Due to bad road conditions, only one-way traffic was allowed on the strategic Jammu-Srinagar highway on Friday. The traffic is being allowed to move from Jammu to Srinagar today. “No vehicle will be allowed to move in the opposite direction due to narrowing of the road at many places in the Ramban district,” traffic department officials said here. The highway has mostly remained closed this month due to heavy landslides triggered by rains. The closure has caused acute shortages of vegetables, meat, poultry and dairy products in the landlocked valley.…
Read MoreDay: March 17, 2017
Linking Kashmir Militancy to Islam is ‘Politically Immature’: Hurriyat (G)
The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday said people who link militancy in Kashmir with Islam were showing signs of political immaturity. The Hurriyat Conference attributed militancy in Jammu and Kashmir to the long-pending Kashmir issue, and alleged state oppression against the people. The statement issued by a senior Hurriyat Conference leader is likely to evoke debate in the restive state among different separatist groups. “The Kashmir dispute has a living and a strong historical background and India has not only forcibly occupied this land for past 69…
Read MoreUnhygienic dressed chicken openly sold in markets
In absence of monitoring by authorities, sale of unhygienic dressed chicken is going on unabated in various markets of summer capital. The chicken stocks, brought from outside the state in large thermocol boxes, in the guise of fish is being openly sold in the city markets. Despite Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) destroying three quintals of unhygienic imported dressed chicken in various parts of Shaher-e-Khaas and its adjoining areas on Wednesday, several such shops are still openly selling these items. Interestingly, a shop right outside the Directorate of Food…
Read MoreAFSPA to stay in Kashmir till peace is restored: BJP
‘High command to decide whether to contest LS bypolls or not’ A day after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti pitched for repeal of controversial AFSPA from some areas of the State, BJP vice president Avinash Rai Khanna Thursday said the controversial law will stay in Jammu and Kashmir till peace and normalcy returns. “BJP’s stand on AFSPA is clear. Until the peace and normalcy is restored in the State, the law will stay,” Khanna told media on sidelines of party convention at Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh’s residence, here. He said…
Read MoreUncertainty, Harsh weather cast shadow on Zojila tunnel project
Bidders have shown reluctance to execute the ambitious South East Asia’s longest Zojila tunnel project, connecting Kashmir with the strategic Ladakh region, owing to “uncertainty” in the Valley and “very hostile weather conditions”. This is in spite of change in the mode of execution from the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) (Annuity) basis to Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis. Under the new EPC model, the government is fully funding the project. “Uncertainty hangs over the execution of the project as bidders have shown strong reluctance to the project due to large-scale tension…
Read More6 Hydel Projects coming up on fast track over Chenab
Undeterred by Pakistan warnings, India has expedited work on six major hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir to be constructed on the Chenab river flowing into the neighbouring country. The installed capacity of these six power projects will be around 6,000 MW and these schemes will enhance the hydropower generation of water-abundant J&K approximately by three times from the current level of 3,220.96-MW, including 2,009 MW under the Central sector. The six projects winning technical approvals in the past few months are 1,856-MW Sawalkote, 560-MW Kawar, 1,200-MW Bursar, 1,000-MW Pakal…
Read MoreResistance leaders detained, Barred from briefing media
The Jammu and Kashmir Police today arrested senior separatist leaders — Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — after disallowing them to hold a joint press conference. Before being whisked away by the police to the nearby Humhama police station and placing them under preventive custody, the three leaders staged a protest and called for boycott of the forthcoming by elections. Sources said the three separatists were scheduled to discuss the emerging political situation in the Valley and the response of the “joint resistance” to the bypolls.…
Read More
