Year: 2015

Protests hit Kashmir after India says it killed top rebel

Editor

A top rebel leader in Kashmir was killed in a gunbattle with Indian forces Thursday, triggering street protests in the disputed Himalayan region, police said. Abu Qasim was a Pakistani national and operations chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, which India blames for several attacks across the country, including the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people, said police Director-General K. Rajendra Kumar. There was no independent confirmation or comments from militants fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir. But as the news spread, hundreds of people tried to march to…

Read More

Finally, PDC-owned Baglihar-II to light up JK

Editor

J&K is set to get reprieve from power woes with the inauguration of 450 MW stage-II of Baglihar hydropower project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month. The project would not only give a fillip to State’s energy sector but also “cement its position” in the energy market, officials said. The Prime Minister would inaugurate the project on November 7 which would be followed by signing of MoU between J&K’s Power Development Corporation (PDC) and Rural Electrification Corporation’s Central Institute for Rural Electrification for setting up of an institute in…

Read More

Durbar Move offices in Srinagar packing up for Jammu

Editor

Long queues of visitors from across Kashmir outside the Civil Secretariat, hustle and bustle on the premises and dust rising from rooms with employees engaged in packing files marked the day today. This is ahead of the biannual move of the Civil Secretariat and other Durbar Move offices which are scheduled to close this weekend in the summer capital for reopening in the winter capital. “The process of packing old files and record started early this week while those of urgent nature are still being moved,” said officials. With only…

Read More

Traders want Mufti to look into their demands

Editor

The Karan Nagar Traders’ Federation (KNTF) today alleged that the government had neglected them while seeking Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s intervention for the resolution of their demands. “Despite the fact that Karan Nagar is a commercial hub, we have been neglected by the government. Though we have sent several reminders, the government has not addressed our genuine grievances,” said Karan Nagar Traders’ Federation president Aijaz Shahdar. He said most of the streetlights in the area were defunct that was affecting businesses in the evening hours. He said electric wires…

Read More

Constitution allows food of choice, says Mehbooba

Editor

Says miscreants must be given exemplary punishment Advocating exemplary punishment to miscreants responsible for taking the law into their own hands, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has said the Indian Constitution allows a person to eat whatever he wants without hurting the sentiments of others. “Those who create disturbance are in a minority and the majority are in favour of maintaining communal harmony and secular fabric of the country,” Mehbooba said. Talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party function, Mehbooba said the Indian Constitution guaranteed people the right to…

Read More

Patients rue poor infection control measures in hospitals

Editor

With most hospitals, mainly government ones, unable to maintain hygienic standards and take proper infection control measures, people, mostly from rural Kashmir, visiting them are susceptible to diseases. The president of the Doctors’ Association, Kashmir, said hospitals lacked proper facilities to prevent infections. “We don’t have infection control measures at public hospitals. There are no soaps in washrooms. Not to talk of patients, even there is no infrastructure for doctors leading to the spread of infections in hospitals. Even in the ICU and emergency wards there are all kinds of…

Read More

BJP mobilising supporters in Kashmir for PM’s rally

Editor

Ram Madhav to arrive in Srinagar on Oct 31 to oversee preparations To make its presence felt in the Kashmir valley, the BJP has decided to mobilise a large number of party supporters for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in Srinagar on November 7. The party has already begun the exercise to ensure the participation of BJP workers from the Valley in the rally. Highly placed sources in the BJP said national general secretary of the party Ram Madhav, who was instrumental in the formation of the coalition government, is…

Read More

Airlines ignore Kashmir for Diwali offer

Editor

SpiceJet, Indigo slash base rate to Rs 749 on major tourist destinations Kashmir, one of the most beautiful tourist destinations in India, seem to have been at receiving end due to the discrimination shown by the airlines while announcing massive discounts on air fare during festive seasons. SpiceJet which has announced a Diwali offer on Tuesday has slashed base air fare as low as Rs 749 on major sectors and to tourist destinations. However, it has ignored Srinagar in its latest Diwali offer as no ticket is on offer on…

Read More

Protest in Betingo against Farooq Abdullah’s visit

Editor

At least four female protesters and a lady constable was injured when the protests erupt against the emergence of National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah in Betingo hamlet of South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday. Eyewitnesses told CNS that Farooq Abdullah arrived in Betingo to express sympathy with the bereaved family of Zahid Rasool Bhat who lost his life after Hindu mobs attacked a Kashmiri truck on 9 October this month at Shivnagar Udhampur. “As Farooq Abdullah emerged in the hamlet scores of females took to streets and staged a…

Read More

Kashmiri journalist faces life threat in New Delhi

Editor

Noted Kashmiri journalist Bilal Bhat has been threatened by the house owner and a gangster to leave Delhi or face the consequences. Bilal Bhat has narrated his ordeal in an email. The text of his email is as: Jamia Nagar Okhla , New Delhi 110025 28 October, 2015 Subject: I am getting life threats and conspiracies are hatched against me because I am a Kashmiri. I am a Delhi based Kashmiri journalist and I want to bring to your notice how we are suffering in different Indian states. It’s no…

Read More