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Can’t declare Bulbul Shah shrine a national monument, ASI tells HC
Two killed, three injured in road accidents in Valley
Postal department staff come forward to help Uttarakhand victims
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35-year-old commits suicide
Committee calls for well-knit strategy to save environment in state
Swiss envoy visits KU for academic collaboration
Power Dept casual labourers protest non-payment of salaries since 2010
Anganwadi workers seek regularisation of services
911 recruits join police force
Poor ATM services leave clients high and dry
Process on to complete constitution of BDCs: Mir
Minister lays foundation stone of drainage system at Bemina
Varsity to begin course on papier mache art
NC leader reviews arrangement
Army inaugurates two badminton courts
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Can’t declare Bulbul Shah shrine a national monument, ASI tells HC
Srinagar, July 6 The ASI has said the existing structure is not more than 100-year-old, which is a requirement for any structure to be called as ancient monument as per the requirements of the Act. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court had earlier directed the ASI to take steps for declaring the shrine as a heritage structure of national importance. In its compliance report to the high court, the ASI has said the original structure of the holy shrine, which was built by Kashmir’s king Rinchan Shah in 15th Century AD, has undergone extensive renovation and addition and alteration by which the shrine has “lost its antiquarian” value. Syed Abdul Rehman popularly known as Hazrat Bulbul Shah, a saint of highest spiritual and sufi order, travelled some 700 years ago from Turkistan and settled in Kashmir around 1324 AD, a time when Kashmir was ruled by Buddhist ruler Rinchan Shah. Rinchan Shah later converted to Islam at the hands saint Bulbul Shah, thus becoming the first Muslim king of Kashmir. It was during his reign that Bulbul Shah shrine was first built. Sufi saint Bulbul Shah is also credited as being the first preacher of Islam in Kashmir. "In so far as the proposal to declare the shrine a monument of national importance under the Ancient Monument and Archeological Sites and Research Act, 1958, is concerned, it is stated that the present structure does not fall within the definition of ancient monuments as per Section 2 (a) of the Act,” the ASI has submitted in its compliance report to the high court this week, which had earlier directed the Director General of the ASI to take steps for declaring ‘700’ years old Bulbul Shah shrine national monument, which is located in the Bulbul Lankar area of old Srinagar city. “The existing structure hence does not qualify to be declared as of national importance as per Section 4 of the Act as due to extensive renovation and addition and alteration of the existing structure (carried out in 1955 and later in 2008) it has apparently lost the required antiquarian value,” the ASI has submitted in the report filed through Ashok Kumar Panday, Deputy Superintending Archeologist of the ASI and in-charge of Srinagar Circle. Kumar along with a team of officials from the ASI visited the shrine for spot inspection on June 16, 2013. "It has been observed that the present shrine, built as late as 2008 after demolishing the then existing structure built in 1955-56, was obviously not the shrine built by Rinchan Shah in 15th Century AD and it seems that this shrine has passed through several changes on the basis of architectural features available as per photograph provided by the shrine management and fresh photograph taken on June 16, 2013, which are self explanatory”, the ASI states in its report. “Hence, there are no remains of the holy shrine built by Rinchan Shah during his reign”, it adds.
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Two killed, three injured in road accidents in Valley
Srinagar, July 6 The boy was shifted to the SMHS hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, the spokesman said. In south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town, a truck hit a motorcycle at Uranhal resulting in injuries to the pillion rider identified as Abid Rehman Najar of Budroo, Yaripora. The injured was shifted to the district hospital, Anantnag, for treatment where he succumbed to his injuries, the spokesman said. An unidentified cab hit and injured a cyclist, identified as Nadeem Ahmad of Donipowa at Brakpora in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The injured was shifted to a hospital for treatment. In another accident, a car collided with a motorcycle at Mominabad in Anantnag district resulting in injuries to the motorcyclist. The injured was shifted to a hospital for treatment. In north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, a car hit and injured a woman identified as Jana Begum of Mangloora near Kunzer town. The injured was shifted to a hospital for treatment, the spokesman said. |
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Postal department staff come forward to help Uttarakhand victims
Srinagar, July 6 The Chief Post Master General, J&K Circle, John Samuel, said the postal staff in J&K had contributed Rs 3,30,000 towards this noble cause. “I appreciate the postal staff for this good gesture. This generous contribution of the post office staff will be used to help the people who have been affected by the floods in Uttarakhand,” he said in a statement. “The relief material will be accepted at all head post offices in the state of Jammu and Kashmir upto July 20 at the Srinagar GPO, Anantnag Head Office, Baramulla HO, Jammu Tawi HO, Gandhinagar HO, Kathua HO, Rajouri HO, Udhampur HO and Leh HO,” he said. “The package containing relief material will be accepted upto 35 kg of weight for a single package,” he said. “Helping those in need at this hour of crisis is a noble gesture,” said Samuel. |
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35-year-old commits suicide
Srinagar, July 6 Chopan’s body was handed over to his family members after completion of the legal formalities, the spokesman said, adding that it was yet to be ascertained why did Mohammad Shafi Chopan took the extreme step. |
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Committee calls for well-knit strategy to save environment in state
Srinagar, July 6 Members of Legislative Council (MLCs) Syed Mohammad Rafiq Shah, Naresh Kumar Gupta, Mohammad Muzaffer Parray and Vijay Bakaya also attended the meeting. “A threadbare discussion was held on various issues concerning the environment in the state and the committee stressed the need for a well-knit strategy to conserve the environment and maintaining the ecological balance,” an official spokesman said. “The committee opined that during the past over two decades, the state
has suffered substantially due to lack of planning to conserve environment and deforestation which has caused environment hazard, especially on the Dal and other natural resources,” the spokesman added. Welcoming several steps initiated by the Central and state governments to save the rich environment of the state and its water bodies, the committee sought the support of the civil society for the noble cause. “The environment is not the concern of only the government, but entire society has to contribute to save it for the coming generations,” the committee observed. The committee laid stress on creating greater awareness amongst the masses through various mediums to conserve the environment. The chairman called for undertaking fresh survey of industrial estates, sites of various factories, stone crushers, brick kilns to ascertain the quantum of pollution emanating from these sources so that measures are initiated accordingly. He also expressed concern over shrinking of wet lands (Haigam Rakh), Dal and Wuller lakes and other water bodies and urged the authorities to put in place the necessary measures for their preservation.has suffered substantially due to lack of planning
to conserve environment and deforestation which has caused environment hazard, especially on the Dal and other natural resources,” the spokesman added. Welcoming several steps initiated by the Central and state governments to save the rich environment of the state and its water bodies, the committee sought the support of the civil society for the noble cause. “The environment is not the concern of only the government, but entire society has to contribute to save it for the coming generations,” the committee observed. The committee laid stress on creating greater awareness amongst the masses through various mediums to conserve the environment. The chairman called for undertaking fresh survey of industrial estates, sites of various factories, stone crushers, brick kilns to ascertain the quantum of pollution emanating from these sources so that measures are initiated accordingly. He also expressed concern over shrinking of wet lands (Haigam Rakh), Dal and Wuller lakes and other water bodies and urged the authorities to put in place the necessary measures for their preservation. |
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Swiss envoy visits KU for academic collaboration
Srinagar, July 6 This is the second visit of a foreign diplomat to the Kashmir University campus within a week’s time. On July 2, Germany’s Ambassador to India had also visited the university and invited students from Kashmir for higher studies in Germany. German Ambassador Michael Steiner had said the objective was not only to attract students, but professionals to work in the European country, which had long relations with India. During the visit, the university spokesman said, the Swiss Ambassador held a meeting with Dean Academic Affairs, KU, Prof AM Shah. “We are here to act as facilitators and explore opportunities in areas of academic collaboration on mutual cooperation for the promotion of academic excellence in areas of research and faculty/ student exchange programmes and scholarships for students of the University of Kashmir,” the Ambassador said in the meeting. The Ambassador said, “It is very important to first identify the institutions on Dr Castelmur said the Swiss embassy would provide a platform to the University of Kashmir and other higher institutions of learning of Switzerland to come together so as to share their resources and expertise on various research projects. Prof Shah said as part of the academic process initiated by KU since last two years, the university had entered into meaningful academic collaborations with various academic and research institutes of the country and the world to promote and encourage faculty/student exchange programmes and to give impetus to the overall research quality of the varsity. The other university staff who attended the meeting included Dean Research Prof Khursheed Andrabi, Director, CCPC, Prof Shabir A. Bhat and Head, Department of Biochemistry, Prof M Afzal Zargar. Later, the Ambassador visited several departments and centres of the university, including various divisions of Allama Iqbal Library, Department of Biotechnology and the business school, during which he interacted with faculty members, scholars and the students, the statement said. |
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Power Dept casual labourers protest non-payment of salaries since 2010
Srinagar, July 6 The protesters took off their shirts in a symbolic protest to convey that they had no money left with them now and their salaries releasedbe immediately. “By taking off our shirts, we wanted to tell the government that we have no money with us now. There are around 5,000 casual labourers and most of us have not received our salaries since 2010,” Irshad Ahmad, one of the protesters, said. It was for a first time that demonstrators had marked a shirtless protest in Kashmir region, where various types of protests including hunger strikes, self-immolation, stone-throwing, slogan shouting, candlelight vigils and drowning protests had taken place in the recent years. The protest was organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Casual Labourers Union, Power Development Department. Ahmad said the union was planning to go for an indefinite strike till their demands were accepted. The three demands include: release of salaries of the last 30 months withheld since 2010, release of salaries on time and appropriate compensation for those casual labourers who have died or got injured during work, he said. The casual labourers receive a monthly salary of Rs 3,750. No senior official of the department was available for the comment.
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Anganwadi workers seek regularisation of services
Srinagar, July 6 The protesters who had assembled under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Association (JKAWHA) warned that in case the government did not solve their issues, they would intensify their agitation. “We demand that the government to regularise our services and increase the monthly honorarium,” JKAWHA president Naseema Kuchay said while addressing the workers. “We are having various other demands and government should fulfill all of them, otherwise we will intensify our protests,” she added. The agitating workers later submitted a memorandum of their demands to the Commissioner Secretary, Social Welfare. The protesters dispersed peacefully.
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911 recruits join police force
Srinagar, July 6 On the intervening night of June 19 and 20, recruits who were angry against the delay in their passing out parade went on a rampage inside the training school and later staged protests for many hours on the Srinagar-Leh highway. Additional Director General of Police (Coordination) P L Gupta, while congratulating the passouts during the passing out parade, advised the recruits to imbibe nobler values of life while discharging their duties. He welcomed the batch of recruits to the Jammu and Kashmir Police family. The ADGP stressed upon the passouts to work with discipline, dedication and with due regard to the expectations of the people and the police organisation. Gupta was earlier presented with an impressive general salute in the passing out parade. The all-round best recruit constable Rizwan-ul-Zaman was granted one rank promotion as SG constable with commendation certificate. Constables Mohammad Jamal, Anil Verma, Shabir Ahmed and Mohammad Hussain were also awarded with special commendation certificates and cash rewards for their excellent performance during the training course. On the occasion, training school principal Bakar Samoon administered the oath to the recruits. Samoon also disclosed that among the 911 recruits, 42 were postgraduates, 259 graduates and 396 were undergraduates; the recruits belonged to executive police as also IRP/Armed Police.
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Poor ATM services leave clients high and dry
Kupwara, July 6 They said the machine at the Old Chowk, Kupwara, often flashes the message “sorry, I am being serviced”. Other machine near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, Kupwara, displays “I am temporarily out of service” and “sorry for inconvenience, please contact your bank”. “Clients seldom are benefited by the ATM facility in Kupwara. The machines often remain out of order for days,” said Mohd Ashraf, a trader. They said a beeline of clients gather in front of ATMs when they start working after days. “Rush of clients is bound to occur when ATMs work once or twice in a week. The authorities should keep them working round-the-clock or wind them up so that the clients do not face inconvenience,” said Nazir Ahmad, an employee. Some other clients said ATMs were closed after 7pm. “What is the point in having a facility if it is not available round-the-clock. The ATMs are closed during night hours and in case of an emergency, patients suffer the most,” said Hayat Ahmad. In Handwara town, the situation is no different. The ATM service here also remains affected most of the times. “Either machines lack cash or develop some snag. We seldom use the facility,” Bashir Ganie, a local resident. They said in an emergency, they were forced to visit the bank for withdrawal of cash.
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Process on to complete constitution of BDCs: Mir
Srinagar, July 6
Speaking at a workshop organised by the Communication and Capacity Development Unit of the state in association with WEMTEP at Tangmarg in Baramulla district, the Minister said, “The constitution of BDCs would help in empowering the Panchayati Raj Institutions. Steps are on to hold BDC elections at the earliest to realise the dream of local governance at the doorstep of the people. I am making all out efforts in the government for holding these elections at the earliest so that a full-fledged Panchayat Raj system would become functional in the state.” Mir stressed upon panchayat representatives to involve themselves in mobilisation programmes launched by the government to bring awareness among masses about various welfare schemes. The Minister said PRIs had greater role to play to disseminate the details of the programmes and projects of the government among the local populace besides informing people about the ill effects of polluted water and significance of safe drinking water through the workshop. He said it was possible only with the sincere cooperation and coordination of PRIs with departments concerned and NGOs to make the programme successful.
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Minister lays foundation stone of drainage system at Bemina
Srinagar, July 6 The minister said this while addressing a public gathering after laying a foundation stone of Integrated Drainage System at mini housing Colony, Bemina, Srinagar which is coming up at an estimated cost of Rs 1.50 crore. “It was a long-pending demand of the public which has been fulfilled and the work on the said project would be started on war footing, so that the problem of frequent water logging being faced by residents of the colony would get solved forever,” Jora said. Later, Jora also inaugurated double-storeyed Chinar Marriage Hall at Boatmen Colony, Bemina, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.04 crore against an estimated cost of Rs 1.50 crore. “The newly-constructed marriage community hall can accommodate 1,000 persons at a time and can be helpful to local residents in providing accommodation at the time of marriages or other social ceremonies,” he said.
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Varsity to begin course on papier mache art
This was disclosed during a two-day long national workshop which was organised by the Kashmir University to have a final look on the syllabus and course content before launching a six-month certified course on the art. During the workshop, the KU has roped in artisans, experts, scholars and academia to discuss the art and proposed syllabus, a statement from the university said. The two-day national workshop was organised by the Directorate of Life Long Leaning (DLL) of University of Kashmir in collaboration with the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) Speaking on the occasion, Director, DLL, Dr GH Mir said the certified course on papier mache would soon be thrown open for the aspirants. “We are to extend our services in various other areas of the territorial area of the university,” he said. Speaking at the occasion, Dean Academic Affairs, Prof AM Shah said it was a welcome step and urged the university authorities and heads of various centres to take a lead in expanding the sphere of knowledge to community. “This is just a beginning and I must congratulate the role of the DLL and NCPUL in initiating
this programme. I think we as an institution should take a lead in making all such courses happen, because they help the general public in a wider perspective,” he said. “But we need to promote core competence among the artisan community.” |
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Srinagar, July 6 Wani chaired a meeting of the provincial party functionaries, including district presidents and district secretaries of the parent body, youth and women’s wings. The meeting was held at the party headquarters today and preparatory arrangements regarding observance of the 12th death anniversary of Jahan, which falls on July 11. — TNS
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Army inaugurates two badminton courts
Srinagar, July 6 The two badminton courts have been constructed by the Army at Government Girls Higher Secondary School and New Light English Medium School, Uri. The Army also provided badminton kits to the schools. The General Officer Commanding also distributed prizes to the students who were winners and runners up of the inter school quiz competition held earlier in the day which was conducted by 150 Field Regiment. “In addition, National Defence Academy examination and SSB interview preparation books were handed over by the General Officer Commanding to the principal of Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Uri,” an Army statement said. “A training capsule on how to join the NDA was earlier conducted by 150 Field Regiment for the students of Boys Higher Secondary School,” it added.
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ancient Bulbul Shah shrine in Srinagar as a monument of national importance, saying there are no remains of the original structure of the holy shrine which was built by former king of Kashmir Rinchan Shah alias Sadruddin during his reign.
Srinagar, July 6
Srinagar, July 6
Srinagar, July 6
Srinagar, July 6