SRINAGAR
Parties apart, the year end in Kashmir usually starts with massive appetite for J&K bank’s wall calendars. It prints quite huge (almost a million) and this year it came printed from Mumbai in a convoy of more than 30 trucks. One of the major bulk calendar printers in India, J&K Bank’s six-leaf glossy calendars are in demand across India, usually for the scenic beauty. This year, however, the designers opted to revive its theme-based experiment. Pictures focus on the beauty of hands that make the handicrafts, the heritage industry that is a yearly Rs 1500 crore business. Hailed by industry for getting handicrafts in sharp focus, bank executes see it as a tribute to the hands that weave and draw dreams.
SOPORE
As the plot of this blind murder was unfolded by the police, it was pain and gore. The ninth standard student was first stabbed to death and then left for dogs. The reason: he was suspected of having a relationship with a girl. Police have formally arrested Riyaz Ahmad Sheikh for murdering 15-year-old Dawood Nabi. He told police his motivation for killing the boy was his suspicion that the boy was in love with his step-daughter. He had taken his prey to an isolated orchard where he killed him and left the body for the dogs.
KUPWARA
It was Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who intervened to get passport for a Trehgam student who was selected for his internship with British major newspaper, The Guardian. Ruhail Afzal Sheikh is a student of journalism and his father Mohammad Afzal was a known sympathiser of JKLF. As the media reported his crisis, Omar intervened. His passport has been cleared. Omar intervened last time when an orphan girl was denied travel documents to fly to US. By the time she got her passport, she had missed the bus. Let Ruhail reach London and see how The Guardian works.
HIRANAGAR
This is the newest thing happening between the two people straddling the border in Jammu. It was recently detected, by chance. BSF found somebody moving suspiciously near the border and it was a 15 years old boy Imran, a resident of Jalo Chak in Pakistan’s Sahiwal area. In custody, he revealed he had crossed into this side when he was 12. Since then, he has been living with Hassan Din, a Gujjar of forward village Hariya Chak in Hiranagar. Din had given him a fake identity and kept him his domestic help. But Imran said he was tortured by Din forcing him to return. Din is in custody and the baffled security grid is keen to know what is the magnitude of the people to people dialogue at an unofficial and illegal level.
REASI
In Kashmir, it is called Halshree, voluntarily doing things for community which usually state government should have done. Residents of Hander donated land, jewellery and other belongings to lay a road to the main road. They donated 30 acres of agricultural land and lot of jewellery to build the 14-km road from Hander to Narloo. As many as 50 women contributed their jewellery to ensure their children have a road to reach their school. The village is part of Arnas block. As the work was underway MP Lal Singh came to contribute Rs 20 lakh from his MPLAD fund.
JAMMU
It is still a mystery how they escaped from Myanmar and reached Jammu. But the Rohangya Muslim refugees witnessed another displacement when at least 15 families living in makeshift camp near Gharota village were displaced. They are now putting up in Bhathindi where most of the Myanmar Muslims are living as refugees. Myanmar witnessed the worst Buddhist attacks on Muslim minorities in 2013 summer and a few hundred of them somehow reached Jammu. The demolition of their ramshackle dwellings has created a serious psychological crisis for the kids. Reports termed the operation brutal.
RAJOURI
Army needs to celebrate in Rajouri. First, one of its JAKLI recruits Nadeem Iqbal from Bharot village has cracked the stiff competition and made it to Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in February. An ace skier, Iqbal has joined the Army in March 2003. He was selected at the Federation Internationale Ski Nordic Qualifying Races in Italy and France in November and December. He is one of three athletes from India who have qualified for the Alpine skiing event. He started skiing in 2004 and in less than a decade he is going for the best skiing event on earth. And the second event that must make army happy is that one of its units helped marrying off Shamim, an orphan girl from Songri in Kalakote whose father Mohammad Hussain was killed by militants in 2001.
MHA has reimbursed Rs 6575.26 crore under Security Related Expenditure to J&K since 1990.
Jammu and Kashmir State Forest Corporation (JKSFC) has earned a revenue of Rs 97.95 crore by selling 18.56 lakh cft timber till December during the current fiscal.
