RAJOURI

Bizarre it is. In Sunderbani’s remote Kuldabi village, a four-year-old boy, Shubam Sharma, was strangulated by his father, Raj Kumar alias Raju Baba during the intervening night of February 11-12, 2012. The murder was motivated by his Guru, Madan Lal. It was termed to be a sacrifice to please the deity (Bhero Devta) for attaining spiritual powers and eternal richness. Both buried the child in the premises of Bhairon temple. Belatedly, the police chargesheeted the dangerous duo.

RAWALPANDI

Call it contiguity effect or whatever you think. The fact is that the Kashmiri carpet weavers on the other side of the LoC find a slump in sales for their handmade products. Not fitting into budget, the carpet business is losing charm. The main reasons are ‘decreasing purchasing power’ and ‘increasing use of marbles’ that is giving sleepless nights to Saidpur road weavers. Carpet sells at Rs 4000 to Rs. 6000 per sq ft and the finest quality reaches to as high as Rs 10 million per piece.

MUMBAI

Murder mystery of Bollywood starlet, Laila Khan and five of her family members was over when six skeletons were exhumed in the family farm house in Igatpuri. Now it is the time of trial. Mumbai Police have filed charges against Parvez Tak, a Kishtwar-based carpenter whose greed made him Laila’s step-father and the family’s murderer as well. By the way, police have already taken all those spacious luxury cars that Tak had drivcn home within hours after he annihilated the family.

CHANDIGARH

Many people in J&K think Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has fallen in love with Kashmir. Most of the major developments that happened in Kashmir in recent past were because he pushed to projects and initiatives with such a speed that things started happening. From setting up EDI, one of the most active institutions in Kashmir, to the implementation of Rs 237 crore Himayat, a Rural Development Ministry project with immense inherent flaws, Jai Ram has been pushing a change. Last week, he spent a day with the Kashmiri boys and girls who are employed in Chandigarh under the Himayat programme. He is flying to Srinagar next week for another Himayat push.

NEW YORK

On the sidelines of his participation in OIC meeting, Kashmir’s peacenik cleric, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq met Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari. But that was not the only thing that the Hurriyat moderate did. Before winding up his US trip, Mirwaiz went to Cumberland and met the incarcerated chairman of Kashmir American Council (KAC) Dr Ghulam Nabi Fai in a prison there. Fai is reported to have told him that Americans have permitted him to do his research on Kashmir and continue pursuing the ‘cause’.

DELHI

Last summer, General Bikram Singh was in news for a gun-battle in which he was injured. At one time, it was looking as if he will miss the prized birth. Spade work helped him to be where he is. Now a probe has claimed that the NGO that was behind the complaint was sponsored by the Army’s secret funds. It was his predecessor, Gen Vikram Singh, who is in news and investigations are afoot to see if there is some link between the Technical Services Division (TSD) — a controversial military intelligence unit formed during former chief Gen VK Singh’s tenure, and the PIL that the NGO, YES Kashmir had filed. Reports claimed that TDS even sponsored anti- Hurriyat protest in 2010!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here