Category: Business

Business

Night landing facility at Srinagar airport soon: Union minister Jayant Sinha

Editor

Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha on Thursday assured that the Srinagar airport would be equipped with night-landing facility “within a few months,” even as he ruled out having a full-fledged civilian airport in Kashmir. Addressing ‘Idea Summit 2017’ here, the minister said that international flights to countries like Malaysia would be made operational from Srinagar by the start of next tourist season in Kashmir. “We are going working very hard to get the night-landing facility for the Srinagar airport as soon as possible so that we…

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Govt unable to sell Baglihar power due to lack of buyers: Altaf Bukhari

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Education Minister, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Tuesday said the state government wasn’t able to sell power of 450 megawatt (Mw) Baglihar-II project due to non-availability of buyers. Altaf said that the per unit generation cost of the hydropower was very high due to which the power of the project was sold at Rs 8.5 per unit which was higher by Rs 2.5 to solar power cost. “Our Ganderbal project couldn’t start as a Mumbai based company informed that hydropower wasn’t a viable option given the cheap rate of the solar power,”…

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Market closure order conspiracy to kill business activities: Traders Federation

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Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation on Sunday said the government of Jammu and Kashmir was “playing with fire by provoking the trader community” by asking shops and establishments in various areas of Srinagar to remain closed once a week. The government’s Labour and Employment Department issued an order earlier this month to fix what it called “close days”. The order, signed by Commissioner/Secretary to the government, Kifayat Hussain Rizvi, stated that the order was issued in exercise of the powers conferred under the Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Establishments Act.…

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Govt may reconsider market closure roster

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Buckling under pressure from traders, the government is mulling to keep in abeyance the reverently issued weekly market closure roster. As per the roster, the authorities had fixed different week days as “close days” for traders operating in Srinagar. The roster was issued by the government under SRO-472 on November 16 through the Labour and Employment Department. Before it was implemented, prominent trade and business bodies of Srinagar opposed it on the ground that the “business fraternity” of the city was not taken on board while issuing the new holiday…

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GST on carpet will be slashed from 12% to 5%: Haseeb Drabu

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Admitting that the carpet industry is passing through difficult times, the minister for finance, Dr Haseeb Drabu assured that Goods and Services tax charged on carpets will be slashed from 12 to 5 percent in coming days to give a breather to people affiliated with this indigenous craft. “State government has fulfilled all the commitments it had made after implementation of GST except one that is carpet industry. Every segment of trade is in distress, but carpet artisans and dealers are more worried, although it has nothing to do with…

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Business Leaders suggest measures on revival of ‘Shattered’ economy

Editor

Kashmir’s business associations on Sunday participated enthusiastically in the first-ever business conclave here to put forth their problems and suggestions on revival of the Valley’s economy. At the conclave organised by the Kashmir Inc, the J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was the chief guest while finance minister Haseeb Drabu was the guest of honour. In his opening remarks, president, Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Muhammad Ashraf Mir spoke about the present position of businesses in Kashmir. He said that businesses in Valley have been suffering from nineties till date,…

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How a bureaucrat ‘Sabotaged’ two major power schemes to allow outside agencies take over

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Tendering of two projects that would have strengthened power distribution system in Kashmir was cleared thrice by power department’s own committees. However, commissioner secretary power Dheeraj Gupta got an outside agency to scrutinise the tendering once again, which eventually landed the project in the kitty of a central public sector undertaking. Official data accessed by Kashmir Post show that power department’s contract committee, which has all chief engineers concerned as members and development commissioner power its head, had cleared the tenders for the Rs 598-crore Prime Minister’s Development Plan (PMDP-Rural)…

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Only businessmen doing ‘Jihad’ in Kashmir: Haseeb Drabu

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Acknowledging that economic scenario in Kashmir is “distressing”, the finance minister Haseeb Drabu said on Sunday that businessmen in Kashmir are “the only ones doing ‘jihad’ as they are fighting against all odds.” Speaking at the first business conclave held here, he said: “I have being stating this that businessmen in Kashmir are the only ones doing ‘jihad’ as they are fighting with the government for getting basic services; they fight against the situation. I have nothing but respect, admiration for anybody who is even investing Rs 100 in his…

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Explore the culture of the Shina-speaking Dards, Gurez and Tulail (Talial) Valleys, where the Dards Live

Editor

Explore the culture of the Shina-speaking Dards, one of Kashmir’s oldest tribes The flight from Delhi is on time and I’m soon speeding to the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar to collect the precious permit which will grant me access to Kashmir’s legendary Gurez Valley. Here, the likes of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Franklin D Roosevelt went riding and trekking, before the troubles closed the valley off to us mere mortals. But no longer, with tourists increasingly making their way across the Razdan Pass to remote Gurez. Dr…

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Tourism body blame media for negative publicity as tourism industry continues to suffer

Editor

“We are not how the media portrays us” is an expression common in the Valley. Kashmir’s tourism sector doesn’t just struggle in front of a disruptive militancy, there are primetime debates to counter. Chinar leaves are falling in Srinagar after long summer days, anticipation and peace. Yet the Valley’s natural and historical sites, its houseboats and shikaras, its tourism sector altogether have been missing the people they’re meant for: tourists. “Let me explain it this way, even if we offer hotel rooms for free, people won’t come,” says Wahid Malik,…

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