Odysseys on The World

  The Great Emperor (first a dictator), Napoleon Bonaparte , was almost killed in a stampede of bunnies. Yes, those furry white creatures with the terrified look and pompom-sized tails. The bigger irony of an emperor almost killed by bunnies is that it was during a bunny hunt he organised.  In July 1807, after signing the Treaty of Tilsit, the one that ended the war between France and Russia, Napoleon wanted to celebrate. He asked his chief of staff, Alexandre Berthier , to arrange a rabbit hunt for him and his generals. Berthier skipped across town (no, I'm making this up) to gather thousands of rabbits (no, I'm not making this up). Instead of wild rabbits, he found domestic, farm-raised rabbits. Napoleon and his generals were hoping to have a laugh and a good time killing thousands of bunnies, but when the cages opened, hell broke loose. Instead of scampering in fear, the rabbits thought they were going to be fed. They charged at Napoleon and his generals with a war cry o...

 Pakistan raised the idea that China, as the upper riparian country, might stop the flow of the Brahmaputra after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).  Is this an empty threat from Pakistan, or a real one? Experts dismiss any possibility of China blocking or diverting water, saying that a bigger worry should be that the massive dam (one of the biggest in the world) coming up in a calamity-prone area in China-controlled Tibet (made by China). Nilanjan Ghosh highlights that the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra in Tibet) only forms 10-15% of the Brahmaputra volume, as it is majorly rain-fed in India. "Any attempt to divert the flow would be counterproductive as it would result in upstream floods because of sediment accumulation," said Ghosh, Vice President of Development Studies at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), to India Today Digital. (from India Today Digital)  According to the 2016 book, River Morphodynamics and Stream Ecology of the Qinghai-Tibet Pla...

  As US President Donald Trump navigates heavy criticism, many would say he's taking it out on India and its Southeast Asian neighbours. Amidst tensions, a new type of trade war has emerged: the Trump-India trade war. Why is it happening? Why is it the Trump- India trade war? How does it impact us? Starting in April 2025, Trump imposed a 26% "reciprocal tariff" on imports with trading surpluses to the US , under the "Liberation Day" initiative. Of course, India is among these ' trading surplus' countries. To justify his actions, Trump used the emergency powers under the IEEPA(International Emergency Economic Powers Act). However, yesterday, the US court stated that Trump had overstepped his authority, ruling that only Congress has the power to make decisions on international commerce. This is why I refer to it as a Trump -India conflict; he doesn't have his own country's backing for this decision. Despite the court's ruling, a federal a...

 In the past week, there have been multiple attempts at peace in the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump and the EU dial the phone, and Putin never picks up; that is just how it's been (metaphorically, of course). “All of us here, together with the US, are calling Putin out. If he’s serious about peace, then he has a chance to show it now,” says the UK prime minister on May 10th in Kyiv. Putin seems to be declining the EU's calls, too. He demands talks in Istanbul instead. Of course, they all seem rather vague. Is Ukraine any closer to peace? The largest prisoner exchange  spanning this war was initiated just yesterday ( May 24th) with contributions from both sides. But does that mean peace? Zelensky is now condemning any negotiations made without Ukraine's participation, particularly the US-Russia talks that excluded Kyiv. The EU is also proposing unconditional ceasefires, but it just seems to dial the wrong number there, as calls never seem to be returned. Istanbul seems to be the ...

  Operation Sindoor was a decisive Indian military action launched on May 7, 2025, targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). This operation was a direct response to the Pahalgam attack on April 22, 2025, where 26 civilians, primarily Hindu tourists, were killed by terrorists. (Due to misinformation in an article, I referred to them as militants in the previous post; they were terrorists) The operation was named "Sindoor" to refer to the red powder mark worn by married Hindu women. This choice of words highlighted the widows created by the Pahalgam attack, where men were selectively targeted. India clearly and precisely carried out measured strikes on terror camp bases, bringing them to ruins. These were conducted at several camps (9 in total). Sites were attacked in Bahawalpur(stronghold of Jaish-e-Mohammed), Muridke (Headquarters of Lashkar-e-Taiba), Tehra Kalan, Sialkot, Bhimber, Kotli, Muzaffarabad, Gulpur, and Chak Amru. The Fren...

 When five armed Islamist militants struck tourists in Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam, they killed 28 civilians and injured 20 others cold-bloodedly. These terrorists targeted Hindu tourists, asking victims to declare their religion or recite Islamic verses before executing them. One local pony operator, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, was killed while trying to protect the tourists. A tourist from Ahmedabad inadvertently recorded the carnage while ziplining over the area, capturing the chaos when the gunshots sounded.   Gurudwaras opened their doors to fleeing tourists. Aid was supplied as quickly as possible, and the whole valley was now in shambles. People were running helter-skelter, hither and thither, searching for any shelter, for any sanctuary they could find. As for the more long-term impacts, in response, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, expelled Pakistani diplomats, and closed its borders with Pakistan, namely the Attari-Wagah border. Prime Minister Narendra Mod...