Month: March 2016

GoI sets 2019 deadline for four laning of Ramban-Banihal highway

Editor

Government of India has set 2019 as deadline for completing the four-laning of 36 km Ramban-Banihal section being developed as part of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway widening project. “The work on the stretch was started in December last year and it will be completed by the year 2019,” Union Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, told Rajya Sabha today. Responding to a question of Member Parliament (MP) from J&K, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Gadkari said that the work for four-laning of the said section has been awarded to M/s Hindustan…

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Young & restless; new breed of militants in Kashmir are eager to change the status quo

Editor

Rising militancy Towns in south Kashmir are fast becoming established spots for militancy In 2015 alone there were 62 new recruits Many youngsters have been easily drawn in. More have died The fallout Every time militants are killed there’s a shutdown Security in south Kashmir is walking a dicey rope The militants draw strength locally and the problem is not foreign More in the story Why are youngsters drawn to pick up the gun? How have politicians failed them? Soon after the eruption of a popular anti-India armed rebellion in…

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Garbage on city roads to be cleared soon: SMC

Editor

Officials of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) today assured that the garbage lying on the city roads from the past more than a week was being cleared at war footing. Residents had expressed resentment as the city had virtually started stinking due to unattended solid waste lying scattered on the city roads, risking their health. People residing near the garbage dumping site at Achan had been protesting from the past 10 days, demanding that the garbage site be shifted. The residents halted the work of the SMC employees by blocking…

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Nirmal Singh leaves for Delhi, to discuss JK’s political scenario

Editor

Former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today left for New Delhi on an expected important assignment related to the present political scenario in the state. His New Delhi visit soon after the important Sangh meeting at Nagaur in Rajasthan is being anticipated to bring back home some significant decision related to government formation. Nirmal is scheduled to meet the top central leaders which may include BJP national president Amit Shah, general secretary Ram Madhav and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “This is being presumed as an important meeting of the state…

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Farmers get tips on advancements in medicinal, aromatic plants’ cultivation

Editor

A national seminar-cum-exhibition on Kisan Mela, entrepreneurship programme and flower show was organised by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, at Chatha Farm today. The event is being organised in collaboration with the Department of Floriculture, Jammu. Director, CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, Dr Ram Vishwakarma informed the audience about the aims and objectives of the programme. He added that the event was organised annually to introduce the latest advancements in the area of medicinal and aromatic plants aiming at improving the socioeconomic conditions of the…

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Kashmir’s tulips to bloom in autumn also, Travel trade opposes the move

Editor

Director Floriculture Talat Parvez said they are planning to have two tulip blooms in a year in this garden. “We will have another tulip bloom during September – October which will further extend tourism season,” said Parvez. He said this year the department is experimenting on small area where few thousands of the tulips will blossom in autumn. “If it is successful, we will have lakhs of tulip blooms in next year autumn season.” When asked about the opposition shown by tour operators on keeping garden open for whole year,…

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Rain brings mercury down to 10°C in city

Editor

Rain lashed the city for the fourth consecutive day today, causing a significant drop in the temperature. The sky remained overcast throughout the day but rain began late in the afternoon, taking residents who were expecting a dry day by surprise. The heavy downpour caused the mercury to plummet drastically, gripping the city again with cold wave. The downpour over the past three days has significantly decreased the maximum temperature in the city. The day temperature, since Friday, has risen to a high of not more than 10°C, down by…

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Army forces admn to stop all works near LAC in Ladakh

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QUOTE: “The Army has not been allowing us to undertake development works in Chumar village. Last week, we started work on the construction of a road towards a village located close to the LAC, where the local grazers of our side go along with their cattle, but soldiers forced the contractor to abandon the project. Local Army officers had given a lame excuse that they had been directed by their higher-ups not to allow any kind of development work in the area,” Sonam Dawa Lonpo, CEC, LAHDC In a major…

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World asked to help Kashmiris attain birthright

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India urged to release all illegal detainees in IOK Senior Hurriyet leader Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi Al-Safvi has called upon the world community to help people of Kashmir attain their right to self-determination, recognized by the United Nations. Agha Syed Hassan during his visit to the ailing Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani at his residence in Delhi, today, said that the continued detention had badly affected the health of the octogenarian leader. He prayed for early recovery of Syed Ali Gilani who was discharged from the…

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Govt goes beyond Food Act, increases ration quota to 7 kg

Editor

In a major decision on the National Food Security Act, the State Administrative Council (SAC) today ordered increase in allocation of ration from 5 kg to 7 kg per person for Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Priority Sector Households (PSH) to provide relief to a vast majority of people across the state. The intervention is unique as the state will have to bear the burden of procuring additional quantity of food grains pursuant to the revision in the scale of ration, which is beyond the Food Act level. The SAC,…

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