Kashmir reels under intense cold conditions; Srinagar experiences coldest night
Srinagar (PTI): Srinagar experienced the coldest night of the season so far as Kashmir reeled under intense cold conditions with the minimum temperature plummeting several degrees below the freezing point, officials said here on Thursday.
A thin layer of fog was also witnessed in many parts of Srinagar city which recorded a minimum temperature of minus 6 degrees Celsius, down from minus 4.5 degrees Celsius the previous night, the officials said.
Wednesday night was the coldest of the season so far in the city, and the night temperature was 4 degrees below the normal for this part of the season.
They said the intense cold conditions led to the freezing of the fringes of several water bodies, including the famous Dal Lake here, while water supply lines in many areas of the city here and elsewhere in the valley were also frozen due to the biting cold.
The long dry spell in the city and other areas in the plains has resulted in the increase in ailments like cough and common cold.
Tourist resort Pahalgam in south Kashmir, which also serves as one of the base camps for the annual Amarnath Yatra, recorded a low of minus 6.8 degrees Celsius, a degree down from the previous night.
The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 5 degrees Celsius. Konibal, a hamlet on the outskirts of Pampore town, was the coldest weather station in the valley as the minimum settled at the low of minus 8.4 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature in Qazigund -- the gateway to Kashmir -- was minus 7 degrees Celsius, Kupwara in north Kashmir minus 6.2 degrees, and Kokernag in south Kashmir minus 5.3 degrees.
The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather till December 26 with a possibility of light snowfall in higher reaches of the valley on the night of December 21-22.
It said light snow over few higher reaches is also possible from December 27 night to the morning of December 28.
However, the minimum temperature is forecast to fall further in the valley and there will be a cold wave at isolated to scattered places during the next few days, it said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
CJI's advice to aspirant: Join the bar, become a lawyer, don't hanker for judicial services post
New Delhi (PTI): She came to the Supreme Court seeking a re-evaluation of her paper in the examination for joining judicial services as a magistrate. What she got instead was a rejection — and a candid confession by the Chief Justice that he too had wanted to join the judicial services in his youth but was advised by a senior judge to become a lawyer instead.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi on Friday dismissed a plea filed by Prerna Gupta, the judicial services aspirant.
As Gupta pressed her case, the CJI intervened and said, "Let me share my personal story and I hope you will go happily as we cannot allow your petition."
He recounted his time as a final-year law student in 1984 when he wanted to become a judicial officer. As per requirement, he cleared the written test and was set to appear for an interview.
Judicial services is one of the two routes to become a judge after initially joining as a magistrate in lower court and thereafter rising through the ranks to become judge in a high court and possibly the Supreme Court.
The other route is to join the Bar, which means becoming a lawyer, and after building a reputation be picked from the Bar to become a judge at a senior level.
By the time the CJI's exam results came out, he had started practising at the Punjab and Haryana High Court when he was called for the interview.
The senior-most judge on the interview panel happened to be a judge before whom he had recently argued two significant matters.
"One of the matters was Sunita Rani vs Baldev Raj, where he had allowed my appeal in a matrimonial case and set aside the decree of divorce granted by the District Judge on the ground of schizophrenia," he noted.
Before the interview could take place, the judge called the young Surya Kant to his chamber and asked, 'Do you want to become a judicial officer?'
"I said 'yes.' He immediately said, 'Get out from (my) the chamber.'"
The courtroom fell silent as the CJI Justice described his initial heartbreak.
“I came out trembling. All my dreams were shattered. I thought he had snubbed me and that my career was over,” the CJI said.
However, the story took another turn the following day and the judge summoned him again, this time offering a piece of advice that would change the trajectory of his life.
“He said, ‘If you want to become (a judge), you are welcome. But my advice is, don’t become a judicial officer. The Bar is waiting for you,’” Justice Surya Kant recalled.
The CJI said he decided to skip his interview and didn't even tell his parents at first, fearing their disappointment, and instead chose to dedicate himself to his practice as an advocate.
“Now tell me did I make a bad right or bad decision,” the CJI asked and the litigant lawyer left the court with a smile on her face despite her case being dismissed.
Encouraging the petitioner to look toward the future rather than dwelling on the re-evaluation of a single paper, Justice Surya Kant said, "The Bar has much to offer."
