Category: General News

General News

Municipal elections dates announced for J&K, to be held in 4 phases from October 8

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Jammu and Kashmir municipal elections will be held in 4 phases from October 8-16 and counting will take place on October 20, news agency ANI reported Chief Electoral Officer Shaleen Kabra as saying. According to Kabra, elections will held on October 8, 10, 13 and on 16th while people can cast their votes from 7am to 2pm. Shaleen Kabra said, “Municipal Elections shall be held in 4 phases. Date of polling would be Oct 08, Oct 10, Oct 13 & Oct 16. Counting shall take place on Oct 20 after…

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Congress dithers on poll decision, seeks more clarity from state

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The Congress on Wednesday said the administration should “clear its intention” over conducting the municipal elections while alleging that an announcement had been made just to “test the ground”. The party said the Election Commission should issue a notice first and then it would announce whether to participate or not. “We want to strengthen the democratic process but there is chaos in the administration… we feel the announcement has been made just to test the ground. The administration should clear its intentions, let the Election Commission come up with a…

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Ex-ministers wasted a chance to change J&K’s political discourse, Sangh Parivar ticks off BJP

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Disappointed with the performance of BJP ministers in the previous coalition government headed by Mehbooba Mufti, leaders of the Sangh Parivar on Wednesday regretted that the party leadership in the state had wasted a “historic opportunity” to change J&K’s political discourse. During the 10-hour-long meeting, offshoots of the Sangh Parivar discussed all issues concerning J&K. The leaders had met for to assess the outcome of the coalition experiment in the state for the first time after breaking of the PDP-BJP alliance. Apparently admitting that the party is facing a credibility…

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Why Centre backs panchayat polls despite boycott by NC & PDP?

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The upcoming polls in the strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir seemed to have run into rough weather with National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) announcing to boycott the crucial urban body elections and panchayat polls. Both parties have cited protection of Article 35A as the reason for boycotting the polls. BJP general secretary and J&K in-charge of the party Ram Madhav appealed to both NC and PDP to rethink about the panchayat poll boycott, this is unlikely to have any impact on the widely announced decision. Highly…

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Omar Abdullah rules out any Tie-Up with BJP for govt formation in J&K

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National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah Monday ruled out any alliance with the BJP for the formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir. Taking it to the micro-blogging site, Twitter, he wrote, “I understand some old news videos from 2014 are doing the rounds trying to suggest that NC is going to support a BJP lead Govt in J&K. Let me make it very clear – this IS NOT happening. This WILL NOT happen. This is some psy-ops plan designed to unsettle the @JKNC_ cadre.” In the series of…

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Michelle Bachelet UN rights chief urges India, Pak to take meaningful action on Kashmir Issue

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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 and dignity as people all over the world. In her first address to the United Nations Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday praised the Supreme Court for decriminalising same-sex relations between consenting adults but urged India and Pakistan to take meaningful action on addressing issues highlighted in the UN report on human rights violations in Kashmir. This…

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Hold civic poll on non-party basis: Congress urges Governor

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Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president GA Mir on Sunday urged Governor SP Malik to build a consensus on holding the urban and local bodies elections on a non-party basis. “So far there has just been the mere announcement of elections… the Governor should build a consensus on holding municipal elections on a non-party basis just like the panchayat polls were held in the past… political parties can be kept away,” Mir said while addressing a press conference here. However, he reiterated the party stand that elections should…

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Differences with Raj Bhavan, Hostage drama led to SP Vaid’s exit as J&K Police Chief

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A clash between Jammu & Kashmir’s top cop and Raj Bhawan led to the removal of the state’s director general of police, SP Vaid, late on Thursday, multiple officials familiar with the matter said. The differences started soon after the state was placed under Governor’s Rule, a day after the BJP pulled out of the Mehbooba Mufti government on June 19. “There were regular differences between Vaid and advisors to the governor,” the officials said on condition of anonymity. “In each security review meeting, questions were asked regarding the deteriorating…

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To handle critical work three more advisers on cards

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Governor Satya Pal Malik is likely to appoint three more advisers to tune the administrative work in the state and infuse a greater sense of accountability, said highly placed sources. The sources said the Governor was keen to enhance contact with the people with the help of the advisers, Chief Secretary and other officials in the administration. It is felt that he needs more hands to handle the critical work of the administration and make it available and accessible to the public at all levels, they said. The sources said…

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PDP yet to take final call on local elections, but likely to go NC way

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A day after the National Conference announced that it would boycott the upcoming panchayat elections, the Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday decided to go for further consultations on the panchayat poll participation. The decision was taken by the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the highest decision-making body of the party, after a meeting which was chaired by Mehbooba Mufti at her residence. Party insiders, however, said the PDP was likely to go the NCway. It was likely to announce the boycott in a day or two. A senior party leader said…

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