Year: 2015

Srinagar-Leh highway closed, 400 vehicles stranded

Editor

The 434-km Srinagar-Leh highway—connecting Ladakh region with Kashmir Valley—was closed for traffic on Thursday evening after fresh snowfall in Zojilla area, officials said. Riyaz Ahmad, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Ganderbal told that the decision to re-open the highway will be taken after green signal from the Border Roads Organization and Vijayak, responsible for clearing the thoroughfare. “The BRO cleared the road up to Zero Point from Sonamarg side but fresh snow hampered further clearance,” he said. The DSP said 400 vehicles from Drass and Sonamarg side are stranded on…

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Schools upto class 8 to close on Dec 7; 9th class onward from Dec 21

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Winter vacations from Dec 7 The government Thursday announced winter vacations for educational institutions of Kashmir and Jammu. According Education Minister, Naeem Akhtar, the winter vacations of the government and private recognized schools of Kashmir division and winter zone of Jammu division would begin from December 7 upto middle standard. “The winter vacations for the High and Higher Secondary schools would start from December 21, coinciding with the beginning of Chillai Kalan, the harshest phase of winters in Kashmir. Akhtar said the educational institutions would reopen on March 1, 2016.

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Tragedy for Tangdhar family: 2 sons killed in nine months

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For the Sheikh family of Tangdhar in frontier Kupwara district, the death of Tanweer Ahmed Sheikh, 26, is the second tragedy in the past nine months. Tanweer was killed on Wednesday when three heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammad militants tried to storm an Army base close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar. His younger brother Saddam (20) was killed after being buried in a snow avalanche in March this year. Tanweer worked with a Military Engineering Service contractor in the same camp which was attacked by the three militants. On…

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Team Jammu to hold anti-drug rally on November 28

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With drug menace increasing in the winter capital, the Team Jammu will organise a rally against drug abuse in the city on November 28. The Team Jammu is an organisation of young professionals, social activists, sportspersons, doctors, journalists, lawyers, educationists and intellectuals, which has taken the initiative to get the Jammu rid of the menace. To create awareness among youth against drug abuse, the Team Jammu is going to hold a massive anti-drug rally on November 28 in which youth from all corners of Jammu will participate to contribute in…

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Flights resume from Srinagar after 3 days

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After three days of hiatus, air traffic resumed from the Srinagar airport today, with stranded passengers, mostly tourists, heaving a sigh of relief. With improved visibility and foggy conditions easing out, almost all flights, barring two which were scheduled to operate from the Srinagar international airport, were able to either take off or land. “The flight operations resumed from the Srinagar airport today as the visibility improved considerably,” said RK Shinde, Director of the Airport Authority of India in Srinagar. He said almost all airlines which had operations at the…

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Foundation laid twice by 2 CMs, but work on multi-storey parking yet to start

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The PDP-BJP government has once again allegedly fooled the residents of Jammu as despite laying foundation stone twice by the two Chief Ministers, a multi-storey parking is yet to start at the busy General Bus Stand in the city. The Rs 201-crore project for the “modernisation of the General Bus Stand-cum-multi-level car parking-cum-commercial complex” was proposed in 2010-11. The foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in September 2 last year. But the work never started and once again the city witnessed a same impressive function…

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Make your own ration cards: Dept to consumers

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Instead of providing new ration cards to consumers, the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Department in Kashmir has asked them to buy a notebook where the record of monthly ration will be noted. People said instead of providing new ration cards, the department had asked them to buy a notebook with photograph pasted on it which would be considered as a ration card and on which the record of ration and other items provided would be recorded. “We have done as told by the department. They have said they…

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Srinagar downtown living in protests and choking pepper gas

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The signs of daily life emerge early in Srinagar’s old city, the ground zero of frequent and often violent protests, as shopkeepers assemble the merchandise and ‘harrisa’ shops serve the exquisite mutton delicacy soon after the dawn’s first light. On Monday, as fog enveloped much of the Kashmir region, it was still a pleasant morning in old city neighbourhoods as residents, mostly young men, lined up inside famed eateries for harrisa, served hot and preferred on wintry mornings. A series of bridges over the Jhelum mark a boundary and divide…

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Smog engulfs Kashmir valley, poses threat to glaciers

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The thick blanket of smog engulfing the Kashmir valley for the past three days has once again brought to focus the deadly mix of environmental conditions and pollution casting its spell on the fragile Himalayan region. Smog led to suspension of air traffic with people in idyllic region surprised by weather conditions which has affected every section of society. Though foggy conditions are usual phenomena during extreme winter months, it is often witnessed between mid-December and January and current haze is being seen by weather scientists due to excessive burning…

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‘Tainted’ members form part of JU’s sexual harassment panel

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With blatant sexual harassment scarring faculty members, research scholars and students, the role of Jammu University — the country’s first ISO certified institute of research and higher learning — in conducting probe and punish culprits in sexual harassment cases has come under scanner. Contrary to the much-talked about claims of the university that it had “policies and procedures to provide an environment that is free from sexual harassment and sexual assault”, the Committee Against Sexual Harassment (CASH), constituted by the varsity to conduct inquiry and recommend action against the culprits,…

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