CATEGORIES
AN UNUSUAL EXIT ADMINISTRATION
BVR Subrahmanyam was the chosen officer to spearhead the process of recreating ‘Naya Kashmir’ after the reading down of Article 370 and bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. More than two years after, when the officer with unimpressive contributions readies to take a top position in Delhi, nobody in Srinagar is willing to chaperon him to the door, Masood Hussain reports
FAITH, FAST AND FEAST
What is the role of food in the month of fasting? Haseeb A Drabu professes that its epicurean aspects are markers of Kashmiri identity
A TIME FOR PIETY
Unlike 2020 when pandemic restrictions confined people to their homes during Ramzan, it is business as usual this month. With precautions in vogue, the people are praying and purchasing normally. Amid this spiritual resurgence, however, many are pondering over why this devoutness outlasts the holy month only, reports Yawar Hussain
A GENERAL VISIT
Army chief General M M Naravane concluded his Kashmir visit on a positive note writes Zahoor Malik
End The Lockdown
A recent runaway surge in coronavirus cases temporarily threatened to plunge Jammu and Kashmir into the same chaos as was unfolding in Delhi through March and April.
‘BY LATE JUNE OR EARLY JULY, WE MAY AGAIN REACH THE PRE-APRIL STATUS'
Dr Syed Mudasir Qadri, an Associate Professor of Internal and Pulmonary Medicine at the SKIMS, Srinagar has been in the thick of the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic since the contagion flew to Srinagar. Admitting complacency after the first wave, Dr Qadri tells Khalid Bashir Gura that the third wave can be disastrous if people do not adapt to the ‘Covid appropriate lifestyle’. He believes the contagion will coexist for some more time.
STEALING THE BREAD
In trying circumstances enforced by the pandemic, the ration mafia working with the officially run PDS chain denies the poor their share of the food by lying and inventing inhuman alibi, writes Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat
ONLINE MBBS
The pandemic has forced the students enrolled with offshore medical schools to study virtually from home. This is putting a question mark over their competence as future doctors, reports Farzana Nisar
CHAMAN LAL GUPTA
Elected thrice to Lok Sabha and twice to assembly, Prof Chaman Lal Gupta was BJP’s towering leader who was respected by all Kashmir parties. However, his direct involvement in cross-voting in the assembly had rendered the powerful right-wing politician to the sidelines, writes Zahoor Malik
SENSING THE DANGER
We took some smart street questions on Covid19 and asked various specialists fighting the pandemic within and outside Kashmir hospitals. The responses make it easier for people to understand that we all have to manage the recurrent viral assaults till we mend fences with the contagion, reports Yawar Hussain
PROBING THE TOLL
With Kashmir having massive morbidity and Jammu leading in the mortality, a puzzled government is trying its best to locate the reasons responsible, reports Masood Hussain
EXCHANGING SWEETS
Exchange of sweets between the armies of India and Pakistan on Eid is a healthy sign that ceasefire is holding, writes Zahoor Malik
SURVIVAL GADGETS
As desperate families go to market, exorbitantly priced oxygen concentrators are making them unaffordable for Covid-19 patients homecare. Now the crisis is that leisure oxygen-generators are being sold for medical oxygen concentrators, reports Saifullah Bashir
COVID PRIORITY
It is vital to have Covid19 appropriate behaviour. But it is more important to retain Covid19 as the key priority in governance policymaking. Right now vaccination is the only way-out, writes Riyaz Wani
Covid-19 Smart Strategy Required
The second wave of Covid-19 and its impact on Kashmir economy can be managed by peoples’ participation and smart strategy, writes Syed Suhail Yaqoob
ZALDAGAR 1865
Kashmir’s first labour unrest, more than 150 year ago, was the outcome of accumulation of immense exploitation that Kashmir’s working class was subjected to by despots and their local clients, reports Masood Hussain
HANDICRAFTS - SHAWL STRATIFICATION
Over the centuries, the Shawl making in Kashmir has emerged such an important exercise that the people associated with the diverse processes are still known by their jobs. Saroj Koul identifies the division of labour that the Shawl making industry exhibited during Sikh and Dogra rule. Some of these professions no longer exist a few were retained as the caste’s and identities
HEALTH COVID 2.0
Much like in the rest of India, hospitals in Kashmir are ill-prepared to deal with virulent second wave, the government’s protestations notwithstanding, reports Yawar Hussain
LOCKDOWN FOLLOW SOPs
Gathering triggered by panic shopping prior to brief lockdowns is a cause of concern, writes Zahoor Malik
BILATERALISM SECRET DIALOGUE?
It would be interesting to see how the back-channel engagement between India and Pakistan evolves in the weeks and months to come and whether or not Delhi will concede in response to Islamabad’s demands, writes Riyaz Wani
JAGMOHAN MALHOTRA (SEPTEMBER 25, 1927 –MAY 3, 2021)
Jagmohan’s role as J&K governor again in focus after his death
SOCIAL WORK - CHENAB'S ABABEEL
Saifullah Bashirmeets the group leader that oversees Chenab region like a bird and tries everything to mitigate the crisis
HAJ HOUSE IS 100-BED COVID19 FACILITY
Within a week, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Srinagar has established an oxygenated 100-beded capacity Covid19 care facility at Haj House Bemina.
ELECTIONS - THE MAMATA MESSAGE
Mamata Banerjee has soundly defeated the BJP by winning a landslide majority. And in doing so, she may have shown to other opposition parties how the unthinkable can be accomplished. But it is too early to even think about the right-wing fall
THE COUNTER-COVID19 MOVEMENT
As the Covid-19 unleashes its carpet-bomb-morbidity in Kashmir, hundreds of individuals and groups have redoubled their efforts to restrict the possibly colossal costs. They are doing anything and everything and supplementing the efforts of government as well. Right now, Oxygen and food retains the top slots
MORE OXYGEN SUPPORTED BEDS
With the existing health infrastructure under massive pressure and nothing much to spare for additional load that the unruly pandemic is generating, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor has initiated the process of adding to the Oxygen supported bed capacity.
COVID-19 - REDISCOVERING THE NEIGHBOUR
As the contagion finally started its spread to the Kashmir periphery, the affected population has started reviving and re-understanding the traditional support structure within their own ecosystem that had compromised over the years,Umar Mukhtar, Farzana Nissar and Samreena Nazir reports
COVID-19 - JAIL WORRIES
With the septuagenarian separatist dying of Covid-19 in a Jammu jail, hundreds of families are worried across Kashmir. Now the political class has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send them home on parole reports Saima Bhat
CLEARING THE INTEREST SUBVENTION
Lt Governor, Manoj Sinha approved the further release of Rs 250 crore as Interest Subvention, part of the economic package for revival of business and industry in J&K, and handed over a cheque of the said amount to Jammu and Kashmir Bank as the third instalment of the 5% Interest Subvention, an official spokesman in Jammu said. It was the third instalment.
Covid-19 The Oxygen Grid
With more people requiring Oxygen therapy to fight back Covid-19 and its virulent mutated variants, Khalid Bashir Gura goes on an Oxygen audit on the public healthcare setup and identifies the issues that could puncture the pipe