Srinagar, Dec 15: Greater Kashmir’s Understanding the Law initiative will soon begin its next series focusing on India’s new Labour Codes, following the successful completion of its detailed coverage of the country’s new criminal laws.

The Understanding the Law initiative, launched on February 25, 2024, provided comprehensive and simplified explanations of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 (BSA).

The series helped readers understand the major changes introduced by the new legal framework and their implications for the criminal justice system and citizens at large. The series will be authored by advocate Muneeb Rashid Malik, who has been associated with the Understanding the Law initiative.

With the conclusion of the criminal laws series, Greater Kashmir will now turn its focus to the new Labour Codes. The upcoming series will examine the key provisions of the labour law reforms and their impact on workers, employers and industrial relations, to make complex legislation accessible to the general public.

Srinagar, Dec 15: Janta Dal (United) Jammu & Kashmir President GM Shaheen on Monday expressed concern over the unpaid and unprotected labour of ASHA workers, whom he described as “frontline staff without rights, salaries, or dignity.”

Shaheen said ASHA workers—responsible for maternal care, immunisation drives, disease surveillance, and emergency health outreach—have been deliberately misclassified as “volunteers” to deny them employee status, fixed wages, and social security, while extracting from them full-time, high-risk service. “This is not welfare policy, this is organised exploitation under the cover of governance,” Shaheen added. Highlighting Kashmir’s extreme climate, Shaheen said ASHA workers are compelled to traverse snowbound villages in sub-zero temperatures without winter allowance, travel support, or insurance, exposing what he called the criminal indifference of the state machinery. He recalled the COVID-19 pandemic, stating that ASHA workers were pushed into frontline duty without protective gear or compensation, while authorities later appropriated credit for outcomes delivered by exhausted and unpaid women. “The government applauded from behind desks while ASHA workers risked their lives in the field,” he said.

Srinagar, Dec 15: Bad weather forced the cancellation of four flights and delayed the operation of 38 inbound and outbound flights at the Srinagar International Airport on Monday, officials said.

An official of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said while four IndiGo flights were cancelled due to operational reasons, an equal number of flights of the private carrier had to be cancelled owing to bad weather.

Nine inbound and nine outbound flights of IndiGo airlines were delayed due to inclement weather, the official said.

Twenty flights – 10 inbound and 10 outbound – of other carriers were also delayed due to adverse weather conditions, he said.

Srinagar, Dec 15: Kulgam Police on Monday detained a habitual offender under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for repeatedly disturbing public order.

According to the statement, the accused, Tariq Ahmad Dar of Manzgam, Kulgam, is involved in multiple theft cases across the Valley and continued criminal activities despite several arrests.

Following an assessment of his record, the District Magistrate Kulgam issued a PSA detention warrant, which was executed by Police Station Manzgam. The detainee has been lodged in the designated jail, the statement said.