Year: 2015

Wet weather, security checks cause inconvenience to people

Editor

As the summer capital is gearing up for the high profile visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the residents here today had to face a lot of inconvenience due to unusual security checks and cold weather conditions. After a week-long respite from rain, weather conditions deteriorated during the last couple of days as the upper reaches of the Valley received fresh snowfall. This has led to wet and cold weather conditions, prompting people to put on additional layer of woolens. What added to their inconvenience were surprise checks by the…

Read More

14 CRPF troopers injured in Srinagar grenade attack

Editor

At least 14 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were injured in the blast after separatist guerrillas hurled a grenade at them here on Thursday evening, police said. The attack came barely two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to arrive here to address a rally. “Seven more injured CRPF troopers have been admitted to hospital with splinter injuries. Seven troopers were earlier admitted to hospital after militants lobed a grenade at a picket of the CRPF outside the Ikhwan Hotel in Khanyar area here,” a senior police…

Read More

Police crack down continued on separatists in Valley

Editor

Nearly 300 detained in five days, drive likely to intensify in the region Around 300 separatist leaders, activists and protesters have been detained as part of an ongoing crackdown ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state. The crackdown was launched last week, a day after separatists called for a march and shutdown against the Prime Minister’s visit on Saturday. The call for the “million march” on Saturday, when the Prime Minister would address a rally at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, was made by the hardline separatist faction of Syed…

Read More

BJP issues show cause notice to Hari Om for open letter to PM

Editor

Within hours of the BJP ideologue Prof Hari Om writing an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi against policies of the coalition government, the party issued him a show cause notice, seeking his explanation within seven days. Prof Hari Om, who was once considered as the only ideologue of the saffron party, today sought to draw the attention of the Prime Minister towards “anti-Jammu and divisive agenda being propagated by the PDP-BJP government in the state”. Irked over repeated statements issued by Prof Hari Om, the BJP this afternoon…

Read More

Banners, Placards banned inside PM rally venue

Editor

To ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Srinagar takes place without any trouble, security agencies have decided not to allow any banner, placard or poster inside the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, the venue of the Prime Minister’s public rally, sources said. The step, the sources said, had been taken so that no miscreant would carry an anti-rally flag inside the venue in the garb of pro-Modi banners and placards. With hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani calling for a “million march” on the day of the rally, the security agencies…

Read More

Srinagar turned into a fortress ahead of PM Modi’s Kashmir visit

Editor

A security blanket has been thrown around summer capital Srinagar two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the state. Barricades have been erected at all the entry and exit points of the city with police and paramilitary personnel manning them, said a witness. Forces in riot gear have been deployed across the city to thwart any attempts by militants to disrupt the rally scheduled on November 7. Pedestrians and motorists are being frisked at multiple locations in the city to ensure that explosives or arms are not…

Read More

Customized BMW, Bullet-Proof Cars Reach Kashmir for PM’s Visit

Editor

Bullet-proof luxury cars including a customized BMW have reached Jammu on Thursday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Jammu and Kashmir visit on Saturday. Several made-to-order sedans and critical care ambulances also arrived in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, sources in the intelligence department told news agency IANS. “The cars came on train and will be used for the VVIP visit,” a source said. The Prime Minister will address a large audience at the the Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium in Srinagar and hold another public meeting at Baglihar in…

Read More

Kashmir bat industry in slump: Low demand hits stakeholders

Editor

The cricket bat manufacturers in this town are a worrying lot. Reason: The demand for their product, according to the manufacturers has sharply declined. The manufacturers said they were facing a host of problems due mainly to government “indifference” towards this huge industry. “And now the sharp decline in the demand has worried us,” they added. The bat makers said they were awaiting industrial cluster announced by the government sometime back that they expected would help them work in an organized manner and make some good earnings. “But this has…

Read More

PSC collects Rs 4 cr from job aspirants in 2 years, RTI reveals

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, the highest recruitment body for government jobs in the State, has collected more than rupees four crore from aspirants who have applied for different posts advertised in last less than two years, a reply under RTI Act has revealed. The Public Information Officer of PSC, in reply to a query from RTI activist, Raman Sharma, has revealed that in its account at Amirakadal branch of J&K Bank, the commission has collected rupees 3,48,92,832 against sale of application forms for different posts from 01/01/2014…

Read More

Choked funds, choked water bodies

Editor

Without dredging, flood threat looms large as silt chokes rivers, flood channels After the calamitous flood of September 2014, the rivers and flood channels of Kashmir were choked by silt. In the official analyses that followed, diverse authorities recommended additional flood channels in order to avoid a recurrence of the devastating floods. All these plans remain confined to files. The Government of India (GoI) has not provided funds required for this urgent project, pushing Kashmir toward dangers. “Our department had proposed the development of a new flood channel in Kashmir…

Read More