Thought of the month: Culture/Heritage School children hold rally to ‘’Learning to distance yourself from all the negativity is one of the preserve heritage greatest lessons to achieve inner peace’’ Roy Bennett From Editors desk Jammu and Kashmir update is a unique initiative of Ministry of Home Affairs to showcase the positive developments taking place in the state, The ambit of the magazine covers all the three regions of the state with focus on achievements of the Hundreds of school children participated in a walk to people. acquaint themselves with the heritage of Srinagar city and the need for its preservation. To make it participatory, the Organised by civil society and local authorities, the heritage magazine invites success walk was attended by over 200 children from various stories/unique achievements, schools. The placard-carrying children highlighted the along with photographs in the need for the preservation of heritage sites and marched in field of sports, adventure sports, a procession through various localities, covering a distance studies, business, art, culture, of almost three kilometres. The placards read ‘heritage positive welfare initiatives, walk to explore the historical importance of heritages in social change, religious Shah-re- Khas’ ‘save heritage’ and ‘know your history’. harmony, education including pieces of art like drawings, The children were accompanied by dozens of teachers cartoons, poems, short stories and walked past historic places such as the Khankah-e- (not more than 150 words) or Moula Shrine and the Budshah Tomb in Zainakadal before reaching the Sheikh Mukhdoom Sahib Shrine, atop the jokes on post Box No 30, GPO, Koh-e-Marran hillock, which overlooks the city. New Delhi-110001. Selected ones will be published in J&K Nayeem Ahmad, the organizer of the heritage walk, said update. “The main aim of this event was to accustom the students with the city’s ancient history and culture. Through this heritage walk we are providing information to our students about the Sufi saints, mausoleums and much more. Apart Smile from this, we also provide them the information about the major monuments, so that the future generations retain the Son: Dad it’s so cold in here knowledge about our culture”. Father: Go and sit in corner Son : Why? Father : The corner is 90 degrees 2 DEVELOPMENT UDAAN’S FLIGHT AND FEEDBACK Status of Implementation- Program to date UDAAN MILESTONES Cumulative programme to date Corporates successfully partnered with Udaan 64 Commitment 76,274 Candidates joined Udaan training programmes 11,553 Candidates registered with Udaan from all districts of J&K 70,113 NSDC Udaan Recruitment Drives - August, 2015 NSDC Udaan with Ministry of Home Affairs organized first ever recruitment drive in Leh (Ladakh) and Kargil to ensure more youth are engaged with the Udaan Scheme for better job opportunities. More than 10 corporates from various sectors including Finance, Human Resource, Construction, Automation and Information Technology & IT Enabled Services, Sales etc. participated in this mega drive to recruit fresh talent. Two day recruitment drive turned out to be a success with 536 candidates registered with Udaan in addition to those 989 who appeared for the interview with various companies. Udaan Mega Drives were also held in Jammu and Srinagar which are a part of series of mega selection drives being conducted in the state to scout fresh talent. One more drive in Billawar is planned for this month. More than 981 selections are made over a period of eight days. Udaan Project received a prestigious award at world education summit 2015 Udaan Mega Drive- LEH (Ladakh) One word to describe Udaan as an initiative: Life Changer” It gives me immense pleasure to proclaim that I am working with Telefonica Brazilas, a Process Associate, whereby I manage and execute various accounting processes with steady opportunities for personal and professional development. The journey from the confinements of Kashmir to Accenture would not have been cascaded like a breeze, if I had not enrolled myself in the Accenture Udaan Scheme. The Scheme came as a savior in my life in the valley where there are not many job opportunities. NAME: RUKSAR AHMAD SOFI The training provided under the program helped me hone my communication COMPANY PLACED IN: ACCENTURE skills as well as interpersonal skills; and the best part about it were the trainers who were equally enthusiastic and committed towards our growth. The mock interview sessions in the training proved to be of great help when I got selected at Telefonica Brazilas 3 itself. Looking back at my stint with Accenture over the period of one year, I have been acknowledged with multiple awards like, “Recognition Champion”, “Capital Market Participant”, etc. In future, I intend to grow with the company and aspire to work at the higher levels in the project i am currently working in; for which i have already embarked on the process of learning Portuguese language! TOURISM Painting camp held to boost culture tourism in Kashmir In a bid to promote culture tourism in Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAAC) invited 20 prominent artists from across India at the picturesque Yousmarg Valley. The artists produced beautiful paintings during the five-day long camp. During the event, art works highlighting the floods of 2014, the natural beauty of Kashmir and the richness of valley’s landscape were painted. Prominent among those who participated in the event included; Akhilesh from Madhya Pradesh, Gunjan Tyagi from New Delhi, Bhup Singh Gulia from Haryana, Umesh Kumar from Lucknow, Gurcharan Singh from Kurukshetra, Dr. Mamta Singh from Dehradun, Prof. Mohiudin Gazali from New Delhi, Gokal Dembi from Jammu, Pratima Singh from New Delhi and Gagan Gambeer from Punjab. Expressing his views, Delhi-based artist Gunjan Tyagi said that the holding of the painting camp was a great thing as it afforded opportunities to artists to highlight various shades of Kashmir. A German tourist, Kern John, while praising the camp and the beauty of the valley, said that she was attracted by beautiful paintings in the camp. She added that she had brought about 2500 tourists to different tourist spots in the state in past 18 years and all of them had gone back on a happy note. 4 Water sports organised to promote adventure tourism Be it river rafting or boat race, sports on the picturesque Dal Lake and river Sindh, – Kashmir valley turns to be an attractive water sports destination in the country. The waters of world famous Dal Lake in Srinagar recently came alive during a water sports meet. The14th All India Police Water Sports Championship was hosted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police for the third time in the state. Earlier, it was held in 2003 and 2009. The canoes in the Dal Lake were lined up with red and pink balloons soaring in the air. Around 18 teams and 450 sports enthusiasts from different states participated in Canoeing and Rowing competitions in the deep waters of Dal. In order to promote adventure tourism in the valley, the Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK) and J&K Ski and Mountaineering Association, organized a Water Rafting Marathon on river Sindh with the support of Department of Tourism, Jammu &Kashmir. The event was held on Nallah Sindh from Wussan to Ganderbal. Ten rafting teams participated in the event. The State government is planning more such events in the future to promote the adventure tourism in Kashmir. YOUTH CORNER Youth in valley learn martial arts for self-defence and career Young boys and girls in Srinagar city are getting passionate about learning martial arts. Around 400 students from 20 schools of Srinagar city have been getting training in self-defence from Muzaffar Sheikh, an ace martial art trainer. Many of his students have brought laurels by winning medals at various martial arts competitions in the country. Muzaffar, who hails from Nawakadal area of Srinagar, got his initial training in the sport from his uncle. Later, he participated at various district and state level competitions. He has become an inspiration for the young generation in the Kashmir valley. According to him, martial art helps students cope with pressure of high studies. Besides, girls can defend themselves if caught in difficult situations. It should be recalled that of late the state has witnessed a spate of acid attacks on g,girls, 5 Muzaffar trains around 300-400 boys and girls in 20 schools in the Srinagar city. They recently visited Haryana for the competition and his students received four medals in the Sub Junior Category. OTHER ACTIVITIES J&K CM laid stress on development during 69th Independence Day celebrations The Independence Day parade was held at the Bakshi Stadium on August 15, where Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayed unfurled the Tricolour. Security personnel showcased the daring stunts whereas the school children enthralled the audiences with their colourful performances. Addressing people at the parade, the Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayed said, “We will construct 900 km long roads to connect Srinagar city with the rest of the cities and towns in the State. We will set up model schools and new universities with modern infrastructure. The opening of routes across the Line of Control for travel and trade between 2002 and 2008 has been a great endeavour and achievement and it should be used for pilgrim tourism also”. He added that five medical colleges will be set up in the state in Anantnag, Baramulla, Doda, Rajouri and Kathua. The Government of India has already sanctioned two AIIMS like institutions in Jammu and Srinagar. The Chief Minister also said that in the past seven decades, democracy had flourished in India and the economy of the country was growing with each passing day.