Syed Ahmad Rufai

  By Syed Ahmad Rufai SOS Situation (Illustration/Syed Ahmad Rufai) A silent nature’s environmental crisis i.e. climate change poses a threat any bigger than a nuke attack. It overall impacts the glaciers, society, rivers, forests, economy and ecosystem. The CO2 levels are rising since 1950’s industrial revolution, and the widely accepted reason behind it are human activities. The planet is getting warmer rapidly due to consumption of fossil fuels and products obtained from animals emitting methane. The UN predicts earth getting warmer by 2% w.r.t pre-industrial stage by the year 2100, but we are already at 1.5%. The factors add on to the crisis- heat waves around the world and temperature hitting the highest mercury of all times has taken lives of few until now. Europe being colder than the Artic…. sea levels are rising due to warmer temperatures. But, the repercussions are wider. Climate Change has had deleterious impact on the cold valley cupped between mountains. The valley f

By Syed Ahmad Rufai arufai143@gmail.com Ordeals Of Educational Institutions (Illustration/Syed Ahmad Rufai) Ahmer Salam rushes his car through the main gate of his home at 8:00 AM and travels 30 kms to Pulwama to attend to his unaided private school. In a three storied building, seated on a black revolving chair in the Chairman’s chamber, Ahmer tallies the currency with two of the registers on his table; the expenses are more than the income now. Taking a deep sigh he mumbles “how am I going to make this school survive?” Ahmer checks his income and tallies it with the school accounts (Image/Syed Ahmad Rufai) Ahmer believes schools either funded by trusts or aided somehow remain a step ahead of the unaided private schools. Earlier, in March 2022, National President Private Schools Association & Child Welfare Association (PSACWA), Syed Shamael revealed the numbers that at least 200 schools have been closed in J&K due to financial crises, in a press conference in Srinagar