Year: 2017

Court snubs lawyer for asking Shabir Shah to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’

Editor

A Delhi court today snubbed an overenthusiastic prosecutor for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for asking separatist leader Shabir Shah to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ to prove his patriotism, saying that it was not a television studio. Additional Sessions Judge Sidharth Sharma chided the lawyer for his remark and later allowed the ED’s plea for extension by six days Shah’s custodial interrogation in a decade-old money laundering case. Counsel for the ED Rajeev Awasthi alleged that Shah (64) was ruining the country by using money to fund terror and breached…

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Govt should investigate wealth sources of mainstream leaders: Er Rashid

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Awami Itihad Party (AIP) chief and MLA Langate Er Rashid Thursday urged government to investigate sources of wealth of mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir. He accused some television channels of “character assassination” of people of Kashmir and announced that his party will not participate in any debate on these channels as a mark of protest Disclosing his assets during a press conference here, Rashid urged Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to direct state Crime Investigation department (CID) and Crime Branch to investigate the source of wealth of every mainstream politician.…

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Rafting event organised at Wessun to promote tourism

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The Department of Tourism, Kashmir, and Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir organised a rafting championship at Wessun in Ganderbal district as part of its efforts to promote tourism. Expressing happiness over the successful conclusion of the championship today, Minister for Public Works Naeem Akthar, who gave away prizes on the occasion, said youth should highlight positive stories of the state. Kashmir Tourism Director Mahmood A Shah said the department was vigorously promoting adventure sports in Kashmir. “The adventure tourism also provides opportunity for entrepreneurs. We have been organising training…

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Travel, Trade to resume on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route from Monday

Editor

The cross-Line of Control trade and travel on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route, which was suspended on July 21, will resume from Monday following a meeting between authorities from Jammu and Kashmir and PoK at Kaman Post in Baramulla district on Thursday. The travel on the weekly bus service will resume from Monday, while the trade will resume from Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner, Baramulla, Nasir Ahmad Naqash told PTI. Naqash said the two sides agreed to have regular monthly meetings to sort out any differences arising during the course of the cross-LoC travel…

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Encounter spree continues in battleground South Kashmir

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Major among 2 army men killed in Shopian ambush Two army men, including a Major, were killed while another was injured as militants opened fire on a search party in Shopian district of south Kashmir on Thursday. Major Kamlesh Pandey, Sepoys Tanzin Chhultim and Kirpal Singh were injured when militants opened fire at a joint search party of 62 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), SOG and CRPF at Matribugh Zaipora. The injured soldiers were evacuated to Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar for treatment but Major Pandey and Sepoy Chhultim succumbed to…

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New Delhi must tread carefully Kashmir’s Article 35A conundrum

Editor

Kashmiris are apprehensive that any move to undo Article 35A of the Indian Constitution would open the sluice gates for a demographic transformation of the Valley—an objective propounded by Sangh groups as the ideal solution to the Kashmir problem. In a pointed warning to her coalition partner, the BJP, Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has noted that attempts to undo Article 35A of the Indian Constitution would strike a fatal blow to the nationalists in the state. Mufti was referring to an ongoing case in the Supreme Court…

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Central Water Commission ‘Dumps’ plan to build early flood warning system in J&K

Editor

There has been little improvement in establishment of a modern flood forecast system in Kashmir following the 2014 devastating deluge in the Valley, with the central water commission (CWC) allegedly sitting on several initiatives to build the hi-tech early warning system in the region. A source said the CWC, the main authority for monitoring floods across the state, had cleared Rs 82 crore project to set up telemetry system (automatic level recorder) on river Jhelum at 15 different vulnerable spots to get round-the-clock data about the discharge in the river…

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Artisans protest, seek GST rollback on handicrafts

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The demand to rollback the goods and service tax (GST) on handicrafts grew louder as artisans, traders, manufacturers, exporters and raw material suppliers associated with the sector staged a protest here today. Even as the stakeholders associated with the handicrafts sector are already up in arms against the GST implementation, they threatened to intensify protests in case their demand was not met. “We have been cheated by the government. The Finance Minister had assured us in June that the GST will not be implemented on the handicraft sector. However, when…

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British survey about Kashmir produces ‘Striking Results’, Masses advocate independence

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A survey which a British academic says is the first systematic attempt to establish the opinions of Kashmiris has produced “striking results”. Robert Bradnock interviewed more than 3,700 people in Indian and Pakistani-administered Kashmir to assess their views on various issues. One of the key questions put to respondents was how they saw the future of the territory. Nearly half of those interviewed said they wanted independence. Another question asked for their views over the continuing insurgency. Dr Bradnock – an associate fellow at the Chatham House think-tank in London…

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Kashmir tourism going through worst crisis in last two decades

Editor

The tourism sector in Kashmir is going through its worst crisis in over two decades, with many hotels closing down, staff being laid off and players in the industry looking for alternative businesses or even job opportunities. Tourism, considered as the most visible asset of Jammu and Kashmir’s economy, has been pushed to a cold dark corner, where things are going from bad to worse as the situation in the valley remains tense. Even with hotels offering discounts as high as 70%, occupancy rates are less than 5% at a time…

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