September 2026 | Page 4 of 6

20% Rebate by Day, Surcharge at Peak Hours: What J&K’s New Electricity Tariff Means for Businesses

September 11, 2026 Editor

J&K ToD Electricity Tariff Explained: KCCI Seeks Clarity Over Peak Surcharge and 20% Rebate

KCCI Seeks Clarity on J&K ToD Electricity Tariff, Warns Consumers Could Face Bill Shock Without Awareness By: News Desk | 11 September 2026 Srinagar: The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) has called for an immediate awareness campaign over Jammu and Kashmir’s new Time-of-Day (ToD) electricity tariff, warning that consumers could face unexpected financial consequences if the system is implemented without clear information about peak-hour charges, daytime rebates and the technical functioning of meters. The new tariff regime came into effect on September 1, 2026, following a tariff order…

Dal Lake Turns Into a Floating Cinema as IFFJK 2026 Brings Kashmir’s Film Legacy Back Under the Stars

September 10, 2026 Editor

Dal Lake becomes Kashmir’s most unusual cinema hall By: News Desk | 09 September 2026 Srinagar: There was no conventional theatre, no enclosed auditorium and no ceiling above the audience. Instead, there was the dark water of Dal Lake, the silhouettes of the mountains, the lights of Srinagar and a giant screen floating on the lake. As the opening frames appeared, one of Kashmir’s most recognisable landmarks became something it had never quite been before: a cinema hall. The Floating Cinema at Dal Lake, one of the most distinctive attractions…

157 Projects Done, ₹3,532 Crore Spent: Why Srinagar Still Struggles With Waterlogging and Traffic

September 10, 2026 Editor

Srinagar Smart City Mission: 98% Projects Complete, But Has the City Become More Livable? By: News Desk | 09 September 2026 Srinagar: On paper, Srinagar has come remarkably close to completing its transformation under the Smart Cities Mission. Out of 161 sanctioned projects, 157 had been completed by March 31, 2026, representing roughly 98 per cent of the portfolio. Completed works are valued at about ₹3,532 crore, against a sanctioned project cost of ₹3,634 crore. The numbers tell a story of substantial implementation. The streets tell another. Across Srinagar, residents…

Kashmiri Pandit Employees Under Threat: Jobs Were Meant to Enable Return, but Security Fears Return to the Fore

September 10, 2026 Editor

From Jobs to Fear: Why Fresh Threats Have Put Kashmir’s Pandit Rehabilitation Effort Under Scrutiny By: News Desk | 09 September 2026 Nearly 5,900 appointments have been issued under the PM Package, but fresh militant-linked threats are reviving an old question in Kashmir: can rehabilitation succeed when employees still fear for their lives? Srinagar: A government job was supposed to be more than a salary slip for thousands of Kashmiri Pandit families. It was meant to be a bridge back. The Prime Minister’s employment package for Kashmiri migrants was conceived…

The Crore-Rupee Question: Are Kashmiri Weddings Still About Marriage?

September 9, 2026September 9, 2026 Editor

The Izzat Economy: What Kashmir's Most Expensive Weddings Are Really Paying For

Why Kashmiri Weddings Cost So Much By: Javid Amin | 08 September 2026 A gold set here, an extra hundred guests there, a wazwan spread built to be talked about for years — in the Kashmir Valley, weddings have quietly become a currency of their own. The question worth asking isn’t how much families are spending. It’s what, exactly, they think they’re buying. Every wedding season in Kashmir produces the same whispered arithmetic. Someone’s cousin heard that a family in Batamaloo spent close to a crore. Someone’s neighbour compares gold…

Kashmir’s Political Space Under Debate: Mirwaiz Questions Bans, Property Attachments and Exclusion

September 9, 2026 Editor

Mirwaiz Calls for Review of J&K Bans, Raises Due-Process Questions Over JeI Properties By: News Desk | 08 September 2026 As Jamaat-e-Islami faces renewed property action in Sopore and its former chief signals a legal challenge to the ban, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq says lasting peace cannot be built by excluding organisations with real social influence. SRINAGAR, September 9, 2026 — A familiar question has returned to the centre of Kashmir’s political debate: can lasting peace be built while entire political and socio-religious constituencies remain outside the formal political space? Mirwaiz…

Iran Strikes Jordan After U.S. Destroys Five Oil Tankers: Middle East Tensions Surge

September 9, 2026 Editor

U.S.-Iran Conflict Escalates: 5 Iranian Oil Tankers Destroyed, Iran Strikes Jordan

U.S.-Iran Conflict Escalates: Five Iranian Oil Tankers Destroyed as Tehran Strikes U.S. Targets in Jordan By: Javid Amin | 08 September 2026 The U.S.-Iran confrontation has entered a more dangerous phase, with Washington striking five Iranian oil tankers and Tehran responding with a ballistic-missile attack on U.S.-linked military positions in Jordan. Amman says 18 of 20 missiles were intercepted, but the episode shows how quickly the conflict is spreading beyond the Gulf. The latest escalation between the United States and Iran has shifted the battlefield once again. On Tuesday, September…

654 Vulnerable Villages, 7.22 Lakh at Risk: Why Jammu & Kashmir Must Rethink Disaster Preparedness

September 8, 2026 Editor

Jammu & Kashmir Disaster Preparedness Under Pressure: Can the Valley Stay Ahead of the Next Disaster? By: Javid Amin | 07 September 2026 From the 2014 floods to flash floods, cloudbursts and landslides, Jammu & Kashmir has repeatedly been reminded that geography can turn a weather event into a humanitarian crisis. The administration has expanded forecasting, emergency operations and vulnerability mapping, but the harder question remains: can warnings, plans and infrastructure reach people quickly enough when the mountains and rivers turn dangerous? There is a peculiar contradiction at the heart…

Jammu Road Safety Crisis: 215 Deaths in 2025 Raise Questions Over Black Spots, Enforcement and Infrastructure

September 8, 2026 Editor

Jammu’s Road Safety Crisis: Hundreds Die, Black Spots Persist and the Same Questions Return By: News Desk | 07 September 2026 Jammu is not short of road-safety campaigns, traffic challans or government committees. The harder question is whether the system is fixing the conditions that repeatedly turn mistakes on the road into deaths. Every serious road crash in Jammu tends to produce the same sequence. There is shock. Then anger. Officials visit the site. Traffic police step up checking. Authorities announce a special drive. Politicians demand action. Families grieve. For…

From ‘Exploitation’ to ‘Ground the Airlines’: How One PIL Pushed India Toward Airfare Regulation

September 7, 2026 Editor

Airfare Regulation in India: How a Year-Long Supreme Court Battle Reached Its Deadline Moment By: News Desk | 07 September 2026 A single PIL filed nearly a year ago has slowly forced India’s government to admit something uncomfortable: nobody actually has the legal authority to stop an airline from charging whatever it wants. If you’ve ever watched a domestic airfare double in the 48 hours before a festival, or paid more for a checked bag than you did for the flight itself, you’ve experienced exactly what a quietly escalating Supreme…