Category: General News

General News

CBI gets 3 months to complete investigation into JKCA scam

Editor

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court today granted the CBI three months to complete investigation into the multi-crore Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) scam. The investigation conducted by the CBI so far has revealed that the BCCI had transferred a whopping Rs 1,12,33,04,618 crore to the JKCA between April 2002 and December 31, 2011. Citing “lack of credibility” in the state investigation agency — SIT — and “serious allegations” against “beneficiaries”, including the “influential and mighty”, as some of the reasons, the J&K High Court had on September 3,…

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Farooq Abdullah bats for pre 1953 position

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‘Better Indo-Pak relations key to Kashmir peace’ National Conference (NC) President Farooq Abdullah Tuesday called for restoration of pre-1953 position of the State. “Our struggle is for the restoration of autonomy of the state, pre-1953 position, and Article 370 in its original form as agreed in the 1952 Delhi Agreement,” he said addressing several deputations of party MLAs, MLCs and workers from Sangrama, Beerwah, Pahalgam, Hazratbal and Khanyar at Nawai Subh headquarters here. According to the pre-1953 position of the State, Jammu Kashmir was promised to have its own flag,…

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Mamata Banerjee sidesteps Omar Abdullah’s request but welcomes all Kashmiris

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Citing a report by a national daily claiming that city police has asked all Kolkata colleges to provide details of their students hailing Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah took to Twitter to urge Banerjee to look into the police order. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday sidestepped her former Jammu and Kashmir counterpart Omar Abdullah’s request to look into a media report about police enquiring about Kashmiri students in her state but extended welcome to all people from the northern state. Citing a report by a national daily claiming…

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GoI sets 2019 deadline for four laning of Ramban-Banihal highway

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Government of India has set 2019 as deadline for completing the four-laning of 36 km Ramban-Banihal section being developed as part of the Jammu-Srinagar Highway widening project. “The work on the stretch was started in December last year and it will be completed by the year 2019,” Union Minister of Roads, Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, told Rajya Sabha today. Responding to a question of Member Parliament (MP) from J&K, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Gadkari said that the work for four-laning of the said section has been awarded to M/s Hindustan…

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Nirmal Singh leaves for Delhi, to discuss JK’s political scenario

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Former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh today left for New Delhi on an expected important assignment related to the present political scenario in the state. His New Delhi visit soon after the important Sangh meeting at Nagaur in Rajasthan is being anticipated to bring back home some significant decision related to government formation. Nirmal is scheduled to meet the top central leaders which may include BJP national president Amit Shah, general secretary Ram Madhav and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. “This is being presumed as an important meeting of the state…

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Govt goes beyond Food Act, increases ration quota to 7 kg

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In a major decision on the National Food Security Act, the State Administrative Council (SAC) today ordered increase in allocation of ration from 5 kg to 7 kg per person for Below Poverty Line (BPL) and Priority Sector Households (PSH) to provide relief to a vast majority of people across the state. The intervention is unique as the state will have to bear the burden of procuring additional quantity of food grains pursuant to the revision in the scale of ration, which is beyond the Food Act level. The SAC,…

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PDP, BJP face April 9 deadline to form govt in J&K

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The window for PDP and BJP to sort out their differences and form a government in Jammu & Kashmir is shrinking rapidly as the state assembly, now in suspended animation, must meet by April 9 to avert its dissolution. Though the state came under governor’s rule after PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away in January, the relevant date for dissolution of the assembly is October 10, 2015 when it last met. In accordance with Article 53 of Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, there cannot be an intervening gap of more…

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Not only Pandits, Muslims too left Valley

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Not only Pandits but hordes of Muslims too left the Valley following the outbreak of violence. Today, they make a living from IT, media and, of course, selling handicrafts. One of the memories Rizwan, now in his 40s, has of his early days in Bengaluru in the 1990s, is standing outside a public telephone booth waiting for the weekly call from his home in Srinagar. “The call would come in the evening at a fixed time, and missing it meant my parents would worry. The phone calls were our only…

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Cong suffers from RSS phobia: Jitendra

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Comments of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, by drawing a parallel between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the terror outfit Islamic State (IS) or Daiesh has not gone down well with the BJP. He has said Congress leaders are suffering from ‘RSS phobia’. While talking to mediapersons on the sidelines of a function here today, Minister of State (MoS) in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh said: “The RSS is a nationalist organisation and not a terrorist one. But when the Congress feels…

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Highway closure sparks air fare hike

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Taking the advantage of the closure of the Valley’s only road link to Jammu due to inclement weather for past few days, the airlines have hiked the air fare on 35 minute duration flight between Srinagar and Jammu to whopping Rs 6600. Just a week before, the air ticket from Srinagar to Jammu went between Rs 1100 to Rs 1500 which has now shot up to Rs 5600 on March 12 while the return ticket from Jammu to Srinagar starts from Rs 6600. Valley people have to regularly bear the…

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