The Kashmir valley remained cut off from the rest of the world for the fourth day Friday due to closure of the 300-km-long Kashmir highway due to landslides and fresh snowfall. Closure of the highway has resulted in shortage of essentials, particularly fresh vegetables while the prices of other items, including chicken, has witnessed sharp increase in the Valley. Meanwhile, hundreds of vehicles, including trucks and oil tankers, remained stranded at different places on the highway, including Qazigund on this side of the Jawahar tunnel and Batote, Kud, Nagrota and…
Read MoreMonth: March 2017
800 Minors lodged in Kashmir’s juvenile home in last 6 Years
At least 800 minors were lodged in Kashmir’s lone Juvenile Home here in the past six years, officials said on Friday. Director of J&K’s Social Welfare Department, Hashmat Ali, admitted that ever since the Juvenile Home was set-up in 2011, at least 800 minor offenders including ‘those in conflict with law’ (stone-pelters) were lodged there. “The irony in Kashmir is that we keep a very pessimistic view of everything and that’s a tragedy. The Juvenile Home in Harwan was ranked one among best in India by a team of experts…
Read MoreTassaduq Mufti, Mehbooba Mufti’s brother may contest from Anantnag
With the election process for the Srinagar and Anantnag parliamentary seats in Kashmir beginning next week, major political parties are in the process of finalising their contestants for the byelections, being held less than three years after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the opposition National Conference and the Congress will come out with the list of contesting candidates by early next week before the notification for the first phase (Srinagar) is issued on March 14 and for the second phase (Anantnag) on March…
Read MoreHizbul’s twitter handler posts pro-India tweets, blasts Kashmir separatist leaders
The Twitter handle of banned militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen began posting pro-India tweets that denounced Kashmir’s separatist leadership on Friday morning, astounding many across the Valley. While this development led observers to believe that hackers had taken control of the militant organisation’s handle, the Hizbul leadership has not issued any clarification in this regard. The tweets under contention were critical of several important resistance leaders, including Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front head Yasin Malik and Hurriyat Conference chairperson Syed Ali Shah Geelani. “Syed Ali Shah Geelani is a puppet of…
Read MoreSpring Snow freezes Valley, Highwayshut for third day
Intermittent snowfall across the Kashmir valley today brought back wintry cold conditions to the region and the Srinagar-Jammu highway remained closed for the third consecutive day. The snowfall was recorded in most parts of the Valley and continued intermittently since Thursday evening. Srinagar city, the state’s summer capital, was also covered by a thin blanket of snow today. It was a rare snowfall which took place as the region is in the midst of early spring and harsh winter has already ended. Moderate to heavy rainfall was also recorded at…
Read More16 PDP, BJP leaders appointed vice-chiefs of loss-making PSEs
Despite financial crunch in state, each politician to get Rs1.5 lakh per month Contrary to its claims of taking austerity measures to reduce the burden on the state exchequer, the government today appointed 16 politicians of the PDP and the BJP as vice-chairpersons of the financially overburdened public sector enterprises (PSEs). These politicians are entitled to a monthly salary of Rs 80,000 per month, besides hefty perks and allowances to “serve” the PSEs which are already facing huge losses for the past many years. A senior officer in the General…
Read MoreGeelani’s son-in-law struck deal with Govt, Hurriyat cadres spill the beans
Geelani’s son-in-law in dock Hurriyat (G) cadres have sought explanation from Geelani and asked him to suspend his son-in-law Altaf Fantoosh from the party membership forthwith. Fantoosh’s son Anees Ul Islam was given job in the SKICC when the Hurriyat asked other youth of his age to stage protests on roads and die. Altaf Funtoosh’s son Anees Ul islam was given VIP reception, job at SKICC Even as the Peoples Democratic Party -Bharatiya Janta Party alliance blessed senior separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani’s grandson Anees Ul Islam with a lucrative…
Read MoreFresh Snowfall turns Valley white
Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, and adjoining areas again turned white due to fresh snowfall early this morning resulting in chill. The city, including metered areas, also are witnessing worst power curtailment in more than a decade. Roof and tree tops were under a blanket of snow as people woke up this morning in Srinagar and adjoining areas after rain during the day yesterday. Though roads were also under a white carpet, as the day progressed snow started melting, mainly due to plying of vehicles. Snow could…
Read MoreWe respect Cop’s families; stop harassing Militant’s families: Lashkar Chief
On Tuesday the DGP had said that his “message to militants is loud and clear. They should not drag families of cops into the conflict and instead face us on ground.” Stating that militants respect families of security forces in J&K, Lashkar-e-Toiaba Chief Mehmood Shah Thursday asked Director General Police SP Vaid to ensure that there was no harassment of militants’ families henceforth. While rejecting the statement that militants were harassing families of the forces, Shah, in a statement issued to local dailies said: “Till date the militants have never…
Read MoreByelections to 2 LS seats next month
Polling in Srinagar, Anantnag on April 9, 12; model code of conduct comes into force The Election Commission of India today announced the schedule for holding by elections to the Srinagar and Anantnag Lok Sabha constituencies in the Kashmir valley next month. The polling will be held for the Srinagar seat on April 9 and for the Anantnag constituency on April 12. The counting of votes will take place on April 15, and the election process will be over by April 16.The elections are being held following the resignation of…
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