Month: February 2018

Govt actively pursuing transfer of hydel projects from NHPC: Asiea Naqash

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Minister of State for Power Asiea Naqash said today that the government would actively pursue transfer of hydel projects from NHPC. “As mentioned by the Finance Minister in the Power Budget speech in the year 2015-16 the government will actively pursue transfer of hydel projects from NHPC” she said adding that budget also provided funds for meeting the operation and maintenance cost of power projects to be taken over from NHPC. Replying to a question by Devender Singh Rana, the Minister said that on March 16, 2015 the Deputy Chief…

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Hope for snowy winter fades as dry spell to continue

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PHE Dept asked to prepare drought action plan This year, bright sunny days remained the defining feature in the Kashmir valley during the past month as the temperatures remained quite high and caused a premature departure of the region’s harshest winter period. The day temperature throughout January and for the last few days has been described as “marked high” in the series of weekly reports by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). During the winter’s core period, the mercury touched five to six degrees above the season’s average i.e. 6.3°C in…

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Kashmir is the safest place, say women travelers

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From joy rides on snow scooters to shopping in a floating market in the scenic Dal Lake, Kashmir has it all to make it ‘the safest place and a shopping paradise’, according to a group of women travelers from Hyderabad, who are out on an expedition to Jammu and Kashmir. Keeping aside the insecurities arising after continuous violence in the state, the women travelers visited Srinagar, including Gulmarg and Pahalgam. “I have been here and knew all the media stories on Kashmir are overplayed which creates fear among travelers,” Rashida…

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Another death due of Swine Flu at SKIMS, toll rises to 31

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A 70-year-old woman from Srinagar died of Swine Flu at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Soura on Monday, taking the death toll to 31. Officials at SKIMS told Kashmir Post that the elderly woman had tested positive and was admitted in the hospital a week ago. “She was a case of comorbidities.” “She was being treated for H1N1 influenza in the isolation ward. She was suffering from many ailments and died today,” they said. With her death, the death toll due to H1N1 influenza has risen to 31. “Since…

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AAI Serves termination notice to local shopkeepers at Srinagar airport, Owners protest, Allege bias

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Shopkeepers at the Srinagar airport today staged a protest here after they were asked to vacate the premises by the authorities. The protesters, who gathered at the Press Enclave, alleged that there were being discriminated against as a large number of shopkeepers and salesmen would be rendered jobless. “Some time ago, a tender was floated for leasing out the entire space at the airport to a master concessionaire, who would in turn run it as per his convenience. The qualification for tendering were fixed in such a way that hardly…

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J&K Police hands over Pune woman labelled as suicide bomber to family

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A Pune woman labelled a suicide bomber by the Jammu and Kashmir police has been handed over to her family as there is no case against her, the police have said. “Yes, we have handed her to her family,” Director General of Police S P Vaid told PTI. Sadiya Anwar Shaikh, who turned 18 in November 2017, had travelled to Kashmir from Pune and had been staying in Bijbehara as a paying guest. The police, who claimed she wanted to join the ISIS, detained her on January 25 from South…

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Govt plans to turn Kargil into tourist haven

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The J&K Government has formulated a comprehensive plan to develop Kargil as a tourist destination. Apart from developing the area as an adventure activity centre, the government is making efforts to promote Kargil as a favourite destination for Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims from across the globe. Once a spot of conflict with Pakistan, Kargil is now going to script a new history by becoming a tourist centre. In the year 2017, nearly 2.75 lakh tourists, including foreigners, visited Ladakh and the aim of the government is to lure more visitors…

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Govt re-employing officials, despite ‘Blanket Ban’

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Despite “blanket ban”, the state government says it has re-employed some retired officials on a case-to-case basis due to “administrative exigencies”. This was informed by minister in charge of the General Administrative Department in a written reply to a question raised by Engineer Rashid, MLA, in the Legislative Assembly. Eleven officials have been re-employed by the state government in various departments and they are drawing salaries, travelling allowances as well as accommodation as per the government rules for the regular employees. While most of them have been re-employed on salaries…

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Govt okays withdrawal of stone pelting cases against 9730 people

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Jammu and Kashmir government has approved withdrawal of cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders, between 2008 and 2017, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday. The government action to withdraw 1,745 cases is subject to “certain conditions” and is based on recommendations of a committee constituted to look into the matter, Mufti said. She said her government has also recommended to give amnesty to more than 4,000 people, who are said to be involved in minor incidents of stone pelting over the past two…

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Captain, 3 Soldiers killed, 4 Injured during cross border shelling in Rajouri Sector

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An Indian Army officer and at least three other soldiers were killed in a sudden escalation of cross-border firing on the Line of Control’s Bhimber Gali sector. The BG area that is near Rajouri is a particularly volatile area. For the first time, the Indian Army has also said that the firing was not limited only to small arms or mortars but also to missiles. The nature of the missiles were not specified. But they are likely to have been anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) used in a bunker-busting role. An…

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