Category: Community

Panchayat body protests NC, PDP’s decision to boycott poll

Editor

The All J&K Panchayat Conference (AJKPC) on Tuesday slammed the National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for their decision to boycott the upcoming panchayat election. It also alleged that both parties were resorting to their old tactics of “blackmailing” the Centre and state administration for their vested interests. “There is nothing new in the boycott call made by the NC and PDP. They are just resorting to their decades-old tactics of blackmailing the Central government and state administration, presently headed by the Governor, to derail the election process…

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Kashmir to seek bollywood help to shed Negative Image

Editor

The J&K government has decided to approaching the Bollywood and seek help in dispelling the negative notions about the State, as it makes fresh bid to revive its old connections by making picturesque locales available for the film shootings. “Serious efforts are underway to bring back the Bollywood to the Valley for filming and other related activities. The Bollywood hopefully would contribute its bit in removing the negative perception,” said Director Tourism, Kashmir, Tasaduq Jeelani. Buoyed by Bollywood star and director Manoj Bajpayee’s decision to shoot a family soap Family…

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Vital stretches of National Highway in poor condition

Editor

Some vital stretches of the NH-44, bypassed during the construction and widening of the highway, arein a shambles, with the authorities looking the other way as commuters continue to suffer. The main stretches that have been affected in the process include the 7-km Khannabal-Sangam stretch, more than 3 km of Awantipora-Barsoo stretch and around 5 km of the Pampore-Panthachowk stretch. The stretches were bypassed in the new alignment of the widened highway. Their maintenance was entrusted to Ramky, a Hyderabad-based construction company which was the executing agency of the construction…

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Killings by unknown gunmen continue in Kashmir, JRL Blames ‘Agencies’ For Activist’s Killing

Editor

Two persons have been killed and a woman has been injured in the past three days in different attacks by unknown gunmen in Kashmir. In North Kashmir, a Hurriyat activist was shot dead on Saturday after an unknown gunman fired at him in Bombai Sopore, in Baramulla district. According to the reports, gunmen fired at the Hurriyat activist Hakeem Ur Rehman Sultani when he was walking outside his home. Hakeem suffered serious head injuries, and was taken to a nearby hospital where the doctors declared him ‘brought dead’. Hakeem was…

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UN Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet slams India for inaction on Kashmir Rights violations report

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Newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday slammed India for lack of any ‘meaningful improvement’ on addressing issues highlighted in the UN report on human rights violations in Kashmir. It was Bachelet’s first address to the United Nations Human Rights Council after her appointment while succeeding Zeid Raad al Hussain as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights this month. “In her opening remarks at the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Bachelet said the people of Kashmir had the same rights to justice…

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‘German Khars’, who could repair any Pre-Electronic era equipment are fading away from Kashmir

Editor

The art of repairing all kinds of machines and other items has been handed down generations and over time, the craftsmen came known as ‘German Khars’ for their ability to repair German-made machines – a rare skill in the Valley. A narrow lane in Banduk Khar locality of Rainawari area of Srinagar leads to a dead end where a few houses dating back to over a hundred years stand out. Their intricately designed lattice widows and small bricks from the era of Maharaja Hari Singh distinguish them from the concrete…

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‘Mysterious Killings’ Return to Haunt Kashmir, Again

Editor

In 2009, Hakeem-ur-Rehman, a small-time cloth trader, spearheaded a mass agitation against the army in north Kashmir’s Bomai. A junior commissioned officer and two soldiers of 22 Rashtriya Rifles were indicted by a J&K government inquiry in the killing of two civilians – Muhammed Amin Tantray and Javid Ahmed Dar, on 21 February that year. The damning indictment was followed by the army’s own admission of guilt in another inquiry report. And, in a very rare case, a peaceful agitation led by Rehman culminated in the removal of the army…

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J&K’s cost of living highest in India

Editor

The cost of living in Jammu and Kashmir is having much upward trend as the state’s inflation rate is much higher than the average all-India inflation making it the one of the most expensive states for a common man to live. According to monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the Central Statistics Office, the inflation rate in Jammu and Kashmir for the month of July is 6.16 percent as compared to all-India average of 4.17 percent year-on-year. Experts attribute the higher inflation rate to the fact that J&K is…

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Why gay sex order of Supreme Court is not applicable to J&K

Editor

Though yesterday’s Supreme Court judgment partly struck down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and legalised consensual gay sex, the LGBT+ community in Jammu and Kashmir remains deprived of its benefits. The IPC does not automatically extend to Jammu and Kashmir as the state is governed by its separate constitution and a separate penal code: the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC). The RPC was framed during British rule and is on the lines of the IPC. Though Section 377 stands diluted after the Supreme Court order, the RPC still…

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Cops disguise as stone pelters to catch youth

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir Police Friday adopted a fresh strategy of nabbing stone pelters by planting its men among them at historic Jama Masjid downtown to arrest the real culprits in action. After the Friday prayers today, a mob started pelting stones at police and CRPF personnel but there was no retaliation this time and not even a single teargas shell was lobbed or baton charge initiated by the law enforcing force. As the crowd swelled to over 100 people and two chronic stone pelters started leading the agitation, the…

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