BJP faces leadership crisis in Ladakh

Ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled next year, the BJP is facing a “leadership crisis” in the Ladakh region as all attempts of party leaders to mollify the “angry” lone Lok Sabha member from the region, Thupstan Chhewang, have failed to yield any positive results. Chhewang, who was the face of the BJP in Ladakh, had resigned from the saffron party’s primary membership and as a Lok Sabha member on November 14 to express his resentment for “exhibiting little concern for implementing the categorical assurance given during the 2014 elections that…

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Setback for PDP as Former Finance Minister Drabu quits party

In a major setback to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), its senior leader and former Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu on Thursday resigned from the party without specifying any particular reason. Drabu announced his resignation in a letter (uploaded on Twitter) to PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday evening while saying, “Bidding adieu to PDP! Another phase of life over”. In his letter, Drabu, who was associated with the PDP for the past over four years, said, “This had been coming for a while now. Even though I have not been…

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Intense cold wave continues across Kashmir Valley, Fresh snowfall expected on Dec 18, 19

An intense cold wave continued on Thursday across the Ladakh region with Leh recording minus 8.6 degrees Celsius, a Met department official said. He said the minimum temperatures remained below freezing point in the Kashmir Valley. “It will be partly cloudy for the next 24 hours till Friday in the Valley,” the official said. Jammu city recorded 8.8, Katra 8, Batote 2.7, Bannihal 0.2 and Bhaderwah 0.7 as the night’s lowest temperatures. The plains and upper reaches of Kashmir may receive another spell of rain and snowfall in the third…

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Real Kashmir Beat Aizawl FC 1-0, Jumps to 4th Spot

Debutants Real Kashmir FC continued their impressive show this I-League season by registering a solitary goal victory over former champions Aizawl FC at the TRC Turf ground here on Wednesday. Ivorian midfielder Bazie Armand struck the match-winner in the 30th minute to help the home side register their third win and jump to fourth in the league standings with 10 points from six games. Aizawl FC remains in ninth place with five points from seven games. Both the coaches made one change to the playing eleven that featured in their…

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Four political families in Kashmir target each other for being Dynasts

Owing their relevance largely to strong and irrefutable familial affiliations, Jammu and Kashmir’s four powerful dynastic families are engaged in serious verbal altercation blaming one another for being the dynasty. Four political families of the Kashmir Valley—the Abdullahs, Muftis, Lones, and Ansaris—are trying hard to prove to each other that they have risen on Kashmir’s political landscape without a godfather. National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir’s oldest political party. In the 1930s it was formed as J&K Muslim Conference which was rechristened as National Conference by the late 1930s. Since…

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Groom Gulmarg’s ski slopes, get them certified to boost its potential: Skiers

Skiers and experts say that Gulmarg could realize its full skiing potential if its slopes are groomed and if the authorities concerned get its slopes, especially those in Apharwat range, certified by the Federation of International Skiing. For competitive skiing, says Olympics skiing coach Shabir Ahmad Wani, certification of ski slopes is important. The Federation takes into account different parameters such as the vertical drop, width, and degree of a ski slope. “Minus this certification, we are missing out on holding international competitions on our ski slopes. If we get…

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Presence of BSF at Pari Mahal ‘Unauthorized Occupation’, declares govt

The state government has declared the Border Security Force (BSF) camp inside Pari Mahal as “un-authorized occupation” and asserted that the camp would be reallocated soon. A meeting held under the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir to discuss “unauthorized occupation” of Pari Mahal by BSF, a nationally protected monument, stated that presence of BSF camp has been hampering the renovation work of the monument. According to the senior archaeologist and conservation assistant GRI, Archaeological Survey of India (Srinagar Circle), Pari Mahal is under “severe threat. The senior archaeologist informed the meeting that…

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Mercury plunges further, Srinagar shivers at -3.2

With the winter’s core period — famously known as ‘Chillai Kalan’ — still weeks away, the minimum temperatures across the Kashmir valley have dropped several degrees below the freezing point marking an early arrival of winter in the region. The night temperatures across the Valley, including in the summer capital, have dropped several degrees below the freezing point over the past week. The overnight temperature in the city was recorded at -3.2°C, which was two degrees below the normal, and marked a continuity of freezing night temperatures. The Valley is…

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‘Wall of Kindness’ comes up in Srinagar

The ‘wall of kindness’, a charitable initiative for donating clothes to needy and poor, has reached Kashmir. The charity wall, which was introduced in Iran and from there reached Pakistan and several other countries have surprisingly surfaced on The Bund in Srinagar. Behind the initiative, which has received applause from people on social media, is the Kashmir chapter of WhoisHussian, a charitable organization inspired by Hazrat Hussain (RA) and spread in several countries. On the wall, people can keep clothes apart from other articles for the needy, who can pick…

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I felt safer in Srinagar than South Africa: Chantelle Flores

When Chantelle Flores, an internationally-acclaimed photographer from South Africa decided to visit Kashmir, she had certain apprehensions due to “negative publicity” of the Valley. However, all her fears vanished when she landed in Srinagar. “I did not face any problems during my stay in Kashmir. I hail from South Africa and have been a victim of ‘gun crime’ on numerous occasions during the years I have lived there. I felt safer in Srinagar despite the overwhelming military presence, and the (negative) news reports about Kashmir,” Flores told Kashmir Post. “In…

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