Kupwara, April 21
Unscheduled power cuts have become order of the day in North Kashmir. Residents of Kupwara, Handwara and Baramulla towns said power had been playing hide-and-seek for the past over a week.

They said they had been forced to pay power tariff in accordance with the curtailment schedule, but electricity had not been provided in accordance with the schedule.

“Electricity is playing hide-and-seek and power often vanishes for days together. Unscheduled power cuts have become a routine for the past over a week,” said Aijaz Ahmad of Shailal Handwara.

Students are the worst sufferers. They said the erratic power supply has badly affected their studies. “We are forced to study under candle-lights. Power scenario worsens in the evening hours and electricity supply is often snapped for hours,” said Mushtaq Ahmad from Ticker near Kupwara.

Residents of Rafiabad, Watergam and a few other villages in Baramulla district also complained of frequent outages throwing life out of gear. They threatened non-payment of power traffic for April if the power supply was not improved and restored to normal.

“We will be forced to take to the streets if the department does not restore the power supply to normal without any further delay. I don’t know why we are subjected to power woes time and again when we pay the tariff in time,” said Mohd Ashraf, a Rafiabad resident.

Residents of a few villages including Rajpora and Zachaldara said the transformers lifted by the power division Handwara some four months back have not been installed.

“We have been groping in the dark for the past four months and the power division Handwara continues to ignore our problems. Despite repeated requests to install the transformers, the division has not installed these to date,” said Ghulam Nabi, a Rajpora resident.

A senior officer in Power division Baramulla said the department was working hard to ensure power supply according to the schedule.

Srinagar, April 21
Directorate of Health Services Kashmir has started a four-day certified training course on ERTC (Emergency Room Trauma Course) for 20 specialist doctors of Directorate of Health Services Kashmir.

The specialist doctors are being trained by Geneva-based international trainers Dr Hassan Nasserddine, chief surgeon, and Dr Asa Molde, chief instructors of International Committee of the Road Cross ICRC (Geneva) at its premier training institute, RIHFW (Regional Institute of Health & Family Welfare) — Dhobiwan, Srinagar.

The doctors trained in the Emergency Room Trauma Course will further train doctors of Directorate of Health Services Kashmir on Emergency Room Trauma Course at its own state-of-the-art Medical Simulation and Clinical skill centre, being set up in Regional Institute of Health & Family Welfare.

This is expected to improve the skills of doctors treating patients of trauma in “golden hour” which will reduce morbidity and mortality in trauma patients to a great extent.

These trained doctors will also help and formulate plans for the directorate to improve ER (emergency room) in terms of infrastructure, equipment, layout etc and develop SOP (standard operating protocol) in dealing with medical and surgical emergencies for effective and better management of patients received in the emergency room.

Srinagar, April 21
Panic gripped south Kashmir’s district Anantnag today after a constable allegedly smashed the windowpanes of a private vehicle.

A local resident said following the incident, the car owner shouted slogans against the police.

Many other locals joined him and they demanded stern action against the policeman.

“The car owner was taking his wife home after she was discharged from the hospital after giving birth to a baby boy. As soon as he reached Janglat-Mandi, there was traffic jam and he tried to find a way for his vehicle to be parked at a convenient place. Suddenly, a police constable smashed windowpanes of his car, which left his wife and newborn child injured,” said a resident from Anantnag.

As the situation tensed up, senior police and civil officers reached the spot and pacified the protesters.

“They assured action against the cop. After two hours, the protest ended,” said the resident.

A senior police officer, however, said the cop was managing the traffic in the town when the incident took place.

“No one was injured but we will take action against the cop for smashing the windowpane,” the police officer said.

Srinagar, April 21
The J&K Bank distributed 400 Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) to farmers during a function held at Chatergul in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district today.

“Cluster head of the J&K Bank Abdul Hamid Khan handed over the cards to the beneficiaries in presence of branch head Chatergul Fayaz Khanyari, FLCC facilitator Abdul Ahad Akhoon, sarpanches and deputy sarpanches of the area. Vice-principal of the Chatergul Higher Secondary School was also present at the event,” said a bank spokesperson in a statement issued today.

Speaking on the occasion, Khan said, “The J&K Bank is aiming to uplift the farmers. Easy credit facility is being given to farmers through the medium of KCCs.”

He gave a detailed account of other customer-friendly schemes of the bank and asked the farmers to take full advantage of these schemes.

Srinagar, April 21
At the time when fast food corners are mushrooming, Kashmir's local fast food 'Masala' has managed to survive the invasion.

The 'Masala' is equally favourite among the youngsters as well as elderly people, who can be seen in street corners, outside schools, playgrounds, bus stands and public parks enjoying the local fast food.

"Whenever on break, we rush out of our school to grab Masala before going back to our classroom," said Mohsin, a student of SP College. "We have a better substitute for fast foods available in the market. It is cheap and equally sumptuous," said Mohsin.

There are many people in the city who are earning their livelihood by preparing the typical Kashmir Masala. Most of them say its preparation is easy, but some expertise was also needed for making it presentable.

"Channa dal is soaked in water for a night and then boiled. Onion and radish chutney, used as gravy, is spread on the Kashmiri traditional bread that is filled with hot channa dal. At last curd is sprinkled on it and puri is ready," said Ghulam Mohammad, who has been selling Masala on the fashionable Residency Road. "You need some expertise to make it more tasty," he said.

Mohammad can be seen holding a basket of puri and is usually surrounded by dozens of people, young and old.

"I have been eating puri for many years and it is a healthy food," said Ghulam Nabi, a shopkeeper.

"The times might have changed, but the typical Kashmir fast food has managed to survive the invasion," he added.

Srinagar, April 21
Palhalan village of north Kashmir remained shut for the third consecutive day on Sunday to mourn the death of a militant, who was killed in an encounter with the security forces last week. The police said it had identified the suspects involved in setting ablaze a vehicle during the protests here.

Shops in the village, located nearly 30 km from here, remained shut for the third day since Friday when a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was buried there.

A Palhalan resident said the entire village was shut and police had sealed off all entrances and exits to the village. “No one is being allowed to move into or go out of the village,” said the resident.

Shabir Ahmad Sheikh, a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant, was killed in an encounter with the security forces in an orchard near north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Thursday afternoon. He was buried at his native Palhalan village on Friday morning.

The situation in the village, where the separatist sentiment continues to run deep, has remained tense ever since the death of the militant.

On Friday evening, hours after the militant was buried, protesters had set ablaze a vehicle outside the village on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway. A senior police official said they had identified 25 suspects believed to have been involved in burning the vehicle, which belonged to a private contractor.

However, no arrest related to the incident has been made so far, said the official.

The police official denied there were any restrictions imposed in or around the village saying a Road Opening Party (ROP) had been deployed outside the village to secure the highway.

Srinagar, April 21
The ruling National Conference (NC) and the twin factions of separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference have paid tributes to renowned poet Allama Mohammad Iqbal on his 75th death anniversary.

NC patron and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah termed Iqbal’s poetry as a priceless treasure for the entire world.

Abdullah said Iqbal’s message always lighted the candles of brotherhood and love. General secretary of the NC Sheikh Nazir also paid tributes to the poet.

Chairperson of the moderate Hurriyat Conference faction Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said Iqbal was a fearless advocate of suppressed Kashmiris. “Iqbal was the voice of Muslim Ummah. He was the first to raise voice in favour of the oppressed Kashmiris and played a critical role in forming the Kashmir committee besides being the first to inspire the idea of Pakistan,” Mirwaiz said.

Mirwaiz said Kashmir was always in the heart of Iqbal and it was reflected in his poetry.

The hard line Hurriyat faction, led by Syed Ali Geelani, organised a seminar at its Hyderpora head office to pay tributes to the poet. The seminar was held under the title ‘Iqbal and the concept of freedom’.

Iqbal, who was born in 1877 in Sialkot, died on April 21, 1938, in Lahore, leaving behind a voluminous amount of poems and literature.