PUNE
Javid Banday’s feature film Foot Prints won the best feature film award in the 1st Jammu Kashmir International Short Film Festival that NGO Sarhad, run by Sanjay Nahar, hosted in Pune. As many as 40 films of different genres were screened in the 3-day-long festival. Ye Rodiya by Sachin Dhar got the second slot. In the short film category, Qandeel by Rabiya Nazki was adjudged best film while Kalam by Rohit Shilwant and Khalil by Raahul Sharma shared the second best film award. The Stitch by Asiya Zahoor and Good Shot by Shahnawaz Baqal won a special jury award. Daughters of Paradise by Bilal A Jan won the best film award in the short documentary category while Climate Change by Abdul Rashid Bhat bagged second best and Cinessence in Kashmir by Pankaj Saxena got a special jury award. In the category of the feature-length documentary, The Last Hope by Raja Shabir Khan was adjudged best film. In the music video category, Koi Nahi by Syed Mudavar and Bilal Bhagat bagged the top slot while the second position went to Sahibo by Shahnawaz Bhat and the special jury award went to Wattan by Umar Imtiyaz, Ameen Bhat and Waheed Jeelani. In the student section category, Schizophrenia by Nayeem Ahmad won the best film award and Khattay Angoor by Ubaid Zargar got the second-best film award. Former Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI), partnered with Sarhad for the festival, Nahar said.
Creating a sort of history, Kashmir witnessed more than a million tourists in less than six months in 2022, so far. The footfalls are highest in the last 12 years.
JAMMU
LG Manoj Sinha’s administration has approved the installation of 200 MW of grid-tied rooftop solar power plants under the Solar City Mission in Jammu. Under the project, rooftop solar power plants will be installed on 50,000 residential buildings in Jammu by the Jammu and Kashmir Energy Development Agency (JAKEDA) at an investment of Rs 1040 crore. Under the scheme, power panels on residential houses will be provided at a cost of Rs less than Rs 60,000 under four pans. The subsidy element is 40 per cent by the centre and 25 per cent by the state. These plants will be connected to the grid on a net metering basis. The administration hopes Jammu and Kashmir will be able to generate 280 million units of energy thus reducing carbon emissions by 5.44 million tons. One MW of solar power generates 40 jobs.
Jammu and Kashmir Police said they killed more than 100 militants in the last CC encounters, so far in 2022.
URI
Authorities have ordered the killing of a man-eating leopard currently on the prowl in a vast stretch of Uri. The animal half-ate 12-year-old girl, Rutba Manzoor, a resident of Bernate village. The residents did not see the leopard taking her away but they recovered her half-eaten body from the forests. Rutba is the third case of killing by a wild animal. On Sunday night, Shahid Ahmad, 13, was recovered from the forests of Trikanjan in Boniyar. He was killed by the leopard while grazing his herds. A day earlier, Muneer Ahmad, 15, a resident of Kalsan was also killed by the feline. Now the authorities, responding to protests, ordered the killing of the animal. Apart from setting up cages, hunters are hunting for the animal that tasted human blood.
Jammu and Kashmir government said 6985086 people living in Jammu and Kashmir are covered under Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY-Sehat scheme in J&K till June 1. So far, 37.7 lakh people in Kashmir and 32.09 lakh in Jammu have golden cards.
BHADERWAH
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested a YouTuber, Faisal Wani is also in jail for making a video of a ‘virtual beheading’ of Nupur Sharma, the BJP’s sacked spokesperson. He has been booked for “intending to cause harm” and “criminal intimidation”. In Bhaderwah, the police have given a brief relaxation in the curfew imposed on June 9. The broadband and mobile internet services continued to remain blocked for the entire Chenab Valley region. Neighbouring Kishtwar remained under curfew for six days. Authorities arrested as many as nine persons in Bhaderwah, over the hate speech that deteriorated the situation. These include Aadil Gafoor Ganai. The crisis was triggered by BJPs erstwhile spokesperson and the anchor who hosted her show. Though both of them were belatedly booked, they are yet to be arrested.
Tabrez Alam, a 6th-semester NIT student got a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a certificate of appreciation for detecting a bug in a digital payment application, MobiKwik.
SRINAGAR
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has finally taken over the Hotel Corporation of India-owned Centaur Lakeview hotel. The government said the HCI violated the lease agreement by sub-letting the premises to a third party. It was sealed after an eviction notice was issued to HCI. In June 1979, the government leased out 13 acres to the Hotel Corporation of India Pvt Ltd for 99 years and a lease agreement was executed on March 1, 1982. The terms and conditions in the agreement stipulated that the ownership rights over the structure on the land shall be equally held by the parties, the use whereof shall be determined by the parties by mutual undertakings and it was also agreed that for matters not covered by the agreement the laws of the Jammu and Kashmir will apply. With 160 employees desperate for their livelihoods, neither HCI is offering them an option nor the Jammu and Kashmir government. They have been protesting on the roads all these days. The hotel was earning Rs 1.5 crore on monthly basis now.
The unemployment rate in Jammu and Kashmir has swelled to 18.3 per cent for the month of May, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) figures. It was 15.6 per cent in April.
JAMMU
Authorities said they have seized mobile phones and an internet dongle from the high-security Kot Bhalwal Central Jail during the routine checking. The two electronic items were hidden in a polythene bag near a washroom of a barrack.
TEL AVIV
In 2015, Israeli television Fauda (Choas) was premiered by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff. Season 1, filmed in Kafr Qasim, tells the story of Doron, an Israeli commander in hunting a Hamas commander, The Panther. In 2017, its second season was broadcast. The third season of 2019 was around the Israeli defence force activities in the Gaza Strip. There are reports that the fourth season is also being recorded.
Now, Indian filmmakers have cloned the idea and started shooting for Tanaav (Urdu for stress) in Kashmir and around Kashmir. Helmed by director Sudhir Mishra and co-directed by Sachin Mamta Krishn, Tanaav tackles Kashmir of a Special Covert Ops Unit. It was shot in Kashmir for over 100 days at numerous locations. The 12-episode series has actors Manav Vij, Sumit Kaul, Rajat Kapoor, Shashank Arora, Arbaaz Khan, Zarina Wahab, Ekta Kaul, Waluscha De Sousa, Danish Hussain, Satyadeep Mishra, Sukhmani Sadana, Sahiba Bali, Amit Gaur, Arslan Goni, Rockey Raina, MK Raina, Sheen Dass and Aryaman Seth playing different roles.
LADAKH
Dalai Lama will be in Leh between July 15 and August 19. Ahead of the visit, however, the Home Minister had to work overtime to prevent a crisis. Choskyong Palga Rinpoche, a respected monk, started his march from Leh on May 31 and aimed at reaching Kargil on June 14. His aim was to lay the foundation stone of a monastery at a controversial site in Kargil, to which the Muslims had taken a strong exception. Though the Kargil and Leh had joined hands to fight for their rights, a monk lacking any stake holding in the alliance, came up with his own idea that had started triggering a communal tension. However, Kargil Buddhists led by Skarma Dadul supported the move saying they have never been permitted to have their monastery in Kargil even after a place was designated in 1961. It was heading towards a crisis when the Home minister involved BJP MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal who rushed to Mulbek and persuaded the monk to suspend the march. Interestingly the government had reversed the decision in 1969 about the use of two kanals but now LBA in Kargil says the order must be vacated.
JAMMU
Loss-making JAKFED was closed by Satya Pal Malik in June 2019. Employees were supposed to get VRS and leave for good. Three years later, neither the assets of the erstwhile JAKFED have been liquidated nor the fate of the employees decided. JAKFED has 11 major assets worth Rs 100 crore against liability of Rs 107 crore.
MUMBAI
Ahmad ibn Umer is 10 year old, resident of Zaldagar. He is awaiting the release of two films in which he has played a role. After being seen in Salman Khan’s Notebook, Ahmad has played Aamir Khan’s childhood role in the upcoming Laal Singh Chaddha. He has also completed shooting for the South Indian flick Kushi which stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu. He was selected by Laal Singh Chaddha team during auditions in Srinagar. He later flew to Mumbai and spent 15 days with Khan. Before shooting for the role of a physically challenged person, he was trained for more than three months in Punjabi. Later, we remained shooting for the film in Delhi, Mumbai, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Ladakh, and Srinagar for seven months. For Kushi, he flew to Hyderabad for shooting. Ahmad is a class IV student at the Tyndale Biscoe School, Srinagar.
JAMMU
Journalist Ashok Pahalwan died lonely and silently in his room at TRC Jammu. He was 65 and restricted to his home for the last few years as he was frequently developing blisters in his feet. Basically hailing from Sumbal, his Room No 123 was the busiest spot during winters for Kashmiris. He migrated to Jammu in the early 1990s and remained in the TRC for all these years. He is survived by his brother, who lived separately in Jammu.
