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Power theft by powerful
Sopore residents face water shortage
Lawyers seek action against miscreants
Hurriyat forms panel on Amarnath road controversy
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Tension at Zanskar: Ladakhi Muslims demand security
2 hurt as guard opens fire
Injured fawn of endangered species dies
Anantnag sans garbage-dumping site
Musical plays mark 2nd day of ‘Sonzal’
Task force for preservation of Kashmiri language
Government Women College celebrates annual day
J&K Bank earns Rs
516-cr profit in 6 months
‘Centre for Policy Analysis’ has double standards: JKLF faction
Saifi Sopori’s poetic collection
‘Sehra Sehra’ released
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Power theft by powerful
Srinagar, October 31 As many as 20 high-profile residents of the Friends Enclave near Srinagar International Airport were found involved in power theft during the raid. Out of them, power connections of five residents were disconnected on the spot by the squad. Apart from a retired Inspector-General of Police (IGP), who was found guilty of power theft, a serving bureaucrat had an illegal power connection. The other defaulters included a serving police officer, a legislator, a politician and few doctors. “Out of the houses which we raided, we saw that the residents in the locality had made permanent arrangements for the electricity theft,” said a senior officer of the PDD. “As the colony is housed by the powerful people, they had even provided illegal power connections to the security guards deployed to protect them,” he added. The officer said action would be initiated against the defaulters. “We will initiate action against them under Section 95 of the Jammu Kashmir Electricity Act, 2010, under which the defaulters will be penalised,” he said. The defaulters can also face up to two years of jail. A resident of Friends Colony said it was sad that powerful people were indulged in power thefts. “It is shocking that high-profile people who deliver sermons about corruption and other issues were found indulged in the power thefts. They should be taken to task,” a resident of the locality said. For the past one month, the squad of the enforcement wing of PDD has been conducting raids in the residential areas in the state and has so far found many people involved in the power theft. These raids were earlier restricted to hotels and industrial units across the state. When contacted, chief engineer PDD Muzaffar Mattoo said that he was yet to get the report from the field staff. “We have constituted 20 teams for detecting power theft in different parts of the Valley. One such team had gone to Friends Colony for inspection and we waiting for the report,” he said. High-profile defaulters *
As many as 20 high-profile residents of Friends Enclave were found involved in power theft *
Out of them, power connections of five residents were disconnected on the spot by the raiding team *
Apart from the retired IGP, who was found guilty of power theft, a serving bureaucrat had an illegal power connection. *
The other defaulters included a serving police officer, a legislator, a politician and few doctors |
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Sopore residents face water shortage
Sopore, October 31 Local residents have threatened to come to streets if water supply is not restored at the earliest. They said the Public Health Engineering (PHE) division of Sopore has even stopped water tanker service to the affected villages. The worst hit villages include Bomia, Nathpora, Chankipora, Khushal mut, Model town, Sopore, Bhat Mohalla, Changal Mohalla, downtown, Arampora and Chanapora. “In the absence of water supply, womenfolk are forced to fetch contaminated water from nullahs. Water supply has been snapped to many villages for the past three years,” said Mohd Ashraf, a local resident. They said other sources of drinking water, including tube wells, ponds and wells, have dried up. “Ponds and other sources of water have dried up. We are facing acute shortage of water. Despite repeated pleas, the authorities have not bothered to restore the supply,” said Ghulam Hassan of Chankipora. Locals said the water tankers were pressed into service for few days but the service was stopped. “Due to consumption of contaminated water, children are more vulnerable to suffer gastroenteritis,” said Riyaz Changal of Changal Mohalla. Last week, local residents had held protest demanding immediate restoration of water supply to the affected villages but invain. “Officials of the PHE Department had assured us that the water supply would be restored in two days but we are still facing the crisis. If the supply is not restored at the earliest, we will be forced to take to streets once again,” said Nazir Khuroo of Khuroo Mohalla. They demanded additional water reservoirs for storage of water in the affected areas. |
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Facebook ‘slur’ Tribune News Service
Srinagar, October 31 After the incident came to light a few days ago, the police had reportedly arrested three persons from Kishtwar district for allegedly running a "campaign" against Islam on the Facebook. “The Bar Association has taken a strong notice of the blasphemous picture on the social networking site Facebook uploaded by some miscreant youth of Chatroo tehsil, Kishtwar district,” Bar secretary M Ashraf Bhat said. He added the Bar has demanded “immediate action against the culprits for bringing them in the court of law without any delay.” He said these acts were aimed at “inciting communal hatred among the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” which is deplorable. The Bar Association, he said, has “appreciated the timely steps taken” by the people of Kishtwar and adjacent areas in condemning this “heinous” act peacefully.
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Hurriyat forms panel on Amarnath road controversy
Srinagar, October 31 The committee will be headed by Ghulam Nabi Sumji, general secretary of the separatist amalgam, Hurriyat spokesman Ayaz Akbar said. Abkar told The Tribune that the committee would also create “awareness” about the construction of the macadamised road to the Amarnath cave shrine, located deep in the Himalayan mountains, and will hold consultations with trade unions and other “concerned quarters”. The decision to form the committee was taken today at an executive body meeting of the amalgam in which representatives of nine separatist and trade union parties participated. The report, to be compiled by the five-member committee, will be subjected to study and a seminar has been scheduled on November 10, which will discuss the future strategy on the issue. “Intellectuals, lawyers, traders, journalists (and) transporters will extend their viewpoint and a unanimous decision with regard to Amarnath (road) issue will be taken,” Akbar said. Geelani’s announcement earlier this month that he will call an agitation after Eid-ul-Adha festival against the construction of a macdamised road to the cave shrine had left the state government jittery. Soon after the agitation threat, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah denied there was any road construction going on and also invited Geelani for a helicopter ride over the track to the cave to “see the ground reality”. The invite was rejected by Geelani. Today, the government arranged a special copter trip for journalists around the cave region to dismiss the road construction allegation made by Geelani.
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Tension at Zanskar: Ladakhi Muslims demand security
Srinagar, October 31 Muneer Rasool, a member of the association, alleged that the government was acting as a "mute spectator" even as their community was facing "harassment" at Zanskar. Rasool demanded that the government should take strict action against those responsible for 'targeting' the Muslims. Dismissing reports that Muslims were not a minority at Zanskar, he said: “We are a minority there as only 500 Muslim households are present there....our houses and shops were pelted with stones and several houses got damaged while many got injured." While communal tension had erupted at Zanskar recently following reports of conversions to Islam, Rasool also dismissed reports that the same were forced. "They converted on their own and no one forced them," he said. Rasool said they were peace-loving people and were being 'forced' to hit the roads due to the government’s 'inaction' over their plight. Last week, a group of Ladakhi Muslims along with MLA Langate Engineer Rasheed had also staged a protest here demanding that the 'atrocities' committed against the minority community be stopped. Rasheed, too, had urged the government to take steps for normalising the situation at Zanskar.
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2 hurt as guard opens fire
Srinagar, October 31 Sources said the security guard mistook them as “attackers” and opened fire. The villagers had assembled outside the college in the Pattan area. The police said as the villagers started approaching towards the college, the security guard opened fire injuring two of them. — TNS |
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Injured fawn of endangered species dies
Srinagar, October 31 The five-month-old fawn (scientific name: Mochus chrysogaster leucogaster), an endangered wildlife species, was rescued by the wildlife and forest authorities from Firdousabad locality of the Batamaloo area in Srinagar on October 24. “The badly injured fawn died two days after it was rescued. Unfortunately it could not be saved despite the best efforts of our vets”, Wildlife Warden (Central Kashmir), Mohammad Sadiq told The Tribune while confirming the death of the injured deer. “The injured musk deer was not in a good condition. Its prognosis was very low as it had multiple injury marks. The hind quarter of the musk deer was totally damaged as most portions of the tissue were missing. Its rectum was also badly damaged”, Chief Wildlife Vet Dr Mansoor told The Tribune. He said he was yet to see post-mortem report prepared by a team of vets, which had treated the injured fawn. The fawn was first spotted by locals in the wee hours on October 24 when it was being chased by a pack of stray dogs. However, the early morning mosque goers, who had spotted the fawn, had rescued the cub deer and later on the wildlife authorities were informed. The fawn was later shifted to Veterinary hospital for treatment. How the deer descended into populated area?
Though it is not exactly know how the musk deer reached densely populated Srinagar suburbs, wildlife experts are banking on two possibilities. One theory is that the fawn might have separated from its herd when being chased by the predators in the high mountain forests in Budgam area and reached the Batamaloo area through Doodhganga Nullah, which flows from the area. Another possibility is the fawn might have mingled with the sheep herds being reared by the shepherds in high mountain pastures.
Since the shepherds in winters usually get down and migrate to warmer regions of the state, the fawn might have strayed with the flock. Himalayan Musk Deer
Musk deer, which is an endangered species, is usually found in Dachigam National Park and upper reaches of Sonamarg, Zabarwan hills and high range forests
of Budgam in the Kashmir region. The Mochus chrysogaster leucogaster (Himalayan musk deer) has been listed as endangered because of a probable serious population decline, estimated to be more than 50% over the last three generations. The species has a relatively restricted range, and so its population is unlikely to be large. This species is found in the Himalayas of Bhutan, northern India (including J&K and Sikkim), Nepal, and China (southwest Xizang). |
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Anantnag sans garbage-dumping site
Anantnag, October 31
According to reports, the Municipal authorities, after letting the garbage rot on the roadsides for days, dump the garbage in the outskirts of the town, without any proper treatment. “The residents say that letting the infrequent clearance of garbage from the roads of the town as well as the other towns is a major cause of several diseases in the area. Not only is it affecting the health of the residents but the foul smell emanating from the garbage is unbearable and concerns both the residents as well as the people passing by,” said Muhammad Amin, a resident of Bakhshiabad area of Anantnag town. He said, “There are no dust bins in the whole town and the garbage is left at the road sides for days till the authorities decide to send a dumping van.” The residents of other adjoining towns say that the garbage from the Anantnag town is at least picked up, although infrequently, and is dumped into trenches in the outskirts of the town. “In our town the garbage is left to rot just outside the town limits, under The authorities however maintain that the problem is going to be taken care of very soon. “We will be shortly get the dustbins for the whole town and as far as the clearance of garbage is concerned, we are collecting it on regular basis,” said Bashir Ahmad Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Anantnag. The Director of the Urban Local Bodies, Shamim Ahmad, when contacted said: “Proper dumping sites have been identified across the district and the problem will not persist any further.”
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Musical plays mark 2nd day of ‘Sonzal’
Srinagar, October 31 Music competitions were the highlight of the day. The second day was marked by the music competition involving western classical, rock, pop, Kashmiri folk genres in solo and band performances. The music competitions were judged by the Valley’s prominent singers Waheed Jeelani and Shahid Gous. There were three more events held in various parts of the University of Kashmir. Cartoon competition with the theme ‘recent in news’ was held at Naseem Bagh. It was judged by artists like Mohammad Yousuf Naqshbandi and Akhter Rasool. Most of the 26 participants mostly highlighted the issue of LPG subsidy cap. Elocution competition was held at Gandhi Bhawan and 14 participants debated on the topic ‘relevance of social networking sites on modern world’. The event was judged by Professor Lily Want, Iqbal Qureshi and Syed Suhail Hussain. The last event of the day was clay modelling and it was held in The Business School. As many as 19 participants carved images out of clay on the topic ‘affection’. The event was judged by a renowned sculptor Mohammad Iqbal, artists Mohammad Yousuf Nashbandi and Akhter Rasool.
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Task force for preservation of Kashmiri language
Srinagar, Oct 31
This came to light during a two-day conference on Kashmiri language organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Cultural Academy which got underway today at Institute of Hotel Management, Rajbagh, Srinagar today. Minister for Finance Abdul Rahim Rather who was the chief guest on the occasion said, “The survival of the Kashmiri language is threatened even though many of the eminent Valley’s poets and writers have been awarded national accolades like Sahitya Academy Award, Jnan Peeth Award and Padma Shree.” He admitted that though the state government has notified the rules for introduction of Kashmiri language in the senior secondary levels in schools, the same have not been implemented. “I am looking forward to the suggestions which this two-day conference will bring forth and help us devise a strategy of how should we preserve Kashmiri language which is spoken by 66 per cent of the state’s populace,” said Rather. He said, “It has become immensely important to encourage the youths to campaign for promotion of the Kashmiri language although lack of career opportunities and unemployment are major demotivating factors.” Prominent writer, critic Ghulam Nabi Aatish in his key note address took a dig at the half hearted measures by the government in meeting the demands put forward by the artists of the state, especially in giving the ‘classical title’ to the Kashmiri language which is the oldest and most spoken language of the state. “The state government is non-serious about ensuring strict implementation of native languages learning in schools even though the language was introduced in the academic curriculum years back. For consecutive three academic sessions, Kashmiri language has not been taught to students and teachers are non-committed in their approach,” said Aatish. He said that the state needs a people’s movement to save one of the most eloquent languages in history whose literary history is almost 700-year-old. Professor Rehman Rahi, Jnan Peeth Award winner, said: “The conference should serve as a wakeup call to everybody that they should not let their identity die down by shunning their mother tongue.”
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Government Women College celebrates annual day
Srinagar, October 31 Addressing the function, the minister said there was a dire need to provide better guidance and counseling to the students before taking up any stream of their choice. The minister said several concrete steps had already been taken to modernise and universalise the education, particularly at higher level. He said there was room for further improvement. He urged all the functionaries of the college, teachers and parents to play a pivotal role for transformation of society and education system. Malik said Government Women’s College was among the oldest colleges in the state which has attained level of excellence during the last five decades. He said the college has contributed a lot in popularising female education and several luminaries had proved their mettle in administration, academics as well as scientific fields. Secretary Higher Education while addressing the function said the celebration of annual day provided an opportunity to showcase the achievements registered by the college during last academic session. Earlier, Principal of the College Professor Tanveer Ara welcomed the dignitaries and apprised about the achievements registered by the college during previous academic session. Coordinator of the women studies Dr Yasmeen Ashai presented NAAC report on the occasion. The minister also released the newspaper of the college, ‘Harbinger’, published by the Mass Communication and Multimedia Production Department of the college. The students of the college also presented a cultural programme depicting the composite culture of the state.
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J&K Bank earns Rs
516-cr profit in 6 months
Srinagar, October 31 This was stated by the J&K Bank spokesperson here while adding that the bank had registered a net profit of Rs 515.62 in the first six months of the current financial year. He said the increase in the net profit was 35 per cent as compared to Rs 381.94 crore of the corresponding periods of the last financial year. Chairman and CEO of the J&K Bank Mushtaq Ahmad said, “The results are encouraging and we hope to achieve our target figures for the financial year 2012-13 well in time. Our key ratios have improved further.” Meanwhile, with an appreciation of 9.4 per cent in its share price, the J&K Bank today topped gainers list as its stock hit an all time high of Rs 1,225 and Rs 1,224.55 at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), respectively. The share price witnessed a sharp increase of Rs 105 at both the stock exchanges. Commenting on the unprecedented surge in the Bank’s share price, Chairman and CEO of the bank said, “We value the trust of our investors as one of the key factors responsible for our uninterrupted growth story. This is the shareholders confidence in the bank.” ALL-TIME HIGH
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‘Centre for Policy Analysis’ has double standards: JKLF faction
Srinagar, October 31 The JKLF faction, headed by a former militant commander who later joined separatist politics Javaid Mir, accused the CPA member Seema Mustafa of being a ‘chameleon’. CPA delegation, which is on a visit to Kashmir region on Tuesday organised a workshop at University of Kashmir on the issue of ‘peace and justice for Kashmiri women’. “Every six months, members associated with civil society create a drama in the name of human right in Kashmir and when they return to New Delhi they earn their wages by calling the sacrifices of a lakh people a business,” said the group. The separatist group accused the CPA, which defines itself as an 'independent and non-profit policy research centre' based in New Delhi, of having double standards on the human rights violation done in the region.
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Saifi Sopori’s poetic collection
‘Sehra Sehra’ released
Srinagar, October 31 During the discourse, eminent scholars, writers and columnists presented their reviews on the book and shed light on the poetic philosophy of Saifi Sopori whose first Urdu poem was published in Daily ‘Khidmat’ in 1942. The panel discourse was chaired by Vice-Chancellor Central University of Kashmir Professor Abdul Wahid Qureshi which involved the participation of Professor Bashir Ahmed Nehvi , Professor Mohammad Aslam, Zareef Ahmad Zareef, Assistant Dean DSW KU Showkat Shafi and Saifi Sopori-the author of the book. In his address Vice-Chancellor Central University of Kashmir Professor Abdul Wahid Qureishi said Saifi Sopori’s ‘Sehra Sehra’ manifests the poet’s struggle for finding an oasis in the wilderness of life. Professor Qureishi congratulated the Allama Iqbal Library for its initiative ‘meet the eminent’ which was launched six years back. He said, “It will help in preserving the visual and audio deliberations and words of wisdom of veterans of the Valley and their works for posterity.” While presenting his review of the book former Director Iqbal Institute of Culture and Philosophy Professor Basher Nehvi said Saifi Sopori represents the last legacy of great Urdu writers and his poetic collection bears the imprints of the rich cultural heritage of our Valley. He said, “This is the first collection of poems that Saifi Sopuri has published though he has been writing for ages.” “His command over Urdu and the essential elements in the poetic forms While coordinating the panel discussion Professor Aslam said the author Renowned satirist and Kashmiri writer Zareef Ahmad Zareef also presented his views on the occasion. ‘Sehra Sehra’ is a self-published poetic collection of 183 poems (hymns, encomiums, ghazals and poems) by Saifi Sopuri (original name: Saifuddin Masoodi). While interacting with the audience and responding to their queries Saifi Sopori, the author of the book, said: “The reason for choosing ‘Sehra Sehra’ which means ‘desert’ as title of the book was to depict the life of a human being which is full of difficulties and challenges and the pain and misery he suffers from while overcoming these challenges and impediments.” Saifi Sopori who has been a renowned educationist of his times is an image-maker and lover of nature. He has drawn images of Kashmir in her various moods. The Dal Lake and moonlit night is an excellent description of the beauty that the Dal presents. He uses metaphor after metaphor to draw a vivid picture. THE BOOK |
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The wildlife vets who had treated the fawn said the musk deer (also known as Himalayan musk deer) was badly injured and the prognosis of his survival was ‘very low’.
