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NC, PDP leaders say politics of polarisation are over with the victory of the Democrats in the US, which is a ‘clear defeat of Right-wing extremism’.

Srinagar: The victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in the 2020 US Presidential elections has instilled fresh hope among political parties in Jammu and Kashmir vis-a-vis the stand the Democrats have taken on Kashmir following the scrapping of Article 370 last August.

Politicians in the Valley now expect US President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris to maintain their stance on Kashmir and be vocal about issues in the region to bring “people of power to accountability”.

Last October, Harris had said: “We have to remind the Kashmiris that they are not alone in the world. We are keeping a track on the situation. There is a need to intervene if the situation demands.”

Further, in a policy paper posted on Biden’s campaign website in June this year, titled ‘Joe Biden’s agenda for Muslim American community’, the President-elect had asked the Indian government to take “all necessary steps to restore the rights of all the people of Kashmir”.

The paper also stated: “Restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests or shutting or slowing down the internet, weakens democracy.”

Following the US election results, former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah did not mince their words while commenting on the victory of Biden and Harris Saturday.

“Their win gives hope to the rest of the world that Right-wing extremism and those who sow division and hatred will sooner or later be relegated to the pages of history like Donald Trump,” Mufti wrote.

Congratulations to President-elect @JoeBiden & Vice President-elect @KamalaHarris. Their win gives hope to rest of the world that right wing extremism & those who sow division & hatred will sooner or later be relegated to the pages of history like Donald Trump.

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 7, 2020

Abdullah took a jibe by bringing up the Bihar exit poll results, which projected a win for the opposition alliance.

“To lose Bihar and the White House within days of each other would make for a pretty bad few days,” he wrote.

To lose Bihar & the White House within days of each other would make for a pretty bad few days.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 7, 2020

‘Politics of polarisation is over’

On Sunday, political parties, including the National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party and People’s Conference, welcomed the election results. 

“We hope politics of polarisation is over. Across the world, there are regimes, which are fascists in nature. They drew strength when Trump was in the office. We hope fascist forces will weaken and democracy becomes stronger and emboldened across the world,” NC leader Imran Dar told ThePrint.

“Biden and Kamala Harris have already spoken their mind when our leadership was illegally detained. Both raised their voice for Kashmiris and Kashmiri leadership. They spoke about human rights violation and communication blockade. We are expecting they still hold that line and call out the wrongs that are being done whether in Kashmir or any other part of India. I am sure they will hold that line and bring people of power to accountability,” added Dar.

‘Clear defeat of Right-wing extremism’

Sajad Lone-led People’s Conference hoped that Biden and Harris would take a “principled stance” on Kashmir and won’t “tolerate what the Trump administration tolerated on Kashmir”.

“Both have spoken about Kashmir in the past and we are hoping they take a principled stance on Kashmir along with human rights issues in India in future as well,” said party spokesperson Adnan Ashraf.

“Whether in the current scenario where they (US) are pushing hard for India to be a pivot in India-Pakistan strategy to balance China, we don’t know (if) the criticism by Kamala Harris against the Modi government on Kashmir will translate into any change on the ground. But the Democrats will surely not tolerate what the Trump administration tolerated on Kashmir. They would raise their concerns given their record and previous utterances. We are hopeful that Democrats, especially Biden and Harris, will be vocal about human rights issues and rights of representation of people of Kashmir,” Ashraf added.

PDP’s Waheed Para described the Democrats’ victory as the “victory of democracy, liberalism and secularism”.

“In a lot of ways, it offers a lot of hope to everyone. It is a clear defeat of Right-wing extremism. When Trump was in Delhi during the riots, he didn’t utter a word. Democrats have a different understanding,” said Para. 

With inputs from The Print

(Expect for the headlines, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

US presidential elections are not won by the national popular vote. The winner in each state collects its electoral college votes – and needs a total of 270 to take the White House.US election 2020 live results: Donald Trump takes on Joe Biden in tight presidential race.

In most elections the result is clear – although not officially confirmed – by the end of the night. Major American media outlets “call” each state for one of the candidates. While not based on the final vote count, that projection is almost invariably accurate.

This means an accurate tally of electoral college votes can be made and a winner declared. In 2016, that happened at 2.30am in Washington when Trump reached the required 270.

Why is that not happening this time?

Mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic, large numbers of voters – about 68% of the total, compared with 34% in 2016 – cast their ballots early, including by post.

Counting postal votes is slower because voter and witness signatures and addresses must be checked, and ballots smoothed out before being fed into counting machines. Some states start that verification process long before election day, meaning the count itself can get under way as soon as polls close. Others, however, do not allow that.

Which states are we talking about?

Five states have yet to be called: Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Alaska. Several news organizations, including the Associated Press and Fox News’ decision desk, have called Arizona for Joe Biden. The Trump campaign is arguing, however, that call was made too early.

Alaska will end up in the Republican column with near certainty.

Pennsylvania officials have already said their count may not be finished by the end of Wednesday.

The Democratic challenger is narrowly ahead in Nevada, with only Democratic-leaning late postal ballots left to tally. Officials have said no more results will be released in Nevada until midday on Thursday.Electoral college explained: how Biden faces an uphill battle in the US election

In North Carolina, while Trump is the clear favourite, the state accepts postal ballots until 12 November – although that is expected to make little difference.

What else is complicating matters?

Roughly half of all states will accept postal votes that arrive after election day as long as they carry a postmark of no later than 3 November, so postal delays may mean some ballots are not processed until days later: Pennsylvania has said results will not be considered complete until the deadline of Friday.

There has also reportedly been an increase in the number of provisional ballots cast by people who asked for a postal vote but then decided to go to the polling station in person instead. These need careful checking to make sure no one has voted twice.

The really big unknown: A disputed result

In the 2000 race, the Democratic candidate, Al Gore, famously lost Florida by just more than 500 votes out of a total of nearly 6m, costing him the election. After a disputed recount and a supreme court ruling, George W Bush was declared the winner.

More than 300 lawsuits have already been filed over alleged breached of electoral law in the 2020 election, according to reports, and more can be expected over accusations of postal voting irregularities and changes to voting rules due to the pandemic.

Recounts have to be a strong possibility in one or more of the key swing states, and Trump said in his first post-election address late on Tuesday that he would be going to the supreme court in an attempt to stop ballot counting. While it is far from clear how feasible such a move would be, anything like it could delay a final vote for weeks.

With inputs from The Guardian

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New varieties of rice crop have been of a great help to maintain the yield, says Dir Agriculture

Srinagar: In the past three decades, many hectares of agricultural land has been turned into residential colonies, but the agriculture department has claimed that there is less impact on the rice produce in Srinagar district due to squeezing of agrarian land.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Director Agriculture, Altaf Ahmad said that although the squeezing of agrarian land is impacting the produce, the produce has got doubled due to the new varieties introduced by them.

“The magnitude of the produce has gone up. But the land has been squeezed, which is a well-known fact,” he said, adding that there is an impact on the produce as if the land would have not been turned into residential colonies then people here would have been able to produce more crops.

He said the production of rice has gone up by 700 per cent compared to last few decades, which all is possible due to the new varieties introduced by the department, but the unfortunate part is the land available for the agricultural purpose is squeezing very rapidly.

“It is unfortunate that the people have been promoting the squeezing of agrarian land. We have not as a society looked into it. Our kids will curse us for promoting such kinds of activities. We are destroying our legacy. It is all a catastrophe,” he said, adding that the farmers can switch from one crop to another, but they should not be allowed to use this land for residential purposes.

He added that the department is conducting frequent awareness camps in this regard to make people aware about the consequences, but it is up to the revenue department to permit or not to permit anyone to use the land for residential purpose after proper evaluation—(KNO)

Srinagar: Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha has said that leaders in Jammu and Kashmir are free to engage in political activity, “which these leaders are doing and the country is also watching, listening”.

“I acknowledge that some leaders of political parties were not free earlier, but there was a system of assessment under Principal Secretary, Home, which would review the matter and, as of now, I don’t think any major political leader is under detention. Our country is a free country and people are free to engage in political activity, which these leaders are doing and the country is also watching, listening,” he told The Hindu in an interview as per news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

In reply to a question that events of August 5, 2019 saw major leaders of political parties under detention and it is being said that this has finished off the middle ground in politics in Kashmir, he replied, “My priority, as far as I see, is the development of J&K, engaging the youth, and creating an environment for prosperity.

Political parties, on their part, are free to engage in political activity, there is no proscription. It is up to them as to which direction they take. Much of it is unfortunate and we have to see how we can change that.”

He said, “I feel that those who have held Constitutional positions in the past should remember that they had once [been] sworn into office on the Indian Constitution. That maryada (decency) should be maintained. Secondly, many of this very set of people have gone before the Supreme Court on these and related matters, reposing full faith in the Indian judiciary and Constitutional system. Having done that, shouldn’t they wait for the court’s judgment? My second suggestion would be to remember that it is only in India that there is full freedom to say what you feel.”

On the recent amendments made to land-related laws in J&K, he said, “If some people want to misguide people, they can say what they want. The truth is that 90% of land in J&K is agricultural and no one from outside can buy it. The amendments did away with some older laws, some [that were] mutually contradictory, that had become redundant. For example, in an earlier law, a ceiling of 182 kanals had been fixed for private holding, after that it was amended to 100 kanals, [and] in 1976, these two provisions existed together.

Secondly, there was an unfortunate law that required the government’s permission to plant orchards and harvest the fruit; now we have freed that. These were old agrarian laws, and to make a shift to a modern economy, we made some changes. We have selected 6,000 acres of land for an industrial park and other industries will also be facilitated. We want private enterprise and industry for creating more jobs for the youth in J&K.”

Asked if panchayat polls will be held with panchayat-level workers having been killed in the last few months, he said, “The polls will be notified in a day or two and some forces want to disrupt these processes. We are trying to ensure security for all. The situation is pretty much under control. There are some who want to block deepening of democracy, it will not be allowed to happen.” (KINS)

Srinagar: Kashmir may face shortage of mutton as mutton dealers have refused to adhere to the recently fixed rate list for mutton by the administration.

Two days back, administration fixed rates of mutton at Rs 480 (retail) and Rs 450 (wholesale) in Kashmir.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir Pandurang K Pole chaired a meeting of Rate Fixation Committee and fixed rates of mutton at Rs 480 (retail) and Rs 450 as (wholesale) rates in Kashmir.

However, the mutton dealers have resisted the recently fixed rate list. “Who will sell mutton at Rs 480 when we get more than Rs 520 from outside dealers? We have instead decided to close our shops if we are forced to sell mutton at Rs 480 per kilogram,” Mohammad Subhan, a mutton dealer said.

General Secretary, All Kashmir Wholesale Mutton Dealers Association (KWMD), Mehraj-ud-Din Ganai said it was not possible to sell mutton at Rs 480.

“The rates have been fixed without consulting us. These rates are not genuine. How can we sell mutton at these rates when we purchase it for more than Rs 480,” Ganai told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

He said that the government had a proposal from Sheep Husbandry where they have claimed expenditure of Rs 476 on the production of one kilogram mutton.

“But Kashmir is a meat consuming region and most of the mutton is imported from outside. Then how can they fix rates on the proposal of Sheep Husbandry,” he asked. “This has created confusion and can lead to shortage of mutton in markets,” he said.

While Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P K Pole said that rates have been fixed after taking all factors into consideration. “Law enforcing agencies will take action against those who sell meat at higher rates,” Pole told news agency KINS.

An official document reveals that demand for the mutton is increasing with time and to meet it about 15 lakh small ruminants are imported into J&K annually.

The main supply of mutton is imported from Rajasthan.

Kashmiris and people from several parts of Jammu are voracious meat eaters as compared to other Indian states. More than 80 percent of the population here are non-vegetarian. (KINS)

Due to the decision Students facing hardship and difficulty in appearing for examination

Srinagar: Students of Islamic University of Science and technology Awantipora are up in arms against the varisty authorities for not providing them the bus service during examination.

A number of students and teachers called Kashmir Today about the issue. They said they are facing hardships due to non availability of transport.

University has a fleet of more than 50 buses which ply on different routes of various districts, a group of students told Kashmir Today, “We fail to understand why University has parked it’s bus fleet when they know how difficult it is for students to reach University in public transport.”

Speaking with Kashmir Today, IUST student, Ifrah Imtiyaz (name changed) said “It’s sad to see how University has parked it’s bus fleet during examination when punctuality is most important. I are sure many students may have missed the examinations and more will miss.”

However an IUST official, wished not to be named said that University has refunded the transport fee of the students for this session. and “University is already short of resources. So it is not feasible for us to run our own transport”

Srinagar, Nov 03(KINS): Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday said patients with Covid-19 infection come to Kashmir hospitals with unusual symptoms.

“Atypical symptoms delay testing, diagnosis and isolation of Covid-19 patients,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

“Patients with Covid-19 infection typically present with respiratory symptoms. However, patients come to hospitals with non-respiratory symptoms,” he said in a statement to news agency KINS.

“Covid-19 patients present with strokes, nerve issues or altered mental status with no respiratory symptoms or radiological features of lung involvement.”

DAK President said while elderly people have the highest rates for hospitalization and death, they don’t develop typical symptoms. They come with confusion which turns out to be the only sign of having Covid-19 infection in them.
“We see patients coming with heart attacks, heart failure and rhythm disturbances as the only presenting feature of Covid-19 infection,” he said.

“Patients drop in with nausea, vomiting and diarrhea as their sole complaint.”
Dr Nisar said eye manifestations or skin rashes are seen in some Covid-19 patients as the only presenting feature.

“Patients getting admitted with acute renal failure or liver failure with no reason turn out to be positive for Covid,” he said.

“A well controlled diabetic coming with elevated sugars and a stable lung disease patient dropping oxygen level without any reason and we find Covid as the culprit in them,” he added.
“When patients lack classic signs, health professionals don’t think of the diagnosis and patients go undiagnosed and untreated,” Dr Nisar said.

“It is important that public and healthcare professionals are aware of the possibility of Covid-19 presenting with non-specific symptoms, so that cases of Covid-19 with atypical presentations are not missed when they present to healthcare settings,” he said.

“Prompt recognition of Covid and prompt treatment is the key to reduce the chances of serious illness and death. Recognizing these unusual presentations of Covid-19 is crucial to reduce the risk of transmission of infection in hospital settings,” said Dr Nisar. (KNS)

Prof Talat inaugurates 2-day national seminar on literary criticism

Srinagar: The University of Kashmir will soon establish an Academy of Kashmiri Language to boost the promotion of Kashmiri language and literature in line with the recommendations of the New Education Policy-2020, Vice-Chancellor Prof Talat Ahmad said on Tuesday.

Addressing as chief guest the inaugural session of a two-day seminar “Contemporary Trends in Kashmiri Literary Criticism”, he said: “The NEP-2020 lays emphasis on promotion of regional languages. In this context, we have submitted our proposal to the honourable chancellor on setting up an Academy of Kashmiri Language in this University to boost the promotion of Kashmiri language in a big way. This Academy would lead to more funds and creation of more faculty positions.”

The national-level seminar was organised by the Department of Kashmiri.

Prof Talat urged academics to popularise the Academy for more and more students to understand the Kashmiri language.

“This Academy can offer short courses on translations so that the rich treasure of Kashmiri literature, philosophy and culture reaches the whole world,” he said, assuring his all-out support to the Department of Kashmiri.

“It would be good if students from other places come here and learn the Kashmiri language so that people across the country understand the rich Kashmiri culture and literature and the great works of noted Kashmiri scholars,” he said.

The V-C also released three books, including ‘Kashri Adbuk Tawareek’ by Prof Shafi Shouq, ‘Anhar’, a journal of the Kashmiri Department, and ‘Pair Zan’ by Zahoor Hygami.

KU Registrar Dr Nisar Ahmad Mir said constructive criticism forms the bedrock of rich academic and literary discourse and the current seminar is a great initiative in that direction.

“Literature shapes up the society and that makes its promotion among the masses important,” he said, assuring the Kashmiri department of full support to its academic endeavours.

In his keynote address, noted Kashmiri scholar and former Head, Department of Kashmiri, Prof Shafi Shauq, impressed upon the literary critics of Kashmiri to “benefit from the literary theories in vogue in the East and the West”.

Alluding to schools of criticism popular in Kashmiri language, he said literary critics should try to focus on literature and delve deep into basic ingredients that bring an artifact into existence.

“The linguistic structure, the verbal icon and the narrator of the artifact must be recognised in the first place and only then a genuine appreciation of an artifact is possible,” he said.
Prof Mafooza Jan, Head, Department of Kashmiri, said the seminar aims to raise new questions and provide newer insights into areas hitherto not extensively explored in the field.

Prof Majrooh Rasheed, former Head, Department of Kashmiri, presented a formal vote of thanks, while Dr Shafaqat Altaf conducted proceedings of the inaugural session, which, among others, was attended by students, scholars and writers including Prof Gulshan Majeed, Mr Shamshad Kralwari, Mr Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq, Mohammad Yousuf Mashoor, Zahoor Hygami, Jeelani Kamran and Jameel Ansari.(KINS)