Month: January 2016

Fresh snow drapes Gulmarg, Pahalgam

Editor

Fresh snowfall was recorded in the higher reaches of Kashmir while the plains received rains, even as the mercury stayed above the freezing point at most places in the Valley. According to an official of the Met Department, fresh snowfall was recorded in the higher reaches of the Valley, including Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Kupwara. The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg recorded 5 cm of snow while 4 cm of fresh snow was registered in the tourist resort of Pahalgam and 1.5 cm in Kupwara in north Kashmir. The official said there…

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BJP to take call on supporting Mehbooba after the mourning

Editor

Rubbishes rumours of party leaders demanding rotational chief ministership A day after the passing away of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav today held a meeting with Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti. Besides offering his condolences, Madhav said they held deliberations over the future of the PDP-BJP coalition government even as the BJP said they would decide their future strategy vis-à-vis extending support to Mehbooba as J&K Chief Minister after the mourning period of four days got over. “I went to offer…

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Mufti third CM to die in harness

Editor

Seventy nine -year-old Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who breathed his last this morning at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, is the third Chief Minister of the state who died in office. Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, last Prime Minister and first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, died in office on December 12, 1971, while the Indo-Pak war was on. Sayed Mir Qasim became the Chief Minister of the state after the death of Sadiq. Although Sayeed Mir Qasim remained the Chief Minister till February 25, 1975, yet after…

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ISIS, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan don’t represent Islam: Geelani

Editor

Hardline Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has denounced the ISIS against the backdrop of repeated display of its flag in Kashmir, saying it is a terrorist organisation which does not represent Islam. “ISIS, Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other like groups does not represent Islam. Daesh (alternate name of ISIS) is a terrorist organisation which is killing innocent people and the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan is weakening Pakistan internally,” the Kashmiri separatist leader has said. His remarks came against the backdrop of repeated display of ISIS flag by some youth during protests in…

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Mufti’s second term marked by four major controversies

Editor

Like most of his political career spanning nearly 67 years, the second stint of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, which turned out to be his last, was marked by four major controversies, which saw the PDP at loggerheads with the BJP, its coalition partner. It took nearly two months of hectic back-channel negotiations to cobble together a coalition of the PDP and BJP, parties with divergent views on Kashmir and its special relationship with the Union. In fact, emerging after a 90-minute meeting with Prime…

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Pulwama shutdown enters 8th day, Allow Martyrs’ Memorial or face stir: Geelani to admin

Editor

Complete shutdown was today observed here on the eighth consecutive day for not allowing the locals to erect a memorial of local slain militants. Amidst clashes which erupted Thursday evening, all the business establishments, shops closed and traffic went off the roads. Barricades were put on roads leading to Pulwama with youths resorting to stone pelting at Muran chowk, Rajpora chowk and Boonura on Shopian- Pulwama road. Security personnel were deployed in every nook and corner of the town as commuters were seen walking down the road with no transport…

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Mufti Muhammad Sayeed (1936-2016)

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed—a strong votary of Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir resolution and the man close to New Delhi—breathed his last at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences New Delhi on Thursday morning. He was 79. Known as a suave politician who rose from a lawyer to first Muslim Home Minister of India and two-time Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mufti passed away at the AIIMS where he was being treated for sepsis and pneumonia since December 24, at 7.30 am. Sayeed, who took…

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Mehbooba likely to be sworn in as CM today

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Nirmal Singh to be her deputy, rest of the cabinet to be sworn in after Mufti’s chaharum Following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the process for elevation of his daughter Mehbooba Mufti to the top post has already started and she is likely to be sworn in as the next CM on Friday. According to sources, Mehbooba is likely to take oath as chief minister on Friday at around 4 pm to 5 pm while senior BJP leader, Nirmal Singh would take oath as the deputy chief…

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Mehbooba set to be first woman CM of J&K

Editor

The selection of Ms. Mehbooba, a Lok Sabha member, as the leader of 28-member PDP Legislature party was a unanimous decision. Ruling PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is set to be the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, succeeding her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who passed away on Thursday, with party MLAs unanimously electing her as their leader and writing to Governor N N Vohra in this regard. A party delegation met the Governor at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar and handed over the letter which says that the PDP…

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Beigh, Bukhari to support Mehbooba as CM, BJP says it will go by PDP’s choice

Editor

Senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Altaf Bukhari on Thursday left for Raj Bhavan to hand over a letter of support to Governor backing Mehbooba Mufti as the next chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. A senior PDP leader said that the leaders will meet the governor NN Vohra and apprise him about the nomination of Mehbooba as their leader after the demise of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. Both the PDP and BJP are understood to have decided on the nomination of Mehbooba as the next chief…

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