Month: January 2016

Valley remains in grip of cold, Leh coldest at minus 13.0 degrees Celsius

Editor

Cold wave conditions remained unabated as the night temperature across Kashmir division of Jammu and Kashmir continued to stay below the freezing point with weatherman forecasting the dry spell to continue this week as well. Leh in frontier Ladakh region, 434 kms from here, continued to be the coldest recorded place in the state with minus 13.0 degrees Celsius – marking an improvement of over one degree compared to previous night’s minus 14.4, a spokesperson of MeT here said. Neighbouring Kargil town was the second coldest recorded place with a low of minus…

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Kashmir heli-skiing season to take off today

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The seventh season of Kashmir Heli-Skiing would start at ski resort of Gulmarg, from January 19 ( Tuesday). Within seven years of its launch, Heli-Skiing has made Kashmir as one of the preferred destination for skiers across the world. Launched in 2010 at Gulmarg by the JK Government, Heli-Skiing run by local skier and Director Kashmir Heliski,  Billa Majeed Bakshi has become hit all over the world and has attracted some of the well known extreme skiers and personalities during past years. Apart from making the virgin turfs of different…

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Jammu rich in heritage, but poor in tapping tourism potential

Editor

Jammu, also knows as city of temples, has a rich heritage but untapped tourism potential. Despite having a rich historical past, the city, which was the seat of the Dogra dynasty, has remained neglected when it comes to making it an independent tourist destination, an often repeated slogan of successive governments. Even the 15 lakh inhabitants of Jammu have a few options for having local outings with their families unlike Srinagar city, which is adorned by parks and well maintained historical places, giving its residents a sense of belonging to…

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Kashmir faces recession as sales turnover declines

Editor

The Kashmir region is facing economic recession due to the drastic decline in the industrial and trade turnover. According to officials, as per the data received for preparation of quick estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2014-15, there is a decline in comparison to the projected GDP growth. In the year 2013-14 state’s GDP at current prices was Rs 87319 crores. Also the industrial turnover has witnessed a near 30 percent decline while trade turnover has seen a drop of near 60 percent. The industrial production has come down…

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Pandits cannot return to Valley till normalcy returns: Rahul Bhat

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Bollywood actor and Kashmiri Pandit Rahul Bhat today said the community could not think of going back to the Valley unless the Army was called back and situation became normal in Kashmir. Bhat was addressing a press conference in Jammu, where he announced that he is going to start the shooting of his film of Kashmiri Pandit boy “To hell with the heaven”. While talking about the present situation in Kashmir for the return of Kashmiri Pandits, Bhat said, “I do not have any political agenda, but I think the…

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Ties with PDP strong, says BJP

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Dismisses rumours that it is exploring other options to form govt A day after the Peoples Democratic Party cleared that it was not “in a hurry” to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, its coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party today said it was not exploring any other option on government formation and its alliance with the PDP was “strong”. “We have not received any official communication (on government formation) from the PDP so far but our alliance with the PDP is strong and intact. We are not exploring any…

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Youth held over polio vaccine rumours, cases registered against six rumour mongers

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Youth arrested in Pampore, many people questioned A day after rumors about polio vaccination triggered panic across the Valley, police on Monday registered six cases in different police stations of the valley against the rumour mongers and arrested a youth in Pampore for posting false news on his Facebook page. Talking to us IGP Kashmir SJM Gilani said they have registered six cases in various districts of the Valley against the rumor mongers. “We have registered 6 cases in different police stations regarding rumors and investigation is going on,” he said.…

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JK Govt formation: Numbers firmly in PDP-BJP’s favour, but here are the other equations

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PDP had bagged the highest number of seats out of total 87 in 2015 assembly elections.  The demise of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 has created a power vacuum in Jammu and Kashmir. With the possibility of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti becoming the next CM, there have been a lot of uncertainty surrounding the continuation of the BJP-PDP alliance in the state. After a party meeting on Sunday, it was reported that Mehbooba will not overturn her father’s decision and continue the alliance with BJP. Also, the…

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Farooq bats for dissolution of Assembly, fresh polls

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National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah today called for dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and holding fresh elections if PDP and BJP fail to form a government, after he retracted from his yesterday’s statement that his party would think over if a proposal to form the government comes from the saffron party. “If they (PDP and BJP) cannot solve the problems of the people, the assembly must be dissolve and hold new elections,” Farooq Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a private function here today. Asked to comment…

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Omar rules out tying up with BJP to form govt in JK

Editor

A day after National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said he was open to discuss a tie-up with BJP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, his son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today ruled out an alliance with the saffron outfit, saying the party “is not power hungry” and would not make an “ideological compromise”. “NC is not power hungry and is not interested in political power that comes through an ideological compromise. We shunned prospects of an alliance with the BJP a year ago and the reasons for…

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