Year: 2016

Candidates who applied for NEET-I ineligible for NEET-II

Editor

Medical education aspirants in Jammu and Kashmir—who had applied or appeared for an all-India level examination held on May 1—are virtually in a state of shock as they have been declared ineligible for the proposed second phase of the examination to be held in July this year. A fresh communication from All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) has declared students ineligible for National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET)–II—the medical entrance examination that has replaced Common Entrance Test (CET) for entry to medical colleges in India, including those in Jammu and Kashmir. A…

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Travel to Kashmir: CM for changing negative perception

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‘Exchange programs will help remove travel advisories on JK’ Interacts with Australian delegation Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti Sunday said the interaction between stakeholders at various levels will help change negative perception about travelling to Kashmir. Mehbooba called for greater cultural exchanges, initiatives and assistance programmes to bolster key areas like education, skill development and tourism in the state. The chief minister made these observations during a meeting with a high-level Australian business delegation here this evening. Laying impetus on greater interface between students, entrepreneurs and travel industry of J&K and…

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Srinagar to get Rs 100 cr, Jammu Rs 200 cr for development

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar continues to get a raw deal in funding for development works, notwithstanding the PDP-BJP government’s Common Minimum Program (CMP) that “assures” equitable and balanced development in all parts of State. As the incumbent regime—like its predecessor NC-Congress government—is banking on obsolete methods to work-out the district-sector allocations, Srinagar is again at receiving end with the district likely to get Rs 100 crore for 2016-17. On the other hand, Jammu would get the highest funding among 22 districts of the State at Rs 200 crore.…

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JK to implement free drug policy from June 1

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Free medicines will be provided in all state-run hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir from June 1 this year and a 100-bed hospital would be constructed in the mountainous Kishtwar district. “Government will implement the policy of providing free medicines in all the state government hospitals from June 1 this year as this has been a long pending demand of people” state Health Minister Bali Bhagat said today. He said the government would soon establish a 100-bed hospital in Kishtwar district as it has witnessed fatal road accidents because of its…

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CM seeks RBI support for youth empowerment in Kashmir

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday sought Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) support for youth empowerment in the state, while urging premier banking institutions to reach out to young, budding entrepreneurs and help them establish viable business units. She said she expects the RBI to do more in exerting pressure on banking firms operating in the state so that small and medium enterprises have hassle-free access to loans. “We seek better cooperation of banks in creating ample opportunities of employment for youth in the state,” she said…

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MoU signed for establishing IIT-Jammu

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In a major step towards setting up of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Jammu, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today in presence of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh. The MoU was signed by Secretary, Higher Education Department, Hemant Kumar Sharma and Director, IIT-Delhi, Prof V Ramgopal Rao. Congratulating the people of the state, the Deputy CM said the government was committed to setting up IIT-Jammu with the highest standards, parallel to other IITs in the country. He also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Human Resource…

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Teams for cricket tourneys in Kashmir named after militants

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Militant sympathisers in Kashmir Valley have named cricket teams participating in certain tournaments after militants, a trend security officials say should be nipped in the bud to avoid “huge problems”. A cricket tournament was recently played in Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which had few participating teams named after militants like Aabid Khan Qalandars, Khalid Aryans and Burhan Lions. While Burhan has emerged as one of the most wanted commander of Hizbul Mujahideen over the past one year, Khalid was his brother who was killed in a security…

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Labour Day: It’s just another day for them

Editor

May Day falling today attaches significance to the labour class for having won over their rights and provisions laid down regarding their working hours and other conditions, but most of the labourers here expressed ignorance over such privileges. The reason is their unawareness about the historic struggle worldwide that brought eight-hour working system into effect on May 1, 1886. Besides, a large-scale influx of inter-state migrant workers over the years has rendered them jobless here as the outside labour is easily accessible at lower rates. The workers from Bihar, Uttar…

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Anantnag or ‘Islamabad’? saffron party not sure

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Issues statement with dateline mentioning both names State BJP president Sat Sharma today addressed his maiden rally in Anantnag, but the official press release of the party referred to the south Kashmir district as Islamabad. The BJP statement was issued with an ‘Anantnag/Islamabad’ dateline even though Anantnag is the official name of this south Kashmir district. During the rally, Sharma urged people to support the party’s development plan. The state BJP president is on a three-day visit to the Valley. He addressed a rally in Ganderbal district on Saturday and…

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Congress accuses BJP of adopting double standards over tricolour in NIT Sgr

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A Congress member in Rajya Sabha raised the issue of police lathicharge at NIT in Srinagar on Saturday and accused the ruling BJP of not allowing the students to hoist the national flag there. During the Zero Hour, Pramod Tiwari said ever since BJP government came to power at the Centre, organisations related to it were trying to create unrest in educational institutions, be it Hyderabad university, JNU or NIT Srinagar. He accused the ruling party of adopting double standards regarding the Tricolour, saying BJP’s policy regarding the national flag…

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