Category: Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir Votes, and India hails it as normalcy in a Dominated Region

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India’s ruling party worked to make Kashmir’s rural development council elections a showcase. But a visit by Times reporters showed a place still struggling under heavy-handed rule. Votes were counted on Tuesday in the first local elections in Kashmir since the Indian government waged a harsh political and security crackdown in the restive region last year. Officials hailed a solid turnout as a sign that democracy has been restored, but little in Kashmir feels normal. “The voting shows democracy being alive at the grass roots,” the region’s top civil servant,…

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What is Kashmir Special Status and Articles 370, 35A?

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Indian government abolishes decades-old laws that gave a measure of autonomy to the disputed Muslim-majority region. India has scrapped a law that grants special status to Indian-administered Kashmir amid an indefinite lockdown and massive troop deployment in the disputed region.Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, a close ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, told parliament on Monday that the president had signed a decree abolishing Article 370 of the constitution, stripping the significant autonomy Kashmir had enjoyed for seven decades.The move is expected to further inflame tensions in the Muslim-majority…

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PDD’s new power curtailment schedule, the metered area’s to have 4.5 hours trim and non-metered area’s to have 7.5 hours trim

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Less than a month after assuring least power outages this season, the power development department (PDD) has decided to increase curtailment hours in Kashmir. As per its new curtailment schedule to be implemented in few days, the daily curtailment in non-metered areas will be increased to 7.5 hours from the present 4 hours, officials said. “The daily curtailment in metered areas will be 4.5 hours from present three hours.” An official claimed that there was a “major increase” in the consumption this year, which “forced the department to increase the…

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Twelve civilians wounded in Kakapora Grenade Blast

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Twelve civilians were wounded in a grenade blast in Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. Locals said that suspected militants on Wednesday evening hurled a grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) party in main chowk Kakapora which missed the target and exploded on the roadside. “Twelve civilians were injured in the blast,” locals told Kashmir Post. An official said the injured were immediately shifted to a Sub District Hospital Pampore and two were referred to Srinagar for advanced treatment. The injured were identified as Raja…

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SSCL to provide sharing cycles at Central Business Area

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The Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) Wednesday convened the 6th meeting of Board of Directors which reviewed the progress on various projects approved during previous meetings. The Board also approved a host of new projects in various sectors for infrastructural interventions and developmental initiatives in Srinagar city. Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang Pole, Chief Executive Officer SSCL (Deputy Commissioner Srinagar) Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Director SSCL Naveen Aggraval, VC SDA Dr Bashir Ahmed, Commissioner SMC, Director Archives and other members were present. CEO Smart City (DC Srinagar) briefed the Board about…

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What will Joe Biden’s win mean for Human Rights in the Kashmir, A Big Question?

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Delighted that ‘Islamophobic’ Donald Trump will soon leave the Oval Office, Kashmiris hope that the US will bring pressure to bear on India’s Modi government against crackdowns in the Valley. On Sunday morning, veteran Kashmiri journalist Yusuf Jameel heard a scrap dealer shout an unusual cry outside his home in Srinagar: “Ab ki baar, Trump gov khaar (This time, Trump is wrecked).” The slogan, which imaginatively rhymed with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s election catchphrase for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was intended as a pun to convey the defeat of Donald…

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New power schedule for winters assures “The lowest curtailment schedule in a decade” curtailment

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The Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation has come up with a new curtailment schedule for winters, terming it as “the lowest curtailment schedule in a decade”. As per the schedule, there will be only two to three-hour daily curtailment in metered areas and three to four-hour curtailment in non-metered areas. Chief Engineer, Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation (KPDC), Aijaz Ahmed Dar, said that it will be the lowest curtailment schedule in a decade. “We have tried our best to resort to least curtailment hours and that is why as per this schedule…

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The journalists in Kashmir are ‘Harassed’ and ‘Questioned’ for doing their job

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By Aamir Peerzada Journalism has become especially risky in Indian-administered Kashmir since the federal government stripped the region of its special status in August last year. That seemed evident this week when India’s top anti-terror agency searched the offices of the Greater Kashmir newspaper and the home of AFP journalist Parvaiz Bukhari. In all, India’s national investigative agency searched nine locations, including NGOs and homes of leading activists, in Srinagar city, the region’s capital. It said the raids were based on “credible information” that these organisations and people were receiving…

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Kashmiri’s decry ‘Land Grab’ as India enacts new Laws

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Residents fear laws are aimed at a ‘land grab’ to dilute the Muslim-majority character of the disputed region, now directly under New Delhi’s control India has enacted a series of new laws – and amended some – allowing any of its nationals to buy land in the disputed Indian-administered Kashmir, a move that has been condemned by the residents. Kashmiris fear the new laws, notified on Tuesday, are aimed at a “land grab” to dilute the Muslim-majority character of the region, whose partial autonomy was scrapped in August 2019, bringing…

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BJP workers detained while trying to hoist tricolour at Lal Chowk

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Jammu and Kashmir police detained three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers from frontier district of Kupwara as they tried to hoist tricolour at Ghanta Ghar (Clock tower) in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk in capital Srinagar on Monday. Reports said the trio included Mir Basharat, BJP spokesman for Kupwara district, Mir Ishfaq and Akhtar Khan. Ahead of his detention, Basharat told news agency KNO that they had reached Lal Chowk early morning to hoist tricolour to send a message to members of Peoples Alliance for Gupkar declaration. “Our message…

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