CATEGORIES

Covid-19 Coexisting With Contagion

In the last more than a year, the people picked enough knowledge about the virulent and vile virus that it helped them to live in peace with the invisible despite mounting costs, reports Syed Samreen

THE KAFAN CUPBOARD

The Rumours of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir that Harper Collins published last month is a stirring account of a girl’s life in 1990s’ Kashmir. Author Farah Bashir is getting rave reviews for capturing a situation that was frighteningly fluid, extremely explosive and painful at the personal level. Here are two different chapters from the book

DISMISSED FOREVER

With three employees, two of them behind bars, dismissed from the service by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, the return of the dismissal without enquiry is being seen as a new threat by half a million employees reports Safwat Zargar

COVID-19 DEVASTATING COVERAGE

It is unlikely that there will be a leadership challenge to the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi but his political capital will not escape unscathed from the pandemic, writes Riyaz Wani

‘PREGNANT WOMEN MUST AVOID VISITING HOSPITAL FOR ROUTINE CHECK-UPS'

Dr Nighat Firdous, one of the senior-most gynaecologists in Kashmir, is the Head of the Department, Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the women-exclusive Lala Ded Hospital. In an interview with Syed Samreen, she urges pregnant women to visit hospitals only when it’s necessary and calls for seeking help on phone

RENDERED JOBLESS

As non-local mining concerns bagged most of the mining works across Kashmir, tendered at the peak of internet shutdown, thousands of people have been rendered jobless, reports Umar Mukhtar

VIRTUAL TRADE

With the Covid-19 pandemic dictating a new regime, most of the activities of life are getting into virtual mode. Owing to the communication blockade, Kashmir has finally managed its hiccups and is trying to manage the digital deficit. Shakir Ashraf reports about Kashmir’s new online stores

CONSUMED CAREERS

Successive governments have mindlessly “hired” people on an ad-hoc, provisional and temporary basis. They keep the government’s service delivery show going on at almost half of the daily wage guaranteed by law. Merely surviving on a hope that one day their services will be regularised, these more than 60,000 families are dying almost on daily basis. They are at the core of a social crisis, reports Yawar Hussain

THE VERSATILE: VICE-CHANCELLOR

Exactly this was a time of the year, 13 years ago in 2008, spring officially sprung, that I was finally a graduate. Out of college, I was looking forward to pursuing my further education outside the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. My family, however, wanted me to stay back.

BEHIND BACK-CHANNEL

Halt to sugar-cotton imports from India has not stalled the India Pakistan peace process. While the two sides are engaged in back-channel diplomacy, they do have differences on key issues as per the reports appearing in Pakistani media, reports Tahir Bhat

‘THE FEAR, THREAT AND SHRINKING SPACE FOR DISSENT IS A KEY FACTOR THAT MARKS WINS AND LOSSES IN KASHMIR'

Rajani Patil is a third-generation politician. Her grandfather, Ganesh Pingle, a member of the Gadar Movement, was hanged in Lahore by the British in 1915. Her mother, Shantabai Pingle married her father, Baram Patil while they were imprisoned by the British. The former Congress MP is now in-charge General Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir. Ms Patil to Tarushi Aswani about recent developments and challenges that shape party politics and mainstream politics in a post 370 Jammu and Kashmir.

SHOULD THERE BE A NEW FEDERAL COMPACT BETWEEN THE CENTRE AND STATES?

In the book, Beyond Covid’s Shadow: Mapping India’s Economic Resurgence, Haseeb A Drabu makes a case and suggests an alternative. Here is an abridged version of a chapter

FOR PEACEFUL SUMMER

Like Kashmir weather and politics, Indo-Pak relations are also unpredictable writes Zahoor Malik

CANINE TERROR

Free-roaming dogs in Kashmir bite thousands every year. Though the authorities assert that they have been sterilising the dogs and managing the waste food, the availability of lot of free food is a key factor in the dog population surge, reports Syed Samreen

EXCEPTIONAL CARVER

One of Srinagar’s oldest craftsmen, Ghulam Nabi Dar’s designs on the wood remain unmatched for their intricacy and detail, reports Khalid Bashir Gura

A RARE SCHOOL

Curriculum, poor infrastructure and unimpressive service in public schools are pushing parents to enrol their wards in the private sector schools. This is despite the fact that Jammu and Kashmir invests more than Rs 12000 crore in the education sector and has the best human resource. Now teachers of a south Kashmir government school are investing their blood and sweat to undo the trend by reimagining their school, Saifullah Bashir and Shakir Ashraf reports

‘The Two Families Would Grab Power, If Statehood Is Restored'

BJP president for Jammu and Kashmir, Ravinder Raina insists that it is important that Jammu and Kashmir should remain a UT for some more time. If the statehood is restored, he told Yawar Hussain, ‘these same old people’ would come back to power and form governments and scrap all the good new laws.

Gold Card Distribution

In order to make Jammu and Kashmir healthy, the government has under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) enrolled 4,27,466 families and 14,85,059 beneficiaries - 71.49% and 48.06% respectively.

SPENDING Rs 1 LAKH CR

In the second consecutive budget that Nirmala Sitharaman presented to the Lok Sabha, the major expenditures continue to remain the same, reports Tasavur Mushtaq

TANGA PASSENGERS

In the twenty-first century when faster transportation is abundant, a section of the population still prefer the slow motion, eco-friendly Tanga and those running them are not unhappy at all, reports Umar Khurshid

SMART AND SKILLED

The Jammu and Kashmir government has constituted Technical Committee to vet the Detailed Project Reports (DPR) for Jammu and Srinagar Smart City projects on fast track basis along with laying emphasis on employment-oriented skill development.

PLAYING WITH ICE

Shakir Ashraf meets the Kashmir ice skater who represented India in Europe

SARFAESI SALES

Properties acquired by wilfully bank defaulters were always auctioned through protracted judicial processes, a system that SARFAESI law simplified. As Jammu and Kashmir is trying to revive its debilitated economy after August 2019, 49 properties in Jammu worth Rs 70 crore are up for auction, reports Yawar Hussain

BEIGH'S GHAR WAPSI

The Peoples Conference’s rise in the north will further fragment the political landscape of Kashmir, writes Riyaz Wani

AGAINST ALL ODDS PASSION

Despite losing his right arm at 10, Sayer Abdullah, 23, now drives an SUV and goes on off-road trips, reports Khalid Bashir Gura

THE VIRTUAL BRIDGE

The Jammu and Kashmir government last week launched Awam Ki Baat website under which Awaam Ki Baat radio programme would also be conducted.

Education: Rare Success

After losing her books and both her parents during the process of examination and still making it with better scores sets Insha Lone apart, reports Saifullah Bashir

Health: Contagion And Classroom

Classroom Coinciding with encouraging visitor footfalls, the return of the seasonal workforce and the traders, the Government reopened schools after 19 months. An elaborate exercise involving almost every family, managing contagion-free campuses is a challenge on daily basis. A Team KL report about the issues and how the systems are tackling them in public and private sector

‘WHY CANNOT JAMMU RAISE VOICE FOR THE ENTIRE JAMMU AND KASHMIR?'

Business tycoon and top leader of the National conference in Jammu Devender Singh Rana tells Yawar Hussain in anticipation of his Jammu Declaration rollout

STATEHOOD, SPECIAL STATUS

How long can NC and PDP stick to the demand for restoration of special status, asks Zahoor Malik