Trade bodies term 2016 worst year for business

It was a double whammy for the traders and industrialists in Jammu and Kashmir this year. They were first hit badly by the unrest and then by the demonetisation. This year has been rated as one of the worst years for the traders and industrialists of the state as the business has come down by more than 50 per cent. The decline in trade is likely to create long-term effects on the economy of the militancy-infested state, say experts. “Though the global business was down throughout the year, Jammu and…

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JK may not meet 24×7 power target

As the electricity demand is likely to reach 4,217 MW by 2021-22 in the state and as work on the majority of the proposed hydropower projects is stalled, the ambitious plan of the PDP-BJP government to provide 24X7 power supply to the people by 2019 may remain a political rhetoric. Instead, the state is heading for a major crisis in the coming years which could create further public discontent, if projects taken up for increasing generation and infrastructure development continue to get delayed. Official sources said a survey conducted by…

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Prolonged power cuts add to woes as Kashmir Valley freezes

Kashmir Valley is reeling under freezing temperatures and prolonged power cuts are only adding to the miseries of its over six million population. Srinagar, the summer capital of the State, recorded the minimum temperature of minus 6.5 degrees on Wednesday night, the lowest in the last six years. That incidentally on the night when ‘Chillai Kalan’, as the 40-day harshest part of winter is known in the Kashmiri folklore, started. Leh was freezing at 13.2 degrees Celsius. In order to beat the biting cold, the people need better power supply…

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Kashmir Valley heats up over Domicile, Separatists to hit the streets

Separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir have announced a state-wide protest on Friday, following reports that said the government has started issuing domicile certificates to West Pakistan refugees. The announcement by the government comes at a time when Kashmir is yet to recover from the aftermath of the five-month-long unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani. Separatist groups lashed out at the government, particularly ruling party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of attempting to “change the demography” of the state to fulfill the “Hindutva agenda” of its…

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Pakistan refugees not given domicile certificates but only identity cards: Govt

After an uproar by separatists and the opposition, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday clarified that refugees who migrated here from Pakistan since after Independence were not given domicile certificates but only identity cards. These refugees, mostly Hindus who migrated into the state during and after the 1947, 1965 and 1971 wars, have no citizenship rights in the state. They can vote in parliamentary elections but have no right to vote in the assembly polls. They cannot apply for jobs with the state government because of they are not…

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