Anantnag, March 16
The ongoing strife in the Valley and the subsequent strict clampdowns have largely been affecting construction projects.

A number of developmental projects are presently on in different parts of the Valley. While most of these projects have been undertaken by local firms, some of them have been handed over to companies from outside the Valley.

The prestigious National Highway widening project is one such example, which has been handed over to a Hyderabad-based construction company, RAMKY.

These companies, with most of their staff from outside the Valley, have been at the receiving end during the days of the strife.

Officials at these companies say the volatile situation scares off their non-local manpower and locals are unable to reach their workplace more often than not.

“A good number of our staff has fled the work sites without even informing their officers about their departure,” said Sunil Pahalwan, Vice-President of the RAMKY group for its Kashmir-based operations.

He said in the past month or so, more than 150 of our non-local staff members have fled the Valley. “And then, if there is a curfew or a strike, our local staff is unable to reach the work site,” he added.“This is definitely hampering our work big time,” said Pahalwan.

The local firms too face difficulties in working hassle-free during the days of curfew.

The Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC), a state government undertaking, has been over the years handed over with most of the local building projects like schools, colleges and hospitals.

The officials at the JKPCC too maintain that a longer stretch of a curfew or a shutdown does affect their working in the longer run.

“Stray curfews or shutdowns do not affect us; however, a longer stretch does hamper our smooth working,” said Muhammad Sultan Najar, General Manager (GM) JKPCC for the Kashmir chapter.

He said while the curfews ensure labourers and other staff do not reach the sites, a longer stretch of shutdown often makes one run short on the raw material. “We purchase raw material in bulk; however, a longer period of restrictions proves to be detrimental,” said the GM.

Srinagar, March 16
Chaos reigned supreme in certain areas of the Valley today where curfew was lifted, especially among parents and children, over reopening of certain schools in the Valley.

With a majority of areas in Srinagar still curfew-bound, the schools located in such areas remained shut whereas some schools located in Civil Line areas resumed working, which created confusion among schoolchildren and parents.

This was especially true for private schools in which a large number of children from different areas of Srinagar study and weren’t able to reach school today.

As per the parents, the private schools did not inform a day before through public notices of their working schedule which could have avoided the confusion.

“My school is in Baghat Barzulla (uptown Srinagar) where the curfew has been lifted whereas I live in Zaina Kadal (old city), still under curfew. I was anxious today as my unit tests were supposed to start and I would have missed that. Our school did not even bother to inform us of the schedules and should have preferred closing down today. It was after repeated pleas that the authorities decided not to conduct class tests,” Ishfaq Nabi, a class VII student studying in SSM Higher Secondary School, Parraypora, said.

Children studying in downtown Srinagar-based schools also had a tough time inquiring about the status of schedules in schools as many schools in these areas were shut.

“The day went on smoothly for us. But a large number of children hailing from curfew-bound areas could not attend school. The schools have been unable to function properly due to consistent curfew and shutdowns which leads to confusion and even communication gap between managements and children. We hope to see betterment in the situation in future so that the schools function smoothly,” GN War, principal, Islamic International School, Hyderpora, said.

Kupwara, March 16
Life was badly hit in Kupwara town today due to shutdown against detention of youth. As soon as shops opened in the town this morning, youth started pelting shops with stones, forcing a shutdown. They were demanding release of four youths detained by police last evening.

Shops in Handwara town opened this morning and heavy vehicular movement was noticed on the roads. Schools, government and private offices also resumed work. ATMs witnessed good rush of clients.

They later fought pitched battles with CRPF and police near old chowk, bus stand and bypass Kupwara. Schoolchildren were also caught in the clashes near the bypass and panicky parents from nearby villages of Regipora and Dudwan rushed to the town to seek their whereabouts.

Police fired a few 
teargas shells to disperse them but they continued to fight pitched battles till the evening.

At least six youth and two cops were injured in clashes at Kupwara. Windowpanes of some moving vehicles in the town were also damaged in clashes. Additional contingents of police and CRPF were deployed in the town to bring the situation under control. The cops sealed all interior roads leading to the bypass and main chowk Kupwara. Residents of the bypass and Darzipora near the hospital alleged that CRPF men barged into some houses and smashed the windowpanes.

Amid clashes, police picked at least nine youths from different places in the town, sources said. Following arrest of youth on charges of stone-throwing, clashes intensified in the town.

Defying restrictions, more youth took to the streets and started stone-throwing. The CRPF and police soon laid siege in the town and movement of people was strictly restricted, amid clashes in old chowk Kupwara. A few schools in the town remained closed due to the clashes.

Reports of clashes between cops and youth were also received from Bohipora and Geerhachi villages, one km from the town.

Cops also restricted movement of people around the DC’s office in Kupwara where employees were present. Children at

some tuition centres in the town also remained halted at the centres amid clashes. They were later rescued by teachers and parents in the evening when relative calm prevailed.

Groups of youth blocked Trehgam-Kupwara and internal roads leading to Kupwara at many places, sources said.

For a few hours in the morning, shops in Trehgam town remained open before some youth enforced a shutdown.

They were demanding release of two youth arrested by police on Thursday.

Anantnag, March 16
In yet another gruesome road accident, two persons were killed and five others injured in Awantipora area of Pulwama district along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway this morning.

Reports said the driver of a Tata Sumo(JK09-5813) lost control over the vehicle and had a collision with an unknown vehicle, resulting in the death of two passengers. The Tata Sumo was on its way to Srinagar from Jammu. Two people died on the spot.

Both the deceased were residents of Kupwara district in north Kashmir. They have been identified as Mohammad Sultan Mir, son of Gulzar Ahmad Mir of Batpora, Kralpora, Kupwara and Muhammad Khalil Mir,

son of Mehda Mir, resident of Rawatpora Kupwara.

The bodies have been handed over to the families for last rites.

Those injured have been admitted in the hospital for treatment. One of the injured, Abdul Rashid Mir of Kupwara, is in coma and is undergoing treatment at SK Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura, Srinagar.

The Awantipora police has registered a case and efforts are on to ascertain the identity of the vehicle the Tata Sumo collided with.

The Awantipora SP, Abdul Wahid, said the accident had occurred around 6 am and it was not clear what exactly caused the accident.

“A case has been registered and investigations are on,” said the SP. “Those injured have been shifted to different hospitals in Srinagar and as per reports, one of them is in a coma,” he added.

He said the rest of them are reported to be stable.

Srinagar, March 16
A 21-day workshop on manuscriptology and paleography, organised by the Department of Persian Studies, University of Kashmir (KU), started on the university campus today.

The inaugural session of the workshop, being sponsored by National Mission for Manuscripts, Ministry of Culture, was held at International Resource Cell, Allama Iqbal Library, KU. During the inauguration, the experts highlighted the need to understand scripts of various manuscripts which have been preserved in different libraries and personal domain of the people of Kashmir.

In his presidential address, Dean, Social Sciences, KU, Mohammad Ashraf Wani stressed upon the historical importance of different styles and scripts, used in the writings of manuscripts, and said due to the new syllabi the young generation was not aware about the literature of their ancestors.

While focusing on the literary history of Arabic and Persian Language, Manzoor Ahmad from the Department of Islamic studies said, “Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA) was the great ambassador of Kashmiri culture and wrote about 170 books on diverse topics in Persian and Arabic language. However, most of these books are not available in Kashmir due to the lack of awareness about the scripts and therefore people could not understand and read the literature of these great scholars.”

In his presentation, Chief Librarian, Allama Iqbal Library, KU, AM Baba focused on the importance of rare Persian and Arabic manuscripts available in Kashmir and compared the literature and manuscripts of Kashmir and Central Asia.

Head, Department of Arabic, Shad Hussian stressed upon the importance of research in 
Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and Urdu.

The participants included teachers and research scholars from the Department of Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Islamic Studies, CCAS, Kashmir Studies, Iqbal Institute and Markaz-i-Noor.

Srinagar, March 16
The two-day live laparoscopy and hysteroscopy workshop concluded today at Lal Ded Hospital, with a record 30 surgeries having been conducted in a span of two days by Dr Osman and Dr Nitin, who were flown in from Cairo (Egypt) and Delhi, respectively.

The surgeons conducted the surgeries of patients who reported various kinds of ovarian and uterine disorders, by using modern non-invasive laparoscopic and hysteroscopic surgical procedures.

Around 200 doctors and medical students took part in the workshop amid tight curfew and restrictions in the city, to acquire know how of the surgical procedures which are 
pain free and result 
in minimum blood loss 
to patients.

The reproductive health disorders among women in Kashmir have been prevalent, with various studies projecting Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) as the most common disorder among women here.

Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Rather, Medical Superintendent, LD Hospital, said the workshop, which was the first of its kind to be held in the Valley, was a huge success. The doctors and students enlightened themselves about the state-of-the-art surgical procedures which are a breakthrough in the fields of Gynecology and Obstetrics, he added.

Batote, March 16
A three-member committee, headed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner(ADC), Doda, GN Balwan has been asked to submit their inquiry report against Block Medical Officer (BMO), Bhaderwah, Dr Hamid Zargar into the allegation of a woman that he did not operate her allegedly because she was unable to pay him Rs 30,000.

According to Talib Hussain, Naib-Sarpanch, Thanela, his maternal-grandmother Sakina Begum, 70, was admitted in the Sub-District Hospital, Bhaderwah on March 10 by her son Abdul Razak, following pain in her chest.

“When Dr Zargar did not operate on her even after taking her in the Operation Theater thrice and calling an Anesthetist specially from Doda, we were compelled to sit on a dharna in the office of Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Dr Ravi Bharti,” alleged Talib.

“Although the allegations against Dr Zargar appear baseless, yet I have ordered for an enquiry, besides paying her Rs 5,000 from the Red Cross Society and an assurance that she would be provided specialised treatment at Jammu,” said Deputy Commissioner, Doda, FA Khan.

Poonch, March 16
A one-day employment fair was held to provide first-hand information to people, especially unemployed educated youth of Surankote tehsil, regarding various state and Centrally sponsored self-employment schemes. The fair was inaugurated by District Development Commissioner (DDC), Poonch, Ajeet Kumar sahu at Government Higher Secondary School, Surankote.

It was organised by Deputy Director, Employment and Counselling Centre, Poonch, Ashok Bhagat in collaboration with other line departments.

During the festival, 16 stalls were set up by the Health‚ Social Welfare‚ District Industries Centre, Poonch, Handlooms, Agriculture, Horticulture, Handicrafts‚ Fisheries, J&K SC/ST/OBC Development Corporation, Sheep and Animal Husbandry‚ Sericulture‚ Army‚ Jammu and Kashmir Bank and other line departments.

The DDC stressed upon the unemployed youth of the area to come forward and avail of benefits of various self-employment schemes. He enjoined upon officers, sarpanches and people of the area to motivate youth to set-up their own income-generating units and become job providers rather than job seekers. He said various benefit and welfare schemes had been initiated by the state and Central government for tackling the growing unemployment problem in the district.

Deputy Director, Employment, Poonch, Ashok Bhagat and Hitesh Gupta, District Panchayat Officer, Poonch, said the fair was part of the government initiative to create massive awareness among educated youth about SKEWPY (Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth) and other self-employment schemes for the benefit and welfare of unemployed educated youth of the district.

They said Sher-e-Kashmir Employment and Welfare Programme for Youth envisaged overseas employment avenues‚ Voluntary Service Allowance‚ and skill upgrade for tackling growing unemployment among the youth.

Srinagar, March 16
The 90-km-long Srinagar-Sonamarg road on the strategic highway to Ladakh was thrown open for traffic, after remaining covered under snow and slides for over four months, thereby connecting the resort for regular tourist traffic ahead.

This marks the beginning tourist traffic to Sonmarg, presenting captivating glaciers in the upper reaches of the Valley. While Gulmarg, 50 km north of here, remains open to the tourists and particularly adventure sports like skiing the whole winter, Sonmarg remains cut off due to heavy snow on a 20 km stretch of the road from Gund during winter months every year. With the construction of 6.5 km long Z Morh tunnel in the area, which has already been approved by the central government, Sonmarg would remain open for traffic round the year. The government has also approved the construction of 13.9 km long Zojila tunnel, connecting Sonmarg in Kashmir valley with the Ladakh region.

The road to Sonmarg was thrown open by Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Hassan Samoon in the presence of Chief Engineer, Beacon Project, of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), Brig TPS Rawat today. The Beacon maintains the 100 km Srinagar-Zojila stretch of the 434-km-long Srinagar-Leh highway, while Himank project maintains the roads in Ladakh region.

Brig Rawat said the road to Sonamarg was opened about three weeks before the schedule as compared to last year. “This would help the movement of tourists to the area and generate income for the local labourers, ponywallahs and others related to the tourist trade”, he said.

Brig Rawat said men and machinery of the project had completed the restoration work with strenuous efforts, making it possible to open the road, which had been opened on April 4 last year. On the re-opening of Zojila pass on the highway to Leh, he said snow clearance was in progress and the road across the highest peak of Zojila would be opened by the middle of April. He said only five km stretch of the road was yet to be cleared of snow and on its completion it would meet the other end being maintained by Himank Project at Gumri. Ladakh region remains cut off from Kashmir and rest of the world, for over six months of winter every year.