Srinagar: Three persons were electrocuted due to an electric short circuit in Nard area of Karnah in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district Wednesday morning. Two others have suffered injuries.

Locals said that an HT transmission line fell on local power supply line causing an electric short circuit.

They said that five persons were electrocuted in the incident, of whom three died on way to a local hospital while two others are being treated in the local hospital.

The deceased were identified as Abdul Qadeer Chak, Tabir Ahmad Chak, and Qari Nawaz Ahmad Chak while the identity of the injured is yet to be ascertained.

Aatif Qayoom

Handwara, July 09 : A 37 year old man died after he slipped into a dam in north Kashmir’s Handwara village on Tuesday.

Reports reaching Kashmir Despatch said a 37 year old man identified as Ghulam Mohammad Dar (37) son of Habibullah Dar of Baderkali Handwara slipped into dam at Baderkali Village of Handwara.

Reports said soon after the incident, locals and police rushed to the spot and immediately launched searches to trace out the body.
However, later locals and police retrieved the body of the deceased from the dam.

Meanwhile a police officer while confirming the incident to Kashmir Despatch said that the body was handed over to his family after all medico-legal formalities.

Srinagar, Jul 09 : Refuting Kashmir Editors’ Guild’s (KEG) latest statement about the establishment of the first Kashmir Press club in Srinagar wherein the outfit boosted to have set- up first ever press club here, the journalist fraternity on Tuesday termed the statement as laughable and rubbished the claim.

While most of the journalists expressed their reservations about the statement on various social media sites , others took strong exception to the distortion of the history by the so-called outfit at a time when the elections for various executive posts of the Kashmir press club are in the offing.

A senior journalist and presidential candidate for the upcoming KPC elections, Zulfikar, in a statement said that the Kashmiri journalists won’t allow such distortion of the history by any individual or group who intend to capture KPC and make it their personal fiefdom.

“Our effort will be to make the club attractive and pleasant abode for the journalists,” he said. 

The senior journalist said that unfortunately some elements were hell bent to make the club a hub of politics to achieve their individual gains like bargaining for more advertisements from government.

“We will not allow this to happen,” said Majid, who is Kashmir Bureau Chief of Deccan Herald. 

Majid, who is contesting election for the post of president at KPC as an independent candidate, ridiculed at alliances of various journalist bodies, terming them “Milawat and Mahamilawat” in his manifesto.

Another senior journalist, Majid Hyderi also expressed dismay at the statement of editors’ association saying that such lies were never expected from any responsible editors’ association which was supposed to set standards of journalistic ethics. 

He said it was veteran journalist Muhammad Saleem Pandit who first took the possession of the government building situated at Poloview and created a press club, braving all the odds and difficulties. “The KEG members need to refresh their memory and recall that Club came in the existence only when Saleem Pandit pursued with the authorities to get it registered as society under societies Act,” he said.

The founder president  Saleem pandit even persuaded the authorities to repair the building, which was not otherwise the mandate of the government.   

“KPC needs to be kept out of such dirty politics and false claims by the Editors’ guild,” Majid said. (KNS) 

Ishtiyaq Ahmed

Srinagar, July 09 : The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (GoI) has sought detailed report from the Jammu and Kashmir government on the series of schemes meant for the poor and downtrodden people in the State to ensure proper monitoring and implementation.

The MHA led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah under the slogan of “poorest of poor should benefit from the series of Central sponsored schemes.”

Reliable sources told news agency that after the recent visit to Kashmir by the Union Home Minister, Jammu and Kashmir government, especially the social welfare department was under pressure to implement dozens of schemes that otherwise were going on at snail’s pace in the State, to ensure poorest of poor are benefited.

Sources said in the presentation made before the Union Home Minister at SKICC on June 26, about various developmental schemes especially those managed by the Social Welfare department, were found running at a very low pace and that there was a need to speed up the implementation.

“Yes the Union Home Minister has passed the directions to the State government ensure the benefits reach poorest of the poor,” sources, privy to the June 26, meeting revealed. They said that in the presentation, many loopholes were found such as less implementation, while as beneficiaries’ were left out in many cases unheard.

The implementation of schemes that are under scanner include Integrated Child Protection Schemes where in free nutrition is being provided to the poor children aged between 0 to 6 years. “Besides there are other schemes that include old age pension, old age benefits, widow pension etc where State has a huge backlog,” sources said.

They said in a fresh direction passed by the MHA to the J&K government especially the Social Welfare Department to ensure timely implementation and has sought detailed report on the progress achieved on the various schemes.

“The MHA has sought weekly report from the social welfare department stating that there is lot of backlog in the schemes and that the poor were being left out and forced to wait for months and years together,” a source in the MHA told KNS. “The fact is that MHA is keen to ensure that the real benefit reaches to the poorest of poor.” (KNS)

Suhail Khan

Srinagar : Body of a 12-year-old youth from Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK) was Tuesday recovered from Kishanganga River in Gurez of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.

Reports reaching said that some laborers spotted the body floating in the river near Ashoora Sindyal area upon which authorities were informed who later retrieved it.

Although the identity of the deceased was yet to be ascertained officially, social media was abuzz with the ‘posts’ identifying the boy as Aabid Shaikh son of Nazir Ahmad Shaikh hailing from Minimarg of Gurez in tehsil Astoor, Gilgit Baltistan of Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PAK). A facebook post suggests that the boy went missing yesterday, while returning from his school.

The parents of the boy in the ‘post’ have implored upon Government of Pakistan to take measures to bring the body back to other side. The authenticity of the post could not be independently verified.

SSP Bandipora Rahul Malik confirmed to news agency the recovery of the body and said that the identity of the boy is being ascertained.

“We have conducted the postmortem of the deceased and further necessary action is being taken,” the officer said.

Meanwhile, an official of the administration when asked about the claims on social media including facebook that the deceased boy belongs to PaK and the subsequent appeals for returning of the body told news agency: “we are not in a position to ascertain the claims as of now”.

He said once it becomes clear, the decision will be taken accordingly in this regard.” (GNS)

Srinagar, July 09 : The Jammu and Kashmir is the third most flood prone state in India, experts said on Tuesday.  

The experts were speaking at a three-day workshop on the sensitization of media persons in the area of “climate change” and to engage them on climate change adaptation here.

According to news agency, the workshop themed ‘climate change reporting in the Himalayas’ is being jointly organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Centre for Media Studies (CMS) and Indian Himalayas Climate Adaptation Programme (IHCAP) of Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Ten such workshops have already been conducted in various States in India.

The experts informed that the Indian Himalayan Region is one of the most vulnerable mountain systems in the world. “Jammu and Kashmir is the third most flood prone state in the country”, the experts informed. They added, if effective measures are taken in time, it may be possible to prevent further degradation of the ecosystem.

The inaugural session of the workshop was attended by Director, Department of Ecology Environment and Remote Sensing, B. Siddhartha Kumar; Director, Indian Meteorological Department, Srinagar, Sonam Lotus; and resource persons from government institutions and NGOs.

Besides, dozens of journalists from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir, working with local, national and international media and the researchers from Kashmir University attended the workshop.

In his inaugural address, B. Siddhartha Kumar spoke on the causes leading to global warming. He said that environmental degradation through deforestation and other practices are the main cause of global warming.

He hoped that these workshops will enhance the capacity of environmental journalists and help them to highlight climate change adaptation issues in local and regional context.  On the occasion, media manual for journalists ‘Himalayas, Climate change and the media’ was also released.

In the first technical session, Sonam Lotus spoke on climate change – trends, adaptation and mitigation strategies with special emphasis on J&K.

While speaking on the topic, Lotus urged the journalists to stop attributing every normal environmental process to climate change. “Many times journalists attribute the heavy rain or thunder to climate change, but these things have been happening from the early times and have no linkage to climate change. Sometimes there may be some connection, but not always,” he said.

Nodal officer and Scientific Assistant, Department of Ecology Environment and Remote Sensing, Majid Farooq gave the overview of the State Action Plan on Climate change.

Managing Editor, India Science Wire, Dinesh C Sharma gave the overview of ‘Media and climate change’ and also shared his experience on environment reporting with a special focus on climate change.

Later, a question-answer session was also held wherein various participants put forward their questions which were answered by the experts and resource persons.

In the second technical session, resource persons including Founder and Advisor SECMOL, Sonam Wangchuk; Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Kashmir, Dr Irfan Rashid; Dr Anurag Saxena from ICAR-Central Arid Zone Research Institute, regional Research Station, Leh; Assistant Professor and Head, Division of Wildlife Sciences, SKUAST, Dr Khursheed Ahmad shed light on the theme.

Presentations and short films for the better understanding of the climate change in Himalayas were also displayed.

During the three-day workshop, experts from environment, agriculture, wildlife and earth sciences will be speaking on science and policy related to climate change and adaptation initiatives in context of Jammu & Kashmir. (GNS)

Srinagar, Jul 09 : Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president and Member of Parliament Dr Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday greeted the people on the birth anniversary observance of Hazrart Mir Muhammad Hamadani (RA), son of Bani e Musalmani Hazrat Amir- e- Kabeer Mir Syed Ali Hamadani (RA).

Party president while greeting the people said that it was due to the unrelenting efforts of Hazrat Mir Muhammad Hamadani (RA) that the people of Kashmir got acquainted with the teachings of Islam. “He is credited with building 110 mosques; he bought land at various places across Kashmir and bequeathed it to the Muslim Ummah. His relentless service in the field of Islamic learning, Tasawuf, socio-political emancipation of the downtrodden is immense. His is credited with the establishment of Khanqa e Awal Wachi, Eid Gah, Malkha graveyard, and other khanqas across the valley, Tibet and Ladakh,” he said adding, “The contribution of such Sufis to the spiritualism and humanism in Kashmir is immense. Mir Muhammad Hamadani watered the sacred mission of his illustrious father; he had dedicated himself to the cause of humanity as a whole. His mission was to offer succor and solace to the suffering masses of Kashmir. He encouraged people to live a life of piety and discipline and stressed that the real devotion of Almighty was in the service of suffering man. 

He exhorted people to overcome pride, anger, greed, lust, and excessive involvement in worldly affairs.  He had attained the highest stages of spiritual refinement, awakening of self.  May the Almighty’s grace be on us and the coming generations of ours; the need of the hour is to imbue the contemporary generation with the teachings of such noble and pious men as Hazrat Mir Muhammad Hamadani (RA).”

Meanwhile Party General Secretary Haji Ali Muhammad Sagar has impressed upon the divisional administration to ensure all amenities to the devotees at the Khanqa e Faiz Panah Tral, Wachi, Pampore and Khanqa e Faiz Panah Srinagar. Party senior leader, Member of Parliament Hasnain Masoodi has also greeted the people on the birth anniversary of Hazrat Mir Muhammad Hamadani (RA). He has urged the administration to ensure all facilities to the devotees at Khanqa e Faiz Panah at Dooru Shahabad Tral, Wachi, and Pampore.

A tourist from Jharkhand on Tuesday appealed to the public to help her find her bag which she lost while travelling on a bus in Srinagar.

Jaya Kumari, a resident of Ranchi Jharkhand who is currently staying at a hotel in Munawarabad, said she lost her bag while travelling on a bus from Regal Chowk to Maharaji Bazar.

She said that her bag contained all her valuables including credit and debit cards, driving license, voter ID etc. “I have also lodged a missing report with the police. There was some cash in the bag as well. I just want my documents and bank cards back,” she said.

“If anybody has found the bag or has any information about it, kindly contact on my cell numbers +91 9835 32 4271 and 9419 00 7188,” she said.

Srinagar, Jul 09 : Stating that Horticulture and Agriculture sectors were the backbone of the local economy in Tangmarg besides Tourism, National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Ahmad Shah Tuesday said that a chain of cold stores, establishment of fruit and vegetable Mandis and other such facilities was need of the hour in order to strengthen the Horticulture sector in the area.

Shah was speaking with locals during his visit of Siri, Warpora and other areas.

The former IAS officer also said that National Conference government would ensure that the Horticulture and Agriculture Industries are groomed and developed on modern lines and the growers are provided facilities equipped with modern technology to compete with the industry outside the state.

Rolling out his vision for the Tangmarg Consituency, the former bureacrate said that Education was the foundation of overall development in any society and added that the modern world was technology driven therefore the need of the hour was to strengthen the educational system in the rural areas. He said vocational and job oriented courses have to be introduced in the system so that youth are made not only self reliant but also job opportunities can be created for the youth.

He said many skill development institutes, colleges, Polytechnics and other such facilities would be established in the coming times in the constituency in case, NC came to power.

The former IAS officer further said that his basic aim was to bring a developmental revolution in the constituency and added that he would strive for it at every forum.