Author: hamid

  • Two black sheep in police department arrested for robbery

    SRINAGAR: Two black sheep in Police Department were apprehended by Kothbagh police for robbing two outside State employees of Rs 37,000.

    As reported earlier that two employees from a telecom company, Ram Prasad and Sourab Gupta residing in New Delhi and Rajhastan were abducted and robbed by two men in uniform on gun point near Regal Chowk Srinagar on Friday.

    Soon after receiving the complaint, police had swung into action and the registration number of white Santro car (JK02AF-1396) that was used for crime was distributed among cops.

    A police official said that Kotibagh police personnel in plain clothes spotted the said Santro car near Polo view and the person who was driving it was apprehended.

    “The apprehended person identified as Altaf Ahmed Khan son of Bashir Ahmed resident of Uri (Belt number 809), attached with 11th Battalion of Armed Police confessed his crime and on his submission police arrested his associate Mushtaq Ahmed Khan son of Muhammad Yousuf resident of Uri,” a police official told CNS adding that Mushtaq at present is attached with Security Wing Kashmir.

    Police also recovered the weapon used by the culprits for abduction and loot. “We also recovered the money that was looted by these accused from the duo near Regal Chowk,” the police said.

    Reports said that police raided their government accommodation at Dalgate and not only recovered the looted money but also dozens bottles of liquor. Police is trying to ascertain whether culprits are involved in other such incidents or not.

    “Police is for the protection of people and service to people is its motto. But some black sheeps sometimes try to bring disrepute to our institution,” a police official said that case vide FIR number 14/2014 under section 392 has been registered against the culprits.

  • 200 women troops sent home for being pregnant: MoD won’t impose war zone pregnancy tests due to ‘privacy’ fears

    • Mothers-to-be are banned from serving on the front line
    • 99 were evacuated from Afghanistan and 102 from Iraq under the rules
    • Commanders sent them home as soon as their condition was known
    • Most were conceived before, but a small number became pregnant on tour
    • MoD disapproves of sexual relations between troops 

    More than 200 service women have been sent home from war zones after discovering they were pregnant.
    An astonishing 99 were evacuated from Afghanistan and 102 from Iraq under rules that ban mothers-to-be from serving on the front line.
    Commanders ordered them to return to Britain – sometimes on flights reserved for injured troops – as soon as their condition became known.
    Incredibly, female soldiers are not forced to take a pregnancy test before deploying because top brass believe it would be an invasion of privacy.
    But the Ministry of Defence has faced calls to introduce compulsory tests because it is ‘unacceptable’ that other service personnel are placed at risk of attack while evacuating pregnant women from the front line.
    Pregnancy tests can be bought from High Street chemists for less than £10 and can give a result as soon as seven days after conception. 
    Official MoD figures showed 201 pregnant servicewomen have been evacuated from the conflict in Afghanistan since 2006 and from the war in Iraq between 2003 and 2009. The MoD said it was fewer than one per cent of female soldiers deployed on operations.
    Most of the babies would have been conceived before the mother left the UK but a small number of women may have become pregnant on a tour of duty. The Armed Forces do not have a set-in-stone ‘no-touching’ rule for troops in the war zone.
    But all who serve there are warned that the MoD disapproves of sexual relations between troops and that any inappropriate behaviour would breach guidelines. Those caught having sex usually face a rebuke from their commanding officer or more serious disciplinary action, depending on their rank and position.
    A defence source said: ‘It wouldn’t be the hugest surprise that people get together at base to alleviate boredom and fear. But the vast majority of troops know it is utterly unprofessional and the consequences serious.
    ‘It’s more likely people know they are going to be deployed for a long time so they have sex with their partner before they go and don’t realise they’re pregnant until they get there.’
    Baby born in Camp Bastion+4
    In 2011, Private Kayla Donnelly, then 21, from Penrith in Cumbria, served in Helmand unaware she was seven months pregnant. She conceived before going to Afghanistan as a machine-gunner and thought her weight gain was due to high-calorie Army rations. It was only when she collapsed in Tenerife after her tour  that she realised she was pregnant.
    Pre-deployment guidelines issued to every soldier make clear female troops should not deploy if they are pregnant but at no time are women given a pregnancy test by the MoD.
    Female soldiers are asked whether they are – or suspect they are – pregnant. This is routine so medical staff can ensure the inoculation does not damage an unborn baby.
    At the height of the fighting in Afghanistan, between 500 and 600 women were posted at any one time. About 10,000 have served in Helmand.Servicewomen are barred from infantry battalions, tank regiments, the Royal Marine Commandos and Special Forces. But they go on patrol with combat units and risk firefights while in supporting roles such as medics.
    Tory MP Bob Stewart, a former commander of British troops in Bosnia, said he was against compulsory pregnancy tests. He said: ‘I think you have to be very careful about suddenly ordering people to take intrusive tests. Some get pregnant when they are actually out on operations in theatre so pre-deployment tests would not work with them.’
    But Major General Julian Thompson, the ex-commanding officer of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, said: ‘It would need to be put across sensitively, but this would ensure that they are 100 per cent fit for operations when they deploy.’ An MoD spokesman said: ‘Pregnant servicewomen are returned home to protect the health and safety of the mother and unborn child, not as a punishment.’
  • Killers Of Innocent Kashmiris Cannot Evade Punishment And Will Have To Face Justice: Yasin Malik

    JKLF Will Soon Issue a Comprehensive Protest Program Against This Indian Oppressive Behavior
    Yasin Malik While Reacting to Media Reports About Indian Defense Minister Being Against Reopening Pathribal Case.

    Srinagar: The killers of innocent Kashmiris cannot evade punishment and will have to face justice. Kashmiri don’t care what Mr. Antony or anybody else thinks. We will not let our protest rest till the killers of Pathribal are brought to justice. This was stated by the chairman JKLF Mohammad Yasin Malik who has left for Jammu to attend a court case there, while reacting to the media reports in which it is said that Indian defense Minister Mr A K Antony is against reopening the case against 5 Indian army officers who have been charged of killing 6 innocent Kashmiris in cold blood at Pathribal in year 2000.

    Yasin Malik while deliberating on the issue said that the Indian army’s decision of giving clean chit to its killer officers of Pathribal massacre and now reports of defense minister being against reopening the case is all part of Indian oppressive attitude towards the people of Jammu Kashmir.
    Yasin Malik said that after army’s clean chit to killers of Pathribal, pro- India politicians and rulers of Jammu Kashmir started their stage theater of portraying of being against the army decision. These politicians did same in the case of Shaheed Mohammad Afzal Guru, 2008 and 2010 innocent killings and other massacres. This all is done under a well planned program to diffuse the tension and after the situation gets normal we always hear statements like that of Mr. Antony etc.
    Yasin Malik said that clean chit by Indian army to its killer officers who murdered innocent Kashmiri’s at Pathribal in year 2000 is like justifying the genocide of Kashmiri’s. Killing civilians in the name of foreign militants and then giving killers clean chit is an ugly stain on the Indian democracy and has clearly revealed the fact that Kashmir is governed by army and police. Yasin Malik said that kashmiris will not watch this oppression silently .the killers of innocent Kashmiris cannot evade punishment and will have to face justice. He said that Kashmiri don’t care what Mr. Antony or anybody else thinks. We will not let our protest rest till the killers of Pathribal are brought to justice.
     Yasin Malik said that JKLF will deliberate upon this issue threadbare and soon issue a Comprehensive Protest program against this Indian oppressive behavior.
    Yasin Malik said that after the massacre of Pathribal on 26th march 2000 in which Indian army killed 7 innocents after abducting them from their houses and dubbed then as foreign militants even the prime Indian investigation agency CBI told Supreme Court of India that “our investigations have revealed it was a fake encounter and cold blooded murders”. Yasin said now after 14 years we are being told that army has found no evidence of their involvement in the massacre and that army has closed this case and now Indian defense minister is in no mood to order a reopening of the case. Yasin said that this denial and shielding killers and murderers is not new as Indian army and rulers before this also shielded the killers and criminals involved in Gaw Kadal, Sopore,Handwara, Bijbihara, Kawdara, Tengpora ,Zakura, Bandipora, Poonch, Baderwah massacres and Kunan Poshpora like crimes.
    Yasin Malik said that this attitude of Indian rulers and politicians is a clear evidence of the fact that Jammu Kashmir is governed by Indian army, forces and agencies under the garb of fake democracy. That is why these forces kill Kashmiris at will without the fear of any punishment or enquiries.
    Meanwhile Yasin Malik has expressed his heartfelt condolence on the sad demise of father of barrister sultan Mehmood (ex- prime minister of Azad Kashmir) and another JKLF well wisher Ishityaq Ahmad Ganai.Yasin sahib expressed condolences to Barrister Sultan on telephone. A delegation led by Noor Mohammad Kalwal visited Batamaloo and participated in funeral payers of Ishtiyaq Ahmad Ganai who died in a road accident on Sunday. JKLF has also expressed heartfelt condolences to other people whose kith and kin died in a recent accident on Jammu road. 
    Delegation Led by Noor Sahib also visited Sopore (Zaloora) and met with the family of Shaheed Mohammad Shafi sheikh who embraced martyrdom recently. On the occasion Noor sahib while paying rich tributes to Shaheed M.shafi (Sopore),shaheed Arshid and Shaheed Abid who got  martyrdom  at Shupian said that the sacred mission of these martyrs will surely succeed.
  • Violence declined during our government: Omar Abdullah

    Jammu: Chief minister (CM) Omar Abdullah on Monday said violence across the state has declined by 71 per cent since the present coalition government came to power in 2009.

    During a discussion on the motion of thanks on governor’s address to the legislature, the CM referred to a number of milestones achieved during the last five years, including the public service guarantee, the constitution of the state vigilance commission, the right to information commission and the proposal to form new administrative units.

    Abdullah said the decision to incorporate essential features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in the state Panchayati Raj Act will empower the elected village representatives and benefit the people in general.

    He made his statement in the legislative council, the upper house of the state’s bicameral legislature presently in session here to wind up the discussion on the governor’s address.

    In the legislative assembly, opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the National Panthers Party (NPP), walked out of the house, protesting the alleged acute shortage of rations and other essential supplies in different areas of the state.

    The opposition legislators, however, later joined the session of the assembly to participate in the day’s proceedings.

    The PDP legislators, led by party leader Mehbooba Mufti, again walked out of the assembly to protest alleged detentions of youths in different parts of the Kashmir Valley recently.

  • Kolahoi Glacier; disappearing into horizon

    Ovais Gora/Umar Hayat

    SRINAGAR: Snow clad mountain peaks of Pahalgam, where land dissolves into sky is the home of numerous glaciers. These thick snow blankets had covered these summits for centuries. The largest one among these is Kolahoi Glacier. Every year large amount of nature admiring people ascends the mountain Kolahoi to have the glimpse of its glaciers—and to get experience, which fixates them for lifetime.

    And for the hamlets of Pahagam, Mount Kolahoi means a place on which sun shines first. The beauty of pristine Kolahoi is nestling deep in the memories of the Gujjars who spent their childhood in the vicinity of these ‘Frozen Factories of Water’.

    For an elderly man, Bashir Ahmad—who belongs to Gujjar community, memories of his childhood tramping the snow field are still verdant. “Since our childhood, we have been enthralled by the beauty of the glacier,” he says. “Though we resided down at bottom of the Mt. Kolahai, but we used to tread up to its summit in our early days.” Bashir says, splendors of the mountain peaks are hard to overlook, “but due to some unknown reason, hallow patches have developed on the face Kolahai glacier.”

    The Kolahoi glacier not only quenches the aesthetic thirst—rather its meltdown trickles down water through the verdant mountains in the forms of numerous rivulets. The flow keeps the life on toes—by catering to irrigation and portable water to the vast area.

    Small streamlets carrying the glacier water of Mount Kolahoi merges at the base of lush and verdant Lidder Valley—and contributes mammoth portion to West Lidder. The West Lidder after traversing 24km merges with East Liddar at Pahalgam, and gives rise to famous River Lidder—the jugular vein for the Agriculture and drinking purpose. Lidder, which is flowing at tremendous speed for some years, heralds the swansong of Kolahoi glacier.

    “Liddar River is the basic fabric of our existence,” said Abdul Yaseen, a farmer from Mattan, Islamabad. “Our livelihood is solely dependent on the water coming from Liddar. Whether it is for irrigational or drinking purpose, we are squarely dependent upon it.”

    Of late, the Mount Kolahoi is getting stripped from its frozen white blanket—as haste melting has set in it. Experts warn that the bond is at its last leg and this separation is posing a serious threat to the flora and fauna of its catchment area.

    The inhabitants of its catchment are speculating the increasing gush of River Lidder—as its generosity, and envisage a boom in agriculture sector.

    But the story is all together different! The melting glacier is giving sleepless nights to the geologists who claim that Kolahoi glacier is at the verge of its extinction.

    “In the past 30 years, the Kolahoi glacier which used to be a little more than 11 sq km has shrunk to 2.63 sq km,” notes the study titled as ‘Climate change, Glacier retreat and livelihood’. This study was conducted by Shakil Ramsoo, Assistant Professor, and Department of Geology Kashmir University.

    “Kolahoi glacier is shrinking 0.08 square kilometers a year, which is an alarming speed,” says Shakeel Ramsoo, who has extensively worked on the glaciers of Kashmir. “The global warming is the main cause for the depletion of this glacier.”

    Fast melting rate of Kolahai Glaciers is alarming to the people who are directly or indirectly dependant on the Liddar River. While considering the pace of melting, it is not hard to envisage the posterity will be deprived of the major source of water for irrigation and other purposes.

    After snow melts in May or June, the water sources exhaust in the valley. Since Kolahoi is the only permanent source of water, it plays a sheet anchor role.

    Now the growing concern remains in case it disappears, there will be a considerable influence on the hydrological system of the valley. Though the signs are not visible on the ground, there are numerous streamlets up in the Mount Kolahoi which narrates its tale that they were once messengers of meltdown water.

  • Pakistan to challenge Guru’s execution in the International Court of Justice

    ISLAMABAD : Pakistan could challenge Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru’s execution in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague.

    The Ministry of Kashmir Affairs has asked the Foreign Office to take Guru’s case to the ICJ on grounds that he was not given a fair trial. According to the Express Tribune, Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Barjis Tahir formally asked the foreign affairs ministry to complete all the formalities to take up Guru’s execution to the international court, seeking justice for him even after his death.

    Guru was executed in Tihar Jail in New Delhi on February 9, 2013, by the Indian government for allegedly masterminding the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001. The execution had sparked criticism and raised many questions from across the world over the fair trial by the Indian authorities, the report said.

    Tahir said the Indian courts convicted and subsequently hanged Guru without having ample evidence of his involvement in the attack on parliament, the report added.

    WorldAfzal GuruexecutionInternational Court of Justicethe Hague

  • Kashmiri among ‘50 Most Talented Retail Professionals of India’

    Srinagar: Omar Gull a Kashmiri engineer and business administrator has bagged the prestigious “50 Most Talented Retail Professionals of India” award. He is one of the youngest engineers to receive the award. 
    Born in Kreeri Baramulla, Gull is the son of the reputed chief engineer of Power Development Department, Khurshid Ahmad Badoo who is also known for the excellence in his job for years.
    “My father has been the real inspiration for me. He has always supported and stood by me. I owe him a lot in my success,” Gull said.
    Gull has shown academic excellence throughout his schooling and has won various competitions and awards for debates, academics and golf.
    Post schooling, Gull moved to Pune to become an engineer and got admission in one of the best colleges in the country College of Engineering Pune. After completing engineering, he worked for brands like Tata Consultancy Services & Reliance Energy.
    “I want to be one of the finest marketing professionals in the country and set trends and case studies for future generation of marketing professionals and students to learn from,” G

    ull said.

    The prestigious “50 Most Talented Retail Professionals of India” is a result of an intensely researched process undertaken by the research cell which consists of Post Graduates in History & Management with a combined more than100 year’s research experience post their studies. The shortlist is then reviewed by a Jury comprising of senior professionals from across the globe.
    Gull wanted to study further and communications always interested him for which he studied MBA in Communication Management from Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Pune.
    “During my MBA degree, I started working as marketing and communication consultant and worked with agencies with brands like Bharti AXA, HSBC, Maruti, Infosys and many more. I also launched brands like Switch, Area 51 and Atlantis to name a few and did various professional photography assignments,” Gull said.
    Being passionate about marketing, Gull has been associated with various management institutes as visiting faculty, external examiner and also helps the institutes to design a better curriculum for the students.
    “I also mentor marketing start-ups and helps them setup systems and processes and guides them on business development, service delivery and day to day operations,” he said.
    He is certified advanced marketing professional from IIM-Calcutta and is currently in the process of getting certified from Google in advanced online marketing.
  • Human Meat Served at Nigerian Restaurant, 11 Arrested

    The next time you go to a restaurant and order your favourite non-vegetarian dish, you might as well want to check on what it is that is being cooked and served to you.

    In a recent case, 11 men were arrested for allegedly serving human meat in a Nigerian restaurant.

    The grim discovery was made after police officers found two human heads wrapped in cellophane at a hotel’s restaurant. The police had raided the hotel in Anambra in southeast Nigeria on a tip-off.

    Among the 11 arrested is the hotel’s owner.

    Apart from the two human heads, the police also found two AK-47 rifles, 40 rounds of live ammunition and cellophanes from the unnamed hotel.

    “I went to the hotel early this year, after eating, I was told that a lump of meat was being sold at N700 ($4),” a local pastor, who was one of those who tipped off the police, told the Osun Defender. “I was surprised. So, I did not know it was human meat that I ate at such an expensive price.”

  • Jammu to have full-fledged 18-hole Golf Course soon: Omar

    Omar Addresses concluding function of GK Golf Tournament

                                          

  • Taliban shura likely to announce ceasefire in 24 hours

    PESHAWAR: Taliban political shura has decided in principle for ceasefire and the announcement in this regard is expected in next 24 hours, Geo News reported.

    According to sources, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) political shura held a meting on Sunday to deliberate on the government’s demand for ceasefire.

    In the meeting, sources said, the Taliban shura decided to observe ceasefire and the announcement in this regard is expected in next 24 hours.

    The sources further said TTP shura has demanded withdrawal of army from North Waziristan besides release of their non-combatant companions.