Year: 2017

Petrol price down Rs 2.50, diesel by Rs 2.25 a litre post reduction in excise duty

Editor

Petrol price was on Wednesday cut by Rs 2.50 per litre and diesel by Rs 2.25 following the reduction in excise duty on auto fuels. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 68.38 a litre, down from Rs 70.88. A litre of diesel now comes for Rs 56.89 as against Rs 59.14 previously, according to Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer. The government had on Tuesday cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 2 per litre each to moderate the relentless rise in fuel prices over…

Read More

Boyfriend mistaken as braid-chopper, thrashed

Editor

In a bizarre twist to the ongoing mass hysteria surrounding the alleged braid chopping incidents, the people in north Kashmir today mistook a youth as a braid chopper. A youth in Baramulla was thrashed mercilessly before he was rescued by the police. After preliminary questioning, it became clear that the boy had gone there to meet his girlfriend. The incident happened in the Delina locality of the north Kashmir this afternoon where people caught hold of the youth, identified as Nayeem Ahmad Malla, hailing from Dandusa village of Rafiabad, near…

Read More

GST ‘Rollback’ attempt to confuse people: Industry

Editor

The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Kashmir, (CCIK) today termed the government claims of reducing the GST rates on handicraft items and bringing relief to small traders a “brazen attempt to pull a fast one and confuse the people of the state in general and the business community in particular”. This was stated by CCIK secretary general Mauzam Bakshi after a meeting of the chamber. “While analysing the press statement as well as the official notification, experts have found that no reduction in the tax rates of Kashmir handicrafts…

Read More

Data of over 6,000 key Indian organisations up for sale on Internet: Quick Heal

Editor

Global IT security firm Quick Heal’s Enterprise Security brand Seqrite has discovered an advertisement on DarkNet forum that claims to have access to data of over 6,000 Indian businesses that include Internet Service Providers (ISPs), some of the key government organisations, banks and enterprises. Secret Cyber Intelligence Labs, along with its partner seQ tree InfoServices, tracked the advertisement where the unknown hacker has priced the information at 15 Bitcoins (nearly Rs 42 lakh) and is offering network takedown of affected organisations for an unspecified amount, the company said in a…

Read More

Forces enjoy freedom to act with discretion in J&K under Modi govt: Jitendra Singh

Editor

Union minister Jitendra Singh today said the Narendra Modi government has given security forces in Jammu and Kashmir the freedom to act with professional discretion and this has helped them effectively deal with infiltration bids and skirmishes along the border. “The Modi government has given freedom to the Army and the paramilitary forces (in J&K) to act as per wisdom and professional discretion. As a result, they detected a tunnel and foiled infiltration bids,” Singh told reporters here. He said forces in J&K enjoy the professional freedom to take decisions…

Read More

Cabinet approves 3,375 posts for five medical colleges

Editor

The state government today accorded sanction to the creation of 3,375 posts of various categories for five new medical colleges to be established in various districts. The Cabinet approved 2,025 posts for medical colleges at Rajouri, Baramulla and Anantnag and creation of 1,350 posts to be operative in the financial year 2018-19 for medical colleges of Kathua and Doda, once they are sanctioned by the competent authority. Officials said these posts shall be strictly as per the Medical Council of India guidelines with 675 posts per medical college. The Union…

Read More

Former PDP Panch, Cop among 3 killed in south Kashmir

Editor

A former panch of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a policeman are among three people killed in south Kashmir in last 24 hours. Police said unknown fired from point blank range towards former PDP panch Ghulam Rasool Ganaie at his shop in Nambal village in Mattan area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. Ganaie sustained critical bullet injuries and was evacuated to hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Immediate after the incident took place, police and paramilitary forces launched a combing and search operation in the area to nab the…

Read More

Seven ministers skip cabinet meet, Zulfiqar walks out

Editor

At least seven ministers were marked absent in the cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after 50 days here on Tuesday. A source said that three ministers from the PDP and four from the BJP skipped the meeting. The absentees, the source said, included GhulamNabi Lone (minister for agriculture), Abdul Haq Khan (minister for rural development department), Imran Raza Ansari (minister for youth services and sports), Bali Baghat (minister for health and medical education), Sham Choudhary (minister for PHE, irrigation and flood control), Choudhary Lal Singh (minister for…

Read More

Jaish-e-Mohammad’s Afzal Guru Squad specialises in fidayeen strikes

Editor

Three militants, who attacked the BSF camp outside Srinagar on Monday, were affiliated to Jaish-e-Mohammad’s Afzal Guru Squad, senior police officials said. The squad consists of highly trained militants who have previously carried out several high-profile attacks, including January 2016 attack on the Pathankot airbase and September 2016 Uri attack in which 19 soldiers were killed. In the past three years, it has also carried out attack on Army bases at Mohra and Tangdhar in north Kashmir and at Kathua and Samba in the the Jammu region. The squad specialises…

Read More

Massive search operation launched in Hajin, Internet suspended across Bandipora

Editor

Government forces on Wednesday launched a major Cordon-and-Search-Operation (CASO) in Hajin town of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district. Reports said that army, SOG of Jammu and Kashmir and CRPF launched the joint operation in the town earlier today. They said that massive deployment of forces has been made in the town and house-to-house searches were going on. An official said that the CASO was launched following “specific” inputs about the presence of militants in the area. The crackdown comes in the aftermath of killing of an off-duty BSF soldier by suspected…

Read More