Vimal gets best Hindi book award

Srinagar: Prominent writer Satish Vimal has been awarded the best Hindi book award by the Central Hindi Directorate of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development for his poetry collection. Vimal, who works in Radio Kashmir, won the award for his commendable literary work. The award comprises a cash amount of Rs 1 lakh, a citation and a trophy. He won the award for his book 'Kaal Surya', which is his third poetry book. A well-known broadcaster, Vimal also writes in Urdu, Kashmiri and English. "The poems in 'Kaal Surya' have a unique characteristic of lucidity of expression mingled with philosophical wit and wisdom," said Prof Namsar Singh, an eminent critic. TNS

Info Director bereaved

Srinagar: The elder brother of Director, Information and Public Relations, Muneer-ul-Islam passed away on Tuesday after brief illness. Khawaja Abdul Mateen, 53, a former employee of the Centaur Lake View Hotel and a former student leader, passed away at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences-Soura this morning. He is survived by his wife and two children. The Department of Information and Public Relations has condoled the demise of Abdul Mateen. Born at Nathipora, Dooru, in Anantnag district, Mateen did his LLB from the University of Kashmir in 1992. He was the president of the Kashmir University Students' Union in the early 1990s. After serving for some time at the Centaur Lake View Hotel, Mateen took voluntary retirement in 2007. TNS

DAK condemns attack on doctor   

Srinagar: The Doctors' Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday condemned the attack on a senior consultant in the Obstetrics & Gynaecology Department at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Bemina. DAK president Suhail Naik termed the incident as very unfortunate. "We have repeatedly been asking the government to bring an ordinance on violence against doctors but our repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The government probably is waiting for some big mishap to take place, then only they will act," he said. The DAK said the incident happened on Monday morning when the senior consultant was examining patients along with other doctors in the out-patient department (OPD) when a person working with some medical franchisee barged  inside the OPD when women patients were being examined. "The person was asked to move out from the OPD as men are not allowed inside the gynaecology  OPD. Instead, he abused, harassed and heckled  the doctors," a DAK statement said. TNS

3 held with Rs 13 lakh in banned notes  

Srinagar: The J&K Police have arrested three persons in Srinagar and recovered over Rs 13.6 lakh demonetised currency from them. The three arrested were identified as Bashir Ahmad Khan of Batmaloo, Showket Ahmad Bhat of Pampore and Bashir Ahmad Bhat of Pantha Chowk, Srinagar. "The three were arrested on Monday evening during a surprise naka checking at Ashai-Bagh by the Nigeen police," a police officer said. "Denominated currency of Rs 13,63,500 was recovered from their possession." Accordingly, the police have taken cognisance under the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Act, 2017, and started further investigation in the case. The accused persons were presented before court on Tuesday. TNS

Women’s writings discussed  

Jammu: An extension lecture on "women's writings" was organised at the School of Languages and Literature, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, on Tuesday. Prof Deepshikha Kotwal, Head of English Department, Central University of Jammu, was the keynote speaker. Prof Kotwal talked about a shift in literary discourse from men-oriented literature towards women-oriented literature with reference to the concept of room of one's own. Later, she distributed certificates among the students who participated in a national seminar and workshop held from December 6 to 9. TNS

Efforts on to provide quality services to people: Dy CM  

Jammu: Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh on Tuesday said efforts were afoot to ensure that people of the state were provided with quality basic facilities of living and necessary directions had already been passed to the executing agencies to ensure timely completion of various flagship initiatives being taken in different sectors. He was interacting with several deputations who had come to meet him. They projected their respective grievances and demands in front of the Deputy Chief Minister. The deputations had come from Kathua, Mendhar, Kargil, Ramban, Anantnag, Budgam, Poonch, Paddar and other areas of the state. Besides, the Jammu and Kashmir Federation of Tour Operators and the JK Gaddi Sippy Welfare Association also met the Deputy Chief Minister and highlighted their demands. TNS

Two-day capacity building workshop

Jammu: The CBSE organised a two-day workshop on ‘Capacity Building in Social Sciences’ at Jodhamal Public School. The workshop was conducted under the leadership of CBSE city coordinator Trilok Singh Bist. KC Randhawa, vice-principal from Jalandhar and Vinod Kumar Bhatia, principal of KD International School, Tarn Taran, were appointed as the resource persons. In all, 51 teachers from different schools of Jammu participated in it. The first day had five sessions starting from social science in the light of the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, objectives of teaching social sciences at the secondary level, using multiple intelligence techniques to measure the capability of a child and different methods of teaching etc. TNS

Dogri writer wins ‘Sauhard Puraskar’

Jammu: Joginder Pal Saraf, commonly known under his pen name Chhatrapal, a prominent Dogri and Hindi writer, has bagged the ‘Sauhard Puraskar’ of the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow, for 2016. The award carries Rs 2 lakh in cash and a citation. It is given to senior writers and translators of non-Hindi states for creating goodwill through translation. Honours and awards for 2016 were decided in the award committee meeting chaired by the institute’s executive president Sadanand Prasad Gupta on Monday. Chhatrapal is the recipient of the Sahitya Akademi’s main as well as translation awards. He has eight books to his credit, including four translations .The awards are likely to be presented on January 22. TNS