Category: General News

General News

Kashmir in Headlines 2017

Editor

The main trigger for the violence in 2017 in Kashmir is the ‘Burhan aftermath’ – a series of violent protests in the Valley after the killing of Burhan Wani, militant commander of the Kashmir-based terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen by Indian security forces on 8 July 2016. The year 2017 has therefore been christened as ‘The Year of Kashmir’ by terrorist organization Jamaat–ud-Dawa (JuD), earlier Lashkar-e-Taiba and now called Tehreek Azadi Jammu and Kashmir (TAJK). The declaration is a clear indication of the surge of militancy in Kashmir in the days…

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Intel Agencies suggest govt staff propagating separatism, Prompts state to set guidelines

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In October 2016, the state government had sacked its 12 employees for participating in anti-India protests. The sacked employees were among 150 government servants, including some gazetted officers, identified by the CID wing of the J&K Police for instigating violence or challenging the integrity of the nation on the social media. The employees were identified after intelligence agencies kept a strict vigil on their posts on the social media during the unrest in the Valley following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016. The J&K…

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J&K Government orders social media ‘Gag’ for its employees

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Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday issued guidelines to regulate the usage of social media by its employees, which includes, among others, refraining from posts prejudicial to the government. An order, issued by the General Administration Department, said: “No government employee shall engage in any criminal, dishonest, immoral or notoriously disgraceful conduct on social media which may be prejudicial to the government.” “They shall also not use their personal social media accounts for any political activity or endorse the posts or tweets or blogs of any political figure and also…

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At 12.13% J&K has highest unemployment rate in India: Report

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At 12.13 percent, J&K had the highest unemployment rate in India in 2017, says the data compiled by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy in collaboration with Bombay Stock Exchange. The other states with high unemployment rates are Kerala (9.60 percent), Assam (8.60), Chandigarh (8.05) and Haryana (7.16). The national unemployment average is 4.7 percent. According to the BSE, the unemployment rate is the sum of the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force, where the latter consists of the unemployed plus those in paid or…

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Cold wave grips Kashmir, At -9.1°C, Ladakh coldest in state, highway open for 1 way traffic

Editor

Kashmir continued to remain in the grip of intense cold wave on Friday, even as the Srinagar-Jammu highway was open for one-way traffic, officials said. A meteorological department official said that thick fog enveloped most parts of Kashmir on Friday, making minimum temperatures touch several notches below freezing point due to clear overnight sky. Because of the fog, people began their day a little late as the weather condition caused inconvenience to motorists and other commuters, according to several reports and witnesses. There was no fog, however, around the Srinagar…

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Interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma’s third visit begins on Monday

Editor

The Centre’s representative on Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, will arrive here on Monday on his third visit to the state for holding talks with all stakeholders and to find ways for restoration of peace in the trouble-torn region. The interlocutor told Kashmir Post over phone from New Delhi that he would be arriving in the summer capital to meet various delegations. The groups scheduled to meet him, however, are yet to be finalised. Sharma had met people from a cross-section of society in both Kashmir and Jammu divisions during his two…

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Tassaduq Mufti can be MLC, PDP-led govt sticks to stand

Editor

The Mehbooba Mufti government has replied to the queries raised by Governor NN Vohra regarding the nomination of Chief Minister’s younger brother Tassaduq Mufti’s nomination to the Legislative Council. It has asserted that there was no bar in nominating Tassaduq as he was a creative artist of international fame. Official sources told Kashmir Post that a redraft recommending the nomination of Tassaduq had been sent to the Governor. Regarding the case of the previous nominations of 2015 pending in a court, the government submitted that these were two “separate issues.”…

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Govt has no plans to abolish Articles 35A and 370: Union Minister Hansraj Ahir

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The government today said there was no proposal as of now for abolition of articles 35A and 370 which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The reply came in response to the question posed by Akali Dal MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa about the status of abolishing Article 35A and Article 370. “No proposal regarding abolition of Article 35A and Article 370 in respect of Jammu and Kashmir is at present under consideration of the government,” Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir said replying to a written question. Abrogation…

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Hindus not a minority in JK, welfare schemes only for ‘Needy’: State govt to SC

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Jammu and Kashmir is the lone Muslim-majority state in India. According to the 2011 Census, Hindus account for 28.43% of the state’s population at 3.56 million. Jammu and Kashmir does not acknowledge Hindus as a “minority” in the state as it goes by the Centre’s national list of minorities, according to an affidavit filed by the PDP-BJP coalition government in the Supreme Court last week. The state government told the top court that benefits of Central schemes would only be extended to “meritorious” and “needy” members of those communities that…

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Alliance with BJP a bold move by Mehbboba Mufti, now durable: Haseeb Drabu

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Drabu called the alliance a “huge experiment” and said it actually displays certain leadership quality to set in motion a process to create a framework to resolve the most contagious issues in the state. Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Ahmad Drabu claimed that the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which no one thought would last a week, has now turned into a durable one. Speaking at the “India Ideas Conclave 2017” in Goa, Drabu said, “It is true that it is…

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