On a revival mode after the five-month unrest in the Kashmir valley, the state’s tourism sector has again suffered a serious blow due to demonetisation with the number of visiting tourists and honeymoon couples witnessing a sharp decline in the state since November 8. The number of Vaishno Devi pilgrims, too, has come down significantly after the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 old currency notes. To check the declining footfall and encourage tourists, the state Tourism Department and J&K Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC) have offered significant discounts for…
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Business
Distressed environment: Kashmir startups facing money crunch
State government’s hindrance to declare Kashmir as ‘riot affected/ disturbed area’ as per RBI’s Reserve Bank of India guidelines to qualify stressed loan accounts for rescheduling has resulted in start-ups, entrepreneurs, businessmen and transporters to face the brunt of financial crunch. Thousands of unrest hit start-ups in Kashmir are in an immediate need of capital for resumption of business activities following five-month long shutdown in Kashmir that halted the commercial activities. While at the same time businessmen and transporters are finding difficult to repay EMIs due to prevailing situation which…
Read MoreUnrest forces many traders to go for change in business
Business activities have again picked up in the Kashmir valley, but the past few months of unrest has forced several traders to change their businesses. The change has been forced by the prolonged unrest that started with the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 sparking widespread protests amid shutdown calls of the Hurriyat. Though the unrest has waned considerably, several Valley traders have changed their businesses accordingly as most of the marketplaces especially in and around city centre Lal Chowk and the old city open only…
Read MoreLow visibility again hits air traffic, Airline(Pvt) served legal notice for Poor service, Callous attitude
The aerial connectivity of the Kashmir valley with other parts of the country was again disrupted today due to low visibility caused by bad weather. It forced the cancellation of more than two dozen flights at the region’s only civilian airport. Sharad Kumar, Director, Srinagar International Airport, said 26 flights scheduled to arrive and depart from here were cancelled due to low visibility. The official said the visibility had dropped to 800 m in the early afternoon, which was 500 m short of the 1.3 km required for safe landing…
Read MoreValley unrest sends Kashmir newspapers into financial crisis
Newspapers published in the Kashmir valley are struggling to survive and remain in business as they are facing an acute financial crisis with their advertisement revenues dried up due to unrest and a shutdown since early July,. Hit hard by decreasing advertising revenue, an English language daily, ‘Kashmir Observer’, has decided to go digital with a multimedia edition and widen its reach in the virtual world. Its editor, Sajad Hyder, told IANS: “As Kashmir battles another bout of unrest, now in its fifth month, media houses in the valley are…
Read MoreAirlines (Pvt) fleece customers, cancel flights at 11th hour
The private Airlines at Srinagar International Airport are fleecing customers by cancelling the already booked tickets at the eleventh hour. People travelling from Kashmir to Delhi say that they are facing immense problems as the Airlines are cancelling the flights without assigning any reason and have also increased the fares on their own. The travelers especially students and patients visiting or returning from Delhi said that the Airlines which include Indigo, Airindia, Vista, and Jet Airlines are cancelling the flights without any prior communication to them. “We had already booked…
Read MoreAs mercury plunges across valley sale of Kangris, woolen clothing picking up
The sales of kangris and woolen clothes have picked up in Valley as Kashmir is witnessing intense cold these days. On Sunday, the November 27th, for the whole day people were seen purchasing warm clothing and kangris in the markets to fight the cold spell continuing in the Valley from the past few weeks. A customer Hilal from Pampore said, “I prefer to buy warm clothes at Sunday market Srinagar. In the past, every month I shop here.” “But, due to the prevailing condition in the valley, I came here…
Read MoreGovt indifferent to flight disruptions in Srinagar
IAF plays ‘spoilsport’ as ILS in place for past 4 decades Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had last year expressed displeasure over the frequent flight disruptions at the Srinagar Airport due to poor visibility but this year, the government-headed by her seems indifferent to the plight of passengers. “Despite having been declared an International Airport almost a decade back, the technical facilities at Srinagar aerodrome continue to be outdated impeding the air traffic to and from Kashmir especially during the winters,” Mehbooba said last year on November 25 when air traffic…
Read MoreValley isn’t hurting much from demonetization, why?
Defying the nationwide trend, people in the Kashmir valley are queuing outside ATMs and banks. Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes are still widely used, and are likely to remain in circulation until the deadline of 30 December. India was thrown into chaos on 8 November after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. The cash crunch made it difficult for people to buy even essential items such as milk, vegetables, fruits and grocery. Surprisingly, however, life went on as usual in…
Read MoreLow visibility hits air traffic in Valley for fifth day
The air traffic to and from the Kashmir valley remained disrupted for the fifth consecutive day today as low visibility forced the cancellation of 40 flights scheduled to arrive and depart from the region’s only airport here. The visibility at the airport today was around 600 m, which was 700 m less than the 1.3 km visibility required for safe landings of passenger planes, said Sharad Kumar, Director of the Srinagar International Airport. He said the visibility on Monday was “worse” than the previous days. The airport official said 20…
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