News Kashmir Magazine

Worrying Climate Change in Kashmir 

News Kashmir Analysis 

Climate Change is one of the serious issues facing humanity.  In a ecologically fragile zone like Kashmir the climate change is also becoming a serious issue.

As a matter of fact, Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

The main greenhouse gases that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for example. Clearing land and cutting down forests can also release carbon dioxide. Agriculture, oil and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main sectors causing greenhouse gases.

On the other hand of the spectrum, Climate scientists have showed that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years. Human activities like the ones mentioned above are causing greenhouse gases that are warming the world faster than at any time in at least the last two thousand years.

The average temperature of the Earth’s surface is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s (before the industrial revolution) and warmer than at any time in the last 100,000 years. The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record, and each of the last four decades has been warmer than any previous decade since 1850.

How the Spring season gave feel of winters this year  and how less snow was witnessed this year in Kashmir is all but evident of worrying climate change.

Last year, it was revealed that 

The average mean temperature in Jammu and Kashmir has increased in the last 28 years due to climate change, a senior official said last year . He said agriculture is the only sector that can help reduce poverty by raising incomes and food security for 80 per cent of the world’s poor populace.

“J&K is also witnessing the brunt of climate change and average mean temperature in last 28 years has climbed up by 2.32°C and 1.45°C in Jammu and Kashmir region, respectively,” Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Atal Dulloo said after inaugurating a two-day international conference on “existing climate change scenario and its arising risks” here.

Also the expert pulse is that,

should prepare ourselves and our farmers to adapt to these weather changes so that they do not suffer on the economic front.

On the otherhand of spectrum, this year the 

The quite fluid and unusualweather conditions in the Kashmir Valley have kept the residents and farmers on edge. As the May rains continue in June, when the locals were expecting an ideal sunny afternoon, the direct impact of climate change on the Himalayan region is keeping the growers anxious.

Farmers from several districts of the Valley are worried that the heavy, and untimely, rainfall along with hailstorms is also  damaging the crops.

The climate change is undoubtedly a issue of serious nature for a place like Kashmir and we need to take steps to mitigate its impacts, otherwise sectors like agriculture would be badly hurt.

World Blood Donor Day 2023

Blood donation is key part of saving lives on the planet.  

The world Blood Donar Day provides an opportunity to call to action to governments and national health authorities to provide adequate resources and put into place systems to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, non-renumerated blood donors. Safe blood and blood products and their transfusion are significant aspects of care and public health. Every day, they save millions of lives and improve the health and quality of various patients.

World Blood Donor Day is observed on 14 June to mark the anniversary of Karl Landsteiner. It was first celebrated in 2004 to spread awareness about the need for regular blood donations and its requirement to save lives. On this day, Blood Donors donate blood themselves to save the lives whether of accident victims or those who are in need of blood transfusion for the surgeries.

The transfer of blood or components of blood from one person i.e. donor into the bloodstream of another person i.e. the recipient. It acts as a lifesaving operation to replace blood cells or blood products lost through bleeding or due to depression of the bone marrow.

As a matter of fact, in May 2005, WHO officially established with its 192 Member States, World Blood Donor Day at the 58th World Health Assembly in order to motivate all the countries worldwide to thank the blood donors for their precious step and saving lives of the people.

Objectives of celebrating World Blood Donor Day

– To provide a global platform to thank individuals who donate blood and to encourage those who have not yet donated.To raise awareness that blood donation action benefits society as a whole.

We should take pledge to donate blood on eve of world blood donor Day 2023 .

Say no to Tobacco

News Kashmir Analysis 

Tobacco is a monster adversely hitting our society. Throughout world and also in our country India it poses a grim challenge. Rampant Tobacco use is also a challenge for Jammu and Kashmir region.

Recently This yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what WHO is doing to fight the tobacco epidemic, and what people around the world can do to claim their right to health and healthy living and to protect future generations.

The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes. In 1987, the World Health Assembly passed Resolution WHA40.38, calling for 7 April 1988 to be a “a world no-smoking day.” In 1988, Resolution WHA42.19 was passed, calling for the celebration of World No Tobacco Day, every year on 31 May.

The data points out serious issues we are seeing on front of Tobacco use in Kashmir. 

About 32 percent men and one percent women consume tobacco in Jammu and Kashmir with cigarettes being the main tobacco product, NHFS-5 data revealed.

Official data available showed that only 1 percent of women in the age 15-49 group use some form of tobacco.

“Tobacco products mostly used by men are cigarettes (27%), bidis (4%), hookah and cigars or pipe (2% each). Among women and men, the use of any form of tobacco is slightly higher in rural areas (1.4% for women and 35% for men) than in urban areas (0.7% for women and 24% for men),” the data adds. “Over one-third (35%) of men who smoke cigarettes smoked 5 to 9 cigarettes in the past 24 hours.”

The data observed around 0.2 percent women in urban areas and 0.5 in rural areas use cigarettes while 21.1 men in urban areas and 28.7 percent in rural areas smoke cigarettes.

We need to bear in mind that  There are 267 million tobacco users in India, making it the country with the second largest number of tobacco users in the world (behind China).

Approximately 100 million people ages 15 and older currently smoke tobacco (cigarettes and bidis).

Approximately 200 million people ages 15 and older use smokeless tobacco.

Tobacco use is higher in rural areas, among those with a lower socioeconomic status, and among those with lower levels of education.

Tobacco use prevalence is also significantly higher among men (42.4%) versus women (14.2%).

Despite increased awareness campaigns and stringent regulations, tobacco use continues to impact the youth in various ways, leading to both immediate and long-term consequences.

The pulse on ground zero in Kashmir, Country and world is that steps should be taken to end use of tobacco.

G20 tourism summit : A historical opportunity for Kashmir 

News Kashmir Exclusive 

History has been written in golden words.On the shores of the Dal Lake, Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Centre (SKICC) is all set to host this year’s largest international summit from May 22 to May 24. Kashmir hosting G20 summit on Tourism is a historically much optimistic news for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Tourism players in Kashmir believe that the G20 Summit can attract investors and tourists from across the globe.

Stating that G-20 was purely a peoples’ event, Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on April 15 said the event would provide a great opportunity to push J-K’s handloom, handicraft, Pashmina, and dry fruit to international markets.

To make the occasion attractive and historic, Srinagar has been transformed into a smart city.

As plans were being finalised for the third meeting of the G20 tourism working group, Kashmir is getting ready to welcome visitors from a number of nations.

“G-20 which is scheduled to be held from May 22 to May 24 in Srinagar will provide an opportunity to push J-K’s handloom, handicraft, Pashmina, dry fruit, saffron and other products to international markets.

“This is a great opportunity to showcase the real potential of the Union Territory to the world. It is not administration’s event but purely a people’s one,” the J-K LG said.

The G20 tourism summit would take place at a time when Kashmir is experiencing a boom in tourism and J-K draws significant investments in the tourism sector, besides medical cities, educational institutions, and other sectors.

We spoke to number of iconic personalities on the importance of the event for Kashmir. 

Rekha Mody, eminent women face of the country and head Stree Shakti and world traveller states:” G20 summit is a historical occasion for Kashmir. 

Biggest prospect of  prosperity of Kashmir valley is  tourism as in case of Switzerland. Peace will ensure flourishing tourism which will bring economic empowerment for all its native people. Both domestic and global tourism arrivals would see great change  with respect to Kashmir valley.”

Dr Kuwarani Ritu singh, eminent educationist and hospitality personality of the country stated :” 

Under the G20 presidency, the tourism and hospitality sector in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is poised to receive a significant boost to its economy. As one of the largest service industries globally, the tourism and hospitality sector plays a crucial role in driving economic growth and development. With the increasing influx of international tourists, Jammu and Kashmir has the potential to capitalize on this opportunity and further enhance its position as a prominent tourist destination.

The tourism and hospitality industry is one of the largest service industries in India. As other parts of hospitality rely heavily on the success of this all-encompassing sector, without travel and tourism, all businesses in any given location, would not be able to grow or even sustain themselves without this sector.

The recent upward trends in the growth of tourism in Jammu and Kashmir have greatly benefitted the hospitality sector. 

The rise in religious and experiential tourism can be catered to through Jammu and Kashmir’s cultural heritage, adventure sports, and spiritual tourism offerings along with sustainable and eco-friendly tourism practices placed ideally against the picturesque backdrop of Jammu and Kashmir’s breath-taking landscapes. 

The emergence of digital platforms and social media has transformed travel experiences, and hospitality businesses can leverage these tools to showcase their offerings.

By promoting film and adventure tourism, Jammu and Kashmir can diversify its tourism offerings and attract a wider range of travelers, ultimately bolstering the economy and creating employment opportunities within the hospitality sector.”

Elected representatives are also voicing their opinions. Safina Baig, Chairman DDC Baramulla stated : ” G20 session in Kashmir is a positive development of historic proportions.  The need of the hour is now that we build the required infrastructure to cater to growing needs of tourism and progress. Often escalating airfares is without a doubt a serious challenge and we need to take a holistic look into it and make them normal. Tourism , international summits all will contribute to peace and prosperity in region.”

Even eminent voices are sharing thoughts  on sustainable tourism.

Shahala Ali Sheikh, renowned entrepreneur and environmentalist stated :” 

 if you really think that the environment is less important than the economy – then try holding your breath while you count your money . We are hopeful that G20 Tourism summit in Kashmir would further strengthen the sustainable tourism in our entire region.”

Dr. Rashmi Singh, IAS, Commissioner Tax Jammu and Kashmir states :”Tourism promotion gives a significant boost to taxes we collect in form of GST.This is on account of hosts of services associated with tourism that come under tax net.

All hotels with room rents over 1000 have to charge GST as per recent notification. We are also bringing awareness amongst other service providers like house boat owners to collect and pay taxes on booking done by them

 Revenue thus collected after all goes to boost infrastructure which in turn further boosts tourism. So development and tax are interconnection.”

G20 tourism summit in Kashmir is a great opportunity to see peace and prosperity in entire region.

Rain Drains Trade 

Rameez Makhdoomi 

We are going through an era of economic slowdown. The pandemic of Coronavirus has adversely hit hard economy of every region in one way or the other.

In this context, the festivity season becomes great opportunity to revive fortunes. Kashmir valley too is witnessing since some years much slow economic activity and Eid ul Fitr like grand festival offers buisness community to gain profit from their buisness activity and earn valuable financial resources.

Unfortunately enough, during the ongoing Eid Ul Fitr festival the heavy rain continued for several days hit hard the economic fortunes of scores of traders and buisnessmen.

On their part, Traders stated that  sales dipped by 50% due to incessant rains before Eid. 

Rains drenched valley plains for the third day in a row on Thursday, with traders expressing disappointment over a “50 percent” dip in sales, ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.

It is worth mentioning here that diverse works of progress and development  being done through Smart City project in the city for the past several months had also kept Eid shoppers away from prominent markets, especially Polo View,  Lal Chowk and the Residency Road. Many customers preferred to visit markets in the Old City for Eid shopping instead of the city centre.

The worst hit were the street vendors of Kashmir who depend on festivals like Eid for their livelihood.  Heavy and drenching rains made their street vending almost impossible. 

However, the positive aspect was that Bakery related buisness and Butchers , poultry professionals did a sound buisness.

Trade and Buisness experts have often opined that 

the overall business post-Covid is down in the different areas of Kashmir  Valley markets.

Young girls and women who are often seen in Kashmir buying 

utensils, fashion products, clothes, or jewellery but due to the inclement weather, they thought  twice about whether to venture out or not. 

In related development, On the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Divisional Commissioner (Div Com) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri  extended his greetings to the people of Kashmir.

In his festival message, Div Com Kashmir prayed that this Eid brings peace and prosperity and espouses harmony among citizens.

He said this festival teaches “us to share happiness with poor and needy people by offering charity generously.”

The need of the hour is both the Government and society ponders over the fact that how to compensate for the losses of traders and also street vendors especially in the backdrop of recent heavy rains during current festivity season.

Without a doubt rain has drained trade in Kashmir.

World Haemophilia Day 

April 17, 2023 is World Hemophilia Day. The theme of the event this year is “Access for All: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care”. Building on last year’s theme, the call to action for the community in 2023 is to come together and advocate with local policy makers and governments for improved access to treatment and care with an emphasis on better control and prevention of bleeds for all people with bleeding disorders (PWBDs). This means the implementation of home-based treatment as well as prophylactic treatment to help those individuals have a better quality of life.

World Hemophilia Day is a global healthcare event celebrated on the 17th of April every year, started by the World Federation of Haemophilia (WHF) with the intention to raise a call for the government authorities and local policymakers for the provision of a better treatment and care in addition to promote better control and prevention with haemophilia.

A rare severe, inherited haemorrhagic disorder, haemophilia is caused by malfunction of factor VIII and factor IX protein (factors required for blood clotting/ coagulation), leading to an abnormality in blood coagulation. Although people of all races and ethnicities can be diagnosed with haemophilia, men are more likely to be affected because the ailment is connected to the X chromosome. There is a 

50% probability that a boy whose mother carries the haemophilia gene will also be affected by haemophilia, and her daughter being 50% risk of being carrier. Hence, haemophilia is more common in males, despite the fact that it can affect females causing difficulties with menstruation and childbirth.

In 2000, it was estimated that 4 lakh persons, or around 1 in 10,000 live births, were affected by this disorder worldwide, and only 25% of those affected had access to adequate treatment. In 2019, however, a meta-analysis showed that the number of men with the inherited bleeding condition is far higher, at 11.25 lakh. 

Even in high-income nations, only about 15% of the global population, has access to effective treatment for haemophilia. The lack of resources for diagnosis and treatment leads to high mortality and morbidity rates in low- and middle-income countries.

We in Jammu and Kashmir like region should also take pledge to provide best diagnosis, care, drugs and treatment to hundreds of patients facing this Haemophilia disease.

In India, a large  per cent of haemophilia cases are still undiagnosed especially in remote area, and the need of the hour is we pledge to make situations better for Haemophilia disease patients.

Jammu and Kashmir needs an effective policy to tackle Haemophilia as expert pulse is many cases still go undiagnosed.

Crimes against Women

News Kashmir Analysis 

Women are as important as men for taking forward the wheels of human civilization,  but unfortunately often crimes against women are blot on society.

In India too crimes against women are issues of serious nature.

Around 1 crore cases of crimes against women were registered under the national crime records bureau (NCRB) in the last five years, the central government informed Parliament few time back.

The union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra was replying to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Fauzia Khan who had sought details on the crimes against women and urged the government to shed light on steps it was taking to curb such incidents.

Replying on the same, MoS Mishra said, “The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 mandates completion of investigation and filing of charge sheet in rape cases in 2 months and trials to also be completed in 2 months (Section 173 CrPC). Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched the “National Database on Sexual Offenders” (NDSO) on 20 September, 2018 to facilitate investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country. MHA has launched an online analytic tool “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigation in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018.

Nearly 31,000 complaints of crimes committed against women were received by the National Commission for Women (NCW) in 2022, the highest since 2014. In 2021, the NCW had received 30,864 complaints while in 2022, the number slightly increased to 30,957.

Of the 30,957 complaints, the maximum of 9,710 were related to the right to live with dignity that takes into account the emotional abuse of women, followed by those related to domestic violence at 6,970 and dowry harassment at 4,600, according to NCW data accessed by PTI.

The hope on ground zero is that we all give collective efforts to end crimes against women.

As a matter of fact, In 2021, on an average, there was a case of crime against women registered every 74 seconds in India.

Two minor girls were raped every day in 2021 in the national capital, which was the most unsafe metropolitan city for women across the country, according to the latest report of NCRB.

According to an analysis of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), nearly one in every three reported crimes against a woman from 2016 to 2021 pertained to the “cruelty” of her husband and/or his relatives.

The findings, published in MoSPI’s ‘Women and Men in India 2022’ report, released earlier this month, show that cruelty by husbands and their relatives is the most commonly reported form of violence against women in India.

In Kashmir valley too heinous crimes against women have taken place in recent times which have rattled entire society. The data shows sharp increase in crimes against women in Kashmir. 

Rising Crimes 

News Kashmir Analysis 

The rising crime rate in Jammu and Kashmir is a serious matter of concern. Such crimes are happening that were unheard in the history of Kashmir.

The brutal Budgam Soibug Murder has rocked entire Kashmir . This has brought to fore the utmost brutality in some minds who committ humanity ravaging crimes.

Recently, the officials  told the Kashmir News Service (KNS), that the girl was missing from last four days in Soibugh village of Budgam district. The 45-year-old man identified as Shabir Ahmad Wani son of Abdul Aziz Wani, a resident of Mohanpora Ompora, a carpenter by profession killed a 30-year-old girl of Soibug at his home in Mohanpora Ompora, he said.

He chopped off her head, sliced the body into pieces and dumped the same at different spots in Budgam, they said .

During questioning, the man has revealed that he has murdered the girl and cut her body into pieces and disposed off at different locations i,e Railway bridge Ompora and Sebden, where from her head and other parts of body were recovered last night, Police said.

The accused person has been arrested, all the body parts were recovered from location.

Last year it was known that 

overall crime graph in Jammu and Kashmir increased by 24.6 per cent in 2021 as compared to the previous year, while the cases of violent crimes declined marginally, the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) said in its latest report.

The overall crime graph in Jammu and Kashmir increased by 24.6 per cent in 2021 as compared to the previous year, while the cases of violent crimes declined marginally, the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) said .

Expert pulse is also stating that increase in thr heinous crimes especially in the valley of Kashmir over the past few years is the direct result of moral degradation in the society, as youth have lost pulse with the morality and society pulse . Moral degradation has reached optimum levels which needs to be reined in.

The need of the hour is to do a introspection in the society so as to arrest the rising rate of crimes in the society.

APTECH ROW

News kashmir Analysis 

A free and fair recruitment process in the Jobs is the need of the hour for one and all. In Jammu and Kashmir unemployment has been a plague eating the society especially our youth.

The hope on Government jobs is thus much,and burn there day and night to get Government jobs. The fraud and corrupt process in the recruitment of Government jobs has been making life of our youth hard and killing their dreams. The recruitment agencies engaged are often in the news for all the wrong reasons. Currently,  APTECH engaged by the premier Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board JKSSB has caused much furore,  which needs to be looked for the better future of our youth.

On the other hand of the spectrum the protesting youth have hit the road.

Scores of Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB) job aspirants gathered here in Press Enclave on Wednesday, 8 March, 2023,  to protest against the purported grant of contract to APTECH Ltd. for conduct of various exams.

The protesters, as reported by GNS, demanded that the LG administration must investigate as to why paper leaks and scams only occur in Kashmir.

“All blacklisted companies should be banned in Jammu and Kashmir, until action is taken against these blacklisted companies, no student will sit for any competitive exams,” the protestors said.

The recent move of the Jammu and Kashmir government to again consider Aptech Ltd to conduct various exams including the Finance Account Assistant exam stirred the protestors.

Even in Jammu the anger hit the streets. Police resorted to cane charge and detained a large number of job aspirants in Jammu after they tried to stage a massive protest.

The protesters had assembled outside Dogra Chowk in the heart of the city and tried to take out a march but police swung into action and restored to cane-charge and detained several youths, the officials said. Police said protestors tried to take out a march in violation of prohibitory orders.

It is the need of the hour to revisit the role of the Aptech Company which is assigned to hold examinations for various posts of JKSSB in separate government departments.

Even the polity of Jammu and Kashmir is now speaking against APTECH.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Minister Sajad Lone asked JKSSB on APTECH issue that you can’t thrust a black listed company on our future:

LOne said “I have received a lot of emails and messages about APTECH which has been blacklisted in other states .

One hopes this issue is resolved soon as per wishes of youth.