Something big is moving under Kashmir.

That was my first instinct when 

Sergio Gor entered the Valley and

met CM Omar Abdullah.

Because history has a bad habit.

It whispers first.

Then it screams.

So forget today's sweet words.

Below is the American trail.

Ambassadors.

Envoys.

Meetings.

And then....

Look at the aftermath.

1950-52

Loy Henderson.

Chester Bowles.

Met Sheikh Abdullah.

1953

Sheikh resisted full integration with 

India.

Sheikh was later arrested.

1961

JK Galbraith

Srinagar.

1962

Sino-Indian conflict.

Ladakh burned.

1963

Hazratbal relic crisis.

Mass unrest erupted.

1964

Chester Bowles.

1965

Pakistan launched Operation

Gibraltar.

Infiltration began.

Full war followed.

1987

John Gunther Dean.

Met Farooq Abdullah.

1988-'89

Armed insurgency exploded.

Jun 1995

Frank Wisner.

Met officials and separatists.

Days later

Tourists kidnapped.

India was embarrassed.

1996.

Wisner returned.

Hostage crisis continued.

Militancy remained brutal.

1996

Wisner again.

Weeks later.

Candidates attacked.

Rallies bombed.

Polling challenged by militants.

Feb 1997

Wisner again.

Met Hurriyat separatists.

Mar 1997

Sangrampora massacre.

Jan 1998

Wandhama massacre.

Oct 1998

Richard Celeste.

Met Farooq Abdullah.

Separatist Shabir Shah.

May 1999

Kargil war.

Dec 1999

IC-814 hijacked.

India released Masood Azhar.

Oct-Dec 2001

American strategic activity surges.

Powell.

Rumsfeld.

Blackwill.

Blair.

Feith.

Haass.

13 Dec

Parliament was attacked.

Jan 2002

Robert Blackwill.

May 2002

Kaluchak massacre.

Dec 2002

Blackwill again.

Mar 2003

Nandimarg massacre.

24 Pandits killed.

2006

David Mulford.

US activity inside Kashmir

intensified.

Jul 2006

Bombay local train blasts.

189 people killed.

2008

David Mulford again.

Washington watched Kashmir 

closely.

Separatist politics.

Then...

Nov 2008

Bombay terror attack.

166 people killed.

2013

Tim Roemer.

Met Omar Abdullah.

Afzal Guru executed.

Valley unrest returned.

2015-'17

Richard Verma.

Visited Valley reportedly.

2016

Burhan Wani killed.

Mass unrest followed.

Then Uri.

19 soldiers killed.

Aug 2018

Kenneth Juster.

Met Omar.

Feb 2019

Pulwama.

40 CRPF personnel killed.

Jan 20

Juster returned.

May 2020

Handwara operation.

Senior officers were killed.

Apr 2025

US VP JD Vance arrives in India.

Next day.

Pahalgam.

26 people killed.

And now...

Aug 2026.

Sergio Gor.

Srinagar.

Met Omar Abdullah.

He calls J&K an "important part of India".

Good words.

But he did not say "integral part of

India".

History leaves an uncomfortable 

shadow.

Tailpiece.

Watch the room after the

handshake.

Watch the border after the

photograph.

Watch who starts moving after the

cameras leave.

Correlation is not causation.

But intelligence agencies do not

survive on coincidence.

They survive on patterns.

And Kashmir has punished 

complacency before.

Don't look at his words.

Watch the actions that follow. 

 

"Periyar Kullan" gets national recognition.

Bringing joy to around 200 farmers in Ernakulam and Thrissur who have been working for its conservation, Periyar cow, also known as Periyar Kullan, has been recognised as a cattle breed indigenous to Keralam.

Through the ICAR National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources' registration,  Periyar cow is the second breed to get the tag in the state after Vechur Cow. 

It's mainly seen in Koovappady, Angamaly, Kothamangalam and Chalakudy regions. With minimal human interaction, it thrives under semi-feral and graze in a single managed unit in vegetation comprising trees, shrubs and grass rather than open pastures.

They are small to medium in size and weigh between 150 and 200 kg. It has a dark brown colour which makes it stand out from other native varieties.

Know-cow

* Periyar cow population : Around 1,000 in central Keralam farms.

* Average milk yield : 2.5 to 4 litres.

* Milk is classified as A2 Beta casein, the healthiest variety.

* It contains 4.5% fat and 9.1% SNF (Solids Not Fat).

* First breeding usually occurs at 26 months and first calving at 35 months. Gestation period is 279

   days.          

Courtesy : Excerpted from Gopika Varrier's article in the NIE, 22 Aug.

Brazil emerges.

Brazil emerges as alternative to China as US, Australia race to secure rare earths.

In the global race to secure rare earths that are key for everything from mobile phones to green technologies, Brazil is emerging as an alternative to China's dominance, particularly for the US and Australia.  

Back at The Quarterdeck.

Was up and awake most of the night to monitor a drip that was being administered on Lekha. Sleep was constantly interrupted and in between, I'd recited my prayers. However, what made me comfortable was that Lekha never complained of pain, post-surgery!

Got up at 5, sent the messages, went partially through my chores and was out of the room by a trifle before 6. Walked those 60 metres to the Thiruvambady kshetram, had a great darshan of the good Lord. There was hardly any crowd and my visit this morning was for thanksgiving on Lekha's behalf for easing out things thus far and for the procedure having gone off fine.

Returned, had my cuppa tea and carried Lekha's cuppa to the room, along with the sweet buns. The forenoon was spent in collecting the discharge summary, bills for payment and having a short nap, in between. Manoj was our chauffeur and had arrived at the hospital's parking, on the dot at 2!

We, finally, left the hospital by a half past 2. Did the following things :-

    

    * bought vegetables

    * bought fruits and

    * all the three of us had tea and snacks before reaching home.

Was at home by a half past 4, opened up the house soon after and arranged things that were to be done tomorrow.

A good scrub and bath; lit up the puja room lamp and settled down to watch our favourite television programs. Frequent power cuts made our viewing difficult.

Lekha had made a beautiful dinner and we'd non-vegetarian food after more than a month thanks to the Ramayanam month!

Tailpiece.

Another mission accomplished; shall wait for the biopsy results.

    

 

Lekha’s surgery.

Was up and awake around a half past 1, past midnight. Had, then, got up at 5, sent the messages, the morning chores and was out of the room a trifle before 6. Walked all the way to the Thiruvampaadi temple for my tryst with the good Lord.

Prayed for Lekha’s surgery to go well, with minimal or no pain at all and to steady Dr Sreekumar Pillai’s hands during the surgery! Returned, collected Lekha’s morning tea and buns from the canteen.

Both of us were ready before 8 so that Lekha could be readied for the procedure by the staff who’d come by for the forenoon watch. Rema and Padmakumar had dropped in by then from Thrippunithura. Lekha was wheeled into the pre-operative ward by a half past 10 and the surgery of removing the plaque from her tongue was over by a quarter past 12. She was in the ICU-post surgery till 8 in the evening.

Rema and Padmakumar had returned by 10’ past 5.

A quiet evening after the hectic activities and tense moments of the day!

Karnataka is finishing its SIR

Over 1.08 crore voters will be removed from the electoral rolls of Karnataka at the end of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). Another 25 lakh voters could find their names missing if they don’t provide relevant documents to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) in the next phase of the exercise.

Till date, the state has 5,54,32,314 total electors. As of 17 Aug, 1,08,31,945 electors (19.54% of the total electorate) were listed under the Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO)category after the house-to-house enumeration process.

15 lakhs ‘untraceable/absent’ category; 65,61,607 (11.84%) under permanently shifted; 16,38,839 (2.96%) dead, 7,07,792 (1.28%) duplicate or already enrolled and 3,94,722 (0.71%) as others or not wanting to sign the forms.

Of those removed, 43.53% were from Bangalore’s four districts - Bangalore Urban (17,26,634 or 42.94%), BBMP North (10,58,104 or 45.36%), BBMP South (10,64,044 or 49.61%, the highest in the state) and BBMP Central (8,66,406 or 45.84%).

Lowest deletions are in Udupi (63,364 or 5.96%) followed by Haveri (1,15,068 or 8.62%).

My take

The Election Commission of India is doing a thorough job and I sincerely hope that wrongdoers and frauds are put in their place.

Tailpiece.

Left home by a quarter past 8 to reach the Saroja Hospital by a quarter past 9. Lekha was put through the pre-surgery checks like :-

      * X-ray chest PA view

      * Blood and urine tests

      * ECG

      * Lekha had also met the ENT specialist for the discomfort in her ears.

Our room was 208. Padmakumar and Rema had come to be with us, all the way from Thrippunithura and it was wonderful! They returned by the 1710 Paalaruvi train.

Mission Samudra.

Vizhinjam port is set to script a historic milestone in India's maritime sector as it prepares for the official inauguration of its export-import (EXIM) operations slated tomorrow.

Mission Samudra - state government's flagship port-led industrial and logistics development - is built around the vision of a 'Port City' that positions Vizhinjam as the anchor of a wider Vizhinjam Maritime Economic Region. The scheme is backed by a Rs.400-crore catalytic fund. Officials expect 'Mission Samudra' to draw over ten times the public investment in private capital by 2031.

Located just 10 nautical miles from the major east-west international maritime route. Vizhinjam possesses

a geographical edge that no other port in the country can match, requiring minimal diversion for ultra-large container ships traversing the Indian Ocean.

This strategic-positioning allows European-bound cargo to reach its destination in just 24 days - a full 10 days faster than existing routes - prompting global shipping giant Mediteranean Shipping Company (MSC) to integrate Vizhinjam into its prestigious direct Jade Service connecting Europe and Asia. Exporters who have thus far shipped cargo to western markets via Colombo, Singapore and Dubai will now be able to send consignments directly from Vizhinjam.

Excerpted from : The NIE 17 Aug

My take.

Vizhinjam is gonna take off from here to unimaginable heights and levels!