Milad celebrated across J&K with religious fervor

Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (SAW), the birth anniversary of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW), was Friday celebrated across J&K with religious fervour. Thousands of devotees thronged the Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar to have the glimpse of a relic of the Prophet of Islam (SAW) at the shrine. However, due to pandemic, no nightlong prayers were observed preceding night. The devotees including men, women and children visited the shrine throughout the day. However, afternoon prayers witnessed the highest attendance. Emotional scenes were witnessed during the display of the holy relic as devotees were seen in…

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As winter starts approaching unscheduled power cuts irks consumers

Ahead of winter the Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) has resorted to unscheduled power cuts in both metered as well as non-metered areas, the officials however are putting onus on consumers for misusing electricity. The power crisis in Kashmir has become a natural phenomena owing to the fact that the power department has failed to enhance its transmission capacities to meet the demand for electricity in winter months when the temperature plummets below zero. From north to south Kashmir, consumers are complaining about frequent power cuts mostly during the…

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Imposition of Property Tax aimed to harass people of Kashmir: KEA

Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) Saturday lambasted the Government for its decision of empowering to impose Property Tax through the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Municipal Committees in their respective areas. KEA Co-Chairman Farooq Dar while addressing a press conference said that it has become a routine for Government to bring amendments in existing laws. Termed the tax “unjustified”, he said that law is being enforced upon people forcibly. “This is grave injustice. People are already reeling under the financial crunches due to slowdown of economy and this unnecessary and extra…

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What our youth need to know on fighting pornography?

Our youth should stop assuming that since quitting addiction is difficult therefore resisting and fighting is useless Mugees Ul Kaisar Jihad-al-akbar or ‘Greater Jihad’ is Jihad/Struggle against the erratic stubborn self. Needless to say how important & relevant it is in our times. The world of abnormally low concentration span (alluding to shallowness of thought) and radically volatile selves (Quranic parable of dog throwing its mouth on everything around) quite properly sums up our present day mentality and spiritual decadence. The first and foremost thing that our youth need to…

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Experience Kashmiri’s new Wazwan

Missing it for past 6 years, thanks to my studies, I had almost forgotten the taste of wazwan, and I was desperately waiting to end this break. The wait finally ended a few days back when I was invited to my cousin’s marriage. The thoughts of old delightful memories wherein I & my tramimates would engage in dog fights for getting the best meat piece, or enthusiastically waiting for gushtaba, and cutting it into four pieces, swirling in my mind. After a long journey which got more longer as my…

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Family accuse J&K Police of killing Irfan Dar in Custody, Question ‘Escape’ Story

Irfan Ahmad Dar was arrested for allegedly sheltering militants but then somehow escaped from custody only to be found dead a few hours later, the police say. The cause of death has not been disclosed but locals allege torture. Auqib Javeed At around 12 pm, on Tuesday, members of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operation Group (SOG) raided the house of Irfan Ahmad Dar, a 23-year-old shopkeeper, at Sidiq Colony in the Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Irfan was arrested from the shop he owned, adjacent to…

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‘End of the road’ for Pro-India politicians in Kashmir

Many politicians have fallen silent and disappeared from public life after India stripped the region’s autonomy. by Rifat Fareed Sakina Itoo used to motivate Kashmiris to believe that India is better for their future. But the 48-year-old pro-India politician says New Delhi’s decision to strip the Muslim-majority region’s autonomy last August has made her lose face and vulnerable. “We don’t know how to go to people again. We have no answers ourselves, what will we tell them,” Itoo, a former minister in the regional government, told Al Jazeera. Prime Minister…

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As many as 30 Leaders, Bureaucrats from J&K under Chinese Surveillance: Report

China has hatched a major espionage conspiracy against India and the communist nation is spying on over 10,000 eminent Indians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Ram Nath Kovind. Many union ministers and leaders of the opposition are also being spied on by the neighbouring country, who has been locked in an aggressive melee and face-off with India at locations along the Sino-India border. Now, a fresh report from Indian Express claims that China has been spying on almost 30 prominent leaders, officers and bureaucrats from Kashmir Valley and…

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Civil Society Kashmir opposes Centre’s move to promote Devanagri Script

The Group of Concerned Citizens (GCC), a Kashmir-based civil society body of former bureaucrats, vice-chancellors and academicians, on Friday expressed its concern over the promotion of the Devanagri script instead of the Nastaliq style for the Kashmiri language, and the threat posed to Urdu due to the new Bill introduced in the Parliament. The members of the GCC, in a joint statement, pointed out that the Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR), a project of the Unicode consortium for preparation of required data, is using the Devanagari script instead of its…

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Nine years on and missing several deadlines, Qazigund-Banihal tunnel yet to complete

Even as its construction was started nine years ago, the new Qazigund-Banihal tunnel is yet to complete despite missing several deadlines. The project was envisaged to avoid frequent closure of Jawahar tunnel that leaves Kashmir Valley cut off from rest of the country. Initially set to be completed by June 2016, the work on the Rs 2100 crore ambitious project has seen hiccups since its inception in 2011 due both to financial constraints and the concessionaire’s lethargic approach. In 2011, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) commissioned construction of…

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