Srinagar, September 23
The parents of a 16-year-old class-X student, who died earlier this month at Baramulla in north Kashmir, have moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court demanding CBI and judicial probes into the circumstances leading to his death.

The petition, which was filed by the parents on Saturday through their counsel Karnail Singh Wazir, is expected to come up for hearing on Monday.

A Sikh student of Baramulla Public School had died on September 3, a week after he attempted suicide by jumping off the second floor of his school building following alleged harassment at the hands of the school authorities.

In the petition, the family has contended that the police had remained silent over initiating action against the school authorities.

It says the police had failed to record the boy’s dying declaration at the hospital for at least four days.

Though the police had registered an FIR into the boy’s death under Section 325 (blunt injury) and 306 (abetment to suicide), the family had been insisting on adding Section 302 (murder).

Blaming the school authorities for negligence, the family alleged that even after having jumped off the school building, the boy kept lying on the school premises for half an hour and the school authorities failed to provide him with medical help.

Asking for a judicial inquiry into their son’s death, the petitioner family has also demanded stern action against the teacher, Altaf Hussain Teli, for allegedly abetting suicide.

“Apart from seeking compensation, we have urged the High Court to order an investigation into the boy’s death by an independent agency, preferably the CBI,” counsel Karnail Singh told The Tribune, adding that the case was likely to be listed on Monday.

Srinagar, September 23
A day after the state government pledged support to the abandoned baby girl with a cleft lip, the health department has started exploring the possibility of finding her biological parents.

Saleem-ur-Rehman, Director (Health Services), Kashmir, has written to the hospital and nursing homes in the Valley to provide details about the deliveries that have taken place between September 12 and 15.

“We have already started exploring the possibility of finding the biological parents of the abandoned baby girl with a cleft lip,” Rehman said. “I have written to the health institutes and hospitals to provide details about the deliveries from September 12 to 15. We hope to get some details about the baby,” he added.

The health department officials said apart from writing to the health institutes, the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers, who carry out home deliveries in remote areas, would be also contacted by the district health officers to get any input about the baby girl.

“We will try to locate the biological father of the baby,” said another health official.

The baby was abandoned by her parents at the GB Pant Hospital because she was born with cleft lip and palate. The baby is currently recuperating in the hospital.

The Director Health Services has also constituted a team of senior doctors for the corrective surgery of the girl’s cleft and palate.

Sources in the medical education department said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the J&K Police might also be requested to extend help in tracing the abandoned baby’s parents.

The abandoned baby was found wrapped in a blanket in the corridor of the GB Pant Hospital last week. The baby was later admitted to the hospital. The hospital authorities, who are planning to put the baby up for adoption, have also got a case registered at the police station.

Srinagar, September 23
The Hurriyat Conference faction headed by Syed Ali Geelani has called for a shutdown in the Kashmir valley on September 27 against President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit.

“Mr Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Kashmir comes at a time when no independent inquiry has been ordered to know about the whereabouts of nearly 10,000 people who have been taken away by Indian forces,” the separatist group said in a statement.

Hurriyat said since the President is the constitutional head of the Army in the country, he had to be held accountable for the “crimes committed by the Army in the past 65 years”. “Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani appeals to the people to observe a complete shutdown on President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit,” the statement said. The statement quoted Geelani appealing to traders unions, transporters, shopkeepers and government employees to support the shutdown. — TNS

Sopore, September 23
In a glaring example of official apathy towards the vital horticulture sector, the largest fruit market in the Valley located on the outskirts of Sopore town has been without basic facilities for the past two decades.

The fruit business in the Valley generates a turnover of around Rs 1,200 crore annually. Thousands of tons of fruits are graded, packed and transported from the market to major markets across the country.

The world famous Kashmir apples and cherry maintain a good demand in the international market and fetch good revenue.

Apart from lacking modern trading facilities, the market, which sustains the livelihood of thousands of fruit growers and traders, lacks basic facilities.

There is absence of potable drinking water and proper drainage system. The roads leading to the market are in a dilapidated condition.

It also lacks space and the fruit growers are forced to stock their produce in a phased manner.

“The authorities are playing with the livelihood of thousands of people associated with the trade by ignoring the largest fruit mandi in north Kashmir. The mandi lacks drinking water facilities, drainage system and road infrastructure,” said Fayaz Ahmad Malik, president, Fruit Growers and Dealers Association.

The fruit growers in north Kashmir said they were suffering losses due to lack of facilities at the fruit mandi.

“On many occasions, we have to wait for days to stock our fruit. The mandi lacks space and the growers are forced to stock their produce on a rotational basis,” said Abdul Ahad, a fruit grower of Dangerpora, Sopore.

Due to poor drainage system, the fruit mandi gets submerged in rain-water even after a drizzle. Last week, the mandi remained submerged in rainwater for days after incessant rain lashed north Kashmir.

Almost all varieties of fruit, including American apples, are graded, packed and sold to different fruit mandis across India. At least 70 per cent population in north Kashmir is associated with fruit industry.

Srinagar, September 23
A 22-year-old youth was found dead at an orchard near a village in Bandipora district of north Kashmir, the police said today.

Javid Ahmad Yatoo, a resident of Gushbugh village, near Sumbal town in Bandipora, was found dead inside an orchard near his village. Yatoo was a shopkeeper by profession.

After the completion of medico-legal formalities, Yatoo’s body was handed over to his family for the last rites. The police has registered a case and is investigating the circumstances leading to Yatoo’s death, he said.

Srinagar, September 23
“Wazas”, the traditional chefs of Kashmir, are a busy lot these days with the start of the annual Haj pilgrimage coupled with the ongoing marriage season.

These chefs have little time to spare, as they are busy preparing a whole variety of dishes for different occasions these days.

“We haven’t had much time to sleep in the past one month. We have been busy cooking ever since the culmination of Ramadan,” says Fayaz Ahmad, a “waza”.

The local chefs are famous for cooking “wazwan” — an assortment of gastronomical delights, comprising at least 15 dishes mostly of mutton and chicken — served for lunch and dinner on weddings.

The food is cooked by a team of at least six to eight “wazas” under a tent erected at the place of wedding.

Fayaz says they have even turned away people seeking fresh bookings. “We can barely handle cooking for those who have booked their dates in advance. Things get really busy during Haj,” he said.

Before embarking on Haj, many families arrange a wazwan feast for their kith and kin.

Irfan Malik, a local resident whose wedding is scheduled next month, says he had booked the chefs four months in advance.

“I knew things would get tight once the Haj pilgrims started to leave,” he says. The last Haj flight from the city to Saudi Arabia is scheduled to leave on October 10.

While the marriage season in the Valley usually goes on from May to October, this year the “wazas” had to sit idle during Ramadan in July-August, when Muslims do not solemnise weddings.

But they are not complaining. “This is the time to make money. We are in demand only during marriages and Haj. We do not have much work otherwise. Our business is somewhat like the tourist season and we have suffered a lot in the past,” says Ghulam Mohammad, another “waza”.

Just like the tourism season, the business of “wazas” was badly hit during the 2008 Amarnath land row agitations, followed by violent protests in the wake of the 2009 Shopian incident and the 2010 summer unrest.

The protests had led to large-scale cancellation of wedding ceremonies. And functions of most weddings solemnised during the period were held in a simple manner, without “wazwaan” preparations.

Srinagar, September 23
An NGO today urged the government to ban smokeless forms of tobacco in the state, as their consumption is reportedly growing among the locals, especially the adolescents.

J&K Voluntary Health Association executive director AM Mir said: “The increasing consumption of guthka, pan masala and other chewing tobacco products in J&K is a matter of deep concern. Children and young adolescents have an easy access to these products. We make a fervent appeal to ban chewable food products containing tobacco and nicotine.”

“These products act as a gateway to drug addiction. Besides, poor section of the society consumes it as a leisure product. The impact can be seen in the form of rising number of cancer cases, especially oral cancer in the state,” he said.

He said the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) - India Report 2009-10 showed that among 26.6 per cent adult tobacco users in the state, eight per cent exclusively use smokeless form of tobacco.

The usage of gutka, pan masala and other chewing tobacco products are found to be significant among the females and the young adults.

The figures showed that among 4.1 per cent of the current women users in the state, 3.7 per cent are consuming it on a daily basis, he said.

Srinagar, September 23
As many as 19 people have been injured in a dozen road accidents in the Valley over the last 48 hours.

Police said five people were injured in the road accidents on Sunday while 14 others were injured in mishaps on Saturday.

In the road accidents on Sunday, a tourist vehicle was hit by a truck on the National highway in the south Kashmir resulting in injuries to a woman identified as Babli Mishra of Lanka Bluwara Nasi, Uttar Pradesh, police said.

In another incident, a car hit and injured a man near Athwajan while a 48-year-old cyclist was injured by another car in the central Kashmir’s Magam town. In Pampore town of the south Kashmir, a woman was hit and injured by a motorcyclist near Tulbagh.

Police said a motorcycle skidded off the road at warpora crossing in the north Kashmir’s Kupwara district resulting in injuries to the motorcyclist. All the injured have been shifted to nearby hospitals and cases has been registered in all the incidents.

On Saturday, 14 people were injured in seven road accidents across the region.

The number of fatal and non-fatal casualties is constantly rising in Kashmir as three road accidents are being reported on a daily basis across the region.

More than 100 people have been injured in several road accidents in the region in past few days.

Srinagar, September 23
Governor NN Vohra today urged the students to achieve excellence in academics as well as extra-curricular activities so that they could contribute towards the development and prosperity of the state and the country.

The governor said this while interacting with a group of 23 students from Kargil district of the Ladakh region at Raj Bhavan. The students had recently returned from an educational tour to Jammu and Rajasthan that was organised by the Army under its Sadbhavana programme.

Sources said the governor while interacting with the students enquired about the places they had visited during the tour and those which they had liked the most.

The governor presented gifts to the students and their teachers. A memento was presented to the governor by Capt Prateek Malhotra on the behalf of 121 (I) Infantry Brigade.

Srinagar, September 23
Expressing his keen desire for J&K Bank to take a cue from research papers of the three-day National Business Conference, J&K Bank executive president Tafazul Hussain said the bank would like to be benefitted from the research papers and practice them in the corporate and banking world.

He referred to social responsibility of the J&K Bank and said the bank is successfully treading the path of what he termed as ‘people’s perception of the bank’ and said in the future, an independent agency will be carrying a survey to know about the strengths and weaknesses of the bank.

The conference which was organised by the Department of Business and Financial studies, University Of Kashmir concluded today.

Kashmir University Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad who presided over the function said the researchers should focus on preserving ecology and environment of the region. “The conference’s theme has already gathered great momentum not only in India but also across the globe,” he said.

He hoped the three-day event would provide a much required insight through the research papers on the underlying theme contributed by a galaxy of scholars, industrialists and administrators.

Department of Business and Finance Studies (DBFS) head and seminar director Prof Nazir Ahmad said “In the backdrop of acknowledgement of the importance of the social, political and cultural background of the emerging economies, new realities are unfolding, new business and economic issues are emerging and new insights can be gained and utilised to address, conceptualise and theorise the new realities.

Nazir said these are interesting challenges for the academia and the practitioners alike to take on and make valuable contributions in a bid to make our organisations highly dynamic and competitive.

Srinagar, September 23
Jammu and Kashmir will be hosting the National White Water Slalom Kayaking and Canoeing Championship from September 26 in the Sindh river.

The championship is being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Kayaking and Canoeing Association (JKKCA) and sponsored by the Tourism Department and the Jammu and Kashmir State Sports Council.

An official of the JKKCA said the four-day long championship will be held at Sonmarag in the Ganderbal district.

Paddlers from different states of the country and affiliated units of the Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association will participate in the championship, he said.

“Two individual (K1 and C1) and two team events (3xK1 and 3xc1) will be held in the championship.

The slalom course is being prepared at Sonmarag and all the necessary arrangements for the championship are in progress,” the official said.

Sports Minister RS Chib is scheduled to inaugurate the championship.

Jammu, September 23
The post graduate (PG) department of the University of Jammu is all set for a title clash with Army Public School (APS) Bari Brahamana A in the final of the girls’ section of the Jammu District Boys and Girls Volleyball Championship commenced at Shastri Nagar Ground here today.

In the girls’ category, the PG department got the better of the APS Bari Brahamana B in straight sets by 25-18 and 25-20 in the semifinals while APS Bari Brahamana B eased past the Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, by 2-1. The set score read 23-25, 25-17 and 15-12.

Earlier, in the preliminary round matches, the APS Bari Brahmana A prevailed upon the Government School, Badyal Brahmana, by 2-0 while the APS Bari Brahmana B had last laugh against the APS Miran Sahib by 2-1 sets.

In the boys’ section, the semifinals line up has been drawn with the Pallanwala Club, Shastri Nagar A, APS Akhnoor and the Youth Club, Swankha as they all had secured a berth in the last four-stage.

In the first semifinal, Pallanwalla will face Shastri Nagar A whereas APS Akhnoor will square off against the Youth Club, Swankha.

The championship wherein 14 teams are participating is being organised by the Jammu District Volleyball Association, under the auspices of the Jammu and Kashmir Volleyball Association.

Jammu, September 23
Aditya Sharma, Akshay Kumar and Rohit Sodhi were among other cueists who have entered the quarterfinals of the ongoing 22nd Jammu District Open Junior and Senior Billiards and Snooker Championship, being organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Billiards and Snooker Association (JKBSA) at the Billiards Hall, M A Stadium here.

In the pre-quarterfinals, Aditya Sharma spanked last year's runner-up Gagandeep Singh in a tough contest by 2-1 frames. Aditya lost the first frame tamely with a margin of 41-54. Gagandeep Singh though failed to seize the advantage after pocketing the first frame and lost the next by 54-64.

Third frame went neck to next with both cueists played outstandingly game to emerge victorious but it Aditya who eventually had the last laugh with a frame margin of 43-33.

Akshay Kumar bagged past against Mandeep Singh by 2-0 frames with utmost ease. The frame score read 48-36 and 70-42. In other matches played, Rohit Sodhi outclassed Vasudev Singh by 63-26 and 61-07, Abhi Gupta trounced Pankaj Sharma by 45-24 and 34-33, Sanjay Sharma toppled Sanand Sharma by 59-46 and 63-51 and Aditya Sharma beat Gaurav Panday by 24-53, 58-40 and 67-29.

The quarterfinal matches in junior snooker and the draws for the senior snooker will be held on Monday.

Baramulla, September 23
Like elsewhere in the Valley, Sundays are fun days for children in Baramulla town of North Kashmir. The eco-park located at the banks of the Jhelum has become a major source of recreation for the children.

A huge rush is witnessed in the park especially on Sundays. “We enjoy spending time in the park. Every Sunday, we visit the park and stay here till the evening,” said Muntazir a class VI student.

A group of children said, “All of us are busy with studies for the entire week. The park offers a chance of get-together on Sundays. We enjoy lunch together around 2pm. Moreover, we have sufficient time to play varied games in the park.”

Many other children were seen playing carom in the park. The visitors rush in the park swells in the evening as temperature declines and cold breeze appeases the environment. “It is a real fun to visit the park in the evening time. Since the park is located at the banks of the Jhelum, the evening breeze soothes every visitor,” said an elderly.

Apart from children, elders and women also visit the park for recreation. “We come here in our leisure time to fight boredom. The horticulture department should plant more flowering plants to enhance the beauty of park,” said a local resident.

The local schools plan their picnic in summers. “Schools in the town and its suburbs organise picnic to the park. It has a vast area and children have a great time here,” said a teacher.

The locals said visitors from other areas of the north Kashmir visit the park in summers. After incessant rains last week, pleasant weather conditions in the Valley have brought a good rush to the public parks in the north Kashmir.