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Enthusiastic about painting and sketching since her childhood, a self-taught Mehndi artist from Handwara village, Athar Rasool, who has taken the Mehndi designs to the next level by experimenting with latest motifs giving attractive choices to brides. Athar (22), who hails from Langate village in Handwara of North Kashmir's Kupwara district is an undergraduate Fine Arts student. She chose Mehndi art as her profession as her family, as well as her friends, suggested her to take up this art as a profession after they noticed this talent in her. "I didn’t visit any art school for learning. I learned it all by myself, this is all by the grace of the Almighty", says Athar. Sharing her journey as a Mehandi artist with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Athar said that at the age ...

The unemployment rate in Jammu Kashmir has severed past 30 percent in the month of August, which is the highest in the last several years. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has pegged Jammu Kashmir's employment rate at 32.8 percent marking a spike of nearly 12 percent against the month of July when the Unemployment rate had gone up to 20. 2  percent. The monthly figures of the unemployment rate maintained by CMIE since 2016 show that in January 2016 the unemployment rate stood at 12.3 per cent. It reached a high of 29.6 percent in November 2016, however, after the abrogation of Artcl3 370, the unemployment rate has gone up considerably. In March 2022, the rate went up to 25.0 percent, which was the second highest since November 2016. Unemployment has been on a rise si...

The long incarcerated journalist Asif Sultan, on Saturday, completed four years in jail. He is currently booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA). In April, One of his family members confirmed to The Kashmiriyat that Asif had been booked under the draconian PSA and shifted to the Kot Bhalwal jail of Jammu, but he was later shifted to Agra Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh. It is pertinent to mention that Asif, who has been incarcerated since 27 August 2018 was granted bail by a court in Srinagar on April 05, 2022. However, he was immediately taken in for questioning by the CIK, after which he was again detained under the PSA. Asif had been languishing in Central Jail, Srinagar for almost four years. Several international organizations including the Committee to Protect Journalists ...

Kashmir Artists are up in arms against the government for failing to provide them with work opportunities. The Artists say they are jobless due to the indifferent policies of the government. The Association of Light Music Artists of Kashmir has been expressing its resentment. The Association includes the Senior and Junior Artists, Singers and Musicians who have been for decades affiliated with the Kashmiri Light Music industry. For these local artists, the DD Kashir and All India Radio Srinagar were the only sources of sustenance but the continuing long termination of production work in these stations has pushed them into despair. Besides these artists used to meet their ends by performing in the programs/events organized by various organizations like JK Academy of Art, Culture and L...

Targeted killings in the Kashmir valley have witnessed a spike. In the latest attacks on Friday, a non-local laborer was killed by militants in the Bandipora district. As per figures available to The Kashmiriyat, Twenty-three civilians have died during targetted attacks in Kashmir in the first nine months of 2022 against a total of 15 killings during this period in the previous year. A non-local labourer identified as Muhammad Amrej, 19, was shot dead in Sadnara village of Bandipora’s Hajin area, an official said. Earlier, Jammu Kashmir Police said that "Law and order" incidents in Kashmir had dropped by over 88 percent in three years since the abrogation of the special status compared to the preceding three years. From August 5, 2016, to August 4, 2019, the Valley witnessed 3,...

Unemployment in Jammu Kashmir has reached another high as it has mounted to 20.2 which is the second highest after Haryana with an unemployment rate of 26.9 per cent. Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has pegged India’s unemployment rate at 7.1 per cent, while Jammu Kashmir has an unemployment rate of 20.2 per cent for the month of July against 17.2 per cent in the month of June. The CMIE data reveals that the unemployment rate has been steadily rising in the reion. In November 2016 the unemployment rate was 29.9 percent while in March the unemployment was recorded at 25 per cent. With the rising rate of unemployment rate in Jammu Kashmir, several scholars have taken to alternative forms of employment. Recently The Kashmiriyat reported  that two scholars, one Ph.D and on...

Danishwar Hameed Khul Noorabad is a far-flung village in south Kashmir's Kulgam district. The remote area is often in the news for the pathetic condition of the roads or the non-availability of drinking water. However, the area is in news this time after a youth from this village brought laurels to the entire area by participating in an international ceremony on World Poetry Day in Malaysia. The 19-year-old has co-authored over 100 poems on a global level in Germany, Saudi, and several other nations and has published two books and published a paper on the subject 'Theory of relativity and Natural philosophy.' In March, Suhail Ibn Shahnawaz participated in a global ceremony on the occasion of World Poetry Day. Shahnawaz comes from a middle-class family. His father is a government e...

Danishwar Hameed Aayat al Qursi- the longest verse and believed to be one of the most powerful verses of the Quran by Muslims, has been inscribed by a Kulgam woman on her hand-made shawl. A white colour cotton shawl which is about five feet wide and three feet tall has the Quranic verse at the face of it with neat and polished handicraft work. Shaheena Banoo(42), who is a resident of Gopalpora Kulgam has worked on the completion of this Shawl for several days and nights. "The Arabic words are not easy to write and then the symbols also require a lot of patience and pure art. This is not overnight work," Shaheena told The Kashmiriyat. The Shawl is precious to Shaheena and she could not fix a cost for it. "I have also crafted nature, flowers and some words on the shawls. But this...

Rayees Shah 50 kilometers away from Srinagar, at the foothills of the magnificent Haramukh, Gangbal –an alpine fresh water lake stands still. The lake is surrounded by mountains like a precious jewel. Situated at an elevation of about 3600 meters, this high-altitude lake is about 2.5 km long and a kilometer wide. Water from rain, springs and melting glaciers feeds this lake, which is the origin of Wangath – a tributary of the Sindh River. The river serves as a habitat for different varieties of freshwater fish, especially brown trout.      

The drug trade has been on the rise in Kashmir in the first six months of 2022. According to official statistics, heroin is the substance that security personnel has recently seized in the largest quantity in Kashmir. 16.23746 kg of heroin worth over Rs 32 crore was seized from drug dealers in Kashmir in the first half of 2022, as per the data. A total of 2.017 kg of heroin was found in January, while 5.805 kg was found in February. In March, when 82.5 grams of heroin were recovered, the recovery rate fell. The most heroin was found in the month of April, where 7.355 kilograms of it was found, followed by 903.96 grams in May, and 35 and 39 grams from drug traffickers in the months of June and July, respectively. The Jammu Kashmir Police stated that it is taking multiple s...