Category: Business

Business

Govt forms panel to fix rates for cold storage of fruits

Editor

Plans to expand storage facilities across state to help fruit growers The government today constituted a committee to fix rates of cold storage facility for apple and other fruits. The government is also planning set up controlled atmosphere storage facilities at Sopore, Parimpora, Jablipora, Kulgam, in Kashmir, and Narwal in Jammu. The committee, which has Director, Horticulture, and Director, Horticulture Produce and Marketing as its members, is mandated to hold threadbare discussions and make suggestions for better storage of fruit, besides suggesting rate for storage of apple and other fruits…

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Streamline traffic around tourist places: TAAK to traffic police

Editor

Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) has flayed local administration especially traffic police for their failure to maintain proper traffic arrangements on boulevard and around Mughal gardens. In a statement, President of TAAK Peerzada Faiyaz Ahmed said the world famous Mughal gardens face worst criticism from the tourists thus giving a bad name to the tourism of the state. “Visiting Cheshmashahi, Nishat and Shalimar has become so painful that it takes full day to have a half day’s trip. There are no or very less parking areas demarcated around these…

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Onion brings tears to consumers’ eyes

Editor

Ban on imports from PaK leads to crises in market  The ban on imports of onions from across Line of Control (LoC) the prices of onion in Kashmir have reached to Rs 70 -75 per kg in retail. In wholesale the rates are in between Rs 50 to 60 kg while Kashmir grown onions are being sold at Rs 45 to 50 per kg. It’s getting harder for middle class people to cope with the increasing rates of the onions. “If the situation remains the same, I think the common people…

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Labourers’ strike enters 24th day at Qazigund-Banihal Tunnel Project

Editor

The strike by local labourers working on 8.5-km Qazigund-Banihal tunnel—undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)—against “disparity in wages” entered its 24th day Wednesday, hampering work on the project that has already been marred by delays. The Qazigund-Banihal portion of the highway expansion project is undertaken by the NHAI’s Srinagar-based Project Implementing Unit and has already missed several deadlines. A fresh deadline of the project is May, 2016. On May 27 this year, Minister for Roads & Buildings Syed Altaf Bukhari expressed concern over the slow pace of…

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Tourism dept gears up for winter games

Editor

Attract families for winter sports in Valley: Shah Soon after taking over the charge as Secretary Tourism, Farooq A Shah called a high level meeting to discuss ways and means to promote and organize winter games in Kashmir in the upcoming winter season. The meeting was attended by veterans in winter sports, officials of tourism department and Winter Games Association of J&K on Sunday at Civil Secretariat. Shah said Gulmarg has become a premier ski resort in the Himalayas and many athletes throng the place during winter. He, however, stressed…

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Dachigam National Park off limits for tourists

Editor

With the authorities making Dachigam National Park ‘out of bounds’ for visitors, the move has irked the local tour and travel operators who say their tour itineraries have been disturbed. “Many of our clients who go to Dachigam park return disappointed,” the tour operators said. “We are being told the closure has been ordered by the CM office. But we wonder why no prior intimation was given to us,” they said, adding that a prior intimation about the park closure “would have guided us not to include Dachigam visit in…

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Mufti for increase in number of items traded along LoC

Editor

Govt exchanges list of 72 items with PaK officials Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, has conveyed to the Government of India (GoI) the need for boosting the cross-LoC trade by increasing the number of trade able items. Sources said Mufti conveyed this to the team of top government officials of Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by Joint Secretary Kashmir Affairs, Rajit Punhani during a meeting here, last Thursday. They said J&K government has already conveyed to GoI that it intends to increase the list of trade able items…

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Cement shortage hits Kashmir

Editor

Work on many projects comes to halt: Contractors In a concern, work on many developmental projects in Kashmir has come to a halt due to decline in the supply of locally manufactured cement. As the state-owned JK Cements Limited— which was earlier the main supply of the cement to the government projects, is witnessing decline in its production, the Valley has largely become dependent on the imported cement. “The shortage of cement has forced contractors stop work on various projects, be it in government or private sector,” chairman, Jammu and…

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J&K tour operator promote tourism products at Indore

Editor

 ‘State government should take cue from other states for tourism promotion’ J&K tour operators and the department of tourism Kashmir promoted the state vigorously in the ongoing 31st Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) annual convention here at Indore which saw participation of over 1500 leading travel agents from India and abroad. J&K’s tour operators, however, said state government need to upgrade infrastructure for the smooth stay of the visitors. Valley’s noted tour operator Nasir Shah, who runs CNE Luxury Holidays in Srinagar, said that state government should take cue…

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Retailers flout Govt orders, sell mutton at Rs 400 kg

Editor

Even though the state government fixed prices of mutton at Rs 360 per kilogram just three days ago, the retailers sell mutton at Rs 400 per kilogram. The consumers from many areas complained that retailers sell mutton at Rs 400 per kilogram. “When I asked the retailer why he was selling mutton at Rs 40 costlier that government approved rates, he scoffed and said government doesn’t know the actual rates of the mutton,” said a consumer Javaid Ahmad from Rainawari. The consumers from other areas also complained of overcharging from…

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