Day: December 19, 2017

Joint Resistance Leadership calls for shutdown tomorrow against civilian killings

Editor

Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) has called for a shutdown on Wednesday to protest against the killing of three civilians in firing by government forces. A spokesman appealed for a complete shutdown tomorrow against the killings of Misra Bano, Asif Iqbal and Beauty Jan. Bano was killed during an encounter between militants and government forces in Younso village of Handwara while Iqbal was killed in alleged army firing in Kupwara. Beauty Jan was killed after being hit by a bullet fired by government forces to disperse protesters near the site of…

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Gujarat poll results gave a massive jolt to BJP: Rahul Gandhi

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Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the results in the Gujarat assembly polls had given a massive jolt to the BJP, as it is a clear signal that their political propaganda is no longer working on the people. “BJP has received a tremendous blow in Gujarat. PM Modi keeps trotting out the party line but the people of the country are no longer listening,” Rahul told reporters. “I got to know that people in Gujarat do not approve of Modi ji’s model, the marketing and propaganda is very good…

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Youth clash with forces near gunfight site in Shopian, Woman killed scores injured

Editor

Clashes erupted near the site of gunfight in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Tuesday where an operation is underway since last evening. Two militants were killed in the nocturnal gunfight while the search operation is on to look for third militant believed to be hiding in the debris of the house in Batmuran village. The house in which the militants were hiding was razed to ground after forces blasted it with IEDs. Reports and eye witnesses said that youth hurled rocks at the forces to disrupt the operation. However…

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SMC seals structure built on temple land in Barbarshah

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Following the High Court’s reprimand, the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) has taken action against land mafia involved in encroachment and illegal construction on temple land belonging to displaced Kashmiri Hindus. The corporation has stopped the construction of a hotel-cum-shopping complex on the land belonging to the Mandir Devi Bajrang in the Barbarshah area of Srinagar. It has also sealed the structure. The shrine was abandoned in 1990 when 3.50 lakh Hindus left the Valley at the onset of militancy. Till the Deputy Commissioner gets the property demarcated as per the…

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Shrine board to take legal recourse against NGT decision on Amarnath

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Governor calls for emergency meeting on January 9 to discuss further action Days after the National Green Tribunal imposed certain restrictions with regard to the conduct of the Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the affairs of the pilgrimage, has decided to challenge the NGT decisions legally. In this context, Governor NN Vohra, who is chairman of the SASB, has convened an emergency meeting of the shrine board on January 9, 2018, to discuss the recent directions passed by the NGT…

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Baghat Gymkhana lifts Shaheed-e-Milat T20 trophy

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Baghat Gymkhana thrashed Parimpora XI and won the 7th Shaheed-e-Milat T20 Cricket Tournament played at Islamia College Srinagar. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was the chief guest on the occasion and witnessed the final match. Overall 32 teams participated in the tournament. Baghat Gymkhana won the toss and elected to bat first. It set a modest target of 116 runs for Parimpora XI. Parimpora XI scored 87 runs and Baghat Gymkhana won the match by 29 runs to lift the trophy. Irfan was adjudged man of the match while Umar Malik was…

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16 injured in Reasi road accident

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At least 16 bus passengers were injured in a road accident in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district on Monday, police said. The accident occurred when the bus, coming from Dharmari village to Challad village, went out of the driver’s control and rolled down into a gorge near Pattian in Reasi. “A rescue team of police and civilians immediately reached the spot and all the injured were shifted to hospital,” said a police officer here.

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After Saudi Arabia lifts ban, J&K govt favours reopening cinemas in Valley, NC opposes

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After Saudi Arabia government decided to lift a decade-long ban on opening of cinema halls in the country, both the partners of coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir have favoured reopening of the cinema halls in the Valley. “I welcome the decision by Saudi Arabia to lift a decade-long ban on cinemas as part of a series of social reforms by the crown prince. Introspection and self reform are marks of a progressive society,” Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said after the Saudi government lifted ban on opening…

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Hindus not a minority in JK, welfare schemes only for ‘Needy’: State govt to SC

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Jammu and Kashmir is the lone Muslim-majority state in India. According to the 2011 Census, Hindus account for 28.43% of the state’s population at 3.56 million. Jammu and Kashmir does not acknowledge Hindus as a “minority” in the state as it goes by the Centre’s national list of minorities, according to an affidavit filed by the PDP-BJP coalition government in the Supreme Court last week. The state government told the top court that benefits of Central schemes would only be extended to “meritorious” and “needy” members of those communities that…

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Kargil, Pahalgam experience coldest night of season

Editor

Cold wave tightened its grip over Kashmir as the night temperature decreased by several degrees at most places owing to dry weather, even as the weather office predicted a further drop in the minimum temperature. The night temperature dropped at most places in Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, last night, an official of the Meteorological Department here said. He said Pahalgam, in south Kashmir, and Kargil, in Ladakh region, experienced the coldest night of this winter so far last night. The mercury at Pahalgam decreased nearly six degrees from minus…

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