Mehbooba Mufti tries to cool down hot Jammu

As region protests water & power crises, Mehbooba steps in to save situation With massive protests being organised in Jammu against collapse of water and power infrastructure in summer, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today rushed to the winter capital to save the situation from worsening further. Realising the importance of resolving the prevailing crises immediately to give some respite to people in the hot weather, the Chief Minister reached Jammu this morning. She convened a meeting of senior officers of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department and Power Development Department…

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Separatist reunite to object ‘Pandit, Ex-servicemen colony’ in Kashmir

The trio separatist leaders, Geelani, Mirwaiz, Malik on Monday evening united to challenge the PDP-BJP governments ‘plans’ to rehabilitate displaced Pandits and ex-servicemen of the state. Almost after eight years of Amarnath land agitation, Kashmiri separatists, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik are united again to oppose the establishment of ‘Pandit colony’ in Kashmir. The trio leaders who are divided ideologically and politically are ready to lead a campaign against the establishment of ‘exclusive colonies’ meant for Kashmiri Pandits and retired military personnel, under same banner.…

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Sixty lakh people of state living in high-risk seismic Zone V

Experts says robust disaster management needed to avoid damage Nearly 60 lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir live in the high-risk seismic Zone V and a high-intensity earthquake in the state, as predicted by American geologists, could have devastating results. The total population of the state is 1.25 crore as per the 2011 Census. The major worry is that the high-intensity earthquake could spell doom in Jammu and Srinagar cities as they have a high concentration of population and rapid unplanned construction of commercial buildings and houses. As per a…

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Kashmir Fort Festival saw an overwhelming response

The Kashmir Fort Festival saw an overwhelming response today as the participants wearing traditional turbans walked through the interiors of the old city in Srinagar as part of its heritage walk program. The 3-day festival began yesterday with Sufiyana Musial Performance at Hari Parbat Fort in downtown. Today, scores of youth from downtown including senior citizens wearing turban participated in the heritage walk which began from historic Badamwari at Rainawari. The walk was flagged off by Deputy Director Tourism Kashmir (Publicity) Peerzada Zahoor. The participants walked through downtown’s famous routes…

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No ‘acche din’ in Kashmir as yet, after two years of Modi Sarkar

Months after taking over as the prime minister two years ago, Narendra Modi, sporting a woollen cape-like Kashmiri garment called a pheran, addressed a huge rally in SRINAGAR promising “to give justice” to the people caught in one of the longest standing conflicts in the world for decades now. Nearly 18 months since the December 2014 rally and after the two years of the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP)-led government in Delhi, challenges remain abound in Kashmir despite the issue finding a special mention in Modi’s agenda of governance. The…

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Most unexplored destinations in the Kashmir Valley

The mercury is rising everyday. Here are a few offbeat places in Kashmir you can escape to. Kashmir. For years this part of the country has been referred to as ‘Heaven on Earth.’ And the moment we hear the name, we are quick to picturise Srinagar’s Dal Lake, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Shankaracharya Temple and some of the other common destinations within the state of Jammu and Kashmir. But the real beauty of this valley lies in its unexplored and offbeat destinations. Hidden deep within the depths of the alpine mountains, these…

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Jammu being developed as independent tourist place

Underlining the commitment of the government to develop tourist destinations in Jammu province, Minister of State for Tourism, Education, Technical Education, Culture, Horticulture, Floriculture and Parks Priya Sethi recently said efforts were afoot to promote the tourism sector in Jammu division. She said special focus was being laid on developing Jammu as an independent tourism destination. Interacting with different stakeholders of the tourism industry here, the minister called upon them to work in unison with the government to exploit to the fullest vast tourism potential of the region. There was…

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No Devanagari script for Kashmiri: Civil Society

Kashmir’s civil society today rejected the reported move by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to introduce Devanagari as an alternative script for Kashmiri language. In an emergency meeting organised by Adbee Markaz Kamraz (AMK), a group of writers, poets, artists, academicians, social activists and businessmen, unequivocally resolved that the proposal to introduce Devanagari script was unacceptable. “The move is politically motivated aimed at bifurcating the Kashmiri community in the name of the script,” said a resolution passed unanimously at the meeting. “It is aimed at demolishing our cultural…

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Will quit politics if charge proved against me : Lal Singh

Lal Singh for probe against complainants to unravel ‘conspiracy’ Rubbishing the accusations of issuing a threat to Gujjars and using abusive language against them, Minister for Forests Choudhary Lal Singh today said he was open to any investigation and would quit politics if the charge against him was proved. He sought an investigation against the complainants, who he alleged had been instigated by some non-Gujjar persons under a planned political conspiracy to dislodge him from the ministry as he had tightened the noose to stop timber smuggling and illegal encroachment…

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Return of projects part of Agenda of Alliance: Drabu

“We are all aware that the power projects belong to the listed company (NHPC). However it has been agreed in the Agenda of Alliance (between PDP and BJP) to work out modalities of transfer of the two projects to the state,” said Drabu Reacting to Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement wherein he ruled out transfer of power projects to J&K, State Finance Minister Dr Haseeb Drabu Friday said the Peoples Democratic Party and BJP has agreed in the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ to work out modalities with the Government of…

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