J&K cop in trouble for questioning govt’s counter-militancy policy

Jammu & Kashmir DGP on Tuesday sought an explanation from a senior police officer who stirred a controversy by publicly questioning the rationale behind the state government’s counter-militancy policy in the valley, asserting the problem in the valley wasn’t terrorism. Barely a week after security forces in Kashmir observed the success of ‘Operation All Out’, under which they eliminated 200 terrorists in the valley, IPS officer Shailendra Mishra questioned its efficacy, calling it the country’s “collective failure” in dealing with the violence in strife-torn Kashmir. In a video that was…

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Dineshwar Sharma met Gani Bhat and another Hurriyat leader during his second visit

New Delhi’s “special representative” for Kashmir talks Dineshwar Sharma has met senior Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat and one more separatist leader during his second leg of Kashmir visit last week, a media report said. According to a report in Economic Times, the former Intelligence Bureau head Sharma drove to the residence-cum-office of Abdul Gani Bhat in Wazir Bagh Srinagar on November 27 around 10:30 pm in Srinagar where another Hurriyat leader was present during the meeting, which went on for around an hour. The meeting assumes significance as the…

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At minus 3.7 Srinagar records coldest night this winter

Srinagar recorded the coldest night this winter as the minimum temperature dipped to minus 3.7 degrees Celsius even as Leh town continued to reel under extreme sub-zero temperatures. The night temperature across Kashmir division, including Ladakh region, stayed below the freezing point on Sunday night with some places registering a dip in the mercury from the previous night, an official of the MeT said. Leh in Ladakh region recorded a low of minus 12 degrees Celsius on Sunday night, against minus 8.6 degrees Celsius recorded the previous night, the official…

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No light at the end of Banihal Qazigund 4-lane tunnel

After missing several deadlines, there is still no light at the end of Banihal-Qazigund 4-lane tunnel, though the company carrying out the work hopes the project will be completed by 2019. Presently the digging work is continuing on the tunnel on Jammu-Srinagar highway. Hyderabad-based company Navayuga said it is making every effort to ensure the tunnel is made ready for traffic by 2019. Being constructed with the help of the Austrian Tunneling Method (ATM), the work on 8.5 km tunnel between Banihal and Qazigund was started in 2011. The National…

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Militants attack army patrol in Qazigund, Soldier injured

A soldier was injured after militants attacked an army patrol in Qazigund area of south Kashmir on Monday. Reports said that the militants opened fire on the patrol at Bounigam in Qazigund took shelter inside a building. They said that the forces cordoned off the area immediately after the attack. The exchange of fire began after the forces approached the building where militants were hiding, they said. A police official said that the area has been cordoned off by the government forces. More details are awaited.

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And honorably Gulzar Peer goes home

A division bench of Jammu wing of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court has acquitted, Gulzar Ahmad Bhat alias Gulzar Peer, who was held on charges of raping girl students at his seminary in 2013, Gulzar’s advocate, Mushtaq Ahmad Dar, informed Kashmir Post. The bench consisted of Justice Janak Raj Kotwal and Justice BS Walia. The court in its judgment has said that the acquittal rendered by the learned trial court does not call for any interference by this court and this appeal (against the acquittal of Gulzar by the…

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Food Wastage: A global problem

Food loss is defined as the decrease in quantity or quality of food products intended for human consumption that are ultimately not eaten by people or that have incurred a reduction in quality reflected in their nutritional value, economic value or food safety. Food wastage refers to any food lost by deterioration or waste, thus the term wastage encompasses both food loss and food waste. Food waste is expected to constitute a growing problem in developing countries given the changes that food systems in these countries are undergoing because of…

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Terror and Talks can’t go together: BJP to Farooq Abdullah

The BJP today criticised National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah for advocating dialogue with Pakistan, saying “terror and talks cannot go together”. J&K BJP spokesperson Brigadier (retd) Anil Gupta, in a statement, said Abdullah had time and again advocated talks with Pakistan as mandatory for return of peace in the Valley “knowing well that it is not India, but Pakistan that is avoiding talks”. He was reacting to Abdullah’s statement at a public meeting in Budgam district yesterday, suggesting India and Pakistan to initiate dialogue on outstanding issues, especially on…

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Amid politics in Kashmir, a mosque gives in

As the government talks of heritage tourism, Jamia Mosque, which managed by separatists, remains ignored Witness to Kashmir’s history 14th century onwards, Srinagar’s central mosque, Jamia Masjid, continues to live to tell the tale of the times gone by. It has braved hazardous fires. It has braved historic wars. It has braved decades of bloodshed. What the architectural marvel may not be able to brave is neglect from the government, ironically at a time when it is looking to promote heritage tourism in the state. The grand mosque is located…

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Opposition, Hurriyat on same page over amnesty to stone-pelters

The Hurriyat Conference and Opposition parties NC and Congress are on the same page over the scrapping of cases against stone-throwers and stated that the PDP was only trying to recover the “ground lost by the party’’ after the “massive” pro-freedom protests in Kashmir. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti led PDP-BJP coalition government’s decision to grant amnesty to “first time stone-pelters” is seen by the pro-freedom camp a policy “ framed in Nagpur, packaged in Delhi and marketed in Kashmir with a very deep motive”. But people who faced cases say…

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