Month: October 2015

67 Persons held for Enforcing Shutdown in Shopian post Abu Qasim’s Death

Editor

Amid spontaneous shutdown and clashes, thousands of people, including women, today turned up for the funeral of slain Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) Kashmir chief, Abu Qasim in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Eyewitnesses told Srinagar-based news agency that soon after the news about the death of Abu Qasim spread, thousands of people from Kulgam and other districts of south Kashmir including Pulwama and Shopian rushed towards Bogam so that they could have a glimpse of the slain commander and can participate in it. Within no time, the Bugam village – where Qasim’s funeral…

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Quake-prone state has no mechanism to keep check on unsafe buildings

Editor

Past tragedies fail to bring successive regimes out of slumber Tectonically active Jammu and Kashmir has no mechanism to identify and keep a tab on unsafe buildings in all major cities and towns. Enforcement agencies have ‘miserably failed’ to check haphazard construction despite ‘repeated warnings’ of the possibility of an overdue high-intensity earthquake. This is in addition to the failure of successive governments to put in place a concrete disaster management plan in the state, which is in seismic zones IV and V. “No exercise to have official data of…

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Sombre atmosphere ahead of PM visit

Editor

Evokes mixed response from traders, civil society Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu Kashmir on November 5 has not generated much hype, and traders, civil society activists, and Kashmir watchers have not pinned too many hopes on him. The development package that Modi is set to announce, according to reports, is expected to be worth around Rs 92,000 crore but it has not generated much interest in Kashmir valley. Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS) member and social activist, Shakeel Qalander said people in Kashmir had lost…

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Govt provoking people by arresting youth: KEA

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Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) Chairman Haji Mohammed Yasin Khan Thursday expressed concern over the arrest of youth in south Kashmir in the last few days, following protests over death of Zahid, who was burnt in truck by rightwing forces. In a statement Khan said youth who resorted to protests have been arrested but the Chief Minister forgets that reason behind the protests was the burning down of three innocent Kashmiri youth in a truck on Udhampur highway by RSS agents. “Instead of crushing the right wing forces sponsored by the…

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Govt teachers can no more offer private tuition in Jammu

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Government has framed new guidelines for the operation of the tuition centres across the state. Tuition centres in the state have been in the news for the past two years for flouting guidelines, affecting the academics of students. In Jammu, the winter capital of the state, the government has put a blanket ban on the private practice of the teachers, engaged in government schools. “All Chief Education Officers (CEOs) are directed to ensure that there is total prohibition on the practice of private tuitions by government…

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CM hopes Modi’s Kashmir visit will be ‘path-breaking’

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Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit here,Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today hoped the trip would be “path-breaking” and help build an atmosphere of trust that Atal Bihari Vajpayee had “so successfully weaved”. He said Modi is keen to usher in a new era of development in the state and hoped that the November 7 visit would provide the much-needed impetus to the development agenda of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Addressing a public meeting here, Sayeed recalled his “camaraderie” with Vajpayee when he was the Chief Minister…

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Madhur Bhandarkar meets former JK Chief Minister

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Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar on Thursday met former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah here. The National Award-winner said he was ecstatic. “It’s always a great pleasure to catch up with the witty, humorous and energetic Dr. Farooq Abdullah Sir. #Kashmir,” Bhandarkar tweeted. The director of critically acclaimed film Page 3 and Fashion also shared photographs in which he is seen engrossed in a conversation with the politician. In the images, Farooq Abdullah, clad in a red t-shirt, can also be seen enjoying the session. On the professional front, Bhandarkar’s…

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International Community urged to play role to solve Kashmir Dispute

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The Pakistan High Commission here commemorated the ‘Kashmir Black Day’ with a programme where speakers urged the international community to play a role in solving the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, a territorial dispute between Pakistan and India, dating from 1947. The event held on Tuesday at the high commission here was attended by professors from various universities, academicians, students and Pakistanis residing in Malaysia, the high commission said in a statement. Kashmiri people observe Oct 27 as ‘black day’ annually to protest the arrival of Indian troops and their invasion…

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Abu Qasim Bid Adieu with ‘21-Gun Salute’

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In a recap of 1990s situation, slain militant commander, ‘Abu Qasim’, was given a ’21-Gun salute’ by fellow militants at his funeral in South Kashmir early today. Reports and local witnesses said that when Abu Qasim, who died in a gun fight with forces early Thursday morning, was being bid final adieu by people from South Kashmir parts in Bugam village of Kulgam, militants – four in number – appeared and fired few gun shots in  air. “Militants participated in the Nimaz-e-Jinaza and honoured their commander while firing bullets shots…

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12 Newborn girls abandoned in six months

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On his way to a nearby temple, a priest heard cries coming from near some bushes. As he went near, he was shocked to find a newborn girl wrapped in a piece of cloth. The baby was apparently abandoned by her parents. The baby managed to survive after she was admitted to the respiratory intensive care unit. The incident took place on September 18 at Karin Bagh on the outskirts of the city. However, this is not an isolated case. For quite some time, Jammu is witnessing a distributing trend…

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