Year: 2018

E Sreedharan, India’s ‘Metro Man’ declines to be part of Dal Lake expert committee

Editor

India’s ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan, one of the members of the expert committee formed by the High Court (HC) last month to save the Dal Lake, has expressed his inability to be part of the effort. In a letter to the HC, Sreedharan has cited “illness and old age” as the ground for not being able to be part of the expert committee. To look for the “immediate measures” aimed at the conservation of the dying Dal, a division bench of the HC headed by Chief Justice Gita Mittal had,…

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Poll Boycott trend continues for 2nd Phase; Dull voting across Kashmir Valley, brisk in Jammu

Editor

The second phase of urban bodies’ elections in Jammu and Kashmir, being held on Wednesday, covers 384 wards and has 1,094 candidates in the fray. Separatists have given a call for a shutdown in the areas going to the polls. Polling in the second phase of urban local bodies’ elections, covering more than 380 local bodies spread over 13 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, is being held on Wednesday. This phase covers 384 wards (166 in Kashmir and 218 in Jammu) spanning six districts in Jammu and seven in the…

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Voting begins for IInd phase of Urban Local Bodies, 1029 candidates in fray for 263 wards across JK

Editor

Amid tight seceuity arrangements polling in the second phase of Urban Local Bodies began on Wednesday.At 8:00 am 341 votes (211 from male and 130 from females) were cast in Sumbal. The voting started at 6: am and it will end at 4:00 pm. Over 1000 candidates are contesting polls in the second phase in 263 wards spanning 13 districts across the state – seven of which are in Kashmir. The second phase of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) polls would be held in the State on Wednesday and fate of…

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Parents accuse schools of charging hefty amount as donations for admission

Editor

The school education department has failed to regulate the private schools in Kashmir as the elite private educational institutions continue to charge hefty amount as donations from parents at the time of admissions in the school. Most of the private schools in Srinagar and other districts are charging donation in and admission fee in lakhs from the parents for enrolling their kids in the school. The money is charged at the time of admission in Kindergarten or any other class up to 8th. The government has constituted a full-fledged School…

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Low voter turnout in Kashmir Civic Polls the beginning of a downward slide for electoral process?

Editor

Unable to mobilise electoral support, Kashmir’s civic poll candidates on Monday managed to draw a dismal 8.3 per cent turnout during the first leg of the elections in the region. “It wasn’t even a trickle,” remarked an Independent candidate who was in fray for the civic polls in north Kashmir’s Baramulla. The ward he was contesting from had a total of 1,006 votes. His wife, his polling agent and the candidate himself made up the only three votes that were cast on Monday. Unable to mobilise electoral support, Kashmir’s civic…

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Unique elections in India where voters don’t know who the candidates is?

Editor

BJP Lotus to bloom in Kashmir? Srinagar: It is a ghost election with secret candidates and invisible voters. Even before tomorrow’s first phase of polling for Urban Local Bodies, the BJP has already got seven municipal committees in the Kashmir Valley. The party says its 75 nominees have been elected unopposed. 60 percent of 600 municipal wards in 10 districts of the Valley have either a single candidate getting elected unopposed or they remain vacant in the absence of any candidate at all. The civic elections are being boycotted by…

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Most polling stations wear deserted look as people unaware who is contesting

Editor

Most polling stations in Kashmir wore a deserted look on the first day of Urban Local Bodies (ULB) polls on Monday as majority of people in Srinagar and other areas stayed away from voting. The ULB polls are being held in the State including for Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) after a gap of 13 years. In the first phase of ULB polls, most polling stations were seen empty. All four polling stations at Government Boys Higher Secondary School, Humhama which falls in ward 16, were empty and only nine votes…

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45 out of 49 wards in Anantnag, Kulgam didn’t witness any voting

Editor

At least 45 out of 49 wards didn’t witness any voting in the first phase of urban local body elections in twin districts of Kulgam and Anantnag in southern Kashmir on Monday, as contestants were either elected unopposed or there were no contestants at all. According to an official source, in the four wards of municipal committee Kokernag, where the election was conducted amid tight security, only 119 out of 1662 cast their vote, with three wards witnessing just a little over 2 percent turnout. Elsewhere, candidates were either elected…

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Ecstatic Bashir Mir, BJP candidate from Bagh-e-Mehtab knows he has ‘Won’

Editor

At the end of the polling day on Monday this BJP candidate standing from Bagh-e-Mehtab here knew he had won the election to the ward, even though results of multi-phased civic polls are far away. Ecstatic, Bashir Ahmad Mir broke the news of his “victory” over phone to his family. “Don’t worry. The election is over. I have won,” Mir announced, visibly thrilled. As first phase of election to urban local bodies was held across Jammu and Kashmir, Mir stood outside the polling center set-up inside a community hall, eagerly…

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Boycott Beats Ballot, 8.3% turnout in Kashmir, Jammu 65% and Ladakh 62.1%

Editor

Amid heavy security and looming militant threat, the first phase of polling to 30 urban local bodies in Jammu and Kashmir were conducted peacefully on Monday, even as the Kashmir region recorded an abysmally low voter turnout. While the Jammu and Ladakh region recorded a turnout of 65%, only 8.2% votes were cast in the Kashmir region in the first of the four-phase polls held after 13 years. The overall turnout was 56.7% and, barring one incident, was conducted peacefully, said the state information department in a statement. The regions…

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