Can we harness this global recognition, will Kashmir crafts go global?
Srinagar finds itself in UNESCO Creative Cities Network
With Srinagar having been included in United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network 2021 list as ‘City of Crafts and Folk Art’, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory has become the latest entry that joins UNESCO creative cities network 2021. Now, there are as many as 295 cities […]
Fighting Cyber Crimes: Awareness among users is the key
With increasing cases of cyber frauds, smartphone users should become smarter to defeat fraudsters
Cyber fraud —an offshoot of internet technology— is becoming a new phenomenon in the world of crime, everywhere. The Valley, indeed, is not an exception. Kashmir’s Cyber Police Wing, according to the official sources, receives complaints about online frauds and scams on daily basis. Since tracking down a criminal in the virtual world is not […]
J&K – where private school teachers are paid peanuts for teaching
Labour Department can’t intervene as teachers are not categorised as ‘workforce’; DESK can’t intervene, as there are no such rules and; private schools can’t pay more as they don’t have financial autonomy result – teachers suffer and owners of big schools make empires!
Kashmir has seen a massive growth of private sector schooling over the years, and the majority of the students, mostly up to class 10th, are enrolled in these schools. Approximately, there are around 2700 private schools across the Valley, with around 47,000 teachers —roughly 80 percent of them being females, with sufficient qualifications. However, these […]
Growing unemployment rate, peaking inflation push J&K to wall
The growing unemployment rate coupled with the peaking inflation is breaking the back of common people, particularly those living below the poverty line in Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), a Mumbai based business information company, has recently pegged the unemployment rate in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir […]
Developmental works in ULBs pending for want of technical staff
Clamor for reinstatement of engineering wing to Directorate of Urban Local Bodies gains traction
Srinagar: The government decision of abolishing engineering wings of the Directorate of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Kashmir and Jammu divisions last year has been drawing damaging effects on urban development scenario in the Valley. Thus, the demand for the reinstatement of the engineering wing to the directorate is gaining momentum day by day. According […]
Kashmir’s art and craft faces existential threat
Golden hands that would create artistic wonders are turning rusted as there is nothing to do, however, authorities are optimistic that Handicrafts and Handloom Policy 2020 has a promise for all artisans.
Kashmir has been a land of skilled artisans for ages. The proficient hands creating artistic products – like qaleen, namdas, shawls, crewel embroidery, sozni embroidery, phool kari, woodwork, Paper Mache and so on – have always been in plenty here. And the arts and crafts have been one of the main sources of the local […]
Existing unit holders see no promise in J&K Industrial Policy 2021-30
“As the policy is mostly meant for the new industrial units only, should we bury the existing industries and build new ones on the graveyard of the buried ones?”
More than six months have passed since the Union Territory administration introduced Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy 2021-30. The new policy, which has come into effect on April 1, 2021, is primarily for new ventures and it also allows investments from outside. However, experts say that the new industrial policy is yet to show its […]
Political optics aside, conservation of Wular lake remains only a half-hearted effort
Can you imagine that WUCMA is run by just 5 officials, and they too have been assigned this job as an additional charge!
The Wular Lake, still considered one of Asia’s largest lakes, has shrunk by 40 percent during the past century. .The lake, according to recorded evidence, was spread around 217.8 square kilometers in 1911. Now, as per the official data, it is just 130 square kilometers in size. Obviously the water holding capacity of the lake […]
Inefficiency of concerned civic bodies throws Srinagar and rest of Valley to dogs
This year alone, from January till date, 4149 persons were bitten by stray dogs. Despite clear cut court directions, SMC’s lousy sterilization campaign and inability to create dog-ponds has failed to control dog population scientifically.
The ever increasing population of stray dogs in Srinagar and other areas of the Valley is a great challenge the population here is face to face with. As per the data from the department of Community Medicines, Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, as many as 58,869 persons, mostly in Srinagar, have been bitten by stray […]
De-coding the frequent incidents of human-animal conflict
From understaffed and ill-equipped Wild Life Department to human interference in habitats of wild animals, the authorities need to have all-inclusive strategy to tackle the challenge.
The human-animal conflict is not a new phenomenon in Kashmir Valley. The reports about these conflicts appear in news now and then; and the intensity of the problem can be gauged by the official data, which say that as many as 118 people were killed and 1877 wounded in attacks by wild animals in the […]
