Month: March 2023

A government-run middle school in Sonawari area of north Kashmir's Bandipora has been functioning out of four rooms causing immense hardships to students. Locals told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that teaching eight classes in four rooms is very difficult and can prove problematic sometimes as in the noisy conditions it is impossible for students to grasp any lessons clearly. Habibullah Akhoon, a local said that the school is facing space crunch and said that the government had started the construction of another additional building for the school in 2010 but that has not yet been completed. "We do not understand why the administration has abandoned the work of the building in the halfway while the students here have to suffer a lot in the absence of proper space," he s...

The Regional Passport Office handed over passports to over 700 Hajj aspirants in Srinagar during a special camp on Thursday. Regional Passport Officer for Kashmir and Ladakh, Davinder Kumar, while talking to reporters, as per the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said, he had sought permission from the central government to hold a special camp for Hajj aspirants. "The request was approved and we held a special camp today to provide relief to Hajj aspirants," he said. On being asked about pendency of cases at present, he said from over 6,000 cases in December 2022 to nearly 2,500 cases, they have been trying hard to bring the number of pending cases to zero by the end of March—(KNO)

Authorities have failed to ensure the implementation of the reserved seats for women in public transport across Kashmir. Not just students, but women from all sections of life have long been voicing their concerns and demanding seat share in public transport. While the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) 1988 mentions the seat reservation of 33 percent for women in local buses; an order in 2012 was also issued to reserve eight seats for women on public transport. News agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) has done a series of stories on the issue and subsequently flagged it with the authorities. It has received a plethora of complaints from women that the seat reservation for ladies in public transport is not being implemented by the authorities. “The allotted share has been majorly encroache...

A student of 8th standard of Imperial Institution Nathipora in Sopore was injured after being assaulted by his classmate on Thursday afternoon. An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the student was attacked by his colleague after appearing in class 8th exam in government high school at Tujjar today. He said the student identified as Salib Ashraf received head injury after being hit by a sharp edged tool by his colleague. "He was immediately rushed to sub district hospital Sopore, where his condition is stated to be stable." Meanwhile, police have taken cognisance of the incident and launched a probe in this regard—(KNO)

At least two houses were damaged after a massive fire broke out in the Kalwal Mohalla Rainawari area of central Kashmir's Srinagar district on Thursday, officials said. They told GNS that the fire broke out in one house and soon after spread to another house in proximity, causing damage to the roofs and upper parts of both houses. Soon after the news broke, the men from F&ES rushed to the spot. Despite the tightly packed and congested area, the fire was eventually brought under control. “The men are doing their job, and the fire will be contained down within some time,” an F&ES official added. The cause of the fire and the identification of the house owners affected were not known - at the time of filing this report. (GNS)

A man allegedly killed his brother after a scuffle broke between the two over some argument in central Kashmir's Budgam district, reports and officials said. Reports reaching GNS said that an argument ensued between two brothers over some dispute at Kuzweera Budgam, which soon after turned ugly and one of the party attacked the other leaving him grievously injured. Before the injured could be evacuated to a nearby hospital, he succumbed in the meanwhile. The deceased has been injured as one Kaisar Yousaf Zargar son of Mohammad Yousuf Zargar. A senior police officer confirming the incident told GNS that a team has been dispatched to the scene to verify the facts. (GNS)

Locals and police on Thursday recovered a body of a youth from river Jhelum near cement bridge in Qamarwari area of Srinagar, officials said here. An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the body was recovered from the Jhelum today afternoon. He said the body has been shifted to GMC for postmortem and other medico-legal formalities. Meanwhile, the official said the body is likely of a Budgam youth who had drowned in Jhelum around 20 days ago. “His family members have been called to identify the body,” he said—(KNO)