Pretty much everything about the tale of the Baiji, also known as the Chinese River Dolphin, is saddening. These gentle giants had called the massive Yangtze river in China their home for almost 20 million years. Far from the flair of other dolphins, these creatures were shy and relied on echolocation for food and general survival because their eyesight was extremely weak. Humans invading the river with noisy boats and then noisier ships did not help their cause. What really rang the bells of doom for these creatures was the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, which caused massive damage to their habitat. In the year 1950, their population was estimated to be around 6,000. And in roughly 50 years, humans had entirely wiped them out. They were declared extinct on December 13 in 2006. What was even disheartening about their loss is the fact that they were the only surviving species from their mammal family, Lipotidae. The anatomy of their skeleton and stomach is quite unique and unlike those of other dolphins or whales today.
The Winter Session of Parliament in 2001 turned out to be a harrowing ordeal for the country as five terrorists breached security at the site and launched an attack. Allegedly belonging to the banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, these gunmen were thwarted by security forces present at the Parliament on that fateful morning of December 13 and all five of them were killed. India also lost six Delhi Police personnel, two members of the Parliament Security Service and a gardener. India blamed the intelligence agency of Pakistan, ISI for masterminding the attack and arrested and put on trial four alleged members of the JeM after an investigation. Out of these, only Afzal Guru happened to serve his sentence of death and was hung in 2013.
On a lighter note, Happy Birthday Taylor Swift! Born in 1989, this talented singer-songwriter from the United States has kept listeners enraptured for the better part of the 21st Century.
