Year: 2015

CM orders realignment of 388 houseboats in Dal Lake

Editor

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today ordered the Lakes & Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) to immediately undertake realignment of houseboats at Doldum to prevent the untreated sewage from entering the Dal Lake here. He also directed LAWDA to develop a model housing colony with all basic amenities at Rakh-e-Arth so that Dal Lake dwellers could be shifted there without any further delay. He was reviewing the progress achieved under the National Lake Conservation and Management Programme (NLCP), a Rs 298.78-crore project sanctioned by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)…

Read More

Next round of protests will be decisive, say Valley traders

Editor

A day after the shutdown called by them threw normal life out of gear, flood-affected traders in the Valley are bracing for the next round of protests. They said the government could not afford to continue ignoring victims of last year’s devastating floods and they would soon come up with a decisive protest calendar. “The government has seen our power even though we are non-political. It cannot afford to take us for granted,” said Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) chairman Showkat Chowdhary. “People from different walks of life gave their verdict…

Read More

A year after floods: Victims suffer homelessness, depression

Editor

Nayeema, 25, had been married for two years when the devastating flood ravaged through the region in September last year and led to the collapse of her newly bought house in the city’s Raj Bagh locality. The flood washed away the lifetime savings of her family. “On September 6, the flood water entered our area. My husband and I were rescued in a boat on September 7. For the next four weeks, we shuttled between various relatives till the water started receding at Rajbagh,” Nayeema said. “We were happy that…

Read More

PDP-BJP trying to break religious bonding of J&K: NC

Editor

The opposition National Conference (NC) on Tuesday accused the ruling PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir of trying to break the religious and regional bonding in the state. “The PDP-BJP government is trying to break the religious and regional bonding in Jammu and Kashmir. We won’t allow the divisive agenda to submerge peoples’ yearning for peace, togetherness, cohesiveness and single entity of the State”, the party’s Provincial President Devender Singh Rana said. Rana cautioned the people against machinations of divisive elements who were hell-bent on to create gap between various…

Read More

Mark new beginning on Kashmir: Mehbooba to PM

Editor

Concerned over border trouble, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revive peace initiatives and “mark a new beginning” with Pakistan as well as inside Jammu and Kashmir while seeking a financial package for the state’s economic rejuvenation. Mehbooba, whose party is running a coalition government along with BJP, said Modi should devise a “grand strategy” for the state where the problems of economic deprivation, development-deficit and unemployment have become?complex, especially in the aftermath of the devastating floods of last year. “Time has come to revive…

Read More

Two SPOs flee with weapons from Doda

Editor

A massive manhunt was launched on Tuesday to trace two former militants-turned-special police officers (SPOs) who deserted duties and fled with their service weapons in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district. According to police, the two former Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants had been engaged as SPOs after they surrendered. On Tuesday, they deserted duties and fled with their service weapons. “An SPO identified as Riaz Ahmed, son of Abdul Rashid resident of Marmat (Doda) former LeT militant, who had surrendered in 1999, deserted duties and fled with one AK-47 rifle and three…

Read More

FinMin firm on service tax on air travel to Vaishno Devi shrine

Editor

Amid the raging controversy over the imposition of service tax on Vaishno Devi pilgrims travelling to the cave shrine in the Trikuta Hills by helicopter, the state finance ministry today made it clear that the tax would not be withdrawn as “it (tax) has been levied on all commercial chopper and cable car services operating in J&K”. The finance ministry has taken the decision despite an assurance given by the BJP — the alliance partner in the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led government — that the notification would be rolled back. Jammu…

Read More

J&K has a relationship crisis with Delhi, says minister

Editor

Kashmir’s association with New Delhi is a relationship of crisis, admits Naeem Akhter, Minister of Education and Cabinet Spokesman of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). In a candid interview, Akhter said that the (estranged) relationship has impacted Kashmir adversely besides holding the entire region hostage. “The main priorities of this alliance (BJP-PDP) has been to link Srinagar with Delhi. It also entails connecting Kashmir with the Jammu province,” he added. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) formed the government in J&K with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in February 2015 after last…

Read More

Talks with India only if Kashmir on table: Sartaj Aziz

Editor

National security advisor Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday said Pakistan will hold talks with India only if the Kashmir issue is on the agenda. He said the entire world has supported Islamabad’s stance that the two countries need to hold dialogue on all the outstanding issues including Kashmir, Radio Pakistan reported. Aziz rejected Indian allegations about the presence of wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan. He said a befitting reply would be given. The advisor said that a meeting between Pakistan Rangers’ chief and commander of Indian Border Security Force (BSF)…

Read More

Arun Kumar may opt for premature retirement post appointing B R Sharma as Chief Secretary

Editor

The government decision to appoint B R Sharma as Chief Secretary of J&K has drawn criticism from officers senior to him with Financial Commissioner Revenue Arun Kumar, reportedly deciding to apply for premature retirement. Sharma has been appointed to the top administrative post, superseding four senior officers, Arun Kumar and his wife Sonali Kumar, both 1979 batch IAS officers, A K Angurana (1980 batch) and Khursheed Ahmad Ganai (1982 batch). Sources said Arun Kumar has made his displeasure known to the government over the appointment and is submitting papers for…

Read More