SRINAGAR: A delegation of the civil society members on Monday called on Divisional Commissioner Jammu Ramesh Kumar at his office and discussed the issue of ongoing anti-encroachment drive.
The delegation comprised Devender Singh Rana, Khalid Hussain, Suhail Qazmi, Sahil Ji Maharaj, Arun Gupta, President Chamber of Commerce, Jammu, Rajeev Gupta, Mahant Mohan Giri, Mahant Rajesh Bittu, Mahant Rajeshwar Giri, Vinay Hindu, Mohammad Aslam Qureshi, Choudhary Iqbal, Haji Ashraf, S. Ravinder Singh, S. Manpreet Singh, Anwar Khan, besides other prominent citizens.
Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Avny Lavasa was also present during the interaction.
The delegation informed the Div Com about the concern and sense of insecurity prevailing among the poor people with regard to the ongoing anti-encroachment and demolition drive being carried out by the administration. They urged the Divisional Commissioner that poor people may not be targeted during the ongoing anti-encroachment drive.
Stating that no one was opposed to the action against the land grabbers, they said that there was a need to safeguard the interests of the poor who have constructed small dwelling units.
Responding to the issues raised by the delegation, the Div Com assured that no landless person/ family would be affected by the government during the ongoing anti encroachment drives carried out to retrieve encroached state land. However, he reiterated that big encroachers would not be spared.
“Clear instructions have already been issued to the concerned authorities not to target the poor and the landless public,” he assured.
The delegation members also assured to extend full support and cooperation to the administration in the ongoing drive. The delegation said that the Jammu Civil Society is united and committed to maintain amity, tranquility and order in the city as per its glorious ethos of peace and harmony.
JAMMU: Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Monday exhorted the administration to take effective measures for allaying the fears of common masses about the ongoing anti-encroachment drive as per the clear directions of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, on the matter, saying that this will silence the vested interests who are out to exploit the situation as per their contingencies.
Addressing a delegation of the Civil Society, comprising representatives of every walk and shade of life, which met him at his residence, here this morning, Rana referred to the assurance held out by Lieutenant Governor that the poor would not be touched and said those creating unnecessary apprehensions are actually doing to camouflage their nefarious activities or to further their political interests by inciting common masses.
Prominent among those present on the occasion included Arun Gupta, President Chamber of Commerce, Jammu, Sahil Ji Maharaj, Mahant Mohan Giri, Mahant Rajesh Bittu, Mahant Rajeshwar Giri, Vinay Hindu, Suhail Qazmi ,Khalid Hussain, Rajeev Gupta, Mohammad Aslam Qureshi, Choudhary Iqbal, Haji Ashraf, S. Ravinder Singh, Haji Fareed, S. Manpreet Singh, Anwar Khan and many others.
He said the administration has more than once reassured the common people not to nurture any apprehension but some elements were igniting the situation to cover up and protect their shady deals. In this misadventure, unfortunately some political elements have also jumped in to give spin after spin to the drive by claiming that only a particular community is being targeted to engineer demographic change.
These political players with vested interest have already been rejected by their core constituency in the Valley for the sins committed over the decades and now they were misadventuring in this region to cook their breads, he said.
“Let these political misadventurists understand that Jammu has immense capacity and capability to sort out its own issues unitedly and the proud Dogras– Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christians, all inclusive –need no diktat from the discredited Valley leaders,” Rana said, adding that these chameleons have inflicted lot many scars on their own innocent brethren back home and now making attempts to vitiate the atmosphere. Again they are wrong in their calculation about the wisdom of Jammu, he added.
Rana said the Jammu people are unitedly acknowledging the assurance of the administration and want a comprehensive policy on anti encroachment drive as per the commitment of the Lieutenant Governor. He said the people believe in rule of law and were unequivocally against the land mafia.
Rana cautioned the disruptive elements for taking law into their own hands, saying disturbing peace and order is not Jammu ethos. He said these elements were actually playing in the hands of vested interests and disgruntled politicians, who want disharmony and disaffection among the people. Actually these people are unnerved by the massive outreach of the visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi to last person in the society, irrespective of caste, creed, culture, region or religion, as per his cherished agenda of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabk Vishwas, Sabka Prayàs. Spreading falsehood therefore is their only ulterior tool to create disruption in the society, he maintained.
Devender Rana complimented the delegation for rising to the occasion once àgain to fight their cause as a single entity like they are known for doing in the past. He recalled how Jammu has withstood the test of times against the evil designs of vested interests whenever attempts were made to divide them by provocative actions like desecrations or by creating communal wedge. This is actually the real strength of Jammu, he added.
Later, Devender Rana accompanied the delegation to meet the Divisional Commissioner to put their case for a Comprehensive Anti Encroachment Policy.
“The worker picked up Pakhom’s spade, dug a grave, and buried him—six feet from head to heel, exactly the amount of land a man needs.” (Leo Tolstoy, How Much Land Does a Man Need?)
A Kashmiri Bakarwal bridegroom Mohammad Farooq, second right, watches as his relatives argue about the amount of Mahar which is a mandatory required amount or possession paid by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage and is often money or anything agreed by the bride such as jewellery, home goods, during a wedding ceremony at a temporary camp on the outskirts of Srinagar, India, Friday, May 31, 2013. Bakarwals are nomadic herders in Jammu Kashmir state, who wander in search of good pastures for their cattle. (KL Image: Special Arrangemnet)
The old Kashmiri proverbMulan Droth Tah Patran Saghbrings my entire concept to fruition. The literal meaning of the famous saying is “a sickle for the roots, but water for the leaves.”
Owing to the ambiguous nature of literature, this proverb could be interpreted in enormous ways. A simple interpretation is that ‘you love the offspring of a person you dislike or hate’. The symbolic interpretations of the saying are related to the concepts of relationships.
In other words, close relations are left behind and mundane relationships are given importance. Besides, it could be interpreted as emphasising the trivial aspects of life, such as materialistic possessions, while ignoring the important ones. This proverb somehow befits the condition of our contemporary society, where people seem to forget the significance of all the worthwhile things around them.
With the advent of modernity, our society witnessed major changes, be it in the form of lifestyle, change in daily routines, or any other, followed by an increased gap between in-person meetings, miscommunication, and an increase in broken relationships (of any sort). However, we might have observed that over the years everyone has become so engrossed with their busy schedules that they don’t even have a spare moment to spend time with their loved ones, thus resulting in miscommunication and eventually broken relationships.
Having said that, have we ever considered what the root cause of all of the aforementioned events is? What makes a person so hardhearted that he is willing to end long-term relationships? It consists solely of three elements: greed, materialism, and jealousy. Greed means to have the desire for things more than one has in possession; materialism, on the other hand, means an excess want of materialistic things; and eventually, jealousy is the product of these two elements.
Cowries are small sea shells that in ancient were a form of currency. A huge quantity of this currency of the bygone era are protected by people living in Kehribal area of south Kashmir. Pic: Special Arrangement
We are overtaken by greed in such a manner that one such model is that in almost every family there is a conflict between siblings regarding a piece of land, property, or anything related to the same without even comprehending the fact that excessive desires can lead them to lose everything, including precious relationships. By this, I am reminded of a quote: “The worker picked up Pakhom’s spade, dug a grave, and buried him—six feet from head to heel, exactly the amount of land a man needs.” (Leo Tolstoy, How Much Land Does a Man Need?)
However, we live in a society where we must deal with these pressures, but that does not mean that we will betray our own blood and believe that by doing this agonising act against them, we will live a prosperous life.
Materialism is yet another matter of concern, the best example that I can specify in it is that of the lavish marriages we observe nowadays. In present times, marriage rather than a union of two beings on a simple basis has become more than that of a show-off in order to demean those who are devoid of material wealth, therefore leaving behind our roots.
It is quite unfortunate that in order to ensure the happiness of one’s daughter in her to be home, these materialistic things will prove how she will be received, or for that matter, treated, over there. As the saying goes, marriages are made in heaven, but due to these luxurious expenses one perceives at the moment, it seems to be what Eunice de Souza has said, “Marriages Are Made.”
Additionally, still after all these extravagances in marriages, we come up with ample cases of domestic violence, brutal killings of daughters-in-law, and many related ones. As Naseem Shafaie has rightly said in one of her notable works: “…Will they awaken her on gentle, mellow sounds? Or, will they, I misgive, snatch her sleep away?” thus materializing the condition of women in our worldly-minded society. Hence, materialism is working at all levels in our society, and we are under its clutches.
Another factor that is the end product of greed and materialism is jealousy or envy, which has engulfed almost everyone these days. If a person successfully attempts his course of action in life, followed by achieving great things through hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm, he is despised by his own kin, and the irony is that everyone will act quite jovial at face value while using illicit means to stop him prosper. Envy makes a person go to any extent without even considering their conscience.
Hurmat Altaf
Christopher Marlowe, in his splendid work, Doctor Faustus, considers Envy as one of the seven deadly sins. Envy is personified in the play and says, “I am Envy, begotten of a chimney-sweeper and an oyster-wife. I cannot read, and therefore wish all books were burnt; I am lean with seeing others eat – O that there would come a famine through all the world, that all might die, and I live alone; then thou shouldst see how fat I would be!.”
Therefore, these things are inherited in a human being, and he cannot altogether deprive himself of them, but I believe that there is a possibility for one to move beyond these things to some extent and value relationships more than anything else.
Otherwise, one is left with repentance and nothing else. Furthermore, these are things that lead a society slowly and steadily towards degradation. As the saying goes, “This is the way the world ends, Not with a bang but with a whimper.” (TS Eliot, The Hollow Men).
(The author is pursuing BA Honours in English from Cluster University Srinagar, Kashmir. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of TheNewsCaravan.)
SRINAGAR: The auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), underway at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra, saw ‘Delhi Capitals’ franchise making a successful bid to bag Kashmir-based Cricketer Jasia Akhtar for an amount of rupees 20 lakh.
Akhtar, a right-hand batter hailing from Braripora village of Shopian, has been playing for Rajasthan state team for past two years. The top-order batter, who previously played for Punjab, Trailblazers and India Reds, was recently appointed to take reins of Rajasthan team as skipper.
Jasia who now has become the lone cricketer to feature in WPL from Kashmir, is learnt to have received a call for National camp for India women’s national team in 2017 – but was unable to find a place in the playing eleven.
The other Cricketer who features alongside Jasia in the auction list from Jammu and Kashmir is Sarla Devi. The latter might however fail to make the cut this time around as the organizers are supposed to auction a maximum of 90 players for the inaugural league – scheduled to begin from March 4, 2023.
Notably, the auction saw Indian opener Smriti Mandhana being the top buys so far, with RCB splurging Rs 3.4 crore for her. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: The Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) Kashmir has suspended as many as 35 driving licenses for different offences under the Motor Vehicles Act in various districts of Kashmir so far this year.
This was revealed by the ARTOs in a review meeting today on the issue, convened by the Regional Transport Officer, Kashmir.
The licences have been suspended for offenses like rash driving, using Mobile phones while driving, overspeeding and overloading etc.
Under the provisions of the Act, the offender is given an opportunity of hearing in case he/she feels that he/she has reasons enough to plead his case. In case of a first violation, the licence is suspended for three months. However, the department can suspend the licenses up to six months after hearing the offender.
RTO Kashmir directed the ARTOs to publish the details of violators in future, whose licences have been suspended including the vehicle number, licence number, photograph of the violator who is found to be guilty.
He further insisted that if a licence holder is found involved in multiple violations of the same kind, his licence shall be cancelled.
Kashmir is famous for its multicourse mutton cuisine, the Wazwaan. That, however, never means that there are no candies and sweetmeats endemic to Kashmir, writes MJ Aslam
Technology has completely taken over and now the cell phone is almost a bank and a wallet. That is perhaps why financial institutions must be highly sensitive towards the apps they produce and ask people to use. This photograph taken by a TheNewsCaravan scribe on Friday, April 30, evening shows a vendor selling phereni for Iftaar. He would accept the payments digitally. Imagine, if the app does not operate. What will be the consequences for this young man?
Kashmir has remained famous for its food. It is as true with vegetable-based preparations as it is with non-vegetarian cuisine. There is a basket of candies and sweetmeats too.
Halwa
Everyone knows about Halwa. The sweetmeat was originally made of honey, camel’s milk, cashew nuts, and many other ingredients and brought from the Persian Gulf, via Bombay, in saucers to United India in the nineteenth century. Before that Halwa was unknown in India. Now, there are varieties of Halwa known all over India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Arabia, Persia and other parts of the world.
Historically, its origin lies in Persia (Iran), where it spread initially to Ottoman Turk Empire, Arabia, the Middle East and then to India.
Halwai is the one who prepares and sells the sweetmeat. Both terms have origins in Persian-Muslim food traditions. With the passage of time, Halwai became a term to denote the maker and seller of all kinds of sweetmeats or simple sweets.
In Kashmir, Halwa tradition must have reached towards the end of the nineteenth century as Halwa and Halwai were the names now known in Kashmir. However, it was non-Kashmiri Muslim Halwais from other parts of India who by 1980 started introducing and setting up their shops of Halwa-Paratha outside Kashmir shrines.
Some local Muslim Monje Ghier copied it from them. Monj e Gour makes and sells vegetable fritters and fried snacks called Monjgir Soda in Kashmiri’s common parlance. A variety of items like Nadir Monji, Alve Pakode, Gunde te Palki Pakode, Til e Kareh, Til e Goji and Monjgir Gade, are prepared by dipping lotus-stem-pieces [Nadru], slices of potatoes, onions and spinach, chickpeas, the kernel of water chestnuts and fish, respectively, in spiced-batter and then deep fried. Paratha is also deep-fried in mustard oil. The confectionery items prepared and sold by Monj e Gor are Khand e Gazri, Lala Shangrum and Busrakh.
Phirini, Pulav
Like Halwa,Phirni, an after-meal-dessert, a sweet pudding of condensed milk with Soji mixed with dry fruit like raisins, almonds, cashews, and pistachios, sprinkled with rose-water, has also Persio-Turkish origin. Muslims prepare other rich and aromatic sweet dishes of Pulav, mixed with almonds, and raisins and strewn with ghee and saffron.
Nabad, Honey
Sugarcane does not grow in Kashmir. Sugar was exclusively imported from erstwhile united Punjab up to 1947 but it was among the costliest imports to Kashmir. Kashmiris were fond of sugar. From Kashmir, Punjab sugar was sent via Leh to Changthang, Lhasas and then to Yarqand and Kashghar. It came in two forms brown colour sugar, which was called Batas, and white colour sugar which was called Nabad. Brown sugar is the shakar in Persian and Khaa’nd in Punjabi. But, in Kashmir, over decades, Khaa’nd became Khand, which is invariably used for white sugar crystals used by people.
Common sugar is known to Kashmiris, though originally when its import began to Kashmir in the nineteenth century from Punjab, it was called Nabad or Nabat. And, with the passage of time, Nabad denoted crystallised sugar into a big round ball.
It was mainly white loaves of Nabad that were consumed by Kashmiris in Kahwah and some food items. Nabat is a Persian word meaning sugar. Its modified Kashmiri version is Nabad. Nabad, as we know and understand in Kashmir, is sugar crystallized in an earthen pot or a copper container like No’ut and then carved out as a solid sugar ball in a semi-round shape, bigger than a football. It was done by Halwais or Monje-girs who supplied it to dry-fruit sellers and grocers for sale. Pieces of Nabad are called Kuza or Kuze.
It may be noted here that the small earthen dishes or pots in which sugar was crystallised and manufactured into what is commonly known as Nabad Nut were removed preparatory for the purpose of easy transportation of Punjabi sugar to Tibet and Central Asia via Leh. In Kashmir, however, Nabad No’ut retained its place in marital and betrothal gifts that were exchanged by the families of bride and bridegroom at the time of what was commonly known as Nabad-Nishain.
A Kashmiri sweetmeat seller, Halwaie, busy selling the fresh baked Paratha and Halwa. These sweetmeats are usually consumed in tons around the shrines on special festivals and occassions. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
The tradition was that the Nabad No’ut was carried by a middleman on his head while the boy’s mother and close female relatives followed him to the girl’s home. At the girl’s parental home, the mothers of the boy and girl would exchange Nabad-Kuze with swearing in sacred words of giving and taking young couple as husband and wife. Since this odd custom conflicted with the set procedure of Nikah Khawani in Islam, the tradition of Nabad-Nishain has disappeared from Kashmirian society since.
It may be noticed that Khand, Misri, Shakar and Gur are all different varieties derived from sugarcane.
Lawrence had suggested to the then Dogra government, an alternative to the sugarcane plants of cultivating sugar maple and beetroot sugar in Kashmir but the suggestion could not materialize. What people used in making Kahwah and food items like Pulao, Halwa, Phirni, etc, in the past, when sugar was not imported to Kashmir? They used honey!! The oldest known method of honey-making was adopted by Kashmiris. Even when sugar was coming to Kashmir in the past, many people resorted to this oldest known procedure of homemade honey as an alternative to sugar.
What was that method? In the past, houses were built of wood and mud. A round hole was dug inside-out in the wall of the house in which a tube 14 inches wide and 22 inches long of baked clay (pottery, earthenware) lined with a plastering of clay mortar, which was worked up with the husk of rice or with thistle-down, was inserted in the wall-hole. The outer side of the orifice of the hole was covered with a red pottery-ware disk (like Anuit) with some openings in it for the bees to enter the tube. On the mouth of the tube inside the house, a similar pottery plate was tightly fitted with plaster of clay and husk. When the comb was fit to be taken, the house owner would burn some grass near the orifice from outside causing the bees to come out and the owner collected the honey from the tube inside by removing the pottery dish from it.
Gulkand
Gul, rose petals, Kand, sugar or honey. Gulkand is the conservation of Kashmiri rose petals or candied Kashmiri roses (Kashur Gulab). Non-Kashmiri roses are not used in their formulation. In Kashmir, it was and is made of native heart-captivating, pink, elegant, scented rose petals mixed with sugar. In place of sugar, honey can also be mixed with rose petals to prepare the herbal formulation of Gulkand. Sugar and rose petals are pounded together in a traditional way for making Gulkand.
There is no historical record that it was exported from Kashmir to Punjab, Leh, Yarkand or Central Asian countries in the past. However, according to a late Kashmiri author in “his unpublished work”, Gulab Singh laid out Gulab Bagh of rose trees at Srinagar with the purpose of manufacturing Gulkand and exporting it to Punjab where sweet jams were in much demand those days, he writes.
The cited area that skirts the Kute Kol in North-West is Gulab Bagh in the larger part of which in the Bakhshi-regime came the formal Food and Supplies Department, though it was used in the Dogra period also what was known as Shali-Store. Shaheed Gunj PS was also built on part of it. Then, a ground in the backyard of the Food and Supplies Department [now Consumer Affairs Department] embracing the Kute Kol in the North-West was used for sports like football matches between departmental-football teams of Kashmir like Food and Supplies Department, SRTC/Transport, KMDA, Forest Department, Kashmir University and so on, during Bakhshi, Sadiq, Qasim, period till the early 1980s.
Recently, after reading down of Article 370, the said football ground from Mandir side of Chota Bazar on Kote Kol has been converted into an FCI food-supplies-store. But Gulab Singh having ever intended making of Gulkand is imaginary though on record, he had laid out this garden. This author could not find it from the “primary Persian source” anywhere the late writer has referred to and quoted in support of the claim that Gulab Singh Dogra wanted to prepare Gulkand of the roses of the Gulab Bagh: albeit, the garden was laid out by him. The Gulab Bagh in question should not be confounded with the commonly known Gulab Bagh of Alestaing (Ganderbal).
Kashmiris, both in rural and urban areas, prepared Gulkand at home for family consumption. Once prepared and packed in glass jars or bottles, it could be consumed for a long period of time. The pottery or earthenware jars are not good for keeping Gulkand as the moisture of the candied jam will be absorbed by the earthenware jar, squeezing juice from the pulp and making it dry and hard. So pottery and plastic jars and bottles are not used for Gulkand keeping and packing. Once prepared and put in jars, it goes on for years and years. This sweet rose-candied jam remains fresh and eatable for years. With honey, it becomes very powerful for body heat during cold seasons. Obviously, due to the availability of roses in summer, it is prepared generally in summer. It is still produced with Araqi Gulab from roses in Kashmir and sold in markets.
The origin of Gulkand is traced to Yarqand where it was very largely manufactured and it is known there by the same name as Gulkand. Kashmir had commercial and cultural relations with Yarqand and other Central Asian countries over centuries.
Gulkand must have been brought to Kashmir by the local and Yarqandi traders in the past. Huge commerce was going on between Central Asia and Kashmir for hundreds of years. Yarqand Sarai at Safa Kadal and Kaka Sarai near SMHS, Srinagar (on the latter site a private hospital has been built recently) are extant examples of the trade centres and commercial connections between Central Asia and Kashmir.
The Rose Atr
It may be noticed that otto /ottar of roses was introduced in the Indian subcontinent by Empress Nur Jahan in cooperation with her mother, Asmat Begum. Muslim rulers greatly improved upon the production of perfume-making in India. Otto of roses was a special fragrance used by nobles and common people alike as it is a rich Islamic tradition connected with Muslim religious rituals, festivals and worship.
The maintenance of rose gardens for distillation of rose water (Arqi Gulab) or rose-otto (Atri Gulab) or Gulkand requires constant care by the cultivators from the time of planting rose trees or rose-cuttings from nurseries to the time of harvest when roses are plucked in lakhs for the said purposes. The rose trees come into flower at the beginning of March and continue so through April and May.
MJ Aslam
In large rose gardens for the aforementioned objectives, flowers are plucked early morning by the gardeners engaged by the owners-cultivators in large bags and baskets which are then sold to the contractors (thakidars) for the said purposes.
Regular watering, pruning and high-quality manure feed for rose cultivation are absolutely essential for an industry of rose jams, rose water and rose ottar or for any medicinal and cosmetic purpose. Nothing of these sorts is mentioned about the Srinagar’s Gulab-Bagh in the Persian chronicle referred to by the late Pandit author in his “unpublished monograph” copy whereof is lying with me.
SRINAGAR: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested Accounts Assistant Children’s Hospital Bemina Srinagar, while demanding and accepting bribe of Rs 18,000.
An ACB spokesman said that the they received a written complaint from Class-IV/MTS employees of Children’s Hospital Bemina Srinagar through their representative, stating therein that a fellow public servant working as Accounts Assistant at the said hospital is demanding bribe at the rate of ₹3000 per employee for releasing 2-1/2 days allowance along with the salary in their favour.
The spokesman said that the complainants were however, not willing to pay the bribe and approached Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Srinagar for taking legal action against the accused public servant as provided under law.
He said that on receipt of the complaint a Case FIR No. 01/2023 U/S 7 PC Act 1988 was registered with PS ACB Srinagar and investigation taken up.
He added that during the course of investigation a trap team constituted by this Bureau. The team laid a successful trap and caught the accused public servant red handed while demanding and accepting bribe amount of ₹18,000 from the complainants.
The money was recovered from the accused on spot. The accused has been identified as Nisar Ahmad Rather S/O Ab Ahad Rather R/O Nowshera, Accounts Assistant, he further added.
Further investigation into the case is going on, said the spokesman.
Kashmir folklore has always talked about Kruhun Sheen, the black snow, as a mark of disbelief and a complete topsy-turvy of natural systems. The fact is there has been black snow around for the last half of the century in Kashmir. The soot that the industrial states of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi have been generating would fly and deposit over the glaciers in south Kashmir. Over the years it has been the major factor in the depletion of the glaciers and a key indicator of the climate change impact. Kashmir’s weather systems have historically remained impacted by the Western Disturbances in which the winds bring all the pollution from the Middle East and parts of Europe and pour it over Kashmir. The latest report is that last week the snow was seen as dusty and yellowish. The weatherman in Srinagar, now having access to better technology, said that it was the impact of dust that flew from Afghanistan and Pakistan and got missed with snow! Kashmir is becoming a casualty of real, virtual and climatic globalisation.
Of the sanctioned 3140 border bunkers in Rajouri, 2782 are almost ready for use.
REASI
In a game-changing development, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) revealed that it has discovered 6.9 million tons of lithium reserves in the Reasi mountains near Salal Haimana village. This reserve will fundamentally shift the global ranking of Lithium-rich countries with India now emerging from nowhere to the second position after Chile. The gold of the IT-driven system, Lithium is the powerhouse linked to almost everything from a pacemaker to a cell phone and to an electric car. This is expected to boost the IT-manufacturing investments in India that have already started with Apple setting up a huge phone-making facility in India. How the discovery will help Jammu and Kashmir shall remain a question for the future when the formal process of extracting the vital mineral starts. Right now Australia is the major Lithium supplier to the world.
Against the sanctioned strength of 4985 village defence groups (VDG), 4,153 have been constituted.
KUPWARA
In Kashmir’s harsh winters, Asphyxia has remained a major killer. Desperate to stay warm, people pluck every hole in the room and put on heating devices that deplete oxygen and the people die. That is exactly what happened to the UP family in Krakpora village. Five members of Majid Ansari’s family were declared dead last week when they were driven to the hospital. It was the annihilation of the Bijnore family including the husband, wife and their three children, including the youngest member who was born recently and was yet to be named.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the number of drug abusers includes Cannabis 1,36,000, Opioids 4,47,000, Cocaine 1,000 and 1000 Amphetamines type stimulants. Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the registration of 743 drug peddling cases in 2017, 680 in 2018, 918 in 2019, 933 in 2020 and 1324 in 2021.
ANANTNAG
Eleventh grader, Hanaya Nisar was conferred with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (PMRBP) 2023 for winning a gold medal at the third World SQAY Martial Arts Championship held in Chingju, South Korea in October 2018. It is India’s highest civilian honour for children.
Two civilians and 25 security personnel were killed in militant attacks across Jammu since August 5, 2019.
JAMMU
LG, Manoj Sinha presented a piece of Basholi Panting to visiting Prime Minister on April 24, 2022, at Samba.
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Jammu has authorised a programme for the Geographical Indication (GI) certification of nine items from erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state for submission to the Human Welfare Association in Varanasi. These items being submitted for GI include Basohli Paintings, Basholi Pashmina Woolen Products (Kathua), Chikri Wood Craft (Rajouri), Bhaderwah Rajma (Doda), Mushkbudji Rice (Anantnag), Kaladi (Udhampur), Sulai Honey, Anardana (Ramban), and Ladakh Wood Carving(Ladakh).
2022 saw 111 anti-militancy operations in Jammu and Kashmir in which 187 militants were killed.
JAMMU
CBI
Federal investigator CBI detained a lecturer at the Government Polytechnic College in Jammu and the Chief Accounts Officer (KAS) of the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation in connection with Rs. 2.3 lakh bribery. CBI said the lecturer was being used by the accounts officer for extracting money from a person whose payment bill was with the officer. The arrest was an outcome of the trap.
Two girls were rescued alive in an avalanche that hit Manzgund village of Gurez
PATTAN
Rivalries within professionals can sometimes be interestingly intriguing. In a Pattan hospital when a junior doctor was busy carrying out the surgery, the senior got into the theatre and allegedly abused him. This stunned the staff and almost put the patient at risk. The reason: the senior did not want any procedure to take place without his knowledge. What is right and wrong will be decided by an investigation ordered by CMO, Baramula. Meanwhile, authorities have banned two doctors from doing any private practice across Jammu and Kashmir. The two doctors, Dr Zafarullah, Assistant Professor (ENT) and Dr Shafaqat Ahmad Lone, Associate Professor (ENT) of Government Medical College Baramulla were accused of referring patients from Government hospitals to Private Hospitals for availing treatment under AB PM-JAY and AB PM-JAY SEHAT Scheme.
The cost of the Haj package in 2023 is expected to be about Rs 50,000 less in comparison to 2022.
JAMMU
Non-irrigated land at Vilgam. KL Image
Jammu and Kashmir’s administration has banned the sale of agricultural land belonging to individuals who are missing for the last seven years. This was done on basis of the police enquiry that suggested the use of these incomes into subversion. Now revenue officials will have to declare a landowner not present and not in occupation on formal records. People holding their immovable properties will have also to be mentioned and will continue to harvest these lands. No revenue papers in these lands can be issued by the revenue officials to prevent their sale. Though the orders will not be applicable to the immovable property of people who have migrated, the order is silent about tens of thousands of people – mostly professionals, who are working overseas and are technically not present.
Of 33,426 Gazetted and Non-Gazetted positions in Jammu and Kashmir government, Lok Sabha was informed that 25450 vacancies stand filled by December 2022.
LONDON
A review into the British government’s scheme set up to prevent terrorism has flagged the radicalisation of UK Muslims over Kashmir and “potentially toxic” pro-Khalistan extremism as some of the areas of growing concern and made recommendations for improvements to tackle Islamist extremism as the “primary threat” to the country, reports in media said. The report said Pakistan is impacting UK Muslim communities when it comes to “inflaming anti-India sentiment, particularly around the subject of Kashmir”. Commissioner for Public Appointments William Shawcross presided over the review.
DELHI
In a veiled jibe at Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recalled his Ekta Yatra in 1991 that concluded with the tricolour unfurling in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk at the peak of militant threat. “Those who came back from Jammu and Kashmir recently must have seen how easily you can go there. I too had gone on a yatra to J&K with the resolve to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk,” Modi said. “Terrorists had put up posters and said, dekhte hain, kisne maa ka doodh piya hai jo Lal Chowk aake Tiranga phehra paaye. That day on January 24, at a public rally, I had said, ‘terrorists pay heed. On January 26, sharp at 11 am, I will reach Lal Chowk without security and a bulletproof jacket. Faisla Lal Chowk pe hoga kisne apni maa ka doodh piya hai’. Then I unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk.” Modi said Kashmir has changed after the reading down of Article 370 and tourism is on a historic rise. He said theatres are also running houseful in Kashmir and separatists are nowhere to be seen now.
SRINAGAR
It was an interesting happening. A traffic cop intercepted a car near Tagore Hall and fined him Rs 2000 for some violation of the rules. Infuriated, the “victim” promised a response. Within an hour, he returned to the spot with his bulldozer – he was an SMC driver handling a bulldozer for removing encroachments and dismantling a booth from which the traffic cops were operating. These booths are technically encroachments but practically these are important spots for the cops. This triggered a mess and after a lot of controversies, the police registered a case and arrested three SMC officials who were later bailed out by the court.
SRINAGAR
SKUAST-K’s 15 students have secured Innovation Grant Funding Support as seed money from Jammu and Kashmir Science, Technology and Innovation Council. They are mentored by the university’s Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (SKIIE) Centre and Team IDP. They will use the grants for validating the proof of concept and turning their ideas into viable marketable products.
MUMBAI
Bollywood flick, Pathaan poster showing the lead actors including Shahrukh Khan, John Ibrahim and Deepika Padukone
Effectively and surely, the tinsel town is reviving its Kashmir love story. At a time when Shah Rukh Khan’s flick Pathaan is ruling the box office, Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Hrithik Roshan are in Kashmir. They are shooting Fighter. Directed by Siddharth Anand Fighter also involves other actors including Anil Kapoor, Karan Singh Grover, and Akshay Oberoi for decisive roles. The movie is planned to hit the theatres on January 25, 2024. In Kashmir, the actors will be seen in and around Dal Lake and Pahalgam to capture some action arrays and scenes of a song. The movie Fighter is anticipated to be India’s foremost aerial action franchise which will enact and display the bravery, slaughter, and patriotic sentiments of the Indian Army. Now Karan Johar is flying Alia Bhat to Srinagar – cancelling Switzerland, for shooting Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani.
SRINAGAR
Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi Reviews Security Situation In Kashmir
Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, the Northern Command chief said they are ready to give a befitting response to any Chinese aggression in Ladakh. Addressing the Northern Command Investiture Ceremony, the General said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has brought forth many lessons such as the employment of disruptive and dual-use technologies. “On the LAC, our response to Chinese attempts to unilaterally change the status quo was a swift, undaunted and synergised action by the Indian Armed Forces. Any adverse aggressive designs or attempts will definitely be met with appropriate posturing of Forces and a strong intent with complete synergy among the three services,” he said. “I assure you that the LAC in Eastern Ladakh is being dominated by physical patrolling and through technical means and our territorial integrity is being ensured.”
SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Authority (JKDMA) on Monday issued avalanche warning for four districts of Kashmir division in upcoming 24 hours.
The JKDMA, as per GNS, issued a ‘Low Level’ warning above 2400 to 2800 metres over Ganderbal, Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara districts.
People living in the specified areas have been advised to take precautions and avoid venturing in the avalanche prone areas till further directions.
SRINAGAR: Irrigation and Flood Control division in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district has asked residents to remove illegal encroachments along river banks and other water bodies within 7 days, failing which strict action would be taken against the encroachers.
According to a notice, a copy of which lies with the news agency KNO people who have encroached over the Irrigation and Flood control (I&FC) land in the district have been asked to remove encroachments within seven days.
“If any person fails to remove the encroachment, the department would swung into action and people have to pay the charges of the same,” it reads.
It reads strict action under the law would be taken against the people who fail to remove illegal encroachments.
