Amidst allegations of the Army’s role in the death of the three civilians in Poonch district following an ambush last week that killed four soldiers, Army Chief General Manoj Pande reached the area to take stock of the situation.

After a full briefing and interaction with officers on the ground, General Pande urged the commanders to conduct all operations in the “most professional manner”. Two days after the ambush on December 21, the Army set up a Court of Inquiry into the mysterious deaths on December 23. It has since ‘attached’ a Brigadier, a Colonel (Commanding Officer of the unit) and a Lieutenant Colonel . ‘Attaching’ is a euphemism for putting them under watch of the local higher formation pending inquiry.

The J&K administration, too, filed a murder case against unknown Army personnel, announced compensation to the bereaved families and jobs to the next of kin. Four soldiers were killed and three injured on Dec 21  when two Army vehicles in J&K’s Poonch district were ambushed by terrorists.

Eight civilians were then picked up for questioning by the security forces. Subsequently, the bodies of three of them were mysteriously found near the ambush site. All three were from Topa Peer village. Their families alleged that they were tortured and killed by the Army personnel. The five other civilians picked up by the Army are undergoing treatment for serious injuries at a hospital. The Army is yet to nab the assailants involved in the ambush. Search operations are continuing.

US air strikes targeting a pro-Iranian group in Iraq on Dec 26  claimed at least one life, drawing an angry response from Baghdad as regional tensions spike amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The United States has repeatedly targeted sites used by Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq and Syria in response to dozens of attacks on American and allied forces in the region since the October 7 outbreak of the war.

Iraq said the latest US strikes killed one member of the security forces and wounded 18 other people, including civilians.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier American forces had carried out strikes on three sites used by pro-Iran groups in Iraq in response to a series of attacks on US personnel.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been moved to a penal colony in the Arctic, allies said on Dec 25 after over two weeks during which his whereabouts were unknown.

Authorities transferred Russia's most prominent opposition politician to an isolated penal colony three months before a presidential vote expected to easily hand Vladimir Putin a fifth term.

The district of Kharp, home to about 5,000 people, is located above the Arctic Circle.

It is "one of the most northern and remote colonies", said Ivan Zhdanov, who manages Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Washington welcomed reports that the dissident was finally located alive but slammed Moscow for its "malicious targeting of Navalny and the more than 600 other political prisoners Russia has imprisoned".

France condemned the transfer, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying Russia had committed "blatant violations of human rights".

Navalny has been behind bars in Russia since January 2021, when he returned to Moscow after recuperating in Germany from nerve agent poisoning that he blamed on the Kremlin. Before his arrest, he campaigned against official corruption and organized major anti-Kremlin protests.

Farm drones adoption is expected to pick up significantly from 2024 as the tech ecosystem surrounding it matures, favorable policy environment and surge in demand from various quarters, including corporate farming.

Ramanathan Narayanan, co-founder and chief executive of Daksha Unmanned Systems, a Chennai-based drone start-up, said demand for the agri drones is going up from thousands to five lakh in the next few years. He said they’re ramping up production facility and establishing a new facility with a capacity to 12,000 drones a year to meet the demand. He stressed the importance of increasing skilled pilots in the farm sector to about 3,000 at present to 2 lakh in the next two years. 

Adani Green Energy (AGEL) on Dec 25  said it has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) to supply 1,799 MW of solar power.

With the signing of this balance PPA, AGEL has completed the power offtake tie-up for the entire 8,000 MW manufacturing-linked solar tender awarded to it by the SECI in June 2020, a company statement said.

According to the statement, AGEL has announced the execution of a PPA with the SECI to supply 1,799 MW of solar power.

Deaflympics gold medallist Virender Singh Yadav, better known as Goonga Pehlwan, has now decided to return his Padma Shri to the government, showing solidarity with the country's top wrestlers who have objected to the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh as WFI president.

Australia's Usman Khawaja has been denied permission to place a peace symbol on his bat and shoes for the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.

Khawaja, a Muslim, was stopped from wearing shoes emblazoned with the hand-written slogans "Freedom is a human right" and "All lives are equal" during the first Test in Perth.

The 36-year-old had wanted to show his support for the people of Gaza.

A youngster from Kodagu is emerging as the favorite driver in the motor rally world even as he was declared the National Champion 2023 at the Indian National Rally Championship. Abhin Rai, a 24-year-old motor enthusiast from the district, shares his dream and experience at the recent rally.

Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) is a pan-India rally championship that was held across six stages this year. The rally began at Arunachal Pradesh and then was held at Chennai, Coimbatore, Kodagu, and Bengaluru.

Abhin enthusiastically took part in this rally and has emerged as the champion. He was leading in points, was named the National Champion in four categories, and was declared the second runner-up at the Junior-level INRC rally. He also won the Rising Star award during the rally at Kodagu.