January 2016 | Page 33 of 33

Clashes in Old City; ISIS, Pak flags waved in Old City

January 2, 2016 Editor

Clashes erupted in Old City areas here after Friday congregation prayers while the youths waved the flags of ISIS and Pakistan outside historical Jamia Masjid. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of youths staged anti-India and pro-freedom protests outside Jamia Masjid in Nowhatta area and raised flags of ISIS and Pakistan. Reports informed GNS that the youths also offered absentia funeral for the militants killed in Pulwama recently. The youths, according to witnesses, later marched towards Nowhatta Police Station and resorted to stone-pelting on forces. The clashes in the area continued for…

New Year rush at Vaishno Devi shrine

January 2, 2016 Editor

A large number of pilgrims converged at Katra town on their way to the Vaishno Devi shrine on the New Year today. Over 52,000 devotees paid obeisance at the cave in the last two days, said Chief Executive Officer, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, Ajit Kumar Sahu. “Every year we go to clubs or discos to celebrate the New Year. This year, we thought of doing something different. We generally visit the Vaishno Devi shrine during September or October, but this year, we decided celebrate December 31 at the…

Met predicts rain, snow from Sunday

January 2, 2016 Editor

After weeks of dry weather conditions, the cloudy skies over Jammu led to a drop in the temperatures with the weatherman forecasting rain and snowfall across the state. A small western disturbance has reached the state and which has made the weather cloudy in the entire state. The state Meteorological Department has predicted another western disturbance from Sunday onwards, which may cause light rain in the plains of the Jammu region and snow at higher reaches on Monday. The weather will again be dry after Tuesday. Meanwhile, the maximum and…

J&K mulls reducing police verification time

January 2, 2016 Editor

There is good news for passport seekers as the state government is contemplating reducing the police verification time for getting a passport. The delay in the police verification is touted as the major cause for the delay in issuance of passports in the conflict-hit region where hundreds of people have been blacklisted by the intelligence agencies and are not being issued passports. In Kashmir, getting a passport over the years has been painful as most of the passport seekers are stuck in getting police verification reports and it usually takes…

Post-floods, govt fails to revive economy

January 2, 2016 Editor

As Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu is making preparations to present the second annual Budget in the Legislative Assembly on January 22, the PDP-BJP government’s efforts in the last nine months to revive the post-flood economy have disappointed people. The coalition government, in its maiden Budget on March 22, 2015, had promised to work towards economic self-reliance and fiscal autonomy while focusing attention on putting the state on the path of recovery after the floods in 2014. The government had termed its first Budget as “white paper” on the state finances…

Hazratbal lights up with prayers

January 2, 2016 Editor

Friday following Eid-e-Milad was observed with religious fervour and gaiety here today. Devotees thronged the Hazratbal shrine on the banks of the Dal Lake throughout the the day for prayers and supplications and to catch a glimpse of the holy relic of Prophet Muhammad. The maximum rush of devotees was witnessed in the afternoon when devotees converged at the shrine to offer Friday prayers. Even as Eid-e-Milad celebrations are held across the Valley, the Hazratbal shrine has remained the main centre for holding religious functions related to the birth anniversary…

Two Army men arrested for extortion in Kulgam

January 2, 2016 Editor

Four persons, including two Army men, have been arrested in Kulgam district of south Kashmir for allegedly extorting money on gun point while posing as Hizbul Mujahideen militants. The Army men have been found involved in more than one case of extortion, the police said. The police were investigating an extortion complaint by a doctor from Khrewan village of the district when the role of the two Army men came under scrutiny. The accused soldiers have been identified as Muhammad Yousuf Teli and Muhammad Rafiq Khanday of Jammu and Kashmir…

New court verdict on whether 2 flags must be flown in J&K

January 1, 2016January 1, 2016 Editor

A court order that said all government buildings and cars in Jammu and Kashmir must use both the national and state flag has been suspended today. On December 18, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court had said the state’s flag – red and white with three vertical stripes and a plough – must be used on government property along with the tricolor. The order of the single bench has been stayed or suspended today by division bench of the high court today. The earlier order had been challenged by a…

10 people charred to death at a construction site in Ramban

January 1, 2016 Editor

Ten people, most of them labourers working on a tunnel project, were charred to death in a fire incident in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. “There was a fire caused probably by a short circuit at the barracks of labourers working on a tunnel project in Talwas in Chanderkote belt of Ramban district at around 1 AM today,” IGP Jammu, Danish Rana, said. He said that 10 people died in the blaze while four others were injured. Police and other agencies launched an operation and recovered 10…