Srinagar, November 6
The state government has decided to introduce a chapter on the ill-effects of polythene on the environment in the school textbooks from the next academic session.

A chapter will be incorporated into the social sciences and language textbooks of Classes VIII, IX and X for the academic session beginning November 2014 in the winter zone and from April 2015 in the summer zone of the state.

This has been stated by the state government in its compliance report to the J&K High Court, which had earlier directed the state Chief Secretary to consider the inclusion of the chapter.

The report states that awareness on the ill-effects of polythene should be percolated to the young minds and future generations.

The use of polythene and polythene carry bags has already been banned by the J&K government vide an ordinance and the high court has also issued several directions in this regard.

“In compliance with the directions issued on September 26, 2013, it has been stated that the secretary, J&K State Board of School Education (BOSE), had already carried out the project ‘Environmental education in school system’ in 2002 from Class I to X, wherein the topic of environment education has been incorporated in social sciences and language textbooks,” a Division Bench of the high court observed in the orders issued on Monday.

“It also stated that the results of the ban on polythene will be highlighted in the textbooks of Casses VIII, IX and X,” the high court said while referring to the compliance report by the state government.

In its report to the high court, the state government said the chapter would be incorporated from the next academic session as textbooks were already printed and its distribution had begun.

The court has, however, directed the BOSE authorities to see the pamphlets issued by the Pollution Control Board on the use of polythene while incorporating the chapter. The PCB has highlighted various life threatening effects of the use of polythene in these pamphlets.

It has also directed the board authorities to file a fresh status report by the next hearing on how it intends to incorporate or change the course of study for introducing a chapter on the ill effects of polythene use.

Srinagar, November 6
The J&K government has ordered a probe into the fire incident that took place at Lal Ded Hospital, the Valley’s lone maternity hospital, yesterday.

The fire that broke out in the main maternity hospital of Srinagar last night resulted in panic among patients and attendants. At 9:15 pm on Tuesday, fire engulfed a building of Lal Ded Hospital. A supply storeroom and a room for the security personnel was damaged in the fire.

“The fire was controlled within half an hour,” said Dr Mushtaq Ahmad, Medical Superintendent, Lal Ded Hospital.

Officials said the patients were safe and all the records had been shifted to a safer place.

“The storeroom had an asbestos roof that prevented further damage,” he said.

This is the third time in the year that an important government building has caught fire.

Patients at the hospital said the fire incident created panic among them.

“Though the fire was controlled in half an hour, it created panic among all,” said an indoor patient.

Minister for Medial Education, Youth Services and Sports Taj Mohi-ud-Din flew from Jammu to Srinagar early this morning to take stock of the situation at Lal Ded Hospital.

Talking to mediapersons, the minister said an internal probe had been ordered into the incident.

“Samples have been sent to the forensic laboratory and the cause of the fire can be ascertained only after receiving the report,” said the minister. “The short circuit seems to be the evident cause of the fire,” he said.

The minister said despite the fire, 10 deliveries and 20 cesareans were conducted at the hospital.

“The minister was told by the hospital officials that 86 new admissions were done during the last 24 hours and 25 of them during the night soon after the incident. He was told that the hospital administration constituted different teams to tackle the situation and concluded the rescue operations without any loss,” an official spokesperson said.

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Ali Mohammad Sagar also visited the hospital and took stock of the situation caused due to the fire incident.

Anantnag, November 6
A fire broke out at a confectionery manufacturing unit in the industrial area of Sadiq Abad here today. Reports said the fire broke out at around 11 am. It partially damaged a shed at the unit.

Fire tenders were immediately pressed into service and the fire was brought under control.

A senior fire services official the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

The police has registered a case in this regard and an investigation has been initiated. 

Srinagar, November 6
The Kashmir valley received a slight respite from the cold weather conditions as the night temperature increased considerably while the region awaits snow and rain.

The minimum temperature in Srinagar city was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius, an increase of four degrees from the normal and nearly five notches up from the low of the previous night, an official of the state Meteorological Department said.

The maximum temperature in the city was recorded at 15.3 degrees Celsius.

The state weather department forecast said light to moderate rain and thundershowers would occur at many places in the state in the next 24 hours. There has been no major downpour in the state so far despite several forecast warning about rain and snowfall.

In Pahalgam, the mercury dropped to a low of 4.6 degrees Celsius, an increase of 4.6 degrees from the low of the last night when mercury had fallen to zero degree, the official said.

In Gulmarg, the mercury fell to a low of 1.2 degrees Celsius.

The night temperature in south Kashmir’s Qazigund town dropped to a low of 3.4 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature in Kupwara town settled at a low of 2.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Leh town in the remote Ladakh region, which is located outside the Kashmir valley, recorded a low of minus 0.3 degrees Celsius, an increase of three degrees from the minimum temperature of the last night when the mercury had dropped to -3.3 degrees Celsius. Leh was the only place in the Kashmir division where the mercury had slid below the freezing point.

In Kargil, the mercury fell to a low of -0.4 degrees Celsius overnight, the official added.

Srinagar, November 6
The National Youth Corps (NYC), in an open letter to vice-president of All India Congress Committee Rahul Gandhi, Union Minister for Health Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has urged the leaders to look into the concerns of the 8,000 NYC youth who were appointed in various state government departments in 2010 under the centrally sponsored schemes.

State president of the National Youth Corps Muddasir Hassan said the Congress vice-president, during his last visit to the Valley, was apprised of the concerns of thousands of these youths.

“We were even told by Saiffuddin Soz that our demands were genuine and steps would be taken to prevent us from being jobless. But no concrete steps have been taken so far,” said Hassan.

He urged Rahul to take up the issue of these youth with the Centre, especially when he ad said on a number of occasions that the issue of unemployment would be solved.

“We had great expectations from the Chief Minister, who had clearly stated in his election manifesto that providing jobs would be his top priority. As his tenure is nearing completion, these claims are falling flat. This will cause another unrest,” he added.

Srinagar, November 6
Sonzal-2013, an intra-university youth festival organised to provide a platform for students to exhibit their talents in various fields, concluded here at University of Kashmir (KU) today.

More than 1,000 students from about 40 degree colleges and 45 university teaching departments participated in the five-day festival during which a close competition was witnessed amongst the participants competing in around 20 different categories, including quiz, debate, elocution, poster making, painting, cartoon making, rangoli, clay modelling, on-the-spot photography, one-act play, mimicry, classical, folk and instrumental music arenas and other categories.

While felicitating the awardees during the valedictory ceremony, KU Vice-Chancellor Talat Ahmad said “Education does not mean only getting degrees and securing marks. It means the overall development of an individual with a healthy mind and soul. And such festivals provide an opportunity to the youth to showcase their talent and at the same time helps in cross fertilisation of innovative art, ideas and thoughts.”

Dean, academic affairs, A M Shah said it was the dedication and the seriousness of the students which encouraged the organisers to conduct such events with complete success and he looked forward to the participation of students of KU at such festivals.

Registrar of KU Prof Zaffar Ahmad Reshi said Sonzal-2013 had received a huge response from the students of various degree colleges of the Valley and it was for the first time that the festival had registered such a huge number of the participants.

He added that the very presence of the huge number of audiences meant that the youth festival was popular amongst the youth and the 6th edition of the festival had been completed successfully.

In his address, Dean, College Development Council, (DCDC) Ghulam Mustafa Shah said the festival represented the sharing of human values and great thoughts and ideas which together symbolised the rich pluralistic culture and great civilisation of the valley of Kashmir.

“While promoting the talent of these youth, we have to make sure that their creative instinct gets a boost and their performances depict both the present scenario of the world as well as the great history and culture of our land,” he added.

Welcoming the participants and the audience who had assembled at the convocation complex to witness the award ceremony, Dean, Students Welfare, Neelofar Khan, who was also the chairperson of Sonzal-2013, said the festival had become an “obsession” amongst the youth ever since its first edition was launched in 2007 as the festival was an assimilation of the hidden talent of young boys and girls and provided a platform to the students to foster greater sense of togetherness and camaraderie.

Cultural officer Shahid Ali Kahn, the organising secretary, presented the vote of thanks.

A cultural event was also organised at the concluding ceremony of the festival.

Among those present on the occasion were Deans, Heads of Departments, Faculty members, Principals of various colleges, participants of the youth festival and a large number of students of the University and various degree colleges.

GDC students win accolades

Three students from Mass Communication Multimedia Production (MCMP) Department of Government Degree College, Baramulla, won the first prize in various categories during 'Sonzal 2013', an intra-university youth festival which was held at University of Kashmir today.

Shahid Tantry was awarded the first prize in spot photography. Jibran Nazir Dar won the award of best vocalist and Abid Salam bagged the first prize in mimicry.

Srinagar, November 6
A rally was taken out on the second day of Public Information Campaign (PIC) in Ganderbal today to create awareness about the Centre-sponsored schemes.

District Development Commissioner (DDC), Ganderbal, Sarmad Hafeez flagged off the awareness rally of schoolchildren from the Mini Secretariat. After passing through the main markets, the rally culminated at Qamariya Sports Stadium, Ganderbal. Around 800 students, from all the four educational zones of the district, carrying banners and placards and highlighting educational, environmental and other social themes, participated in the rally, said an official of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), Srinagar, which is organising the campaign.

Later, the Ganderbal DDC urged the people to use information as a means to know their rights. He said the PICs served as vehicles to carry forward the various developmental initiatives of the Centre and state governments. By knowing about the schemes, people can make the government accountable, he added.

Bashir Ahmad Tantray, District Resource Person (DRP), Ganderbal, spoke on the implementation and progress of various schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Mid-Day Meal (MDM) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) in Ganderbal district.

Raja Muzaffar Ahmad Bhat, an RTI activist, delivered a lecture on the Right to Information (RTI) Act and also apprised the people about the provisions and benefits of the Act.

Jammu, November 6
A two-day painting exhibition is being organised by Sunil Gupta at Kala Kendra from November 9.

The exhibition would include landscapes, still life, aesthetic beauty, wildlife and caricatures. Minister for Planning and Development Ajay Sadhotra will inaugurate the exhibition on the opening day.

Srinagar, November 6
Rattan Lal Hangloo, presently professor of History at the University of Hyderabad (UoH), has been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Kalyani University in West Bengal for four years.

An eminent historian and specialist on Indian and Central Asia History, politics and culture and Kashmir Affairs, he hails from Hanglalgund village in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Hangloo has earlier served as the Head, Department of History at UoH, Chair of Indian Studies at University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. He has also been awarded several prestigious fellowships, which include a Fulbright Fellowship by USA, DAAD, Fellowship by Germany and Maison des Sciences visiting fellowship by France. He was recently invited by Maison des Sciences del Homme of Paris (FMHS), France, as visiting professor. He was also a visiting professor at University of Delaware (USA), University of Michigan (USA), Heidelberg University, Germany, Bamberg University, Germany, Ashkabad University, Turkmenistan. He was also the Chancellor's nominee at University of Kashmir.

He has published over 100 papers in national and international journals and more than half a dozen books.

Srinagar, November 6
Moderate Hurriyat Conference has said it is ready to extend “full cooperation” and act as a “bridge between India and Pakistan”, provided the suggestions put forth by it earlier are implemented.

This was stated today by Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while speaking during a seminar organised at Hurriyat headquarters here in the city in the memory of the Jammu Muslims killed during the partition in 1947.

The suggestions already put forth by the Hurriyat include revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), demilitarisation from civilian areas and an end to human rights abuse in Kashmir.

Hurriyat said the suggestions, if implemented, would help in creating a conducive atmosphere for talks over Kashmir.

“If India and Pakistan implement Hurriyat’s suggestions and initiate a serious dialogue process over Kashmir, Hurriyat is ready to extend its full cooperation”, Mirwaiz said.

Hurriyat Conference can also act as a bridge for improving Indo-Pak bilateral relations, Mirwazi said, adding that “Kashmir dispute also has a human dimension.”

Mirwaiz also referred to the statement made by former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee that Kashmir issue could be resolved within the ambit of humanity.

He said in an era when the concept of borders was getting eroded, the distances between people living in different regions of the J&K should be narrowed.

The other participalnts who spoke during the seminar included senior Hurriyat leader Prof Abdul Gani Bhat, Mukhtwar Waza, Shahid Saleem and Yasmeen Raja.

Shopian, November 6
Reiterating his call for a poll boycott in the forthcoming Assembly elections, separatist leader and chairman of hardline Hurriyat Syed Ali Geelani today castigated the mainstream parties for misleading people into believing that they could resolve the long-pending Kashmir issue.

“No pro-India political party in Kashmir is in the favour of a resolution of the Kashmir dispute,” Geelani said while addressing a public gathering here in south Kashmir’s Shopian town.

He said all the political parties, including Congress, National Conference, PDP, and even the newly formed United Front, were in the favour of the status quo remaining intact.

“They seek votes and assure people that they will resolve the Kashmir dispute but the truth is that it is beyond their power and capacity,” said Geelani.

He asked people not to fall prey to the shallow promises of the main-stream politicians.

“People were misled and made to cast votes in 2008 Assembly polls and the panchayat elections under the garb of developmental issues,” said Geelani.

He also called for Shia-Sunni unity and asked people to resist getting divided on sectarian lines.

“We are all brothers and there should be no sectarian conflicts in Kashmir or elsewhere,” Geelani said. He asked the youth to get disciplined and remain steadfast.