Year: 2017

Er Rashid to be questioned in Terror Funding Case by NIA

Editor

Sheikh Abdul Rashid’s name emerged during the interrogation of businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the agency for allegedly providing money to terror groups and separatists in Kashmir An independent lawmaker from Jammu and Kashmir has been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a case related to the funding of terror activities in the Valley. Sheikh Abdul Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, has been called for questioning on October 3, making him the first mainstream politician to be summoned in the case, officials said.…

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J&K gets cold response at tourism awards

Editor

Notwithstanding the claims of the PDP-BJP coalition government that “Kashmir is the warmest place on the earth,” J&K has failed to win accolades at the National Tourism Awards, 2015-16 despite its scenic beauty and hospitality. The National Tourism Awards were presented by President Ram Nath Kovind to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry at a function organised by the Ministry of Tourism on the occasion of World Tourism Day in New Delhi today. Barring a joint award in the category of ‘Best Airport’ clinched by Srinagar International…

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Kishanganga Project nearing completion, power generation by Jan 2018

Editor

The 330 Megawatt Kishenganga Hydro Electric Power Project (KGHEP) in North Kashmir’s Bandipora District is nearing completion as the executing agency has started filling the reservoir to divert water from Kishen Ganga river into Bonar Stream to feed powerhouse located in Mantirgam. The construction of the over 800 million dollar Hydroelectric Power Project being built along Kishenganga River (Neelam) is in full swing and is expected to complete by January 2018, officials told Kashmir Post. Over six million cubic meters of water is being stored in the 23.86 meter high…

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Need to change J&K discourse: Jitendra Singh

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There is a need to “change the discourse” around Jammu and Kashmir as there is no such thing as the Kashmir issue, Union Minister Jitendra Singh has said, stressing that the only “point of debate” is retrieving Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Minister of State in the PMO said this after paying pictorial homage to the martyrs of Jammu and Kashmir Police and slain Army officer Lt Ummer Fayaz here yesterday. Lt Fayaz’s Facebook page, letters during his Army training days as well as the photographs of slain J&K Police officers…

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National Green Tribunal annoyed over delay in waste-to-energy plant at Achan

Editor

The delay in commissioning of Jammu and Kashmir’s first waste-to-energy plant in Srinagar has miffed the National Green Tribunal which has warned the state government of slapping an exemplary cost for taking “unjustifiable” adjournments in the matter. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said the plant at Achan was of great public importance as the city was generating a huge quantity of municipal waste–about 450 metric tonnes per day. The green panel remarked that if urgent steps were not taken to set up the plant, then the…

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Pakistan showed a wrong image at UNGA, but Kashmir’s Pellet woes are real

Editor

Before we crack a joke on the Pakistani diplomat using a wrong picture, let’s remind ourselves that the issue of pellet gun usage in Kashmir is a grave humanitarian one for which we soon need to find a suitable answer and an alternative Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi on Saturday made a faux pas at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) – she tried to pass off a photograph of an injured girl in the Gaza strip as that of a pellet victim in Kashmir. The photograph…

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Right time for talks as peace returning to state: Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

“The shoots of peace have started sprouting. They have to be watered and fertilized, and I am sure that the fruits of peace will follow,” Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said. Shoots of peace are “sprouting” in Jammu and Kashmir and the government is now working towards ensuring that the people in the state can be uplifted with dignity, state Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said. In an interview to news agency PTI last night, the 58-year-old chief minister welcomed recent attempts by the Centre and the ruling party to reach…

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Kashmir to celebrate its chief fruit with ‘Apple Year’

Editor

A series of promotional activities are scheduled over the next two years as the Jammu and Kashmir Government prepares for the launch of ‘Apple Year’, dedicated to the chief fruit of region. The Apple Year, which was announced by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti several months ago, will begin with the harvesting season later this week or next week. It is the first detailed initiative by the state government dedicated to the promotion of the fruit industry, which is the backbone of the region’s economy with an annual turnover of Rs…

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Qayoom Najar longest surviving Hizb commander killed near LoC

Editor

A top militant commander of Hizbul-Mujahideen, chief of ‘Lashkar-e-Islam’ and a longest surviving militant in Kashmir Abdul Qayoom Najar was killed in a gunfight with the army soldiers near the Line of Control in Uri, Baramulla on Tuesday, officials said. Addressing a press conference here, general officer commanding of army’s 19 infantry division RP Kalita said: “Security agencies keep on receiving regular inputs about the infiltration of militants along the LoC in Uri. It was due to these inputs that troops foiled an infiltration bid at Maidan Nallah in Uri…

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Negative publicity kept visitors away from Kashmir, Ladakh got tourism windfall

Editor

As Kashmir tourism fails to recuperate after being hit by unrest in 2016, Ladakh has recorded an increased footfall of foreign as well as domestic tourists. Although the turbulence in the Kashmir valley cast a shadow over the tourism sector in Ladakh, the unrest has turned out to a blessing in disguise for Ladakhi people as domestic tourists cancelled their trip to Kashmir and travelled to the cold desert. “The unrest impacted the Ladakh’s tourism in both negative and positive way. Due to the trouble in the Kashmir valley, this…

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