Year: 2020

LTC facility for central govt employees extended for two years to visit J&K, Ladakh

Editor

The government today said it had extended the facility that allowed its employees to visit Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the northeast while availing leave travel concession (LTC) facility by two more years till September 25, 2022. According to a statement issued by the personnel ministry, the eligible Central government employees get reimbursement of tickets for to and fro journey, besides paid leave, when they avail the LTC. Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said an entitled government official could avail the LTC for…

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Property Tax: All you need to know about the new law which is being imposed in J&K

Editor

The Ministry of Home Affairs has made a substantial move enabling the government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir to impose Property Tax through municipal corporation and committees. The changes have been brought in by way of several amendments in the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000 and Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000 carried through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Adaptation of State Laws) Order, 2020 issued by the Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla. One major amendment in the J&K Municipal Act, 2000 whereby the…

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The United Nations and the Neglected Conflict of Kashmir

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By Dr.Ghulam Nabi Fai The principle of ‘right of self-determination’ and its applicability to the 72-year-old Kashmir conflict needs to be considered during the 75th session of the Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly that is taking place between October 8 to November 10, 2020 at its headquarters in New York. The Committee will discuss and deliberate the issues related to international conflicts and decolonization. What I do hope to offer is an unstarry-eyed view of the fate of self-determination in Kashmir; and, the indispensability of convincing the…

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Kashmiri Muslims fear planned demographic change as fewer locals got key administrative posts

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Of the 66 top bureaucrats in Muslim-majority J&K at this time, 38 are from other states. Of the 12 sitting judges at the high court, only two are Muslim. And there is not a single Muslim officer in the LG’s secretariat. Irfan Amin Malik An officer of the Kashmir Administrative Service (KAS) has alleged that Kashmiri and Muslim officers have been deliberately sidelined or kept away from key positions since June 2018, when Mehbooba Mufti, the last chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, lost power. “This process picked up pace…

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Experience Kashmiri’s new Wazwan

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Missing it for past 6 years, thanks to my studies, I had almost forgotten the taste of wazwan, and I was desperately waiting to end this break. The wait finally ended a few days back when I was invited to my cousin’s marriage. The thoughts of old delightful memories wherein I & my tramimates would engage in dog fights for getting the best meat piece, or enthusiastically waiting for gushtaba, and cutting it into four pieces, swirling in my mind. After a long journey which got more longer as my…

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Kashmir sees rise in militancy as well repression post revocation of its autonomy

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SRINAGAR, India—In July, I joined a group of young men plodding glumly through verdant paddy fields in Bijbehara, a picturesque town tucked inside a network of lofty mountains in the Kashmir Valley. It was the middle of the monsoon season. One of the men was recounting a midnight raid conducted by the Indian Army in a nearby village, Arwani, in August last year. “They were bloodthirsty,” he said, in a wobbling voice. “We live in the shadow of violence,” another man replied. There have been similar raids recently, he said.…

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Development Scenario in J&K is very depressing: Farooq Abdullah

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National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said the objectives of peace, economic progress and development in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be achieved unless the Centre reverses all the decisions taken on August 5 last year. Mr Abdullah, who is also the MP from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, made these comments at a private function. The central government had on August 5, 2019 abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It also bifurcated the erstwhile state into union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and…

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Submit winter traffic management plan to keep Srinagar-Jammu highway open: J&K admin to NHAI

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The J&K administration Monday directed the National Highways Authority of India to submit a traffic management plan of agencies to ensure a hassle-free movement on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway during the ensuing winter season. It asked the NHAI to detail an action plan on how the construction agencies will clear landslides, snow and deal with any other emergency to make sure the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country remains open during the coming winter. The direction was passed by Public Works Department Principal Secretary Shailender…

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Hathras Case: UP govt calls for court-monitored probe by CBI in Supreme Court

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Uttar Pradesh has asked the Supreme Court to order a court-monitored probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Hathras gang-rape case, which has triggered protests across the country, in an affidavit filed before the top court. The state government has already recommended a probe by the central agency. The state government also said in the affidavit, which was filed on Monday, that the body of the 19-year-old Dalit woman was cremated at night to avoid law and order problems. The government has blamed political parties and civil…

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World is living in ‘Shadow of Nuclear Catastrophe’: Antonio Guterres

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that the world is living in the shadow of nuclear catastrophe, fuelled by growing distrust and tensions between the nuclear powers. The UN chief told a high-level meeting to commemorate the recent International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons that progress on ridding the world of nuclear weapons has stalled and is at risk of backsliding.”And he said strains between countries that possess nuclear weapons have increased nuclear risks. As examples, Guterres has expressed deep concern at the escalating disputes between the Trump…

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