Practicing Religion and Covid-19 Pandemic

Throughout history, the world has witnessed the worst plagues and epidemics that have devastated mankind. The Prehistoric Epidemic: Circa (3000 B.C.) in China and the Zika Virus Epidemic (2015) in South America and Central America are two of the worst epidemics and pandemics in history, spanning prehistoric to modern times. Another threat to humanity has been first observed in the form of Coronavirus also known as COVID-19. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a n...

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Lessons from Zojila Closure and Shortage of Commodities

The entire region of Ladakh remains mostly dependent on Zojila Pass to inflow human needs whether it is basic need of daily use or secondary needs. For the whole summer season, all goods pass through the Zojila which is the only sustainable and comparatively easy lifeline for Ladakh in summer. Its blockade due to snow in winters results in lot of sufferings and shortage of essential goods for Ladakh.

The Zojila pass which is at an altitude of 11516 feet above the sea level, serves as a si...

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Public Reactions: Ladakh after Becoming a Union Territory

Mutasif Hussain (Leh)

Asst. Prof. (History), Indraprastha College for Women, DU

I can understand, Covid has distracted Ladakh from a wide-ranging experience of a Union Territory. At a glance, Ladakh appears more of a bureaucratic state than a modern democracy. Constitutionalism abhors the creation of Power Corridors, one must be reminded. A single MP at the helm, however efficient is not an adequate political office for the entire UT, the lockdown evacuations, the deadlock over unemplo...

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In Ladakh: Beyond the School Van

Many elders who keep deep observation on the ebbs and flows of society tell that the households residing near the general pedestrians’ way are smart in intellect, and get more exposure. As an instance, earlier the people walked on foot on the way from Kargil to Suru valley. The household on the bank of their way would frequently get more pedestrians as guests. The children in the house get more exposure, knowledge about various other villages, their social norms, and traditions in them.

F...

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What do Experts tell About Purigi Language?

Do you exactly remember, when Mohammad Hussain became Maa’sain, Mohammad Shah became Masha, Fatima became Fati, Sonam Dolma became Sontoma, Tsering Dorjay became Tsengdor and Mussa Ali became Musali? With the passage of time, the accent and pronunciation of many names were modified without any deliberate emphasis to change. A similar change that we see but did not remember its exact period of change is the word “Bhoti” to the Ladakhi language. Obviously, this change is not a slip in accent d...

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Ayatollah Sistani and Politics

One of the most prominent and influential individuals in the world today is not any president, prime minister, or celebrity but rather a humble 90-year-old man who has dedicated his life to the study of Islam. This man is one of the most powerful people in the world today living in his humble abode in the holy city of Najaf (Iraq). Most of us know him as Ayatollah Syed Ali Sistani and he is perhaps the most major Marjeh in Iraq whose influence knows no boundaries.

Born in Mashhad (Iran) i...

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Shrinking Sapi Lake, a Major Concern for Villagers

The existence of people inhabited in the ranges of the Himalayas widely depends upon the glaciers for water. In fact, all living things from microorganisms to plants are dependent on Himalayan glaciers for their existence. Such a case is of Kanoor village where human beings, flora, and fauna are dependent on the receding Sapi lake, locally known as Sapi Tso.

These glaciers are formed by means of snow accumulation when the residue of monsoon traveled from the sea towards north India. It is...

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Kargil Culture, Religion Ignored in Debut Tableau

On 72 Republic Day Ladakh got the opportunity to showcase its own debut at the Republic Day parade. The tableau of Ladakh led the cultural tableaus and became the first-ever tableau from Ladakh to showcase at national platform since it curved out from erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir.

The tableau from Ladakh with the theme “vision to future” depicted the iconic Thiksey monastery located at a top of a hill and the carbon-neutral vision of newly created UT Ladakh with that it also glorifie...

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Travels in Zanskar’s Winter – Contextualising the Politics, Culture and Environment

On the 13th of the month of January, a piece of news passed through my eyes, that said the mechanical department has for the first time reopened the road that joins the Zanskar subdivision to the rest of the Ladakh region. The Turkey-made furious TV series Erturul Ghazi, which I was watching for the last two weeks instilled the courage to dare something extraordinary. The amalgam of the two things energised my head to nod for yes to the offer from the office to visit Zanskar to report the fi...

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Central University in Leh: The Heart of NEP 2020 Omitted

The New National Policy on Education 2020 is a comprehensive and historic policy that comes after the long gap of thirty-four years after the National Policy on Education 1986 and its Programme of Action 1992. It was the long-cherished dream of India to make an inclusive policy on education, which cater to the need of the diversity of our country. However, the BJP government’s announcement to establish a Central University in Leh district of Ladakh is contradicting the commitment of the newl...

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