Year: 2017

Need to rediscover traditional routes of Kashmir: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

Says they’ll open avenues for greater economic ties, cultural exchanges Days after Beijing envoy Luo Zhaohui suggested alternative routes through Jammu and Kashmir to address India’s concerns regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has favoured the need “to rediscover traditional routes of Kashmir”. “Reinforces the need to rediscover traditional trade routes of Kashmir. Will open avenues for greater economic ties and cultural exchanges,” Mehbooba wrote on Twitter while reacting to the China’s proposal for alternative routes for CPEC via J&K and Nepal. CPEC, flagship project of…

Read More

Celebrating World Heritage Week, while Jammu’s cultural heritage cries for attention

Editor

The rich cultural heritage and untapped tourism potential remains in a state of neglect in Jammu city, famously known as the City of Temples. As the state is celebrating World Heritage Week, attention has been again drawn towards the failure of the successive governments to safeguard some of the finest historical monuments in the state, especially in the Jammu region. Despite having a rich historical past, Jammu, once the seat of the Dogra dynasty, has remained neglected when it comes to preserving its history. World Heritage Week commenced on November…

Read More

Woman forced to remove burqa at Yogi Adityanath’s rally, probe ordered

Editor

The district administration has ordered a magisterial probe into the incident of a woman being forced to take off her burqa in public at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s rally, officials said on Wednesday. A video showing the woman taking off her black burqa minutes before the chief minister makes an appearance at the rally on Tuesday has gone viral. “The city magistrate has been asked to conduct an inquiry into it and action will be taken against those found guilty,” district magistrate Surendra Vikram said. The chief minister…

Read More

India plans to fast-track Hydro Projects in Kashmir Region

Editor

Deputy chief minister says hydro power could quintuple Pakistan has previously expressed concern on water shortages India plans to as much as quintuple development of hydroelectric power in Jammu and Kashmir, a northern state that has one of the world’s most militarized borders and faces water disputes. The local government is planning to add more than 5,000 megawatts of power using the flow of its rivers within the next five to six years, according to Nirmal Kumar Singh, the state’s deputy chief minister and minister for the power-development department. While…

Read More

‘Khoje-e-Digar’, 400 year-old tradition at Khanqah-i-Naqshbandia today

Editor

Thousands of people would assemble at the revered shrine of Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) at Khawja Bazar in Downtown here on Wednesday afternoon to offer ‘Khawja Digar’, the centuries old practice of offering congregational Asr (post noon prayers) at the shrine on 3rd Rabi-ul-Awal. Soon after the prayers, the Imam would recite the Awraad-e-Asriya, (a booklet comprising verses of repentance and faith), the great sufi saint used to recite along with his hundreds’ of disciples 700 years ago at Bukhara in Uzbekistan. Hazrat Khawja Naqshband (RA) was born in 718…

Read More

Govt may reconsider market closure roster

Editor

Buckling under pressure from traders, the government is mulling to keep in abeyance the reverently issued weekly market closure roster. As per the roster, the authorities had fixed different week days as “close days” for traders operating in Srinagar. The roster was issued by the government under SRO-472 on November 16 through the Labour and Employment Department. Before it was implemented, prominent trade and business bodies of Srinagar opposed it on the ground that the “business fraternity” of the city was not taken on board while issuing the new holiday…

Read More

Leh airport security up post terror threat inputs

Editor

The security at the strategic Leh airport in the Ladakh region has been heightened after intelligence inputs about possible terror strikes. Although the police have sought to downplay the “panic” over the inputs, sources said the security agencies guarding the airport have been put on maximum alert following the reports that militants might target the airport. “Every airport in the country is vulnerable to security threats. It would be wrong to comments on the reports which have not been confirmed by the security agencies. Still, we are maintaining a tight…

Read More

Shah-e-Hamdan’s son purchased Khanqah land revenue documents prove

Editor

British-era painting shows no signs of Maha Kali temple at the site The revenue documents produced by Shah-i-Hamdan Mission Society (SHMS) prove that Mir Syed Ali Hamadani’s son purchased the land for the present day Khanqah-e-Mua’lla shrine while a British-era painting shows no signs of Maha Kali temple’s existence at the site. SHMS came up with original revenue agreement under which Shah-e-Hamdan son, Mir Muhammad Hamdani, purchased the land for the shrine from the then ruler, Sikander Shah Miri. The development comes following the blaze of Khanqah-e-Mua’lla dome with some…

Read More

Appointment of J&K interlocutor shows Centre’s intent to engage

Editor

Government sources said the appointment of Dineshwar Sharma as interlocutor comes at a time when local support for militancy is on the decline. The appointment of an interlocutor for Kashmir does not mean the government would be lax on dealing with issues firmly but it shows the intent of the Centre to engage with civil society groups in the state, senior government sources said on Tuesday. The sources said the government is anticipating heightened support for disruptive activities from across the border, and 66 “terrorists”, trying to infiltrate across the…

Read More

Clear stand on Kashmir, Rohingya: Amit Shah to Rahul Gandhi

Editor

Addressing a rally in poll-bound Gujarat, Amit Shah said Rahul Gandhi and the Congress should state what the situation in Kashmir was when the party was in power. BJP president Amit Shah today asked Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi to make his stand clear on Rohingya Muslim refugees as well as the issue of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a rally in poll-bound Gujarat, he said Mr Gandhi and the Congress should state what the situation in Kashmir was when the party was in power. “Terrorists killed our soldiers…

Read More