After Pulwama attack, Pakistani singers to be removed from Salman Khan's Notebook, Bharat: reports

We offer our prayers for the victims and extend our heartfelt condolences to their families.' Kapil Sharma says banning Navjot Singh Sidhu from his show not a solution, supports govt after Pulwama attack It further added that Atif Aslam's song is all set to be re-recorded soon with a new singer. Salman has also made separate contribution through his trust Being Human. Condemning the attack, Salman tweeted, 'My heart goes out for the Jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families. Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju took to Twitter to reveal that Salman was donating to the families of the martyrs by contributing to the Bharat Ke Veer fund through his charity, Being Human Foundation. My heart goes out for the Jawans of our beloved country and their families who lost their lives as martyrs to save our families... #YouStandForIndia — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) February 14, 2019 Thank you @BeingSalmanKhan on offering to contribute for Pulwama Martyrs through BEING HUMAN FOUNDATION. I'll work out for handing over of the cheques in the account of #BharatKeVeer @BharatKeVeer — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 17, 2019 Notebook will mark the debut of Bollywood debut of Pranutan Bahl and Zaheer Iqbal. Who should win at the Academy Awards this year? Vote for your favourites Reports also claimed Pakistani singers involved with Bharat will also be replaced. A Deccan Chronicle report quoted a source as saying, 'This time, Salman knows that he can't ignore the demand to ban the Pakistani singers. And while he believes the voices of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam suit him best, there are far bigger truths to tackle right now.' Following the February 14 terror attack that killed at least 40 CRPF jawans, the All India Cine Workers' Association released a statement saying, 'All Indian Cine Workers Association strongly condemns brutal terrorist attack on our soldiers at Pulwama district in Jammu and Kashmir. Our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. AICWA stands with nation in confronting such terror and inhumanity. We''re officially announcing a total ban on Pakistani Actors and Artists working in Film Industry. Still if any organisation insist on working with Pakistani Artists will be banned by AICWA and a strong action will be taken against them. Nation comes first, we stand with our nation.' function catchException() {try{ twitterJSDidLoad(); }catch(e){}} function getAndroidVersion(ua) {ua = (ua || navigator.userAgent).toLowerCase(); var match = ua.match(/android\\s([0-9\\.]*)/);return match ? match[1] : false;}; var versions='4.2.2'; var versionArray=versions.split(',');var currentAndroidVersion=getAndroidVersion();if(versionArray.indexOf(currentAndroidVersion)!=-1){var blocks = document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote'); for(var i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++){blocks[i].innerHTML = '';}}Dailyhunthttp://www.tripntale.com/profile/136604

Pakistan seeks UN help to defuse tension with India

akistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sent a letter to secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Monday, seeking his help to reduce the tensions between the two countries, the Pakistan foreign office said."It is with a sense of urgency that I draw your attention to the deteriorating security situation in our region resulting from the threat of use of force against Pakistan by India," Qureshi wrote in the letter.India has rejected any third party intervention on the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally. India has also firmly told Pakistan that dialogue and terrorism cannot go hand in hand.Qureshi, in his letter, said the Pulwama attack on Indian CRPF soldiers was "ostensibly and even by Indian accounts" carried out by a Kashmiri resident.He said attributing the attack to Pakistan even before investigations was "absurd".Qureshi alleged that for domestic political reasons, India deliberately ratcheted up its hostile rhetoric against Pakistan and created a tense environment.He wrote that India has also hinted that it may abandon the Indus Waters Treaty, asserting that it would be a "grievous error". "It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions," Qureshi said.He said India must be asked to conduct an "open and credible investigation" in the terror attack."You may also consider asking India to refrain from further escalating the situation and enter into dialogue with Pakistan and the Kashmiris to calm the situation down," he wrote.The foreign minister requested that his letter be circulated to members of the UN Security Council and General Assembly.Talking to Pakistan's high commissioner to India Sohail Mahmood, who called on him in Islamabad, Qureshi said on Tuesday that Pakistan wanted peace in the region as unrest and chaos would not serve anyone's interest.Pakistan has repeatedly asked the UN to intervene in Kashmir. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also sought Washington's help, saying the US was the "most relevant" party to get involved in the Kashmir issue.The US, however, has time and again reiterated that it is for India and Pakistan to discuss and decide on the pace and scope of their bilateral relationship. Dailyhunthttps://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/user/profile/426092.page

Pulwama attack: India should not play against Pakistan in World Cup - Harbhajan Singh

  Pulwama attack: We will see what happens - IPL Chairman Rajiv Shukla on India vs Pakistan in World Cup He also added that India should clip all relations with Pakistan and that the entire country should stand by the martyred soldiers. 'I don't think we need to have any relations with Pakistan or play any cricket with them,' he said. 'I don't think India should play the World Cup match against Pakistan. Country comes first and we are all standing behind our country. Cricket or hockey or sports, it should be kept aside because this is a huge thing and repeatedly our soldiers are killed. We should stand with our country. Cricket or hockey or any sport, we don't need to play with them.' India and Pakistan could meet in the semi-finals or finals of the World Cup and Harbhajan has said that the people concerned should take a call as there is enough time to make a decision. 'We are too small to discuss what needs to be done - there are big people sitting in power who can take a call,' he added. 'What happens if we have to play Pakistan in the semi-final or final? There's plenty of time for June-July. The people in power will need what to do. But nobody can harm India. What happened in Pulwama is tragic. We are safe today only because of our defence forces,' Harbhajan said. 'We should not keep any kind of ties with Pakistan: we are powerful enough to feed the world on our own. Cricket, sports is not as important. We stand with every member of the defence force. Their sacrifices should no go to waste,' Harbhajan added. Dailyhunthttp://knowledge.thinkingstorm.com/UserProfile/tabid/57/userId/271618/Default.aspx

ISL 2018-19 Highlights: Delhi Dynamos beat Bengaluru FC in five-goal thriller

Boithang Haokip scored in the 19th minute to bring Bengaluru level. Sunil Chhetri's 72nd-minute strike looked to have put Bengaluru in the driving seat before Daniel Lalhlimpuia struck twice (77′, 80′) to seal a win for his team. ISL 2018-19, Delhi Dynamos vs Bengaluru FC Highlights: 21:36 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Full time The referee blows the whistle. Delhi Dynamos beat table-toppers Bengaluru FC 3-2 at home. It was a well-deserved win for the hosts, who move up to the eighth position. Full Time: The mighty blues have been tamed at the den! #RoarWithTheLions #DELBEN pic.twitter.com/ExPrmii4VH — Delhi Dynamos FC (@DelhiDynamos) 17 February 2019 21:25 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Booking Delhi Dynamos' Rana Gharami receives a yellow card along with teammate Dimas Delgado. Delhi Dynamos' Vinit Rai also gets booked for a high boot on Luisma. 21:20 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 GOALLLLL GOALLL! Delh Dynamos snatch the lead from Bengaluru FC as Daniel Lalhlimpuia picks up his brace. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has again been caught off guard. 21:16 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Substitution Bengaluru FC make the final substitution for tonight as Kean Lewis comes in for Harmanjot Khabra. Meanwhile, Romeo Fernandes comes in for Nandhakumar Sekar for Delhi Dynamos 21:15 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 GOALLL GOALLLL! Delhi Dynamos respond to Sunil Chhetri's goal by levelling the match 2-2 as Daniel Lalhlimpuia sends it past Gurpreet for the equaliser 21:10 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Substitution Bengaluru FC make a change after Chhetri gives them the lead. Luis Lopez comes in place of Miku. 21:09 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 GOALLLL Substitute Sunil Chhetri has an immediate impact, gives Bengaluru 2-1 lead. It has taken Chhetri just 15 minutes to find the back of the net. 21:08 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Substitution Delhi Dynamos make their second substitution as goalscorer Ulises Davila makes way for Adria Carmona. 21:07 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 SAVE Nandhakumar takes a swipe from distance but Gurpeet manages to push it away. 20:56 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Chhetri substitution Bengaluru's goalscorer Boithang Haokip makes way for regular captain Sunil Chhetri. He is welcomed with a loud cheer from the visitors' stadium. 20:53 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Corner First corner of the game and it falls to Bengaluru FC. Dimas Delgado takes it but it is headed away from danger by Delhi Dynamos FC's defense. 20:47 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Booking Harmanjot Khabra of Bengaluru FC gets booked after raising his foot high and fouling Ulises Davila. 20:39 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Substitution Shubham Sarangi makes way for Daniel Lalhlimpuia for Delhi Dynamos in their first substitution of the day. 20:38 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Second half The second half between Delhi Dynamos and Bengaluru FC is underway in Delhi. 20:25 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Half time Delhi Dynamos and Bengaluru FC go into the half-time level at 1-1. Boithang equalised for the visitors after Delhi Dynamos took an early lead. Boithang's second @IndSuperLeague goal for the Blues is the leveler against @DelhiDynamos at the JN Stadium as we head into the break all square. #DELBEN pic.twitter.com/yd2autk5au — Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) 17 February 2019 20:22 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Booking Delhi Dynamos' Marti Crespi is the second player to go in the referee's book today after holdingMiku while a lobbed ball is played his way. 20:04 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Chance Xisco carries Udanta's cross forward to feed Miku. The Venezuelan's effort from an acute angle is spilled by Dorronsoro, but the referee's blown his whistle to indicate an infringement in Udanta's attempts to score. 19:53 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 GOAALLLLL GOAL! Boithang Haokip equalises for Bengaluru FC as the score reads 1-1 in first half. Bheke takes his time to pick a pass, which finds Xisco down the right flank. The Spaniard sends in a cross that Dorronsoro tips away for Boithang, who smashes home on the volley 19:47 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 YELLOW! Xisco Hernandez of Bengaluru FC is the first to be booked for an earlier tackle on Davila. The referee had allowed play to continue as Delhi had possession. 19:45 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 GOAAALLLL GOAL! Ulises Davila is at the perfect place as Nandhakumar's shot is parried away by Gurpreet. Davila slots it home past Gurpreet to give Delhi Dynamos 1-0 lead early in the match. .@uli_davila begins #DELBEN with a BANG  Match gallery  https://t.co/KX4T259gkY #HeroISL #LetsFootball #FanBannaPadega pic.twitter.com/dfLsDmXtBv — Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) February 17, 2019 19:40 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Match underway Table-toppers Bengaluru FC get the ball rolling as the match is underway in Delhi. 35 seconds into the match, and Udanta races down the right flank and cuts it back for Miku, but the Venezuelan's shot is miscued A great give-and-go with @UdantaK by Miku early on but no end product! Watch it LIVE on @hotstartweets: https://t.co/9gW9l7vqP4 JioTV users can watch it LIVE on the app. #HeroISL #ISLMoments #LetsFootball #DELBEN #FanBannaPadega pic.twitter.com/z5DppgUuj0 — Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) February 17, 2019 19:35 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Toss Delhi Dynamos FC win the toss and have decided to attack from left to right in the first half. 19:26 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Chhetri doesn't start for Bengaluru Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri starts from the bench. Dimas Delgado takes his place as the stand-in captain for the match. The skipper's chosen to take his spot next to @KeanFLewis on the bench here at the JN Stadium, where kick-off is ten minutes away! #DELBEN #WeAreBFC pic.twitter.com/Mucos6nYRN — Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) 17 February 2019 19:11 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Warm up The two teams are going through their final rounds of warm up. We are 20 mins away from kick off here at the JLN Stadium. 18:46 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Benglauru FC Playing XI Bengaluru FC Playing XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Juanan, Albert Serran, Harmanjot Khabra, Nishu Kumar, Udanta Singh, Boithang Haokip, Dimas Delgado (C), Xisco Hernandez, Miku. TEAM NEWS! @DimasDelgadoMor is handed the armband on his return as @chetrisunil11 drops to the bench to be replaced by Boithang Haokip in tonight's Bengaluru XI set to take on Delhi Dynamos. #DELBEN #WeAreBFC pic.twitter.com/n4LKzbXNy8 — Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) 17 February 2019 18:44 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 Delhi Dynamos Playing XI Dynamos Playing XI: Francisco Dorronsoro (GK), Narayan Das, Marti Crespi, Rana Gharami, Gianni Zuiverloon, Nandhakumar Sekar, Shubham Sarangi, Vinit Rai, Ulises Davila, Marcos Tebar (C), Lallianzuala Chhangte. LINE-UP: Bikramjit Singh and Rene Mihelic miss out due to injuries while Adria Carmona is on the bench for #DELBEN pic.twitter.com/UcY7tnMVT9 — Delhi Dynamos FC (@DelhiDynamos) 17 February 2019 18:43 (IST) 17 Feb 2019 ISL LIVE Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the ISL fixture between Bengaluru FC and Delhi Dynamos. While Bengaluru will look to consolidate position at the top, Delhi will be eyeing revenge against the table-toppers. Follow this page for live scores and updates of the ISL match taking place at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi. ISL 2018-19 Football Live Score, Delhi Dynamos vs Bengaluru FC Football Live Score Streaming: The last time these two teams met in Bengaluru, Josep Gombau's side was unfortunate to end up with nothing in the bag after Udanta Singh popped up with a late winner. Coach Carles Cuadrat has been testing his bench strength by resting regulars and affording game time to his fringe players. Dimas Delgado, Udanta Singh, Albert Serran were all rested in Chennai last time out. With play-offs approaching, expect the Spanish coach to continue his tinkering against Delhi as well. function catchException() {try{ twitterJSDidLoad(); }catch(e){}} function getAndroidVersion(ua) {ua = (ua || navigator.userAgent).toLowerCase(); var match = ua.match(/android\\s([0-9\\.]*)/);return match ? match[1] : false;}; var versions='4.2.2'; var versionArray=versions.split(',');var currentAndroidVersion=getAndroidVersion();if(versionArray.indexOf(currentAndroidVersion)!=-1){var blocks = document.getElementsByTagName('blockquote'); for(var i = 0; i < blocks.length; i++){blocks[i].innerHTML = '';}}Dailyhunthttps://www.edocr.com/user/tussadusmed

Lithium-air batteries may power future cars, houses

This will require batteries that are more efficient, cheaper and environmentally friendly. According to researchers from University of Campinas in Brazil, one of the alternatives being studied today in many parts of the world is the lithium-air battery. The lithium-air battery, currently functioning only on a laboratory scale, uses ambient oxygen as a reagent. The battery stores additional energy through an electrochemical reaction that results in the formation of lithium oxide. "There is a lot of talk today about electric cars. Some European countries are also thinking about banning combustion engines," said Rubens Maciel Filho, a professor at the University of Campinas. "In addition, renewable sources like solar energy need batteries to store what is generated during the day through solar radiation," said Filho. "It is a sustainable way to store electrical energy. With advances, it can support numerous discharge/charge cycles. It has great potential for use in transportation, in light and heavy vehicles alike. It can also work in electric power distribution networks," said Filho. However, turning experiments into commercially viable products involves understanding the fundamentals of the electrochemical reactions that occur in the process. "It also requires the development of new materials that allow us to leverage desirable reactions and minimise or avoid undesirable ones," said Maciel, director of the New Energy Innovation Center (CINE). Maciel said that some of the phenomena need to be observed in operando, or in other words, in real time. More efficient batteries are particularly important in a scenario in which the use of solar energy is expected to increase. Peak solar radiation during the day will require the need for efficient storage of energy so it can be drawn upon at night. Dailyhunthttp://mxsponsor.com/riders/dexter-seo-ki-seo/about

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A family ski adventure in the Himalayas

Gulmarg is Kashmir's underdog ski resort, tucked in the snowy Himalayas, a place of magnificent skiing and no frills. Few foreigners visit, for reasons I will get into, and as we drew closer, I began to wonder if this was such a great idea. I looked out the window. It was now dark and snowing, and we were winding our way up a narrow road into the mountains. After we passed another military checkpoint, the driver nodded to me. 'You see that spot?' he said, pointing into the woods. 'We saw a bear there last week.' My wife, Courtenay, who was sitting in the back, tapped me on the shoulder. 'Why can't we go skiing in Austria like everybody else?' I laughed. 'No,' she said. 'I'm serious.' Floating through a forest I had always dreamed of skiing in Kashmir. That name alone conjures up adventure: white-toothed mountains and deep green valleys, wide open slopes and tough highland people. Draped in a mysterious beauty, Kashmir is one of those places most of us have heard of but know little about. And I had a personal agenda. My children are among that strange breed of Americans who have never lived in the United States. They were born in Kenya, raised (so far) in Africa and India, products of the tropics who go to school all year round in shorts, and I wanted them to experience snow. So one weekend about a year ago, while we were sitting around our apartment in New Delhi, I suggested a trip to Kashmir's winter wonderland. 'Are you kidding?' Courtenay said. 'Isn't there an active conflict up there?' 'I wouldn't necessarily call it a conflict,' I said. 'What would you call it then?' 'A dispute, maybe?' I'm an average skier, trained on the snowy pimples of the Midwest, with a few lucky trips to Vail and the Alps. But I love skiing, and the thought of plunging down the Himalayas, the world's tallest mountains, fired me up. I soon learned that Kashmir's ski spot, Gulmarg, is huge (about seven times the size of Jackson Hole), with some runs so long they take all day to ski. I also learned that Gulmarg is cheap, never crowded and blessed with perfect high-altitude, inland snow. One experienced skier described it as being so soft and feathery that skiing through it was like floating through a forest. I wanted to float through that forest. But before getting more excited, I needed to check out the safety of the area. This was a family trip, after all, and my wife was right: Kashmir is contested territory, torn between India and Pakistan. It's a long story, flaring up in the 1940s, when the British divided the subcontinent into Hindu-dominated India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan. The people of Kashmir fell in between, religiously and geographically. They were ruled by a Hindu maharajah, although the population was mostly Muslim. And their area, with its fertile orchards, deliciously cool climate and legendary scenery, lies right between what is now India and Pakistan. After the British left, India and Pakistan fought three wars over Kashmir, and today the conflict has settled into a thorny standoff, with India controlling most of Kashmir and Pakistan a smaller slice. Many Kashmiris don't want either country controlling them: They want independence, and a small, dogged separatist movement operates in Kashmir, attacking police posts and civilians believed to be collaborators. Gulmarg, however, is rarely affected; it lies in a nook of the Kashmir valley tightly controlled by the Indian military. I was obsessed with getting us there but had no idea how to pull this off. As luck would have it, right when Courtenay and I were haggling over the trip, we were invited to a dinner party in New Delhi where I was seated near a charming, fit-looking Indian with a bald head and handlebar mustache. His name was Akshay Kumar, and he was a former champion skier. He had skied Gulmarg countless times, ever since he was a child, and he and his wife, Dilshad Master, run an adventure tour company, Mercury Himalayan Explorations. When I asked him if Gulmarg was safe, he said: 'Very. I'm taking some families up there in a couple of weekends. Want to come?' I now had the necessary cover. Akshay offered to do all the hard work: organizing ski rentals, lift passes, hotel bookings and, most important, the seamless string of large bearded men who would schlep us around. He made what could have been a complicated trip simple and safe. He also made it inexpensive. The kids' lift tickets were less than $3 (that's not a typo). A gondola day pass was $25. Equipment rental was about the same and the gear was solid: parabolic Atomic skis and Salomon boots. A ski trip to Austria, for example, would have cost us thousands of dollars. I cover South Asia for The New York Times, and I was working on a story in Kashmir that same week on the life and times of a young militant named Sameer Tiger. Like many others, Sameer Tiger had been pulled into the insurgency by a mix of anger, naïveté and lack of economic opportunity. And, like many others, he went down in a hail of bullets, cornered by security forces. I had spent weeks researching him and was familiar with flying in and out of Srinagar, Kashmir's biggest city. I also knew that the hot spots where the militants conducted their attacks tended to be in southern Kashmir, miles away from Gulmarg. 'Like ice, Daddy, like ice' As I waited at the Srinagar airport for my family, I was giddy with excitement. It had just snowed, and the trees were delicately coated, the roads wet and shiny. When I picked everyone up, Asa, our 7-year-old, pointed to a lumpy bag tied to the taxi's roof and asked, just as I knew he would, 'What's that?' I untied the bag and told him to put his hands in. 'Ooh, that's cold,' he said, turning over his first clump of snow. 'Like ice, Daddy, like ice.' I would have loved to linger in Srinagar, an old town built on a lotus-covered lake, where you can stay in a gorgeous houseboat, wake up with kingfishers plunging into the lake next to you, and then stroll through rose-filled gardens sculpted by Moghul emperors hundreds of years ago. But we only had the weekend to work with, so we had to skip all of this. It's about an hour-and-a-half drive from Srinagar to Gulmarg, and Courtenay was quiet the entire way. I did not blame her. Kashmir isn't a war zone, but everywhere you look, you see Indian soldiers running checkpoints, patrolling the markets and peeking their helmeted heads out from the turrets of scarred-up gun trucks. The U.S. government warns citizens to stay away, although I feel that's overblown. I've been to Kashmir now more than half a dozen times, and I've never heard a single gunshot. The Indian troops exert control in just about all parts of the valley, especially in Srinagar, and I know several other expat families who have visited, and all said they felt safe. With evening approaching, we left the city on a smooth highway running west. The long shadows of minarets fell across the road. The men in the villages we passed were bundled up in heavy woolen cloaks called pherans. When we stopped to buy water, I noticed one man with a large round bulge under his pheran. When I asked him what it was, he lifted up his cloak to reveal a small pot of burning coal he was cradling to keep himself warm. This is what I love about Kashmir. While India is such a feast of the senses — the food, the fashion, the colors, the deities, the clanging of brass bells and the constant whiffs of incense and fragrant oils — Kashmir radiates its own distinctive charm. We crossed a river. This is when the driver's phone rang, and after we heard about the deadly avalanche and then the bear in these same woods, the car fell silent. Selfie sticks and samovars The mood brightened when we pulled into the Khyber hotel, Gulmarg's fanciest. It was a supersize ski chalet, and its green pointed roofs were dusted with snow. The kids' eyes were peeled for bears. But as soon as we stepped into the lobby, with its dark, gleaming wood and fine carpets, I spotted what I really wanted to see: children. Packs of them. Clearly this was a family destination, and in the Khyber's downstairs rec room, Asa and our other son, Apollo, 9, instantly bonded with their Indian comrades over foosball and air hockey. I had to pry them out of there. There aren't any bars in Kashmir (it's dry) or anything resembling an après-ski scene, so we went to sleep early. The next morning we mustered outside in the hotel's portico, waiting for our skis to be delivered. I thought we'd just slap them on and slide the couple of hundred yards to the base of the slopes, but no, a Jeep dispatched as part of Akshay's operation zoomed up with three men inside. Kashmiris are some of the warmest, most hospitable people, and before we climbed into the Jeep, the men greeted us with big hugs. When we climbed out, they insisted on putting on our skis. I had one guy on my left, another on my right and a third young man kneeling in the snow at my feet. 'Guys, guys, guys,' I said, trying to wiggle free. 'I can put on my own skis.' But the young man at my feet either didn't understand or didn't care. And for the first time since I was about 5, I watched someone untie my shoes and carefully pull them off. The sky was a flawless blue, the air peppermint fresh. It wasn't even that cold — maybe 30 degrees. Kashmir rarely gets bitterly cold; Gulmarg lies at the same latitude as Atlanta. All around us, the white teeth of the Himalayas gleamed, and from nearby chimneys I smelled wood smoke. It was the most romantic alpine scene I had ever entered, and part of it was the scale. Behind the mountains that stood in front of me were even higher mountains, and behind them, the real titans. On a clear day, from the top of Gulmarg, you can see into Pakistan and glimpse K2, the second tallest mountain in the world after Everest. Gulmarg doesn't feel like a ski resort; it feels like a village. At the base of the gondola, men with wooden boxes strapped to their shoulders sold chocolate bars, selfie sticks and cigarettes. I don't think I've ever seen a pack of cigarettes on a ski slope. Others wielded silver samovars and poured steaming cups of kahwah, a light Kashmiri tea, made from saffron and other spices, that carries a delightful aroma. Of the several hundred people on the mountain that day, most were not skiers but Indian families content to pay a few rupees for a ride on a sled. I watched the sled wallahs — a string of young Kashmiri men with battered toboggans — begin their long trudge uphill. They were working for the equivalent of a few dollars a day and didn't have the money to take the lift. They slowly made their way up the mountain, heads down, bodies leaning forward, the wind tugging at their pherans. Akshay arranged for my sons to take lessons with a Kashmiri skier named Ishfaq. He told them to call him Eeesh. We waved to Eeesh and the two roly-poly shadows beneath him as they tramped off to the bunny hill. Courtenay and I hired our own guide, Wali. Wali was in his late 40s with curly gray hair and orange mirrored shades. He wore no hat. He had been working on these slopes since he was 8, beginning as a sled wallah. He had never been to school. When I asked Wali what he loved about skiing, he looked off into the hills and smiled. 'I love it for the money,' he said. It wasn't exactly the poetic answer I was looking for, but fair enough. In strife-torn Kashmir, where there aren't many jobs for an athletic, adventurous man, this was a good one. Gulmarg's slopes cover everything from green to double black diamond, but few are marked. Part of the mountain is groomed, but advanced skiers love the ungroomed, backcountry skiing. The gondola reaches around 13,000 feet, one of the highest in the world. Some skiers hike up even higher or take helicopters to virgin spots. Gulmarg's vertical drop, a measure of the altitude from where you start to where you finish, can be as much as 6,000 feet. With good snow, some runs stretch more than 4 miles. They can take the better part of a day and end in the woods, near some old temples. We started with a medium-difficult run, taking the gondola to the middle of the mountain (Gulmarg has one gondola, one chair lift and several tow ropes). We stepped off into thick snowpack. This was mid-February, the best time for snow; sometimes the area gets 8 feet of powder. Wali led the way, dropping into a wide track that ran through Himalayan cedar trees. He stopped intermittently to look back at Courtenay and me. 'Up and down, up and down,' he shouted as we made our turns, trying to keep our skis together. 'Yass, yass, that's it. Good, good!' As my skis cut through the snow, I felt the air against my cheeks and that addictive sense of speed. My thighs burned, and occasionally I heard the sssh, sssh of a better skier descending past me, although there were only a handful of us on the slopes. It had been nearly 10 years since I had last skied, and bombing down the mountain felt as pure and intoxicating as galloping on a horse. Courtenay agreed it was thrilling. But she was more distracted than I was by Kashmir's misfortune of lying between two rival nations. Her take on Gulmarg was that it was 'a stunning ski resort in the middle of a zone of sadness.' We skied around some low-slung houses made of wooden planks. 'What are those?' I shouted to Wali. 'Gujjar houses!' Wali shouted back. Hmm, I thought. This place doesn't just feel like a village — it is a village. Seminomadic Gujjar herders live here in the summer, when the slopes are carpeted with grass and wildflowers; the name Gulmarg means meadow of flowers. Just as I was thinking 'How sweet is this?' — observing some culture while working on my parallel — I dug in too deep on a turn and face-planted. Courtenay and Wali didn't hear me wipe out and kept going, leaving me in the snowbound Gujjar village by myself. A bear of a man appeared out of nowhere. He ripped me up from the ground. After I got my hands through straps in my poles and could stand up without falling on my face again, I said, 'Shukria' — thank you. 'Where from?' he asked. 'US' 'America?' 'Yes.' His bristly face broke into a huge smile. 'Welcome, brother, welcome.' Paradise on Earth For lunch, we met up with our children at Hotel Highlands Park on the slopes. Again, this was not a Western imitation. We didn't thump along in our ski boots in a packed cafeteria, pushing a tray along a track for a $10 cup of cocoa and a $25 hamburger. We sat down at a proper table in a proper restaurant and polished off a feast: naan bread, curried vegetables, fresh yogurt and an exquisite lamb dish of tender meat hammered flat and rolled into a baseball-size meatball. The hotel felt like a hunting lodge; deer heads and bearskin rugs hung on the walls. I hadn't seen any other foreigners, so when I heard an American accent down the hallway, I was curious. I wandered through the lodge, pushed open a door and found three rugged, sun-tanned guys sitting on cushions in a cozy, wood-paneled room heated by wood-burning stoves. 'What do you guys do here?' 'We're the ski patrol,' said one. His name was Luke. He was 39 years old. He grew up in Alaska, became an avalanche forecaster and a paramedic and came to Gulmarg seven years ago to run the ski patrol. 'It's the warmth of the people,' he said. 'That's what drew me here.' He explained that Gulmarg has 17 ski patrollers with snowmobiles to rescue injured skiers. Avalanches were always a risk but only in the off-piste areas, he said, like where the Russian tourist was skiing on the day we arrived. After lunch, I watched my sons ski. Eeesh had taught them well. Asa turned back and forth, carving large S's and ending with a confident snowplow. Apollo was less orthodox. He shot down the bunny hill like a bullet. 'Stop! Stop!' Courtenay yelled as he approached the bottom. I doubt he heard but somehow, right before he was about to crash into us, he stopped. Express Opinion Hope & despair of 'Gully Boy' By Satyam Viswanathan Watcher of the Valley By C. Uday Bhaskar The next morning was sadly our last. I persuaded Wali to take me higher on the mountain. When we got off the chair lift, we were by ourselves. The views were breathtaking. It was so bright, so clear, so crisp, so still. I just wanted to stay up there and stare at the jagged white mountains and etch those images into my brain. I was reminded of a Persian couplet inscribed long ago on a pavilion in one of Srinagar's majestic gardens: 'If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.' I gazed across the valley. 'You go first,' Wali hollered. 'I want to watch your form.' I didn't know where to start. We were poised on the lip of an enormous bowl. In front of me, for as long as I could see, the snow was untrammeled. There wasn't a single track. 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HEC recruitment 2018: Apply for 169 posts at hecltd.com

Details for the counselling will be sent to the candidates' mobile number entered in the form. Once filled, candidates will not be allowed to change the email ID or mobile number, states the official release. The vacancies are for engineering and non-engineering background people. For engineering background, both graduates and diploma holders can apply. HEC recruitment post-wise vacancy list - Engineering jobs Civil engineering - 9 ( graduates 2 and technicians - 7) Computer science/IT - 18 (graduate 5, diploma 13) Electrical/electronics and communication - 32 (graduates 11, diploma 21) Industrial engineering - 5 (graduates - 2, diploma 3) Mechanical/ production - 82 ( graduates 36, diploma 46) Metallurgical/ foundry forge technology - 15 ( grades 09, diploma 6) Non-engineering jobs: Secretarial practice and accounts/office management and secretarial practice - 8 (graduates - 8, diploma - 0) HEC recruitment important dates: Online registration deadline: December 10 Payment detail submission deadline: December 12 Publication of merit list: December 19 Counselling for the first merit lost: December 29 Last date of admission: February 4 Session commencement: February 18 HEC recruitment eligibility criteria: Education qualification: For engineering posts, candidates should have a relevant degree or diploma from a recognised university in the respective branch. Age limit: Candidates should not be younger than 18 years nor older than 30 years. HEC recruitment: How to apply Step 1 - Visit the official website - hecltd.com Step 2 - Click on career tab on the homepage Step 3 - Click on jobs at HEC link Step 4 - Click on here to apply link in the first advertisement Step 5 - A new window will open. Click on 'apply online' link Step 6 - Fill the data with relevant information and submit Pay scale: Graduate candidates will be Rs 6,500 per month per and diploma holders will get monthly remuneration worth Rs 5000. For all latest Govt Jobs 2018, Railway Jobs, Bank Jobs and SSC Jobs log on to IndianExpress.com. We bring you fastest and relevant notifications on Bank, Railways and Govt Jobs. Stay Connected. Dailyhunthttps://about.me/utejjamsun

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