KASHMIR
Compared to the earlier years, the students from Jammu and Kashmir have performed better in the just released NEET results. Of 36431 candidates, 20564 have passed it making a pass. The percentage of 56.44 per cent in 2023 is better than 53.73 per cent of 2019 and 54.21 per cent in 2018. However, what is interesting is that students from modest backgrounds have cracked it, some without coaching.
While Abdul Basit from Chewa Kalan (Pulwama) got the top rank in Jammu and Kashmir (AIR 113), the twin daughters of a village Imam from Watoo (Kulgam) – Syed Sabia and Syed Bismah, and three cousins from a Srinagar family – Tooba, Rutba and Arbish – made the news as well. However, the major surprise was a house painter Umar Ahmad Ganaie from Zazigam who secured 601 marks. “I was painting in a house when I learnt about NEET results,” Ganaie said. A government school student, he cracked the examination on the basis of self-study.
In Bandipore, Aadil Hassan Sheikh from Sumlar village cracked the examination on the fourth attempt. He is working as a peon in Tehsilar’s office. Now, it remains to be seen how many of these excited students will make it to the medical colleges, which have more than 1000 berths.
In 2022-23 which ended on March 31, 6855 dog bites were reported to the GMC Srinagar’s Rabies Clinic. Srinagar topped the tally with 4912 dog bites.
KUPWARA
After the federal investigator, NIA attached 17 properties belonging to Zahoor Watali in Baghatpora and Kachwari villages of Handwara, the State Investigation Unit (SIU) of Jammu and Kashmir Police attached property of a militant operating from Pakistan. The attaching property included the land measuring 26 kanals and 4 marlas belonging to Almas Rizwan Khan, a resident of Diver Lolab. The attachment took place in FIR No 276/2022 of Police Station Kupwara. Earlier, the NIA attached two properties of jailed Hurriyat leader Ayaz Akbar in Maloora, on the outskirts of Srinagar in the Hurriyat-militant funding case. Ayaz is in Tihar Jail since July 24, 2017.
New Industrial Policy 2021 draws Rs 2200 cr investment for 4327 proposals in one year, generating 10,000 jobs in Jammu and Kashmir, the government says. The government has allotted land to 1854 units of which 854 have paid the premium, and 560 units have signed lease deeds.
PAHALGAM
Chennai-based entertainment start-up Jadooz which has been running mini-theatres in Shopian and Pulwama for the last 10 months are opening mini-halls in Baramulla, Handwara and Bandipore. However, what is important is that one such hall will be opened in Pahalgam’s Beetab Valley to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1983 Sunny Deol-Amritaa Singh Bollywood starrer that gave the valley its name. Apart from Betaab Valley, there is Sadhna Top – two spots that have been named after Bollywood films or actors. It remains to be seen if the government will give the necessary permissions for a cinema hall in the woods, literally.
Kashmir’s digital logistics platform, FastBeetle had got a fresh dose of funding worth US $3 million, which will enable it to touch 19000 pin codes across India. It is currently handling three lakh shipments a month.
CHENAB VALLEY
Something sinister is happing in the Pir Panchal range around the Chenab Valley. Last week, half a dozen earthquakes took place in the region triggering panic and even creating some loss, mostly in Bhaderwah. Tremors, albeit moderate in scale, took place in Kishtwar, Bhaderwah and not-so-distant Katra. The highly mountainous region is hugely fragile and the abundance of stored water in the main gorge is making the young mountains very weak. The belt was in so much panic that authorities shut schools for a few days. In fact, two students survived with minor injuries in a school that suffered a lot of damage in the earthquake. A few scores of homes have developed cracks. Fear looms large over the region
In Zakura industrial estate 84 of the 87 units are operational but fighting a survival battle.
KASHMIR
Child abuse exists everywhere but schools were normally seen as secure spaces. Last week, a series of cases were reported in which the police arrested teachers for abusing children – both male and female. In a private school in Bandipore, Satar Beigh, 42, was arrested for molesting two girl students. Earlier in May, two teachers were suspended from a government school in Kishtwar for allegedly molesting an 11th standard girl student inside the school. Two similar incidents were reported in Kreeri and Chanpora. Reports in media said 87 cases of child abuse and exploitation were reported in Anantnag, 77 in Srinagar, Budgam 53, Baramulla 47, Kulgam 37, Ganderbal 34, Pulwama 32, Shopian 21, Bandipora 17, and Kupwara six. The cases involving crimes against children increased by 39 per cent last year. There were 845 cases in 2021 as against 606 incidents in 2020, 470 in 2019, and 473 in 2018.
Poppy on 1015 Kanals of land was destroyed in South Kashmir
SRINAGAR
Moulana Mohammad Sayeed Masoodi, a close aide of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and the first teacher of Syed Ali Geelani, has played a long and controversial inning in Kashmir politics. He was assassinated by militants on December 13, 1990. Years later, Prof Saiduddin Soz authored a book on his life and it was formally launched last week with his son, advocate Shabir Masoodi presiding over the event. “Sheikh (Mohammad Abdullah) Sahab has written many things about Moulana and I believe these (references) need to be put in proper perspective,” Shabir told the gathering. “He (Masoodi) believed throughout his life that Sheikh Sahab was the only identity of Kashmir and only leader of Kashmir.” Intellectuals who spoke on the occasion said a serious effort is required to understand and rediscover the role that Valley’s slain intellectual, especially his larger-than-life role during holy relic agitation.
At least 15 children were rescued in an anti-begging drive in the Srinagar district in a joint campaign by the Labour Department, police and Child Protection Welfare Team. 12 were handed over to their parents and three were shifted to shelter homes at Shalimar and Nowgam.
MUMBAI
Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde is seeking a piece of land for the construction of a Maharashtra Bhavan in Kashmir. He made a formal request when he met Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha in Srinagar. The Bahavn, he said is an ideal opportunity for greater integration between Maharashtra and Kashmir after the reading down of Article 370. “Understanding the value of tourism and cultural exchange in enhancing relationships and economic growth, I kindly ask for your consideration in allocating land… in Kashmir to build a Maharashtra Bhavan,” Shinde’s letter said. “This would serve as a vibrant showcase of Maharashtrian art, culture, and cuisine, providing accommodation and support to Maharashtrians visiting Kashmir.” Shinde envisioned it as a hub for students, entrepreneurs and officials from both states to engage with each other, cultivate connections and collaborate on shared interests.
It is gradually triggering a reaction. So far, only Indian Railways has a Bhavan in Srinagar. “If all states do it, they will create hundreds of rooms for the residents of their states, eventually hitting our revenues. Instead of promoting tourism, you will hit our tourism,” Salim Beig was quoted saying by The Telegraph.
Interestingly, Pune NGO, Sarhad which has been working in Kashmir for 90 years came up in support of the demand. One of its employees even offered his own land for the Bhavan. Before handing over a formal request, Shinde had met the NGO leaders and discussed the idea.
Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta has asked officials to fix the responsibility for misplacing 392 revenue maps (Mussavis) and initiate the process of recreating them at the earliest.
RAJOURI
Simran Bala was appointed an Assistant Commandant after she became the first woman to crack Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) Examination 2023 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Out of the 151 eligible applicants for the UPSC CAPF, Simran secured an impressive All-India Rank of 82. A resident of the border town of Nowshera in Rajouri, Simran completed her studies until Class 10 in her hometown and went to Jammu for higher studies.
Nearly half of the elderly population in Kashmir is being abused in one or the other form, a study covering 27000 individuals has revealed.
GANDERBAL
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, 34, is perhaps the only artist of his kind who is using rock colour to create fascinating mosaic art. He collects coloured rocks from across Jammu and Kashmir, grinds the stones manually, extracts vibrant and natural colours and then creates his art. The stones are collected from trekking routes in Gangbal, Tarsar, Marsar, Gaddar, Vishnusar, and Sonamarg (in Ganderbal), and mostly from Ladakh. After collection, the stones are crushed, graphs drawn on plywood and then the crushed stones are converted to painting. At an exhibition in Srinagar last week, Bhat said he is a self-taught artist. Now he is training his 7-year-old daughter, his first disciple in an art nobody seems to have thought about. His single art piece takes almost four months. There are only 19 mosaic artists in the entire world and Bhat is one of them.
Joint Drugs Controller Kashmir Irfana Ahmad said that seven to eight lakh people are involved in drug addiction in Kashmir.
JAMMU
The huge surprise in the BOSE’s 12th class result was Kashmir’s pellet blind; Insha Mushtaq passed the examination using an assistant and Braille system to study. In the first-ever result of all the 12th class students enrolled across Jammu and Kashmir, 82441 (65 per cent) of 127636 candidates who wrote their examinations, passed. As many as 287 students including 156 from government schools across Jammu and Kashmir shared the first 10 positions. The shocker, however, came later when the board issued two notifications reversing the results of 544 candidates. Initially, they were announced as failed and then most of them were shown to have passed with distinctions. The first notification involved 165 students and the second 379. The Board is yet to offer a plausible explanation for the historic goof-up.
More than 40 food items banned at the upcoming Amarnath Yatra include heavy pullav, fried rice, puri, bathura, pizza, burger, stuffed parantha, dosa and fried roti, bread with butter, cream-based foods, pickle, chutney, fried papad, and chowmein.
WASHINGTON
The American space agency, NASA released a photograph of Kashmir from the satellite to show that the two main lakes of the region – Wular and Dal – are shrinking. The image was taken by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the US Geological Survey, on June 23, 2020. “In a 2022 study, researchers in India—using data from the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) LISS-IV instrument—found that Wular Lake’s open water area had shrunk in size by about one-quarter between 2008 and 2019,” MASA said in a brief report. “The smaller Dal Lake has suffered a similar fate in response to land cover change. Researchers in Srinagar found that land conversion to urban development in the basin had worsened the lake’s water quality and contributed to its reduced size. They found that between 1980 and 2018 the lake shrunk in area by 25 percent.”
LONDON
Global auctioneer, Soothbay sold a copy of an illuminated Quran, handwritten in Kashmir in 1821, for 18380 UK Pounds (Rs 19.04 lakh). The 311-page manuscript has the Quran written on gold-speckled paper leaves in naskh in black ink. It was written by Murtaza ibn Jawad for Aqa Muhammad Baqir.
Since 2018, Soothbay alone sold around 11 illuminated manuscripts of the Quran produced in Kashmir in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One such manuscript was sold in March 2023.
