Month: March 2016

Students of cowshed-cum-school have nowhere to go

Editor

A day after we carried the picture of a Primary School in Anantnag, operating from a cowshed, the school was relocated on Monday. The move, however, didn’t prove any better for the students. The students were sent to another school where lack of proper space has forced them to return to the cowshed. Compounding the problem, the owner of the cowshed is not letting the students back in now. Government Primary School Brakpora in Achabal zone of Anantnag was running from a cowshed and its picture carried by us evoked widespread concern.…

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Smart insulin patch to control diabetes

Editor

Washington, Mar 15: Scientists have created a synthetic painless patch filled with natural insulin-producing cells that can control blood sugar levels on demand. For decades, researchers have tried to duplicate the function of beta cells, the tiny insulin-producing entities that do not work properly in patients with diabetes. Insulin injections provide painful and often imperfect substitutes. Transplants of normal beta cells carry the risk of rejection or side effects from immunosuppressive therapies, researchers said. Now, scientists from University of North Carolina (UNC) in the US have devised another option –…

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Buddhist eco-village to come up in Ladakh

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir will soon have the first-ever Buddhist “eco-village” in the arid Ladakh region. To be named “Lotus Eco-Village”, it will come up in Saboo at an altitude of 11,627 feet and nearly 7 km from Leh town. The project has been conceived by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) — a religious body in Leh which holds sway over Buddhists in the entire region. The project will be executed over 1,000 kanals with an estimated cost of Rs 400 crore. The LBA says the funds will be arranged through…

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Government on cards?

Editor

J&K Governor N N Vohra on Tuesday cancelled a crucial meeting of the State Administrative Council that was convened to give nod to the Budget, sources said. Another meeting—scheduled with political parties two days later—to discuss the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) election was also put off, they disclosed. Highly placed sources told KP that SAC headed by Governor NN Vohra and comprising his advisors, Parvez Dewan and Khurshid Ganie, was scheduled to meet at Civil Secretariat Jammu this morning to clear the Budget proposals. However, the meeting was cancelled at the…

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Excise officers won’t visit jewellers’ manufacturing units: KR Madhar

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The Additional Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, KR Madhar, today clarified that their officers would not visit any manufacturing unit or factory of jewellers and as announced in the Union Budget, one per cent excise duty would be levied on the turnover exceeding Rs 6 crore a year. Additional Commissioner KR Madhar in a press conference here said, “In this year’s Budget, a nominal excise duty of one per cent (without input tax credit) and 12.5 per cent (with input tax credit) has been imposed on jewellery.” While clearing doubts…

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Why is Geelani’s health a major concern?

Editor

Shujaat Bukhari On March 11, in a sprawling compound housing Pakistan’s High Commission in Delhi’s Chanakyapuri an unusual prayer was held in which more than three dozen people echoed with “Aameen” to every word said by the Moulvi (the preacher). It was not a prayer meeting held for the victims of terrorism in Pakistan or for the stability of the country that has been reeling under extremist violence for past over a decade. The occasion was to pray for the speedy recovery of ailing veteran separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani—…

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Extend financial help to Kashmir without bias: Traders to FM

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The Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) today urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to extend financial assistance to the Valley without any “bias”. “We presume that walking an extra mile means that the prevailing political uncertainty in the state will be addressed, economic areas like horticulture, handicrafts, tourism, forests, industry and other sectors will be revived and strengthened, our power projects will be returned, draconian laws like AFSPA will be done away with, security forces will be made more accountable and adequate financial assistance will be extended without considerations and bias,”…

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Tulip Garden opens amid early spring

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With 20 new tulip varieties on display amid an early spring bloom, Asia’s largest Tulip Garden on the banks of the Dal Lake here was thrown open today. Displaying around a million colourful flowers in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, the Tulip Garden usually reopens in March-end. However, this year it was opened early due to favourable weather conditions and the government is now looking forward to a good tourist season. “Even though it rained yesterday and there is a forecast of more rain, the overall weather conditions remained…

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How corruption changes fate of students

Editor

Hope government strictly following the norms and the procedure is foolproof Every place is inhabited by both the upright as well as the corrupt humans. Kashmir is not an exception. I always believed being the Muslim dominated land ours would be much better than the rest of the world. But, then I learned corruption engulfs every religion equally. There is no discrimination. A corrupt person irrespective of any religion, creed, caste or sex is a deceitful one. A person who is in power, if perfidious, shall always find its ways…

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CBI gets 3 months to complete investigation into JKCA scam

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The Jammu and Kashmir High Court today granted the CBI three months to complete investigation into the multi-crore Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam. The investigation conducted by the CBI so far has revealed that the BCCI had transferred a whopping Rs 1,12,33,04,618 crore to the JKCA between April 2002 and December 31, 2011. Citing “lack of credibility” in the state investigation agency — SIT — and “serious allegations” against “beneficiaries”, including the “influential and mighty”, as some of the reasons, the J&K High Court had on September 3,…

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