Zorba, India’s first dog on anti-poacher duty, is dead Zorba, India’s first dog to be deployed for tracking down poachers, has died of age-related ailments in Guwahati. The 12-year-old male Belgian Malinois was a member of ‘K9’, the nation’s first dog squad to fight wildlife crime. Zorba was the first dog of the squad. Zorba retired from service in 2019 and was honored with a traditional Assamese gamosa (a scarf) and a citation on Independence Day on 2022. Zorba served mostly in the Kaziranga National Park from 2012 till his retirement. Railways to simulate accident to test preparedness of relief teams In a first, the Indian Railways is assessing the preparedness and performance of its accident relief teams in real time by simulating a major accident, involving derailment of coaches and huge casualties in Bengaluru. The exercise is being organised by the Indian Railway Institute of Disaster Management, Bengaluru, in association with the National Institute of Disaster Management, New Delhi. About 40 senior railway officers, 50 officials in charge of Accident Relief Trains from across Indian Railways and 75 disaster management experts drawn from different fields will participate in the programme.
