Month: September 2017

Willow trees caught out as culprit for Kashmir lake’s woes

Editor

More than 2 million willow trees–once a key source of wood for cricket bats, fruit boxes and fires–will be cut down around Kashmir’s Wular Lake, as part of efforts to revive the region’s largest flood basin. Overlooked by the Himalayas, Wular, one of Asia’s biggest freshwater lakes, sits 34 km (21 miles) northwest of Kashmir’s summer capital, Srinagar. Known for its deep, pristine waters, the lake has suffered extensive degradation in recent decades. In a 2007 study, conservation group Wetlands International said the lake originally covered an area of nearly…

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Youth Congress gheraoes Deputy CM’s house over holiday row

Editor

Youth Congress activists, led by state president Pranav Shagotra, today gheraoed the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh over the state’s failure to declare the birth anniversary of last Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh a holiday. They were protesting against the BJP leadership, which, they said, failed to convince its ally PDP to declare a public holiday on September 23. They also blocked vehicular movement on the Talab Tillo road. Shagotra said Jammu Deputy Chief Minister had betrayed the people of Jammu, who had voted for the BJP hoping…

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Er Rashid not the only JK MLA to toe pro-militant line; PDP, NC lawmakers also on list

Editor

Even as Independent MLA from Jammu and Kashmir Engineer Rashid has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for toeing a pro-militant line, he is not the only one from the political fraternity to do that. Lawmakers from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC) have also been hailing militants or their ideology. On 26 September, Minister of Public Works, Naeem Akhtar, condoled the demise of the former head of the department, Government Medical College Srinagar, Mehraj-u-Din Munshi, terming his death as a great loss. Munshi was…

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New Delhi behind braid chopping in Kashmir: Jama’at-e-Islami

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Jama’at-e-Islami Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday expressed concern over continues braid chopping incidents in valley and termed it a part of “deep rooted conspiracy”. “For several weeks many parts of valley witnessed braid chopping of teen girls especially in South Kashmir which has left women folk in chaos and confusions. In this atmosphere teen girls are scared from coming out their homes even men are hesitating to come out for Fajr and Isha prayers as they feel more such attacks can happen in their absence,” a statement of Jama’at said.…

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Er Rashid to be questioned in Terror Funding Case by NIA

Editor

Sheikh Abdul Rashid’s name emerged during the interrogation of businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the agency for allegedly providing money to terror groups and separatists in Kashmir An independent lawmaker from Jammu and Kashmir has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a case related to the funding of terror activities in the Valley. Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been called for questioning on October 3, making him the first mainstream politician to be summoned in the case, officials said.…

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J&K gets cold response at tourism awards

Editor

Notwithstanding the claims of the PDP-BJP coalition government that “Kashmir is the warmest place on the earth,” J&K has failed to win accolades at the National Tourism Awards, 2015-16 despite its scenic beauty and hospitality. The National Tourism Awards were presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry at a function organised by the Ministry of Tourism on the occasion of World Tourism Day in New Delhi today. Barring a joint award in the category of ‘Best Airport’ clinched by Srinagar International…

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Kishanganga Project nearing completion, power generation by Jan 2018

Editor

The 330 Megawatt Kishenganga Hydro Electric Power Project (KGHEP) in North Kashmir’s Bandipora District is nearing completion as the executing agency has started filling the reservoir to divert water from Kishen Ganga river into Bonar Stream to feed powerhouse located in Mantirgam. The construction of the over 800 million dollar Hydroelectric Power Project being built along Kishenganga River (Neelam) is in full swing and is expected to complete by January 2018, officials told Kashmir Post. Over six million cubic meters of water is being stored in the 23.86 meter high…

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Need to change J&K discourse: Jitendra Singh

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There is a need to “change the discourse” around Jammu and Kashmir as there is no such thing as the Kashmir issue, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said, stressing that the only “point of debate” is retrieving Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Minister of State in the PMO said this after paying pictorial homage to the martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir Police and slain Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz here yesterday. Lt Fayaz’s Facebook page, letters during his Army training days as well as the photographs of slain J&K Police officers…

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National Green Tribunal annoyed over delay in waste-to-energy plant at Achan

Editor

The delay in commissioning of Jammu and Kashmir’s first waste-to-energy plant in Srinagar has miffed the National Green Tribunal which has warned the state government of slapping an exemplary cost for taking “unjustifiable” adjournments in the matter. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said the plant at Achan was of great public importance as the city was generating a huge quantity of municipal waste–about 450 metric tonnes per day. The green panel remarked that if urgent steps were not taken to set up the plant, then the…

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Pakistan showed a wrong image at UNGA, but Kashmir’s Pellet woes are real

Editor

Before we crack a joke on the Pakistani diplomat using a wrong picture, let’s remind ourselves that the issue of pellet gun usage in Kashmir is a grave humanitarian one for which we soon need to find a suitable answer and an alternative Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi on Saturday made a faux pas at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) – she tried to pass off a photograph of an injured girl in the Gaza strip as that of a pellet victim in Kashmir. The photograph…

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