News Kashmir Magazine

“News Channels have Turned into Recreation Channels”
Showkat Ahmad Dar and Zubair Ahmad

There is an Old Quote “Quality is better than Quantity” This is
something which news channels of the present era need to
understand. As the media sector is seeing cut throat
competition the news channels nowadays resort to anything
and everything they could do to fetch high TRp’s. A
Trp, as known popularly, is the target racing point for
calculation purpose. This device also known as people’s meter
judges and records the time and the programme that a viewer
watches on a particular day.
News channels have steered their wheels towards
entertainment because the just cause of real and serious
issues are not capable of catching the interests of the viewers,
thus reducing their profit. Entertainment has encroached much
space in the news channels because of the Hype, Sensational
and voyeuristic opportunities in has to offer. Competition is
also one major reason that compelled news channels to take
shape of infotainment channels. i. e telecast informative as
well as entertaining content. News channels had no option that
to spice and grayish issues with drama to vie away other
channel from their share of Trps and profit.infotainment will
remain a strong presence on news channel till the indian
viewership matures, in order to pull the maximum revenue
from the viewers.
Paid news has also became a huge source of income for news
channels. Paid news is promotion of institution, Products,
services etc that have paid for it. This is much like
advertisement. These new channels are now much concerned
about the popularity of politicians property, Popularity of daily
shops and about the celebrities personal life and than real
issues concerning the public. In the past news channels were
largely focused on hourly news bulletin comprising major
political and other news events, Human interests etc. But
nowadays news channels have moved from serious news
reporting and analysis to tabloid television, sensational
impactful and dramatic format which relies more on breaking
news of every kind rather than serious news.
Till a decade ago news channel were known for their content
editorial standards and degree of impartiality and unbiased
telecasts. But gradually news channels are covering special
programme on entertainment available just like other channels
viz Saas Bahu aur Beetiyan on Aaj tak and Saas Bahu aur
Saazish on star news. They also have special shows to catch
up with celebrities and their partying ways much like the Page
3coverage in newspapers viz shows such as “Night out” on
Ndtv.
News readers and weekly debate anchors that were also
newsreaders on week days were known as professional
television journalists working for a certain channel. As a result
of today certain channels are known by their star anchors like
arnab Swami,Barkha Dutt and Rajat sharma, to name just a
few, just as daily soaps are known by their main characters
and Tv stars that play them.
Now, the question arises that why news channels have
deviated themselves from their primary duty.? On most news
channels political,Government news was given prominence,
followed by crime/law and order.The defects should ideally be
addressed and corrected in a democratic manner. Such
irresponsible journalism should be discarded. Journalists
cannot avoid their social and moral responsibilities towards
the society.Their work demand portraying the vertical truth of
the society. So, they must not compromise with anything to
reveal the truth.

Tribute to Brother
By Umar Bashir

A beautiful garden now stands alone,
missing the one who nurtured it,
But now is gone….
weeds lay waiting to take the gardens beauty away…..
the beautiful memories of its keeper are in our hearts to stay….
a candle flickers,out of sight….
but in my heart, still burn bright..

Everytime I close my eyes to visualize….
your face when you were here….

Fills my Heart and soul with love and embraces ..
HushS me and heals me when I am very tired….

As I kiss you on your cold brow,
A last tearful glance as you’re taken away….
There is nothing anyone could do or say…
My pleas and tears won’t bring you back to me…

Did you see me gently kiss you goodbye on your cold brow,
And hear me ask how I was to continue without you now?
Did you hear the sobs and see the tears flowing from me,
Before you answered calls from across a vast eternal sea?
For I’d want you to know, before your spirit had to depart,
That you had left love’s precious gifts for a grieving heart……

….for u my BELOVED BHAI..

The Modi X-factor!!!
Owais Ahmad Shah

The recent hot off the press news about the landslide victory of BJP has taken the centre stage.What goes into this resounding victory is the fortie and knack of a terrific figure called Narendra Modi.A man of can-do and obdurate character.His charisma has worked astoundingly well for BJP to have the people in the palm of his hand.
Media has termed his victory as Tsunamo-2.0.This is not only the victory for BJP but also a strong message that has been sent across.As the pollsters had predicted for Modi thumping victory,analysts in numbers believed this theory to be wrong but the tables were turned to BJP’s side when the whole country celebrated democracy in its new avatar.
It would be fair to say that Modis enviable sureness of touch opened doors for BJPs stunning success.
Having cultivated a strong image,Modis precision and profundity has added more polish to the BJP. Till yesterday,it may have been a party that had been voted to power for a certain time but today it’s invincibility rises above Congress.It has not only supplanted the grand idea of Congress but has put down its roots too deep and has set a new challenge for tomorrow.
Multitude of people vehemently posit the argument that Modi may have failed in past for delivering all his promises that he made with the people but now the future augurs well.People have twice pinned their faith in him for changing the existing narrative of politics.
It’s stark evident that BJP has covered whole India on the platter except Tamil Nadu,Kerela where it still seems to be in its infancy but the larger part of India which determine the national politics is completely mawed in by it.
The theory of shrugging off the BJP image and sprouting up the leaves of Congress is considerably proven to be wrong and the likely demise of Congress is evident.No one would have expected before one or two months that BJP will emerge as a powerhouse but it has not only emerged but has also maintained a stronghold in Indian politics.
Congress has miserably failed and can be seen as those kids who bunk off their classes for not having done their homework.

Kashmiri Families Prefer Male Children Over Female
Writes Gowher Bhat.

Indian history and culture brought many circumstances where females were given less human rights to live than males. There are regions in Northern India, that is publicly known as ('the girl killer belt.") Even though abortion became legal in Jammu and Kashmir several decades ago, the law was passed to allow women to terminate their pregnancy safely if the condition endangered their health.
However, through the years the law was abused, and the Health Department has received statistics showing proof that there is a decline in female births, since the invention of the ultrasound. The machine can detect the sex of an unborn child in the earliest stages of pregnancy. When officials at the Health Department compared their statistics from the past years, it became apparent that for every two male babies born; there was one female birth, and the ratio of male babies was increasing.
 After investigations, they discovered women had ultrasounds to undergo sex-selective abortions. One woman admitted she terminated four female pregnancies and she will keep aborting until she gives birth to a boy. The discrimination has become so widely spread throughout India that women who deliver female babies do not want to breast-feed them after birth and abandon their girl baby at the hospital. Thousands of female newborn babies have died due to starvation and neglect in the past 20 years under the care of the parents. The 2001 census showed there were  859 girls for every 1,000 boys. The Director of Health Services in Kashmir, admits that authorities have become complacent and have not charted these activities because the ultrasound clinics had reputable reputations.
A law was passed in 1994 against sex-selection throughout India. A legislative bill called the PNDT Act (Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Act). Government regional workers and officers in Kashmir worry by the uprising of foeticide that has taken place throughout the decades. Health officials in the state have taken action ordering their officers to raid suspicious ultrasound clinics, including numerous diagnostic clinics in the Kashmir Valley. There are currently over 100 ultrasound clinics that have applied for legal registration, but no data for the ones who haven't applied. The registration requirements have been set up to help keep track of activities in the clinics that are to record and report every pregnancy tests conducted.
In short, this affects India in dozens of ways, eradicating a gender causes an unbalance in society and leads to disturbing practices, like wife buying and abuse. Many Kashmiri women have suffered silently without assistance under the history of discrimination and denial. Some women angrily said, "Why bother having a girl. I'm just passing the problems onto the child. She will  go through the same."
 Kashmir appears to have been putting its own back to the wall for years by underplaying these unlawful practices of female elimination. According to the "Women News Network Article of 2011,
 "The major reason for this is the basic thinking among people and what we characterized as gender discrimination; the citizens feel that both of the sexes are not equal," said Dr. Dabler. "While as the male roles are considered desirable and preferable, women roles are considered damaging because girls undermine  their families financial status and cast."
The families in the Valley feel this way because female children cause financial burdens in the future like the Dowry System, most lower class can't afford to pay their daughter's husband and family. There's the weak  Social Security System, by having a boy assures his parents' that their son will take care of them in their elder years. 
The government of India has began educating all stakeholders. It is clearing up the public misconceptions by emphasizing that sex determination is illegal, but abortion is legal for the women who have specific medical conditions. The government is also implementing programs that seek and reduce gender discrimination, by addressing the underlying social cause of sex selection. These policies provide conditional cash transfer and scholarships only available to girls, where payments of a girl and her parents link to each stage of her life such as when she is born, completion of her childhood immunizations, her enrolling in school at grade 1, her completing school grades 6, 9 and 12, and her marriage past the  age 21. Some states are offering higher pension benefits to parents who raise one or two girls. However, on the flip side what makes all these programs ineffective is that they target only lower-income households while ignoring the population of higher income households partaking in female sex determination tests, and selective sex abortions. The stipulations are different, but selective sex abortions are proven to be higher amongst upper-class families. 
On a personal note, this is very disturbing to me. To abort a child because of gender is against morality, undermining human rights and religious beliefs.  If we keep killing the female babies, the gender will eradicate. I hope that the government enforces the law aggressively, and become forceful with their crusade with their implemented programs. Otherwise, India will be a whole different country in decades to come.

E – Waste: Dark Side of Digital Age
Showkat Ahmad Dar and Zubair Ahmad
We are living in a world driven by technology and the
technology is evolving at a rapid pace.The mobiles have
given way to smartphones, television has given the way to LEd
And LCd and desktops has given way to laptops and tablets.
The moment a new model of a product is launched in the
market the previous one becomes obsolete. ost of the time
the obsolete stuff is discarded as a waste product. These
unwanted non working or obsolete electronic products which
have reached the the end of their shelf life are known as e-
waste.These include the discarded electronic products such
as computers, mobiles, washing machines, etc to name a few.
The developed countries produce millions of tonnes of e
waste every year. Millions of tonnes of e waste is illegally
dumped in the developing countries. In the developing countries
this e waste is dumped into landfills, incinerators and ill
equipped recycling facilities. Methods such as acid baths and
burning of electronics are used for the recovery of the useful
material.These methods in turn pose serious health issues and
can be harmful to the individuals who are involved in these.
My kashmir also accepted the blessings of science.Flock of
youth are now addicted by the electronic equipments.Due to
poor Management system this utility has tendency to pose
further threats and health issues to kashmir a land on
paradise.
These equipments contained serious toxin harmful chemicals
which can cause liver, heart and skeletal system damage.
Besides they known to have a deteriorating effect on the
nervous and reproductive systems of the human body.
The rampantly growing environmental footprint of the e waste is
indeed a cause of worry. Its the responsibility of both the
consumers and producers to manage the growing e waste.
We the citizens need to understand our responsibility towards
the environment also. The regulatory authorities can classify
the waste material into different grades and provide
guidelines for the decomposition of waste in each category.
People need to be made aware of the e waste and its
hazardous side effects. The government educational institutions
and NGos need to come forward to contribute their share. The
govt needs to come up with strict rules regarding e waste and
their proper implementation should be taken care of.
Defaulters need to be penalized heavily.
The united nations environment programme created the Basel
convention in 1989 in order to keep a check on the rising e
waste menace. It requires Collective effort from the consumer
the producer and the govt to handle, manage and dispose the
e waste efficiently.Morever the Concept of 3R’s i. e Reduce,
Reuse, and Recycle can play a vital role in the e waste
management.

Are we protesting too much?
Owais Ahmad Shah

Right to assemble peaceably and peacefully for grave concerns and hold protests is our fundamental right.This is our genuine demand for ramming home the message about multiple concerns.When a student protests in his uniform,we may hope that the protest will confirm to the precepts of moral decency.A well-mannered,disciplined protest.A student always clings on to the idea that pen is mightier than the sword.But when this pen turns into a sword then it spreads a wrong message across.We are often taught in our schools that we shall maintain discipline and other students should take cue from us.
The Kashmir outlook of student holding protests is completely bleak.We have a right to give vent to our frustration on streets.We have a right to offer support to the cause.But we shall remember that we don’t have a right to descend to violence.The moment we start slipping into violence,our all efforts of holding the protest is reduced to zero.
Our all protests turn ugly and sink into an orgy of violence and lawlessness.Where we have gone wrong?.Well we are a bit disorderly and disorganized.The first thing that we must do is to have things regimented.
In the recent past,our all protests have been spotlighted for our recklessness and indecency.The law has no faith in us.To avoid any untoward incident we are said to relax at our homes.They know we are a agitated.
In the recent days,a horrendous rape crime of a three year old kid took place in Bandipora.Our protest was genuine.But where we ended up.We were supposed to hold a peaceful protest.Well we did peacefully protest at many places.But at many places we lost our cool and ended up as usual in violence.
At many places,our classwork has been suspended.The badly hit education system is a bit exacerbated by our own actions.We have a right to protest and we shall protest.But we need to bear one thing in mind that we need to be organized and our protest should not bear scars for the rest of our future.
The writer is student at GDC Handwara

J&K Police &it’s people!!!
Owais Ahmad Shah
Police at your service is a mantra that keeps repeating itself on and on.For maintaining law and order,police has a key role to safeguard its people against any harm.But in the conflict-torn state like Kashmir,donning police uniform is not an easy thing.You will have to be ready for any mishap.You will be abused,baited and sometimes you fall in the line of death.The one question that may strike on our minds is,Have they failed in reaching out to the people in such a way so that people could have pinned faith in them or is there any massive handicap that exists and leads to the vacuum.People are carrying a vacant expression in their faces and always carry a chip on their shoulder for what they term as the police atrocities.But is this frustration and a sense of alienation from the police going to disappear or will this keep on ringing alarm bells for the rest of our future.In Kashmir,a certain section of Police designated as Special Operations Group work in collaboration with the Indian Army to counter militancy related operations.The group is working apart from a larger section of police that is supposed to work for other grave issues that are confronted by people at large.
We may ask the question of joining Police force to a larger section of young people in Kashmir and the only thing that is writ large for many of us to hear from them is the complete refusal and a sense of demeaning if they join police.
In the recent past a massive number of militants have been put to silence.With the rise of a new age born militant Burhan Wani,the sense of alienation is growing faster.These militants are our own young boys.
A massive number of policemen have also borne brunt of this turmoil.These policemen also come from our own families.So what lies beneath this miasma of despair is the way things are described and understood.
In a nutshell,it’s for sure that J&K Police will have to face challenges,there will be no-hope and a sense of despair.But there is a fresh line drawn parallel to countering militancy and that is police working hand in hand with people for curbing social menaces like rape,drug addiction and other issues.
The writer is student at GDC Handwara