Cover Story

Governance, Gaps, and Grievance in J&K’s Fractured Assembly By Ajaz Rashid The air inside the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly chamber on first day of Autumn session carried the crisp chill of a valley autumn, but the temperature within the House was incendiary. Moments after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather concluded reading the customary obituary references, […]

How El Niño and Global Warming Are Rewriting Kashmir’s Winter Script By Ajaz Rashid Across the Kashmir Valley, where generations have marked time by the first heavy snowfall and the bitter forty-day freeze of Chillai Kalan, the coming winter is shadowed by a growing climate paradox. Director of the Meteorological Department Srinagar Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad […]

At the inaugural International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar lays the groundwork to turn cinema from mere postcard escapism into an indigenous creative economy. By Ajaz Rashid The September sun dips behind the Zabarwan range, casting long, amber silhouettes across the manicured lawns of the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre. Below the terrace, the […]

A catastrophic glacial collapse high in the Himalayas has triggered a devastating cross-border torrent, leaving hundreds dead and thousands missing across Nepal and Tibet. Search-and-rescue teams continue to scour submerged hydropower tunnels and wiped-out settlements as experts point to critical failures in real-time transboundary warnings. By Ajaz Rashid In the high, razor-sharp ridges of the […]

With young lives bearing the brunt of mountain road carnage, pedestrian and passenger fatalities continue to climb across Jammu and Kashmir. Despite a drop in total highway collisions, the lethality of crashes on northern corridors remains dangerously volatile. By Ajaz Rashid The Himalayan asphalt winds through treacherous gorges, hugging steep cliffs where one wrong turn […]

Why a Few Days of Rain Paralyse Jammu & Kashmir By Ajaz Rashid In the low-lying settlement of Sethar, nestled along the banks of the Jhelum River in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, sleep is a luxury that vanishes with the first drops of heavy monsoon rain. When dark clouds gather over the valley, residents do […]

Researchers at IIT Kharagpur found that key alpine areas like Gulmarg and Pahalgam have warmed by nearly 1°C over the past two decades. This relentless elevation-dependent heating disrupts natural nightly freeze cycles and accelerates snowmelt across the Western Himalayas. By Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath A landmark study published in Scientific Reports, entitled “Warming of the high-mountainous […]

A relentless series of 35 cloudbursts has torn across Jammu and Kashmir, leaving a trail of destruction and claiming 31 lives. From the battered Chenab Valley to isolated mountain villages, communities are now left grappling with the tragic human and ecological cost. By Ajaz Rashid Across the steep ridges and narrow valleys of Jammu and […]

Twenty-seven years after reclaiming the frozen peaks of Ladakh, the nation remembers the extraordinary valor of the soldiers who defended its frontiers. From solemn ceremonies in Drass to nationwide tributes, their enduring sacrifice continues to inspire generations. By Ajaz Rashid High among the jagged, windswept peaks of the Trans-Himalayas, where the air grows thin and […]

Kashmir’s world-famous ecosystems are collapsing under the combined strain of rapid climate warming and unchecked human encroachment. As vital water towers recede and freshwater bodies disappear, experts warn that the region’s economic and environmental future hangs in the balance. By Ajaz Rashid For centuries, the Kashmir Valley has been immortalized as a terrestrial paradise, a […]