News Kashmir Magazine

Spending money in a very extravagant way or any vital resources is logically a very dangerous trait. This is bad virtue from both religious as well as moral angle. A spendthrift. Is normally an individual who does not think about tomorrow? Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die. But it is this lethargic approach which has harmed  us as most solidly  as a society and is among one of the primary reasons behind our worrying collapse as a society.

Kashmir is among the  society wherein we have such great level of spendthrift and extravagant approach.

It is known fact that  our tradition cuisine world famous Wazwan  is nothing but the representation of our spendthrift nature. As a matter of fact, Kashmiri cuisine  has evolved over hundreds of years. Subsequently, it has been strongly influenced by the cuisines of Central Asian, Persia, and the North Indian plains.

The most notable ingredient in Kashmir cuisine is mutton, of which there are over 30 varieties served during a single meal  in our marriages commonly known as “Wazwan”. But nowhere in the world except Kashmir one sees such number of dishes served and hundred tonnes of food and mutton is wasted on a given day in Kashmir.

Even our social functions like celebrations, marriages   are true representations of not only overspending, but something more than overspending. We need to take a collective pledge as a nation  to avoid extravagance so that we can achieve the desired progress.

Extravagance should be avoided if we want to move ahead.

National Bank (PNB) fraud  is a matter of great worry for one and all. PNB told the stock exchange that $ 1.8 billion or over Rs. 11,000 crore had been illegally transferred abroad to select customers from a single branch in Mumbai. “Fraudulent and unauthorized transactions” amounting to around Rs. 11,360 crore benefited “a few select account holders”.

Billionaire jewellery designer Nirav Modi had left the country on January 1 much before the CBI received a complaint from Punjab National Bank on January 29 about a Rs 280 crore fraud, officials said.

His brother Nishal, a Belgian citizen, also left the country on January 1, while wife Ami, a US citizen, and business partner Mehul Choksi, the Indian promoter of Gitanjali jewellery chain, departed on January 6, the officials said.

It is further learnt that  at least three more Indian banks – two from the public sector and one private – are likely to have been caught in the Rs 11,000-crore fraud that hit the Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Wednesday. Union Bank of India, Allahabad Bank and Axis Bank are said to have offered credit based on letters of understanding issued by PNB.

With already many voices stating that Banking sector is in trouble the latest PNB Fraud is a matter of great concern.

 

In a big boost for the media professionals of the Kashmir valley, the Director Information & Public Relations, Mr Muneer-ul-Islam today formally handed over the possession of the 9-HB Building and the premises at Polo View, Srinagar to the office-bearers of the Press Club Kashmir.

Pertinently, the demand for press club was long pending demand of the journalists .The possession letter of the building was handed over to Mr Mohammad Saleem Pandit, President Press Club Kashmir, on the directions of the Chief Minister, Ms Mehbooba Mufti to make the maiden Aiwan-e-Sahafat in Srinagar functional at the earliest.

Pertinently, the President Press Club Kashmir alongwith the Director Information had earlier called upon the Chief Minister to finalize the modalities for transfer of the building to the Press Club Kashmir.

The Chief Minister expressed the hope that the Aiwan-e-Sahafat in Srinagar would not only come up as the first facility of its kind for the media fraternity in Srinagar but also become a hub of intellectual discourse.

She said the Government has initiated various measures for the welfare of the journalists in the State during the past three years and many more initiatives are in the pipeline.

One hopes with Press Club being set up the series of isasues faced by journalists of Kashmir will get due heed.

As 2017 came to an end, people of Kashmir have pinned their hopes on a better and prosperous year 2018 especially speedy journey towards peace after witnessing much human killings in 2017 . Scores of families are still grappling to come to terms so as to deal with the havoc caused by unabated violence in Kashmir in 2017.

People of Kashmir are hoping that state and central government takes the concrete steps and takes restoration of peace process, dialogue  as priority number one.

Masses in Kashmir are also hoping that 2018 would see end to corruption prevalent in our society and system. The monster of corruption is as a matter of fact  one of the serious challenge to be faced by the new State government. Painfully enough , the power crisis in Kashmir in this harsh winter is reaching crippling proportions, with the supply-demand deficit reaching a record level. Every sector is facing problem due to frequent power cuts. The prolonged spells of load shedding has become a norm in Kashmir Valley. Ending power crisis in 2018 would be a big gift to people of Kashmir by the government.

On economic front the fiend of inflation continues to haunt a common Kashmiri, especially the rising food prices. The rise in the prices of vegetables and fruits, which shot up by two to three times in such a short time, is said to be the sharpest increase in recent nostalgia in the Valley of Kashmir.

Overall the hopes of having better 2018 are high.

As the year 2017 ends we are left with both sweet and painful memories. 2017 has been a long year. From incessant breaking news alerts to the collapse of the global terror outfit ISIS in terms of the area they hold  to a string of natural, manmade  disasters marked the year 2017.

The brutal campaign carried out against the Rohingyas in Burma by Burmese army hogged the limelight of global media. Following violence that broke out last year, more than 87,000Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from October 2016 to July 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration. At least 6,700 Rohingya were killed by Myanmar security forces in one month following a government-led crackdown in the country’s Rakhine state in late August, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

Iran was struck by powerful earthquake in Mid November . At least 452 people were killed and thousands injured after a powerful earthquake struck near the border of Iran and Iraq .

The most heated news event of the year 2017 took place in month of December when defying the global outrage USA President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The angry reactions to move are still pouring from many parts of the world. The deadly and damaging Syrian Civil war tilted towards Bashar al Assad regime in year 2017 with Russian airpower propelling him to many victories.

2017 year in India saw the ruling BJP propelling to many electoral victories in the State Elections. On 9 June – India became full member of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. 20 July – Ram Nath Kovind won the 2017 Indian presidential election with 65.65% votes against Meira Kumar, the presidential candidate of the opposition. The year 2017 was a mix bag .

Drug  menace is among  the top burning  problem confronted by humanity in the present  era of progress and technology . This vice does only leads to social, medical and psychological problems, but also have an adverse effect on the world economy. Despite concerted efforts by the world  community to prevent misuse of drugs and its illegal trafficking, it continues to flourish in several parts of the globe.

Worryingly enough, Production of drugs and its trade has so far shown no signs of decline. Instead, the trade in illegal drugs has now become a multi-billion dollar global business. According to the UN estimates, more than 50 million people across the globe are regular users of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drugs like Ecstasy. The UN report claims that millions of others are directly or indirectly involved in its production, trafficking or sale.

As a matter of great pain and shame  Thousands of  people especially youngsters n Kashmir are suffering from drug addiction. NGOs working on the subject and experts fear that if government authorities do not address the problem soon, it may assume disastrous proportions.

It is a known fact  Depression, drug addiction and suicide are all interconnected in Kashmir. The easy availability of prescription drugs for depression is a quick route to addiction, and also a potential method of overdosing. It’s not surprising, then, that alongside the drug addiction rate; the suicide rate in Kashmir is climbing.

The recent vision and tough steps  shown by the Government to curb  this menace is well come step but more needs to be done.

All  the worrying realities call for all the concerned stakeholders that we as a society need to put an end to this menace and crack down on poppy cultivators and drug traffickers everywhere.

Kashmir is known all over the world for its beautiful  handicrafts products. One of the well known  handicraft products of the valley of Kashmir has been the Kani shawls. Kani Shawls are woven on a fame-loom using fine wooden sticks locally called ‘Tooj’i, which have coloured woolen threads attached to them. A Kani shawl takes about three months to a year for an artisan to complete depending on the embroidery and fetches from 20, 000 rupees) to 80,000 rupees .

As a matter of fact, The name kani shawl has a rich legacy  behind it. This shawl derives its name from Kanihama, a small village on Srinagar-Gulmarg road were this variety of popular shawls was first woven.

The technique of Kani Shawl weaving has rich legacy behind it. been termed as the ’twill tapestry weave by Sir John Irwin, keeper at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and a well known researcher on the subject, because of its similarity to the technique traditionally employed in Western Europe for tapestry weaving.

It is worth pointing out that the Kani shawl has been historically fashioned using fine hand spun Pashmina & Shahtoosh fibres which have further added to its affluence and earned it the name of ‘ring shawls’ meaning that it can pass through a ring.

. The Kani shawl is woven on based of talim which indicate the color and the number of warp threads to be covered.

Worryingly  the younger generation of Kashmiris is not very much interested in taking over Kani shawl weaving on account of economic uncertainty associated with it. Due to economic uncertainty and it is need of hour that the government takes all steps to promote it .

Padmavati movie is currently creating lot of heated debate and controversies .It is an upcoming Indian epic period drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, based on the epic poem Padmavat (1540) by Malik Muhammad JayasiThe film is also inspired by the Tamil film Chittoor Rani Padmini (1960).[4] The film features Deepika Padukone in the title role as Rani Padmavati, alongside Shahid Kapooras Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khilji, with Aditi Rao Hydari and Jim Sarbh in supporting roles. Initially scheduled for release on 1 December 2017, the film has been indefinitely postponed following numerous controversies.

The film became a subject of controversy during production and also before release . There were allegations from groups such as the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a Rajput caste organisation, claiming that the film is depicting inaccurate facts, portraying the Rajput queen Padmavati in a bad light, with activists vandalizing the sets of the film. However, a sting operation[69] conducted by an Indian news channel  showed that the activists had planted the controversies in order to extort money from the filmmakers.

The sets of the film were first vandalized in January 2017. Several historians responded to the vandalism, with The Times of India reporting, “Sufi poet Jayasi made up the story that later got legend status, so Bhansali can’t be threatened for taking creative licence with the tale, say historians

Following Shri Rajput Karni Sena’s threat to Deepika Padukone, the Chatriya Samaj in Uttar Pradesh recently announced a reward of Rs 5 crore to anyone beheading Padmavati’s director Sanjay Leela Bhansali and the actress.

The emotions being flared up  by some corners over Padmavati are cause of concern and will not have good results for the society.