Month: September 2015

Kashmir’s “Internet Curtain”!

Editor

M Ashraf Kashmir’s popular movement for freedom started in 1931. In 1938, the movement which was started for getting the basic rights in an autocratic set up by the Muslims was converted into a nationalist movement. The manifesto for the movement which was written by staunch communists B.P.L and Fredda Bedi reflected many similarities of the Russian Revolution. The Red Flag, the Plough representing the peasantry replicating the Sickle and Hammer of the Russian workers, the naming of the popular spot for public meetings as the Red Square and so…

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‘Digital India’ stands exposed in Kashmir; Welcome back from Stone Age’

Editor

Minutes after mobile internet services were restored after 76 hours in J&K, netizens logged in to social networking sites to vent their anger against the ban that literally choked life in Muslim-majority State on Eid-ul-Adha days. Scores of netizens criticized the PDP-BJP government for imposing blanket ban on internet. A Facebook status of a user read: “Let PDP-BJP alliance get disconnected so that we could remain connected.” What added to anger on social networking sites was a welcome note of Facebook that read: “Do you support Digital India. PM Modi…

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Baking is In

Editor

Syed Asma The traditional bakery in Kashmir is gone through generational shift. The takeover is putting young and enthusiastic entrepreneurs’ raise the bar in a highly competitive market. One fine afternoon, the flamboyant ex-chief minister of J&K Dr Farooq Abdullah pulled his SUV outside a recently opened bakery shop ‘Just Baked’ in Sanat Nagar, Srinagar. Accompanied by his daughter and grandchildren, senior Abdullah purchased bakery items worth Rs 2000. It instantly made news. Launched in July 2015, the brain behind ‘Just Baked’ is Rouf Khanday: a business management graduate from…

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While Modi promotes `Digital India’ in US, Internet blackout continues in Kashmir

Editor

Several newspapers fail to hit news stands for 3rd day, news agencies’ work hampered In an irony of sorts, while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy promoting his `Digital India’ brand and wooing corporate honchos in the Silicon Valley in the US counting on benefits of internet and social networking sites, the internet blackout in Jammu and Kashmir continued even on Sunday, for the third consecutive day. The subscribers were unable to access the services through wired or wireless devices in the wake of internet blackout, which was to…

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Govt dismisses Sharif’s suggestion for plebiscite in J&K

Editor

The government on Monday dismissed Pakistan’s suggestion for holding plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir saying the territory is an integral part of India and blamed the neighbouring country for allowing its land to be used for terror activities. “Kashmir is an internal issue. It is an integral part of India,” Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here. He was replying to a question on Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in his meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and asking…

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Katra to be linked to Delhi via Amritsar through expressway: MoS

Editor

The Katra town in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, commonly known as Katra Vaishno Devi, will soon be connected to Delhi via Amritsar through an expressway, Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh said. “This will not only make the road journey much more comfortable but also considerably reduce the travel time between these important towns”, Singh said while speaking at a public gathering in Katra today. Work on the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway will begin soon and this will be the India’s longest expressway passing through Haryana, Punjab…

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Death of woman who set herself ablaze sparks protest

Editor

The cases of domestic violence are becoming alarming in Kashmir as a woman succumbed to her burn injuries at a Srinagar hospital today taking the toll of self-immolation by woman to three from May this year. A 34-year-old, mother of two, set herself ablaze at the Old City Srinagar on Friday after “harassment” by her in-laws. After the neighbors found the woman in a critical condition, they took her to the hospital where she died today. She had received 90 per cent burn injuries. “The woman was rushed to hospital…

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Netizens decry internet shutdown

Editor

Kashmiri netizens logged in on social networking sites for first time in four days on Monday and immediately launched a scathing criticism of the state government for forcing a lengthy internet shutdown. The netizens dubbed the shutdown of internet services as a throwback to “stone age” and “dark ages” and criticised the state government for ordering the shutdown of internet services during Eid. “Welcome back from the dark ages,” Parvez Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar, posted on Facebook as Internet services were restored on Monday morning. The state government shut…

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Defunct traffic signals lead to jams in Jammu

Editor

There seems to be no end to the prevailing traffic chaos in the city as in some of the areas electric traffic signals have been installed, but are non-functional. The situation is more alarming in main areas of the city like Green Belt, Gandhi Nagar, Panama Chowk, etc, where the defunct traffic signals leads to traffic jams. “For what purpose the traffic lights have been installed when the authorities have failed to maintain them properly. The traffic signals installed on the Narwal bypass road on the outskirts of the city…

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19 Cases of dengue reported from Jammu in one month

Editor

Even as 19 cases of dengue have been reported from the Jammu region in the last one month, the Health Department has claimed that the situation was under control and appealed to people not to get panicked. Two more cases of the vector borne disease have been detected in the region in the last three days, taking the total count of dengue patients to 19. The Health Department has so far tested 167 samples from different parts of the Jammu region out of which 19 have tested positive, an official…

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