours of flight experience - nearly half of it on the Boeing 787. Both had passed all pre-flight health checks before the crash. Understandably, the wave of speculative leaks has rattled investigators and angered Indian pilots. As theories swirl about Air India crash, key details remain unknown Last week, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the lead investigator, stated in a release that "certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting". It described these "actions [as] irresponsible, especially while the investigation remains ongoing". Jennifer Homendy, chairwoman of the US's National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is assisting the investigation, said on X that the media reports were "premature and speculative" and that investigations of this magnitude take time". Back in India, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association condemned the rush to blame the crew as "reckless" and "deeply insensitive", urging restraint until the final report is out. Sam Thomas, head of the Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India), told the BBC that "speculation has triumphed over transparency", emphasising the need to review the aircraft's maintenance history and documentation alongside the cockpit voice recorder data. At the heart of the controversy is the brief cockpit recording in the report - the full transcript, expected in the final report, should shed clearer light on what truly happened. A Canada-based air accident investigator, who preferred to remain unnamed, said that the excerpt of the conversation in the report presents at several possibilities. For example, "if pilot 'B' was the one who operated the switches - and did so unwittingly or unconsciously - it's understandable that they would later deny having done it," the investigator said. "But if pilot 'A' operated the switches deliberately and with intent, he may have posed the question knowing full well that the cockpit voice recorder would be scrutinised, and with the aim of deflecting attention and avoiding identification as the one responsible. "Even if the AAIB is eventually able to determine who said what, that doesn't decisively answer the question 'Who turned the fuel off?'". "We may even never know the answer to that question." Investigators told the BBC that while there appeared to be strong evidence the fuel switches were manually turned off, it's still important to keep "an open mind". A glitch in the plane's Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system - which monitors engine health and performance - could, in theory, trigger an automatic shutdown if it receives false signals from sensors, some pilots suggest. However, if the pilot's exclamation - 'why did you cut-off [the fuel]?' - came after the switches moved to cut-off (as noted in the preliminary report), it would undermine that theory. The final report will likely include time-stamped dialogue and a detailed analysis of engine data to clarify this. Speculation has been fuelled less by who said what, and more by what wasn't said. The preliminary report withheld the full cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript, revealing only a single, telling line from the final moments. This selective disclosure has raised questions: was the investigation team confident about the speakers' identities but chose to withhold the rest out of sensitivity? Or are they still uncertain whose voices they were hearing and needed more time to fully investigate the matter before publishing any conclusions? Peter Goelz, former NTSB managing director, says the AAIB should release a voice recorder transcript with pilot voices identified. "If any malfunctions began during take-off, they would be recorded in the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and would likely have triggered alerts in the flight management system - alerts the crew would almost certainly have noticed and, more importantly, discussed." Investigators are urging restraint in drawing conclusions. "We have to be cautious because it's easy to assume that if the switches were turned off, it must mean intentional action - pilot error, suicide, or something else. And that's a dangerous path to go down with the limited information we have," Shawn Pruchnicki, a former airline accident investigator and aviation expert at Ohio State University, told the BBC. At the same time, alternative theories continue to circulate. Indian newspapers includig the Indian Express flagged a possible electrical fire in the tail as a key focus. But the preliminary report makes clear: the engines shut down because both fuel switches were moved to cut-off - a fact backed by recorder data. If a tail fire occurred, it likely happened post-impact, triggered by spilled fuel or damaged batteries, an independent investigator said. Last week, AAIB chief GVG Yugandhar stressed that the preliminary report aims to "provide information about 'WHAT' happened". "It's too early for definite conclusions," he said, emphasising the investigation is ongoing and the final report will identify "root causes and recommendations". He also pledged to share updates on "technical or public interest matters" as they arise. Summing up, Mr Pruchnicki said the probe "boils down to two possibilities - either deliberate action or confusion, or an automation-related issue". "The report doesn't rush to blame human error or intent; there's no proof it was done intentionally," he added. In other words, no smoking gun - just an uneasy wait for answers that may never even fully emerge. Air India crash report live updates Fuel to engines cut off before Air India crash, preliminary report says Who are the victims of the Air India plane crash? Solve the daily Crossword
Wall Street Journal
16 hours ago
- Wall Street Journal
Watch: Hundreds Rescued From Burning Indonesian Ferry
Indonesian officials said a coast guard ship, six rescue vessels and several inflatable boats were deployed in the rescue operation and the fire was put out within an hour. Photo: Abdul Rahman Agu/AP; BAKAMLA/EPA/Shutterstock
