Category: Business

Business

PDC dream home ‘shattered’ in Kashmir

Editor

The work on multi-crore corporate office for J&K Power Development Corporation (PDC), one of the few profit earning undertakings in the state, here, has been shelved with officials stating that a bureaucratic lobby was “sabotaging” the project. A senior official said Jammu and Kashmir Project Construction Corporations (JKPCC), which was handed over the execution of the project, was allocated around Rs five crore by the previous Government for setting up the PDC headquarters at Raj Bagh, here. The land for the Corporation office was acquired for around Rs 6 crore…

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Cash-starved SRTC to spend `10 cr on GPS project

Editor

At a time when J&K State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) is unable to ply its existing fleet of buses and incapable of paying full salaries to its employees, the loss making public sector undertaking is planning to spend Rs10 crore on a Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping project. The GPS project aimed to ‘identify’ bus routes and the introduction of e-ticketing in SRTC buses comes at a time when the corporation is facing Rs 20 crore deficit, sources said. In addition, the corporation at present is paying 34 percent less…

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No boundaries for Kashmir’s bat makers

Editor

The fortunes of the willow workers in the Valley depend on more India-Pakistan cricket The recent controversy over cricket at Srinagar’s National Institute of Technology (NIT) may have triggered a nationwide debate on patriotism but Shahid Afridi is the poster boy for seven villages in south Kashmir where cricket is the key to survival. The villages of Bijbehara, Charsoo, Halmullah, Sangam, Pujteng, Mirzapur and Sethar on the Jammu-Srinagar highway are home to more than 100 factories making cricket bats that are sold across the country and abroad. Oblivious to the…

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Tourism Secy reviews operations in Valley

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Officials told to ensure upkeep of destinations Tourism Secretary Farooq A Shah chaired a review meeting of the Tourism and Floriculture Departments at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Conference Centre here today. An official statement said various issues and operations of the two departments were discussed, as the tourism season had begun in the Kashmir valley. “The Secretary mentioned inspiring tourism success stories of Kerala and Rajasthan for developing world-class destinations. Officials were instructed to ensure effective maintenance of respective tourism destinations in view of the prevailing tourism season so that visitors…

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Travelling to Kashmir is safe: German envoy

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‘Press has a huge responsibility to project right image of Kashmir to public’ German ambassador to India, Martin Ney has reassured German nations and tourists that it is safe to visit Kashmir as he spent two-week summer holidays in the Himalayan region last year. “I feel safe, very safe while coming to Kashmir. I spent my summer holidays privately in Valley. Since I can do this, others can also,” Ney told reporters on the sidelines of reopening ceremony of Dewan-e-Khas at Shalimar Bagh. He was accompanied by Minister for Education,…

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Travel to Kashmir: CM for changing negative perception

Editor

‘Exchange programs will help remove travel advisories on JK’ Interacts with Australian delegation Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti Sunday said the interaction between stakeholders at various levels will help change negative perception about travelling to Kashmir. Mehbooba called for greater cultural exchanges, initiatives and assistance programmes to bolster key areas like education, skill development and tourism in the state. The chief minister made these observations during a meeting with a high-level Australian business delegation here this evening. Laying impetus on greater interface between students, entrepreneurs and travel industry of J&K and…

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Rana seeks rollback of Newspaper Advertisement Policy

Editor

Provincial President National Conference, Devender Singh Rana Friday sought immediate review of the revised Advertisement Policy of Jammu and Kashmir Government, saying this is detrimental to the functioning of the fourth estate and will affect the growth of the newspapers both Local and National. “The role of media in democracy cannot be undermined and any attempt to curtail freedom of expression by using advertisement as a tool has potential to boomerang,” Rana said while interacting with a group of media persons that called on him here this evening and sought…

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Dealers harassed, says Mehbooba Mufti to Punjab CM in a letter

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Friday wrote to her Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal, saying mutton traders and importers of the state are being harassed in Punjab and sought his intervention to stop it. Mehbooba said certain persons near Madhopur in Punjab realize substantial amount of money from mutton dealers as special tax for transportation of livestock (sheep/goat), notwithstanding the fact that livestock are procured from neighbouring state of Rajasthan, an official spokesman said. She requested Badal that since the mutton dealers are not getting support from…

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Govt urged to expedite framing of tourism policy

Editor

The Domestic Tour Operators Association of Kashmir today urged the Tourism Department to expedite framing of the tourism policy and said the Tourism Advisory Committee framed by the government should have representation of experienced stakeholders. President of the association Hamid Wangnoo said the policy should focus on promotion of tourism, infrastructure development and address the problems faced by the tourism industry. “Infrastructure should not come up at the cost of environment. Proper road connectivity, electricity, clean drinking water, washrooms at tourism destinations, especially in Srinagar, should be the priority. Construction…

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PDC apathy limits Lower Jhelum’s power generating capacity

Editor

Despite provision for installation of fourth unit at the state-owned Lower Jhelum Hydro-power Project (LJHP) at Gantmulla here, the State Power Development Corporation (PDC) has failed to enhance its electricity generation capacity, resulting in loss of around 1500 lakh units of energy annually. Commissioned in 1977-78, with a generation capacity of 105 MW, the LJHP, according to reports, was designed in such a way that a fourth unit could be added to it to increase its capacity by 35 MW. However, despite passing of nearly four decades, the PDC has…

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