Year: 2017

Uncertainty, Harsh weather cast shadow on Zojila tunnel project

Editor

Bidders have shown reluctance to execute the ambitious South East Asia’s longest Zojila tunnel project, connecting Kashmir with the strategic Ladakh region, owing to “uncertainty” in the Valley and “very hostile weather conditions”. This is in spite of change in the mode of execution from the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) (Annuity) basis to Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) basis. Under the new EPC model, the government is fully funding the project. “Uncertainty hangs over the execution of the project as bidders have shown strong reluctance to the project due to large-scale tension…

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6 Hydel Projects coming up on fast track over Chenab

Editor

Undeterred by Pakistan warnings, India has expedited work on six major hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir to be constructed on the Chenab river flowing into the neighbouring country. The installed capacity of these six power projects will be around 6,000 MW and these schemes will enhance the hydropower generation of water-abundant J&K approximately by three times from the current level of 3,220.96-MW, including 2,009 MW under the Central sector. The six projects winning technical approvals in the past few months are 1,856-MW Sawalkote, 560-MW Kawar, 1,200-MW Bursar, 1,000-MW Pakal…

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Resistance leaders detained, Barred from briefing media

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Police today arrested senior separatist leaders — Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik — after disallowing them to hold a joint press conference. Before being whisked away by the police to the nearby Humhama police station and placing them under preventive custody, the three leaders staged a protest and called for boycott of the forthcoming by elections. Sources said the three separatists were scheduled to discuss the emerging political situation in the Valley and the response of the “joint resistance” to the bypolls.…

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Hizb issues ‘Last Warning’ to Police, Informers

Editor

Hizbul Mujahideen’s top commander Zakir Bhat alias Musa has again threatened JK policemen and informers while warning of an upcoming “war” in the region in a video released online on Tuesday. “Many people say the local policemen are our own. Don’t think they (policemen) are our brothers. They are supporting infidels and this is my last warning before the beginning of war,” Zakir says in the video. Zakir, an engineering student before joining the militancy in 2013, also urged his supporters to reject looking at the United Nations Organisation (UNO)…

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Killings in Kashmir, Pellet guns figure in US report

Editor

A report by State Department of United States about human rights situation in different countries has highlighted the civilian killings in Kashmir during 2016 uprising and rampant use of pellet shotguns. The report “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” for 2016 has been submitted to US Congress by the Department of State in the first week of March. The report said the use of “shotguns loaded with birdshot by security forces to control crowds, including violent protests, in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in 87 civilian deaths and blinded hundreds more,…

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Burhan’s Successor spells out ideological shift in militancy

Editor

In fresh video, Zakir Bhat asks people to pick up arms for Islam A young militant commander based in south Kashmir in his latest video statement has distanced the region’s militant movement from the “war of nationalism”, saying that the fight was for “supremacy of Islam”. The video statement released by Hizbul Mujahideen commander Zakir Rashid Bhat, alias Musa, is the newest indication of a serious ideological shift in the region’s militancy. The video was shared on social media sites and fits into the ideological debate that separated state-sponsored militant…

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Mass copying, Goof-ups put JKBOSE credibility at stake

Editor

The credibility gap of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE), which has been mandated to conduct public examinations of secondary and higher secondary classes, and prepare results of examinations, has hit it hard. The recent instances of mass copying, irregularities and goof-ups at the examination centres set up by the board for Classes X and XII exams have exposed the vulnerability to “fool-proof” system which, according to experts, needs immediate remedial measures to restore the faith of stakeholders in the “reliability” of the institution. In a major…

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In name of Kashmir promotion, Tourism Deptt spends crores on official’s outside tours

Editor

Sources informed Kashmir Post that despite the department failing to bring any tourists to the state, it is busy spending lavishly on visits of its officials to outside places. With no visible outcome so far, Tourism Department has spent about Rs 4 crore sponsoring tours of its officials to different cities of the country, in the name of holding promotional events. In a revelation, the tourism department has spent Rs 3.87 crore on promotional events -including expenses borne on facilitating visits of its officials to outside places, while the tourist…

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National Conference, Congress to jointly fight LS bypolls

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Farooq Abdullah to contest from Srinagar constituency, Ghulam Mir from Anantnag The state’s two main opposition parties, National Conference and Congress, on Wednesday announced that they would jointly contest the upcoming by elections to the two parliamentary constituencies in the Kashmir valley and field their senior most leaders. The National Conference and Congress have also agreed on a seat-sharing agreement, said NC working president Omar Abdullah while addressing a press conference attended by several leaders of the two parties. Farooq Abdullah, the most senior leader in the NC and the…

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Mehbooba Mufti pitches for withdrawal of AFSPA from some areas

Editor

Ahead of the by-polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday raked up the issue of revocation of controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from some areas and “see the impact”. Mufti, who has taken a strong position against militants, pitched for revocation of AFSPA, saying she required a “window of peace” for ensuring good governance to “shrink the space” occupied by militants. She said PDP and BJP had come together on an Agenda of Alliance which included revocation of AFSPA. “We should not shy away…

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