Month: August 2018

Famed Dal Lake may get new lease of life

Editor

The Dal, a famed lake at the heart of Kashmir’s holidaying industry which serves as a quiet host to thousands of tourists, has drastically degraded and its water has become unhealthy. The lake may now get a new lease of life as Governor NN Vohra has taken a proactive position by ordering a series of corrective measures and scientific recourse to conserve it. Once a favourite spot to shoot Bollywood songs, the Dal Lake is now a dirty shadow of its past and its large expanses are now covered with…

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Strike paralyses Kashmir, Chenab valley, Resistance Camp caged, Yatra suspended

Editor

For the second consecutive day on Monday, normal life in Kashmir and parts of Chenab Valley was disputed by the strike called by Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) against challenging validity of Article 35-A in the Supreme Court. People in Srinagar and other parts of Valley observed civil curfew to protest any “tinkering” with the Article 35-A, which grants special rights and privileges to residents of Jammu and Kashmir. The shops, business establishments, government offices, fuel stations and educational institutions remained closed in Srinagar and other district headquarters of Kashmir and…

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Trader’s Body ready to follow Joint Resistance Leadership on Article 35A Row

Editor

Representatives of traders and businesses Monday said they will consult the Joint Resistance Leadership for a future strategy to thwart efforts for abrogation of Article 35A. Several representatives of Kashmir-based trade bodies who hit the streets protesting the “assault” on the special constitutional provision said they were ready to adhere to any programme announced by the JRL to protect special status of the state. A group of traders representing a faction of Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF) who held a press conference here said they will be “consulting the…

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Anxiety deepens as SC defers hearing on constitutional validity of Article 35A

Editor

The Supreme Court today said that a three-judge bench would decide whether the pleas challenging Article 35A, which provides special rights and privileges to the natives of Jammu and Kashmir, should be referred to a five-judge Constitution bench for examining the larger issue of alleged violation of the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A Khanwilkar adjourned the crucial hearing on as many as five petitions “to the week commencing from August 27” on the grounds that they pertained to…

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Protest programme against scraping Article 35A will continue despite deferment of hearing: JRL

Editor

Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) – a conglomerate of separatist outfits – on Monday said the protest programme against assault on Article 35-A will continue despite the deferment of hearing on the state subject law by the Supreme Court. “…as the hearing of the case regarding the hereditary state subject law of J&K has been simply deferred from today till last week of August by the Indian Supreme Court, when the Amarnathji Yatra ends, the protest programs against tinkering with the law will continue as leadership deliberates upon it,” the JRL…

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Supreme Court adjourns Article 35A hearing to last week of August

Editor

SC adjourns hearing of petitions challenging Article 35A, next date of hearing 27 August The Supreme Court of India on Monday adjourned the hearing of the bunch of petitions challenging Article 35A of Constitution of India, which bars outsiders from buying immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir, ANI reported. The apex court said the next date of hearing of Article 35A is 27 August, it said. Meanwhile, life across the Kashmir Valley remained adversely affected for the second consecutive day due to an unprecedented shutdown on Monday. Separatist conglomerate, Joint…

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Shutdown continues across Kashmir Valley as SC to hear pleas on Article 35A today

Editor

The Supreme Court is set to start hearing petitions challenging the validity of Article 35A of the Constitution on Monday. The matter will be taken up amid a statewide shutdown declared by Kashmiri separatists and a number of organisations. Article 35A – which confers special rights on permanent residents – disallows outsiders from settling permanently, buying immovable property or availing of state-sponsored scholarships in Jammu and Kashmir. Separatists believe that removal or dilution of the law will enable “the country’s right-wing groups to change the demographic character as well as…

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Rise in temperature leading drop in Jhelum level

Editor

The day temperature in the Kashmir valley has registered a significant increase and has been several degrees above normal in the last week leading to a drop in the water level of the Jhelum. The maximum temperature across the region, including in the meadow resorts, has been above the normal for the past week, according to the data of the Indian Meteorological department. In Srinagar, the maximum temperature on Saturday was recorded at 35.1°C, which was six degrees above normal. In north Kashmir’s Gulmarg resort, the maximum temperature was 22°C,…

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Unity an eye-opener for Delhi: Joint Resistance Leadership

Editor

The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik unequivocal, united and unanimous verdict by the people of Chenab valley region, Pir-Panjal Region, Kashmir valley to Kargil against planned attack on the identity and distinctiveness of Jammu Kashmir in the garb of 35 A should serve as an eye opener for Indian rulers and policy makers, In a statement, the leaders termed the unity among the people of Jammu and Kashmir on state subject law and unprecedented protest as heartening. “People across the…

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