Year: 2017

29784 PoK refugee families await Central aid

Editor

Only 15 per cent of the Rs 2,000-crore development package released in a year In what could be described as a “casual approach” towards the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir refugees living in the state, the Centre has released only 15 per cent of the Rs 2,000-crore package approved for them last year. Furthermore, only 6,600 families of the total 36,384 living in J&K have been benefited while 29,784 are yet to get the financial assistance. Central Public Information Officer, J&K Division, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ram Krishna Swarnakar said this in response…

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Restrictions in parts of Srinagar & Anantnag to foil JRL-called rally, Top Separatist leaders detained

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Restrictions were imposed in many parts of Srinagar and Anantnag districts on Friday to prevent a protest rally, officials said. The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL), a conglomerate headed by Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik, have called for a rally in south Kashmir’s Anantnag town to “express solidarity with the residents”. “Restrictions have been imposed under section 144 CrPc in Anantnag and six police stations areas of Srinagar district to maintain law and order,” a police officer said. “Restrictions will remain in force in areas falling…

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Geminid meteor shower tonight, Where and how to see the celestial display

Editor

The shower is predicted to be at its maximum at around 2am on December 14, when the Gemini constellation will be almost overhead and the number of meteors can reach up to 120 per hour. Sky gazers in the city and elsewhere in the country can watch a meteor shower display from Wednesday night till the early hours of December 14, if clouds and light pollution do not play spoilsport. The Geminid meteor shower is expected to provide a celestial display and people will have to move out of the…

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At -1.5, Srinagar records season’s lowest temperature

Editor

Srinagar city has witnessed the lowest maximum temperature of the season so far, while the ski resort of Gulmarg was the coldest in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday at minus 9.8 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in Srinagar on Wednesday was 4.2, while the minimum was recorded at minus 1.5 on Thursday, an official of the Met Department said. Slippery roads and frozen water taps marked the morning in the city here as very few vehicles were seen on the roads. People were seen lighting small fires around the frozen…

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Low tourist arrivals has affected our livelihood: Houseboat Owners seek CM’s help

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Kashmir Houseboat owners association (KHOA) Wednesday appealed Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to announce compensation for them in view of low tourist arrivals in Kashmir. “Due to unfortunate unrest, the valley has witnessed total decline of tourism and incurred heavy loss to the tourism sector in general and in particular. The houseboat business due to unfavorable circumstances has suffered massive loss. As a result at present, most of the houseboat families are not in a condition to survive their daily livelihood properly,” said Hamid Wangnoo, convener HBOA in a statement. “Houseboats,…

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Is J&K heading for ‘Bhai-Behan Ki Sarkar’, NC Questions Mehbooba Govt

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National Conference on Thursday raised question on reports of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s brother Tassaduq Mufti’s nominations for the Legislative Council. Earlier, the media reports suggested that government had initiated the process of nominating to the state legislative council. The NC state spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu asked the CM to clarify which of her non-performing, corrupt Cabinet colleagues she was willing to sacrifice to officially create space for a parallel Chief Minister in her Cabinet? In a statement issued from the party headquarters Nawa-e-Subha in Srinagar, Mattu…

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Edu Dept sits on expert committee recommendations to reduce school bag weight

Editor

Carrying heavy bags lead to spinal damage, irreversible back problems in children: Survey Experts recommend combined book system; Dir Edu says decision soon One and a half months on, the State Government is sitting on expert committee recommendations on formulating a policy to reduce the weight of schoolbags of children. The government in this August had constituted a four-member committee comprising of former Head of Department of Education, University of Kashmir, A G Madhosh, former principal of Government College for Women Nusrat Andrabi, ex-principal Abdul Jabbar, and Veena Pandita, in-charge…

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As weather improves, highway opens to one-way traffic

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The weather in the Valley remained mostly dry and the Jammu-Srinagar national highway was opened to one-way traffic today after remaining closed for three days. On Wednesday, 24 flights were cancelled due to poor visibility and snowfall in the Kashmir region. Officials said with the improvement in weather, all flights from the Srinagar airport were on schedule today. The weather department has predicted mostly dry weather for the week with rain or snow in isolated places. Officials of the weather department said that during the next 24 hours, there can…

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Due to official negligence, power starving valley loses 50 MW power every day

Editor

While Kashmir continues to reel under worst power crisis for the past two months now, the power development department has failed to repair a damaged transmission tower in Jammu, resulting in loss of at least 50 MW of electricity to the Valley every day. An official said that one of the 220-kv towers of the Kishenpur-Pampore transmission line, which supplies electricity to Kashmir, was damaged during road widening in Surmoil, Udhampur following heavy rainfall in late July. Since then, the official said, the tower hasn’t been restored. The Kishenpur-Pampore transmission…

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National Green Tribunal clarifies, Amarnath not being declared a silent zone

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NGT clarified that it had only said that any devotee or any individual should maintain silence while standing in front of the “Amarnath Ji Maha Shivling”. Responding to reports which suggested that Amarnath will be made a silent zone, the National Green Tribunal on Thursday clarified the restrictions that it is imposing. The NGT said there is no bar on the chanting of mantras and singing of bhajans inside the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas. The panel clarified that it had only said any devotee or any individual…

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