Year: 2016

5.8 Magnitude quake to hit Valley soon, seismic survey, State ‘most susceptible’ to quakes, 50 tremors since 2014

Editor

A moderate-intensity earthquake jolted the Kashmir valley in the middle of the night but caused no damage or casualties in the region. An official of the state Meteorological Department said the tremor was of 5.8 magnitude and its epicentre was located at a depth of 220 km in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan. The earthquake was recorded at 1.34 am on Tuesday night, the official said. It was the sixth tremor to jolt the Kashmir region in the past one month and seventh since October last year. There were,…

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Rice bowl fast turning into concrete jungle

Editor

Bill to prohibit conversion of farmland lapsed few years ago Jungles of concrete continue to come up at a rapid pace at the expense of fertile farmland in Bishnah and RS Pura, rice bowl of the state, as the Bill to prohibit conversion of agricultural land to use it for non-agricultural purposes is yet to see the light of day. The jungles of concrete continue to usurp fertile farmland in Bishnah, around 15 km from Jammu, and RS Pura, 17 km from the winter capital, while successive governments driven by…

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Need to review how much of Mufti’s vision was fulfilled in 9 months: PDP

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As impasse continues over government formation, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday said the party will review how much “it has achieved vis-à-vis fulfilling development vision” of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed during nine months alliance with BJP. “Mufti sahab had a vision for making J&K a modern state. Due to his death, his vision is yet to be realised. The party under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti will need to review how much we have succeeded to fulfill Mufti Sahab’s vision so far,” senior PDP leader and former education minister, Naeem Akhtar…

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No word on memorial, but admn says Pulwama standoff ends

Editor

Ultras’ memorial without photos may come up in the town The standoff between the administration and local residents in Pulwama district appears to be over as the traders in the town have agreed to end the strike and open the markets from Thursday. “The standoff is over. They (traders) have agreed to open the shops,” said Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Asgar Samoon, who had a late evening meeting with local traders and Auqaf Committee members of Pulwama town. Samoon, however, did not specify what agreement had been reached with the local…

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`Kashmir on IS radar’

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The three Islamic State (IS) sympathisers from the city , who were nabbed by Maharashtra ATS and Telangana police in Nagpur a couple of weeks ago, felt Kashmir could be the right place to carry out `jihad’ as they saw videos of some pro-separatist forces waving IS and Pakistan flags there. The youngsters Abdullah Basith, Maaz Hasan also saw videos of Dukhtarane-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi organising a meeting with the backdrop of Pakistan flags and other pro-separatist youths waiving IS flags.These events were playing on their mind and they felt…

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Mehbooba’s Shakespearean dilemma and the number game

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Following the death of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is left with 28 MLAs and even if the party allies with Congress for government formation and gets the support of all independent MLAs, who are not backed by the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), they would still fall short of one seat. Following Mufti’s death, PDP, which had won 28 seats in the 2014 Legislative Assembly polls and added one more to the kitty with the nomination of Anjum Fazili as one of the two nominated MLAs, is…

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Kashmir, a rudderless ship!

Editor

M. Ashraf It is not for the first time that there is an uncertainty about not only the ultimate fate of this land but even about its day to day governance. This always happens when a ship is set on an uncharted course without any definite goal. Unfortunately, the leaders of all the streams do not outline a definite and a practically achievable goal. It is like a ship sailing from a port to port without an ultimate destination. Probably, the main problem in putting the ship on a definite…

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‘Winter increases heart attack, stroke risk’

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Cold weather can be dangerous medically: DAK With surge in heart attacks and strokes during winter, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said that sudden drop in temperature increases the risk. Asserting winter as risk for these diseases,President DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement issued here said that the number of heart attack and stroke patients in Kashmir doubles during winter. “Frigid temperatures constrict arteries that increase blood pressure which makes heart attack or stroke more likely,” Dr Hassan said. “Blood tends to be thicker and become stickier during…

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PDP may press for concessions from Centre before tie-up

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Likely to seek deadline for return of 2 power projects With PDP president Mehbooba Mufti maintaining silence about government formation, a top party leader today gave an indication that the party would seek political and economic concessions before forging an alliance, stating that it would first assess 10 months of performance. Sources said PDP leaders were angry with the BJP for not fulfilling the promises made in the “Agenda of the Alliance”, which included the return of two power projects to the state. The PDP was likely to seek a…

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Mehbooba keeps BJP waiting, Ram Madhav returns to Delhi

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BJP leader extended Jammu stay by a day hoping for breakthrough Suspense over the formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir continued on Wednesday as BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav returned to Delhi this afternoon after holding discussions with constituents of the Sangh Parivar over the political developments in the state following the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Ram Madhav along with Avinash Rai Khanna, in charge of J&K BJP, had reached Jammu on Tuesday evening to brief the local leadership about the progress related to forming the new…

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