Category: General News

General News

Congress panel led by Manmohan Singh begins Kashmir visit

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Congress panel is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to attend a series of meetings on the current situation in the Valley. A Congress panel headed by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government to keep the dialogue route with separatists open. The party delegation is on a two-day visit to Kashmir to attend a series of meetings on the current situation in the Valley. The Congress’ ‘Policy and Planning’ group was formed in April in the wake of widespread violence in…

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BJP deputes Ram Lal to ‘Placate’ workers at grassroots level

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Step taken after Rajnath Singh got ‘discouraging’ feedback about party ministers during his visit As Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has not received “encouraging” feedback about the performance of party ministers in the coalition, the BJP high command has decided to depute party national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal to “placate” the workers at grassroots-level. During his visit to Jammu on September 11 and 12, Rajnath had received a large number of complaints against party ministers. Not only the civil society expressed anger over the performance of the BJP ministers,…

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Govt directs Admin Secys to file action taken reports on agenda of alliance

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The government has directed the Administrative Secretaries to file the Action Taken Reports (ATRs) on the work done by departments on PDP-BJP coalition’s Agenda of Alliance (AoA). According to officials in a recent meeting which was convened by the chief secretary, B B Vyas, ATRs were sought as not much has been done on promises which were made out to people. The directions come after a cabinet sub-committee (CSC) headed by Deputy Chief Minister, Nirmal Singh, reviewed the AoA. The CSC had met in April following which the directions were…

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Jammu-Srinagar highway cleared after landslide, vehicles move to Kashmir

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Hundreds of heavy vehicles that had been stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to a landslide on Monday, left for Kashmir on Thursday after the debris was cleared off the arterial road. Hundreds of heavy vehicles, stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to a landslide on Monday, left for Kashmir on Thursday after the debris was cleared off the arterial road. A landslip at Morh Passi in Udhampur district on September 11 had hit the movement of vehicles on the 300-km highway, the lone all-weather road connecting Kashmir…

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India & Pakistan should give UN investigators access to JK territories

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Kashmiri human rights defenders from both sides of Kashmir urged India and Pakistan to open the territory to international investigators. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein had made UN history of some sorts when he broke international silence a year ago and included Kashmir in the top annual human rights agenda of United Nations. But in the four sessions of UN Human Rights Council since September 2016 and until September 2017, the High Commissioner has complained that New Delhi and Islamabad have not given access to UN…

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Centre non-committal on defending Article 35A in Supreme Court

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Rohingyas illegal immigrants, a security threat: Rajnath Singh The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is non-committal on filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court to defend Article 35A, which grants special privileges to the permanent residents of the state. When asked at a press conference here today whether the Centre would file a counter affidavit in the apex court to protect Article 35A, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said: “The matter is pending in the apex court, so I have nothing to say about it.” He said: “Some people…

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Avoid trifurcation but give autonomy to regions: National Conference

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The National Conference today pitched for regional autonomy to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, saying “it is a way forward to satiate aspirations of the people in three distinct regions of the state.” “We strongly believe that autonomy to the state and regional autonomy to the three regions with autonomous administrative structures for sub-regions on the pattern of Ladakh Hill Development Councils can defeat nefarious designs of the forces, who want trifurcation of the state for their petty political interests,” NC provincial president Devender Singh Rana said in a 40-minute interactive…

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PDP-BJP govt has brought J&K back to chaos: Azad

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Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has said the PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir and the NDA-led Centre had taken the state back to 1990s when the law and order situation was at its worst. “Since the BJP came to power in New Delhi and formed the coalition government with PDP in J&K, the situation has gone back to 1990s period. Jammu and Kashmir has slipped into the worst 1990 situation now,” he told reporters here after former prime minister Manmohan Singh-led policy planning group of Congress on Kashmir…

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Rajnath Singh leaves Kashmir unimpressed, Nothing new to offer

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday concluded his visit to Kashmir with the usual promises and assurances. The Home Minister, who arrived in the Valley on Saturday, held the routine security and political meetings, and met 35 delegations. He also addressed police and CRPF personnel in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, where he promised to turn Kashmir into a paradise. For the common man, however, it was difficult to detect any newness in the visit. Srinagar’s old city remained sealed off for three consecutive days, leaving thousands of its residents…

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Permanent solution to Kashmir issue is based on five ‘C’s: Rajnath Singh

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The situation in Kashmir Valley has improved significantly over the past year, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today as he expressed willingness to meet anyone who wants to help resolve problems of Kashmir. Singh, who is on a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, told reporters that a permanent solution to Kashmir issue is based on five ‘C’s — compassion, communication, coexistence, confidence building and consistency. “After meeting the delegations and holding meetings here, I understand that the situation in Kashmir has greatly improved.I don’t want to claim that…

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