The fall of the golden spice

Saffron yields fall in Kashmir. Climate change? Or just over-anxious farmers In mid-16th century, Abul Fazl, visited Kashmir. Fazl was a formidable administrator, a historiographer and one of the nine gems at Mughal emperor Akbar's court. But he wasn't exactly known as an aesthete. Fazl was, however, moved by the beauty of saffron fields in Kashmir. In the Ain-i-Akbari he notes that the fields created a panorama that could please the most grumpy. A few decades later Akbar's son,

Polluted to the brim

Heaven's end

A requiem to a lost way of life in the Kashmir valley It was another day of my childhood. I ran out of the door of our compound into what seemed like a never-ending grassland. I'd heard my cousin ringing his cycle bell.

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PASHMINA is Kashmiri: India granted, on September 12, the Geographical Indicat-ion (GI) status to Pashmina yarn, produced in th Kashmir valley by Tahfuz (a body of all Kashmiri handicraft artisans). Islamabad filed an objection claiming that the fine wool is also produced in Pakistan. A consultative committee of the Geographical Indication Registry of India rejected Pakistan's objections. A GI status ensures that a name can only be used by produce from a particular geographical region, not anywhere else. Example: Darjeeling tea, Champagne.

Leh focuses

Leh will be hosting the '3rd CMS Vatavaran 2008--Environment and Wildlife Travelling Film Festival' for the first time, between September 11 and 13. Organized by the Leh CMS (Centre for Media Studies) Vatavaran in association with WWF-India, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council and the department of wildlife protection, government of Jammu and Kashmir, the festival will showcase the best of Indian and international wildlife films and a host of other events.

Panic strikes

The continuing unrest over the Amarnath land transfer seems to have driven the Jammu and Kashmir administration to panic. On August 3 Jammu administration blacked out two local tv news channels and sealed the offices of two Hindi dailies for allegedly whipping up communal passions. Chief secretary S S Kapur said action was taken against the media houses which defied the official advisory.

Yatra route to politics

Amarnath land transfer: who's worried about environment? for the first time environment became a subject of political debate in Jammu and Kashmir, with the controversial transfer of about 40 hectares of forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.

Erratic weather in Jammu and Kashmir

the Srinagar-Leh highway opened 45 days ahead of schedule--on April 15. While the Jammu and Kashmir government patted its own back for achieving the "record feat" of opening the 434 km highway that remains closed for six months a year, April 17 proved to be the party pooper. It snowed and the highway was shut again. The state claims it has improved equipment to clear the snow off the

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baglihar inspection: Pakistan has said that it will inspect the Baglihar dam before it becomes operational. Spokesperson of Pakistan's foreign office, Mohammad Sadiq, said on January 30 that the Indus Basin Treaty Commissioner for Pakistan has contacted his Indian counterpart for this purpose and will see if India has complied with the World Bank neutral expert's verdict regarding the power project's design. The neutral expert had asked India to

Controversy over J&K government's plan to revive Mughal road

The revival of a historic road should ordinarily not attract the wrath of conservationists. But in Jammu and Kashmir it did. The state government's decision to upgrade the almost five century-old Mughal Road is being opposed by conservationists who believe that it will fragment the habitat of the highly-endangered markhor goat. The Supreme Court has intervened in the matter, giving a conditional go-ahead to the state government's plans.