Month: July 2020

All you need to know about J&K’s new Domicile Law

Editor

Difference between Article 35A and 3A of J&K Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020: Article 35A of the Indian Constitution was an article that empowered the Jammu and Kashmir’s state legislature to define “permanent residents” of the erstwhile state and provided employment opportunities only to those permanent residents. On the other hand, Section 3A of the J&K Reorganisation (Adaptation of State Laws) Order 2020, under the J&K civil services (decentralisation and recruitment) Act, defines “Domicile” for the purpose of appointment to the post carrying a pay scale not more…

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Scrapping of Article 370 and developments of J&K from 2002 onward added to Class 12 syllabus

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The NCERT has revised a chapter in its Class 12 political science textbook to drop a paragraph on separatist politics in Jammu and Kashmir and to add a brief mention of the scrapping of its special status last year. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the chapter in the textbook “Politics in India since Independence” for the academic session 2020-21. While the topic “Separatism and Beyond” has been deleted from the chapter, the scrapping of Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state of Jammu and…

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J&K unit of BJP to celebrate abrogation of Article 370 and state bi-furcation anniversary

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The J&K unit of BJP has decided to celebrate the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 and bi-furcation of the erstwhile state of J&K into two UTs in a big way. The 15-day celebrations will be held from August 5 to 20 and during this period the party will organise various programmes across J&K and Ladakh. On Wednesday, a meeting of senior leaders of the party was held in which the party decided to rope in beneficiaries of the abrogation of Art 370, especially Valmikis, Gorkhas and west Pakistani…

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People more likely to contract coronavirus at home: Study

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By age group, the infection rate within the household was higher when the first confirmed cases were teenagers or people in their 60s and 70s. South Korean epidemiologists have found that people were more likely to contract the new coronavirus from members of their own households than from contacts outside the home. A study published in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 16 looked in detail at 5,706 “index patients” who had tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 59,000 people who came into…

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As coronavirus spike continues, Six-day strict lockdown announced for Kashmir Zone

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The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday announced complete lockdown in areas of Kashmir zone which have been categorised as red zones due to spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. According to news agency ANI, the complete shutdown will be observed in all such areas of the Kashmir zone, except Bandipora, from Wednesday to July 27. “The agriculture/horticulture and construction activities will continue during this period,” the Information and Public Relations department of Jammu and Kashmir said in an order. Jammu district commissioner Sushma Chauhan has already announced partial…

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Unlock 1.0: Pandemic curve gets steeper, with 608 new cases tally crosses 15000 mark in J&K

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The Covid-19 pandemic curve has got steeper in Jammu and Kashmir since the UT administration began ending the lockdown on June 8 as over 72 percent of the nearly 15,000 positive cases have been recorded for the period. In the 43-day-long Unlock 1.0 and Unlock 2.0 (till July 20), around 11,000 positive cases have been reported, while there has been a spike in the Covid-related deaths as well. The number of deaths went up to 255 on July 20 from 41 on June 7. In J&K, the first positive case…

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Annual Amarnath yatra cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic

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Decision was taken in view of surge in Covid-19 cases Shri Amarnnath shrine board of Jammu and Kashmir UT on Tuesday cancelled the annual Amarnnath yatra 2020 citing surge in Covid-19 cases.  Highly placed Sources said, that the decision was taken during a meeting of Shrine Board in which Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor GC Murmu and other officers took participation which was held on Tuesday. Sources added that the decision was taken in view of the massive spike in Covid-19 cases and as a precautionary measure to safeguard lives…

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Will fight for the restoration of J&K’s Special Status, won’t let BJP succeed in “Mission to Grab”: PDP

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With its president behind bars, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday passed a resolution in Jammu, the first since the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision to revoke J&K’s special status, and “pledged to fight for the restoration of the special constitutional and legal status of the erstwhile State.”J&K should be made a bridge of peace and friendship instead of a battleground between neighboring countries. There is no alternative to the roadmap and the vision of [PDP patron] late Mufti Muhammad Sayed, who advocated dialogue and reconciliation between communities, within…

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From July 21, Highway travel to get costlier as NHAI will start toll collection at Lakhanpur

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Amid growing public outcry and protests, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is starting a new toll plaza at Lakhanpur—the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir—in Kathua district from July 21, the day this year’s curtailed Amarnath Yatra is proposed to begin. The NHAI has signed a Letter of Agreement (LoA) for operationalisation of toll plaza at Lakhanpur with the Haryana-based Ranchordas Company. With this, all Kashmir-bound tourists and Vaishno Devi pilgrims entering or leaving J&K will now have to shell out extra money on toll at three different toll posts—Thandi…

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Amid complaints of negligence, doctors face attacks in hospitals leading to Protest & Strike

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As the spike in COVID cases has burdened the already stressed health infrastructure, doctors have come in the line of fire amid complaints of medical negligence from patients and attendants. While the doctors are demanding security after an increase in confrontations and attacks from attendants, many are questioning the role of doctors in the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Videos of both doctors being attacked in hospitals and those of attendants highlighting the poor infrastructure and medical negligence have, of late, been doing the rounds on the social media. “Confrontations…

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