Srinagar, April 4
Dozens of residents of Noorbagh locality of Srinagar today staged a protest demonstration in the heart of the city over the water shortage in their locality.

Residents of SDA Colony, Noorbagh, assembled in Lal Chowk and shouted slogans against the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department and Deputy Commissioner Srinagar for their failure to provide drinking water to thousands of residents in the area.

“We have been meeting PHE officials and DC Srinagar for the past three months and telling them we do not have water supply, because of which we have been facing lots of hardships, but they have done nothing to address our concerns. Our appeals have fallen on deaf ears,” said a protester, Abdul Hameed, a resident of SDA Colony.

“Today, we were forced to come to the City Centre so that officials hear our grievances. We hope that the administration will ensure we are provided water, otherwise we will be forced to take extreme steps,” he added.

The residents later tried to march towards Lal Chowk, but were stopped by the police deployed in the area. The police assured the protesters that their demands would be addressed. The protesters later dispersed.

Anantnag, April 4
The lawyers at the Anantnag District Court kept their work suspended for the second consecutive day on Thursday after an FIR was lodged against three lawyers for allegedly beating a woman on the court premises on Tuesday.

The police on Tuesday, taking cognizance of the complaint lodged by wife of Mudasir Ahmad Khanday of Larkipora Dooru, registered an FIR against three lawyers, including a woman.

The lady had moved the court against her husband over some domestic issue. On Tuesday, after a hearing in the case, she alleged that the lawyers of her husband attacked her.

“The woman was taken to the district hospital and was referred to Children and Maternity Hospital in Anantnag,” reports said.

The doctors at the Children and Maternity Hospital said the woman was bleeding profusely and had to admitted and kept under preventive observation.

The Bar Association is counter-alleging that the woman, along with two other persons, had beaten the accused lawyers, including a woman lawyer, and ransacked the chamber of one of the lawyers.

The Bar Association is demanding that a counter-FIR be lodged. “We will not resume work till the police takes cognizance of our complaints,” said Khalid Bichoo, Secretary of the Bar Association.

“The police acted in haste and did not conduct any pre-investigation before registering the case,” said Fayaz Sodagar, executive member of the Bar Association.

The president of the Bar Association said they immediately lodged their protest with the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), who in turn summoned the SSP concerned and asked them to lodge a counter-FIR.

“As of now, no FIR on our behalf has yet been registered,” he said. “We want the police to act immediately on the complaints lodged by us,” he added.

Srinagar, April 4
Ninety per cent of the epileptics in Kashmir suffer from kangri burns, a study conducted by the Department of plastic surgery at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, has revealed.

The study also says women constitute a majority (84 per cent) of patients suffering from kangri burns, particularly those hailing from rural Kashmir.

The research papers of the study were presented at the recently concluded Annual 17th Post-graduate Research Presentation at SKIMS.

The study was conducted by Dr Shiv Kumar Sharma under the guidance of Dr Ashraf Darzi, Professor & HOD, Plastic Surgery, and Adil Hafiz, Associate Professor, Plastic Surgery, on patients of epileptic burns from Jan 2005 to November 2012 admitted at SKIMS. Patients were analysed and a detailed analysis was conducted.

The study says almost 90% of the patients suffering from epilepsy become victim of this complication during seizure attacks.

The study underlines that burns are serious but unrecognised complication of epilepsy, which needs to be attended to.

The most common reasons cited by the study for kangri burns include poor socio-economic conditions and extreme weather conditions in Kashmir, where kangri is used as a warming-up device. It has serious complications, particularly in patients already suffering from epilepsy.

“The burn injuries mostly affect hands and upper limbs and the gangrenous burnt parts are treated through surgery and mostly amputated, causing handicap which cause various psychological problems in such patients later,” the study adds.

The study suggests proper care should be taken by people, particularly those suffering from epilepsy, which is a high-risk group and should avoid use of kangri which causes serious and deep burns in epileptics. The experts at SKIMS stressed on use of alternative warming up/heating devices like water bottle etc and also called for proper treatment, education and awareness among such patients.

Anantnag, April 4
Shopian district was on Thursday limping back to normalcy after four consecutive days of shutdowns and violent clashes against detention of some youth by the police.

Reports said people resumed their day-to-day activities in Shopian town and its peripheries.

“Shops, government offices and other commercial establishments remained open throughout the day,” said sources.

Schools and colleges in the district resumed normal activity after four days of shutdown.

People in Shopian district had taken to the streets on Saturday evening after the police detained two youth from different parts of this South Kashmir district.

“The protesters decided to observe a shutdown seeking release of the youth by the police,” said sources.

“The shutdown and the widespread violent clashes lasted four days,” it was stated.

The police, on Saturday evening, detained Zubair Ahmad Turay, son of Bashir Ahmad Turay, a resident of Bonna Bazar area in Shopian and Shakir Ahmad Mir of Zainapora area.

Mir, according to reports, is the district president of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

Police has booked the detained youth under Public Safety Act (PSA).

A meeting between the civil society members and the district authorities was held today at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Sources said it was only after assurances from the District Administration that the traders’ federation decided to call off the shutdown.

According to sources, the people were assured that the detained youth will not be unnecessarily booked under harsh laws.

Srinagar, April 4
An 18-year-old girl is said to have ended her life by hanging herself at her home at Gund Ibrahim village of Pattan area of north Kashmir.

The family of the girl is reported to have informed the police about the hanging.

“The body of deceased girl was handed over to her legal heir after completion of medico-legal formalities,” a policeman said. “We have undertaken investigation,” he stated.

Police has registered a case.

A 16-year-old girl tried to commit suicide at her home in Gundpora area of Qazigund, Kulgam district of south Kashmir.

Reports said the girl consumed some poisonous substance at her home.

“She was rushed to the local hospital, from where she was shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for treatment,” police said.

The police said the reasons that pushed the girl to commit suicide are not yet known. “We are investigating the matter,” said a police officer from the area.

Srinagar, April 4
Kashmir University is grappling with the issue of payment of salaries to over 600 casual labourers, who were engaged during ex-Vice-Chancellor Prof Riyaz Punjabi’s tenure in the examination block, administrative block, south and north campus, landscape division and the Department of Information Technology.

The salary of casual labourers, more in number than required, is costing the university a budget of Rs 5 crore.

Sources said the engagement of casual labourers during the ex-VC’s tenure, without any adherence to the norms, had put the university in a fix as the salary of labourers was withheld for months together.

“The truth is that the state government has not provided any funds to the university for paying the salaries to these casual labourers. Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad recently met Governor NN Vohra, who is also the Chancellor of the university, apprising him of the problems. The casual labourers have already spent more than three years in the varsity and it is seemingly difficult to disengage them,” a senior administrative official requesting anonymity said.

The appointment of the casual labourers has been allegedly linked with favouritism, especially after an incident surfaced in 2012 with the expulsion of a casual labourer, who was a domestic help at ex Registrar Prof S Fayaz's household.

Prof Talat had earlier said the engagement of casual labourers had been stopped after he was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor in June 2011 and especially when the state government has issued notification prohibiting the engagement of casual labourers.

Anantnag, April 4
Panic gripped Zrakan village of the Kellar area in south Kashmir’s Shopian district after more than 80 persons were found to be affected by Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI).

After an initial scare of swine flu, the doctors, after investigations, ruled out the scare. “It is a simple respiratory infection and nothing more,” said Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Shopian, Dr Sonaullah.

Reports said villagers panicked after more than 80 persons from the single village complained of breathing problems.

“We have heard about the H1N1 virus or what is commonly referred to as swine flu,” said one of the patients, wishing not to be named. “The doctors, after conducting check-ups, declared it to be a simple respiratory infection,” it was stated.

People, reports said, were pacified after repeated assurances from the team of doctors sent to the village.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors was deputed to conduct investigations and treat people.

“I sent a team of doctors and the people are satisfied with the efforts by the Department of Health Services,” said the CMO.

He said the treatment is going on and people are showing good recovery with the medicine prescribed for them.

“We have kept a medical team on standby at the village health centre,” the CMO said. Meanwhile, the district administration, informed the Directorate of Health Services about it. “The Directorate has also sent in a team of doctors and I’m told they have collected blood samples from the area for further investigation,” said Deputy Commissioner Shopian, Javaid Khan. He said the doctors was no scare of anything serious.

Kupwara, April 4
Residents of Lolab have demanded early completion of the new building of the Sub-District Hospital, Sogam, in Lolab.

The construction work, which started on a 100-bedded hospital building in 2002, is still going on intermittently at a snail’s pace.

The existing 10-bedded hospital witnesses huge rush of patients, who face problems due to lack of space. “Most of the times two patients are forced to share a single bed in the hospital. The new building will relieve patients of long wait and ensure speedy treatment of the ailing. The treatment is often delayed as patients are forced to stand in long queues due to lack of space,” said Javid Ahmad Lone, a local resident.

According to the hospital management, the hospital receives around 5,000 patients in its Outpatient Department (OPD) every month. Residents urged the authorities to speed up the construction work and shift the hospital to the new building at the earliest.

“Despite release of funds, the hospital building has not been completed for more than a decade. The work should be expedited and hospital should be shifted to the new building at the earliest,” said Mehraj-u-din of Devar Lolab. The hospital caters to the medical needs of 40 villages of the Lolab valley.

The hospital is built at an estimated cost of Rs 26 crore, out of which Rs 6 crore has been utilised so far on the hospital building.

On February 21, DC Kupwara Sarmad Hafeez, accompanied by senior officials of Health and Engineering Department, visited the hospital to review the ongoing works.

He directed the officials of the construction agency, Jammu Kashmir Project Construction Corporation (JKPCC), to expedite work and complete the construction within a stipulated period of time.

CMO, Kupwara, Dr Muneer Ahmad Khawaja said, “There has been an inordinate delay in completing the construction work of the hospital building. The new building will help a great deal in ensuring speedy and effective treatment to the ailing lot.”

Kupwara, April 4
Students and staff members are facing problems at sub-office, Board of School Education (BOSE), Kupwara, due to shortage of space. The new building of the sub-office is under construction near the DC office, Kupwara, for the past several years.

Employees demanded that the construction work be completed and sub-office be shifted to the new building at the earliest. The sub-office is housed at the second floor of a rented building in Regipora village near Kupwara for the past several years.

“We are facing serious problems due to shortage of space. The office witnesses’ huge rush of students round the clock and especially ahead of examination session, the rush of students doubles up,” said an employee.

Students said they were forced to wait in long queues for hours to submit their forms. “We have to wait for hours in long queues to submit the examination forms and get other work done. The new building under construction near the DC office will provide adequate space for smooth work,” said Shahnawaz Ahmad, a student.

The employees said there was a little space to keep important office records and files were piled up in a haphazard manner.

“Important office record is lying unsafe as there is no record room in second floor of the rented building. The office comprises four rooms and more than five employees are forced to work in a single room amid noise,” said Mohd Sadiq, an employee.

An officer of the DC office, Kupwara, said the work on new building had been expedited and the building was likely to be completed by August. “The construction work is going on at a good pace. The sub-office is likely to be shifted to the new building by August this year,” he said.

Srinagar, April 4
Strict action will be taken against violators of traffic rules in Srinagar from April 20. This was stated by the traffic police authorities in its communiqué to the public and transporters.

“Traffic authorities have requested all the drivers of passenger vehicles plying in the Srinagar city to wear Khakhi shirt and trousers with proper name plate from April 20. Drivers of Light Motor Vehicle’s are requested to inculcate the habit of wearing seat belts,” the police said.

“Some of the drivers have been found jumping the red signal, which endangers life of the road users as well as the vehicle plying in the opposite direction. Such violators are warned to remain careful in the future as the traffic police will strictly act against them,” he added.

The police appealed to male commuters travelling in passenger vehicles to avoid sitting on seats reserved for ladies.

Srinagar, April 4
As a part of the programme to decongest Srinagar city and ensure its planned growth, dedicated places for creating specialised infrastructure will be earmarked in the local area in the revised master plan here.

This was stated by Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) vice-chairman Farooq Ahmad Shah, while reviewing the master plan formulation here today.

He said the vital sectors for which specific areas need to be identified and earmarked in and around the capital city include medical facilities, educational infrastructure, information technology, handicrafts, agro-based industries, hotels and motels, theme markets, shopping malls, recreational activities and tourism infrastructure.

“Key factors like accessibility, transportation and environment should be taken into consideration while earmarking the areas for niche activities,” Shah said.

Allaying the apprehensions raised in some quarters over the reported discrepancies in the Srinagar Master Plan, Shah said the document had to go through several stages of public and administrative scrutiny before being finally submitted for approval to the state Cabinet.

He added that all the stakeholders would be taken on board to make it an inclusive document that would lay the roadmap for the futuristic development of the Srinagar city.

Shah said the possibility would be explored to arrange some more interactive sessions with the stakeholders to allay their apprehensions and get their suggestions.

Shah said there would be no mismatch between the land use planning and infrastructure planning in the new document. He hailed the efforts of the SDA team associated with the master plan review for using professional and scientific means in the updation of the master plan.

The midterm review of the Srinagar Master Plan 2000-2021 was undertaken by the SDA in February 2012 to suggest ways and means to make the document more realistic and implementable in consonance with the ground realities, besides taking care of inaccuracies in the existing master plan. 

Srinagar, April 4
Adbee Markaz Kamraz (AMK) will push the state government for inclusion of Kashmiri language in the curriculum for classes IX and X.

A meeting to discuss the future strategy in this respect was held today by the organisation at Srinagar in which various members of AMK, including Prof Rahman Rahi, Prof Muhammad Zaman Azurdah, Zareef Ahmad Zareef, CL Vishen, Shakil Qalander, AMK President Aziz Hajni, General Secretary Dr

Shujaat Bukhari, Muhammad Amin Bhat and Parvez Majeed participated.

The members decided that an 11-member committee comprising representatives of civil society would meet the authorities in the coming days. It was also decided that the process of establishing special support units would begin on Sunday with the first unit of teachers for the purpose being constituted at a conference in Srinagar.

Srinagar, April 4
Fifteen seconds into earthquake of moderate intensity and people were busy posting updates on Facebook, Twitter of the earthquake news.

“People are so much into for posting updates on the social networking websites that they are even forgetting to save their lives. My 18-year-old son grabbed his phone when the earth shook and when I asked him what makes him do that, he said he has to post an update on Facebook as if that was the most important thing to do at that point of time. God save this generation!” said Muhammad Sayeed, a senior citizen.

The timelines on Twitter and Facebook were flooded with earthquake updates ranging from sarcasm to fear expressions. “Very Scary when you are on your bed #Kashmir” read an update on twitter.

Another one in a lighter vein read, “Wohoo! that was an Earthquake! *runs*.” Facebook was also full of earthquake updates with authorities jumping on the bandwagon of social networkers informing people of the magnitude and epicentre of the earthquake.

Sonam lotus, director, Meteorological Department, posted details of the earthquake, “magnitude 5.8; coordinate 36.1, 71.6 ; depth 237 km region: hindukush, Afganistan; intensity: moderate, no report of any damage.”

Amir Ali, an ex-disaster Management Department official said, “My friends are calling me to know about the magnitude of the earthquake, but I am no longer with the Disaster Management. However, out of the personal interest I consider it my duty to inform my friends that the magnitude of the earthquake was 5.8 and epicentre was located in Hindukush, Afganistan. Time was 12.02pm and coordinates of the epicentre are 36.47N, 71.12E.”

Psychiatrists say that the urge to put the status updates among people is increasing alarmingly among youth and that they are prioritising it over everything else.

“Under a precarious situation, youth are busy updating their Facebook, Twitter when they should be ensuring their and their family members’ safety. This is the most disastrous effect of social networking sites on the psyche of people,” Dr Fahmida, a psychiatrist said. 

Srinagar, April 4
The Department of Social Works, Kashmir University, in collaboration with the Department of Bio-Chemistry, organised a one-day seminar on the application of acupressure in the relief of stress-related ailments.

Chief guest Doreen Bakstad, a known mental health practioner from Canada and a senior instructor at the Jin Shin Do Foundation, California, USA, apprised students of different departments in learning various acupressure techniques.

Doreen explained acupressure as an ancient healing art, where a person uses his fingers to gradually press the key healing points, which stimulate the body's natural self-curative abilities.

Doreen said acupressure was one of the many things which had helped persons come out of stress. “Medication is the only treatment we know to come out of stress, but it has many side effects on the health of a person,” he added.

“Acupressure keeps us away from pills and its side-effects. It makes us feel changed both physically and psychologically,” Doreen said.

University of Kashmir Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmed said people feel more stressed and there was an immediate need to help them learn ways to distress themselves.

“The workshop provides a good opportunity in countering the stress-related problems,” Prof Talat said. He said acupressure was an ideal way for self-treatment and preventive health care for boosting the mental state of a person.

Welcoming the participants in the seminar, Head of Department, Social Work, Dr Pirzada M Amin said the workshop was being organised to invite attention of the medical practioners, social workers and students to look into the traditional means of healing, which had gained momentum in the developed societies and also in the underdeveloped societies.

“It is indeed the need of the hour to sensitise the society about the various manifestations of the health problems, its origin and ramifications, be it mental or physical stress,” Dr Amin said.

Biochemistry head Prof M Afzal Zargar said acupressure therapy was effective in the relief of stress-related ailments, and is ideal for self-treatment and preventive health care for boosting the immune system.

“Acupressure releases tension, increases circulation, reduces pain, and develops spirituality and vibrant health, he added.