Author: Kashmir Newsline

There are multiple factors that could be responsible for India’s poor performances. Bilal Ahsan Dar In the first Test of the ongoing bilateral series that began on December 14, India inflicted a crushing defeat on home team Bangladesh at Chattogram. While India’s performance at test level has been reasonably satisfactory, the same cannot be said about its performance in the white ball cricket over the last few years. It was not so long ago that star all-rounder Hardik Pandya claimed: “I think India can pick two more teams and win any tournament in the world.” He was referring to the…

Credit score is a summary of a borrower’s past and current borrowing and repayment history. Sajjad Bazaz Some time back, a student, who had approached a bank for education loan, shared an interesting story with me. His application was rejected despite his parents having sufficient income on the ground that their credit score was bad. The parents were surprised as they had no idea what ‘credit score’ meant. While seeking the exact meaning of ‘credit score’ from the bank official who had done appraisal of the study loan application, they were astonished to learn that the bank knew about their…

A recent study by the Department of Mental Health and Neurosciences in collaboration with the Department of Health Services suggests a serious increase in drug abuse across all districts of the Kashmir valley. The findings of the study have revealed a dark underbelly that needs immediate attention. The study has concluded that the deadly opioid drug heroin has become the main source of addiction, replacing milder drugs such as painkillers and cannabis. The survey also concluded that most of the addicts are in the age group of 17 to 33 years, though doctors have previously reported addicts as young as…

The world stood with India in strongly condemning the attack.  Shome Basu It was a warm, sunny December day. New Delhi was going about its usual business. The posh Connaught Place area was gearing up for a carnival as Christmas was just around the corner. I was at the Bangla Sahib gurudwara for a photo story. At the gurudwara, I was planning to have my lunch at the langar which was about to start.  Suddenly, at around 11:30, a loud explosion was heard along with some gunshots. I stepped out of the gurudwara to check. Outside, on the road, people…

Lt. Gen. (retd) Tariq Khan The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem. ~Milton Friedman We are an accommodative nation abounding in conspiracy theories, rumours and labels. No one understands that we, as a nation and society, are held hostage to ignorance and stupidity. Our economy is in shambles and a semiliterate accountant rolls his pearls of wisdom while the fan club sits in wonder trying to pick up nuggets of wisdom from the utter nonsense he rattles off. No nation has suffered from a lack of intellectual capacity and functional collapse the way we…

Unprecedented steps are needed to create a basic framework for conservation and restoration of the lake. Akshay Kaul The 1990s saw a sharp reduction in the quality of lakes, rivers and other water bodies – particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America. For us, the 1990s in Kashmir also reflect a watershed moment of a different sort that had a significant impact on the environmental legacy of the valley. The causes of lake degradation are quite similar when you look at them, especially in developing countries. Lakes are complex living systems because their health and water quality depend on both…

A tribute to the thespian on his birth centenary. In 1934, Indian cinema’s first diva, Devika Rani, and her husband, Himanshu Rai, set up Bombay Talkies, which produced several hit movies with Ashok Kumar and her in the lead in most of them. Brought up and educated in England, Rani, along with Rai, had studied filmmaking in Germany. While she contributed immensely to the development of the early cinema when the talkies had just begun, Rani’s single most important contribution to the Indian film industry would come a decade later when she introduced Yusuf Khan aka Dilip Kumar, who was…

Dilip Kumar embodied the zeitgeist of an era gone by and they don’t make them like that anymore. Shabir Hussain Dilip Kumar’s entry into the world of cinema was as phantasmagorical as his rise to superstardom after some initial hiccups. When the glamorous actor-producer Devika Rani offered him a job in her production house as an actor, he was reluctant but agreed only after Rani quoted a monthly salary of Rs1250, which was a fortune back in the day. He had inhibitions also because his strict father was dismissive of cinema and would never have wanted him to become an…