Main Litigant in Varanasi’s Gyanvapi Mosque cases set to withdraw citing lack of Resources

Main Litigant in Varanasi's Gyanvapi Mosque cases set to withdraw citing lack of Resources

Jitendra Singh Vishen, who heads Hindu organisation Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, has announced that he and his family are withdrawing from all cases related to the Gynavapi mosque complex in Varanasi, citing “lack of resources” and alleged “harassment” from various quarters. Vishen is the “main pleader” on behalf of his niece Rakhi Singh, one of the five Hindu women plaintiffs in an August 2021 case seeking permission for daily worship of deities, including Shringar Gauri, located on the outer wall of Gyanvapi mosque complex that abuts the Kashi Vishwanath temple.…

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Kashmir Faces Alarming Drug Addiction Crisis: Battling the Menace Head-On

Kashmir Faces Alarming Drug Addiction Crisis: Battling the Menace Head-On

On a rainy morning in May, dozens of young men queued outside a drug drug rehabilitation centre in Srinagar city in Indian-administered Kashmir. Many of them were teens accompanied by their parents, waiting for their turn to receive medicines from the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS), the only government-run drug rehabilitation centre in Kashmir. The medicines help reduce their withdrawal symptoms and prevent the transmission of infectious diseases. “Did you take heroin again?” a doctor asks a young man after examining the size of his pupils. “Yes, I…

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Dialogue between India and Pakistan a crucial requirement to improve Kashmir Situation: Farooq Abdullah

Dialogue between India and Pakistan a crucial requirement to improve Kashmir Situation: Farooq Abdullah

National Conference (NC) president and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah on Sunday (June 4) said that holding the G20 event in Kashmir would not benefit tourism in the Valley until India and Pakistan resolved the “future” of the Union Territory through dialogue. Speaking to the reporters in Srinagar, Abdullah also said that J&K was suffering heavy losses because of the lack of an elected government. Kashmir is now a Union Territory after the Centre abrogated Article 370 and suspended the elected government in August 2019, bringing…

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Health Department in action to minimize queue time in hospitals

Health Department in action to minimize queue time in hospitals

Amidst low utilisation of digital registration facilities at hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir, the Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department today issued orders to Medical Superintendents to ensure effective implementation of Scan and Share facility in their respective institutions and ensure ‘queue-less’ OPD registration. After highlighted the plight of patients seeking OPD registration at SMHS Hospital, J&K’s largest General Specialty Hospital, the H&ME Department issued an order for implementation of a Scan and Pull facility for generation of OPD tokens. The Medical Superintendents of these hospitals have been directed to…

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Landmark conviction marks first success of Anti-Narcotics Task Force in Jammu and Kashmir

Landmark conviction marks first success of Anti-Narcotics Task Force in Jammu and Kashmir

In its first conviction since the creation of the anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) in 2020, a court in north Kashmir’s Kupwara on Friday sentenced two drug peddlers to 10-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh on each convict. The court of additional district and sessions judge Kupwara announced the judgment against Mohammad Shafi Lone and Bilal Ahmad Dar, both of Sopore in Baramulla district. Over two years ago, the ANTF intercepted their vehicle and found them in possession of 435 gm and 372 gm of commercial quantity heroin…

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Tragic Train accident in Odisha claims 50 Lives and Leaves 150 Injured

Tragic Train accident in Odisha claims 50 Lives and Leaves 150 Injured

At least 50 people died and over 150 were injured as three to four coaches of Yashwantpur Howrah Superfast Express derailed and fell on opposite track, near the Bahanaga railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district on Friday evening, where the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express collided with them, leading to derailment of 10-12 more coaches, officials said. Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, who said that he is rushing to the spot, announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the next of the kin of the dead, Rs 2 lakh for seriously injured…

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Protests erupt as demolition drive takes place in Kathua

Protests erupt as demolition drive takes place in Kathua

Demonstrations were held by locals and members of the business community in Kathua when authorities demolished a commercial complex on Friday. The owner of the building alleged that he was not notified before the demolition drive. Policemen were deployed in large numbers at Shaheedi Chowk where the demolition was carried out. The team of Kathua Municipal Council was led by Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Santosh Kotwal. Mohinder Mahajan, who is the owner of the building, reached the spot and protested against the action. Heated arguments between officials and building owner…

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Kashmir witnesses remarkable response as Rs 80 Lakh raised in 24 Hours for Cancer Patient through Crowd Funding

Kashmir witnesses remarkable response as Rs 80 Lakh raised in 24 Hours for Cancer Patient through Crowd Funding

In less than 24 hours, over Rs 80 lakh were crowdfunded for a Leukemia patient from Pulwama. A family from Lassipora area of Pulwama had appealed for help on social media on Thursday and they managed to get over 80 lakh required for treatment of their daughter in less than 24 hours. Uzair Ahmad, brother of Leukemia patient (a 24-year-old woman) told news paper, that his sister was diagnosed with Leukemia in January 2022 following which she was shifted outside the Valley for treatment. “Her nine month treatment incurred about…

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Mehbooba Mufti calls for restoration of Democratic Rights in J&K Prior to Elections

Mehbooba Mufti calls for restoration of Democratic Rights in J&K Prior to Elections

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday that resolution of the crisis in Kashmir is a challenge before the entire country, not of Kashmir alone. Speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Kashmir – Changing The Discourse’ during the relaunch of Frontline magazine, a sister publication of The Hindu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader said that while polls in Kashmir are important, more urgent is the restoration of basic democratic rights of the people there. “Several Kashmiri youth were taken away and put in jails outside…

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Adverse weather conditions impact Rice and Apple Crop in Kashmir: Cold Wave, Rain, and Hailstorm Cause Damage

Adverse weather conditions impact Rice and Apple Crop in Kashmir: Cold Wave, Rain, and Hailstorm Cause Damage

Rain, frequent windstorm and hailstorm has severely impacted horticulture and agriculture – the mainstay of Kashmir’s rural economy. The erratic weather has plunged temperature several degrees below normal in Kashmir. In June, people are still wearing woollens. At Daragam village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district, it’s a double whammy for Bilal Ahmad. Not only his paddy seedlings are failing before plantation due to erratic weather and cold, a severe hailstorm has badly damaged his apple and cherry crops. Bilal’s family of six, entirely dependent on farming, is now despairing.…

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