Year: 2016

SHO framed Kashmiri youth in drug case to extort money

Editor

On March 7 this year, Jammu Police claimed to have arrested “two drug peddlers”, namely Rajbeer Singh and Sameer Ahmad Mir, residents of Baramulla at a Naka at Narwal Chowk on Jammu-Delhi national highway. It claimed to have recovered from their Wagon R, JK02AL-2298, 6500 intoxicating capsules and 65 bottles of banned syrup. It said that the Naka was laid on “specific information” and FIR No: 51/2016 under sections 8, 21 and 22 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against the two detainees at Bahu Fort…

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Sainik Settlements – tell us the truth

Editor

Both NC and PDP owe and explanation to the people of Kashmir “It is a well-known fact that we always recognize our homeland when we are about to lose it.” Albert Camus National Conference and Peoples’ Democratic Party are presently on war of words ever since Omar Abdullah tweeted an order copy which talks about the allotment of 350 Kanals of land for the proposed “Sainak Colony” in Srinagar and Budgam, as he believes the same could be a ruse to settle non-state subjects in Kashmir. Mehbooba Mufti while speaking…

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BARC planning to construct staff quarters in Gulmarg

Editor

Baba Atomic Research Centre (BARC) is planning to construct staff quarters near one of its premier laboratories located in tourist destination Gulmarg. Reports on Friday said that it has invited bids for it. However, there is a court ban on any type of construction in and around the ecologically fragile ski resort of Jammu and Kashmir. BARC had early this week published an e-tender notice inviting “techno-commercial and financial bids” for the “construction of staff quarters at HARL (High Altitude Research Laboratory) in Gulmarg”. Any sort of construction would be…

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Dachigam bans vehicles & grazers to save hanguls

Editor

The region’s Wildlife Department has shut the doors of the Dachigam National Park to vehicles and grazers as a part of an effort to protect the last habitat of hanguls, a critically endangered species of stag found only in the park. The measures are aimed to stop disturbances to hanguls’ habitat inside the 144 sq km Dachigam National Park, located on outskirts of the city here. Hanguls, whose number has dwindled from several thousand in early 1900s to 200-odd in the latest surveys, is the state animal of Jammu and…

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Heavy rain wreaks havoc in Batote

Editor

Heavy rain and a reported cloudburst in the Patnitop area on Thursday wreaked havoc and caused widespread destruction in the Batote tehsil of Ramban district. Three minor students and many heads of cattle were reportedly swept away. Several houses, link roads, culverts and crops were damaged due to the downpour, particularly in Boon, Badi, Gami and Tringla. The traffic on the Batote-Doda and Jammu-Srinagar highways was disrupted for about two hours due to the landslides at several places on Thursday evening. Slush entered the mosque in Boon. A total of…

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Pak again rakes up Kashmir at United Nations

Editor

Raising the issue of Kashmir at the United Nations, Pakistan underscored the need for the UN to stop pursuing double standards and injustices being done on Kashmiris and urged to honour the commitments made to them through its resolutions. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Maleeha Lodhi, speaking at a high-level debate on Peace and Security in the United Nations in New York raised the issue, reports Radio Pakistan. The Pakistani envoy urged the 193-nation strong international body to play its role against military aggression and denial of rights of…

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Handwara girl, parents free to go wherever they want: HC

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court today ruled that the Handwara girl, who is at the centre of a controversy involving an allegation of molestation, and her family shall be free to go wherever they want. The court, however, termed the contentions of the illegal detention or confinement, as was alleged by her parents in their affidavits, as “unjustified and uncalled for”. This was observed today by a division bench of the High Court in its orders in the writ petition by Taja Begum, mother of the minor girl, alleging…

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Drug peddler arrested with brown sugar worth over Rs 1 crore

Editor

A suspected drug peddler was arrested and brown sugar worth over Rs 1 crore along with Rs 2.2 lakh in cash found in his possession, police said on Thursday. The accused, Vicky Kumar, was arrested after police stopped him and checked a bag he was carrying. Police found 1.5 kg brown sugar worth over Rs 1 crore. They also seized cash worth Rs 2.20 lakhs from his possession,” a police officer said. A case has been registered in this regard.

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Mobile towers on roadsides pose threat to commuters

Editor

The recently issued guidelines by the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) regarding installation of communication (mobile) towers in the city having a provision of imposing heavy penalty on violators seem to have no impact in the city. It can be gauged from the fact that the base transceiver station (BTS) towers are now being installed by various private telecom companies on the roadsides in many areas of the winter capital posing threat to the lives of people, especially commuters. Under the new guidelines the telecom operators who have erected mobile phone…

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Mehbooba explores role of astronomy in farm, tourism sectors

Editor

Calling upon the country’s top scientists to play a role in popularising the subject of astronomy, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti here today said she would wholeheartedly support any endeavour which aims to inspire state’s young generation towards a relatively new field. She also evinced keen interest on how astronomy and astrophysics can foster development of tourism and agriculture sectors, which for long have been the backbone of state’s economy. The Chief Minister was interacting with a group of leading scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore, and the…

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