Category: General News

General News

J&K records Rs 4,650 crore deficit in power tariff collection: CAG

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The Jammu and Kashmir government has recorded Rs 4,650 crore deficit in collection of power tariff during the year 2015-16, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said. It said the target for tariff collection has not been achieved and the shortfall was Rs 1,503 crore during 2015-16. The CAG report for the year ended March 31, 2016, which was tabled in the Assembly last month, said, “The actual sale of power is only 24.10 per cent of the purchase of power resulting in deficit of Rs…

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Are Geelani, Mirwaiz, Malik next? Time will decide, says DGP

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Commenting on the recent arrest of several Hurriyat leaders by National Investigation Agency (NIA), director general of police SP Vaid on Wednesday said that time will decide the fate of senior Hurriyat leaders, referring to Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik. He said that people of Kashmir have right to know who is responsible for bloodshed in Kashmir. “I can’t say anything about further arrests, especially of senior Hurriyat leaders at this time. Time only will decide,” said SP Vaid while replying to media questions during…

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India rejects OIC resolutions on Kashmir, calls them ‘Incorrect and Misleading’

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In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made it clear that the OIC has no locus standi on India’s internal affairs. India on Tuesday outrightly rejected the resolutions passed by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir and pointed out that these resolutions contained “factually incorrect and misleading” references to internal matters of India. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made it clear that the OIC has no locus standi on India’s internal affairs. India’s sharp response came after the the 56-member…

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Stone-pelting incidents: Pakistan-based JuD using WhatsApp to foment trouble in Kashmir

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Seven people including Altaf Ahmed Shah, the son-in-law of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, were arrested on July 24 by the NIA. The National Investigating Agency (NIA), which is probing the terror funding cases in Jammu and Kashmir, has found at least 28 WhatsApp groups that are being administered by members residing in Pakistan, a report said on Wednesday. A report published in ‘The Times of India’ states some cadres of terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawaa are also involved in creating such WhatsApp groups. The sources in the country’s top…

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GST, Article 35A and Special status: A complex story unfolds in J&K

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When the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was extended to Jammu & Kashmir a week after it was implemented in the rest of the country, it was widely seen as marking the end of the state’s fiscal autonomy, and a step towards the abrogation of its special status. While the opposition National Conference (NC) described the extension of the law, through an executive Order by the President under Article 370, as an “impingement into J&K’s special status and violation of Article 370”, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is in…

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BJP Leader meets Modi, seeks peace initiative to end cross border shelling

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The Jammu and Kashmir BJP has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi start peace initiative to end Border shelling, : which has made life of border residents miserable”. A press release claimed that Eshfaq-ur-rehman Poswal, BJP Leader on Monday discussed prevailing Security Situation in J&K with Prime Minister in Parliament. Poswal also discussed escalation in cross border tension between the two countries with the Prime Minister. “The situation in J&K has improved but Pakistan backed Militants are making all attempts to disrupt peace and security in the region” he told PM.…

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Apex court dismisses PIL on killing of 700 Pandits in 1990

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Refuses to order reinvestigation into massacre, citing inordinate delay Citing inordinate delay, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking reinvestigation into the massacre of over 700 Kashmiri Pandits during 1989-90 when militancy was at its peak in the state, leading to their mass exodus from the Valley. Petitioner ‘Roots in Kashmir’ – an NGO – which wanted prosecution of those responsible for the killings, including separatist leader Yasin Malik, said 215 FIRs were registered in connection with the murder of over 700 Kashmiri Pandits but hardly anything happened…

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NIA arrests seven separatist leaders: Terror funding

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested seven people, including the son-in-law of separatist leader SAS Geelani , for allegedly funding terror groups in Kashmir. The seven are Altaf Shah, Ayaz Akbar, Peer Saifullah, Mehraj Kalwal, Shahid-ul-Islam, Naeem Khan and Bitta Karate. Shah is the son-in-law of hardline Hurriyat leader Geelani, Islam is a close aide of moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Akbar is the spokesperson for the Geelani-led Hurriyat. Geelani suspended Khan from the basic membership of Hurriyat conference in May, days after a sting operation…

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Dialogue with separatists can’t be held at gunpoint: Nirmal Singh

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Dialogue with separatists cannot be held at gunpoint, and they should help to create a conducive atmosphere by dissociating themselves from the ongoing violence in the Valley, Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh said on Monday. Singh said the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance (AoA) spoke of facilitating talks as “dialogue is the only way. “But talks cannot be held at gunpoint. Talks cannot happen by exerting pressure, by killing innocents, attacking pilgrims or police officers of Jammu and Kashmir.” “People who want to talk should come forward and…

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Government open for talks on Kashmir, Opposition told

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The centre has made it clear to opposition leaders that it is open for talks with “all stakeholders” as far as the issue of Kashmir was concerned, at a meeting held to brief them on the Amarnath tragedy. It has also said the Amarnath attack on July 10 that killed seven pilgrims was not because of any security lapse but because the bus got late with two of its tyres getting deflated and subsequent delay in getting the passengers on board the bus. The government had reached out to the…

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