SRINAGAR: Two Pulwama residents were among three Kashmiris, who died in a road accident in Churu area of Rajasthan on Monday, officials said here.
Quoting an official the news agency KNO reported that a truck met with accident in Churu area of Rajasthan today.
He said all three persons from Kashmir, who were onboard the truck, died on spot.
He identified the trio as Jahangeer Ahmad Naikoo (driver) from Tiken Pulwama, his maternal uncle Mohammad Yousuf Bhat from Kareemabad Pulwama and another driver Showkat Ahmad Wani from Kupwara.
The official said their families have been contacted and efforts are to bring their bodies back.
SRINAGAR: The government on Monday approved the appointment of IAS officer B.V.R. Subrahmanyam as the new CEO of NITI Aayog, replacing Parmeswaran Iyer.
Iyer has been appointed as Executive Director of World Bank at the institution’s headquarters in Washington DC for a period of three years, from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
His World Bank appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet according to an order issued on Monday.
Iyer would be replacing Rajesh Khullar at World Bank headquarters. Khullar is a Haryana cadre IAS officer of 1988 batch, who has been repatriated to his home cadre at the request of the state government, the order said.
Iyer had been appointed as NITI Aayog CEO in July 2022.
Subrahmanyam, a 1987 batch IAS officer of Chhattisgarh cadre, has previously served as Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, and is an expert on internal security.
He was Additional Chief Secretary, Home, in Chhattisgarh before he was deputed to J&K after Governor’s rule was imposed in the state in June 2018 following the break-up of the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state. (IANS)
JAMMU: Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu released its final placement Reports for 2021-23 for the sixth batch of the post-graduate programme in management (MBA 2020-22).
An official statement said that the placement scenario at IIM Jammu has been on the rise with over 135 companies visiting for final placements. The Institute continued to create a strong presence in the industry as one of the fastest-growing IIMs.
A total of 239 students of the Sixth Batch of MBA (2021-23) appeared for the final placements.
IIM Jammu saw new opportunities coming its way as the students’ secured roles in domains like Product Management, Marketing, Consulting, Finance and General Management.
The highest domestic CTC stood at INR 64 LPA, with the top 10 percentile at 32.4 LPA, the top quartile CTC at INR 24.5 LPA, while the average and median CTC stood at INR 16.43 LPA and 15.25 LPA respectively.
IIM Jammu became one of the preferred campuses for recruiters. Some of our prominent recruiters were: Microsoft, Mckinsey and Company, EXL, Brillio, Cognizant, Zycus, Amazon, Target, Reliance Retail, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, State Street, ICICI Bank, SBI Capital Markets, Yes Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Mercedes Benz, Maruti Suzuki, Amara Raja Group, EY, KPMG, Deloitte, CRISIL, Kantar, Affinity Global, JLL, Shobha Reality, Vedanta, Tata Power, AM/NS, Adani Group, Carlsberg, DS Group, Bombay Shaving Company, BenQ, Wildcraft amongst others.
Prof B S Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu said, “100 % placements over the last year indicate an optimistic placement scenario. From the very beginning, IIM Jammu has set high standards for outstanding value-based quality education, high-quality research, executive education, consultancy, and strong corporate as well as international linkages. Despite the considerable increase in the batch size from the previous year, we are proud to announce this year’s placement season to be a resounding success.”
Prof Jabir Ali, Chairperson, Placements said, “A jump was witnessed in the average, median & highest package offered this year. The success of the placements season is driven by the trust of the recruiters in IIM Jammu”.
The campus has been one of the most preferred hiring destinations for top recruiters in the country owing to the excellent pool of talent available with high business acumen. The placement activity was coordinated by Prof. Jabir Ali and Dr. Baljeet Singh, Chairperson, and Co-Chairperson respectively, at IIM Jammu.
With the continuous direction and guidance of Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director, IIM Jammu, training, and placement at the Institute is sure to scale new heights year after year.
SRINAGAR: The Department of Wildlife Protection (Wetlands Division, Kashmir), is conducting the census of Migratory/resident Birds in the valley wetlands on February 21, 2023.
The participants from Kashmir University, SKUAST-K, Central University, various colleges, Wildlife Conservation Fund, National Development Foundation, Biodiversity Management Committees, Kashmir Bird Watchers Club, Wildlife SOS, Wildlife Researchers, Society for Environment Education and Development, Wildlife Conservation Foundation, Volunteers and freelancers are taking part in the said census.
Meanwhile, in this milieu an orientation programme was conducted at Camping Ground, Hokersar Srinagar to inculcate the census techniques amongst the participants and to add valuable suggestions received from the participants. Different teams/groups were established on spot for different locations so that comprehensive estimation will be ensured.
The aim of the bird count is to monitor the population fluctuation trends of migratory birds and to collect overall figures to incorporate the same with the general bird count throughout India.
The census is being conducted on February 21, 2023 not only in eight protected wetlands managed by the department like Hokersar, Shalabugh, Hygam, Mirgund, Chatlum, Kranchoo, Manibugh, Freshkhoori but also in other 25 water bodies of the valley which harbor sizeable number of migratory birds during winter migration.
The Wildlife Warden, Wetlands Division Kashmir, Ifshan Deewan, stated that coordinated efforts by the Department of Wildlife Protection to conduct the Annual Water bird Census (AWC) this year shall go a long way in creating a sound database of various water bird species particularly the migratory waterfowl that visit the wetlands of the Valley during winter months.
SRINAGAR: The administration on Monday sealed the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party’s (JKNPP) office in Jammu’s posh Gandhi Nagar area.
Quoting officials of the estate department newspaper The Indian Express reported that the premises were not allotted to any political party, but to Bhim Singh after he became a Member of the Legislative Council after the 2002 Assembly polls. The Mufti Sayeed-led PDP-Congress government ruled the erstwhile state then. Singh, however, continued to occupy the premises even after his MLC term expired, they said.
The Legislative Council stands scrapped following the abrogation of Article 370 post August 5, 2019.
The action came four days after former minister Harsh Dev Singh quit the AAP and returned to the Panthers Party.
A senior official said the department had issued a notice to Bhim Singh in 2018-19 also, asking him to vacate the premises in view of the completion of his MLC term, but the latter had gone to court. Later, in view of his health conditions, the department did not proceed against him.
Bhim Singh died on May 31, 2022, at the age of 80 and the party split into two factions—one headed by Vilakshan Singh and another by P K Ganjoo. Both approached the Election Commission for recognition as the real Panthers Party. As the party office was allotted to Singh, it came in the possession of the faction headed by Vilakshan Singh, who had the support of the former’s widow, Jaymala Singh.
After the death of the allottee, his family could have stayed in the house for a month, the official said, adding that they did nothing to vacate it.
JKNPP president Vilakshan Singh, however, said the department had not issued any notice to vacate the premises. He said the party’s laptops, computers and other things were inside the office and that he would seek a legal remedy in the matter.
Vilakshan, however, said his party had written to the department seeking the premises for the JKNPP as the party was registered with the Election Commission. The department has allotted accommodation even to non-registered political parties, he added.
And, the young ladies loved to hear and hum pan khae Sainya hamaro, sanvali suratiya hont lal lal, a musical melody of Asha Bhonsley from Teesri Qasam of 1966.
In the Pan Masla, a lot of other things are added for aroma and taste. KL Image: Raashid Andrabi
Pan is the commonly known name of piper-betel-leaf, which is chewed in the Indian subcontinent and some other parts of the world. How the betel leaves chewing came to Kashmir is an interesting study.
In Rajatarangini, there are references to Tambuli and Nagarakhanda leaves, which were brought as presents to some Brahman Rajas, namely, Jayapida, Ananta, Kalasa, Harsa, in ancient times by “foreigners” which included mostly dancing girls.
Ranjit Sitaram has equated Tambuli and Nagarakhanda with piper-betel leaves, while, according to Dr M A Stein believes Nagarakhanda leaves are not betel-leaves. He translates Nagara as ginger but adds that Nagara was never used as an ingredient of betel leaf chewing. Ranjit Sitaram’s translation of Rajatarangini is based, in his own words, on Stein’s acclaimed translation. On Sitaram’s translation, some bloggers have tried to link the modern kind of betel-leaf-chewing to ancient times.
According to Stein, transporting fresh betel leaves from outside till the recent past was most difficult in absence of facilities and hence the practice of chewing fresh betel leaves (pan) was totally unknown to “Kashmiri masses” in history; albeit, some Brahman kings, their attendants and dancers had a habit of chewing “betel leaves”, which had made their teeth red.
On record, however, betel-nut/catechu was imported to Kashmir from Punjab in the late nineteenth century as a spice or medicine but not as an ingredient of any betel-chewing [pan masala] which was unknown to the native population.
For Lip Beauty
Notwithstanding the aforementioned, chewing betel was an ancient practice all over the Indian subcontinent during medieval and post-medieval times. Betel was used by both men and women to dye their lips red and make them look attractive. People in the olden days were as anxious to look young, bright and beautiful as in our times. It was used to redden the lips to serve as a lipstick by womenfolk in the past.
It was used as a masticator. Under common belief, that pan strengthens the stomach, sweetens the breath, and gives the tongue, lips and teeth a reddish tinge. It was customary among people of the Indian subcontinent, all classes and communities, to take pan after their meals but many people developed the practice of taking it throughout the day. The areca nut (supari) was/is cut into small pieces, put in betel leaf with lime water, called Katha (lime made by Oyster and areca) and chewed with rolled betel leaf. The rich would mix with it costly spices like camphor, cardamom, cinnamon, honey, musk flavours, and dried-rose-petals and tie both its leaves with a silk thread, and keep it in golden and silver betel boxes (pan dabi). Some people bruised a portion of falafel (areca nut/sopari) and put it directly in the mouth as a nasha like a cigarette or tobacco.
A betel leaf was moistened together with a grain of chalk/lime, rub one upon the other, roll them together, and then place in the mouth. It was used by such people as opium. Some people took as many as four leaves of betel at a time, and chew them. Sometimes they spit out red-colour saliva. Some used spittoon (pan dani) for spitting out red colour saliva.
Among common Hindus, it was offered to the bridegroom and attendants (Baratis) at the bride’s house with sweet drinks. Abul Fazl mentions 16 items of women’s fashion and charm in the Mughal Era among all communities which included pan eating also. The royals kept pans in golden and silver boxes, while the common masses kept them in brass and wooden boxes.
Kashmir Dandas
In Kashmir, we had an old tradition of using the bark of walnut-tree (dandas) by womenfolk to brighten the teeth for a beautiful look and keep the oral health good. It was believed that the use of dandas kept teeth and gums stronger, besides refreshing the breath. Betel leaves were not used by men and women in Kashmir.
A Kashmiri pan seller is busy making a ‘dose’ for a client on Srinagar’s Residency Road in February 2023. KL Image: Rassod Andrabi
The tradition of pan-chewing appeared in Kashmir only after 1953 when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was removed from office and incarcerated for a decade. It was inducted into Kashmirian society during the Bakhshi era (1953-1963).
Betel does not grow in Kashmir. In the late 1950s, several pan-shops appeared first in the city centre of Court Road, Palladium cinema, Ameera Kadal, Residency Road, Habba Kadal, and then at Exchange Road, Khanyar, Bohri Kadal, and other places till the 1970s.
The earliest of these pan-shops was one of a Pandit at Habba Kadal, Mir Pan House at Residency Road, Regal Chowk and Churasia Pan House at the corner of Court Road opposite Palladium Talkie. Pan has a variety of metha pan, alaichi pan and tobacco pan. The fennel seeds, coconut powder and clove became added ingredients to the pan masala.
Credible eyewitnesses have recorded that in Bakhshi and Sadiq regimes, new trends of life, style and fashion appeared among Kashmiri youth. They would visit nearby cinema halls in city centre to watch a movie, take Kanti and Kabab, coffee and tea, at Ahdoos and other newly set up restaurants in Lambert Lane, in the background of Kishore Kumar singing Elvis Presley’s style, Inna Meena Dika, Dai manna Dika, rumpumpol, rumpumpol.
Visiting Amar Singh Club for billiards by rich people became order of the day, it is recorded. The young men would stroll from one end to another on Residency Road in the evening, puffing cigarettes and taking rass malai at newly established sweet shops. They would either sing or hum Bollywood songs of great hits of the time, Junglee, Janwar, Jab Jab Phool Khilay, Arzoo and the like.
MJ Aslam
The theme of these Bollywood hits, mostly shot in Kashmir revolved around Vale, and its beauty and they triggered a huge rush of tourists to Pahalgam, Gulmarg and Mughal Gardens. The valley was in full bloom and the city was in full buzz.
Chewing pan by young people emerged as the new trend among Kashmiris during this time as its aroma had an intoxicating effect on their minds. It became trendy to chew pan with cigarette puffs by young men of Kashmir. And, the young ladies loved to hear and hum pan khae Sainya hamaro, sanvali suratiya hont lal lal, a musical melody of Asha Bhonsley from Teesri Qasam of 1966. During two decades from 1953-1975, upheaval socio-cultural and political changes took place in Kashmir and the lifestyles of many well-offs and bad-offs also underwent drastic changes.
(MJ Aslam is a published author and a columnist. Ideas are personal.)
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Police Monday said to have arrested seven persons, evading arrest for years altogether, in last one month in central Kashmir’s Srinagar district.
The absconders said to have been arrested after strenuous efforts, as per a police spokesman, are involved in heinous cases registered against them in different police stations of District Srinagar.
The arrestees include; Farooq Ahmad Bhaga son of Gh Qadir, resident of Dalgate involved in case FIR No. 86/2006 U/S 379 RPC; Dr Arifat Jan wife of Tahir Gull, resident of Nigeen involved in Case FIR No. 139/2004 U/S 279, 337 RPC; Zameer Ahmad Shah son of Ghulam Mohd Shah resident of Panzoo Nowgam Involved in case FIR No. 14/2017 U/S 120-B, 392, 457, 201 RPC; Manzoor Ahmad Bhat Jogilanker P/S Rainawari Srinagar son of Abdul Rehman resident of Jogilanker P/S Rainawari Srinagar FIR No 35/1990 U/S 379 RPC of P/S Nishat; Rashid Iqbal Malik son of Mohammad Iqbal resident of Check Narwa Banihal Case FIR No. 26/2018 U/s354-D RPC; Nazir Ahmad Shigun son of Mohammad Sultan resident of Firdousabad Batamalo Case FIR No. 82/2006 U/S 341,323 RPC of PS Batmaloo; Mohammad Qasim Shah son of Ghulam Mohammad resident of Khag Beerwah case FIR No. 79/2003 U/S 3/7 EC Act and Aijaz Ahmad Gujree @ Tiger Abdul Rehman case FIR No. 74/018 U/S 302 IPC P/S Baramulla A/P CJS Jamia Mohalla Old Town Baramulla case FIR No. 116/2015 US 147,148,149,152,307,336,120-B RPC.
The arrestees have been produced before the competent Courts for further action under law, news agency GNS quoted the police spokesman as having said.
SRINAGAR: The Union government is considering a phased withdrawal of Indian Army from the hinterland of the Kashmir Valley, according to a report.
Newspaper The Indian Express on Monday reported that the Narendra Modi government is considering a plan to withdraw the Army from the interior of Kashmir in a phased manner and replace it with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel.
The report says the plan has been in the making for around two years and the Union Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs along with the military and J&K Police are part of the deliberations.
The Modi government’s plan is in “advanced stage” and it is a matter of when rather than if, reported The Indian Express.
However, the final call is yet to be taken on the plans and it’s still in the deliberative phase for now.
The Indian Express reports that the withdrawal is not just a sign of normalcy in Kashmir Valley but it’s a way to make the normalcy visible as the Modi government believes the security situation has improved since August 2019 when the J&K’s special status was scrapped.
On August 5, 2019, the Modi government scrapped the special status of J&K, converted it from a state into a Union Territory (UT), and bifurcated it into two UTs of J&K and Ladakh. Since then, the Modi government has claimed that the security situation has improved and stone-pelting has reduced.
A Union Home Ministry official told The Indian Express, “Since the August 5, 2019 decisions, violence in the Valley has steadily reduced. Stone pelting has almost vanished and the law-and-order situation is largely under control. However, a large presence of the Indian Army in the hinterland would sit oddly with claims of normalcy.”
If the plan is implemented, then the Army would only be deployed in forward areas of Kashmir along the Line of Control (LoC), the de-fecto India-Pakistan border.
If the Modi government approves the plan, then the Army would first be removed from two districts and then further action would be taken based on the resultant security situation, according to report.
The stand of the Indian Army is to reduce the numbers of Rashtriya Rifles (RR) personnel in Kashmir.
The Express reports, “The official said that one proposal discussed is to remove the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of the Indian Army in three phases and replace them with CRPF…Another official, privy to details of the discussions, said as of now the Army is only talking about decreasing the strength and not removing RR completely. The Army, according to defence sources, is already planning a resizing.”
As per the report, first companies in existing battalions would be reduced and this way around 15,000 personnel could be freed from interior regions.
Notably, several thousand additional security personnel were deployed in Kashmir region around the time J&K’s special status was scrapped.
SRINAGAR: At least 10 houses, several shops and 4 cowshed were damaged after a landslide struck Rezan area of Sonamarg in central Kashmir Ganderbal district last night.
Quoting an official the news agency KNO reported that the landslide was triggered by continuous rains and caused massive damage in the area.
He said the slide continued till 4 am in the morning and at least 10 houses, several shops and cowshed have been damaged in the incident.
Meanwhile, SDM Kangan Javaid Ahmad Rather told KNO no casualties were reported in the incident.
“As soon as the landslide occurred, a rescue operation was launched and civilians were shifted to safer places,” he said.
He added the operation continued overnight and they have started it again to remove the debris.
“All assistance is being provided to the affected people, while rescue and relief teams are on the job,” he said
SRINAGAR: Alarm bells have started ringing in the academic campuses world over as artificial intelligence can do more than what students are required to do in classrooms, at home and while writing their examinations. Though the technology is still in its infancy stage, the value addition could threaten the jobs of millions of people across diverse sectors.
ChatGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chat platform can write essays, legal briefs, scripts, emails, poetry, jokes, computer programmes, business proposals, complex code, debug your code, clear exams, do worksheets, write healthy recipes, and can write all types of comprehensive and error-free content among other complex things.
Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) can get you all the things you could ask for in a simple chat. It is the AI platform integrated with the messaging platform. The open access to the app can lure students to do their homework and assignments through the IA platforms, which poses a great challenge to the ethics surrounding this advanced technology.
The text-based AI Chatbot is the creation of the San-Francisco based Start-up called ‘Open-AI’. The ChatGPT interface allows users to converse with the AI model in English and many other languages. It is almost like talking with a human. It gives answers within seconds one on one just by prompting a question/query/phrase.
What Is ChatGPT And Why Is Everybody Talking About It?
The implications of ChatGPT are stark for educators, academicians, editors, researchers, scriptwriters, screenwriters, and content writers among others. They are worrisome and in severe despondency because of the fear of being jobless due to this advanced AI tool.
This text-generation tool poses a great threat to the education sector as the educationists fear that students will never need to learn to write, as they can merely lean on ChatGPT.
According to the Brookings Institute, “ChatGPT is the latest challenge to the creative human intellect. It is a conversational bot responsive to users’ questions in ways that allows it to search large databases in a fraction of a second.”
Schools and colleges all over the world have been banning this software because of its heavy usage in writing homework and assignments. New York City’s Department of Education imposed a ban on ChatGPT immediately after its passing of complex exams surfaced on social networking sites. It achieved almost fifty per cent in one of the difficult medical exams called the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). In another separate case, ChatGPT gained more than average in the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton MBA exam. It also cleared the US law exam with an ample score to qualify.
Indian educators, technologists, and entrepreneurs are also in the doldrums because of the rising implications of the ChatGPT. Could it replace the role of a teacher? Could the intelligent Chat bot add to rising dropout rates in schools and colleges, are among the intriguing questions they are looking for? Rashtreeya Vidyalaya (RV) University in the technology capital of India, Bengaluru is the first Indian University that banned ChatGPT on its campus. French, German, and Australian universities are also planning to put a blanket ban on the usage of ChatGPT inside the campus.
Although there is a significant discussion about the potential misuse of ChatGPT, the prevalent among them is its use by students to write essays, assignments, and other assigned homework.
Many educationists propose that AI should be seen as an opportunity rather than a hindrance in education. George Siemen, an international expert on AI suggests, “Educators should focus on how AI can be used to improve education. Chatbots like ChatGPT are innovations that are here to stay, so rather than banning them, it is far more beneficial for educators to explore and experiment with such tools to get a better sense of what can be done with them to generate better ideas.”
The panic about the technological threat to education is not new, but every advancement in technology proved to be a blessing in disguise and improved the ways of learning new things. Advancements in learning technology from slate, chalk, and paper, to digital pages and three-dimensional simulation videos all were previously called the death of learning, which proved otherwise. Therefore, panicking and saying ‘you cannot touch the technology’ is not a way out. It is how we get used to it that will be valuable to students and teachers, reported The Age.
Even though Open AI also released anti-cheating software called ‘AI-text Classifier’ that could identify the AI-produced text by studying the hiding cryptographic signals, called watermarks, its effectiveness is still doubtful because it does not cite the source of information and thus there is no linkage formation between the reader and the writer.
ChatGPT has amassed five million users within five days of its release. It gained a hundred million monthly active users only two months into its launch and became the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Thus, it is a revolution that we cannot ignore or run away from.
There is no doubt that Chatbots like ChatGPT will increase the domain and scope of knowledge but the question remains whether students will continue to learn the basic skills and whether this technology will really become the next big thing.
