I quit: Kashmiri student’s last note before he went missing from AIIMS Bhubaneswar 2 weeks ago

A second-year Kashmiri student of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, has been missing for more than two weeks now. Suhail Aijaz, a resident of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir and pursing MBBS at the institute since 2016, left his hostel on February 9 and has been missing since then. “Police made a preliminary enquiry and found that he left a note saying ‘I quit’. We traced his location to Kolkata. His number is switched off till date,” Rajendra Prasad Sharma, DGP Odisha, said. “One of our…

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Kashmir Calling: Hoteliers slash rates by 30% across Kashmir Valley

The hoteliers of the Kashmir valley have announced 30 per cent discount for the intending tourists for the coming spring and summer seasons. A Tourism Department official today said the announcement was made during a seminar organised jointly by the department and the Kashmir Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Federation (KHAROF) in Kolkata. KHAROF president Abdul Wahid Malik said their body had 600 members and the discount was being offered in an effort to boost tourist arrivals to the Valley. “We are announcing 30 per cent rebate on our tariffs so…

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Students to get 50% concession in bus fare

With schools set to open from March 5, the Traffic Department has issued a fresh advisory directing the travel operators to give 50 per cent concession to the students. An official said all bus operators, both private and state-owned, had been directed to charge only 50 per cent of the passenger fare from students while traveling from their residential place to the location of their educational institution and back once in a day. “The students have been asked to produce a valid identity card of the institution in which they…

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Villagers living near LOC forced to flee as India, Pakistan trade artillery fire

India and Pakistan have exchanged artillery fire in the disputed Kashmir region forcing hundreds of people to flee, police in Indian Kashmir said, raising fresh doubts about a 15-year-old ceasefire between the nuclear-armed rivals in the area. It was not clear what triggered the latest fighting on Saturday in the Uri sector on the so-called Line of Control (LoC) that divides the mostly Muslim Himalayan region. But tension has been running high since an attack on an Indian army camp in Kashmir this month in which six soldiers were killed.…

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Despite growing demand J&K exploits just 16% of hydro-power potential: Survey

Jammu and Kashmir has exploited only about 16 per cent of the estimated 20,000 MW of hydro-power potential even as the energy demand has been growing gradually creating a wider demand-supply gap, the state economic survey 2017 said. The estimated hydro-power potential of Jammu and Kashmir is 20,000 Megawatts (MW), of which about 16,475 MW have been identified. “This comprises 11,283 MW in Chenab basin, 3,084 MW in Jhelum basin, 500 MW in Ravi Basin and 1608 MW in Indus basin. Only 3,263.46 MW, about 20 per cent of the…

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Traders body in Mussoorie asks Kashmiri Traders to leave town

So far the association has not given the Kashmiris any written notice, only telling them verbally about the deadline. However, Rajat Aggarwal, the association president, said there were no two ways about it, hinting at “communal disharmony”. A LOCAL traders’ body in Mussoorie has asked Kashmiris who sell garments from rented shops in the city to leave. Most of the shops have been rented out to them on an 11-month contract that ends on February 28, after which the Mussoorie Traders & Welfare Association wants the Kashmiris out. So far…

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Mehbooba Mufti orders probe after uproar over cousin’s appointment as KVIB officer

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti Sunday ordered probe into the selection list of Jammu and Kashmir Khadi Village and Industries Board (KVIB) after her government faced strong criticism over appointment of her cousin and son of ruling PDP vice president Sartaj Madni as executive officer in KVIB. 37-year-old Syed Aroot Madni, who is CM’s cousin and son of PDP vice president, was recently appointed as an executive officer in KVIB. His appointment has created political storm and strong criticism from the dropout candidates and netizens. The dropped candidates…

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Distorted J&K map at event attended by Canadian PM another controversy hits Trudeau’s visit

Another controversy has hit Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to India as a map misrepresenting Jammu and Kashmir was put up at the event he was speaking at. A map showing a distorted Jammu and Kashmir – without the entire PoK area including Gilgit and Baltistan – was placed at an event in New Delhi where the Canadian PM and his wife were speaking at. India has firmly maintained that Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir is a part of India and has been encroached upon by Pakistan. The distortion of the map will come…

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Two policemen shot dead by militants in Kashmir

Suspected militants shot dead two policemen, one of them the guard of Hurriyat leader Fazul Haq Qureshi, in Kashmir on Sunday. Their service weapons were also snatched. A police official said Farooq Ahmad was “grievously injured” when unknown gunmen fired upon him “as he was performing the duties of guarding Qureshi” in Bilal Colony at Soura of Srinagar on Sunday evening. “The injured policeman was shifted in a critical condition to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries,” said a police official. Earlier, a policeman guarding the Chrar-e-Sharief shrine…

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Mehbooba Mufti is not going to decide about talks with Pakistan: Ram Madhav

National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ram Madhav on Sunday said Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti “is not going to decide about talks with Pakistan”. In an interview to The Indian Express, Madhav said: “Talking or not talking to Pakistan is not for the Jammu and Kashmir alliance to decide, but the government of India. Mehboobaji can have a view, because she feels that if the two governments talk to each other, there could be de-escalation of violence. But the alliance cannot take a view, its…

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