Year: 2016

NHPC rubbishes reports on return of projects to state

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The National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) today claimed that the reports regarding the issue of return of power projects to J&K had been misinterpreted. Saying that an RTI activist had raked up the issue, stating the NHPC had earned Rs 19,000 crore in the past 14 years, the NHPC said the reports had forgot to mention that the corporation had spent Rs 18,215 crore for the development of its projects in J&K. In a statement issued today, the NHPC said newspapers had tried to misguide the local public who were…

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Kashmir Unrest Completed 4 Months and Shutdown Continues

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Father of two girls booked under PSA in B’pora School damaged in mysterious fire at Langate, Zakura Clashes at Kareemabad, Pulwama Mobile Internet remains banned The life in the Valley remained crippled on Monday and the unrest in Kashmir will be completing four months on Tuesday. A school suffered damage in mysterious fire in Langate area in border district of Kupwara while father of two girls was booked under infamous Public Safety Act (PSA) in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district. Shops, business establishments, petrol pumps and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar…

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Ready to talk to anyone to pacify situation in Kashmir: Modi

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Shafiq Mir, the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference, on Sunday expressed satisfaction with the assurance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to normalise the situation in the state where more than 90 people have been killed and thousands wounded in clashes between the protesters and security forces post the encounter of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8. Mir, who was part of the 30-member delegation of an apex body representing 4,000 village panchayats of the state, said the Prime Minister promised them to take all steps…

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Resistance Group to meet ‘Stakeholders’ on future course of protest

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Authorities had on November 2 foiled a similar meeting between the leaders by not allowing Mirwaiz Farooq out of his residence. Senior Kashmiri separatist leaders have decided to hold a meeting of all “stakeholders” on Tuesday to decide the future course of the ongoing protest shutdown in the Valley. After a marathon three-hour long meeting at senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani’s uptown Hyderpora residence, Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik decided to convene a meeting of all stakeholders on Tuesday to decide the future course of the…

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Kashmir must look beyond hartals, but how?

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Figures reveal that the state loses around Rs 130 crore everyday during any strike or curfew Junaid Kathju As a cub reporter, out of sheer curiosity, I once asked ageing Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani, what have we achieved by observing hartal for so many years? Frail yet unrelenting, he replied, if you have a better option, please tell me. I was dumbstruck. On October 16, 2016, the current unrest in Kashmir registered the longest ever continuous hartal of 100 days, to once again remind people in the power…

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To eke a living amid unrest, youth opt for vendor vocation

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Amid relentless shutdown for the past consecutive 121 days, youngsters in Kashmir are opting for vendor as vocation to survive and sustain their families. And for shoppers amidst shutdown and restrictions, vendors are the main source to shop for eatables and other essentials. ‘You name it and they have it’ is the notion on the streets of Srinagar and elsewhere where vendors have occupied every nook and corner of the roads. “Vendors are selling vegetables, fruits, mobiles, SIM cards, households, kitchen wear items, warm clothes, kids wear, soaps, dry and…

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Summer ends, Gloomy winter knocks on door

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The sprawling civil secretariat in Srinagar, headquarters of the state government in the summer capital, is shut and the bureaucracy has been moved to warmer Jammu, the winter capital, for the next six months. It is, officially, winter in Kashmir. As the region moves past a violent summer, consumed by the lengthiest spell of shutdowns and almost daily protests since July 8, the Kashmir valley is heading for a gloomy winter. The state administration has started taking stock of essential supplies required in the winter months, which have witnessed erratic…

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Chenani-Nashri tunnel deadline extended yet again

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Likely to be completed by December 10 Chief Secretary takes stock of the ongoing construction work After missing several deadlines, the much-awaited Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway is likely to be thrown open to public by December 10 this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate it. The fresh deadline is four months later than the time limit set initially for the completion of the project, which was earlier scheduled to be finished by May 21 and then extended to September 25. The fresh deadline was decided…

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Uneasy calm prevails across Kashmir, Future of ongoing Resistance being decided on tuesday

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Shutdown, Clashes continues for 121th days  Future of Ongoing Resistance being decided on Tuesday Shoppers throng Sunday market; traffic jams in city centre Protests in Rainawari; bid to torch schools at Zakura, Hajin Slain teenager’s family protests at Press Enclave Evening clashes in old Srinagar; no untoward incident today: Police Even as the uneasy calm prevailed in Kashmir on the 121st day of the ongoing uprising, Sunday Market here witnessed huge rush of shoppers while the private vehicular traffic was thick on the streets since early morning. There was no untoward…

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Joint Resistance meet underway at Hyderpora, Shutdown continues across Kashmir for 121th Day

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Joint resistance leadership comprising of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik is meeting at Geelani’s Hyderpora residence on Sunday. The meeting started early today after Mirwaiz was released from house detention, sources said. The three leaders who are spearheading the ongoing agitation by issuing weekly protest calendars would discuss the future strategy. Meanwhile, government forces were today deployed in strength in parts of Srinagar in the wake of fresh violence following death of a teenager, even as normal life remained affected elsewhere in the Valley for the…

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