Drabu slams NC for ‘Whipping up passions’: GST Controversy

With proposed implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Jammu and Kashmir triggering a massive controversy, minister of finance Haseeb Drabu on Thursday said a “false bogey” of dilution of state’s fiscal autonomy has been raised by “vested interests to distort the genuine debate” over bringing the state under the new tax regime. “Far from eroding the special constitutional position, we are seeking to empower the J&K’s Legislative Assembly. If our government has any malafide intent, why would we bring it to the Assembly for a debate,” Drabu said,…

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Youth killed after security forces open fire on stone-pelting mob in Srinagar

In yet another incident, which could flare protests in Jammu and Kashmir, a man was killed after security forces opened fire on a stone-pelting mob, in Srinagar’s Rangreth Thursday evening. The incident happened when a group of youth pelted the security forces’ vehicles with stones at Rangreth. The security personnel opened fire to chase away the protesters in which one person was injured. The deceased, Nazir Ahmad, was rushed to SKIMS (Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences) hospital at Soura in a critical condition where he succumbed on the intervening night…

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Install CCTVs in schools, colleges to curb student protests: Police

With student protests in colleges and schools refusing to die down in Kashmir, the educational institutions in north Kashmir have been asked to install closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras to check what the police have termed as “interference by outsiders” on the premises during law and order problems. In a recent report, accessed by Kashmir Post, Baramulla SSP has conveyed to the authorities concerned “that during the ongoing riots by students in various colleges and schools, it has been noticed by the authorities that there were apprehension of interference by…

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Security tightened across valley after multiple militant strikes

Police blames Jaish for attacks; HM, Al Umar claim attacks After the multiple militant attacks in Valley, security apparatus has been tightened and security personnel placed on high alert while police blamed Jaish-e-Mohammad for series of attacks. Official sources said the alert has been sounded after yesterday’s series of attacks in south Kashmir and a grenade attack in Sopore. They said the security personnel have been asked to remain vigilant to thwart any militant attack. “Besides, the security around forces camps and major government installations has been intensified,” they said.…

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Pak army targets Nowshera, Bhimber Gali sectors

The Pakistani army again violated ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Bhimber Gali and Nowshera sectors today. The Indian Army responded strongly and effectively. The defence PRO said at 5 am, the Pakistani army initiated indiscriminate firing from small arms, automatics and 82-mm mortars in the Bhimber Gali sector. The firing stopped at 5.45 am, he said. “Around 9.30 am, the Pakistani army violated the truce agreement in the Nowshera sector by firing with small arms, heavy automatics and recoilless rifles. The Indian Army also responded,” he…

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23 Degree Colleges without permanent buildings in J&K

Belying the tall claims of successive regimes of Jammu and Kashmir on upgradation of infrastructure in education sector, as many as 23 colleges in the state are without buildings. Officials in the Higher Education Department said around 41 colleges were sanctioned during the past eight years under various centrally sponsored schemes and state plan, however the construction work is yet to be completed on 23 Government Degree Colleges (GDCs) in the state. The officials said the government has started different under graduate courses in all these colleges however the students…

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Rohingyas manage PRCs, buy property in Jammu

A group of Rohingyas, living illegally in Jammu and Samba districts, have managed to buy land on the outskirts of Jammu city by fraudulently getting Permanent Residence Certificates, Aadhaar cards and ration cards. Intelligence agencies have already asked the local authorities to keep a strict vigil on the Rohingyas after some reports published that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba was trying to exploit them for carrying out terror activities in India and Bangladesh. One Sayed Hussain, a Myanmar national, at present residing in the Belicharana area, has managed to buy state land…

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Jaish-e-Mohammed, not Hizbul, behind multiple grenade attacks

Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police (DGP) SP Vaid on Wednesday claimed that the multiple grenade attacks taking place in Pulwama district were the handiwork of the Jaish-e-Mohammad as per intelligence reports gathered so far. Jammu and Kashmir’s top cop on Wednesday claimed that the multiple grenade attacks taking place in Pulwama district were the handiwork of the Jaish-e-Mohammad and not Hizb-ul-Mujahideen as per intelligence reports gathered so far. “Hizb-ul-Mujahideen has a larger presence, but the Jaish-e-Mohammad was behind yesterday’s incidents as per our intelligence report, though the HM…

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‘Deceitful tactic to erode Article 370’, Resistance says GST law ‘Anti-Kashmir’

Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) has called for ‘Kashmir Bandh’ on Saturday (June 17) while the Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) said it would go for ‘Secretariat Gherao’ on the same day to protest proposed implementation of Goods and Services Tax in the state. Chairman of his faction of KTMF, Bashir Ahmad Rather, said “all stakeholders” should observe a complete shutdown on Saturday to protest implementation of GST “which is a direct attack on state’s special status.” “We had already boycotted the meeting with Chief Minister and Finance Minister as…

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Police officer assaults doc, SMHS staff threaten indefinite strike

Doctors at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar have threatened to go on an indefinite strike after a police officer assaulted one of their colleagues on the hospital premises on Tuesday. Dr Owais Ahmad, a resident in the Medicine Department of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital (SMHS) Hospital, was beaten up by a police officer and his guards around 9.30 pm on Tuesday. The incident triggered day-long protests at Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, and one of its associated hospitals, SMHS Hospital, today. “Doctors, interns and medical students have…

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