News Kashmir Magazine

Wild life is a very notable ingredient of our ecology and our ecological balance   depends upon a healthy and varied wild life. We cannot in any manner chip away at the significance of wild life. When Compared to plants, animals although make up only a small part of the total mass of living matter on earth. Despite this, they play a important part in shaping and maintaining our natural environments

 

Many environments are directly influenced by the way animals live. Grasslands, for example, exist partly because grasses and grazing animals have evolved a close partnership, which prevents other plants from taking hold. Tropical forests also owe their existence to animals, because a large amount of their trees rely on animals to distribute their pollen and seeds. Soil is partly the result of animal activity, because earthworms and other invertebrates help to break down dead remains and recycle the nutrients that they contain. Without its animal life, the soil would soon become compacted and infertile.

 

But as a matter of great distress, the world’s wild life has declined to one third over the last 40 years. Pertinently, the massive plummet in wild life was figured in the  edition of land mark research conducted by WWF some years back.

 

 

Pertinently, The estimated losses of wildlife cross 50 percent in the tropics while in tropical freshwater ecosystems alone the average loss is as big as 70 percent as per the 2012 edition of the Living Planet Report. In a hurting note, it is learnt that the freshwater dolphin from China’s Yangtze River seems to have become extinct now and the wild tigers face 70 percent decline in their population.

Even in our beautiful valley of Kashmir we are witness to great loss in terms of wildlife on account of havoc caused to their natural habitats. If we continue to lose wildlife at this pace our natural environment is slated to face more catastrophic dimensions.

Kashmir has seen brutal vandalization of its green gold. Forests have been mercilessly cut and as a result abnormal climate patterns have become norm. “Global warming” appears to have taken a toll on the climate patterns in Kashmir valley which has been experiencing a decline in snowfall and rise in temperature, a reality which even weather scientists have also found.

Pertinently, while analyzing the snow accumulation and ablation patterns in Pir Panjal and Shamshawari regions of the valley during the winters of 2004-05 to 2006-07, scientists have shown that the seasonal snow cover has reduced while the maximum temperature was increasing steadily. The climatic patterns are abnormal as dry spells are prolonged and rains are very harsh. As it is an established fact that forests play an important role in maintain the normal climatic patterns of any concerned area; the decline in forest cover has made the climatic spells highly abnormal in Kashmir and the paradise on earth-Kashmir is losing its great attractiveness on account of brutal cutting of forests.

As a matter of fact , over the last 2-3 decades have seen tremendous destruction of forests in almost every country, apart from for a few exceptions, mainly in the continent of Europe. Now, there are two kinds of countries: one, that have reversed the trend of deforestation, and, second, that be in this world with the sorry reality of declining forest cover. Sadly, we belong to the second category. The adverse  impact of deforestation is visible in urban areas too. Besides the fast increasing number of hotels and residential places around some of the lakes, silt washed from the mountains during the rains is described as the main reason for shrinking of the lakes and also disturbing forest cover .

We should as a nation take steps to stop deforestation.

Nursing system forms an significant part of any concerned health sector. unquestionably, there is a shortage of nurses in our state, especially in the Valley of Kashmir and this has grave consequences on the provision of health services in our part of the world.

As a matter of fact, shortage of nurses leads to long queues at clinics and hospitals, long waiting periods before patients can be attended to. This leads to the slowing down of procedures at clinics and hospitals and increase adverse events for patients and more stressful work environment.

As the shortage of nurses’ increases, there is increased pressure on our health system to start depending on unqualified and unregulated health workers to meet demands for basic nursing care within clinics and hospitals.
We need to take a series of steps to not only increase the nursing staff in our hospitals but also needs to have a good number of quality nurses. One cannot claim to have respect for human rights or to uphold the sanctity of life if there is no provision for minimum health care for all. And there is no future development without healthy citizens. It is said that caring for the sick is a calling from God of a special dignity and importance, not just another job.
We definitely need to have development of nursing as our top priority.

Environment is the most essential part of our sustenance. Kashmir valley is known world over for its natural beauty and pristine environment .Lush green gold in form of forests consist of wide variety of plant species like pine, cedar and Chinar, world famous water bodies like Dal and Wullar Lake, globally known wetlands, lofty mountains, eye catching glaciers have been symbols of kashmir’s huge environmental heritage. But since past few decades constantly a death blow is being lent to these great environmental resources of Kashmir on account of human greed and official apathy. Worrying statistics clearly prove this point.

 

. The last 2-3 decades have seen destruction of forests in almost every country, except for a few exceptions, mostly in the continent of Europe. Now, there are two kinds of countries: one, that have successfully reversed the trend of deforestation, and, second, that live with the sorry reality of declining forest cover. Dejectedly, we belong to the second category. The impact of deforestation is visible in urban areas too. Besides the rapidly increasing number of hotels and residential places around some of the lakes, silt washed from the mountains during the rains is described as the main reason for shrinking of the lakes. An effective forest cover would have prevented this.

All this environmental degradation has resulted in causing havoc to our nature and giving rise to abnormal climate patterns.
As a matter of fact, we had a forest cover of 21,000 sq. km. in 1930, which went down to 13,000 sq. km. in 1980. It is estimated that we lost another 15 to 20 per cent during the previous 20 years. The declining forest cover has also meant increase in man-animal conflict. Hearing news about man-wild animal conflict has become a usual  affair in our part of the world.

People in the pain and conflict hit state of Jammu and Kashmir are waiting desperately for elected government to takeover so as to end the governor rule in the state. Overwhelming majority of masses believe that their problems could receive a due attention only when there is elected setup in place. Worryingly enough, the already politically sensitive and countless problem hit state of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed many long sells of governor rule which has weakened the democratic paradigm and dashed hopes . Masses have felt the hard brunt of these long spells of governor rule as developmental picture has been

Breaking the ice in this regard BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav met Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday, in the first attempt to iron out differences between the two parties and pave the way for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been under Governor’s rule since January 9.

 

Mr. Madhav arrived here by a special flight in the evening, headed for Ms. Mufti’s ‘Fair View’ residence on Gupkar Road and held a closed-door meeting that lasted one hour. No other leader was present, sources said.After the meeting, Mr. Madhav avoided the media and rushed to the Srinagar airport for his return flight. The meeting once again failed to yield a decision on government formation.

As a result, suspense on the government formation remains.

India is witnessing since quiet long time now heated debate on the validity of Capital Punishment in changing circumstances. India retains capital punishment for a number of serious offences. The Supreme Court of India has allowed the death penalty to be carried out in 5 instances since 1995, while a total of 26 executions have taken place in India since 1991.
Pertinent to mention here that in December 2007, India voted against a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty. In November 2012, India again upheld its stance on capital punishment by voting against the UN General Assembly draft resolution seeking to ban death penalty
On the otherhand, On 31 August 2015, the Law Commission of India submitted a report to the government which recommended the abolition of capital punishment for all crimes in India, excepting the crime of waging war against the nation or for terrorism-related offences. The report cited several factors to justify abolishing the death penalty, including its abolition by 140 other nations, its arbitrary and flawed application and its lack of any proven deterring effect on criminals.

Those who oppose death sentence have time and again stated that India should join the bulk of countries that have abolished death penalty. It should surely absorb the feeling behind the increasing support by the comity of nations to the UN’s campaign for a moratorium on the practice and its abolition. Since 2007, more and more countries are jumping to the other side. Punishment by death, as the campaigners argue is against the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and a “premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state.”
Nevertheless, one finds growing support for abolishing death sentence in India.

Education is dream of every civilized human. As a matter of great pain, global number of unschooled children aged 6-11 is still as high as 58 million, with little overall improvement since 2007. Out of which, India, with 1.4 Million children out of school, has the fourth highest number of unschooled children in the world, revealed the latest UNESCO data.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization had stated few years back that though India houses 1.4 million children out of school in 2011, the country is among 17 other nations that have managed to reduce the number of out-of-school children in the past decade.

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics, which produced the policy paper, said that 15 million girls and 10 million boys, constituting around 43 percent of those out of school, are unlikely to ever get access to primary education if the current situation remains the same. Countries like India, Indonesia, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan and Sudan is a home to millions of children out of school.

According to the UNESCO paper, abolishing school fees, introducing more relevant curricula, devoting increased attention to ethnic and linguistic minorities and providing financial support to families in need could have a positive role in promoting and extending the right to education to every human being. However, despite these high numbers, India suffered the largest cuts in aid to basic education from 2010-2012 of any country in the world, according to the specialized agency of UN.
We as a globe need to awake and provide quality education to every human.

Today’s world is Global Village courtesy media.Media is termed as the fourth estate of a democratic setup. Today impact of media has become debatable issue. We often hear that the media has an appalling influence on society.   This is true in some cases, but we have to also add this to the statement; society also influences the media by what it chooses to promote or watch.   Media is a very important part of society today.   Even with its adverse effects, we could not survive without it.

To start with, it is only fair to ask why society thrives off the media.   Society, at least the past few generations have always had an influence from media in some form or another.   Media in most circumstances is a way for the members of society to keep themselves informed on what is happening around them, which is even more vital with our world becoming globally connected.   Media is also a major source of entertainment.   Some forms of media are made for the sole purpose of entertaining the masses.   However, the media is forced to produce entertainment that the society requests.

On the otherhand, Media has a very significant impact on the society by acting as a bridge between administration and people. It plays a crucial role in highlighting the plight of oppressed masses, but is also said to have imparted some negative effects on the society which mainly include-Desensitization of society, general sense of panic and disorder, disconnection from God and morals, loss of imagination, and an excuse for laziness.   Studies have found that by the age of sixteen years, most children have watched more television than they have spent time in school. The media has also been alleged of promoting vulgarity at some instances. The media on a holistic base has imparted both positives as well as negatives into our social set up.

2016 has dawned and It’s the time to retrospect the year that was and set goals for future.

2016 (MMXVI) will be a leap year starting on Friday (dominical letter CB) of the Gregorian calendar, the 2016th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 16th year of the 3rd millennium, the 16th year of the 21st century, and the 7th year of the 2010s decade.

2016 has been designated as the International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

All sane humans are hoping that wars, civil wars that have pained this planet earth and we are seeing lot of bloodshed will come to end in year 2016 and better sense would prevail among all parties of conflict will use better brains in 2016  to solve their disputes via dialogue.

In Kashmir too masses who have been hit very hard by the lingering political conflict and violence due to it are highly hopeful that Kashmir in 2016 will see an end to mad cycle of violence and disputes would be solved amicably.

Kashmir’s health and education sector has been constant worry for masses.The public health sector of the Jammu & Kashmir state especially that of the Kashmir Valley is in utter crisis. The hopeless scenario pertaining to health sector calls for the implementation of drastic measures.  . We confront to face problems on the all important education sector of ours. The poor and dismal performance of government schools despite being staffed with sufficient manpower and quality aptly describe the status of our education system.

One hopes in year 2016 the health and education sector would improve. Above all we are hopeful that world will be a better place to live in 2016.

Jammu and Kashmir is moving into 2016 with lots of hopes and expectations. The long running violent conflict has been paining the masses especially people of Kashmir as pain, death and destruction has defined the life in Kashmir. One added thing that has accelerated and added to continued chaos in all three regions Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is the lack of quality governance. The hopes of people about good governance have been dashed time and again  , barring few short intervals of  time the state has witnessed not that much of what can be termed as good governance.

The voices are hoping that in the upcoming New Year the Jammu and Kashmir Government would focus on mantra of good governance.

Good governance and reaching via it to grassroots of the populace is the need of the hour and to an extent providing it can douse the angry fires in the state and ease out the overall paradigms of frustration. Let the government brainstorm and provide good governance to the masses of state.

Good Governance should involve taking series of steps on ground zero. The steps that should be taken should include giving the Thrust to employment and income generation,  Expanding provision of basic services , Reviving the traditional industries of Kashmir, Improving the face of public health and education sector, Relief & Rehabilitation for the dislocated and bereaved people.

Let the 2016 be the year of good governance for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.