10-year-old Indian Arshdeep Singh wins 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award
New Delhi, Oct 18: Arshdeep Singh, 10, is among the winners of the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in the 10-years-and-under category for his photograph ‘Pipe Owls’, which is of two spotted owlets nested inside a pipe. Now in its 53rd installment, the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is organised by the Britain’s Natural History Museum.
Among the junior winners, there were three categories 10 years and under, 11-14 years and 15-17 years.
While driving through Punjab’s Kapurthala with his father, Arshdeep saw a spotted owlet popping its head out from an old waste-pipe. He asked his father to stop the car and rested his father’s camera on the half-open window of the car at eye level. It wasn’t long before a second owlet put its head out. Although the spotted owlets are common in Punjab, these birds are rarely seen in the day as they are nocturnal.
Pipe Owls: This shot by Arshdeep Singh won him the Wildlife Photographer of the Year (10yrs and under age category) held at Natural History Museum, London. (Source: http://www.nhm.ac.uk)
Arshdeep started taking photographs at the age of six and ventured into the field of wildlife photography in 2012. The young photographer often travels with his father Randeep Singh who is also a well-known photographer.
Arshdeep recently won the Junior Asian Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. His work has previously been published in national and international publications such as Lonely Planet UK, Lonely Planet Germany, Lonely Planet India, BBC Wildlife UK etc.
Courtesy: indianexpress.com
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
