Month: November 2016

Massive fire destroys over dozen houses, one charred to death in Dalgate

Editor

50 families affected One person died and 16 houses were gutted in a devastating fire at Dalgate here on Monday morning here. Police said fire started from a residential house around 10:30 am at Khalpora area of Dalgate and engulfed nearby structures in the congested area. Panic gripped the area as flames went high and smoke engulfed the locality. Amid chaos, the inhabitants rushed out of their houses and shifted to safer places. Several fire-tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire. Local youth also joined the firefighting operation.…

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Govt wakes up to unsafe, substandard food products

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Appoints appellate authority for food safety tribunals after 9 months After Food Safety Appellate Tribunals (FSAT) remained defunct for nine months, government has finally appointed Presiding Officers for Kashmir and Jammu divisions to look at the cases related to food safety matters. As per the official order, government has appointed Muhammad Yousuf Akhoon, District and Sessions Judge, presently Principal Secretary to Chief Justice, J&K High Court and Maharaj Krishan Hanjura, Member, Company Law Board, Delhi as the Presiding Officers for Food Safety Appellate Tribunal, Kashmir and Food Safety Appellate Tribunal,…

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Valley isn’t hurting much from demonetization, why?

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Defying the nationwide trend, people in the Kashmir valley are queuing outside ATMs and banks. Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are still widely used, and are likely to remain in circulation until the deadline of 30 December. India was thrown into chaos on 8 November after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The cash crunch made it difficult for people to buy even essential items such as milk, vegetables, fruits and grocery. Surprisingly, however, life went on as usual in…

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Low visibility hits air traffic in Valley for fifth day

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The air traffic to and from the Kashmir valley remained disrupted for the fifth consecutive day today as low visibility forced the cancellation of 40 flights scheduled to arrive and depart from the region’s only airport here. The visibility at the airport today was around 600 m, which was 700 m less than the 1.3 km visibility required for safe landings of passenger planes, said Sharad Kumar, Director of the Srinagar International Airport. He said the visibility on Monday was “worse” than the previous days. The airport official said 20…

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Shutdown continues across Kashmir post two days relaxation

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After two days of relaxation, Kashmir Monday observed shutdown again on the call of joint resistance leadership. Most of the shops and business establishments remained shut. In Lal Chowk Srinagar, vendors set up stalls and were selling winter stuff while private and some public transport could be seen plying. Educational institutions remained closed. Kashmir remained abuzz on Saturday and Sunday on the full-day relaxation call announced by the joint resistance leadership. However, in some areas on Monday, shops remained open for entire day which included Sanatnagar, Pandrethan, Sonwar and Athwajan in…

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Life across Kashmir affected as shutdown resume post two days relaxation

Editor

Life in Kashmir was affected again today as the separatists resumed their shutdown after suspending it over the weekend. The effect of the strike was visible on the roads across Kashmir as there was less traffic compared to last two days, when the Valley was bustling with activity after 133 days of unrest triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani in an encounter by security forces on July 8. However, public transport was plying in some areas in the civil lines as well as in the outskirts…

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City Centre reels under Traffic Mess

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Failure of authorities to put in place measures for effective traffic regulation on Sunday took a heavy toll on the commuters who were stranded in traffic jams in city-centre. In view of relaxation in shutdown, Traffic police had on Friday issued an advisory and route plan for vehicular movement in Srinagar. However, most of the commuters said Traffic police failed to implement the plan on ground. “Commuters acted upon the advisory and adopted the notified route plan. But the traffic cops failed to ensure smooth vehicular movement ,” said Ghulam…

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Imposters collect villager’s bank details, promise funds transfer

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As commoners are facing hardships due to demonetisation, some unscrupulous elements are all out to take advantage of the prevailing situation to adjust their “surplus money” in bank accounts of gullible rural people. One such incident was reported in the border village of Rampur where some unidentified persons collected bank account numbers, Aadhaar card details, BPL card numbers and other documents from over 100 innocent villagers with a promise that some amount would be deposited in each of their accounts under a special scheme. Vivek Kumar, a shopkeeper of the…

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Snow, Rain forecast across Kashmir region

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With night temperatures increasing throughout the State due to cloud cover, the weather department Sunday forecast snow in upper reaches during next 24 hours. “After a long dry spell of nearly three months, we are expecting rain and snow in the higher reaches of the state during the next 24 hours,” an official of the Meteorological Department said. He said due to the night-long cloud cover, there has been overall improvement in the minimum temperatures through the state. He said the weather would remain mainly cloudy over the next week…

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Valley markets abuzz with activity for second day; don’t mistake it for normalcy: Separatists

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Day 2: Kashmir markets remain abuzz with business activity There were frequent traffic jams in the city centre and adjoining areas ‘Hustle and bustle in markets should not be mistaken’ Resistance Group Amid roaring Sunday Market in Lal Chowk, Kashmir remained abuzz with the business activities reflecting a semblance of normalcy on the second consecutive day of full-day relaxation announced by the joint resistance leadership. Though the schools and colleges remained closed on account of Sunday, transport— both public and private— plied normally. There were frequent traffic jams in the…

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