Category: Union Territory

Jammu, February 7-2014, CNS:- Stressing on the need of utilizing science, technology and innovations for the benefit of common man, the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Friday identified agriculture, horticulture and bio-mass energy generation as the areas in Jammu and Kashmir requiring intervention of science for inclusive and comprehensive growth. 
“In Jammu and Kashmir about 70% population is rural and agriculture is their mainstay. Horticulture and related activities are also of pivotal importance in the State’s economy”, he said adding that the intervention of scientific innovations and technological advancement in these fields are imperative for overall development and growth of the State. “I would like that the researches in the labs should smoothly transfer to the people and scientific innovations are utilised for the amelioration of common people”, he said.
Addressing the valedictory function of 101stIndian Science Congress in Jammu University here this afternoon chaired by the Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari and attended by J&K Governor, N. N. Vohra, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah and other dignitaries, Omar Abdullah said that Jammu and Kashmir has greater scope of generating energy from the abundantly available bio-mass in the shape of weeds in Dal and other lakes.
“My endeavour is to invite scientific intervention in converting these weeds into the energy for the economic welfare of the State and the people. In this regard I have taken up this issue with various scientists and technological institutions”, he said and asked the Indian Science Congress to venture in this field and provide a feasible mechanism to the State to achieve the cherished goal in this regard.
The Chief Minister also sought scientific intervention in the inclusive development and management of agricultural and horticultural practices in high altitudes areas like Leh and Kargil. He said that most of the Kandi areas in the State are rain fed and require technological support to undertake agricultural activities that would enable the farmers to earn remunerative income and help significant increase in productivity and production. He said this avenue is also open to the scientists for research.
Omar Abdullah maintained that health sector is yet another area requiring scientific support for its inclusive growth and said that research and its outcomes on reasonable cost will give forward push to the universalisation modern health initiatives in the State.
The Chief Minister congratulating the participants and the organizers of the Indian Science Congress and maintained that in the brain storming sessions eminent scientists and experts have dwelt on pertinent themes and issues of great value. He suggested that the recommendations finalised in the Congress for utilization of scientific innovations for inclusive growth should be sent to all the State Governments besides the Government of India.
Omar Abdullah said the hallmark of Indian Science Congress has been the collaboration between experts and airing of scientific views and opinions through discussions and debates and the synthesis between theoretical and applied sciences. “All this is aimed at harnessing innovations in Science and Technology for inclusive growth”, he said and elaborated that the deliberations and research papers forming part of the Congress need to be circulated to all the States for guidance in their endeavours to utilise science, technology and innovations for inclusive growth which was the topic of deliberations in the 101st Indian Science Congress.
The Chief Minister expressed the hope that the next Indian Science Congress will not take 100 years to travel to Jammu and Kashmir but the organizers would schedule next Congress in the State as soon as possible. He congratulated the organizers and welcomed the Vice President, M. Hamid Ansari for addressing the valedictory session of the Congress.
In his speech, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah described organizing of Indian Science Congress in Jammu and Kashmir as an historic event and said that it has provided great opportunity for creating scientific temper in the State among the students and research scholars.
Dr. Farooq Abdullah highlighted the achievements India has registered in the field of science and technology and stressed the need of maintaining the pace of progress in this direction. He congratulated the organizers of the Congress and welcomed the Vice President M. Hamid Ansari.
Governor Jammu and Kashmir, N. N. Vohra also delivered his lecture while the General President of Indian Science Congress welcomed the Vice President and other dignitaries in his welcome address.
The 101st Indian Science Congress was inaugurated by the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh here 3rd February and Vice President of India delivered his valedictory speech on the conclusion of the Congress today on 7th of February.

Islamabad: Hizbul Mujahideen leader Mast Gul, involved in the 1995 siege of Charar-e-Sharief shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, was behind a suicide attack on Shias in Peshawar that killed nine persons, a Pakistani Taliban commander has said. 

Mufti Hasaan Swati, who claims to be the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commander for Peshawar area, told reporters he had tasked Mast Gul alias Haroon Khan to carry out attacks on the Shia minority, including the suicide bombing of a hotel on Tuesday.

Swati described Mast Gul as a “militant commander for Peshawar”, the Dawn daily reported today. He spoke to reporters along with Mast Gul at Miranshah in the restive North Waziristan tribal region yesterday. The daily carried a photo of Swati and Mast Gul sitting together before a Taliban banner, AK-47 assault rifles in their hands.

This is the first time in over a decade that 47-year-old Mast Gul has been seen in public. Little was known of his whereabouts since he was injured in an ambush near Peshawar in August 2003. He hails from Sadda in Kurram tribal region, which has for long been hit by sectarian violence.

In March 1995, a group of militants led by Mast Gul, many of them foreigners, holed up inside the 14th-century Charar-e- Sharief for two months. Following the standoff, the shrine burnt down in a mysterious fire in May. The Indian Army said the militants triggered blasts that caused the fire.

Twenty militants, two soldiers and five civilians died in the standoff. Gul and the other militants disappeared.

When he returned to Pakistan, he was given a hero’s welcome by Jamaat-e-Islami, which showcased him at meetings.

Though the TTP earlier denied its involvement in Tuesday’s suicide bombing of a hotel in Koocha Risaldar, a Shia- dominated neighbourhood of Peshwar, Swati said it was carried out to avenge an attack on a Sunni seminary in Rawalpindi in November.

Besides this attack, Swati said the Taliban had killed two Shias – Tehrik Nifaz Fiqah-e-Jafria Pakistan leader Ali Asghar and a bank manager – in Peshawar district.

“The attacks were carried out to fulfil the wish of our central deputy emir Shaikh Khalid Haqqani to avenge the death of innocent students in Rawalpindi,” Swati was quoted as saying. PTI

A 12 year old girl has stirred up a small community in Yemen after she believed to be possessed or under an evil spell.  While others are very concerned and believed it’s a sign of an impending epidemic. Saadiya Saleh has bizzare condition that left doctors baffled after they couldn’t figure out what causing the girl to produce small, hard stones under her eyelids instead of tears. These little stones are pushed to the front of her eyes before falling down her cheeks. According to doctors, there has not been a medical study to identify what’s causing Saadiya to cry stones instead of tears. For now, it’s a medical phenomena that needs further research. 

NEW DELHI: With the 12th Auto Expo round the corner, internet users have gone on overdrive on Google search to find out latest about their favourite automobiles.

“Overall auto queries in India have taken a leap by crossing a remarkable milestone in the year 2013; bringing India into the top 12 list of countries in terms of absolute number of searches,” Google said in a statement.

Auto queries jumped by more than 250% on mobile devices, showing the popular trend of fast growing internet audience on mobile phones.

Online search trends usually mirror the consumer trends offline. This is evident through the fact that Maruti is the top searched car brand, closely followed by Hyundai, Mahindra, Honda and Tata.

Maruti cars are also the most searched cars, again closely followed by the cars of the same four car brands – Hyundai, Mahindra, Honda and Tata.

The searches have peaked up in the recent weeks closer to the auto expo that begins Wednesday. The 12th edition of the biennial event will be held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida from February 5-12.

Utility vehicles segment has been the most searched car segment for the past two years, followed closely by the compact car segment. Maruti Swift was the most searched car across all car segments in 2013, Google said.

A major shift was witnessed in the consumer search pattern, with generic searches surpassing brand queries.

About 35-40% percent of the most relevant auto queries came from mobile devices in 2013.

In Dec 2013, nearly two million hours were spent browsing online automotive content and over 30 thousand hours of auto video content were consumed.

(Emphasizing this even more, even as the Microsoft board named Nadella for the post, a Senate Committee was sitting down in Washington DC for the confirmation hearing of Indian-American physician Dr Vivek Murthy for the position of US surgeon general. If confirmed, Murthy, who is only 36, will be the country’s youngest surgeon general, a post that was established nearly 150 years ago).

In his first in-house interview after being named for the job, Nadella said he was “honored, humbled, and excited” by his elevation, and the opportunity to make an impact is what drives him.

“I love to learn. I buy more books than I read or finish and sign up for more online courses than I can actually finish. Learning truly excites me,” the father of three kids, who went to the US for higher studies after an engineering degree from the Manipal Institute of Technology, said.

Gates himself, also a father of three kids, endorsed Nadella for the top job, saying, “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella. He is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together.”

Corporate observers, market mavens, and tech media pundits pronounced Nadella a “safe choice,” saying little in his history as a Microsoft insider suggests he will break from the company’s pattern as a fast follower, rather than a trend setter.

Nadella’s elevation makes him the highest-ranked executive of Indian origin in the corporate world, ahead of such familiar names as Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi and Mastercard’s Ajay Banga. Microsoft’s Windows still runs roughly nine out of every 10 desktop and laptop computers in the world, and its Office and Exchange programs are corporate mainstays. The company generated $27 billion in operating profit in the year ended June 30, and holds $84 billion in cash, making it a corporate powerhouse despite the relative decline in its fortune in recent years.

Srinagar, Feb 3: After yet another successful Ranji trophy season, J&K all-rounder, Parvez Rasool has been named in the Rest of India squad for Irani Cup that will take on Ranji champions, Karnataka, at Bangalore from February 9.
 Harbhajan Singh has been named captain of the team which includes 15-memebers.
 The squad includes, JK’s top cricketer, Parvez Rasool, who will be seen leading the spin department along with Harbhajan and Amit Mishra.
 It is first time that Parvez has been named in the Rest of India squad and will play the match of Irani Cup against Ranji champions.
 “I am happy to see myself in the list of Rest of India squad. It is a great chance for me to prove my credential before all important Indian premier League bidding process,” Parvez said.
 “If I am included in the playing-XI, I will try my best to get maximum out of this chance. I will try my best to derail the Ranji champions Karnataka,” he said.
 About playing under the captaincy of Harbhajan, he said: “It is a dream come true. It gives me yet another chance to learn from greats like Harbhajan Singh”.
 Harbhajan’s inclusion as the captain means that he is still on the selectors’ radar for the longer version of the game. Ditto for Gambhir, who has scored close to 600 runs this season and is likely to open with Punjab’s Jiwanjot Singh.
 The squad has Ranji Trophy’s top-scorer Kedar Jadhav (1223 runs) along with talented youngsters like Jiwanjot, Tamil Nadu’s Baba Aparajith, Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawne, Punjab’s Mandeep Singh, who have scored heavily in this year’s national domestic tourney.
 Odisha’s Natraj Behera, who had a prolific season despite his state not qualifying for the knock-outs, was included in the side.
 The spin department will be taken care of by Harbhajan and leggie Amit Mishra while Jammu and Kashmir captain Parveez Rasool will be the third spinner.
 The only questionable non-inclusion was Himachal Pradesh seamer Rishi Dhawan, who ended as the highest wicket-taker with 49 scalps.
 However, the selectors have finally found a place for veteran Rajasthan seamer Pankaj Singh, who has been performing in the domestic circuit year after year. This year also, he has taken 39 wickets.
 Varun Aaron is also there in the squad and the selectors would be interested in checking out whether he lasts in a rigorous five-day game where one needs to bowl a long second and even a third spell.
 Bengal’s Ashoke Dinda and Railways’ Anureet Singh have also made it to the squad on the back of some match-winning performances for their respective teams.
 Squad: Harbhajan Singh (Captain), Jiwanjot Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Baba Aparajith, Kedar Jadhav, Ankit Bawne, Dinesh Kartik, Amit Mishra, Pankaj Singh, Ashoke Dinda, Varun Aaron, Parveez Rasool, Anureet Singh, Natraj Behera and Mandeep Singh.

Srinagar, Feb 3: On the back of three successful seasons in the past, the 4th season operations of Kashmir Heli Skiing were kicked-off at at Gulmarg on Friday.
 The operation run by a local company has emerged as top source of extreme skiing for the skiers from all over World while bookings have doubled as compared to the last season.
 Launched in 2011 at Gulmarg by locally owned company, Kashmir Heli-Ski, with the support of J&K Government, has turned out to be a major attraction for high end skiing. The event, run by a local extreme skier and guide, Billa Majeed Bakshi, has become hit all over the world attracting some of the well known extreme skiers. Initially it targeted the customer base in Australia, New Zealand but with the success of each year it extended its horizon to Europe and United States of America.
 This season everything has been perfect for company so far, snow, conditions, and Government and Defense Ministry support.
 According to Billa the 4th season operations have started at the right time.
 “We started the 4th year of operation on Friday. Though many consider it late but I and my fellow experts know that it is right time to start heli and back country skiing operations at Gulmarg. The snow conditions are good and weather forecast also shows encouraging signs,” Billa who is also lead guide said.
 Apart from making the virgin turfs of different sections of Pir Panchal mountain range accessible, the skiers are also able to get access to those peaks and slopes which were out of bounds for the adventure sports lovers.
 “This year we have already registered 1500 clients. All the clients are from West and none among them is local. We have got customers from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and USA as well. With each year we are adding new success stories and it is working well for us. Those who ski along with us give good word of mouth and media publicity in their parts of the World. Hence they help us and State a great deal,” Billa, who is Company Director, said.
 About the area of operation, Billa says, “Most of the area that we covered last year was Pirpanjaal range and some little area on Poonch side. This year we want to explore 5000 metre peaks and that is an added attraction for the skiers. Our area of operation extend upto around 75-kiloemteres of Pir Panjal range”
 “We are the only heliski company in Kashmir. Jammu & Kashmir Tourism have given us permission for heliski for the entire Pir Panchal Range. We have amazing terrain, few kilometers long open Alpine bowls for intermediate skiers and snowboarders up to 5000 metres untracked and undiscovered peaks in tour long terrain,” Billa said.
 “Himalayas are known for remarkable deep dry powder snow. The high quality powder snow, with perfectly spaced pine trees, open alpine bowls and mighty peaks of the Himalayas makes the experience best in world. Our Alpine area holds a variety of exceptional terrain for all abilities from wide open bowls to virgin peaks of Himalayas. Tree line skiing is a complete adrenalin rush during bad weather days,” he said.
 About the prospects of Sonamarg, he said: “When you think about extreme Heliski, It is not Alaska, Sonamarg is the place with most challenging terrain on the Planet. Due to heavy snowfall, place remains closed from December to May. Only accessible with helicopter Sonamarg has so much to offer for Extreme Skiers”.
 He said that this season the administration at the ski resort of Gulmarg are well prepared and have kept Cable Car Gondola operational even in extreme conditions

.
 “This season we are lucky to have Gondola operational even in extreme conditions. When the conditions doesn’t support flying we take our customers to back country skiing with help of Gondola. Cable Car Managing Director Tufail Matoo and his team deserve applauds,” he said.
 About the experts that help him to run such an adventurous venture, he said, “We have got the experts of international repute who have achieved lot in their illustrious career. We have got Dean and Woody who both have climbed highest mountain peak in the World Mount Everest nine times. Another senior pro, Tim is chief guide who has got experience of more than 20 years in the operations of Heli-Skiing”.
 He said that his aim is to groom local ski guides in the operation of Heli Sliiing and time is not far when whole operation would be run by local lads.
 “We have got around nine local guides and our aim is to groom them to become full-fledged experts. Some of them have been with us since the first season and have got ability to run operation on their own,” he said.
 On the number of choppers employed, he said, “The operation is almost unimaginable to be run by one chopper. It requires two and we have employed two as well. The second chopper is mostly kept for backup, rescue and any sort of medical emergencies”.
 Pertinently it was Sylvain Sudan in late 70’s to start Heli-Skiing in the Valley and he is known as pioneer of extreme skiing. Known as a ‘skier of the impossible’, for his dare-devil skiing feats in Alps and other peaks in Europe and Asia, the 74-year old Swiss born French Heli-skier Saudan was considered to be instrumental in launching Heli-skiing in the Valley in late ‘70s.
  He continued his date with Kashmir even during the years of conflict by bringing skiers.
  However, Sudan stopped to come to Kashmir after his helicopter crashed in a mountain range on way to Sonamarg in 2007. The skiers in Heli-skiing dive from a helicopter on top of mountains. It is considered to be an extreme form of skiing offering the ultimate powder skiing experience.