Saroori for ‘Redoubling’ Efforts in Completing Projects ‘So that People are Benefitted’

KL NEWS NETWORK

SRINAGAR

J&K Congress lawmaker from Inderwal, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori Sunday toured Sarthal area and took stock of the developmental activities being carried out in the area.

A team of officers also accompanied Saroori and which listened to the grievances and problems of the people which included portable drinking water, clear of MGNREGA liability, unscheduled electricity, early completion of construction of roads and shortage of ration, a statement issued by Saroori said this evening.

Saroori, while responding to these demands directed the officers of the concerned departments for their redressal on the spot and assured the people that their other issues will be addressed on priority.

En route to Bhagran Sarthal, Saroori inspected the widening of Hasti-Sarthal Devi road which is constructed under CRF at an estimate cost of Rs 15 Crores and 12 km long Sarthal-Bhagran road which is being constructed by PMGSY Department at an estimated cost of Rs 10 Crores, the statement said.

During the inspection, on-spot instructions were issued to the executing agency PMGSY to carry out remaining work. He impressed upon the officers to personally monitor the work of all the projects to ensure use of quality material in developmental projects and redouble efforts for completing the projects within the target time frame so that people get benefitted.

While interacting with the people at Bhagran Sarthal, Saroori said that he will make all the efforts to cover the far-flung areas under the umbrella of developmental process and for this purpose he sought full cooperation from the people of the area.

He impressed upon the people to avail the benefits of the development schemes already launched in the area and stressed upon the public to monitor the works during execution to ensure quality parameters.

Saroori further informed the general public that many new projects for Sarthal area in offing and assured them that execution of the works will be executed efficiently so that benefits reach the common masses.

He directed rural development department officials to submit the files of work done to the Block Development Office concerned within a week’s time so that payment to the work done in the area could be made. “Hence more and more people living in rural and far-flung areas get benefitted from it.”

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Consumers can Draw Ration of April up to May 5

KL NEWS NETWORK

SRINAGAR

Consumers can draw ration of April up to May 05, government said on Sunday.

According to the Deputy Director (Supplies) rationees who have not drawn their rations for the month of April 2016 shall get their due quota of ration of the month up to May 05, 2016.

He further said the stores, sale centres and FP shops of the department shall remain open till May 5, 2016 including on Sunday and Monday as well.

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‘Fake Kashmiri Mussars Flood Oman Markets’

Baba Umar

MUSCAT

A piece of the fake cashmere mussar is being sold for mere OMR 2 to 5. (KL Image courtesy: Baba Umar)

Fake Kashmiri mussars (Omani headgear) have flooded the Sultanate’s apparel market, with traders saying the practice is hurting the interests of genuine dealers.

Traders dealing with Kashmiri handicrafts said they have been selling “genuine mussars”, made of Kashmiri Pashmina (a fine type of cashmere wool) for decades but the introduction of synthetic mussars has marred their business in the country.

“A piece of the fake cashmere mussar is being sold for mere OMR 2 to 5. The genuine handmade one is woven in Kashmir (India and Pakistan-administered) and costs around OMR 50 to 70. Only a trader or a smart customer can tell the difference between the two,” said Sartaj Ahmad, who trades in Kashmiri handicrafts at the busy Muttrah Souq.

Cashmere mussar is a rage among Omani men. Representatives of the Sultanate’s glorious cultural diversity, mussar turbans are part of the official Omani traditional dress. Many Omani men wear it for formal meetings and in offices.

A shawl, also made of fine cashmere wool, forms another essential part of Omani men’s wedding attire worn around the waist. The long strip of cloth acts as a holder for the Khanjar (Omani dagger).

But Kashmiri businessmen said this age old tradition is under threat due to the cheap replicas currently on sale. A Times of Oman (TOO) investigation also found that imitation mussars are being sold with the tag line “100% Cashmere” or “Pure Pashmina.”

Some products even have the image of a deer suggesting that the wool is drawn from the Kashmiri Himalayan antelope. In contrast, Pashmina is hand woven from the wool derived from the undercoat of high-elevation breeds of domestic goats found mainly in India-administered Kashmir and elsewhere in the Himalayan region.

“The irony is that some Kashmiri traders have also started selling fake or imitation cashmere mussars. Because they don’t want to argue with the customers over what’s real and what’s not. The clients are shown both. What we are saying is let the imitation mussars be sold with some other name. Calling it cashmere is a theft of the idea and skill that’s involved with weaving these delicate mussars and shawls,” said another Pashmina mussar trader, Ijaz Ahmad.

He said, “Also, if the fake one is passed as pure cashmere and sold for OMR70, imagine the profit involved. Not many clients are aware of the stuff involved in the making of mussars.”

Officials from the Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP), which protects consumer rights in the Sultanate, said the issue is related to intellectual property rights. “It’s related to intellectual property rights,” Omar Faisal Al-Jahadmi, deputy chairman at PACP said.

“This matter falls under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which is responsible for implementing all the procedures related to the laws of intellectual property and guaranteeing necessary protection for the stakeholders,” he stated. The Kashmiri traders also said they will soon approach the ministry to address their concerns.

Kashmiri Pashmina (cashmere) has a GI status, a kind of intellectual property awarded to products that have some unique characteristics traceable to a particular region. To protect customers from being duped with fakes or imitations, the government in J&K has recently adopted nanotechnology.

It involves embedding nano-particles with distinctive codes into the authentication labels ‘Kashmir Pashmina,’ which has geographical indications (GI) protection under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement of the WTO.

The codes are readable only under infrared light. The counterfeit mussars don’t have such labels and hence can help a customer identify a pure cashmere shawl or mussar. Kashmiri traders are supposed to get their products “tagged” and “authenticated” and get their businesses GI-certified.

Not many of them have done it, Kashmiri traders conceded. “Unfortunately, not many of us have gone through this process. Most of the products from Kashmir are yet to get these nanoparticle tags. But the technology is expected to save our century’s old skill and no one will be swindled in the sale of bogus cashmere products,” a Kashmiri trader said.

(The news report appeared in Times of Oman. Baba Umar is a Kashmiri Journalist based in Muscat. He has previously worked with Tehelka and Al Jazeera.)

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Handwara Killings: Rights Group Seeks Investigation into the Role of SWC

KL NEWS NETWORK

SRINAGAR

Srinagar based rights defender group, JKCCS, Sunday demanded investigation into the role of State Women’s Commission chairperson in handling the case of Handwara minor girl.

“Ms Nayeema Mehjoor, Chairperson, State Commission for Women (SCW), has been seized of the case of the Handwara minor girl since 17 April 2016 when a member of the SCW met the girl and father at their location of custody, and 22 April when she herself met the minor girl and her father at the SCW office in Srinagar.

The legal team of the minor girl, representing her before the High Court through her mother, had advised the girl and her family to seek the assistance of the SCW as the priority was the immediate release of the girl from oppressive and debilitating police custody,” JKCCS statement said this afternoon.

Last month, protests erupted in North Kashmir’s Handwara after an alleged molestation bid by an army man then posted in main chowk Handwara. Five persons were killed in the protests following the alleged molestation of a minor student.

“The role of the SCW, and particularly Ms Nayeema Mehjoor, over the last fourteen days has been partisan, deceptive, against her mandate and extremely insensitive to the extraordinary circumstances in which the 16 year old girl finds herself. The SCW is an autonomous statutory body but Ms Nayeema Mehjoor has conducted herself as an arm of the government and police. Today, a local newspaper carried inaccurate and prejudicial quotes of Ms Nayeema Mehjoor regarding the minor girl and the case yet again,” the statement alleged.

“The minor girl and family in all interactions with Ms Nayeema Mehjoor, including in two written applications, have consistently maintained that: 1) they are under police custody against their will and they want to be immediately released, and 2) the statements made by the minor girl in the illegal video recording, and before the judicial magistrate, were under duress and do not reflect the real testimony of the minor girl.

Despite this clarity from the minor girl, Ms Nayeema Mehjoor has repeatedly been quoted in the media as stating that the girl is under ‘police protection’ and the news report quotes her as stating: ‘So far the girl did not change her statement. She repeated what she has deposed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Handwara’. This is a complete misrepresentation of what the girl in fact told Ms Nayeema Mehjoor. Further, Ms Nayeema Mehjoor is prejudging and taking sides on the issue of whether the girl is under ‘protection’ or ‘custody’ when, in fact, this is the entire dispute before the High Court between the police on one hand and the girl and family on the other,” the statement added.

“Sexual assault cases, particularly involving minors, require of all persons a great deal of sensitivity and restraint. This is particularly important for individuals in public positions such as the Chairperson of SCW. Ms Nayeema Mehjoor has repeatedly misrepresented the girl and family, and effectively toyed with them over the last fourteen days. Ms Nayeema Mehjoor’s statements and interventions are, and necessarily must be, subject to investigations especially as the case is also before the High Court,” the statement demanded.

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Bear Kills One, Injures Tow Others in South Kashmir

Aakash Hassan

ISLAMABAD

Himalayan Black Bears are visible in the lower reaches of Kashmir from Spring to Autumn.

One person died while two others were injured in South Kashmir’s Islamabad district on Sunday when a wild bear attacked them.

65 year old Ab Rehman Bhat died on way to hospital while as Mohammad Ayoub Pachal (52) and 7 year old Shakeela received injuries and are being treated in District hospital Islamabad.

The trio were attacked in Mattan area of Islamabad. “Both the injured are being treated and their condition is stable,” said doctors attending the injured in District Hospital Islamabad.

Soon after the attack was reported, police and wild life department teams rushed to the spot.

“Search was conducted in the area but the bear was not found and seems to have left the area,” said SHO Mattan Arshid Ahmad.

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Hurriyat Leaders Citizens of India, Can Meet Any Representative from Any Nation: GoI

KL NEWS NETWORK

SRINAGAR

All Parties Hurriyat Conference (g) leaders with Pakistan Envoy Abdul Basit in New Delhi on March 24, 2016.

Government of India has said that leaders representing The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) are just like any other Indian citizen.

They can meet any representative from any nation in India, be it Pakistan itself. “But if the Pakistanis decide to meet with them, the government (of India) would object on the grounds that such meetings constitute interference in India’s internal affairs,” a report said on Sunday.

The right wing Hindu nationalist, BJP, led union government had cancelled the then foreign secretary Sugatha Singh’s trip to Islamabad in 2014 August in reaction to Pakistani High Commissioner Abdul Basit meeting Hurriyat leader Hurriyat Conference leader Shabir Shah days before Singh’s planned trip.

Pro-freedom leaders addressing a public rally at Narbal in the outskirts of Srinagar in this Kl file Image.

“On April 28, 2016, the minister of state for external affairs General V K Singh answered a query, which had been received in the past, about the meeting between Shah and Basit. This time, the question was framed in the context of their presence at the Pakistan Day (2016) celebrations,” thewire.in reported.

Singh’s written reply claimed, “Since the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Union of India and these so-called Kashmiri ‘leaders’ are Indian citizens, there is no bar on their meetings with representatives of any country in India.”

The deputy foreign Minister said, “However, India has consistently maintained that there is no role for a third party in the bilateral dialogue between India and Pakistan as per the Shimla Agreement and the Lahore Declaration.”

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Driving Force Behind The Contemporary World – Information Technology

By Cyber Crew

DPS Athwajan, Srinagar

In today’s time it is an acknowledged fact that the Information Technology is the driving force behind the contemporary world. Firmly believing in the idea we the students at Delhi Public School, Srinagar came up with an idea of student centric IT club, and Cyber Crew – the first of its kind, IT Club for students in Kashmir valley came into being almost 3 years ago.

Cyber Crew is a platform where learning is a continuous process, spreading innovative skills and knowledge is the priority; where lifelong friendships bloom. At Cyber Crew we have the best of the budding technocrats of our institute who are passionate about the limitless world of Information Technology and above all firmly believe in the idea of sharing skills and knowledge they possess.

With this in mind, members of this club steadfastly believe that they have a sense of responsibility on their shoulders towards those children who do not experience the joy of understanding something that the force managing the world, something that has made our big and vast planet a smaller place to live, interconnected by borderless and seamless networks of – Information Technology.

To keep this fire burning we have been organizing TechKnow – the only and the biggest two day IT Fest for the schools in the valley, for past three years and from since inception has witnessed overwhelming success at all stages. This year too, we are gearing up for the only Mega-IT event of our valley by organizing TechKnow 2016.

Since we are approaching the fourth year of our initiative we will be joined by more than 60 schools within and outside J&K. This means that the event will register itself into the minds and hearts of hundreds of young, promising and budding student entrepreneurs of our society.

We have always believed ICT is a dynamic and an ever-growing arena, hence keeping up with the pace of changing technologies, we have added two more workshops, this year: IoT (Internet of Things) and Hybrid Mobile App Development; we aim to join hands with the children of our society and go into the irresistible and appealing world of Information Technology.

Last year, we were joined by over 40 schools of our valley and as well as several schools from Jammu region; our participants had an extraordinary experience with us as we gave them a sneak peep into different IT related topics like Web Designing, Ethical Hacking, Video Editing, Open Source and much more.

Registering for TechKnow is pretty easy, just log on to our website at techknow.dpssrinagar.com. The two-day festival shall start on May 22, 2016 at DPS Athwajan, Srinagar campus.

We strongly encourage appeal your school to register on your behalf, for it means not only you get a chance to be a part of this mega event, but other likeminded and avid lovers of technology from your institution join with you as well.

At last, we the members of Cyber Crew would call on all the students who are passionate about the exciting world of Information Technology, that please authorize yourself to learn the most attractive and fascinating stuff, become skilled, allow yourself to chase your heart and join us as we throw open the gates of the most enthralling and interesting world of Information Technology.

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