Year: 2015

LAWDA floats over troubled waters

Editor

Illegal constructions go unabated Water channel filled with soil in Dal, officials in slumber In brazen violation of State High Court orders, massive encroachment is taking place in famed Dal Lake with ‘influential’ people extending encroachments in connivance with the officials of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA). Ironically a water channel in the interiors of the Dal stretching from Chowdhary Bagh to Daga Mohalla has been filled up with soil and structures have been started coming up there. According to local news gathering agency CNS, the officials from…

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Cop seen in pictures sitting on woman SPO’s lap, suspended

Editor

Pictures of a white-bearded policeman purportedly sitting in the lap of a woman Special Police Officer (SPO) in a police station in Rajouri district has gone viral on social media, prompting authorities to suspend him. Two pictures were posted on Facebook and Whatsapp in which Head Constable Zakir Hussain was seen sitting in the lap of a woman SPO who was seated on a chair in Budhal Police Station. “The incident took place in August this year. Soon after the pictures came to our notice, we have suspended the Head…

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1975 Indira-Sheikh Accord an important event: Mufti

Editor

‘It revived democratic process and created space for politicians of different shades including me’ • Relationship with Pak has a direct bearing on J&K • We favour dialogue with all shades of opinion; Sajad Gani Lone is one example • People-to-people contact and cross-LoC trade will help address the trust deficit • It is my dream to make J&K world’s no. 1 tourist destination • Threat posed by fringe elements to India’s diversity worrisome • Peaceful conduct of Amarnath Yatra proves secular credentials of people Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed…

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Schools selling books, uniforms to be de-registered

Editor

In a major reprieve to students and parents across the Valley who are forced to buy books and uniforms within schools, the government has directed all the deputy commissioners to form squads to check the arbitrary whims of the schools authorities. The schools resorting to such unlawful methods will be deregistered by the government. Following complaints by people that private schools in the region are overcharging on purchase of text books and are also rejecting old books, Director School Education Kashmir, Shah Faesal, has written to all the Deputy Commissioners…

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BJP claims 3 lakh members in Kashmir; 45,000 from Bandipora alone

Editor

Party elects its first ever constituency president in Valley The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday after electing its first ever constituency president in Kashmir claimed to have three lakh members in the Valley. The party state president Askok Koul announced the names of president and representative of Sonwar constituency here. A function was organized by BJP regarding its Organizational Elections here in a hotel. BJP State High Command observed the election process which started at 11 am. BJP had invited 80 polling booth presidents on the occasion and a number…

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Gold Flake abuses name Kashmir to promote tobacco use

Editor

Gold Flake, an ITC cigarette brand, is using pictures of Kashmir’s locales and Shikaras in famed Dal Lake on its cigarette packets to boost sales. The move has fumed stakeholders here who seek action against the company. The new packing of Gold Flake is being marketed with theme “My Kashmir My Paradise” showing Shikara in Dal lake and pictures of Tulip garden on the outer covering. The move by the company has left stakeholders here fuming who demand legal action against the makers of the cigarette brand for abusing Kashmir…

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Employees hail 7th pay panel’s proposals

Editor

Government staff in Kashmir have welcomed the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations of an overall increase of 23 per cent in the salaries of Central and state government employees. They said it would improve the overall economic condition of people. Abdul Qayoom Wani, Chairman of the Employees’ Joint Action Committee (EJAC), while welcoming the panel’s recommendations, said the hike was the right of employees for which they had been waiting for the last 10 years. “This is a welcome step and it is the right of employees who have been waiting…

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800 kanals in Pampore encroached upon

Editor

An illegal residential colony is coming up on state and saffron land in the Pampore area of Pulwama district. Locals alleged that the administration was hand in glove with the land mafia. Pampore residents said soil excavation was rampant in the saffron fields located in the periphery of the town. They alleged that the district administration was allowing vandalising of precious saffron land. They claimed that the land mafia was facilitating construction of residential houses on a huge chunk of state and saffron land. Any kind of construction on either…

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Rs 21,000 cr in Ladakh’s kitty from PM’s package

Editor

Emphasis to be on better road connectivity, power supply in arid region The Ladakh region has been allocated nearly Rs 21,000 crore for various projects under the Prime Minister’s Rs 80,000-crore package for the state. The prime focus will be on an all-weather road to the region which generally remains cut off from the rest of the country for almost six months due to closure of the 434-km-long Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway and the 474-km-long Manali-Leh highway in harsh winters. The power sector is another key area that will be given a…

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Jammu fails to use power-saving LEDs to light up streets, roads

Editor

At a time when cities across India have launched a campaign to replace the existing traditional streetlights with light emitting diodes (LEDs) to save electricity, civic bodies in Jammu are yet to wake up and adopt the latest technology. Replacing conventional streetlights with LEDs could result in saving of thousands of electricity units every year in the power-starved state where long-duration power cuts are a norm during both winter and summer months. The majority of the street and high-mast lights installed across the city use conventional bulbs which consume more…

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