Srinagar, February 21
Nearly 30,000 school pass outs from various districts of Kashmir Division currently applying for admissions in 48 degree colleges have a very limited option of courses to choose from as compared to their counterparts in other pasts of the country.

The admission process for BA, BSc, BCom, BBA, BCA, BA (Mass Communication) which started on February 1, will continue till March 2. (The dates have been extended by the Kashmir University due to prolonged spell of curfew and strikes).

Although various add on (specialised) courses like BSc (Food Technology), BSc (Industrial Chemistry) and BSc (Biotechnology) introduced in various colleges (particularly located in Srinagar district), but the students feel the pinch with lesser options in Arts and Commerce streams.

Especially, students who hail from Anantnag, Bandipora, Baramulla, Kulgam, Kupwara, Budgam, Ganderbal and Pulwama districts of north and south Kashmir are in a fix as they have to choose from only the general courses their respective colleges offer.

For instance, in Baramulla district of north Kashmir which houses 10 degree colleges, thousands of students hailing from the district have to choose from general BA, BSc and BCom courses. Some years ago, Government Degree College, Baramulla, had introduced the first-ever undergraduate programme in Journalism which made it hugely popular.

Thereafter, Government College for Women, MA Road, followed suit and introduced Bachelors in Mass Communication course three years ago, which again is garnering a huge number of applications.

However, problems of students hailing from remote areas of the Valley remain unsolved as they have to rent PG accommodations in Srinagar to study courses of their choice here.

Srinagar district has the maximum number of 10 degree colleges, which relatively offer a good number of courses to choose from. This year, the Government College for Women, MA Road, has one more specialised course in its kitty, BA Honours in English, which would also invite attention of the students.

Students opine that introducing honours courses in Arts and Commerce streams would add to qualitative education as well as improve their chances of seeking good jobs.

“Honours courses in specific subjects are considered the best undergraduate courses in the country. Many universities in India have already started teaching these courses, but in the Valley, the same remains a dream for students. I think, we have a lot of talented teachers who can teach these courses. The state government should step in and overhaul the education system as was advised by experts during the higher education workshop in Kashmir University recently,” said Dr Rafi Ahmad, an academician.

Dean Colleges, Kashmir University, Prof Mustafa Shah said although the problems of students hailing from districts other than Srinagar were acknowledged, but the admission process to select specialised courses was being conducted on merit basis as compared to general courses for which admission was done as per the residence of a student.

“We have done away with the norm of the vicinity of a student in case of specialised courses. We will definitely try and upgrade the courses to an effective level in the near future,” said Prof Shah.

Srinagar, February 21
Day temperature dipped significantly as several parts of Kashmir valley received light rainfall in the evening.

After recording the warmest day of the season yesterday (16.4 degrees Celsius), the maximum temperature in Srinagar dipped to 9.5 degrees Celsius today. The maximum temperature in Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, dropped to 10.9 degrees Celsius as compared to 14.5 degrees yesterday.

Tourist resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir and border town Kupwara recorded the maximum temperature at 7.3 and 9.2 degrees Celsius, respectively, an official of the Meteorological Department said.

Night temperatures too witnessed a slight dip across the Valley. Srinagar, Qazigund, Pahalgam and Kupwara recorded the minimum temperature at 1.8, minus 0.2, minus 7.3 and 0.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Ski resort Gulmarg in north Kashmir, which is covered with a blanket of snow, remained the coldest place in the Valley recording the minimum temperature at minus 6.5 degrees Celsius.

While conditions remained overcast throughout the day, several parts of the Valley received light rainfall in the evening. Weatherman has forecast more rain and snow at many places across the state during the next two days. “Light to moderate rain or snowfall is likely during the next two days in the upper reaches. Ladakh region may also receive light snowfall during these days,” the MeT official said.

Winter in Kashmir is currently in its last phase with the onset of 10-day long ‘chillai bacha’, which in local parlance literally means ‘small cold’, from February 19.

Ladakh region continued to remain in a grip of cold wave especially during nights. Leh and Kargil recorded the maximum temperature at 5.3 and 4.6 degrees Celsius, respectively. Leh and Kargil saw a low of minus 9.3 and minus 13.4 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Meanwhile, one-way traffic continued to ply on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, Kashmir’s only surface link to the rest of the country.

While one-way traffic plied from here to Jammu today, a traffic police official said all kinds of vehicles would be allowed to travel from Jammu to Srinagar tomorrow subject to fair weather conditions.

Srinagar: Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Samoon issued an avalanche warning from February 21 to 24 in view of expected snowfall in snowbound areas of Kashmir Valley which include Kupwara, Baramulla and Anantnag districts. People living in these areas have been advised not to venture into steep avalanche-prone slopes during the said period and frequently remove snow from rooftops of their houses to avoid any causality due to house collapse. — TNS

Anantnag, February 21
Residents of the district alleged that the phone number provided by the district administration during last week’s curfew proved to be useless with no essential commodity delivered to them.

Sources said the district administration had locally advertised the phone number, 9419047052. The residents were advised to call the number in case they were short of essential commodities during the week-long curfew.

However, people from different parts of the district said calling the number for essential supplies proved to be a futile exercise.

They alleged that despite repeatedly calling on the number, the supplies they requested for were never delivered to them. “The call was answered almost every time. However, the purpose was not fulfilled,” said Muhammad Faisal, a resident of Anantnag town.

The residents said every time they called the number, they were assured that they would get the required commodities within 24 hours, but the promise was never fulfilled.

“We were out of cooking gas and I called the helpline number,” said Arshid Hamid, a resident of Bijbehara town. “I was assured that it will be delivered within a day, but the irony is that we are still waiting for the gas,” he said.

People across the Valley went out of essential supplies after a stringent curfew was imposed on February 9 in the backdrop of Parliament attack convict Muhammad Afzal Guru’s hanging.

As the curfew continued for over a week, the respective district administrations took the step of managing a helpline for the relief of the general public. Pertinently, people were devoid of even milk and things as essential as medicines. Patients were not allowed to be taken to hospitals and those who were discharged from hospitals could not reach their homes in the wake of strict restrictions imposed by the authorities.

Handwara, February 21
At least 170 families from Yamrad Bala village, 16 km from Handwara, are forced to migrate to other locations during night after cracks appeared on their land.

Local residents said cracks appeared in the land, which were widening with each passing day. They expressed fear that a major portion of the land may collapse anytime which may lead to devastation of life and property.

“The land is developing cracks and it appears that major soil erosion may wreak havoc on life and property,” said Habibullah Qureshi, a local resident. The village is located at a slope and a non-metallic road connects it with the Handwara town.

Another local resident, Mohammad Ayoob said, “We have a joint family of 18 members living under a single roof. Fearing land slides, we are forced to vacate the house during night and stay with relatives at Magam since Monday.”

Some families who mustered courage to stay in their houses during nights said it was a nightmarish experience for them to spend nights amid increasing fear of soil erosion.

Following a representation by local residents about soil erosion in the village, a team from the Soil Conservation Department accompanied by Handwara tehsildar Ghulam Ahmad Khan today visited the village.

“Officials of the Soil Conservation Department collected samples of the soil for testing. There is no need to panic and necessary measures will be taken for the safety of the inhabitants of the village,” said the tehsildar.

@Most of the families vacate their houses and move to safer locations in nearby localities during nights. “Staying for nights here may prove disastrous because soil is developing more cracks at different places. For the past two days, we move to other locations to spent nights and avoid any eventualities,” said Mohammad Sarwar.

Most of the houses in the village are multi-storied wooden structures and only a small number of houses have concrete foundation. The residents appealed to the district administration to take necessary steps for their safety on the basis of the report of the soil testing. “The soil may have turned marshy after many years. If that is the case, the entire village may be forced to migrate to other areas for rehabilitation,” said Abdul Rashid Lone.

Srinagar, February 21
Over 1 .5 lakh students under various categories (OBCs, SCs, minorities) have benefited through various social welfare schemes this year as per a statistic of the Department of Social Welfare, Kashmir.

The Department of Social Welfare has disbursed Rs 287.230 lakh among 1,969 OBC students under the Post-Matriculation Scholarship Scheme and Rs 31.445 lakh among 104 SC students of the Valley this year.

This was stated by Bashir Ahmad Bhat, director, Social Welfare, Kashmir, while addressing an officers’ meeting at Srinagar yesterday.

He said under the merit-cum-means-based scholarship to the National Minorities, Rs 402.142 lakh were provided to 1,425 students and Rs 1,040.76 lakh to 21,987 students as post-matric scholarships.

He said Rs 1,998.52 lakh was given as pre-matric scholarship to the National Minorities among 1,33,644 students.

Bhat directed the officials to reach out to all the deserving students and disburse necessary dues through various welfare schemes.

Speaking about fee structure being implemented under various minority scholarship schemes, he said full course fee/tuition fee was given to students studying in listed institutions for undergoing professional and technical courses, while Rs 20,000 was given to students studying in non-listed institutes.

He said Rs 7,000 was given to the students of Class XI and XII, Rs 3,000 for undergraduates and the same amount for undergoing PG courses.

Srinagar, February 21
One person was killed and two others were injured in different road accidents across Kashmir Valley.

The police said a 24-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a road accident in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district last night.

A Scorpio SUV bearing registration number JK-02W-5236 hit the motorcycle bearing registration number JK-03-7656 at Nehama, Kulgam, in the jurisdiction of D H Pora Police Station, resulting in critical injuries to motorcyclist Mohammad Shafi Padder, son of Abdul Majeed, a resident of Kanipora, Kulgam.

“The injured was shifted to the District Hospital, Kulgam, where he succumbed to his injuries,” a police spokesman said.

A case was registered in this regard.

In another accident, a Sumo bearing registration number JK-03B-5671 hit and injured Abdulla Khatri (60), son of Mohammad Dulla and resident of Gadool near Vailoo, Anantnag.

The injured was shifted to a hospital. A case was registered in this regard at Kokernag Police Station.

The police said a Maruti car bearing registration number JK-09-3914 hit a motorcycle driven by Nazir Ahmad Sheikh, son of Mohammad Ramzan, and resident of Waskura, Ganderbal, near Degree College, Baramulla, resulting in injuries to the pillion rider Ghulam Nabi Bhat, son of Ghulam Ahmad and resident of Phatla Kanispora.

The injured was shifted to a hospital for treatment. A case was registered at the Baramulla Police Station.

Handwara, February 21
Hundreds of devotees from across the Valley thronged the Shrine of Hazrat Pir Dastgeer Sahib in Zachaldara village of Handwara tehsil today to observe his Urs. Every year, the Urs of the saint is observed for three consecutive days with religious fervour by devotees from across Kashmir.

“I have come here to seek forgiveness and blessings of the Almighty. Many families from my native village reached here today to observe the Urs,” said Faheem Ahmad of Sheeri, Baramulla. The shrine management said many more devotees were expected to visit the shrine in the coming days.

“We expect a large number of devotees from different parts of the Valley in the next two days. All the arrangements have been made for their convenience,” said Haji Nasir Ahmad of the Auqaf Committee, Zachaldara, who looks after the shrine.

Amid inclement weather conditions, a large number of devotees offered prayers at the shrine on the first day of the Urs.

A local committee, Sultani Airfeen, assists the management of the shrine in providing facilities to the devotees. “We offer all possible assistance to the management to ensure facilities like drinking water and healthcare to the devotees,” said Imtiyaz Ahmad, president of the committee.

The management of the shrine is providing free lunch to the devotees.