Govt spent 1484 crore on flights, maintenance for PM Modi’s foreign trips since 2014

Narendra Modi visited a total of 84 countries in 42 foreign trips since taking over as Prime Minister in May 2014. Beginning from June 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited 84 countries, and the expenditure incurred on chartered flights, maintenance of aircraft and hotline facilities amounts to RS. 1,484, according to government. The details of Modi’s foreign travel expenditure under the three heads were shared in the Rajya Sabha by minister of state for external affairs VK Singh. According to the data, a total of Rs 1088.42 crore was…

Read More

Basant Rath, Kashmir’s real-life ‘Singam’ in trouble

Some call him Singam, some call him Dabang, senior IPS officer Basant Rath has been caught on the wrong side of the law. Rath, inspector general of police, traffic, was caught on camera, slapping a young man in Srinagar, sparking anger across Kashmir. The 44-second video shows Rath, in civvies, arguing with a youth at Partap Park in Srinagar’s nerve-center of Lal Chowk and then slapping him repeatedly. Later, another version of the same video with 1.50 minute duration surfaced on social media, in which the youth is appreciating his…

Read More

Fear of poaching gives sleepless nights to Kashmir’s Politicians

Beware of predators and poachers, take care of your flock. This is the classic warning for shepherds while they graze their flock in the Himalayan meadows. In Kashmir’s political meadow of expedient opportunities, the same warning is now visiting mainstream politicians. After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew from the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, the politics of make and break is back with a vengeance. Dissident MLAs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), including the influential Shia leader and former minister Imran Ansari and his uncle, Abid Ansari,…

Read More

Govt cancels Wular dredging contract to Indo-Sino company

Nearly a year after a ministerial panel cleared an Indo-Sino company to dredge the Wular Lake, the Governor’s administration has cancelled the contract that had run into controversy over some financial issues. A source said one of the reasons that led to cancellation of the contract to a joint venture between Kolkata-based Reach Dredging Limited and China-based Hubei Hongyan Engineering Company Limited was the lack of a clear source of funding to undertake the Rs 389-crore project This issue, according to the source, had become raised many an eyebrow after…

Read More

Lal Singh to float apolitical pro-Dogra outfit tomorrow

Choudhary Lal Singh, former minister and BJP leader, is all set to float a pro-Jammu apolitical outfit on Sunday to intensify his fight to “restore the dignity and honour” of the Dogra community of the state. Since April 13, when he was forced by the party high command to resign from the council of ministers for supporting the demand for a CBI probe into the Kathua rape-murder case, Lal Singh has been addressing rallies across the Jammu region, raking up Dogra sentiments to emerge as a pro-Jammu leader before the…

Read More

Over dismissal of accused cop in Kathua rape and murder High Court issues notice to state

Asks Chief Secy, DGP to file response in two weeks The Jammu and Kashmir High Court on Friday issued a notice to the state government seeking its reply within two weeks over a petition filed by a policeman, one of the eight accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, challenging his dismissal from service, a defence lawyer said. High Court Judge Justice M K Hanjura issued the notice to the Chief Secretary and the DGP after hearing the argument over the petition filed by Constable Tilak Raj. Besides Raj,…

Read More

Minor boys dismembered body sends shockwaves across Valley, Kupwara shuts in protest

The body of a 10-year-old boy with a chopped arm was recovered from a nullah at Gushi village in Kupwara district on Thursday evening. Umar Farooq Malik, a class III student of Gulgam, Kupwara, had gone missing on July 16. The J&K Police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to be headed by the Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Kupwara, to probe the murder. “It is a brutal murder and we will reach the bottom of it,” Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Kupwara, told Kashmir Post.…

Read More