News Kashmir Magazine

From Salaam to Lal Salaam!!!
Owais Ahmad Shah

The word for salaam is foreign and the sentiment is not native to us.In India we have no such problem and we can see that from the endless saluting of policemen they need to do in our parts.Even those on traffic duty have to flash it each time when the senior passes by.
In India and Pakistan,the salute is made for both police and army with the palm facing out.This is different from the way Americans salute,with their palm facing down and showing only the blade of hand.The American one is easy to copy and requires less practice but the Indian one is a bit smarter and requires extra smartness.
It is always too odd of corpulent,sloppy politicians to salute the flag or return their salute at military or police functions.Even Americans didn’t return salute to the Marines guarding the helicopters at white House since actor Ronald Raegan did this first.
So,what are salutes for and what they are meant to communicate?It shows telegraph respect and the exposure of hand shows that the salute is unarmed.
What does the Roman salute communicate?
It comes from the painting by 18th century artist Jacques Louis David called the Oath of Horrati.Adapted from story in Livis Histories.It was adopted by the Nazi Party under the Hitler’s rule although it is now reviled across the world.
Hitler also did the job of bending his elbow and showing his palm which was ruthlessly mimicked by the Great Charlie Chaplin.
Another salute that is no longer visible is the Black Power salute.The elbow is moved at around 80 degrees and hand balled into a fist.
The Rashtraya Swamsewak Sangh has Cultish feeling for its salute called Zogist salute.The arm is bent at the elbow which slightly goes over the chest.Where did they get it from.Veer Savarkar has made warm references of Guissepi Mazzini and Guissepi Garibaldi and Hindutva is deeply influenced by Italians.
The above mentioned salutes bring us to another salute called the Lal salaam.This was with the elevation of Sitaram Yechury to secretary Communist Party India(Marxist).Yechury held his arm above his head and the fist turned out.This gesture communicates defiance and solidarity.

Uses and Curses of cement factories
Gowher Bhat

Nearly thirteen miles from Srinagar City, there are seven Cement factories in KHREW Kashmir. The names of the factories are under JK Cement, HK Cement, Max Cement, Cemtac Cement, ICC Cement, Arco Cement and Valley Cement. The neighboring vicinities are KHREW, Batina, and Ladoo. Families who live in these localities work in the factories and benefit from the industry.

They are holding positions such as, managers, receptionists, technical support, and laborers who load and unload the bags of cement, gravel, and sand. Fourteen-hundred trucks are affiliated with these factories, and the truck owners are employees of KHREW, Batina, and Ladoo locations. They earn a substantial income, and part of the reason is that the factories are far away from the central city — almost 80% “who live nearby, work in these factories for earning their livelihood.” I interviewed many people, and mostly they said they are grateful for the jobs.

However, there is a severe drawback; they say there are problems with air pollution, the dust that these factories produce are uncontrollable. The environmental issues are causing people to suffer from chest infections, eye infections, and viral infections. They can’t seem to get away from it; it’s on their roofs, the walls, floors, in their homes. The dust gets onto their clothes and deposits on their food. Some people told me we are not against the business, but this is becoming a severe problem. In other states of India, they have the same industry, but there is environmental control, and they use updated machinery and technology to produce less dust.

Why can’t Kashmir’s cement factories invest in proper equipment and help the people and the air quality? Complaints were made to higher authorities about this, but no one paid heed to these issues. What makes it worse is that roads are in shambles, there are potholes, and broken asphalt, that causes a lot of dust and debris when the trucks ride through them. The government should help fix these roadways, being that fourteen-hundred heavy trucks are driving through them every day.

On a personal note, although I’m glad the people can support their families on the income they earn in these factory jobs. It’s was disturbing how much dust and dirt collected on my skin, clothes, and shoes., my eyes burned, and I started coughing while I visited. There is no reason for this. The cement factories are a billion-dollar Industry. They should take care of the environmental issues and invest in updated machinery to assure people stay healthy.

“””Social networking sites… Benediction or Malediction for the
society….””””

Showkat Ahmad Dar and Engineer Firdous Nazir

Social networking is fundamentally shifting the way we interact, communicate,organise ,form opinions or even shop. It
is blurring boundaries, increasing transparency and creating fluidity in everything we do. Companies at all levels today are compelled to attend the cater their influence of social networking sites.

The reality is you need to go where your target audiences are and people are more likely to participate in social media forum
than any other venue.

Customers, partners and employees,
expect to engage with you via social media-its way for you to stay connected, gather feedback, recruit and collaborate.
The invention of social media has changed our lives tremendously. With instant messaging, unlimited access, being
a cheaper method of communication.

However,by developing addictions changing the definition of privacy creating scams and spreading anti social messages,
social media can prove to be harmful to mankind on the other
side and thus social media can be either a blessing or a curse to
the world.
It all depends on how these sites like facebook, twitter are
being used social media itself can be abused,overused and
taken advantage of. However,the of social media itself is
probably greater than the power of any person, any noble, any
ruler or even any country, But,wether the incredible power is
a blessing or a curse is also a matter to the question.
Social media like Facebook ,twitter helps an individual with instant
messaging people can get in touch with their family and
friends anywhere across the globe in seconds,and all we need
is an internet connection. Its the most effective way for business to conduct marker research about the goods and
services they promote among the public. For eg opinions. Com
is specially designed website for consumers to rate, appreciate
and criticise new products and services that have recently
been launched to the public.
On the other hand, social media brought some shortcomings
along with its Advantage .

One crucial Disadvantage is
Isolation of young people . To explain it better,even if teenagers
communicate with other people, they do this via their mobile
phones or electronic computer. They lose all contact outside
the world and became addicted to the internet.their has been
an increasingly disturbing behaviour found in students and
youngsters after their exposure towards such sites.
The adolescents may talk to someone they don’t know. Internet is posed with full dangers and one of them are the people lure
within it with malevolent intentions. Infact employees in
colleges, Universities spend less time in their work and more
time in accessing their social sites.Hence it effects the work platform
too.
Social network became a new site for artificial nikkah nama.Flock of youngsters are trapped in this coup which
affects their family touch and study schedule.
Social networking can impact health. The less a person moves
the more weight that person is likely to gain, and few calories
are being burned while sitting in front of a computer.
Computer monitors have been proven to cause eye strain,
leading to poor eyesight. Little movement has been proven to
lead to muscle weakness, less muscle development and, in
some cases, bone loss. Back, neck, and joint pain have been
associated with too much computer use. Social networkers
often spend hours networking, leading to weight and health
issues. Like all things, social networking can be beneficial in
moderation. Unfortunately, moderation and networking do not
coincide in today’s society. Social networking allows for
unnecessary risks in privacy, safety, social skills, and health.
Networking, at best, offers such ease of communication that
social skills deteriorate, and at worst, is dangerous for children
and networkers unaware of the predators lurking in the social media.
Social media is a blessing for mankind because its easy to use
cost effective, one can interact with family and friends
instantly and support and promote Business . In short its a
curse as well as blessing hangs on the shoulders of its users.
one may choose to abuse the potential of facebook or to
change the world with Twitter, the difference in your actions
may be small, but the end result varies greatly and its upto you to decide social medias role in your life.

Education for our Children has Become A Gold Mine
Written by: Gowher Bhat
The quality of Kashmir’s government education system leaves much to be desired. There are over 14,000 schools in Jammu-Kashmir, whether they are private or government-run. However, the literacy rate is rising, in the public schools, and parents are removing their children and paying for private learning facilities. Even the teachers of government schools who have children do not have faith in the government school system. They, too, are putting siblings into private learning institutions. Education is the spine of any society, but the government schools in Kashmir are failing to provide the enriched curriculums to advance our students to college level.
It’s sad to see that in the past the government schools have accommodated the poor, who could not pay private tuition. The government schools are getting unacceptable test scores due to overcrowded classrooms, disruption in school days, and not enough individual attention is given to the students. A teacher working for government schools earns decent salaries, and we need to search for a better solution to improve our education system In Jammu-Kashmir.
Now parents are placing their children in coaching centers, not even private schools. These coaching center literary hand feeds the students. The popularity of these private coaching centers loot the students’ families and have made this teaching profession become a lucrative business. It is a money minting factory, and people are recommending this to their neighbors and friends.
I visited many areas where I saw the coaching centers filled to the brim with students. It cost as much as Rs.15,000 to send their child to one of these coaching centers. What’s even worse the families that are hitting hard times can not afford this, but they feel they have no choice, their children need an education.
The government has applied some guidelines, but there’s no reinforcement. I have also learned that many tuition centers are not registered and operating illegally.
On a personal note, I need to make some recommendations. Children should not be packed into classrooms like cattle. Teachers should give incentives to their students to work harder, and curriculums need guidelines and carried out. The government should come down on those illegal coaching centers with hefty fines and close them down. Becoming a teacher is a noble profession, and they have the responsibility of holding your child’s future in their hands. They need to ban together as educators to help our children instead of getting rich off of them.