This is with reference to the video clip attributed to J& K Yateem Foundation, in which some old copies of Organization’s annual Calendars have been shown thrown away and littered in objectionable manner in Hyderpora area near JKYF’S Budgam District Office.

This is quite unfortunate and simultaneously painful, regrettable and condemnable act that should not have happened at all. However, JKYF with heavy heart considers the littering of the old calendar pages as unpardonable act.

This has been viewed seriously and Chairman JKYF Mohammad Ahsan Rather in an extraordinary meeting ordered Special Enquiry to probe and ascertain the circumstances in which such “careless & irresponsible” act has been committed.

The Order issued nominated Dr Tariq Malik, General Secretary/ Finance Secretary as Head of Enquiry Committee, to initiate time bound probe into the incident wherein old Calendar pages with verses from Holy Qur’an or Hadith, were seen thrown away, littered and spread on roadside in Hyderpora area. The Order said whosoever will be responsible for committing this unacceptable detestable act, shall not be spared and punished.

JKYF with utmost regret tenders unconditional apology in this regard as the volunteers of the Organization cannot even think of committing any act that would bring an iota of disrespect to the Holy Qur’an and Hadith.

For JKYF it is a very serious and heart wrenching matter for hundreds of its volunteers who reiterated their resolve to disallow all unethical, wrong acts or mischiefs particularly in relation to our great religion Islam.

Pertinently, JKYF has discarded the practice of using Holy Qur’anic verses or Hadith in Arabic used in Calendars, during past some years.

The Calendar Copies seen in video clip are some years older. So, it seems that some handful of people may have vested interest to bring bad name to the prestigious Organization like JKYF. Had they been sincere to the cause, they could have approached the JKYF Hyderpora Office and enquired before issuing the video clip on social media networking site.

JKYF appeals all Muslims throughout the State (and those outside who may have seen the video), to remain vigilant and not get misled.

JKYF has been and is 100% committed to respect and honour the holy scriptures besides bowing before lofty ideals of Islam, Qur’an and Hadith and its volunteers have faith and commitment to the same.

JKYF’s voluntary management and general volunteers, once again tender unconditional apology for this inadvertent unpardonable act. And, we assure punishment to the person involved in this act.

May Allah forgive us for all mistakes, sins and inadvertently committed acts.

Aameen

KD NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, May 8 : Kashmir tourism industry is in a decline mode. The stake holders believe that non-professionals are ruling the roost, who instead of thinking about the up-liftment of this industry are looting it wholeheartedly with impunity.

Tourism players are crying looking for some miracle. “Even at times when militancy was at its peak, the tourism sector survived, but today the situation is totally different. This sector is on declining mode. There are no professionals that could emerge here for the rescue of this industry,” said a tourism player.

When asked a known Travel Agent what ails Tourism Sector in Kashmir, he quipped,” Inexperienced and non-professional officials are at the helm of affairs who seek pleasure in foreign tours and love to spent hefty sums on throwing grand parties in the name of tourism promotion.”

Some members who are associated with different Travel Associations that once hailed the induction of Tasaduq Mufti as tourism minister in 2017 and pinned hopes on him for the revival of tourism have now started believing that his induction was the starting point of fall of tourism sector in Kashmir.

 “Ministers come and go and do Directors but Tasaduq Mufti as a Minister for Toursim was worst. I have been in touch with so many officials and Ministers who served Tourism Sector and sincerely speaking I don’t think Tasaduq Mufti did justice to his job,” said a tourism player to news agency CNS.

He claimed that Tasaduq Mufti gave a contract to his close friend and silent partner for the promotion of tourism. This friend of Mufti looted the coffers with open heart and to pave way for this loot, Mufti managed to transfer 3 Commissioner Secretaries who had objected his patronizing of this blue eyed contractor cum friend. “Farooq Shah, Sarmad Hafiz and Rigzin Samphel who raised queries over the shoddy dealings of this contractor, were transferred and the irony is that despite knowing all this, the then Chief Minister didn’t act,” he said. “Tasaduq Mufti virtually hijacked the department and almost outsourced everything to benefit his favorites,” he said.

If this Tourism Player is to be believed, Tasaduq Mufti used to throw extravagant parties at one of the top hotels. “It was the owner of this hotel who was calling shots as he was aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the Minister. Tourism sector suffered heavily after Mufti assumed charge and till date it continues to suffer and is in no mood to recover.”

Another tourism player said that incumbent Director spends much time on foreign tours than in the promotion of local tourism. “Despite his tours to Berlin, Russia, and known European countries, tourists are not arriving in Kashmir,” he said and accused Department of Tourism of miserably failing to persuade Civil Aviation Ministry to control the air fare from different parts of India to Kashmir.

He said hoteliers are facing worst ever situation with lowest occupancy and one had hoped that massive and aggressive tourism promotional campaign will address the problem but till date nothing on ground has changed. (CNS)

Srinagar, May 08 : Forging ahead in its mission of Industry Academia partnership for collaborative cross pollination of knowledge and resources J&K Bank today entered into an MOU with the Central University of Kashmir (CUK), whereby both conferred the preferential status on each other in their banker-customer relationship.

The MOU was signed post inauguration of the Bank’s ATM in CUK’s Green Campus jointly by the Chairman and CEO J&K Bank, Parvez Ahmed and Vice Chancellor CUK, Mehrajud din Mir in presence of Bank’s Executive Presidents, P K Tickoo and R K Chhiber, President, Rakesh Gandotra, Zonal Head Syed Rais Maqbool, Registrar CUK Dr Fayaz Ahmad Nikka, Director R&D Prof Abdul Gani, Dean Business School Farooq Ahmad Shah, Controller Exams ParveenaPandit besides other senior officials of the Bank, faculty & administrative staff of the CUK besides a large gathering of students.

The Chairman and CEO JK Bank was also felicitated by the Vice Chancellor, who described him as visionary leader of a dedicated and committed team of employees. Commending the leadership of the bank, the Vice Chancellor said, “We have special weakness for this bank because it is also the major employer for the people of J&K state and has played a vital role in employment of bright and meritorious youth of the state. Our state is a beneficiary of the digital transformation wherein the bank has adopted modern technology not only in its day to day functioning but also by launching state of the art digital products for the people of the state. I feel proud to see the bank forging ahead under the able leadership of Chairman Parvez Ahmed who is working passionately and has brought a new dimension to the functioning of the bank.”

On the occasion, the VC CUK Professor Mehrajud din also offered a piece of land to the bank at the university’s Tulmula Campus for building a full-fledged branch. The bank offered to create a digital lobby at the university’s permanent campus. A 32-seater passenger bus was dedicated by the Bank for student welfare to the university under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman said, “The core objective of the Central University of Kashmir which is working for the upliftment of the humanity at large is in perfect alignment to the JK Bank’s vision of serving to empower each and every individual for economic upliftment. The signing of the MOU is the beginning of a mutual relationship which goes well beyond business but will also herald a benefice cycle for the students and society in this region by collaborative pooling of resources.”

The Chairman advised the students about inculcating continuous learning as a way of life for bridging the gap between education and dynamic employability skills. On the challenges before the business leaders he said, “In this era of fast changing world full of uncertainties the companies which do not focus on the well-defined triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social goals simultaneously will be rendered irrelevant. So let us inculcate in our future leaders in this hall that business has a responsibility beyond its basic responsibility to its shareholders; a responsibility to a broader constituency that includes its key stakeholders: customers, employees, government – the people of the communities in which it operates.”

“The business leaders have to appreciate that profitable growth depends on the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of our communities and it is in our best interests to contribute to the sustainability of our people” asserted Parvez Ahmed
He added,” There is extreme interdependency of domains and inter-disciplinary skills are required which can help creatively identify opportunities and get tasks done.”The Chairman urged upon the university to introduce curriculum for instilling a culture of entrepreneurship and start ups in the state.

Chairman also interacted with the students from MBA, M.Com and MTM departments of the university wherein in a freewheeling discussion he answered queries on turnaround of the bank, Change management, human capital issues and challenges, start up ecosystem, Corporate Social Responsibility, role of fintech, succession planning, continuous learning etc. On the request of the students the Chairman also announced his support for the setting up of an incubator in the Central University of Kashmir.
The bank’s Executive President P K Tickoowho also spoke on the occasion described the signing of MOUs as coming together of two power houses in academics and finance in J&K state. Executive President R K Chhiber lauded the initiatives of the CUK for building a knowledge based society.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Registrar CUKFayaz Ahmad Nikka said that since social change was the common mission of both bank and the university, therefore their coming together was a milestone for both.

On the occasion, audio-visual presentations were given on digital banking and products like e-Banking, credit card, BHIM Application, Multicurrency card besides co-branded Campus Card. The function concluded with Vote of Thanks presented by the bank’s Zonal Head Syed Rais Maqbool. Later in the day the Chairman & CEO JK Bank visited the central library along with the VC CUK and it was mutually agreed to launch bank’s multi utility RFID enabled campus card integrated for debit cum identity, attendance and library systems in the central University of Kashmir.

KD NEWS SERVICE

SRINAGAR, May 8: State Secretary CPI(M) Gh Nabi Malik has said that the decision of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to levy toll tax from local vehicles at a newly-established toll plaza on Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Sangam area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district is a harsh move and must be revoked immediately.

 “The toll tax shall be collected from only outsiders and not from local people. Such a harsh move will have a tremendous impact on trade and commerce and as such shall be done away with immediately,” Malik said in a statement issued here. He said the new measure will further cripple the already fragile economy of the Valley.

“The transporters, who have taken their vehicles on loans from different financial institutions and are paying heavy interests, are suffering huge losses due to prevailing situation in Kashmir. The new measure of charging heavy tax from them will be a huge burden on them,” he said.

 “If the order is not revoked, the transporters will increase the fare, which will be burden on poor people,” Malik said.

The CPI(M) leader assured the transporters and people of full support to protest against this “arbitrary” decision.