For decades, the streets of Jammu and Kashmir’s twin capitals have narrated a frustrating tale of civic schizophrenia. No sooner is a pristine layer of blacktop laid than another utility agency arrives with excavators, tearing apart public money and commuter patience in equal measure. The chaotic tangle of overhead wires overhead and scarred asphalt underfoot […]
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The Next Harvest
Venture-backed agri-tech often caters to sprawling commercial estates, leaving small and marginal farmers behind. Shifting toward cooperative ownership models and affordable hardware ensures that the digital transition leaves no community stranded. By Ajaz Rashid Urging financial institutions, academic bodies, and private-sector venture partners to actively dismantle systemic funding barriers, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha made an […]
Mobilizing Youth for National Progress
Young people are already defining the realities of today, not just waiting for tomorrow. Equipping them with real civic agency, modern skills, and financial autonomy is essential for enduring growth. By Syed Mustafa Ahmad Youth represent an indispensable pillar of any civilized, progressive, and enduring society. They are not merely the inheritors of tomorrow; they […]
Classrooms Holding Ground
The latest official figures presented to the Legislative Assembly reveal an encouraging trend in school education: dropout rates have dropped across primary and upper primary tiers, paired with measurable gains in board examination performance. At the primary level, early school departures fell from 1.6 percent to 1.1 percent over the past academic year, while the […]
The Crack Beneath Paradise
Beneath the serene waters of the Jhelum and the postcard valleys of Kashmir, a colossal geological engine is grinding into silence. Deep underground, pressure is mounting along silent fractures and above ground, millions inhabit concrete traps built over quicksand. By Ajaz Rashid Across the bowl of the Kashmir Valley, life unfolds against an idyllic canvas […]
The Cost of an Extra Holiday
Kashmir’s students already navigate severe weather closures, administrative disruptions, and extensive breaks. Slicing away another school day deprives young minds of the vital continuity they need to compete globally. By Aubaid Ahmad Akhoon “In this age, education is the remedy for the ailments of the nation.” These timeless words of wisdom from Allama Muhammad Iqbal […]
40,000 Seats, Zero Excuses
The revelation presented before the Legislative Assembly that more than 40,000 posts remain vacant under the direct recruitment quota is both an alarming administrative indictment and a stark reflection of lost opportunity. In a region where youth unemployment has consistently simmered as a socioeconomic flashpoint, keeping 40,672 public sector positions unoccupied represents not just an […]
The Unfinished House
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, […]
Sinking Feeling
More than a decade after the devastating deluge of September 2014, Jammu and Kashmir remains trapped in an agonizing cycle of panic whenever the sky darkens. A brief spell of monsoon rain should be routine weather in a Himalayan region; instead, it routinely turns into an acute regional emergency. National highways choke under landslides, school […]
The Vanishing Whiteout
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 […]