A man attempted suicide in Nowpora area of Iddgah Srinagar by setting himself on fire.
Sources told that a man namely Muzaffar Ahmad son of Mohammed Subhan Ganie resident of Nowpora Iddgha Srinagar attempted suicide by setting himself on fire.
The victim poured petrol on himself and lit the fire.
He was rushed to SMHS Hospital Srinagar where his condition is said to be critical, source added.
Inputs from KNO
Umer Rashid
Srinagar, Apr 30 : National Conference president and former chief minister of J&K Omar Abdullah Tuesday cornered Modi-led NDA government over a host of issues that, according to him, have deteriorated the conditions of the State in the last five years.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a public gathering in Shopian, Omar held the government responsible for low voter turnout in the ongoing elections and remarked that there has been a sharp decline in the voters’ participation in this election when compared to that of 2014 elections.
Talking about the militancy, Omar asked to draw a comparison between the number of youth joining the militancy during his tenure while remarking that during the incumbent government it has started after“These five years of Modi-government have proved detrimental and costly to the state,” he said.
The former CM also criticized the central government over the postponement of assembly elections in the State. “We provided Modi government with a peaceful and suitable environment but they failed us,” he said, adding, “It is because of the five years of callous attitude by this government that they are unable to hold the assembly elections.”
It is for the first time since 1996 that the State isn’t seeing elections on time. The onus for all this falls on the Modi and the alliance he formed with PDP, Omar added.
Responding to a question regarding the claim made by Modi that forty members of Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government TMC are in touch with him and will desert the later, Omar Abdullah said he doesn’t see anything new in it.
“They have developed a habit of make-up and break-up. They did it in Goa and few states in North East although were restrained in Karnataka while adding that he (Modi) tried the same last year also to make Sajad Lone as CM of the state,” he said.
While responding to the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, Omar said he anticipates the outcome of elections on 23rd of May.
“We will see to it once the election results are declared. Fresh talks will be started with the elected government, which will include the issue of ban on Jamaat-e-Islami and that of a new political dialogue also,” he said. (GNS)
MS Nazki
Poonch/Srinagar, Apr 30 : Authorities on Tuesday said the historic Mughal road-connecting Shopian with twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri will be reopened for traffic on Wednesday (tomorrow).
Locals told GNS that the Mughal road has been cleared from the snow a fortnight ago and still awaits orders from the administration for restoration. They alleged that the police are allowing traffic during night hours for those carrying out illegal business.
The snow clearance operations on the 84-kilometer-long road completed on March 15 and at that time, authorities assured it will take 20 days to restore the traffic. But so far, more than a week passed against the stipulated time, but the road has not been restored so far, locals said.
Chief Engineer Mughal Road Mohammad Ashraf Bhat told GNS that one-way traffic will be restored on the thoroughfare tomorrow.
He said that traffic will be allowed from Poonch towards Srinagar on Wednesday (tomorrow).
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Poonch Ramesh Kumar Angral told GNS that the vehicles have to cross Pir Ki Gali between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm and no vehicle shall be allowed beyond the time stipulations.
The measures have been taken in view of the slippery road conditions of the road, SSP said.
Pertinently, the road was closed on January 1, this year following heavy snowfall in the region. (GNS)
Netanyahu won his record fifth-term in the recently held elections in Israel, amidst the grave corruption charges against him. Brazil elected Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right, gun-loving, media-baiting hyper-nationalist in the recent presidential elections. A few days ago Erdogan’s far-right AKP party won maximum seats in the local bodies elections in the middle of a recession in Turkey. The fact these election results were received with great enthusiasm by many of today’s global leaders, including the leaders of some of the world’s major democracies should worry us all.
There is no gainsaying the fact that democracy doesn’t cause growth. Add to this the huge unemployment and growing inequality which cause a sense of unfairness and injustice among large sections of the population. Since we live in a highly-interconnected globalized world, the policies of one nation go beyond its national boundaries. Indians, for example, don’t just have to worry about who we elect as our prime minister but we also have to concern who wins power in Pakistan or China or USA-the elections over which we have no say. All these factors along with the accompanying developments naturally lead to erosion of democracy.
Against this background, the globalization of authoritarianism should not surprise us. The frustration of large segments of populations arising from such situation provides fertile ground for tribalism and populism, which politicians like Erdogan, Modi and Bibi have skillfully exploited.
The sense of unfairness and injustice have given a free hand to populist leaders who promise quick solutions to all the problems without going into detail how they will deliver. BJP’s promise to double the income of farmers and Congress’ Nyay is an example of the competitive populism. Over time, these populist leaders come to regard anybody who disagrees with them as a traitor and conclude that any institution that stands in their way is an illegitimate perversion of the people’s will. Once you’ve said that you alone speak for the whole of the people, any form of opposition to you immediately becomes illegitimate.
Hyper-nationalism also contributes to the erosion of democracy. Human nature craves for a foreign existential threat and politicians invent that threat. Spewing venom against other nations in the election campaigns has become a new norm. Consider our own elections- Pakistan has come to become a leitmotif of election campaign.
Normalization of lying is another factor that weakens the democracy. From Trump to Modi, politicians shamelessly lie to their people and give misleading statements. Telling a constant stream of outrageous lies confuses people, and wears them out. Eventually people give up trying to sort out lies from facts. Once this happens, rule of law becomes impossible, because rule of law requires truth.
Religion is also misused to undermine democracy. Politicians polarize the environment and some regimes claim to be based on God’s words rather than the will of people. Also, rational voter is a myth in the present democratic scenario. People don’t vote for a politician because what he or she will deliver. They vote because who he or she is or what party is being represented by the politician. It is just like sports, where we support a team not just because how it plays but we become deeply connected to a team through family or geography and supporting it becomes a source of great joy. We are witnessing the creation of teams in politics- Team Trump or Team Modi.
Democracy is fragile. Democracies can, and do, die. People need to actively participate in the process of democracy because democracy is a perfect mixture of perfection and imperfection. It is the only kind of government that takes care of popular view and the rights of individuals. Otherwise, putting your rights at the feet of a great leader is a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship. We must exert pressure at the ballot box to save our democracy.
Haris Rashid
[email protected]
Srinagar, April 30 : Police on Tuesday said that it has arrested a notorious drug peddler from City Downtown following an action against those involved in drug peddling in the City.
“Identified as Ghulam Nabi Sheikh @Nabbe Kalla son of Habib-ullah Sheikh resident of Tujgari Mohalla Shiekh Colony, a notorious drug peddler, he has been taken into detention under law and has been shifted to Central Jail Kupwara,” a police spokesman said.
Investigations into the case have revealed that he is involved in selling drugs including Charas and Ghanja among the youth in Central Kashmir particularly in downtown. Several cases under NDPS Acts are registered against him in various Police Stations across valley, the spokesman said.
“SSP Srinagar has appealed people of Srinagar City to come forward and cooperate with the police in curbing the menace of drug peddling. He has assured people that police is committed to create drug free society and will take every step to save the young generation from becoming victim of drug mafia,” the spokesman said.
“General public has hailed the effort of Srinagar police for this strict action against the notorious drug peddler”.
Srinagar, April 30 : A 20-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself inside his home at Glasdegi area of Hyhama in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Tuesday.
Ruqsana daughter of Siraj ud Din Khan of Glasdegi, Hyhama, hanged herself inside her home today in the afternoon, an official said.
The family members of the girl, after spotting her hanging inside the room, immediately rushed her to the Sub-District hospital Kupwara where doctors declared her brought dead.
Ruqasana, who was a class 12th student and it was not immediately known as to why she took this extreme step, the official said.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case under 174 CrPc and taken up further investigations in this regard, the official added.
Srinagar, April 30 : A family from Khanyar here on Tuesday protested in SMHS hospital, alleging death of their kin due to “negligence by doctors”.
The family said that from the last two days not a single doctor visited the patient, Abdul Ahad Guru (79).
“We visited the concerned senior doctor and the CMO, imploring them that the condition of our patient is deteriorating and kindly look into it. They told us that a doctor will visit him soon,” a family member said, adding, no doctor came even there was no PG in the ward.
“A nurse came later and gave him some injection despite our requests not to administer such high dose medicine keeping in view the condition of the patient,” the family member said.
Within minutes, he said, the same nurse told the family to take the patient to the emergency unit as his condition further deteriorated. “In the emergency ward, we were directed to conduct ECG and as soon as the doctor there perused it, he informed us that our beloved is no more.”
The family later staged a protest and even refused to take body home, demanding action against the concerned doctors and also sought report as regards the cause of death. Meanwhile, the hospital authorities handed over a certificate regarding the cause of death to them, showing it to be due to “cardio pulmonary arrest”.
While the family was protesting, a number of people, who were attending other patients, joined them and demanded some accountability on part of the doctors.
“The doctors come as they wish without much care towards the patients. They are only concerned about private practice,” they said.
Most of the senior doctors, they said, come late in the morning and leave much earlier than the scheduled duty so as to reach their private clinics.
Had “there been accountability, the patients would not have suffered nor would there be agony to the attendants,” they said, adding, “The patients are treated as second class citizens and all this is because nobody to hold the doctors accountable especially poor.”
Medical superintendent SHMS hospital Dr. Nazir Hussain Chowdhary said that family should file a written complaint regarding the incident. (GNS)
Srinagar, April 30 : The weatherman on Tuesday advised farmers to postpone irrigation and spray of orchards till Friday even as rains lashed Kashmir Valley.
A meteorological department official said that Srinagar received 1.0mm of rain this morning till 8:30 a.m. The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir recorded a minimum temperature of 12.5 degrees Celsius last night against 9.3 degrees Celsius normal for this time of the season, he said.
The official said that Qazigund, the gateway town of Kashmir, recorded a low of 12.6 degrees Celsius and had traces of rains while the mercury in Kokernag town, also in south Kashmir, settled at a low of 11.7 degrees Celsius. Kupwara town in north Kashmir registered a minimum of 9.1 degrees Celsius and had rainfall of 1.0mm. Gulmarg, the famous ski-resort in north Kashmir, witnessed a low of 4.9 degrees Celsius and rainfall of 0.4mm. The famous health resort of Pahalgam recorded a minimum of 7.7 degrees Celsius and rainfall of 2.7 mm.
“Weather to remain cloudy to overcast with intermittent light to moderate rain at most places of Kashmir, many places of Jammu and isolated places of Kargil district,” director meteorological department Sonam Lotus said. “Today, as of now, it looks like there will be gradual decrease in rainfall from tomorrow.
Accordingly, farmers are advised to postpone irrigation and spray of orchards till 3rd May,” he continued. Some places in Jammu and Kashmir region are likely to experience thunderstorm mainly in the evening, he added. (GNS)
Srinagar, April 30 : The Election Commission of India has decided to seek further clarification on certain aspects from the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding the conduct of assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir.
A full commission discussed the issue regarding the assembly polls at New Delhi on Tuesday.
“It was decided to seek further clarification on certain aspects of the issue from Ministry of Home Affairs,” Spokesperson of the commission Sheyphali Sharan told. “It was also decided to seek the opinion of an eminent Legal Expert in the context of ongoing President’s Rule in Jammu & Kashmir,” she said.
On March 10, when the poll body had announced the schedule for the ongoing Lok Sabha election, it had said the polls to the state Assembly will not be held simultaneously. It had cited the law-and-order situation in the state for delaying the Assembly polls.
Since the Assembly has been dissolved, the election commission was is bound to hold fresh polls there within a six-month period, which will end in May.
The government of India and the state administration, being managed by the Centre-appointed governor was against holding the two elections together.
However, all political parties in the state spoke in favour of simultaneous polls during a meeting with the EC.
The six-year term of the Assembly was to end on March 16, 2021, but it got dissolved after the ruling coalition between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell apart. (GNS)
A lady teacher who hails from Vilgam area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district has been helping the poor students by donating her monthly salaries to ensure the education of downtrodden students will not get affected.
Syed Firdousa Roubani, a government teacher, posted at Government Primary School Punzwa village in Kupwara has donated her salaries to assist the poor students in getting education.
Firdousa has distributed school bags, uniforms, shoes, socks, scarf, ties, note books, pens and other items worth thousands of rupees among 65 poor students. The lady teacher has been distributing items among the poor students since long.
The students she has assisted are enrolled in Government Primary School Punzwa village. She is considered as one among the dedicated and punctual teacher of the zone.
The items among the downtrodden students were distributed in presence of Zonal Education Officer (ZEO) Vilgam, ZEPO Vilgam, headmasters, teachers and locals.
The distribution of items was made during a function on Monday. Locals hailed the efforts of a lady teacher, saying such initiatives are welcomed and should be followed by one and all.
Meanwhile, father of Firdousa, Syed Ghulam Rubani said that he is proud of her daughter, who has taken such a unique initiative that will help the poor kids to get education properly.
“I pray for her success and hope that she will continue to assist the poor students in future,” he said. (KNS)