Finally, Jehangir Chowk – Rambagh flyover to be completed this week, final clearance by July 15

Six years after the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah laid the foundation stone of the 2.14-km express corridor flyover in the heart of Srinagar city, it is now nearing completion. The flyover — longest in Valley — is finally expected to be completed on Sunday. The snail-paced construction of the Rambagh-Jehangir Chowk flyover had become emblematic of the ill-planned development of the city and had become a topic of jokes and mockery. The flyover, which would connect the south part of the city with its centre, has missed several deadlines…

Read More

Kashmir hopes Shah to extend an olive branch to resistance camp during two-day visit

Shah, who is visiting the state for the first time after taking charge of the home ministry, will make a detailed security review of the Amarnath Yatra and address a party gathering followed by meetings with the state administration. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday for the first time after taking charge of the ministry and local political leaders are expecting him to announce talks with separatists. Shah will reach the state’s summer capital, Srinagar, in the afternoon and stay in the…

Read More

Amit Shah to visit Kashmir today, focus remains on development and security

On his first trip to Kashmir as Union home minister on Wednesday, Amit Shah will discuss the consolidation of recent military and non-military gains in the Valley. He is also expected to ask governor Satyapal Malik about the developments that led him to conclude that leaders of the separatist Hurriyat Conference were ready for a meaningful dialogue with the Centre, according to people familiar with the matter. Shah and home secretary Rajiv Gauba will fly to Srinagar on Wednesday afternoon and return a day later. A senior government official told…

Read More

Srinagar, Jammu likely to get ‘Light Metro’, work may begin by year-end

Jammu and Srinagar will soon get Light Rail Transit System corridors – a sort of light metro and detail project reports (DPR) for both the places have been completed, officials said. The much-hyped project will be managed by Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MRDA) which was formed recently by the government to expedite various schemes. MRDA managing director Rajeev Ranjan said the project report will be submitted before the Union cabinet for final approval by the next month. “If everything goes according to plan, the work on these prestigious projects could…

Read More

Talk Or No-Talk, Talk of the town

Doors open for talks if Hurriyat believes in Constitution: BJP Hurriyat (G) tight-lipped on talks with GoI Encouraging that Hurriyat ready for talks: Governor Kashmir can be resolved through dialogue, not militarily: Hurriyat (M) Talks must be held with Hurriyat: Farooq Abdullah JK BJP opposes talks with Hurriyat Mehbooba welcomes Hurriyat’s readiness to talk Doors open for talks if Hurriyat believes in Constitution: BJPBJP national vice-president and in-charge J&K Avinash Rai Khanna today said they would talk to the Hurriyat leaders only if they believed in the country’s Constitution. “I…

Read More

Encounter underway between rebels and security forces in Kishtwar, 2 LeT rebels feared trapped

Two Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants are believed to be trapped in a cordon laid by troops in the forest area of Kishwan in mountainous district. Sources told Kashmir Post that forces launched cordon and search operation (CASO) in dense forests of Kishwan after receiving credible information about presence of two LeT militants. They said as troops were conducting searches in the dense forest area, they came under fire from militants hiding there. “The fire was returned by troops and both sides exchanged gunfire for some time,” sources said. They said as…

Read More

Worrying trend across Kashmir Valley as more locals joining rebel ranks

Mohammad Salman Khan and Shabir Ahmad Dar deserted the Jammu and Kashmir police’s counter-insurgency wing to cross over to the other side on June 5. The special police officers (SPOs) left Pulwama’s district police lines with their automatic weapons and joined Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad four months after it carried out one of the deadliest attacks in Kashmir on February 14 that left 40 paramilitary troopers dead. Within hours of their desertion, security forces raided a house where security forces were tipped off about the duo’s presence at Panjran Lassipora,…

Read More

BJP told to clear stand on Articles 35A, 370: PIL

Dilly-dallying on the abrogation of Articles 35A and 370 amounts to “murdering people’s mandate and negating Preamble of the Indian Constitution”. “The abrogation of these Articles, constitution of a Delimitation Commission to give the Jammu province due representation in the Assembly and implementation of the March 12, 2018, Supreme Court order passed in the PIL titled Ankur Sharma vs Union of India and Ors regarding the identification/notification of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians as minorities in J&K have become imperative,” said Ankur Sharma, chairman, Ikkjutt Jammu, adding that the…

Read More

Army commanders whose bases breached in terror attacks may be told to put in their papers and retire

Commanders who were in charge of the Uri brigade, the Sunjuwan military camp and the Nagrota army base in Jammu and Kashmir when their establishments were stormed by terrorists in past years may have “to go home”, the government has decided, seeking to take action against the senior leadership for security lapses that may have aided the attacks. The government has communicated its recommendation to the Indian Army, a senior official in the security establishment said, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media. Essentially, the…

Read More

As PDP is moving towards a makeover, Muzaffar Baig would be getting a bigger role

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is mulling considerable changes in its party constitution to transfer many of the powers of the all-powerful president Mehbooba Mufti to its patron Muzaffar Hussain Baig in a bid to revive its fortunes ahead of the Assembly elections. In its dismal performance in the parliamentary elections, the PDP lost all three seats in the Kashmir valley, and among the losers was the party president Mehbooba Mufti. That was a big blow to the party as it was aware of the anger of people against its…

Read More