Month: January 2018

Govt chooses Pahalgam over Gulmarg to ring in New Year

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“We celebrated New Year at Pahalgam so that the resort would become popular as a winter destination. Pahalgam also receives good snowfall, besides it has a potential for winter adventure sports activities,” Mahmood A Shah, Kashmir Tourism Director The Tourism Department this year preferred Pahalgam resort over the bustling Gulmarg ski resort to usher in New Year. “This year, we celebrated New Year at Pahalgam to promote the destination for winter tourism. Pahalgam, which primarily is a summer destination, receives lesser tourist footfall in winter as compared to Gulmarg which…

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Muslim women can now perform Hajj without ‘Mehram’: PM Narendra Modi

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Calling the policy allowing Muslim women to perform Hajj only in the company of a male guardian as “injustice”, Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Sunday that his government has removed the restriction following which hundreds of women have applied to travel alone for the holy pilgrimage. According to the ministry of minority affairs, Muslim women aged above 45 will now be allowed to go for the pilgrimage without ‘mahram’ in a group of at least four. In his monthly radio address ‘Mann kiBaat’, Modi said that removal of the restriction…

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Seven dead after militants storm paramilitary camp in Kashmir

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Militants stormed a central reserve police force (CRPF) camp in Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Anantnag highway in an audacious pre-dawn strike on Sunday, killing at least five CRPF personnel, officials said, even as the anti-militancy operation, which continued for at least 16 hours, was suspended for the night. Two militants, both local, were killed in the gunfight while reports said that another militant is still believed to be holed up. A police official said that a group of militants carrying under-barrel grenade launchers and automatic weapons took positions in the…

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