18 APRIL 2016

Ø  Two Army personnel and a civilian guest of their Commanding Officer (CO) have been arrested by Ladakh police on charges of poaching an Urial wild sheep, a highly endangered animal found only in that part of Jammu and Kashmir. Army sources said those arrested have been identified as Havaldar Kata Prahsan and Lance Naik Inder Soni Singh of 254 Armoured Regiment and Arjun Nehta, a resident of Dwarka in New Delhi. While both the jawans have been released on bail, the civilian is still in custody.

Ø  In a change in strategy, India has sought to charge Tahawwur Rana — a close associate of David Coleman Headley and who is also charged in the 2008 Mumbai attacks — for conspiring to attack the National Defence College here and Chabad Houses (Jewish religious centres) in various cities. A fresh request for extradition of Rana, who gave Headley a base in Mumbai, has been sent to the U.S.

Iran President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday assured External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj that his country could be a “reliable partner” for India’s energy needs, as the two nations decided to significantly expand engagements in their overall ties, particularly in the oil and gas sectors. Mr. Swaraj, who arrived here on Saturday, called on Mr. Rouhani and held talks with her Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, besides meeting Ali Akbar Velayati, Adviser to Supreme Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and discussed a range of issues. India has been eyeing deeper energy ties with Iran following lifting of nuclear sanctions and has already lined up $20 billion as investment in the oil and gas and petrochemical and fertilizer sectors there. India is keen on increasing oil imports from Iran from the current 3,50,000 barrels a day. Mr. Rouhani spoke of the Chabahar port as a “defining partnership which has the potential of connecting the entire region,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. Mr. Rouhani, whose country shares borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, hoped for closer consultations with India on regional issues, especially Afghanistan and the challenge of terrorism.