Kashmir’s Pain Can Only Be Healed by the Return of Pandits: Mehbooba Mufti

Kashmir's Pain Can Only Be Healed by the Return of Pandits: Mehbooba Mufti

Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday visited the ancient Thajiwara temple and met Kashmiri Pandits in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. The former chief minister advocated for the return of Kashmiri migrant Pandits and said that the “Painful situation” will dissipate after that. Mufti extended her wishes to Kashmiri Pandits on the occasion of their annual hawan to mark Raksha Bandhan at the temple in Bijbehara. “Despite being a Muslim-majority state, Kashmir has long been celebrated for its co-existence and shared heritage. The visit by Mufti underlined this spirit…

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Kashmir’s Vulnerability to Earthquakes: Is the Region Prepared for the Next Big One?

Kashmir's Vulnerability to Earthquakes: Is the Region Prepared for the Next Big One?

Experts warn that the earthquake-prone valley must step up its seismic-resilience game. By: Sajid Raina & Attaul Munim Zahid The earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria last year had a profound impact on Kashmir, heightening concerns about the potential devastation caused by earthquakes. This anxiety, although transient in the immediate aftermath of such events, frequently affects the people of Kashmir. From January to June of this year, Jammu and Kashmir experienced 32 seismic events, with magnitudes ranging from 3.2 to 5.4 on the Richter scale. These tremors serve as a stark reminder…

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Article 370 Case: Supreme Court Questions J&K Bifurcation, Citing Punjab and Northeast

Article 370 Case: Supreme Court Questions J&K Bifurcation, Citing Punjab and Northeast

The Supreme Court of India on the twelfth day of hearing petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir noted that the reorganisation of the state was not ‘one of a kind’ as was pointed out by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. The five judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant noted that the case of Jammu and Kashmir bifurcation was no different than other Indian…

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Imran Khan’s Judicial Remand Extended Till September 13 in Cipher Case

Imran Khan's Judicial Remand Extended Till September 13 in Cipher Case

A special court extended the judicial remand of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan by two weeks in connection with the leakage of a confidential diplomatic cable that was allegedly misused for political purposes by his government, reported news agency PTI. According to Geo News report, Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain, who arrived at Attock jail in Punjab to conduct the hearing, issued the decision in the case of the missing cipher. Khan was imprisoned after a district court sentenced him to three years in jail in the Toshakhana case on…

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Xi Jinping’s India Visit Clouded by Map Row

Xi Jinping's India Visit Clouded by Map Row

On the eve of India hosting the G20 summit in New Delhi, China released a so-called “standard map” coopting parts of eastern Ladakh as per the rejected 1959 line and Arunachal Pradesh in the Middle Kingdom apart from Taiwan and the South China Sea. This cartographic expansion by Beijing duly amplified by Chinese propaganda through social media was immediately rebutted and rejected by the Modi government as Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and parts of Aksai Chin were occupied by Mao’s China in the 1950s even before…

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Religious Discrimination: Bus Conductor Dies by Suicide After Being Sacked for Allowing Passengers to Offer Namaz

Religious Discrimination: Bus Conductor Dies by Suicide After Being Sacked for Allowing Passengers to Offer Namaz

A 32-year-old bus conductor with the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) died by suicide on Tuesday, after he was suspended for allowing two passengers to offer namaz on the road. The conductor, identified as Ashok Kumar, was working on the Bareilly-Delhi National Highway when he stopped the bus to allow the passengers to offer prayers. The incident was captured on CCTV cameras and the video went viral on social media. Following the incident, Kumar was suspended by the UPSRTC. He was reportedly under pressure from the local administration…

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Rahul Gandhi says China has intruded into Ladakh, Locals have been saying this for Years

Rahul Gandhi says China has intruded into Ladakh, Locals have been saying this for Years

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that not an inch of land has been lost in Ladakh was a lie after China in its newly released map claimed Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as its territory. India registered its protest to the claim as external affairs minister S Jaishankar said making such absurd claims is China’s old habit. As Congress questioned New Delhi’s stand on China, Rahul Gandhi, who is visiting Karnataka to attend an event launching the Gruha Lakshmi scheme in Mysuru, said,…

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Indians See India’s Global Influence Growing, While Others See It Stagnant or Declining: Pew Study

Indians See India's Global Influence Growing, While Others See It Stagnant or Declining: Pew Study

Sixty-eight per cent Indian adults believe that India’s influence has risen in the world, but only a median of 28% adults across 19 other countries in the world think so. Seventy-nine per cent Indian adults have faith in Narendra Modi to do the right thing, much higher than a median of only 37% adults in 12 other countries who have the same confidence in the Indian Prime Minister. At the same time, most countries lean positively towards India, with a median of 46% adults in 23 countries expressing favourable views…

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Article 35A: The Debate Continues in the Supreme Court

Article 35A: The Debate Continues in the Supreme Court

Article 35A empowered Jammu and Kashmir’s legislature to decide who the erstwhile state’s permanent residents were The ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court on petitions challenging the centre’s 2019 decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status has brought Article 35A of the Constitution back into the spotlight. What was Article 35A? Article 35A empowered Jammu and Kashmir’s legislature to decide who the erstwhile state’s permanent residents were and to extend special rights and privileges to them. This was added to the Constitution in 1954 by a presidential…

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‘Leave by Monday or Face Consequences’: Threatening Posters Found in Gurugram Slum

'Leave by Monday or Face Consequences': Threatening Posters Found in Gurugram Slum

Posters were pasted on the walls of a few shops in a slum here, asking Muslims to leave the place by Monday or face consequences. The posters came up at a slum in Sector 69 here a day before Monday’s call by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) led groups for a ‘shobha yatra’ to resume the Brij Mandal Shobha Yatra in Nuh which was disrupted by the communal clashes in July. The posters threatened residents of the shanties, a majority of whom migrated from West Bengal, but he August 28 or be…

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