Month: June 2017

600 Kashmiri Pandits heading for Kheer Bhawani shrine amid high security

Editor

Amid tight security, a group of around 600 Kashmiri Pandits, including women and children, today left for annual pilgrimage to the Mata Kheer bhawani shrine in Kashmir valley. Amid chants of ‘Mata Kheer Bhawani Ki Jai’, the Kashmiri Pandits boarded around 20 State Road Transport Corporation buses and left this morning to pay obeisance at the Mata Kheer Bhawani Temple in Tulmulla area of Ganderbal district. Divisional Commissioner, Jammu region, Mandeep Bhandari and head of the Mata Kheer Bhawani 2017 reception committee and former bureaucrat Kiran Watal, flagged off the…

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Govt locked down schools for 17 days during last 34 working days

Editor

In past month, J&K government has shut down schools across Kashmir for 17 days, often citing ‘anticipated student protests’ as reason for taking the ‘precautionary measure’ of locking down the institutions. In the past 34 days, the students in schools and various colleges have been able to attend only 50 percent classes given the frequent closure of the schools by the government. In the beginning the divisional administration ordered for closure of all the universities, colleges and Higher Secondary Schools (HSS) in Kashmir on April 18 “as a precautionary measure”…

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CCTV footage helps police hunt down terrorists in Sopore, 2 Killed

Editor

The police said the slain terrorists were behind yesterday’s grenade attack on police station in Sopore in which four policemen were injured. Two terrorists were killed today in a brief encounter with security forces at Nathipora village in North Kashmir’s Sopore hours after a grenade attack on Sopore police station. The police and security forces launched a joint predawn operation based on information regarding presence of terrorists in Nathipora village, about 50 km from Srinagar. “We asked the terrorists to surrender, but they refused and opened fire. In the ensuing…

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Pellet guns with deflectors safe for eyes, fault lies with protesters who bend like bowlers: CRPF

Editor

Amid tall claims that deflector-fitted pellet guns won’t target eyes of protesters, paramilitary CRPF Wednesday asserted that they tested the new gadget on a static target and that the fault lies on protesters as they “bend like bowlers.” The CRPF also advocated lessons for the stone pelters to ensure they are not hit in eyes during protests. According to figures available with the SMHS hospital, since Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Bhat and his aide Faizan Muzaffar were killed in an encounter in Tral Saturday last, 34 youth with pellet injuries…

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National highway opens, closed again; 750 vehicles allowed to pass

Editor

The Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened for a few hours this morning, allowing the movement of stranded vehicles, a traffic police officer said. More than 750 vehicles left Jammu for the Kashmir valley till 11 am today, the officer said. “No vehicle was allowed to move to Srinagar after that,” he added. The highway was closed in view of apprehensions of trouble after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmed Bhat’s killing in an encounter with security forces in the Tral area of Pulwama on Saturday. The fears were compounded by Kashmir…

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‘Negative Publicity’ mars Kashmir Tourism

Editor

Negative publicity by electronic media’ coupled with prevailing situation here has put the Kashmir’s tourism sector in dire-straits, with tourist arrivals to the state witnessing 50 percent decline resulting in huge business losses to the people associated with it. As per rough estimates of the tourism department, the tourist arrivals to Kashmir have declined more than 50 percent than a year ago. The figures show that during the month of April this year around 67,000 tourists visited Kashmir, which is less than 50 percent of 1,42,761 tourists, who visited Kashmir…

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No class work in Colleges, Higher secondary schools today: Adminstration

Editor

Class work in degree colleges and higher secondary schools in central and south Kashmir districts shall remain suspended on Thursday, a government spokesman said. Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Farooq Ahmad Lone said there will be no teaching activity in degree colleges and higher secondary schools in Srinagar district on Thursday. But, he said, the staff has to remain present. Meanwhile, district administration Budgam ordered suspension of class work in higher secondary schools and colleges in the district on Thursday. An official spokesman said class work in government degree college Ganderbal, government…

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Major Gogoi not the first, New Delhi has a history of ‘promoting’ violence in the Valley

Editor

A series of controversial and often disdainful remarks by Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat should not be seen in isolation of the tense situation in the Kashmir Valley, where the counter-insurgency grid is resorting to old, worn-out tactics in dealing with new challenges on the ground – making matters even worse. If the growing ranks of militants over the last two years was not a problem enough, the campuses of educational institutions are now turning into battlegrounds. As the army chief himself admitted, there is enough military power to…

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Grenade attack in Sopore, four policemen injured

Editor

Burglars steal ATM containing Rs21 lakh in Anantnag Four policemen were injured when militants carried out a grenade attack against a group of police personnel on Wednesday afternoon in north Kashmir’s Sopore town. A senior police official said the militants lobbed a grenade at a police party deployed near a bank in the main chowk at Sopore town around 4:10 pm. “Four personnel were injured in the explosion,” the official said. The injured policemen were immediately shifted to hospitals, where they were treated for wounds and are reported to be…

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14 JK candidates qualify UPSC-2016 examination

Editor

At least 14 candidates from J&K have qualified the Union Public Service Commission-2016 examination whose result was declared on Wednesday. Dr Bilal Mohiuddin Bhat, a resident Unsoo Waipora in north Kashmir’s Handwara area has bagged the 10th position in the IAS examination. Bhat has earlier qualified the Kashmir Administrative Service examination in 2013 and later qualified the IFS in 2014. He joined as DFO in Forest Department Lucknow and is presently working there. Meanwhile, Nandini K R has topped the UPSC Civil Services examination. She has a BE in Civil…

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