SRINAGAR
At an impressive launch at Amar Singh Club in Srinagar, Onaiza Drabu’s Penguin-published The Big Book of Kashmiri Literature brought together the city’s literary and cultural elite, with speakers including Mudasir Mufti, Ashiq Hussain and Neerja Mattoo discussing the significance and state of translation in Kashmir. The anthology brings around 120 works into English, spanning devotional verses, folk songs, poetry, ghazals, short stories, radio plays, flash fiction and excerpts from novels and plays, and covering centuries of Kashmiri literary tradition. The discussions underlined how a relatively small language has developed remarkable literary depth while absorbing and interacting with Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and other linguistic traditions. Drabu’s compilation also foregrounds Kashmir’s rich oral tradition, treating songs, performances and folklore as part of its literary history. Speakers noted that translation could give Kashmiri writing a wider readership, but sustained institutional support, including grants and commissions for translators, remains essential.
Jammu and Kashmir’s mining sector generated nearly Rs 348 crore in revenue over the last three financial years.
PAMPORE
The Central Sericultural Research & Training Institute (CSB-CSR&TI), Pampore, has developed India’s first mulberry variety specifically suited for commercial cultivation in temperate and cooler climates. CPP-01 (PPR-1) was dedicated to the nation by Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh in Bengaluru on September 20 during the Central Silk Board’s 77th Foundation Day. Developed for regions including Kashmir, the variety has more than 90 per cent rooting success through stem cuttings, early post-winter sprouting, improved leaf yield and favourable nutritional quality. Its earlier sprouting could help synchronise mulberry foliage availability with spring silkworm rearing. The variety is expected to address limitations of Goshoerami, the Japanese variety long used in Kashmir, particularly its poor rooting and delayed sprouting.
As many as 14,255 Russian poplar trees were axed across seven Kashmir districts during the last three years
LADAKH
Seven years after the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state was divided into two Union Territories, differences in remuneration for grassroots and public-service personnel are becoming increasingly visible. In Jammu and Kashmir, the government told the Legislative Assembly on September 22 that no proposal was under consideration to raise the monthly honorarium of Lamberdars and Chowkidars, fixed at Rs 1,501 and Rs 1,500 respectively since 2016. In Ladakh, the administration has raised the monthly emoluments of 247 village heads, or Gobas, from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000, an increase of more than 233 per cent. The contrast extends to other categories. UGC/PhD/NET-qualified contractual lecturers engaged under staff-gap arrangements are reported to receive Rs 28,000 a month in Jammu and Kashmir against Rs 57,700 in Ladakh.
MUMBAI
SonyLIV’s Real Kashmir Football Club, inspired by the true story of Kashmir’s first professional football club, has earned an International Emmy nomination in the Drama Series category, putting a story born in the Valley on one of television’s biggest global stages. Announced last week for the 2026 International Emmy Awards, the series has been nominated alongside Britain’s A Thousand Blows, France’s Carême and Argentina’s Menem.
Starring Manav Kaul and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, the series fictionalises the journey of journalist Shamim Meraj and businessman Sandeep Chattoo, who founded Real Kashmir FC in Srinagar in 2016, two years after the devastating floods. What began with 100 footballs distributed among youngsters in flood-affected areas eventually became the Snow Leopards, with the club rising to the I-League and creating a sporting pathway for young Kashmiris. Directed by Mahesh Mathai and Rajesh Mapuskar, the series premiered on SonyLIV in December 2025.
For Kashmir, the nomination carries significance beyond television. It takes an essentially local story, of football, enterprise, friendship and rebuilding after disaster, to an international audience, offering a narrative of the Valley markedly different from the conflict-heavy imagery that has long dominated its representation.
Zeeshan Ayyub said the series showed Kashmir “beyond violence, terrorism or a romantic lens”, while Meraj said that simply making the Emmy list meant “Kashmir has won”.
JAMMU
Union Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh has said Udhampur’s GI-tagged Kaladi cheese has reached the threshold for commercial scaling, with its refrigerated shelf life extended to 28 days through technological intervention by CFTRI, Mysuru. Singh said the intervention was aimed at taking the traditional cheese, popularly described as the Mozzarella of Jammu, beyond its local market without compromising its flavour, texture or nutritional value. CFTRI has now invited private companies through an Expression of Interest to commercialise the standardised Kaladi technology. The cheese, traditionally made from cow or buffalo milk, received its GI tag in October 2023. Its commercialisation could give a wider market to a product deeply rooted in Udhampur’s rural dairy economy.
IMAM SAHAB
Five months after the Jammu and Kashmir administration declared Darul Uloom Jamia Siraj-ul-Uloom in Shopian an “unlawful entity” under the UAPA, a local court has ordered its reopening, allowing educational activities to resume until the main case is decided. The interim order by Principal District and Sessions Judge Shopian Mehmood Ahmad Chowdhary also provides for restoration of the institution’s assets and directs the government to constitute a three-member supervisory committee comprising representatives of the administration and Education Department and a reputable local person. The seminary, at Hillow in Imam Sahib, had been shut in April following government allegations of covert links with the banned Jamaat-e-Islami and other irregularities. The institution has contested the allegations. Its counsel said around 1,200 students, including nearly 400 residential students, had been affected by the closure. The court has also directed publicity of the reopening so students who left can return. The order is interim; the allegations and the institution’s legal status remain to be finally adjudicated.
SRINAGAR
Last week, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly rejected a private member’s bill seeking to make it mandatory for government employees and public servants to educate their children in government schools. The bill was moved by Langate MLA Sheikh Khursheed Ahmad, whose brother Engineer Rashid, currently an MP and lodged in Tihar jail, had also moved a similar bill earlier, but it was rejected.
Education Minister Sakeena Itoo opposed the proposal, saying the government could not compel children to attend government schools as this would violate their fundamental right to education. She said infrastructure and enrolment in government schools had improved and instead urged legislators to encourage parents to choose them. Khursheed did not withdraw the bill, which was put to a voice vote and rejected.
SKICC
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for expanding the Abacus Learning of Higher Arithmetic (ALOHA) programme to government schools across Jammu and Kashmir, saying children need a level playing field to compete nationally and internationally. Speaking at the ALOHA National Level Competition-2026 Kashmir award ceremony at SKICC, he said education and health remained the government’s foremost responsibilities. Omar also stressed the need to introduce emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, into the curriculum. He said while J&K performs well in primary and middle-school education, student retention drops sharply in higher classes. The government, he said, would explore widening access to ALOHA in government schools.
KULGAM
A new highway corridor linking Jammu and Srinagar through Katra, Reasi, Mahore, Gulabgarh, Nandimarg and Kulgam is being planned as the shortest surface link between the two capitals, cutting the existing distance by nearly 50 km and potentially reducing travel time to around 3.15 hours. The proposed 195-197 km, four-lane corridor will be an extension of the Delhi-Amritsar-Jammu-Katra Expressway and bypass congested stretches of NH-44 before joining it near Kulgam. Nearly 50 km of the route is proposed through tunnels and bridges, including a 7-8 km tunnel through the Pir Panjal between Gulabgarh, Nandimarg and Kulgam. The project, estimated at Rs 20,000 crore, has received the green signal for the tendering of its Detailed Project Report, with feasibility, traffic and alignment studies already initiated. Officials expect construction to take five to seven years. Besides easing NH-44 traffic, the corridor is expected to improve connectivity and economic prospects across Reasi, Mahore, Gulabgarh and adjoining Rajouri and Ramban areas.
JAMMU AND KASHMIR
The Jammu and Kashmir Government has said 80 commercial lease cases involving Nazool land have expired and will not be renewed under the Jammu and Kashmir Land Grants Rules, 2022. In a written reply to MLA Sajad Gani Lone, the Revenue Department said J&K has 9,877 kanals and 3.5 marlas of Nazool land, of which 5,088 kanals and six marlas in Kashmir and 531 kanals and 16 marlas in Jammu have been leased for commercial purposes. The Government said the 80 expired cases relate to the erstwhile State, but acknowledged that the figure is incomplete: records are unavailable for Anantnag, while the exact number in Srinagar, which has the maximum expired leases, could not be ascertained. Under Rule 12 of the 2022 rules, expired leases cannot be renewed. The disclosed records include decades-old leases covering hotels, petrol pumps, shops, workshops and other commercial properties, some involving substantial land parcels and historically low rentals.
KASHMIR
Apple growers in Kashmir will have to wait longer for crop insurance, with the Jammu and Kashmir Government telling the Assembly that the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) is yet to be implemented for horticultural crops in the Union Territory. The Agriculture Production Department said fresh tenders will be issued only after the Centre finalises revised operational guidelines. Earlier bids saw Agriculture Insurance Company of India emerge as the lowest bidder for Kashmir, but its quoted premiums ranged from 10 to 39 per cent, with traditional apple in Budgam, Bandipora, Baramulla and Kupwara attracting a 34 per cent rate. For the 2025-26 bid block, the total sum insured was estimated at Rs 6,594.93 crore against premiums of Rs 1,280.87 crore. The Centre is revising RWBCIS guidelines and apple term sheets have been finalised, but the Government has given no timeline for fresh tenders or commencement of coverage.
SRINAGAR
Senior judicial officer Yash Paul Bourney was sworn in as a Justice of the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, taking the court’s strength to 14 against a sanctioned strength of 25, including six additional judges. Chief Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati administered the oath at the Srinagar wing of the High Court. The Ministry of Law and Justice had notified his appointment on September 19, 2026. Bourney, born on August 25, 1967, in Dadwara village of Kathua district, brings extensive experience in the district judiciary and judicial administration. He has served as Principal District and Sessions Judge in Leh, Baramulla, Udhampur and Jammu, and as Special Judge, Anti-Corruption, in Srinagar and Jammu. He has also headed the J&K Judicial Academy, served as Member Secretary of the J&K Legal Services Authority and Registrar Vigilance of the High Court, and was serving on the J&K Special Tribunal before his elevation.
SRINAGAR
Painter Masood Hussain’s acclaimed exhibition Vakhs of Silence, which reimagines the mystical poetry of Lal Ded on hand-spun, hand-woven Pashmina, is now set to travel to Dallas in the United States. The exhibition brings together around 20 Vakhs selected by Hussain from Lal Ded’s vast poetic tradition, transforming each verse into a visual composition painted on delicate Pashmina shawls. The project brings together two enduring strands of Kashmir’s cultural heritage, its mystic literary tradition and its celebrated Pashmina craftsmanship. Hussain, whose work has largely centred on mixed media and canvas, found painting on Pashmina both technically challenging and conceptually resonant, particularly because Lal Ded’s poetry frequently invokes thread, wool and weaving. The exhibition, organised by Me&K founder Mustafa Kadri, also carries English translations of the Vakhs by Autar Mota, allowing non-Kashmiri audiences to engage with Lal Ded’s philosophy. From Kashmir’s literary past to a contemporary American audience, Vakhs of Silence carries a distinctly Kashmiri cultural conversation overseas.
