Year: 2015

Rain, Snowfall in Kashmir leads to sharp drop in temperature

Editor

Incessant rain in the plains and snow in the hills on Sunday saw Kashmiris shivering as the maximum temperatures dropped by eight to 10 degrees below normal here. The traditional Kashmiri ‘pheran’ was worn by locals in the countryside today. The elderly locals were seen holding the earthen fire pots woven in wicker baskets called ‘kangri’ under their pherans. “It is like ‘Chillai Kalan’. I am wearing two jerseys under the pheran and still feeling cold,” said 75-year-old Ghulam Nabi of Ganderbal district. ‘Chillai Kalan’ is the 40-day period of…

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Normalcy back in Srinagar after three tense days

Editor

Curfew-like restrictions were in place in the city following protests over death of a truck conductor Life returned to normal in Srinagar today after three days of protests amid “curfew-like restrictions”. Despite it being Sunday, shops and other business establishments were open in most of the markets in the city, apparently to make up for the lost business days. Traffic also plied normally, though there was no rush of the Sunday shoppers as the mood appeared to have been dampened by the severe cold and the showers lashing the region…

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Kashmir: Secularism as Suicide

Editor

Mehmood ur Rashid When Nehru was on his way to discover India as a Hindu imperial construct, Gandhi was experimenting with his Ram Rajya, Iqbal was imagining the future of Muslim civilization in the North-West of the undivided India, Jinnah was advocating the Muslim case, who whispered into the ears of Sheikh M Abdullah to bite into this forbidden fruit, called ‘secularism’. That was the moment Kashmir lost its politics, and Kashmiris lost the paradise. Mufti M Sayeed and his PDP is the child of that mishap, and how faithfully…

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Shopian, Pulwama mourn death of Hizb militants

Editor

Clashes in Pulwama against ‘manhandling’ of militant’s family South Kashmir’s Shopian and Pulwama districts observed a complete shutdown on Friday to protest the killing of two Hizb militants in a gunfight at Manzgam village of Shopian district. Thousands of mourners participated in the funeral processions of Irshad Ahmad Sheikh of Maldeera Shopian and Adil Khanday of Barbugh Imam sahib. They were laid to rest amid pro-Kashmir and anti-India slogans in their native graveyards. All the shops and business establishments remained closed in Pulwama and Shopian while transport remained off the…

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Geelani calls for shutdown on Oct 27

Editor

Terming the October 27, as ‘day of mourning’ for the Kashmiris, the Hurriyat Conference (G) Syed Ali Geelani today called for complete shutdown on that day.  “October 27, 1947 is day when armed forces landed in Kashmir against the wishes of people. The people of the Jammu & Kashmir were neither asked for their views about that forced control on that day and nor are their wishes and aspirations being respected today,” Geelani said in a statement. “The so-called accession of Maharaja Hari Singh with India is controversial, unreliable and…

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Restrictions in old Srinagar, protests in uptown areas

Editor

Police put in place stringent restrictions on movement of people in Old Srinagar on Friday, even as protests were held in several uptown areas of the city, against the killing of Zahid Rasool Bhat of Batengoo village of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district by fanatics in Udhampur on October 9. The call for protests was given by Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani. Though the Srinagar district administration had announced that areas falling under five police stations of old Srinagar shall remain under restrictions, curbs were put in place in…

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Meteorological dept warns of heavy rain across state

Editor

The weather department on Friday issued a forecast of moderate to heavy rain across J&K and snow over mountains forfour days from Saturday. It warned that the rain may trigger landslides and disrupt surface and air traffic. The downpour will be caused by a stormy western disturbance which is approaching the region, and is likely to cause an impact from Saturday afternoon, says a warning bulletin issued by the state Meteorological Department. The stormy weather will continue to have an impact over the state for four days from Saturday afternoon…

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Slain Hizb militants were aides of Burhan, say police

Editor

The police have said that the Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed in Thursday’s encounter in Shopian were close associates of the outfit’s tech-savvy commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani. The slain duo has appeared with Wani in a couple of videos, released by the outfit on the social media. Hizb militants, Adil Khanday, a resident of the Imam Sahib area in Shopian, and Irshad Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Maldair village in Shopian, were killed in a brief gunfight with security forces in the Mazimpora area of Shopian district on Thursday. Superintendent of…

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Modi to lay foundation stone of Udhampur-Banihal road project

Editor

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to visit the state on November 7, is likely to lay the foundation stone for the four-laning of the highway between Udhampur and Banihal. Work on Chenani-Nashri and Banihal-Qazigund tunnels is scheduled to complete next year, while the four-laning of Qazigund-Srinagar stretch of the national highway is expected to complete soon. Four-laning of Jammu-Udhampur stretch has been already completed and the Prime Minister may lay the foundation stone for the Udhampur-Chenani and Nashri-Banihal stretches, which are projected to be completed in the next…

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Modi may invite separatists for talks during JK Visit : Buzz in PDP circles

Editor

The ruling circles in Kashmir are abuzz with speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may offer talks to separatists during his forthcoming visit to the Valley, his first after the PDP-BJP government took over in March this year. The first indication for the likely talks with separatists was given by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during a party meeting on Wednesday. “Mufti said the PM’s public rally would be an important event like that of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and he was hopeful that the PM’s upcoming visit would open a…

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