Month: November 2017

State lacks infrastructure, pumping more electricity won’t solve power crisis

Editor

The allocation of additional electricity to Jammu and Kashmir by the union power ministry is unlikely to address the ongoing power crisis in Kashmir as the state doesn’t have required infrastructure to handle the energy quota, an official said on Wednesday. The official, well versed with the electricity system in Kashmir, said: “Not to talk of additional power, we don’t have the required grid capacity and transmission infrastructure either in Jammu or Kashmir to handle the present power demand. The state won’t benefit from this additional allocation because we are…

Read More

‘Kashmir Banega Dar al-Salam’ WhatsApp group admin held

Editor

The police have arrested the administrator of a WhatsApp group on Tuesday from the Srinagar Airport. Junaid Parray, administrator of a WhatsApp group called ‘Kashmir Banega Dar al-Salam’, was wanted in many law and order incidents, the police said. Parray, who belongs to the Noorbagh locality of Srinagar, was also the administrator of WhatsApp groups called ‘Noorbagh rebels’ and ‘Rizwan news 24’. “He was avoiding arrest for one month but today, a special police party of MR Gunj police subdivision arrested him at the airport,” the police said.

Read More

Power Crisis to worsen this winter as faulty transformers may not be repaired

Editor

What could worsen power crisis across Kashmir this winter, the industrial units involved in repairing of damaged transformers have stopped taking fresh orders from the power department due to pending liabilities of around Rs 20 crore with the government. An official told Kashmir Post on Wednesday that since the winter has already set in, a deadlock between the small scale industrial units and the power department is worrying because the transformer damage rate in Kashmir goes up 50 to 60 percent due to overloading. There are around 24 small scale…

Read More

Need to rediscover traditional routes of Kashmir: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

Says they’ll open avenues for greater economic ties, cultural exchanges Days after Beijing envoy Luo Zhaohui suggested alternative routes through Jammu and Kashmir to address India’s concerns regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has favoured the need “to rediscover traditional routes of Kashmir”. “Reinforces the need to rediscover traditional trade routes of Kashmir. Will open avenues for greater economic ties and cultural exchanges,” Mehbooba wrote on Twitter while reacting to the China’s proposal for alternative routes for CPEC via J&K and Nepal. CPEC, flagship project of…

Read More

Celebrating World Heritage Week, while Jammu’s cultural heritage cries for attention

Editor

The rich cultural heritage and untapped tourism potential remains in a state of neglect in Jammu city, famously known as the City of Temples. As the state is celebrating World Heritage Week, attention has been again drawn towards the failure of the successive governments to safeguard some of the finest historical monuments in the state, especially in the Jammu region. Despite having a rich historical past, Jammu, once the seat of the Dogra dynasty, has remained neglected when it comes to preserving its history. World Heritage Week commenced on November…

Read More

Woman forced to remove burqa at Yogi Adityanath’s rally, probe ordered

Editor

The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident of a woman being forced to take off her burqa in public at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s rally, officials said on Wednesday. A video showing the woman taking off her black burqa minutes before the chief minister makes an appearance at the rally on Tuesday has gone viral. “The city magistrate has been asked to conduct an inquiry into it and action will be taken against those found guilty,” district magistrate Surendra Vikram said. The chief minister…

Read More

India plans to fast-track Hydro Projects in Kashmir Region

Editor

Deputy chief minister says hydro power could quintuple Pakistan has previously expressed concern on water shortages India plans to as much as quintuple development of hydroelectric power in Jammu and Kashmir, a northern state that has one of the world’s most militarized borders and faces water disputes. The local government is planning to add more than 5,000 megawatts of power using the flow of its rivers within the next five to six years, according to Nirmal Kumar Singh, the state’s deputy chief minister and minister for the power-development department. While…

Read More

‘Khoje-e-Digar’, 400 year-old tradition at Khanqah-i-Naqshbandia today

Editor

Thousands of people would assemble at the revered shrine of Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) at Khawja Bazar in Downtown here on Wednesday afternoon to offer ‘Khawja Digar’, the centuries old practice of offering congregational Asr (post noon prayers) at the shrine on 3rd Rabi-ul-Awal. Soon after the prayers, the Imam would recite the Awraad-e-Asriya, (a booklet comprising verses of repentance and faith), the great sufi saint used to recite along with his hundreds’ of disciples 700 years ago at Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) was born in 718…

Read More

Govt may reconsider market closure roster

Editor

Buckling under pressure from traders, the government is mulling to keep in abeyance the reverently issued weekly market closure roster. As per the roster, the authorities had fixed different week days as “close days” for traders operating in Srinagar. The roster was issued by the government under SRO-472 on November 16 through the Labour and Employment Department. Before it was implemented, prominent trade and business bodies of Srinagar opposed it on the ground that the “business fraternity” of the city was not taken on board while issuing the new holiday…

Read More

Leh airport security up post terror threat inputs

Editor

The security at the strategic Leh airport in the Ladakh region has been heightened after intelligence inputs about possible terror strikes. Although the police have sought to downplay the “panic” over the inputs, sources said the security agencies guarding the airport have been put on maximum alert following the reports that militants might target the airport. “Every airport in the country is vulnerable to security threats. It would be wrong to comments on the reports which have not been confirmed by the security agencies. Still, we are maintaining a tight…

Read More