Month: November 2018

NC, AIP, traders protest SAC move on J&K Bank, BJP welcomes decision

Editor

A day after the Kashmir Economic Alliance threatened to launch an agitation against the decision to turn J&K Bank into a public sector undertaking (PSU), the National Conference (NC) and Awami Ittehad Party protested the move on Monday. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries also extended support to the alliance seeking a rollback of the decision. The NC workers held a sit-in outside the J&K Bank headquarters demanding immediate rollback of the decision of the State Administrative Council (SAC). Addressing NC workers, provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani said the…

Read More

This year forty-four rebels killed cross Shopian

Editor

At least 44 militants were killed in southern Shopian district this year, according to official figures. Among these, 42 were local militants while two were foreigners, the figures suggest. Shopian emerged on the radar of security forces immediately after the killing of popular Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani in 2016. In the protests that followed Burhan’s killing, districts in southern Kashmir remained out of bounds for days together, with militants seen moving around unhindered and posting their videos as well. Before Shopian, Tral area in Pulwama district and Sopore…

Read More

18 Month old baby among 50 injured by pellets, bullets during Shopian clashes

Editor

An 18-month-old baby was among more than 50 persons injured by pellets and bullets in south Kashmir’s Shopian and Kulgam districts on Sunday during clashes between locals and security forces following an encounter with militants in Batagund village. Health officials of Shopian and Kulgam said that they received 51 people wounded by pellets and bullets in the two district hospitals following clashes that erupted after security forces killed six militants in Shopian. Batagund is a border village in Shopian which connects with Kulgam district. Medical superintendent of district hospital Kulgam,…

Read More

Nine killed, scores injured in clashes in south Kashmir

Editor

Six militants of Hizbul Mujahedeen and Laskhar-e-Toiba including three district commanders and a Territorial Army man were killed while another Army man was injured in a gunfight at Batagund village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district Sunday morning. Meanwhile, a teenage boy was killed in subsequent clashes near the gunfight site and as many as 67 others were injured. Police said joint forces of Army’s Rashtriya Rifles, CRPF and Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) at Batagund village of Kapran area in Shopian…

Read More

Three projects on cards to stop Indus water from flowing into Pakistan

Editor

India has decided to fast-track three projects, including construction of two dams, to arrest the unutilised water of its share under the bilateral Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, government officials said. The three projects include the Shahpur Kandi dam project, a second Sutlej-Beas link in Punjab and the Ujh Dam project in Jammu and Kashmir, they said. “These (three) projects were stuck in red tape and inter-state disputes. But it has been decided to expedite the execution of these projects,” one of them added. Under the Indus Waters Treaty, waters…

Read More

Three Questions for Satya Pal about his decision to dissolve the Assembly

Editor

The communique from the Jammu and Kashmir Raj Bhawan, explaining the governor’s decision to dissolve the state assembly, raises many questions. One, It cites the “impossibility of forming a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies.” What common grounds did the BJP have with Mufti Mohd Sayeed’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) when the two came together in 2015? The former prided itself on a Hindutva brand of nationalism, while the latter has never shied from using a soft separatist narrative to mobilise the anti-India…

Read More

Ayodhya On Alert -2 Lakh people expected tomorrow, claim VHP & RSS

Editor

There is heavy security in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya ahead of a Dharam Sabha or religious meeting called on Sunday by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to push for the construction of a Ram temple and a two-day visit beginning today by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Hundreds of policemen have been deployed at the disputed Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Majid site and prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed. Devotees are being allowed darshan at the makeshift temple there in small batches, a senior officer said. The Uttar Pradesh…

Read More

PC alternative to dynastic politics, Grand Alliance was to keep me out of power: Sajad Lone

Editor

Two days after the NC and the PDP staked claim to form a coalition government in J&K, People’s Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Lone on Friday termed the alliance as “opportunistic to stall the entry of a third regional party in Kashmir”. Lone said his party represented the regional aspirations of Kashmiris and would be a change-maker in the next Assembly elections. “It was an opportunistic alliance to stall the entry of a third regional party, but they have failed and we have emerged. We are the new alternative and will…

Read More

Beating Netflix and Amazon BJP become top advertiser on Indian Television

Editor

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the top advertiser on Indian television, placing ahead of Netflix and Trivago, in the weeks and months leading up the crucial state polls and the 2019 general election. Citing the latest data from the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), The Economic Times reported today that BJP beat Vimal Pan Masala in the week ending 16 November, and is ahead of major companies like Amazon and Hindustan Lever. BJP, which was in the second position in the preceding week, is now ranked number one…

Read More

What they achieved being loyal to Delhi for 70 years? Separatists mock arch rivals

Editor

After being dubbed by the BJP leadership as the parties working at the behest of Pakistan in Kashmir, the mainstream parties on Friday came under fire from the separatists who questioned them what have they achieved by being loyal to Delhi for 70 years. This stinging remark against the NC and PDP was made by All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Twitter: “NC, PDP despite doing New Delhi’s biddings at the cost of betraying their own people, have not been able to earn New Delhi’s trust.” He…

Read More