The world needs to wake up to this new dimension of war at sea and be prepared to face the 'unknown enemy' who have the advantage of attacking at their choice of location and time, cautions Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
In a calibrated operation, the Indian Navy on Saturday 'coerced' 35 Pirates onboard a merchant ship around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast to surrender and ensured the safe evacuation of 17 crew members without any injury, officials said.
The Navy said on Friday that the safety of the crew held hostage by armed pirates was ascertained and the Indian Navy warship continued to maintain its presence in the close vicinity of the vessel till its arrival in the territorial waters of Somalia.
The fresh incident comes amid growing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.
Planet Nine, if it exists, is somewhere between 6-10 times the mass of Earth, and it may have an orbit that takes it around the sun once every 1,500 Earth years or more.
The Indian Navy rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with 19 Pakistani crew members and a Sri Lankan trawler in two swift operations after armed pirates hijacked the boats in the Arabian Sea amid deteriorating security situation arising out of Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting various cargo ships in the region.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
The Indian Navy on Saturday said its guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam has deployed a team to help fire-fighting efforts on board British oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda which has got 22 Indian and one Bangladeshi crew members.
The Indian Navy's 'mission deployed' guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam responded to the attack within an hour of receiving a distress call from the vessel Genco Picardy, they said.
The Navy deployed a warship, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I, helicopters and and MQ9B Predator drones to assist the vessel, MV Lila Norfolk, after it sent a message on the UK Maritime Trade Operations portal, saying unknown armed personnel had boarded it on Thursday evening.
Indian Navy's elite marine commandos on Friday rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation while responding to an attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel by around five-six armed personnel.
The Indian Navy, which regards itself as the 'net security provider' in the Indian Ocean Region, has also stepped up to the plate, with a warship stationed at all times off the Gulf of Aden for counter-piracy tasks. 91 Indian warships have been deployed in the region since 2008, patrolling high risk areas where piracy was rampant.
India on Thursday said it is closely watching the unfolding situation in the Red Sea, amid growing global concerns over Houthi militants stepping up attacks on several commercial ships in the region.
Indian Navy on Wednesday said its ships and aircraft remain 'mission deployed' for maintaining enhanced surveillance and undertaking maritime security operations.
The Indian Navy has deployed task groups comprising frontline destroyers and frigates in the central and north Arabian Sea and augmented its force levels in the region to undertake maritime security operations in view of recent attacks on commercial vessels in key shipping lanes.
India also went on an overdrive in expanding its military engagement with like-minded countries in its neighbourhood and beyond in the face of China's relentless attempts to become a regional hegemon and establish its primacy in South Asia.
'Due to the Israel-Hamas conflict, a faction operating in the Red Sea -- which is a typically safe area - has been firing projectiles arbitrarily.' 'Additionally, there have been two incidents involving Somali pirates, and one vessel has been hijacked.'
Singh said India has intensified patrolling of the seas after the recent attacks on merchant navy ships.
'Given that the situation is quickly escalating, such attacks will affect the flow of crude in the short term from West Asia' Subhayan Chakraborty and Dhruvaksh Saha report.
'If attacks escalate, there is a risk the Suez Canal may be closed.'
Saturday's drone attack on MV Chem Pluto came amid increasing concerns over various commercial vessels being targeted reportedly by Iran-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The Indian Navy continues to monitor the situation very closely with all stakeholders and remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region, it said in a statement.
According to officials, the Indian Navy has opened an investigation into whether the drone used to attack the vessel was launched from long range or from a nearby vessel.
An Indian-flagged crude oil tanker is among two vessels that came under drone attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Southern Red Sea, the United States Central Command has said.
A merchant vessel, with around 20 Indian crew, was hit by a suspected drone about 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast in the Arabian Sea on Saturday but there was no report of any casualties in the incident, Indian military sources and a maritime security agency said.
After getting married fairy-tale style in Udaipur, Parineeti Chopra and AAP MP Raghav Chadha returned to the latter's home in New Delhi.
Setting aside Sebi's direction, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) on Monday allowed PNB Housing Finance to go ahead with the shareholders' meeting on Tuesday to consider the proposed Rs 4,000 crore-investment by private equity firm Carlyle and others in the mortgage firm. However, results of the shareholders' voting will not be disclosed till further directions from the tribunal. The ruling comes hours after PNB Housing Finance informed stock exchanges that it has appealed against Sebi's direction on June 18 wherein it was asked to defer consideration of the proposed capital infusion proposal till a valuation of the company's shares is done by a registered independent valuer.
Private equity firm Carlyle Group and associates will acquire a controlling stake of over 50 per cent in PNB Housing Finance by investing in the Rs 4,000 crore preferential issue of equity and warrants of the Delhi-based mortgage lender. After the proposed transactions, expected to be completed by January 1, 2022, Carlyle will also have the right to nominate the chairperson of PNB Housing Finance (PNB HF). This right will continue as long as it holds at least 40 per cent of the share capital on a fully diluted basis.
According to the book, 'Keenie Meenie: The British Mercenaries Who Got Away With War Crimes', authored by UK-based investigative journalist Phil Miller India's secret use of British mercenaries lasted for four months after the Indo-Lanka accord was signed between former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Sri Lankan president Junius Jayewardene in 1987.
We asked you to share pics and stories of your furry companions. This is what Sneha Mishra, 24, from Mumbai had to share.
After stripping Pluto of planet status in 2006, some astronomers want to reclassify it once again, says Devangshu Datta.
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The finding may help understand the types of planetary systems that exist beyond our own.
The four leg canine 'soldiers' play a crucial role in saving lives of troops and civilians, reports Mayank Singh.
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The dog handler was not injured in the blast.
Here's a look at Aamir's unique avatars, where he's not playing the usual cop or college-goer, no matter how well (or how often) he's performed. And also where what he plays is as attention grabbing as how he plays it, no matter how lousy the film.
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