Category: Business

Business

Jewellers’ strike enters 19th day

Editor

Strike by jewellers against government’s proposal to levy 1 per cent excise duty on gold, entered 19th day on Monday. Despite repeated pleas by the jewellers for rollback of the union budget proposal, the central government has paid no heed to “our pleas,” the jewellers here said. The jewellers carried out a protest rally from the retail gold market here to press for their demand. Bashir Ahmad Rather, president All Kashmir Gold Dealers and Workers Association said the national media wrongly reported that the strike was called off across India.…

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‘Tulip garden conversion will deprive Kashmir of its USP’

Editor

Taking strong exception to the government proposal to turn Tulip garden into a ‘round-the-year tourist spot’, the Valley-based tourism traders today said it will deprive Kashmir of its USP. The tourism players said the move would prove counter-productive for the Tulip garden which is known for its serene locales and variety of tulip bulbs attracting hordes of backpackers during spring to Kashmir. On the foothills of Zabarwan, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden has been ranked among ‘Top 5 tulip gardens’ to be visited across the globe, by the World…

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On Navroz eve, Dal Nadroo missing from Kashmir markets

Editor

Nadroo—lotus stems or upper root—figuring most prominent in Kashmiri cuisines kept the date with all the big festivals ranging from Eid to Navroz. But since the great floods of 2014, it has disappeared from the markets. Ahead of this Navroz, the local Nadroo was again off-the-shelf in Srinagar markets for the second consecutive year after 2014 floods. Nadroo—lotus stems or upper root—figuring most prominent in Kashmiri cuisines kept the date with all the big festivals ranging from Eid to Navroz. But since the great floods of 2014, it has disappeared…

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Srinagar to get wholesale fish market, retail sales centres: Div Com

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Dr Asgar Hassan Samoon, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, said on Sunday that the Central Government had given its nod for a wholesale fish market here. “Srinagar will soon get a wholesale fish market and retail hygienic fish sales centres, which have been approved by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) at an estimated cost of Rs 2.50 core on 90:10 Centre-state sharing pattern,” Samoon said. He said the government had identified four places for establishing retail sale outlets of fish with modern facilities in Srinagar — Chattabal, Karan Nagar, Parimpora and…

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‘Tour operators should promote archaeological sites, artifacts’

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We also need to tap media for tourism promotion: TASK Director Tourism Kashmir Mahmood A Shah urged travel agents and hoteliers to promote State’s rich art, culture, heritage and archeological sites along with the natural landscape which the place is bestowed with. Mahmood Shah was interacting with the travel trade and hospitality sector at a dinner party here at Hotel Royal Batoo on Thursday evening. The dinner was hosted by Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK) for the media fraternity from Indore. The journalists from Indore who are here on…

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Flower cultivators suffer losses due to dry winter

Editor

The dry winter season in Jammu has affected the flower growers as the yield has been low this year with farmers suffering huge losses. Most of the cultivators, especially involved in marigold crop, used mainly in religious and marriage functions, has faced maximum burnt as the flower size is very small. This has pushed the prices down forcing cultivators to sell their produce at cheaper rates. Around 1,000 hectors of land is under the cultivation of different varieties of flowers, particularly marigold, jasmine, aster, rose, chrysanthemum and tuberose in J&K.…

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200% increase in fares; Flyers hit out at airlines

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Stakeholders voice concerns, ask DGCA to intervene Few days of downpour in Kashmir—coupled with hiccups in traffic movement on the Srinagar-Jammu highway—have again resulted in manifold increase in airfares to the state’s summer capital, with air travel from New Delhi to Srinagar costing around Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000 per-head. As per the data, the air fare in the Delhi-Srinagar sector—before the weather turned inclement in the Valley—was around Rs 3,000 to Rs 7,000 per-head. And this has—for the past few days—seen a 200 percent jump, giving tough time to…

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Excise officers won’t visit jewellers’ manufacturing units: KR Madhar

Editor

The Additional Commissioner, Customs and Central Excise, KR Madhar, today clarified that their officers would not visit any manufacturing unit or factory of jewellers and as announced in the Union Budget, one per cent excise duty would be levied on the turnover exceeding Rs 6 crore a year. Additional Commissioner KR Madhar in a press conference here said, “In this year’s Budget, a nominal excise duty of one per cent (without input tax credit) and 12.5 per cent (with input tax credit) has been imposed on jewellery.” While clearing doubts…

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Extend financial help to Kashmir without bias: Traders to FM

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The Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) today urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to extend financial assistance to the Valley without any “bias”. “We presume that walking an extra mile means that the prevailing political uncertainty in the state will be addressed, economic areas like horticulture, handicrafts, tourism, forests, industry and other sectors will be revived and strengthened, our power projects will be returned, draconian laws like AFSPA will be done away with, security forces will be made more accountable and adequate financial assistance will be extended without considerations and bias,”…

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Tulip Garden opens amid early spring

Editor

With 20 new tulip varieties on display amid an early spring bloom, Asia’s largest Tulip Garden on the banks of the Dal Lake here was thrown open today. Displaying around a million colourful flowers in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, the Tulip Garden usually reopens in March-end. However, this year it was opened early due to favourable weather conditions and the government is now looking forward to a good tourist season. “Even though it rained yesterday and there is a forecast of more rain, the overall weather conditions remained…

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