Year: 2015

PDP-BJP alliance great chance to change J-K’s destiny: Mufti

Editor

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Wednesday justified the PDP-BJP alliance, describing it as a great opportunity that has come his way to change the destiny of the people of the state. He promised to lay a strong base for building a new J&K, where peace and prosperity go hand in hand. “I have no personal agenda and don’t enter into any deals. History has given me an opportunity to change the course of the state and I have taken up this challenge with both hands,” he stated. The Chief…

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Divide state and tackle one community region of Kashmir: Hari Om tells Modi

Editor

Terming PDP, NC, Congress and CPI-M as chips of the same anti-Jammu and anti-India block, senior ‘BJP leader’ and former political advisor to J&K BJP, president Prof Hari Om, Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to divide the state to end alienation in Jammu province and tackle the restive, radicalised and one-community region of Kashmir. Segregation of Jammu province from Kashmir Valley is the need of the nation and exigency of the time, he said. He added that the dangerous developments which unfolded in Kashmir after October 3 in and…

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Govt extends ‘Ladli Beti’ scheme to Srinagar

Editor

J&K Government has extended ‘Ladli Beti’, an incentive scheme for the girl child, to Srinagar district. The scheme launched initially in six districts of the state earlier this month is aimed to reverse the declining child sex ratio that had plunged below the national average of 943. In the 2011 census, the sex ratio slipped in J&K to 889 females per 1,000 males from 901 in 2001. A senior official of the Social Welfare Department said the government had extended the scheme to Srinagar district where the sex ratio, as…

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Kanger: Symbol of our heritage

Editor

Dr Qayum Hamid Changal I was born and brought up in Kashmir. I have seen, heard and felt a lot of it. Magnificently crafted, it is an embodiment of Kashmiri art and culture. A fire pot with hot embers, it’s kept at ease beneath the traditional clothing Pheran to keep cold away. We call it Kanger, the name itself manifesting the chain of emotions attached to it. About six inches in diameter, it reaches a temperature of about 70 degree celsius, thus is a dominant provision during chilling winters to…

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US public assertion on terrorism, Kashmir dispute irks India

Editor

Indian envoy seeks briefing on outcome of Nawaz’s visit to US India has lodged protest with the United States against its public assertion with regard to terrorism that has been given bilateral trajectory between India and Pakistan and Kashmir has been termed as ‘dispute’ in the wake of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with President Obama on Friday last in White House. The Indian reservations have been reflected in its wide media observations. Highly placed diplomatic sources in Washington told The News Tuesday that India was awaiting the response of…

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‘Rigidity’ of Army adds to traffic chaos outside school on BC Road

Editor

Daily traffic snarls leading to total chaos outside Saint Mary’s Presentation Convent School on the BC Road continue to take a toll on commuters and traffic policemen alike, courtesy Tiger Division of the Army, which allegedly has not been allowing the school management to use the school land for the purpose of dropping and picking up schoolchildren. “The Army doesn’t allow parents of our children and drivers of privately hired school vehicles to use the strip with our compound wall for the purpose of dropping and then picking up the…

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File status report on flood relief package: HC to Centre

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court today gave one more week to the Union Government to file the status report on the relief package meant for the September 2014 flood victims. During the resumed hearing of a public interest litigation on the September 2014 floods, the division bench of Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Hasnain Masoodi said the Central government should file the status report on the relief package within one week or else the Union Finance Secretary should be present in person on November 3, the next…

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Chilly weather in Kashmir ahead of winter

Editor

People woke up here to a chilly Wednesday morning as the mercury dipped to below freezing point in most parts of Jammu and Kashmir. The lowest temperature of minus 6.1 degrees Celsius was recorded in Leh town of Ladakh region. “The overnight minimum temperature in Srinagar was 1.5 degrees Celsius, that is five degrees below normal,” an official of the local weather office told IANS. The official, however, said the weather would remain dry during the next 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir. “There will be clear skies today (Wednesday)…

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IRCTC charts out ‘Mesmerizing Kashmir’ package

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The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has drawn up an itinerary for travellers based in Mumbai to visit landmarks of Jammu & Kashmir, including the Vaishnodevi shrine and Gulmarg. The 10-night/11-day ‘Mesmerizing Kashmir’ package is scheduled for November 14, and the tariff starts from INR 22,839 onwards, stated a release. The tour would start from Bandra station and will take patrons to Jammu, Katra, Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam, covering most of the tourist places in the state. The package tariff is INR 34,608/- per person on a…

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Sgr-Leh highway and Mughal road reopen for traffic

Editor

Traffic on the 434-km-long highway, connecting the Ladakh region with the Kashmir valley resumed on Tuesday after remaining suspended due to snowfall for three days. The Srinagar-Jammu highway and historic Mughal road, linking the Shopian in south Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region were also through for both way traffic. According to traffic police sources traffic on Srinagar-Leh highway was allowed last evening. They said that vehicles stranded at Drass, the second coldest place in the world after Siberia and Meenmarg for the past three days were allowed…

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