Day: July 4, 2017

Strike on July 8, 13; Resistance group issues programme on Burhan anniversary

Editor

Joint Hurriyat Leadership comprised of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik Tuesday issued a protest calendar in connection with the first death anniversary of Commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. The leadership in a joint statement have called for complete shutdown on July 8 and July 13. As per the calendar, a rally will be held at Tral to pay homage to Burhan and all “martyrs” on July 8. Same type of rallies will be held at all district headquarters and elsewhere in the world where Kashmiris are…

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Assembly adjourned after opposition creates ruckus over GST implementation, Media Gag

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was on Tuesday adjourned for half-an-hour following protests by opposition over gag on media. Journalists boycotted the proceedings after they were barred by the government from taking their mobile phones and cameras inside the House. The order was later withdrawn. However, journalists returned to the House only after the Speaker Kavinder Gupta apologised and assured such gag wouldn’t be repeated. Opposition parties, including the main National Conference party, created a ruckus over the absence of media, as soon as the House reconvened today to discuss…

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Govt lifts gag on mobile phones, cameras after media-persons boycott Kashmir assembly

Editor

Moments after media-persons staged a walkout and decided to boycott the proceedings of Jammu and Kashmir assembly, the Jammu and Kashmir government issued an order, saying that the journalists could now carry their phones and cameras inside the House. “It has now been decided by the concerned authorities that the Journalists can carry Video/Still Cameras and Mobile Phones inside the Press Gallery of the Legislature for the coverage of the special session which recommenced here today on 4th July 2017,” said the order. Earlier, media-persons staged a walkout from the…

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Police foil anti-GST protest in Valley, KTMF president Yasin Khan and others detained

Editor

Police on Tuesday foiled a sit-in programme of the trade bodies outside the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly complex here by arresting several leaders and activists. The trade leaders were protesting outside the assembly while the House was being re-convened to debate implementation of the controversial GST bill. Scores of protesting trade leaders, including Showkat Chowdhary, Zahoor Tramboo and Faiz Bakshi, among others, were arrested by the police. Former chairman Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mubeen Shah was placed under house arrest earlier today, said a trade leader. Meanwhile,…

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Militant recruitment up in North, Central Kashmir: JK Police

Editor

In fact, militancy has seen a resurgence in some parts of south Kashmir where there wasn’t any militant presence for about a decade now. However, what has worried security agencies is a similar trend in north and central Kashmir. Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have expressed concern at the rising number of local youths wanting to join militant ranks in north and central Kashmir, where previously the number of home-grown militants was low. While the focus of security grid is on south Kashmir, there have been umpteen attempts by…

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Valley’s Economy, Tourism sector struggle to stay afloat

Editor

The Dal Lake shimmers under the summer sun and the waves lap at the bank in a never-ending procession; a quintessential picture-postcard setting at one of Kashmir’s most iconic tourist destinations. But for Mohammad Amir, who takes tourists for rides on his shikara – a canopied paddle boat – this natural beauty has no meaning if there is no one to admire what Mughal emperor Jahangir once described as a “paradise”. Tourist inflow to the Valley has come down to a trickle after months of unrest in 2016, crippling one…

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With no Permanent Resident Certificate, Orphans ineligible for govt jobs

Editor

Children orphaned due to militancy or any other reasons taking shelter in various charitable homes in the state stand at a loss of not getting government jobs despite being top position holders in academics. The reason is that none of them have a permanent resident certificate (PRC), which is mandatory to apply for a government job. Balgran, a charitable home for the destitute at Channi Rama Jammu, is one such example where 112 children affected by militancy, earthquake and floods are living. They have excelled in academics, but are at…

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Centre asks forces to plan major offensive in Kashmir

Editor

Security forces are planning to take an aggressive stand to crush growing terrorism in the Valley and prevent people from joining terror outfits such as LeT or Hizbul Mujahideen mainly active in various districts of south Kashmir. The Union home ministry is learnt to have asked security agencies to draw up a concrete plan to stem public support which hampers anti-terror operations. The instructions come days after Union home minister Rajnath Singh said the government had a “concrete strategy” for a “permanent solution” to the Kashmir issue. The central government…

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75% Decline in entry of goods trucks to state

Editor

As stalemate persists over the implementation of the GST in J&K, the scarcity of essential commodities and goods has been staring at the state with the inflow of goods-laden trucks entering the state coming down nearly by 75 per cent. According to the official records of the Commercial Taxes Department at Lakhanpur, the gateway of the state, only about 1,750 trucks loaded with goods and essential commodities entered J&K since the nationwide rollout of the GST on July 1. “Approximately, 2,200 trucks used to enter the state via Lakhanpur toll…

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Geelani ‘again’ trying to bail out PDP govt: National Conference

Editor

The opposition National Conference on Monday hit out at Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani over his statement on Goods and Services Tax, saying he has “yet again gone out of way to distort the state’s history to bail out the PDP-BJP government—this time on the crucial and sensitive issue of GST extension to the state.” In a joint statement, senior NC leaders Ali Muhammad Sagar, Abdur Rahim Rather, Chaudhary Muhammad Ramzan, Mubarak Gul, Muhammad Shafi Uri, Muhammad Akbar Lone, Mian Altaf Ahmed, Nasir Aslam Wani and Devender Singh…

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