REOPENED: Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, a body of non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits reopened three century old Sheetal Bhairav temple in Srinagar’s Habbakadal. Over 27 families living in the locality and adjacent areas were part of the puja (prayer) last week. Sanjay Tickoo of the Samiti credited a local Muslim watchman for its upkeep and safe sanctum sanctorum though a grenade was lobbed at it once and it suffered some damage in two fire incidents. So far Samiti has reopened 23 of 583 temples in the last decade.
VISITED: JKLF leader Muhammed Yasin Malik visited migrant Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and attended the function organized in memory of Deena Nath Koul. He asked them to return home. He termed their migration a human issue and said the people in Kashmir will received them with open arms.
ENGAGED: Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation of India has appointed a private consultant to investigate large scale bungling in Kashir Channel and to see how nobodies became multi-millionaires after grabbing major production assignments. The decision came after a newspaper in Delhi reported about cooks and even Anaganwari workers getting the best jobs in the channel. The High Court in Srinagar has directed Doordarshan to place the entire records of allotments before it for scrutiny.
ARRESTED: Police in Mumbai have detained here Kashmiri men and allegedly recovered 75 kg of Charas from them. They are Rafiq Maqbool Khan, Gulzar Maqbool Khan and Aarif Sayeed. The anti-narcotics cell also seized a Tavera vehicle as well.
EVICTED: Kashmiri traders dealing with handicrafts were forced out from Kumbh Mela (large Hindu festival) in Prayag that started on January 14. Reports said exhibition director Dinesh Chand Pasi actually threw their merchandise mostly handicrafts and artefacts out of their stalls to force a ban on their entry in the fair.
DETAINED: The government has slapped Public Safety Act on two PaK residents visiting Poonch – one came by the trans-LoC bus and another through from international boundary on passport. Tufail Hussain and Munnawar Hussain Shah alias Babu were arrested last year from Poonch and after prolonged investigations they were booked last week. Tufail was allegedly caught smuggling a satellite phone and Babu supposed to take the delivery for insurgents, police said.
AWARDED: Syed Nazakat, a Kashmiri journalist with The Week, was awarded the coveted Young Media Fellowship. He will work on issues surrounding the Australia-India bilateral relationship within multilateral framework in Asia, including the recently announced ‘Strategic Partnership’ between the two countries. During his stay in Australia he will be visiting Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra to conduct research and interviews.
HONOURED: Medical Education Minister R S Chib was conferred the honour of Professor by Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University. Congressman Chib has an engineering degree in electronics and telecommunication from Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani and Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. A resident of R S Pora, he has served airforce for 19 years.
ARRESTED: Police arrested a Special Police Officer for selling police weapons to the insurgents. He has admitted having sold a revolver to a militant for Rs 35000, police said.
CONSIDERING: As the number of visitors for the trans-LoC travel tumbles, the two sides are reportedly toying with the idea of offering on spot verification at the Zero Line to facilitate grant of permits to aspirants. No resident of J&K crossed over from Poonch route and nobody from PaK came to Kashmir through JVR last week. The new system will not do away with cumbersome verification process but will ease the system as a visitor can not go to the other side unless they give a green signal.
IMPOSED: Justice Sunil Hali of the High Court imposed a fine of Rs 2000 on Congress president Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz for setting aside the ex-parte order issued in an election petition filed by former minister and MLA National Panthers Party, Harshdev Singh.
