Year: 2016

Limited-stop trains to chug in Kashmir from tomorrow

Editor

Banihal-Baramulla travel time to shrink with 60% fewer halts Almost eight years after the first train started chugging in Kashmir, the Northern Railway is introducing two fast passenger trains with limited stops from Banihal to Baramulla from Thursday. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti will flag off the limited-stop DMU (diesel multiple unit) train on Thursday from south Kashmir’s Anantnag and she will also undertake the train journey up to Baramulla in north Kashmir. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will flag off the train through video conferencing from Rail Bhawan in Delhi.…

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Cool days ahead in Jammu: Met

Editor

The overcast sky today brought much-needed respite to the residents of Jammu from the sweltering heat. As the mercury touched 42.4°C yesterday, the Agromet advisory bulletin came to the rescue of the people announcing a “cool break” for a few days. The Metrological Department that had forecast rainfall and thunderstorm today, also has predicted another five days of cool weather for Jammu. As per the Meteorological Department, the weather will remain partially cloudy to cloudy with chances of light rainfall/thunderstorm at a few places in Jammu district. Winds may blow…

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Cash-starved SRTC to spend `10 cr on GPS project

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At a time when J&K State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) is unable to ply its existing fleet of buses and incapable of paying full salaries to its employees, the loss making public sector undertaking is planning to spend Rs10 crore on a Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping project. The GPS project aimed to ‘identify’ bus routes and the introduction of e-ticketing in SRTC buses comes at a time when the corporation is facing Rs 20 crore deficit, sources said. In addition, the corporation at present is paying 34 percent less…

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Two buildings, shed removed in encroachment drive

Editor

An anti-encroachment drive was today jointly launched by Auqaf, Jammu Municipal Corporation and district administration in the Khatinkan Talab area of the city. During the drive, two illegal buildings and one shed were removed. The anti-encroachment drive was initiated on the request of locals who wanted easy access to the Jamai Masjid area. It was the long-pending demand of the authorities of Jamia Masjid to remove illegal structure and start widening of road to the main mosque of the city. Today under the overall supervision of the district administration, the…

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Govt asked to identify land for Pandits

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The Jammu and Kashmir government has been requested for identifying suitable land in the Kashmir Valley where Kashmiri migrants could be rehabilitated, Lok Sabha was informed today. Further action would be taken once the land is identified, Minister of State for Home Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said in a written reply. There are about 62,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families in India, who migrated from the Valley due to the onset of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s.  About 40,000 registered Kashmiri migrant families are living in Jammu, about…

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No boundaries for Kashmir’s bat makers

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The fortunes of the willow workers in the Valley depend on more India-Pakistan cricket The recent controversy over cricket at Srinagar’s National Institute of Technology (NIT) may have triggered a nationwide debate on patriotism but Shahid Afridi is the poster boy for seven villages in south Kashmir where cricket is the key to survival. The villages of Bijbehara, Charsoo, Halmullah, Sangam, Pujteng, Mirzapur and Sethar on the Jammu-Srinagar highway are home to more than 100 factories making cricket bats that are sold across the country and abroad. Oblivious to the…

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Doda faces threat of waterborne diseases

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Doda residents are facing impending threat of waterborne diseases as the crucial water treatment plant in the city has been defunct for the last six months and people are forced to drink untreated water. Situated about 5 km away from Doda town, Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department’s water filtration plant in Moochan village is not working smoothly as its clarifier and circular are defunct and unable to blend chemicals such as alum and chlorine in the water properly. Locals complained that unfiltered and muddy water was being supplied to them…

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CET against J&K’s special status: Omar Abdullah

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Former chief minister Omar Abdullah today alleged the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test is against the spirit of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and called out PDP-BJP government’s “lack of seriousness” in taking timely action to prevent its extension to the state. “NEET is against the interests of our students and clearly goes against the spirit and essence of J-K’s special status. The state government has shown a stunning sense of irresponsibility and lack of seriousness in dealing with this issue. This has created apprehension and anxiety in the minds…

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Steps being taken to streamline traffic in Valley

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Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon today reviewed the traffic scenario in the Valley and directed officials to work in synergy to provide succour to people. Chairing a meeting attended by officials of the traffic police, Economic Reconstruction Agency, Beacon, Chief Town Planner and Srinagar Deputy Commissioner, he instructed the authorities to expedite shifting of the Batmaloo bus stand to Parimpora. Through video-conferencing, he asked the Srinagar Deputy Commissioner to personally oversee the removal of illegal structures at Parimpora. “To deter rampant roadside parking, the traffic police have identified…

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RSS-BJP bent to convert Kashmir into Hindu Rashtra: Geelani

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Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Syed Ali Gilani, has said that India continues to hatch conspiracies to change the Muslim majority status of Jammu and Kashmir into a minority. Syed Ali Gilani told mediamen at his residence in Srinagar that India was not concerned about the people of Kashmir but its land. “The RSS and the BJP want to convert our Valley of Saints into a Hindu Rashtra. Worst part is that local pro-India parties are assisting these forces in every possible way in fulfilling their agenda in the…

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