Day: February 7, 2018

Hamulla: The Bat manufacturing village of Kashmir

Editor

Like in the Kashmir Valley, Sopore town and Pampore town are famous for the production of apples and saffron respectively. Similarly, in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, village identified as Halmulla Sangam, recognizes its identity for manufacturing cricket bats. The vital part of the Halmulla Sangam is that this entire village consisting of around 100 families is associated with cricket bat making business. Most of the families are those who have been associated with the cricket bat making industry for the last 40 years. People associated with this business said…

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Number of Kashmiris joining terror outfits steadily increasing: Mehbooba Mufti

Editor

In a written reply in the state assembly, she said that 126 local men joined terrorism in 2017. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday admitted that the number of local Kashmiri youngsters joining terrorism is steadily going up. In a written reply in the state assembly, she said that 126 local men joined terrorism in 2017. “The number of youth who joined militancy in 2017 is 126, while in 2016 the number was 88 and in 2015, it was 66,” she stated. Mehbooba had earlier vowed to…

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Toll abolishes on private-owned cars at two Kashmir based toll posts

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir government today said two major toll posts have been abolished, while non- commercial Light Motor Vehicles (LMVs) entering and leaving the state have been exempted from payment of basic toll. As a follow up to the budget announcement, the government has notified that toll posts established in Kashmir division at Lower Munda in district Anantnag and Borehallan Heerpur in district Shopian have been abolished. “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Jammu and Kashmir Levy of Tolls Act, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir hereby…

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Mehbooba Mufti snubs BJP, vows to carry forward peace agenda

Editor

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said today that the government would initiate dialogue with all stakeholders on the Kashmir issue. She out rightly rejected its coalition partner BJP’s stand that no talks should be initiated at this point of time. In a written reply to a question by Ali Mohammad Sagar, NC member, the CM, who is the in charge of the Home Department, said initiating dialogue with all stakeholders was clearly mentioned in the Agenda of Alliance of the coalition government. She said the Centrehad recently taken several steps to…

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Pakistan raises Kashmir in UNSC, asks for review of 1948 resolution

Editor

Other Council resolutions relating to Kashmir were about a commission to oversee the plebiscite and, in 1957, on a UN representative mediating between the two neighbours. Pakistan has brought up the Kashmir issue in the Security Council, accusing it of “selective implementation” of its resolutions. “Nothing undermines the credibility of the Council more than selective implementation of its resolutions,” Pakistan’s Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi said on Tuesday during a session on its working methods. “The Council should therefore periodically review implementation of its resolutions, especially on longstanding issues like the…

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Over 14,000 bunkers to come up for civilians along Indo-Pak border

Editor

Amid flare-up along the western border with continued firing from the Pakistani side, the Central government today announced that it had approved the construction of as many as 14,460 bunkers for the civilians living in forward areas along the Indo-Pak border in J&K. Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Hansraj Ahir said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had approved a proposal for the construction of 14,460 bunkers to mitigate the hardships of the people living along the International Border and the Line of Control due to cross-border firing.…

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Khatamband: Kashmir’s finest craft struggling for survival

Editor

‘It is an art of joining together geometrical shaped wood to construct intricate ceiling’ In Eid Gah downtown area of summer Srinagar, Imran Ahmed Sofi is carving intricate designs on the small hexagonal shaped wood. Next to him, sits his worker who with every stroke smoothen the wood so that designs could easily be carved. The room is full of wood pieces, Khatamband designs and the dust lingers in the air. Imran has been associated with the craft of Khatamband from sixteen years. Watching his father and grandfather doing the…

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Possibility of Aadhaar misuse cannot be sufficient reason to strike down law: Supreme Court

Editor

Congress leader Kapil Sibal was appearing for one of the 30 petitioner who have challenged the Aadhaar law in the top court. The possibility of misuse of Aadhaar law cannot be a reason for striking it down, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday while hearing petitions challenging various government notifications making the 12-digit unique identity number mandatory for various social schemes and services, including some provided by private firms. Justice DY Chandrachud, one of the five judges on the bench hearing the Aadhaar case said: “There are a number of…

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Militant attack on hospital a new low in Kashmir valley

Editor

The audacious terror attack at SMHS hospital in Srinagar on Tuesday where terrorists killed two policemen and freed a fellow Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist underscored a dark feature that Kashmir has become a more violent and dangerous place where even hospitals also figure as targets. This attack is much more serious and alarming than the usual encounters and clashes because the terrorists have touched a new low in choosing their targets at places like hospitals. It is a cumulative effect of pro-militancy narrative and actions of the past few months where some…

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Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave valley due to “Situation of Fear”: J&K Govt

Editor

“I want to say from the core of my heart and put it on the record in the house that they (Kashmiri Hindus) were forced to leave due to a situation (of fear and insecurity)”, Minister for Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, Javed Mustafa Mir told the Legislative Council today. Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and hearths in the valley due to an environment of insecurity and fear, a senior minister in the Mehbooba Mufti government said today. “I want to say from the core of…

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