Category: General News

General News

Ex-DIG, four others to spend 10 years in jail for 2006 Sex Scandal

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A special court on Wednesday sentenced five convicts—two high-ranking police officers among them—to 10 years imprisonment for raping a minor in a 12-year-old case from Jammu & Kashmir. KC Padhi, a former deputy inspector general of the Border Security Force, and Mohammad Ashraf Mir, former deputy superintendent of police, were among those who were found guilty in a case that dated back to 2006. The case, known as the J&K sex scandal, made news headlines when police came across CDs of two minor girls sexually exploited in 2006. When questioned,…

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Govt, Hurriyat may talk in renewed peace push in J&K

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In the upcoming meeting with home minister Rajnath Singh, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is expected to strongly recommend extending the suspension of security operations in the state for another two months. The ground is being laid for a meeting between the Centre’s special representative to Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, and the separatist leadership in the Valley, government officials and the separatists have independently confirmed, even as New Delhi makes renewed efforts to restore peace in a region where violence has peaked in recent weeks. “The meeting…

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36 Killed, 15 Grenade attacks across J&K during last 3 weeks

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In three weeks of halting security operations during Ramazan, 36 people including, 16 militants, 10 civilians and 10 armed forces personnel were killed and 15 grenade attacks took place across Kashmir. In these grenade attacks over 40 people, including 17 armed forces personnel were injured . During this period, militants allegedly decamped with seven rifles from four different spots. The infiltration, police sources said, is also taking place at a high pace and all 16 militants killed in last 20 days were shot dead in border districts of the Valley.…

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Omar Abdullah praises BJP’s U-turn on Kashmir Policy

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Former Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) working president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the Centre has made much “needed U-turn on Kashmir policy”. Reacting to BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav’s remarks on holding a dialogue with Hurriyat in J&K, Mr. Abdullah said, “After spending the last four years telling the nation and the world how the Hurriyat was irrelevant in Kashmir now the BJP and its government has made a major and much needed U-turn,” Omar wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, Mr. Abdullah was again nominated as the party’s…

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Violence needs to be brought down before any dialogue: Dineshwar Sharma

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Days ahead of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, the Centre’s interlocutor for the state, has reportedly said that the level of violence has to be brought down before any political dialogue can be initiated. While speaking to leading daily, Sharma, who had persuaded the Modi government to announce the unilateral Ramadan ceasefire, asserted,”The biggest challenge in Kashmir today is to calm down the sentiments of the people, particularly youth.” Furthermore, he stated, “It will be difficult to think about any political dialogue, any political solution until we…

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Jammu at 40 degrees, Kashmir at 35 degrees, Heat wave declared across State

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At 40 degrees Celsius, Jammu city on Monday recorded the hottest day of the year. “This is the highest recorded this year so far,” an official of the Met department said. “Similarly, the maximum temperature was 34.4 degrees Celsius in Srinagar today and yesterday it was 35 degrees Celsius,” it added. The weather office said that Jammu city also recorded the hottest night this year at 31.4 on Sunday. Meanwhile, heat wave has been declared across Kashmir as the maximum temperature was recorded at 34.4 degrees Celsius, 8.1 degrees Celsius…

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Time right, Talk to save Kashmir, separatists must join: Mehbooba Mufti

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Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said now was the right time for separatists to come forward for dialogue. She said the unilateral ceasefire and dialogue offer “opportunity does not come every day”. “We always say that J&K is a political problem and needs a solution. The Army, CRPF or the police cannot resolve it. It can only be resolved politically through dialogue and when there is an offer of dialogue from the Centre, I request all stakeholders to come forward to save J&K and its economy,” Mehbooba said while…

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Ambiguity over Kashmir Talks mar the seriousness of Talks: Hurriyat Leardership

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New Delhi is confused about what it wants to talk about in Kashmir, Hurriyat said in a statement. The statement released by All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Tuesday was a reaction to statements made on Monday by Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. In a press conference held on Monday, Swaraj, in context of holding a dialogue with Pakistan, had said, “We are ready for talks. But there’s a caveat – terror and talks cannot go together. This has always been our position.” The Hurriyat said that there was a…

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Want good ties with all, but Pak must stop abetting terror: Venkaiah Naidu

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Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday said India wanted good relations with all neighbours, but Pakistan must honour its commitment of not allowing its territory to be used for training terror. Tension on borders had hampered the developmental activities in J&K, he said, adding that that no government could carry out development smoothly unless there was peace. “We want to have good relations with all. We don’t have any problem in talking with our neighbours, including our immediate neighbour (Pakistan), but they also have to reciprocate in a similar manner.…

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Today Joint Resistance Leadership to take call on Centre’s talks offer

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Three key separatist leaders in Kashmir are likely to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss and take a final call on the dialogue offer by the Central government. The meeting is likely to take place at the residence of Syed Ali Geelani and will be attended by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik. The three separatist leaders refer to themselves as Joint Resistance Leadership, an issue-based coalition which they had formed two years ago. Sources said, “the leaders will take a final decision and then issue a joint statement…

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