Month: May 2016

Rambagh flyover likely to miss deadline

Editor

Srinagar is likely to witness traffic congestion for some longer period as the prestigious Rs 369 crore Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh Expressway Corridor (flyover) project is unlikely to be completed by March 2017; the reason being the delay in execution work followed by loss of time during 2014 floods. The flyover, which was announced in July 2009 in its initial phase, hit many roadblocks including litigations by traders and hurdles in land acquisition. Work on the project began in 2013 and was scheduled to be completed by September 2016. However the deadline…

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‘I am not a terrorist’ movie being shot in Sonamarg

Editor

“I am not a terrorist,” shouted Muhammad Afiq Muiz, a Malaysian actor clad in traditional Kashmiri attire at his Bollywood counterpart Rahul Dev on a mountain in the backdrop of Thajiwas glacier in this scenic tourist resort. As the duo intensely glared at each other, the silence was broken by thundering applause by the crew with onlookers yelling “excellent shot.” The scene was part of maiden Malaysian feature film ‘I am not a terrorist’ being shot in Sonamarg. Amidst heavy rains, the crew including noted Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover, who…

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Srinagar to get a ring road to ease traffic

Editor

The district may soon get a ring road which will provide an alternate route for the traffic moving between North and South Kashmir and ease the traffic congestion inside the city. In the project discussed at a high-level meeting on Saturday, officials planned the construction of a four-lane ring road. They said, “This will go a long way in easing traffic congestion in the city and reduce cost, time and distance.” In the first phase of the project, a four-lane ring road will be constructed from Galander near Pampore town…

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Who after Syed Ali Shah Geelani?

Editor

Rashid Ahmed analyses politics of Syed Ali Shah Geelani and who may be his political successor. Some time in 2004, Mangat Ram Sharma, the then deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, spoke at a public meeting in the Ganderbal area of the Kashmir valley. Sharma, ever the man to cause political sensation with his all too candid and at times impolitic remarks, predicted that the Kashmir issue would live until the time Syed Ali Geelani was alive and that it would cease to be an issue after his death.…

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National Conference would safeguard Kashmir’s special status : Farooq

Editor

National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday claimed there were “clear indications” that a “long-existing lobby” in New Delhi was “reinventing its mission to erode” Jammu and Kashmir s internal autonomy and asserted that his party would safeguard the state’s political rights and special status. “I have personally witnessed how a long-existing lobby in New Delhi has used pliant leaders and regimes in the State to erode Article 370 and rob the State of its constitutionally guaranteed internal autonomy one step at a time. “This is a chronicle of…

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Three sites identified for displaced Pandit families by state

Editor

Land selected in north, central & south Kashmir; Central approval awaited The J&K Government has identified at least three sites for setting up colonies for the displaced Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley. It has asked the Union Home Ministry to assess and approve the selected land. Official sources said most of the land was held by private owners and the state government had approached them for its sale. One of the identified lands for constructing the dwelling units for Pandits is in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. It is spread over…

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Soon, law to make JK polythene-free : Nirmal Singh

Editor

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said since the government was putting in place austerity measures on smoking and drug abuse, the menace of polythene use and non-adherence to ban was another major health hazard. He said the government would soon bring in a stringent legislation to cleanse the state of polythene pollution. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, in her recent statement, endorsed an NGO’s view to take stringent measures against smoking in Jammu and Kashmir. “It is a great step forward to take all-out measures to protect the health of the…

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Delhi Police arrests investigative journalist who tossed ‘No AYUSH jobs to Muslims’

Editor

Quoting an RTI reply, Sharma had reported that Muslims were not recruited in AYUSh ministry as “part of government policy”. A senior investigative journalist, Pushp Sharma, was arrested on Saturday by the Delhi Police on the charge of “fabricating” an RTI reply from Ayush Ministry, which had said that it does not recruit Muslims for jobs. According to Milli Gazette, Sharma will be presented at Saket Court today. The journalist has stood behind his report, published in the Milli Gazette issue of 16-31 March this year. Quoting an RTI reply,…

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National electronic media spreads hatred against Kashmiris : Mehbooba

Editor

Lays foundation stones of 3 medical colleges in Anantnag, Rajouri and Baramulla Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today accused the national electronic media of spreading hatred against people of Kashmir in the country by focusing on the negative fringe and not highlighting whatever positive had been happening. “Our electronic media holds discussions on and shows faces of people involved in adverse activities to spread hatred in the country against my people,” Mehbooba said in her speech after she laying the foundation stone of a government medical college in the Dialgam area…

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Pro-India parties making Kashmiris dependent on India: Mirwaiz

Editor

Chairman of his own Hurriyet forum, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that the pro-India parties are making Kashmiris economically, politically and socially dependent on India. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq addressing a public gathering in Srinagar said that in the name of colonies for retired Indian soldiers and the new industrial policy, every tactic was being used to grab the lands of Kashmiris.“Here thousands of acres of land are already under the illegal occupation of Indian Army. Now more land is being provided to non-Kashmiri industrialists on the pretext of establishment of…

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