Advise you to not comment on India’s internal affairs: India tells OIC

At the UN yesterday, India firmly and unequivocally told the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that it would be better off not commenting on India’s internal affairs, reported ANI. India was replying to comments on Kashmir made by Pakistan, which was using the OIC to comment on the troubled state, as is its wont. Pakistan made its comments on behalf of the OIC, of which it is a member. India said this was out of line. “Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has no locus standi on India’s internal affairs, we strongly…

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As yet another militant meets gory end, rift among ranks is becoming apparent

On 13 August, Hizbul Mujahideen’s Jammu and Kashmir operational chief, Yasin Yatoo, had organised a meeting of different militant outfits including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) at Awneera in Shopian before the government forces received information about it and launched a swift operation. Yatoo was killed along with his two associates in the encounter. He tried to bring back estranged Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Musa, who is now heading the Al Qaeda cell in Kashmir — Ansar Ghazwatul Hind — into the Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit. Yatoo was one of the most influential…

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Not averse to sincere, meaningful dialogue: Joint Resistance leadership

The joint separatist leadership comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik on Friday said that Kashmir is not a territorial dispute but a human and political issue, even as it reiterated that it was not averse to a “sincere, meaningful and result-oriented dialogue among the three parties to the dispute.” In a joint statement, a spokesman of the joint separatist leadership said that Mirwaiz and Malik held a meeting with Geelani at his residence at Hyderpora on Thursday. “The meeting was held after initial reluctance by…

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BJP deputes Ram Lal to ‘Placate’ workers at grassroots level

Step taken after Rajnath Singh got ‘discouraging’ feedback about party ministers during his visit As Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has not received “encouraging” feedback about the performance of party ministers in the coalition, the BJP high command has decided to depute party national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal to “placate” the workers at grassroots-level. During his visit to Jammu on September 11 and 12, Rajnath had received a large number of complaints against party ministers. Not only the civil society expressed anger over the performance of the BJP ministers,…

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Govt directs Admin Secys to file action taken reports on agenda of alliance

The government has directed the Administrative Secretaries to file the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) on the work done by departments on PDP-BJP coalition’s Agenda of Alliance (AoA). According to officials in a recent meeting which was convened by the chief secretary, B B Vyas, ATRs were sought as not much has been done on promises which were made out to people. The directions come after a cabinet sub-committee (CSC) headed by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh, reviewed the AoA. The CSC had met in April following which the directions were…

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Blacktopping work picks up pace across Valley

After failing to deliver on infrastructure development due to the unrest in the Valley last year, the government is showing its presence by taking up blacktopping of roads across the state on a massive scale. Only 30.64 km of the road length was blacktopped last year in Kashmir. Officials say that the carpeting of roads in rural and urban areas had been given priority in the current financial year. “The macadamisation of roads is in full swing and 1,302.46-km road length has been blacktopped till August 28 against the target…

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Schools remain Shut, Curbs cripple Downtown: Ismail killing fallout

Friday prayers disallowed at Jamia Masjid for 2nd week A day after Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Abu Ismail and his aide were killed in a gunfight with government forces, most educational institutions in Kashmir remained closed while authorities didn’t allow congregational Friday prayers at Jamia Masjid to thwart possible protests against the killing of militants. The government also imposed strict curbs in majority of Downtown areas and placed Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest. Meanwhile, JKLF leaders and activists staged a protest in uptown here against the NIA…

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Religious groups meet to soothe frayed nerves

Buddhist association wants SIT to probe conversions; DC to submit report to govt Against the backdrop of the rising communal tension in Ladakh following an inter-religion marriage, religious heads of all communities, while keeping the district administration in the loop, today got together to soothe the frayed nerves. They also demanded a high-level inquiry into such cases. The meeting, attended by Leh Deputy Commissioner Avny Lavasa and SSP Uday Bhaskar B, was aimed at restoring peace in Ladakh which had been hit by a communal discord between Buddhists and Muslims.…

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Dengue spreads tentacles across Jammu, 14 fresh cases in 24 hours

The outbreak of dengue and swine flu has created panic in Jammu as 14 more cases of dengue and one case of H1N1 flu were found positive in the past 24 hours in the region. According to Health Department officials, the toll has reached to 59 cases of dengue and nine cases of H1N1flu. Two deaths due to swine flu have also been reported in the region. The Health Department of Jammu has conducted 550 tests for dengue till date out of which 59 cases were found positive, 283 were…

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Jammu-Srinagar highway cleared after landslide, vehicles move to Kashmir

Hundreds of heavy vehicles that had been stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to a landslide on Monday, left for Kashmir on Thursday after the debris was cleared off the arterial road. Hundreds of heavy vehicles, stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to a landslide on Monday, left for Kashmir on Thursday after the debris was cleared off the arterial road. A landslip at Morh Passi in Udhampur district on September 11 had hit the movement of vehicles on the 300-km highway, the lone all-weather road connecting Kashmir…

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