Category: Community

Govt re-employing officials, despite ‘Blanket Ban’

Editor

Despite “blanket ban”, the state government says it has re-employed some retired officials on a case-to-case basis due to “administrative exigencies”. This was informed by minister in charge of the General Administrative Department in a written reply to a question raised by Engineer Rashid, MLA, in the Legislative Assembly. Eleven officials have been re-employed by the state government in various departments and they are drawing salaries, travelling allowances as well as accommodation as per the government rules for the regular employees. While most of them have been re-employed on salaries…

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Govt okays withdrawal of stone pelting cases against 9730 people

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir government has approved withdrawal of cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders, between 2008 and 2017, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said on Saturday. The government action to withdraw 1,745 cases is subject to “certain conditions” and is based on recommendations of a committee constituted to look into the matter, Mufti said. She said her government has also recommended to give amnesty to more than 4,000 people, who are said to be involved in minor incidents of stone pelting over the past two…

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Pellets killed 18 persons in two years across Kashmir Valley

Editor

At least 18 civilians have been killed and over 6000 injured by pellets in Kashmir in last two years. “As per reports, 18 civilians were killed due to pellets in Valley during last two years,” Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti informed Legislative Assembly in a written reply to a cut-motion on home department of Congress MLA Viqar Rasool. She said 6221 people were injured in pellet firing by security personnel in Valley between July 2016 to February 2017. “Of the 6221 injured by pellets, 5197 were treated in district hospitals in…

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Stone pelting a conspiracy, not law & order issue: National Investigation Agency

Editor

Stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir is “not a law and order issue”, rather these are outcome of a cleverly drafted conspiracy by Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Syed Salahuddin, orchestrated with the covert and overt support and funding of Pakistan, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed. “Stone pelting in Kashmir has become a full-fledged industry wherein the cadres of Hurriyat and its constituent groups have organised themselves at district, tehsil, wards and mohalla level, and leaders at appropriate stages…

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Govt spent over 10 Cr in 10 Years on security of Hurriyat leaders

Editor

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today told the Legislative Assembly that the state had spent around Rs 11 crore on the security and transportation fuel of Hurriyat Conference leaders in the past 10 years. Mehbooba, while responding to a cut motion moved by Independent MLA from Udhampur Pawan Gupta in the Assembly, shared the details of the funds spent on the security of 14 Hurriyat leaders from 2008 to 2017. She said an amount of Rs 10.86 crore had been spent on their security and transportation fuel of Hurriyat leaders during…

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Yawar Mir tells Nirmal Singh to stop ‘Rhetorical’ tales, show result on ground

Editor

Ruling PDP MLA from Rafiabad Yawar Mir Thursday asked Deputy Chief Minister and in-charge power department Nirmal Kumar Singh to stop narrating rhetorical tales and start working on the ground. “Deputy Chief Minster’s personality and the functioning of the power department are in complete contrast to each other,” Mir said while participating in the discussion about grants of the power department. He said that the department under Singh has failed to implement all the central schemes and the funds allocated have been mostly remained unspent. “Every member across party lines…

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How army escapes accountability in Kashmir

Editor

On 27 January, the Army convoy took the route through Ganowpora village of Shopian, despite knowing that a large gathering was expected to pay tribute to a local boy working for Hizbul Mujahideen, who was killed. In a statement to the Jammu and Kashmir Police on 28 January, the Indian Army claimed that the 27 January firing in Ganowpora village of Shopian district had followed the “standard operating procedure” of issuing verbal warnings and firing aerial shots before opening fire to “disperse the crowd”. Three youths—Javed Ahmed Bhat (20), Suhail…

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Budget fails to impress as no state-specific bounties, ‘Kashmir not even mentioned… disappointing’

Editor

With no specific announcements for Jammu and Kashmir, the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has failed to impress people, trade and industrial bodies in the state. Unlike in the past when the Union Budget (since 2014) had announced J&K-specific projects, the last two years have seen a different trend. This year, the Budget has focused on strengthening the agriculture, rural development, health, education, employment, micro, small and medium enterprises and infrastructure sectors. “There is a lot of confusion over how the industries, especially medium, small and micro…

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Joint Resistance Leadership calls for Shopian Chalo on Feb 2

Editor

Malik leads protest against Shopian killings The Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) comprising Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik Wednesday called for “Shopian Chalo” on February 2 (Friday) while JKLF chairman led protest against the Shopian killings and human rights violations. As Geelani and Mirwaiz continued to remain under house arrest, the protest against Shopian killings and human rights violations in Valley was led by Malik at Nowhatta chowk. Large number of people and separatist leaders and activists participated in the protest. Geelani and Malik address the…

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‘Drunken Banter’ – Video of an army officer boasting of bloodshed goes viral

Editor

The video shows the man in military uniform in a hilly place much like Kashmir in winter saying he is not satisfied till there is bloodshed, and how people should worship weapons and not gods. A video showing a man in military uniform boasting about bloodshed and worship of weapons was widely shared on social media in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday when tension was already running high over the killing of two men by security forces. The authenticity of the clipping could not be independently verified and the officer…

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