Governor inaugurates Kashmir Festival at Pune

Governor N. N. Vohra, inaugurated 7th Kashmir Festival, "Khushboo-e-Kashmir", organized by the SARHAD and Arihant Education Foundation at Pune in Maharashtra.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Vohra recalled the prolonged turmoil faced by the people of Kashmir and the large number of innocent persons who had lost their lives in this period, besides the enormous economic loss and disruption of the educational system, which had affected the youth of J&K most adversely.

Lauding the outstanding initiative of Sanjay Nahar for the invaluable work he was doing under the banner of SARHAD, the Governor stressed upon corporate institutions and the affluent sections of the society and NGOs to come forward in enlarging efforts for promoting the welfare of orphans, destitute children and other less privileged segments of the society. He stressed the need for nurturing moral and ethical values along with academic learning for their balanced personality development.

The Governor observed that SARHAD is among the leading NGOs which had come forward to secure the welfare of orphans and destitute children from the State. He hoped that many other organizations would emulate the excellent work being done by SARHAD to enable orphan children to stand on their own feet.

Referring to the Kashmir Festival, the Governor observed that such events provide an excellent opportunity to showcase the glorious composite cultural heritage of the State across the country.

Earlier, on arrival at the inaugural function, the Governor was received by Sanjay Nahar, other functionaries of this organization, teachers and students.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Nahar dwelt on the aims and objects of organizing the Kashmir Festival.

The students from Kashmir presented a welcome song on this occasion, which was followed by a performance by the Immersion Band of Dr. Amit Wanchoo.

Among those who were present on the occasion included Dr. Mohan Dharia, a senior Gandhian leader, Mehmood-ur-Rehman, formerly Additional Chief Secretary of J&K and . Prataprao Pawar, Chairman, Sakal Group of Newspapers.

Govt to probe adulterated milk supply

Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to investigate the matter related to adulterated milk being supplied in the entire state, particularly Kashmir valley.

Sources in divisional administration said that government has taken a serious note of the news report about the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) survey, which revealed that 83 percent of milk consumed by households in Jammu and Kashmir is adulterated, containing detergent and other hazardous substances.

The sources added that understanding the sensitivity of the issue, the concerned authorities have been directed to study the survey report and take all necessary action in preventing adulterated milk being supplied to Kashmir valley.

The sources also said that concerned agencies, consisting of Srinagar Municipal Corporation and director consumer and public distribution have  been asked to maintain tight vigil and check all the milk being supplied by different companies in the valley.

The government has also directed concerned departments to take legal action against those companies involved in supplying adulterated milk. “The issue is concerned with the health of people and no compromise would be made on their health,” the sources said.

A national study conducted by Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has revealed that 83 percent of milk consumed by the people in the state is adulterated and has not only week nutritious value but has numerous other side effects to human health. 

The study has also revealed that hazardous substances like detergent, starch, sodar, Glucose and other substances are mixed with mild which are hazardous to human heath.  

In its first-ever national survey on milk adulteration 2011, the (FSSAI) has found that of the total 1,791 samples tested throughout the country, (including Jammu and Kashmir)   at least over 68 per cent i.e. 1,226 samples were either diluted with water or mixed with harmful detergent.

The situation was worse in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Daman and Diu, Jharkhand, Orrisa, West Bengal and Mizoram where all the samples collected were found  contaminated or not conforming to the standards.

For instance, in Manipur 96 per cent samples were not conforming up to the standards, In Meghalaya it was 96 per cent, followed by Tripura (92 per cent), Gujarat (89 percent, Sikkim (89 percent), Uttrakhand (88 percent ), Uttar Pradesh (88percent), Nagaland (86 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (83 percent), and Punjab (81 percent).

In Rajasthan it was 76 percent followed by Delhi (70 percent), Haryana (70 percent), Arunachal Pradesh (68 percent), Maharashtra (65 percent), Himachal (59 percent, and Chandigarh (48 percent)

Except Goa and Poondicherry, where all the samples picked conformed to the standards, all other States including Delhi failed to meet the standards for milk.

Adulteration was widely prevalent in rural as well as urban areas in packed and loose milk both, samples of which were tested in the government's laboratories.

The snap shot survey was conducted with an aim to identify the common adulterants in milk in rural and urban areas in different states besides finding out the non-conforming samples in loose and packed milk throughout the country.