November 2020 | Page 2 of 6

Eviction of native Gujjar, Bakerwals from forests is illegal as per Indian and International law

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Editor

As the administration in Jammu and Kashmir starts its eviction drives to push the Gujjar and Bakwerwals out of their traditional homes, local and international law binds the government against it. But what is the way forward for these communities? Muzamil Jaleel The Forest Rights Act of 2006 recognises the rights of Forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST), and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD), to forest lands and produce except timber. The law is informed by the understanding that FDST and OTFD are “integral to the very survival and sustainability of…

Kashmir Valley likely to receive fresh Rain, Snowfall: India Meteorological Department

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Editor

The Kashmir Valley is expected to receive fresh rain and snowfall in the upper reaches as temperatures are likely to go below the freezing point, India Meteorological Department said . It received rain and the snowfall last week as well. Also read | Snowfall strands Adityanath, Trivendra Singh Rawat in Kedarnath for hours The resort town of Gulmarg recorded the lowest minimum temperature of minus 6 degrees Celsius. Jammu and Srinagar recorded minimum temperatures of 9.5 degrees Celsius and 0.8 degrees Celsius. Kashmir received first heavy snowfall in the beginning…

Four militants killed, Policeman injured in gun battle in Nagrota

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Editor

Security forces gunned down four terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad in a gunfight near Nagrota town in the Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. A policeman was also injured in the gun battle, which started around 4.50am near the toll plaza in the Ban area of Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Officer of the Special Operations Group–Kuldeep Raj, 32, of Akhnoor in Jammu district was injured in the exchange of fire. He was taken to Government Medical College and Hospital in Jammu with injuries on the neck.…

Twelve civilians wounded in Kakapora Grenade Blast

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Editor

Twelve civilians were wounded in a grenade blast in Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. Locals said that suspected militants on Wednesday evening hurled a grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) party in main chowk Kakapora which missed the target and exploded on the roadside. “Twelve civilians were injured in the blast,” locals told Kashmir Post. An official said the injured were immediately shifted to a Sub District Hospital Pampore and two were referred to Srinagar for advanced treatment. The injured were identified as Raja…

39% Kashmiri residents have developed COVID antibodies: Survey

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Editor

A sero survey conducted in the Kashmir valley has found that two out of five persons in the Valley have developed antibodies against the coronavirus. The survey carried out in October found the highest prevalence of antibodies in Pulwama at 43.1 per cent and the lowest in Kulgam at 28.5 per cent. “We conducted a sero survey in all 10 districts of Kashmir, which has revealed that nearly 39 per cent of the 6,200 persons tested negative but had developed antibodies,” said Dr Muhammad Salim Khan, head of the community…

First it was ‘Tukde Tukde’, now it’s ‘Gupkar’: Mehbooba Mufti’s reply to Amit Shah’s ‘Gang’ jibe

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Editor

Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, who is also the deputy chairman of newly formed People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, took on Union home minister Amit Shah for calling the alliance a gang, which is “anti-national”. “BJPs stale tactic of dividing India by projecting themselves as saviours and political opponents as internal & imagined enemies is far too predictable now. Love jihad, tukde tukde and now Gupkar Gang dominates the political discourse instead of like rising unemployment and inflation,” Mufti tweeted. https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=httweets&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1328623169419132933&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindustantimes.com%2Findia-news%2Ffirst-it-was-tukde-tukde-now-it-s-gupkar-mehbooba-mufti-s-reply-to-amit-shah-s-gang-jibe%2Fstory-puNtfCIxXs6vHSgre1FzBP.html&siteScreenName=httweets&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=550px Ahead of the second phase of J&K district development…

After Year’s slump, recent snowfall unlocks Kashmir Tourism

November 17, 2020November 17, 2020 Editor

After witnessing a slump for more than seven months due to outbreak of Covid-19, there is a ray of hope for Kashmir’s ailing tourism sector as the fresh snowfall in higher reaches is attracting tourists once again. Gulmarg in Baramulla district, which recorded almost 2 feet of snowfall since Saturday, has come to life as tourists have started thronging this popular ski-resort. On Sunday, as many as 574 tourists arrived at the Srinagar International Airport from different cities, mostly Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai to spend their ongoing Diwali vacations…

Non-Kashmiris warned against setting up businesses in J&K: J&K Students Youth Forum

November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 Editor

Jammu and Kashmir Students Youth Forum put up posters across the territory warning the Indian industrialists and non-Kashmiris against settling or establishing their businesses in JK. The Jammu and Kashmir Students Youth Forum in a statement issued in Srinagar also called upon the people of JK to resist non-state subjects’ incursions into their motherland with full might as like erstwhile East India Company they would grab their lands and ultimately enslave them besides changing the demography of the occupied territory. The Jammu and Kashmir Students Youth Forum vowed to fight…

J&K’s Roshni Act is gone, leaving thousands fearing that they will become landless

November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 Editor

In Jammu, the law has been used in communal rhetoric about ‘land jihad’. On October 31, the Jammu and Kashmir government declared the State Land (Vesting Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001, null and void. The law, which had proposed to transfer ownership of state land to its occupants for a fee determined by the government, was popularly known as the Roshni Act, as the proceeds from these transactions were to fund power projects in Jammu and Kashmir. Transactions under the Roshni Act had already been halted in 2018, as…