Month: December 2015

Tourism slump costs 50000 jobs in Kashmir

Editor

The hoteliers across Kashmir valley have cut down the staff due to slump in tourism industry with over 50,000 people losing jobs after the occupancy fell down to 15 percent. The drastic decline in number of tourists visiting the State has resulted in job losses even in the high-end hotels. Officials said the occupancy has declined across the different hotel ranges and is even less than 15 percent in some low-end segments. “Kashmir has witnessed near 2 lakh decrease in the tourist numbers against last year’s arrival of 11 lakh…

Read More

Mercury drops as ‘Chilai Kalaan’ sets in

Editor

Minimum temperature in Srinagar dips to -5.6°C; Gulmarg records low of -11°C The 40-day long harshest phase of Kashmir’s winter began today with the mercury plunging several degrees below the freezing point in the region. The winter’s harshest phase, which begins with the winter solstice and lasts for 40 days, is known as Chilai Kalaan in local parlance. It is feared for its freezing weather and spells of snow. The annual phase begins on December 21 when the least amount of sunlight is received in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, in…

Read More

Kashmiris being made economically weak under plan

Editor

Indian army-backed VDC member kills civilian in Rajouri The Chairperson of Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Aasiya Andrabi, has said that conspiracies are being hatched by Hindu extremist organization, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh to weaken Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir economically and culturally. Aasiya Andrabi in a statement issued in Srinagar deplored that the Kashmiris who were original residents of the territory were being treated as second class citizens. She said that they were being robbed of their resources to make them fully dependent on India. Senior Hurriyet leader, Shabbir Ahmad Shah in a…

Read More

The new Apple TV is a prelude to the end of conventional television

Editor

The expected fourth-generation of Apple TV is on the market. The device can now be booked in the online store of Apple at a price of 179 EUR for the 32 GB and 229 EUR for the 64 GB version. Of course, both models do not include the price of the HDMI cable, which costs 25 euros and the user must purchase separately. Another supplement that does not come standard on the new Apple TV is the so-called Remote Loop, a cable to hold the new control device in the…

Read More

Will get chopper tax on pilgrims withdrawn, says state BJP chief

Editor

New state BJP president Sat Sharma has vowed to get ‘jaziya’ levied on Vaishno Devi pilgrims withdrawn. In an Interview, Sat Sharma, also sitting MLA from Jammu West, said, “This is the main demand of the party. We will take up the issue of withdrawing the tax on pilgrims with the government again.” On September 2, the Finance Department issued a notification, directing Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, to impose 12.5 per cent service tax on pilgrims travelling by helicopter. This was being seen as interference in the working…

Read More

Srinagar highway widening misses another deadline

Editor

Company executing project to suffer loss of Rs 74.38 lakh per day Work on the Srinagar-Anantnag-Qazigund stretch of the national highway has missed yet another deadline, due to which RAMKY, the agency executing the project, will incur a loss of Rs 74.38 lakh per day. The Hyderabad-based firm RAMKY was entrusted widening of the national highway this side of the Jawahar Tunnel, with the work on the project starting in June 2011. The company was expected to complete the project in three years, after which the National Highways Authority of…

Read More

Beigh, Karra abstain from PDP meet

Editor

Signalling differences, two senior MPs of ruling PDP stayed away from the party’s review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed with one of them accusing the leadership of “muzzling” the voice of dissent within the party. Lok Sabha MP from prestigious Srinagar Constituency Tariq Hameed Karra and member Parliament from Baramulla seat Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, both former state finance ministers, abstained from the PDP meeting convened yesterday to review the performance of the party ministers in the state’s coalition government. “What is the point of attending a meeting…

Read More

Govt asks PDD to reduce AT&C losses by 50%

Editor

The state government has taken a strong note over the continuing Aggregate Transmission and Commercial Losses (AT&C) and has directed the Power Development Department (PDD) to bring it down to 50 percent by March 2016. Deputy Chief Minister and Power Minister, Nirmal Singh said though the AT&C losses have been brought down “but we have asked the officials that it should be further reduced to 50 percent by March 2016”. “The losses have been contained and reduced from 61 to 55 percent. We have been able to ensure stabilization in…

Read More

59 Anantnag families to give up encroached land along Jhelum

Editor

As many as 59 families encroaching upon the Jhelum banks in the Khannabal area of Anantnag district have decided to vacate the land. The families have asked for a window of two and a half months to relocate. They will file an affidavit in this regard in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The Anantnag district administration has taken initiatives to clear the Jhelum embankment in compliance with the High Court order of 2014. Soon after the floods last year, the HC had in November 2014 heard a public interest…

Read More

What Kashmir searched on Internet in 2015

Editor

If you are addicted to Internet and social media networking, you would think there is nothing except Hartals, Arrests, Stone Pelting, Encounters and off-course announcement of Curfews in Kashmir. The Onlykashmir.in managed to compile the statics what Kashmir searched through-out the year 2015 based on personalities. Although as per a study Kashmiri youth’s disillusionment with mainstream politics is a fact, with just 5 to 7 percent of them joining any political party. But if we go through the below statics the result is surprising. The search trend presented here is…

Read More