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Arifa from Kashmir gets national award for reviving Numdha handicraft

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Arifa Jan from Kashmir, who was conferred with ‘Nari Shakti Puraskar’ by President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi, is the founder of ‘Numdha’ Handicrafts and is responsible for reviving the lost art.

She has trained more than 100 women in Kashmir.

Numdha is a traditional Kashmiri carpet, made by rolling and press wool by the application of moisture. Untill some years, Kashmiri Numdhas were seen in every rooms. There was once a local as well as national demand and the handicraft had a good export market. The demand and export declined in the past more than a decade.

She has employed 25 Kashmiris and increased wages of her employees from Rs 175 to Rs 450. Despite financial constraints and criticized for being a female entrepreneur, she has actively promoted new designs of Numdhas.

After receiving the award on the occasion of International Women’s Day, she said, “With support from my father and husband, I have been able to fight the conservative society and reach to this point.”

Arifa Jan, braving all odds, accepted the challenge to revive the most famed handicraft Numdha, which over the years has lost its prominence in Kashmir.

After completing her bachelor’s degree in commerce from Kashmir University, Arifa’s friend who had set up a Craft Development Institute (CD) encouraged her to pursue a two-year, Craft Management and Entrepreneurial Leadership programme.

Due to financial problems, Arifa could not afford to pay her fee. But after seeing her talent and determination CDI aided a grant to her, which helped her to continue training.

During Arifa’s two-year training programme, she got an opportunity for specialised training in Kyrgyzstan.

 At the end of the training course, Arifa submitted the project of 50 pieces of beautiful multi-colored traditional Numdhas which led her successful life.

Her new venture was not so easy. At the beginning she faced troubles to continue her business.

However, Arifa’s father wanted her to stop the business because as per him nobody in Kashmir would ever marry her. “Even, her relatives did not spare and continued criticising.”

15 get Nari Shakti Puraskar

New Delhi(NVI): Fifteen women were today conferred with Nari Shakti Puraskar by President Ram Nath Kovind on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

The awards for 2019 were presented at a special ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan in recognition of the awardees’ efforts in rendering distinguished services towards emancipation of women, especially vulnerable and marginalized women.

Nari Shakti Puraskar is an initiative of the Ministry of Women and Child Development to acknowledge the exceptional contribution made by individuals and institutions, to celebrate women as game changers and catalyst of positive change in the society.

These outstanding women have contributed towards safeguarding women’s rightsalong with pushing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals. These awards are an effort to recognize women as equal partners in the advancement of society.

These achievers have not allowed age, geographical barriers or access to resources to come in the way of fulfilling their dreams.

Their indomitable spirit will inspire the society at large and the young Indian minds in particular to break gender stereotypes, and stand up against gender inequality and discrimination.

Nari Shakti Puraskar awardee from Kollam, Alappuzha, Kerala, BhageerathiAmma,could not travel to Delhi to receive the award.

The winners of the Nari Shakti Puraskar for the year 2019 are from fields as diverse as agriculture, sports, handicrafts, afforestation and wildlife conservation, Armed Forces and education.

The list of the Awardees is as under:

S. No Name Category State
1 PadalaBhudevi Individual Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh
2 Bina Devi Individual Munger , Bihar
3 Arifa Jan Individual Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
4 ChamiMurmu Individual Rajnagar, SaraikelaKharsawan, Jharkhand
5 NilzaWangmo Individual Leh ,Ladakh
6 RashmiUrdhwareshe Individual Pune, Maharashtra
7 Sardarni Mann Kaur Individual Patiala, Punjab
8 Kalavati Devi Individual Kanpur,  Uttar Pradesh
9 Tashi and  Nungshi Malik Individual Dehradun, Uttarakhand
10 KaushikiChakroborty Individual Kolkata, West Bengal
11 BhageerathiAmma

KarthyayiniAmma

 Individual Kollam, Alappuzha, Kerala
12 AvaniChaturvedi

Bhawna Kanth

Mohana Singh

 Individual Rewa, Madhya Pradesh

Darbhanga, Bihar

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Indian Air Force

Coronavirus cases in India reach 39

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New Delhi (NVI): Five more positive cases of coronavirus have been reported in Kerala, taking the total number of infected people in the country to 39.

Three of the five people had recently travelled to Italy while two others had come into direct contact with them. All five people are the members of same family.

Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said today that the family did not share their travel history at the airport and were not screened.

“They initially refused to be hospitalized we had to persuade them,” she said.

“As of now their condition is stable. But there is need to take extra care,” she added.

“We are urging people to share the travel information with travel authorities. We have stepped up the precaution in Pathanamthitta,” she further added.

The fresh cases have been reported days after the southern state had successfully treated India’s first three coronavirus patient.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen worldwide to more than 1,00,000 with 3,500 deaths due to the outbreak.

Here is what western diet can do to your body

New Delhi (NVI): Eating food that is high in salt, fats and added sugars referred to as the Western-style diet, could harm your cognitive abilities, research finds.

According to the Macquarie University in Sydney, research found that people who eat Western-style diet are more likely to suffer from “impairments in hippocampal function”

The hippocampus is an important part of the brain which helps control short-term and long-term memories. It is the part of the brain that is damaged by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The researchers recruited 110 students aged 17-35 and split them into two groups – a control group and one that would go through the experiment. They were all fit and healthy, with a body mass index (BMI) between 17 and 26.

The group eating the Western-style diet were told to eat toasted sandwiches and milkshakes, Belgian waffles, and fast-food meals, all of which were high in saturated fat and added sugar.

The control group was given two low-fat, low-sugar breakfasts of toasted sandwiches and milkshakes and then asked to stick to their normal eating habits for the rest of the test.

Each group was given memory tests to complete. By Day 8 of the experiment, there was “a significant main effect” on the results of the Western-style diet group.

The findings support the results of a similar piece of work undertaken at Macquarie in 2017.

People in the Western-style diet group were more likely to suffer from “impairments in hippocampal function” the researchers found.

Heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes are three of the most well-known adverse effects of a typical Western diet.

Their impact is now being felt in parts of the world that have not traditionally eaten these kinds of food.

This has been particularly evident in China where a significant change in eating habits has accompanied the country’s rapid economic transformation and increased urbanization. This has led to the spread of Western-style food – but it has also led to the spread of Chinese waistlines.

Obesity rates in China have increased from 1% to 20% and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there may be 120 million overweight and obese people in the country.

In the US, there are about 93.3 million obese adults – around 39.8% of the population. More than 70 per cent of US adults are classed as either overweight or obese.

The healthiest diets are those that include a lot of fresh food, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and little in the way of saturated fats.

The Japanese diet is one of the healthiest. Food tends to be steamed or simmered, rather than fried, and many things are eaten raw. Another healthy alternative is the Mediterranean diet, which contains plenty of seeds, legumes, whole grains, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil.

Promoting healthy lifestyles is a major concern for global policymakers. As highlighted in the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2020, illnesses like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and respiratory diseases, along with mental illness, could cost the global economy an estimated USD 47 trillion in treatment and lost productivity by the end of this decade.

PM gives Twitter account to women

New Delhi (NVI): On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he was “signing off” from his official twitter handle for the day and it will be handled by seven women achievers who will share accomplishments of their lives.
“Greetings on International Women’s Day! We salute the spirit and accomplishments of our Nari Shakti.  As I’d said a few days ago, I’m signing off. Through the day, seven women achievers will share their life journeys and perhaps interact with you through my social media accounts,” Modi posted on his Twitter handle.
“India has outstanding women achievers in all parts of the nation. These women have done great work in a wide range of sectors. Their struggles and aspirations motivate millions. Let us keep celebrating the achievements of such women and learning from them. #SheInspiresUs,” he added.
The first women to take over the PM’s Twitter account is the founder of Footbank Sneha Mohandoss, who posted a video  in which she introduced herself and her work.
Food Bank is the Chennai-based group that has taken up the initiative to feed the homeless people.
Earlier on March 3, Modi had announced that he would give his social media accounts to women to share their achievements.
The Prime Minister has 53.3 million followers on Twitter.

Weather likely to be dry in North India over next 2-3 days

New Delhi (NVI):The weather forecasters do not expect any significant rainfall in the plains of North India for the next two to three days.

Thereafter, another fresh Western Disturbance is expected to approach the Western Himalayas by March 11 and start bringing rains and snow in the hills.

Gradually, rains will cover the northern plains as well, the weather forecasters said today.

The rainfall activities will commence from Northwest Rajasthan and will gradually extend up to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR and West Uttar Pradesh.

Rains will taper from Delhi and NCR and North Rajasthan on March 12 but may continue in north Punjab and Haryana with good intensity.

Northern plains of the country have been dry since the last 24 hours as the Western Disturbance which brought rains in these areas has moved away.

Delhi today saw a pleasant morning as the minimum temperature settled at 11.1 degrees Celsius.

The maximum temperature today is expected to be around 22 degrees celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

According to the SkymetWeather, the northern plains of the country including Punjab, Haryana, North Rajasthan, Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh have experienced good rainfall activities during last 48 hours.

World’s women spend 12.5 billion hours every day on unpaid work

New Delhi (NVI): Women spend on average about 12.5 billion hours every day working for free as compared to men globally, according to a new report published by the United Nations Development.

“For unpaid care work, women bear a bigger burden by spending about 2.5 times more than men do,” a report says adding that this affects women’s labour force participation, which is consistently lower than for men, both globally and by human development grouping.

Gender inequality within households and communities is characterized by inequality across multiple dimensions, with a vicious cycle of powerlessness, stigmatization, discrimination, exclusion and material deprivation all reinforcing each other, the new findings from the Gender Social Norms Index suggest.

In 2018 the global labour force participation rate was around 75 percent for men and 48 percent for women, it says.

Most of the times professional women have just two options for their personal partners—a super-supportive partner or no partner at all. Husbands are considered as a key factor in two-thirds of women’s decisions to quit the workforce, often because women had to fill the parenting vacuum, it further added.

In other instances, the struggle to reconcile care work with paid work can lead women to occupational downgrading. Additionally, skilled women, who are more likely to participate in the labor market, face social norms that make them less attractive potential partners in the marriage market, the report says.

This contributes towards a lower marriage rate for skilled women, and might induce a nonlinear relationship between their labor market prospects and their marriage outcomes, the report added.

Coronavirus: J&K Foreigners Registration Office issues advisory

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Jammu (NVI): In the wake of the deadly coronavirus outbreak and one positive COVID-19 case reported in Jammu, the J&K Foreigners Registration office here today asked all foreigners to visit the Union Territory to follow some instructions in view of the epidemic.

Late today, two persons were also tested positive for coronavirus in Ladakh.

According to the FRO, foreigners from China, Iran, Italy, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong should follow some necessary steps with regard to their travel history.

For travelers from these countries, it is mandatory for them to fill-up a self-declaration that they have not visited any Coronavirus affected Country in the recent past. Forms are available at the Health Counter established at all entry points — Lakhanpur, Jammu Airport, Railway Station and Hotels, FRO has directed.

Besides, a medical checkup is mandatory for all those who have visited the above-mentioned countries if there is past history or symptoms of coronavirus at the nearest medical centers.

The advisory further states that if someone feels sick or having symptoms of coronavirus while de-boarding a flight or train or any vehicle while coming to Jammu, they may immediately report the matter to Airport Health office and disseminate the information immediately to Helpline Numbers 01912520982 (Control Room, Directorate of Health Services), 01912582621 (CID SB C/R Jammu), 01912582634 (FRO Jammu) and 0191254967 (UT call for MK).

Other instructions to be followed are:

• Avoid close contact with fellow travelers, if you see someone who is visibly coughing/sneezing/sick, you may keep a safe distance from that person.

• Wash your hands frequently with soap or sanitizer and wear a mask in case of fever, coughing/sneezing.

• Follow the advice of the Airport health officer or as conveyed by the official at the helpline.

• Maintain effective self-isolation at your place of lodgment/Home.

• Cover your mouth while coughing/sneezing.

• Report your illness to the nearest health facility and also inform the treating doctor of your traveling history.

• Avoid visiting crowded/ mass gatherings etc, because COVID-19 has a pattern of transmission. You are requested to follow the above advisory to safeguard your own health and the health of the people in your close contact

J&K: First ever Khelo India Winter Games inaugurated at Gulmarg

Gulmarg (NVI): The maiden Khelo India Winter Games kickstarted at Gulmarg in Kashmir today as Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the mega event here.

On the occasion, Rijiju said that the Centre was mulling to bolster sports ecology of Jammu and Kashmir, adding that Kashmir would be a hub of winter games.

Inaugurating the maiden Khelo India Winter Games here, Rijiju said that the Union territory has a huge potential in sports sector and Government would do everything possible to upgrade the sports infrastructure and sports ecology of the Himalayan region. He said that with an aim to promote winter sports in India, the Government of India would setup National Excellence Center of Winter Sports in Gulmarg.

“It will be a residential facility funded by GoI where professional winter games athletes will be trained for world class competitions,” he added.

The Union Minister said that Government would encourage interested athletes or retired sports veterans for setting up sports centers across Jammu and Kashmir. “Coaches of different sports categories will be given Rs 5 Lakh for setting up sports centers across J&K,” he assured, adding “It will not only help us to identify talent and hone their skills in various sports but will be a source of employment as well.”

Saying that J&K has a huge talent, the Union Minister complimented the local players for bagging medals in various national and international events. He said that this is a historic event not only for J&K but whole country. “Those who are here today at this place are lucky. This is the beginning of mega sports events in Gulmarg. More mega events are in pipeline for this place,” he said.

The Union Minister said he is hopeful that with the culmination of the event footfall of tourists will increase. He said he was impressed with the enthusiasm shown by the athletes in today’s event.

Extending invitation to sports and nature lovers, the Union Minister said the travellers should come and feel the natural wonder here. “Only then they can realise what paradise on Earth is,” he said. He said the winter games will give a big fillip to tourism industry here. He said tourists don’t need to go to Europe when Kashmir is just in the country. “Travellers should come here and enjoy the beauty and also fun-filled winter activities.”

Notably, there are about 30 events including snowboarding, snow skiing, cross country and snow show in which players from across India are participating. Besides this, snow cycling and other games are also held for the local children.

Pertinently, the world-famous ski destination Gulmarg is abuzz with the several activities held under five- day national winter games event starting from today under Khelo India- a national programme for development of sports.

On the occasion, Rijiju was presented memento by Advisor to Lt Governor, Farooq Khan.

Artists from Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages enthralled the audience with their performances.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan; DG Sports Authority of India, Sandeep Pradhan; Principal, High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS), Major General Atul Kaushik; Secretary, Youth Services and Sports, Sarmad Hafeez; DG Youth Services and Sports, Dr Saleem ul Rehman; Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, Dr Ghulam Nabi Itoo; Secretary, J&K Sports Council, Dr Naseem Javid Choudhary besides other senior officers of civil and police administration.

Two tested positive for Coronavirus in Ladakh

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): After Jammu, two persons from Ladakh with recent travel history to Iran have been tested positive for novel coronavirus today.

They have been admitted to Sonam Norboo Memorial Hospital (SNM) hospital Leh.

Medical Superintendent of the SNM hospital, Dr Tsering Samphel said that two individuals have tested positive for novel coronavirus on Saturday.

In a presser, Medical Superintendent Dr Samphel said that the two patients who have tested positive had travelled to Iran for pilgrimage for several days.

Dr Samphel said that one of the patients admitted to SNM hospital here had reached Delhi from Tehran on February 26 after which he landed in Ladakh on February 28.

The other patient, the MS said, had landed in Delhi on February 22 and arrived in Ladakh on February 27, and showed some early symptoms due to which he was admitted to SNM hospital on February 29.

After conducting the tests of suspects the samples were sent to Pune for final confirmation, the results received Saturday afternoon showed them as ‘positive for coronavirus’, Dr Tsering said.

Dr Samphel added that both the patients have been kept in isolation at SNM hospital Leh and the necessary treatment is being given to them.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to people to stay away from rumours, and greet people with a “namaste” instead of a handshake. He held a meeting with officials of various ministries in the evening to take stock of the situation.

The number of coronavirus-related deaths in China rose to 3,070 on Saturday, with the country reporting 28 new deaths due to the outbreak.

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