With less than a month left to the new year, the Jammu and Kashmir Bank’s 2017-calendar is all set to showcase the “12 young achievers” of the state for their outstanding accomplishments in fields like education, art, literature, science, and sports.
Till now, the bank has received over 250 nominations in the open invitation announced earlier. The names of probable faces, likely to grace the “wall of fame” are already doing the rounds in the bank.
Interestingly, many of the nominees haven’t personally applied and have been approached to seek their consent. Sources in the J&K Bank told InUth that an “external committee” will take a final call on the faces who will feature in the calendar.
Here’s the list of probable faces:
Fashion designer Zubair Kirmani
Zubair Kirmani, who is in his mid-30s, is the first Kashmiri Muslim to hit the ramp with his creations under famed brand Boune Pun. But becoming a fashion designer was not an easy task for this man, who was pursuing engineering in Bangalore. It took Kirmani considerable efforts to convince his parents and conservative society back home to pursue something after his heart: Fashion.
Twitter’s Raheel Khursheed
A well-known online activist and a former journalist, Raheel Khursheed heads the news, politics and government section of Twitter. The 33-year-old Kashmiri is responsible for providing front-line technical support to news, government, and political users of Twitter.
Educationist Sabbah Haji
Sabbah Haji is the Director of Haji Public School in Doda region. Born and raised in Dubai, she completed her higher education and worked in Bangalore for almost a decade before moving back to her native Chenab Valley in 2008.
She has been involved in running the school since its inception.
Programmer Mehvish
Computer engineer Mehvish Mushtaq has the distinction of being the “first” Kashmiri girl to have developed an android application (app) “Dial Kashmir”, a type of yellow pages in 2013. In January 2016, she was one of the 15 Indian women, the youngest Kashmiri female entrepreneur, who was honoured with the “Devi Award” for innovative thinking.
Kickboxing champion Tajamul Islam
Eight-year-old Tajamul Islam scripted history in November at the World Kickboxing Championship in Italy, where she made India proud by bagging the gold medal in the sub-junior category.
Hailing from Bandipora district, she aspires to bag a gold medal in the Olympics and wants to be a doctor in the Indian Army.
Cricketer Parvez Rasool
Born in 1989, Parvez Rasool is a cricketer, who plays as an all-rounder for J&K. A right-hand batsman and off-break bowler, Rasool captains the state team and also plays for team India.
Footballer Wadoo
38-yr-old Mehrajuddin Wadoo is an ace footballer, who hails from Sarai Bala area of Srinagar. He represents the Indian national team and Sporting Clube de Goa. He spends a good time grooming the budding talent in the football.
IAS topper Dr Shah Faesal
Born in 1983, Dr Shah Faesal is an IAS officer. In 2009, he became the first Kashmiri to top the Indian Civil Services Examination. A popular figure among youth due to his active presence on public platforms, Faesal has been an inspiration for many civil service aspirants in Kashmir.
Basharat Peer of Curfewed Nights
Basharat Peer, 39, is a journalist and writer from Kashmir. He recently joined New York Times as an OpEd Editor. He is the author of the famed Curfewed Night, an eyewitness account of the Kashmir-conflict. He had written the script for Bollywood movie Hyder.
Khurram of K-apple fame
A business school pass-out from the Unites States, Khurram Mir hails from south Kashmir. He left his promising career abroad and returned to his homeland with the hope of taking the homegrown apple to new heights. As an entrepreneur, he opened a 10,000-ton Controlled Atmosphere Store facility. He also introduced the first-ever high-density apple orchards.
Household name RJ Nasir
Sardar Nasir Ali Khan aka RJ Nasir of Big FM – Srinagar’s first RJ – is a household name in Kashmir. Besides entertaining listeners, he’s equally appreciated for highlighting issues faced in day-to-life with all his wittiness, and for his humanitarian efforts in the times of crises likes floods.
BSF exam topper Nabeel Ahmed
Nabeel Ahmad Wani, a resident of Udhampur district, topped Border Security Force’s Assistant Commandant (Works) Examination 2016. He is the first Kashmiri to have achieved this feat. Wani says his aim was to do something against terrorism and felt that he could fulfill his aim by joining armed forces. Wani had written the examination in 2013, but could not qualify by a small margin. He, subsequently, worked harder and bagged all-India the first rank.
