SRINAGAR: A BSF personnel lost his life and six others were injured in a tragic road accident in Mankote sector of Poonch district on Sunday.
According to official sources, the Tata-407 (HR39 A 8662) vehicle carrying seven personnel skidded off the road and fell into a 250-feet deep gorge, causing injuries to all of them. The injured personnel were immediately rushed to the hospital, but Constable Ram Chandran from the 158 battalion BSF succumbed to his serious head injury, said a police official.
The other injured personnel, all constables, were identified as Feroz Ahmed, Sanjay Sarkar, Karamjeet Singh, Ajay Singh, Devender Singh, and the driver Emdadul Haque. The police have registered a case and initiated further investigation into the accident. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: An autorickshaw driver died in a road accident at Vehil area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday evening.
An official said that an accident took place at village Vehil Shopian as an autorickshaw turned turtle when its driver tried to save a dog on the road.
In the incident, an autorickshaw driver identified as Sanan Ahmad Mir, son of Nisar Ahmed resident of Hanjipora Shopian received critical injuries, who succumbed to his injuries on way to the hospital.
Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of the incident and started an investigation—(KNO)
SRINAGAR: In a joint operation, the Kupwara Police, along with the Army, have arrested an ex-militant turned overground worker (OGW) from the Kralpora area of the district, along with a grenade.
Acting on specific intelligence generated by the Kupwara Police, a joint checkpoint was established at Main Market Karlpora by the Kupwara Police and Army Camp Panzgam. During the checkpoint inspection, the OGW, who was moving in suspicious circumstances, trying to evade the presence of checkpoint personnel, was apprehended. One grenade was recovered from his possession.
The OGW was later identified as Rafiq Ahmad Khan, son of Habib Ullah Khan, a resident of Waterkhani Drugmulla Kupwara. Rafiq is a surrendered Pakistan-trained terrorist who is now working as an OGW for the terrorist outfit HM. During preliminary investigations, he revealed that he received the grenade from the Chogul area of Handwara and was supposed to deliver it to someone in the Kralpora area on the instructions of his Pakistan-based HM handler to be thrown at security forces. A case under the relevant provisions of the UA(P) Act has been registered at Police Station Kralpora, and investigations have been taken up.
SRINAGAR: Department of Hospitality and Protocol has stated that no transportation was provided, nor any amount spent by them on alleged conman from Gujarat, Patel Kiran Bhai during his visits to the Kashmir Valley prior to his arrest in March this year.
A Srinagar-based lawyer, Aamir Masoodi, filed an application under RTI, seeking the total amount spent on accommodation, transportation, and other expenses on the alleged conman.
In response, the Department’s Manager-cum-Protocol Officer replied “nil” to the details of the total amount spent on accommodation, transportation, and other expenses, as well as details of the concerned department which paid the whole amount on behalf of Patel. The officer also denied the name of the government officials posted in Kashmir who had meetings with Patel Kiran Bhai on his last two visits to the Valley.
In the application, addressed to Division Commissioner Kashmir, the advocate also sought details of the concerned department that paid the whole amount on behalf of Patel Kiran Bhai on his last two visits to the Kashmir valley prior to his arrest.
Patel was on his third visit to the Kashmir Valley when he was apprehended by security officials from a five-star hotel in Nishat area of Srinagar on March 2.
As per the police report, Patel forged and manufactured documents, including some visiting cards, on the basis of which he defrauded not only a single or group of people but an extremely elevated class of society, including high officials of the civil administration and police authorities. At the end of the day, the police said, Patel succeeded in getting Z-Category Security, bulletproof vehicle and enjoyed five-star protocol “brazenly” for a considerable period of time. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: One among the four injured due to electrocution at Lidroo area of Pahalgam in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district succumbed to his injuries at hospital on Sunday.
An official said that four people were injured due to electrocution after they came in contact with transmission line at Lidroo this afternoon.
He said one among them succumbed to his injuries at GMC Anantnag while three others are undergoing treatment.
The deceased have been identified as Mehraj-Ud-Din Reshi, son of Gull Mohammad Reshi of Veer Siran. (KNO)
SRINAGAR: A 26-year-old youth was critically injured due to electrocution while installing CCTV cameras for a local army unit in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday. Family members of the youth identified as Danish Khazir son of Khazir Mohammad Bhat of Badam Bagh Sopore told said that he was called by Army to install CCTV cameras nearby at an Army camp in Sopore on Sunday afternoon. “Danish was working in a nearby complex outside the Army camp located near GDC Sopore when some Army personnel from the camp came and took him away to install CCTV cameras for them near crossing,” they said. They alleged that Danish got electrocuted due to the negligence of Army personnel while installing CCTV cameras as they (Army) had not snapped the electricity supply. Meanwhile, family members and locals held a protest demonstration demanding action against the Army personnel. Danish was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, where from he has been referred to Srinagar in critical condition. Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent of Police Sopore, Shabir Nawab, while confirming the incident, said that the youth is critically injured and has been taken to Srinagar hospital. He said FIR has been registered in this regard and further investigation is going on—(KNO)
SRINAGAR: Two women among four people were injured due to electrocution after they came in contact with a high-tension line in Lidroo area of Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Sunday.
The four victims were immediately taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.
The injured individuals have been identified as Mehraj-U-Din Reshi (son of Gull Mohammad) from Veer Siran, Nayeem Ahmad Bhat (son of Sajad Ahmad Bhat), Naseema Bano (wife of Nayeem Ahmad Bhat), and Mubeena Akhtar (wife of Sajad Ahmad Bhat), all residents of Lidroo.
Meanwhile, police have taken cognizance of the incident. (KNO)
SRINAGAR: Government Arts Emporium Srinagar hosted an exhibition of artwork produced by engineers Iftikhar Wani and Shazia Basharat. Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri inaugurated the two-day painting exhibition.
Shazia Basharat, an engineer by profession, discovered her love for art during the lockdown period. This being her first exhibition, she looks forward to the journey ahead. ‘Art has changed my outlook on life and brought immense peace to me. Just like in art, sometimes in life things do not turn out exactly how we had imagined but just some touches can make it look better. I learnt from painting that there is always time to change, just that it should come from within you,’ said Shazia. Some of her paintings explored the beauty of nature, including ‘Aatish-e-Chinar,’ which depicts the beauty of the Autumn season, and ‘Beginnings,’ which depicts the beauty of the early bloom of almond flowers in Spring.
Although there is a diversity in her artworks, two of Shazia’s paintings showcased Sufi whirling dervishes. “In my understanding, these artists who whirl around at some point find that everything is blur around them, and when these worldly things become a blur for them, that is when they connect to God. They even try to dance on their toes as if disconnected from the worldly affairs,” said Shazia.
Iftekhar Ahmad Wani, on the other hand, is a self-taught artist who worked as a marketing manager and industrial marketing expert in Saudi Arabia. He started painting in 2012 and feels that art comes naturally to him. He mainly uses Kashmir as his inspiration for his paintings. One of his paintings shows the mesmerizing beauty of Khanqah-e-Moula. ‘My father was an engineer by profession, and he used to take me to Khanqah as a kid. After he passed away, I started painting those places. It is challenging to paint Shehr e Khas, but there is a poetic atmosphere to Kashmir” said Iftekhar.
Dr Jahangeer Aslam Makhdoomi, who is an Oncologist and an Artist, said, ‘I am happy to see that people are coming with their work. I hope this creates a chain reaction and encourages others as well, especially the youth. The paintings of Iftekhar Wani took me back to my native place, Downtown, and refreshed my memories.’
One of the onlookers named Unis Saleem commented, ‘Each painting seems to be telling a story. For a person like me who always dwells in paintings, visiting this exhibition has been a piece of solace as well as a thought-provoking experience.’
Another onlooker, Rukhsaar Manzoor, said, ‘These paintings bring out a feeling of home in me. For all of us, Kashmir is home.”
SRINAGAR: The Federation of Chambers of Industries Kashmir (FCIK) congratulated JK Bank for making an all-time high net profit of 1197 Crores in the last financial year besides improving significantly upon all other banking parameters.
In a statement FCIK while attributing the remarkable achievement of the bank to its dedicated and hardworking management and staff, the apex industrial body said that the bank has improved its outlook towards accelerated regrowth of the J&K economy and high-end sustainability.
FCIK equally attributed the success and achievement of J&K Bank to its loyal depositors from Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh whose deposits accounted for 88.20% of total deposits of Rs.122038 Crores with 6% growth from the last year. FCIK observed that this deposit profile has played an important role in maintaining the margins of the bank as the cost of these deposits stood at one of the lowest rates amoung the Indian scheduled commercial banks, implying lower than peers’ deposit costs @ 3.67%.
“Such a gesture depicted and displayed an emotional bonding of the people of UTJKL with the bank since its inception in 1938 which needed to be respected, maintained and enhanced further.
“The achievement is also attributed to the borrowers of the bank who have obtained loans from the bank and returned the same with one of the highest interest rates among the Indian scheduled commercial banks” observed FCIK adding that the bank might have been within its right to cover prevalent risk factors while overcharging their borrowers during turbulent times when all other banks had backed out from flowing credit to various economic sectors including MSMEs.
“Although the improvement upon Credit-Deposit ratio to 67.43% by the bank was fair yet it was much below the national average of 75%” observed FCIK adding that J&K Bank needed to fully concentrate on the increased credit flow to all economic sectors in UTJKL as it was observed that out of total advances of Rs.82285 a significant portion has been advanced to large corporate and other enterprises outside the Union Territory.
“The recoveries made from the NPA account holders after the launch of OTS-2022, Karz Mukti Scheme etc. have also aided in the increased profit earning of the bank”, observed FCIK adding that the profit could have increased further had the bank authorities conceded to the demand of FCIK and other business chambers for modification of the OTS schemes.
FCIK said that it was gratifying that the net NPA of J&K Bank stood just at 1.62% to net advances probably one of the lowest in the banking industry and that all borrowers of UTJKL were anxious to repay every penny of their loans borrowed from the bank on launch of a uniform, non-discriminatory OTS with trouble-free provisions and repayment schedule in consultation with the UT government and stakeholders. FCIK hoped that J&K Bank now initiated necessary steps towards launching such a policy which, among other things, could surely enable them to increase the current year’s profits to an all-time high by surpassing the profit figures of the previous year.
