Year: 2015

Tariq Karra asks PDP to wake up

Editor

Bihar poll results PDP MP Tariq Hameed Karra, a known critic of PDP-BJP alliance in J&K, today said that the results of Bihar Assembly elections were a wake-up call to his party (PDP) as the door has been closed “on communal forces”. “Knock knock PDP. Still time to wake up. Door closed on communal forces. Window of opportunity opened for secular forces. Knock knock PDP,” Karra, who represents the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, said in a series of tweets following the thumping win of Grand Alliance in Bihar polls. The…

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Pandits puzzled by Centre’s silence on composite township

Editor

Kashmiri Pandits living in the camp township at Jagti, Muthi, Purkhoo and Mishriwala here are “puzzled” by the attitude of the Central government after Prime Minister Narendra Modi failed to make any mention about the proposed composite township for the displaced community in the Valley during his November 7 speech in Srinagar. Since the formation of the BJP-led government at the Centre, 3.50 lakh Pandits, who left Kashmir in 1990 after the eruption of militancy, were hopeful of resettlement as the Union Government had earlier announced a composite township for…

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Rajiv-Farooq accord responsible for JK turmoil: BJP

Editor

‘NC leaders used to beg before Delhi for filling their coffers’     Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday accused National Conference Patron Dr Farooq Abdullah and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi of pushing Kashmiri youth to the edge and forcing them to take up the arms.  In a statement issued here, the BJP spokesman Khalid Jehangir said, “Those who are projecting themselves as Messiahs of Kashmiris are responsible for the bloodshed and the turmoil which Jammu and Kashmir witnessed during the past 25-years.” Jehangir said, “Infamous Farooq-Rajiv accord in late…

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Valley traders reject PM Modi’s package

Editor

Say first rehabilitate flood-affected businessmen The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) today ‘rejected’ the Rs 80,000 crore package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday. The Valley businessmen said the Centre should first rehabilitate flood-hit businessmen and that five-year plans would not provide immediate relief to them. “We have rejected the package…. Instead of an immediate relief package, the Prime Minister has made allocation of funds to the tune of Rs 80,000 crore to be spent over a period of five years. The Rs 44,000 crore financial…

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Violent protests continue in Kashmir

Editor

As violent street protests showed no signs of a let-up in parts of the Valley for the fourth consecutive day on Monday, the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) reiterated its stand that there was a need to “bring all stakeholders on board to restore the path of peace and development in J&K.” Protesters blocked roads and engaged security forces in stone-throwing battles in parts of the old city, including Nowhatta, Gowjwara, Rajouri Kadal, Bohri Kadal and Hawal, as the three-day security clampdown was lifted in the morning. Several areas under…

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Govt starts functioning from winter capital

Editor

With the reopening of the Durbar Move offices, the state government today started functioning from the winter capital of the state, Jammu. It would function from the city for the next six months. On the first day, the hustle and bustle was recorded in all the government offices, particularly civil secretariat, which are the part of biannual Durbar Move — a 143-year-old practice of shifting of government offices. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed after inspecting the ceremonial parade and receiving the Guard of Honour interacted with his Cabinet ministers and…

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Kashmir Skier selected for international event

Editor

Usman has participated in several state and national alpine ski championships A skier from Kashmir, Farukh Usman, has been selected to represent India in the International Ski Federation (FIS) Race to be held in Turkey next month. “The Winter Games Federation of India has selected a skier, Farukh Usman, of Winter Games Association of J&K to represent the country in FIS Race to be held in Turkey in December this year,” a PIB release said here. Usman has participated in several state and national alpine ski championships. Last year he bagged a…

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1947: First Blood

Editor

Within 24 hours after Kashmir acceded to India in 1947, the Srinagar airport was not only the epicentre of the first war that India and Pakistan fought over the Vale but a stage for Kashmir’s first cordon and a massacre. Bilal Handoo traces the survivors of Kashmir first post-partition massacre to tell the story of dusky Gogo hamlet, that was obliterated from history He remembers everything as if that dark horror shook him only yesterday… Dusk had barely taken over when soldiers knocked at their doors, asking them to come…

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Slain HMT Youth’s Grandmother Passes Away In Shock

Editor

A day after HMT youth was killed in forces action, his maternal grandmother, unable to bear the shock of his separation, passed away Sunday evening in a local hospital. Gowhar Nazir, an engineering student was shot dead by paramilitary forces as per his parents when he stepped outside on Saturday evening. “We told her (Gowhar’s maternal grandmother) upon her enquiry that Gowhar was injured but when she came to visit us, she was shocked to see the mourners and fainted,” a close relative told over phone. She was rushed to…

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Hit by pellets, 2 Pattan youth battle to save vision

Editor

PDP prez asks police not to use pellet guns on protesters Two students Tanveer Ahmad Dar and Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, both hailing from Palhalan, Pattan, were hit by pellets and are now battling to save vision at SMHS hospital, here. 19-year-old Tanveer Ahmad Dar son of Abdul Majeed Dar of Tantraypur, Palhalan, Pattan was hit by pellets during forces action in Palhalan area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district on November 6. He is admitted in Ophthalmology Department of SMHS Hospital and his condition continues to be critical with severe eye…

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