Day: January 4, 2018

Ice-climbing event held at Pahalgam

Editor

The Department of Tourism, Kashmir, organised an ice-climbing event at Chandanwari in Pahalgam in an effort to promote adventure tourism in the Kashmir valley. A statement issued by the department today said trained mountaineers from the Jammu and Kashmir Mountaineering and Hiking Club and Glacier Trekking, Mountaineering and Hiking Club participated in the event with the collaboration of the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports. Director, Tourism, Kashmir, Mahmood A Shah said the extreme adventure sports activity had an international appeal which could attract adventure lovers from across the…

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BJP red-faced as MLA walks out over ‘Forcible’ land acquisition in Jammu

Editor

The ruling BJP faced embarrassment in the Legislative Assembly today when party lawmaker Sukhnandan Choudhary created a ruckus over ‘forcible’ acquisition of farmers’ land for the proposed Ring Road project in the Jammu region. Choudhary trooped into the well of the House before staging a walkout over, what he alleged, the government’s inhuman attitude by snatching the livelihood of over 1,500 farmers of the Jammu plains. As Choudhary, a former minister and two-time MLA from the Marh constituency, was raising slogans against the forcible acquisition of land, NC lawmaker Devendra…

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‘Kashmir Daily’ First Kashmir-based film to be released across country

Editor

For the first time, a locally made two-and-a-half-hour film — ‘Kashmir Daily’ — will be released across the country this week. Even as only a handful of films have so far been produced in the Valley without cinema halls, the scheduled country-wide release of the film has brought cheer to its makers. ‘Kashmir Daily’ has well-known Bollywood actor of Kashmiri origin — Mir Sarwar — in the lead role, who has acted in acclaimed films Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Phantom, Dishoom and Jolly LLB-2. “This is for the first time that a…

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No rules, no procedures for preventive detentions under J&K Public Safety Act, reveals RTI

Editor

An RTI application has found that even after four decades, there are no rules or standard operating procedures (SOPs) for ordering preventive detentions under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978. In a reply to an RTI application filed by members of the J&K RTI Movement, headed by Shaikh Ghulam Rasool, the Jammu & Kashmir Home Department has admitted that the state government has not made any rules or SOPs under the Act, 1978 during the four decades of its existence. It, however, said: “However, every case is examined…

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Cabinet nod for Rs 6809 crore Zojila tunnel project connecting Kashmir with Ladakh

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Situated at an altitude of 11,578 feet on Srinagar-Kargil-Leh National Highway, the pass remains closed during winters (December to April). Heavy snowfall and avalanches cut off Leh-Ladakh region from Kashmir. The cabinet on Thursday approved the construction of a 14.2 km tunnel in Zoji La, to provide all-weather connectivity between Ladakh and Kashmir, while also giving a strategic edge to the armed forces in the region. The project, said to be Asia’s longest bi-directional tunnel, is estimated to cost Rs 6,809-crore. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said…

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