NIGEEN
After 33 years, two Hizb militants were arrested in connection with the murder of Kashmir cleric Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq on May 21, 1990. Identified as Javaid Ahmed Bhat and Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, they had returned through Nepal a few years back and were lying low till the State Investigation Agency (SIA) arrested them and handed them over to the CBI that has investigated the case. Following the assassination, Zahoor Bhat, a 1974-born eighth-grade school dropout who worked as a car mechanic before joining militancy fled to Kathmandu. In 2007, he returned home. Javed is also reported to have returned home from Nepal in 2003.
The CBI had already filed the charge sheet against five people for the cleric’s murder. Two of them Abdullah Bangroo and Abdul Rehman Shigan were killed in the 1990s. Mohammad Ayub Dar, the third accused, was convicted by the Supreme Court in 2010. The breakthrough in the 33-year-old case was so important that ADGP CID RR Swain personally broke the story.
Agriculture Minister Kailash Choudhary gave appointment letters to 101 candidates in various departments during a rozgar mela at the Convention Centre in Jammu.
DELHI
The career of a huge section of 87,309 candidates seeking admission for undergraduate courses within Jammu and Kashmir was saved by the timely intervention that led to the postponement of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET-UG) that NTA conducts. Without explaining things, the CTA had asked a number of candidates to write their entrance examinations in various stations in Punjab. This was against the preferences they had made in the application forms. The decision was expected to hit hard the students who would ill-afford travel at the peak of summer to locations where they had no idea what to do.
Around 16 vehicles smuggling 145 bovine animals were seized by Kathua police.
LADAKH
In a new boost to adventure tourism in Ladakh, the Army has allowed tourists to visit the Siachen glacier’s base camp at Nubra, without any prior permission or no-objection certificate (NOC). The glacier is the coldest battlefield on Earth. The army has asked Ladakh police to establish checkposts in the area to manage the flow of tourists to the Siachen base camp at Nubra. The only condition is that the tourists will have to pay an environmental fee for visiting the base camp. Earlier, the army stopped permitting visitors to Galwan Valley where in a Sino-Indian clash more than 20 troops were killed. The two countries are engaged in a standoff in the area.
An IMHANS study has revealed that 72 per cent of drug addicts have Hepatitis C.
DELHI
Kashmir geneticist Dr Tanveer Ahmed, who heads his laboratory at Jamia Millia Islamia’s Multidisciplinary Centre for Advanced Research and Studies (MCARS) is part of the scientist team that developed therapeutic stem cells for lung diseases. Tanveer and Dr Shakti Sagar were the main leaders of the study. Tanveer has been behind a series of innovations and research in the last five years.
As many as 18 police cases were registered and 982 kanals of land was cleared of poppy between April 1 and May 17, 2023, up from 662 kanals in 2022
BRUSSELS
Pulmonologist Prof Parvaiz A Koul, currently heading the SKIMS Srinagar was awarded Fellowship of the European Respiratory Society (FERS), a first in South Asia. Well-known and respected for his contributions, he is among the top researchers in the Stanford List of top scientists with an H index of 69. Chief Editor of Lung India, the official organ of the Indian Chest Society, Koul sees the award as a recognition of his work. The FERS awardees list includes 14 doctors from Europe, four from Australia, two from the USA and one from Asia. The fellowships have been given since 2014.
As many as 12 High schools and 18 Higher Secondary Schools in Kupwara have about 128 vacant positions.
UDHAMPUR
An interesting drama is unfolding in Udhamour and Jammu over the control of the Panthers Party. Ankit Love, the lone son of Bhim Singh and Jay Mala, could join the funerals of his mother after nine days as the Government of India permitted his visa. He thanked Prime Minister for permitting him to see his mother one last time despite being involved in an attack on an Indian mission in the UK. Days after the cremation, he accused BJP of using his relatives in killing his parents. The Panthers Party that Bhim Singh founded currently exists in two camps and Ankit is on one side. He now wants a probe against Vilakshan Singh for murdering his parents. Vilakshan now says Ankit is a security risk because of G20 and is misusing his visa and must be sent back to the UK.
Last week, the NIA carried out searches at 28 locations in two days, the highest number of raids after searching 14 locations on December 23, 2022.
SOPORE
It was a marathon battle that Danish Khazir Bhat fought for life for 11 days. The 26-year-old resident of Badam Bagh Sopore was injured due to electrocution while installing CCTV cameras for an army unit in Sopore on May 7. He remained admitted to SMHS hospital for 11 days and finally gave up and passed away. It is not immediately known if his family is getting any compensation or was covered under any scheme.
MUMBAI
Right now, a Haaput is in making and the man behind the film is Kashmiri Pandit director Kapil Mattoo Kapil who has done a feature film, 404: Error not Found, a TV series Dariba Diaries and assisted Sudhir Mishra in making of Tanaav, a desi remake of Israeli Fauda. “Haaput is a dystopian satire set in Kashmir. When fear becomes the level for the three sections of Kashmir – the common man, the militant and the security forces, the common fear in my film is a zombie attack,” Mattoo was quoted as saying. “Set in a secluded upper-middle-class country against the beautiful landscape of Kashmir, the film dwells deep into the lives of innocent Kashmiris. Apart from showcasing the culture, cuisine, music and cinematic extravaganza, we have also given the opportunity to local Kashmiri talent which includes actors and technicians.”
KISHTWAR
Even though Jammu and Kahsdmir was bifurcated into two federally governed union territories, the decision seems not to be acceptable to the wildlife. The Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Protection Department has confirmed that at least half-a-dozen snow leopards were seen at high-altitude Kishtwar National Park. The reclusive animal mostly inhabits Ladakh peaks but is seen in the upper Himalayas in Kashmir and Chenab Valley. “Of the four catchment areas of the national park spread over 2,195 sq km — in Marwah and Dachhan areas — camera traps have captured images of three snow leopards in Renai,” Chief Wildlife Warden of J&K, Suresh Kumar Gupta has said. These are believed to be a mother and two cubs. “Earlier, camera traps had captured two snow leopards in Nant Nullah area. These are besides the images of one snow leopard captured at Kyar and Kibber catchment areas. While we have confirmed sighting of six to eight snow leopards in Kishtwar High-Altitude National Park, their number may be higher, as we are yet to retrieve camera traps from areas which are (still) under snow.”
RAJASTHAN
It is now his time to face the music. Weeks after Satya Pal Malik’s interview, the Central Bureau of Investigations conducted raids on his aides at 12 locations across Delhi and Rajasthan including six Chartered Accountants (CAs), a female BJP leader who had contested the Lok Sabha election but lost, his Press Secretary, Public Relations Officer (PRO) and Personal Assistant (PA) in connection with FIR registered for corruption pertaining to Kiru hydroelectric power project in Kishtwar. This was the second round of raids. The six CAs include Rounak Aggarwal (Preet Vihar), Anil Kumar (Shakarpur), Anita Singh (South West Delhi), Sanjay Narang, HM Company and M/s Hingo and Company (Dariyagunj). Residence and office of BJP leader Dr Priyanka Choudhary was raided at Barmer and Jaipur in Rajasthan. She had contested the Lok Sabha election but lost and is stated to be close to Satya Pal Malik. Sunak Bali, Malik’s ex-Press Secretary saw raids on both of his houses at Defence Colony and West End in New Delhi. Malik’s PRO Virender Singh Rana and PA Kanwar Singh Rana were also raided.
RAJWAR
The conflict between human beings with wildlife is getting frightening. Apart from attacking people, wildlife has started getting into a new mess – digging the graves of the people. This is giving sleepless nights to the residents of Rajpora in Kupwara where the residents are now guarding the village cemetery. For the last month, the bears have broken into graveyards of Rajwar belt and left them vandalised. Residents said the bear digs graves, exhumes bodies and throws them at a distance. Incidents were reported from Behnipora, Budshungi, Rajpora and Shatigam. After digging the graves, the bears usually do not damage the corpse but only drag it to a distance and leave them there. Usually, this happens during the night. Now volunteers are guarding the cemeteries. They are getting support from the wildlife department and the police. The latter has helped them with installing lights in the cemeteries. Wildlife officials hold the brown bear responsible that, they believe has descended down from Gurez forests.
SAMBA
It does happen sometimes that the man supposed to guard is the thief. The police in Jammu was desperately trying to locate a 16-year-old girl from Raika, Sidhra, who was missing. During the night of May 16 and 17, they raided a prominent Jammu hotel and recovered her from a probationary Sub Inspector of JKP, his property dealer friend.
QAZIGUND
A young man from Qazigund passed away in Saudi Arabia where he was working as a JCB operator. His family alleged that he was murdered. Identified as Zakir Nabi Bhat, 24, he was a resident of YK Pora and died after allegedly being hit by another youth. The distance between the two nations left the family hopeless, who requested the Saudi government to perform his last rites and punish the accused. It was not immediately known if the Riyadh government has initiated any kind of action and how the employer company has followed up on the issue. The family alleged the accused is from Assam.
JAMMU
Two physical education teachers were suspended after a girl student levelled allegations of sexual harassment against them. The case was registered and investigations are underway.
SRINAGAR
In Kralkhud area of Srinagar, Sheikh-ul-Aalam Charitable Trust, was sealed and twelve inmates were moved to a government-run institution. The trust was sealed by the Chairperson of, the Child Welfare Committee, Dr Khair Un Nisa after inspecting the trust and asking the management to produce legal documents which they failed to do. She also said that though there were 25 children registered with the trust only 12 were present there. The trust was managed by people whose similar “enterprise” in another Srinagar locality was sealed after complaints.
