By 2019, J&K to be home to world’s tallest railway bridge

The world’s tallest railway bridge being built above the Chenab river on the Udhampur Srinagar -Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) will be ready only by 2019. The bridge, which will rise 359 metres over the Chenab and is being built in hostile and isolated terrain, will be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower. Currently , the tallest bridge is above the Tam River in France, with its tallest pillar rising 340m from the riverbed. The Chenab Bridge, which has an arch de sign, will connect the steep banks on the…

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Mehbooba meets PM, to meet PDP legislators on Thursday before taking call on coalition govt

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Monday that she will meet with her party legislators on Thursday and then take a decision on resuming the coalition government with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. Mufti said she had a positive meeting with PM Modi earlier in the day. In he meanwhile, the BJP has hardened its stand on the coalition issue. “We don’t know what she plans to do. However, we are pretty clear about not giving in to her fresh conditions for restoring the coalition, a senior BJP member…

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Int’l fossil park in Khonmoh, ‘Rock Garden’ in G’bl on Cards

J&K would soon get an International Fossil Park at a 250 million-year-old tsunami site here to give a broader display of the state’s geological history as well as to facilitate research work. “An International Fossil Park would soon be established at Khonmoh, Srinagar,” said Srinagar DC Farooq Ahmad Lone. Lone visited the site at Khonmoh yesterday and sought the records from the Departments of Revenue and Wildlife so that the project can be commissioned at the earliest. Apart Kashmir valley may have first of its kind a ‘Rock Garden’ in…

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Campaign to promote medicinal plants begins

The Director General, Indian System of Medicines (ISM), AYUSH, J&K, Dr Abdul Kabir Dar, today started medicinal plants plantation drive at Indira Chowk on the premises of Directorate General of ISM by planting trees of Amla. The plantation drive was aimed at promoting and propagating medicinal plants in the state. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Abdul emphasised on the importance and need for plantation of trees and plants with medicinal values. He added that some important high-demand species of medicinal plants had become endangered due to over-exploitation in the wild.…

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Centres provide pollution certificate without checking

The pollution checking centres here are providing pollution certificate to vehicles without proper checking and charging as per their own sweet will. The alleged unholy nexus with the authorities allows the contractors to violate the terms fearlessly. The pollution control centres or checking centres are minting money in the name of fees for pollution checking and issuing a certificate of Pollution Under Control (PUC) to vehicles owner. Shockingly, the person sitting at the centre not even asks the driver to start its vehicle to check the pollution level. They just…

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J&K Bank enter State Football Championship 2015-16 Semi-finals

The J&K Bank entered the semi-finals of the State Football Championship 2015-16 by defeating the District Football Association (DFA), Pulwama, (6-1) during a quarterfinal match played at the TRC Synthetic Turf here today. ”The tournament is being organised by the District Football Association, Srinagar, of the J&K Football Association,” a J&K Bank spokesman said. He said this was the bank’s first match of the season here after winning the All-India Super Sports Cup, Lucknow. “The bank team is departing for Patna on March 24 for the All-India Bihar Gold Cup…

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Jewellers’ strike enters 19th day

Strike by jewellers against government’s proposal to levy 1 per cent excise duty on gold, entered 19th day on Monday. Despite repeated pleas by the jewellers for rollback of the union budget proposal, the central government has paid no heed to “our pleas,” the jewellers here said. The jewellers carried out a protest rally from the retail gold market here to press for their demand. Bashir Ahmad Rather, president All Kashmir Gold Dealers and Workers Association said the national media wrongly reported that the strike was called off across India.…

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In 2 months, Governor NN Vohra took decisions that hanged fire for years

J&K Governor NN Vohra has rolled out major reforms in the State during his two-month rule while keeping the administration on toes to fast-track decision-making on issues concerning public—something which the elected governments failed to do in their tenures. In a significant move, the Governor-headed State Administrative Council (SAC) last month cleared disbursement of financial assistance to Kashmir’s flood victims that was pending for more than a year and had brought the PDP-BJP coalition under fire. The move was followed by the SAC’s clearance to increase in allocation of food…

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Who’ll check safety of foods in Kashmir markets?

The abysmally poor food testing mechanism in Kashmir is allowing consumption of dangerous eatables by people, with officials failing to address the problem that is assuming alarming proportions, stakeholders said on Monday. The adulterated food is leading to multiple diseases among people, including cancer whose rate had doubled in the Valley in the past less than a decade. According to sources, the Valley’s lone Food Testing Laboratory at Dalgate here is “good for nothing.” The so-called Laboratory has archaic equipment while archaic methods are put into practice to test samples…

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CAPD issues ration card to Kurkure, Lays, Punjabi Tadka

Faux Pas Massive discrepancies have come to the fore in the database compiled by the Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Department (CAPD) in Jammu and Kashmir as the State Government without waiting for the consent from State Assembly has already implemented National Food Security Act (NFSA). One of the application forms received by the CAPD department that has gone viral shows how a ration card holder has sarcastically mentioned the names of his sons as ‘Kurkure’, ‘Lays’, and ‘Punjabi Tadka’. The netizens all over Kashmir not only are making fun…

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