Month: February 2016

Oil cos in Kashmir flout Supreme Court directive on LPG subsidy

Editor

In violation of the Supreme Court directions, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in Kashmir have issued ‘diktat’ to LPG consumers asking them to register Aadhaar details with respective dealers or else their subsidies would be stopped. The Supreme Court of India in a latest judgement ruled that linking of Aadhaar for providing these services will only be on “voluntary basis and no person shall be deprived of any benefit for want of Aadhar”. However, in clear violation of these directions, the oil marketing companies have asked the consumers to register their…

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Separatists pay tributes to Afzal Guru, Maqbool Bhat

Editor

Reiterating their demand this year also, various separatist leaders and organizations on eve of death anniversaries of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat have once again demanded return of their mortal remains to their families. Muhammad Maqbool Bhat was executed on February 11, 1984 while Muhammad Afzal Guru was sent to gallows on February 9, 2013 in Tihar Jail, New Delhi. The mortal remains of both were buried in the Tihar Jail premises. Paying tributes to Guru, Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Geelani said, “The last letter which he wrote…

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Honey can save lives by destroying harmful fungus

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Scientists have discovered a powerful link between a medicinal type of honey and the destruction of a fungus that can cause blindness or even death. In the first-of-its-kind study, Zain Habib Alhindi, from University of Manchester in UK used different concentrations of Surgihoney, a biologically engineered honey that produces chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen, to test how effective it could be in destroying the fungus Fusarium. Fusarium is found on plants and in soil and can cause devastating infections in vulnerable people. Alhindi discovered even the lowest concentrations had a…

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Muslim scholars must dispel wrong perceptions created about Islam: Azad

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The biggest challenge before Muslim scholars and Ulema in contemporary times is to “refute the malicious propaganda being churned out by international conspiratorial forces to malign Islam by projecting it as a violent and regressive faith”, former J&K Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Monday. He was addressing a three-day International Conference on ‘Modern Technology and Muslims’ at Silchar in Barak Valley of Assam. The Conference was organized jointly by NadwatutTameer, Jamiat-ul-Ullema-e-Hind, Assam &Ahle-Sunnat-Wal-Jamaat. Azad, who was the Chief Guest at the concluding ceremony, said…

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Despite ban, petrol pumps provide fuel to two-wheeler riders without helmets

Editor

Despite the ban by the traffic police, the oil filling stations in Jammu are still giving fuel to two-wheeler riders not wearing crash helmets. In an important initiative taken by the traffic police of Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with petrol pump dealers associations, it was mutually decided that no filling station will give fuel to the two-wheeler rider if the rider is not wearing a crash helmet. But after spending thousands of rupees on banners, the traffic police as well as the petrol pump dealers forgot their “rule” and…

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Docs serving at Kashmir’s busiest maternity hospital a troubled lot

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Lalla Ded Hospital staff seek psychiatric help and counseling to cope with pressure When Dr Sahrain Bhat (name changed) was examining a patient at Lalla Ded Hospital, the Valley’s major maternity centre, she received a kick on her abdomen. The doctor, who was 10 weeks pregnant, rushed downstairs in pain to get her own ultrasound done. Though everything was fine, doctors in the hospital are often on the receiving end of the attendant’s fury. The stress of work only adds to their miseries. The 500-bed hospital receives around 700-800 patients…

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MeT predicts ending of dry spell Feb10 onwards

Editor

The prolonged dry spell in Jammu and Kashmir is expected to end on February 10 when scattered rainfall is expected, the MeT department said. On February 11, there will be widespread rainfall in most of the places across the state, Director J&K MeT department, Sonam Lotus said. “This widespread rainfall would be followed by fairly widespread rainfall at many places and then on February 13 there will be scattered rainfall at a few places,” he said. No weather warning has been issued for the next five days as the rainfall…

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Walnut industry in slump

Editor

Kashmiri walnut producers and growers are presently a worried lot due to the decline in the demand and low rates. According to the stakeholders here the lack of a walnut market (mandi) in Kashmir, and huge influx of imported walnuts from California in India have become major concern for the local growers, dealers and exporters. Zainul Abideen, president, Kashmir Food Processors’ Association told KP the lack of research on walnut processing has also contributed to the downfall of this dry fruit. “While Jammu has a walnut mandi, Kashmir has none,” Abideen…

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Centre finalizes site for AIIMS in Jammu, forgets Kashmir

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A central team which was scheduled to inspect the proposed site for construction of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Kashmir in December last year hasn’t finalized its date of visit yet, hitting the project take-off. Incidentally, the fate of two new medical colleges announced for Kashmir two years before is hanging in balance. In December last year, top officials from the Union Health Ministry inspected two sites proposed for construction of AIIMS in Jammu region, but are yet to carry out the site inspections in Kashmir Valley.…

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Who was Afzal Guru?

Editor

Aaqib Javaid The year was 2013, day was February 9, and I woke up early and prepared myself to reach the college. When I stepped outside the view was different, it wasn’t the usual sunlight and the morning breeze carried with it the cry of injustice and incisive melancholy. I checked my attire for the day as I was going to be at college. The phone rang and I attended. Mother said that I should stay at home and not venture out on that day. The rest of the conversation…

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