Cops ensure seats for women in buses
The Srinagar Traffic Police has launched a special drive to ensure that seats reserved for women passengers in public transport vehicles are not encroached by men. According Traffic SSP Tahir Saleem Khan, during the special drive, 71 drivers and conductors of passenger buses and mini buses have been fined for not ensuring women get to sit in the seats reserved for them.
Khan said the route permit of a driver will be cancelled by the traffic department, if he is found not ensuring seats for women. Men are allowed to sit on these seats if there are no women to take them, but they should vacate it when a woman boards the bus, he said. The traffic police appealed to people to offer the reserved seats to women passengers.
A helpline for women who face harassment
The State Commission for Women (SCW) has introduced a helpline number — 7889799509 — for women in the Valley, who face harassment at office or are subjected to violence at home. SWC chairperson Nayeema Ahmad Mehjoor said the women could text, WhatsApp or give a missed call to lodge formal complaints in the exclusive number.
“The commission will contact them immediately and take help from police and other departments to mitigate the issues,” Mehjoor said. Mehjoor said the commission receives eight to ten complaints on a daily basis in the Valley and 60 per cent of these cases are marital disputes, while the rest are harassment complaints.
Former top cop appointed J&K cricket association head, trolled online
Netizens have now found a target in Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, a former DIG and counter insurgency Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police, who was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. The State High Court has appointed Bukhari, to streamline functioning of the cricket body, which has been embroiled in controversies. Bukhari, who retired as a DIG three years ago, isn’t well-versed with sports administration.
“Now, BCCI will have to change the cricket rules: ‘Wide ball’ would be renamed ‘misfire’; batsmen found running between the wickets will do so at his own risk; no more standing positions, fielders will have to lie down in the posture of ambush during the matches, the phrase ‘caught and bowled’ will be replaced with ‘caught and killed’ and the umpires would be replaced with informers with hidden hands,” a netizen wrote, while another noted, “Bouncer ball will be called ‘pawa shell’, Yorker ball will be called ‘sound shell’ and ‘pellet’ will be called short pitch ball.”
Festival boost to age-old cuisine
After a dull tourist season in summer, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism department is now organising weekly festivals to promote Kashmir as a winter destination. The fourth in the series — Harissa festival — was held at the Nehru Park in Srinagar’s Dal Lake recently.
Harissa, a preferred breakfast and popular winter delicacy in Kashmir, is prepared by grounding mutton to a paste and cooking it with rich and aromatic spices. Preparing Harissa is laborious, as it takes around 12 hours to cook the delicacy and one has to wait a further 12 hours overnight before consuming it.
Fayaz Wani
Our correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir
fayazwani123@gmail.com