Category: Ladakh

Ladakh

Showing grit, four girls from Leh scale Mt Everest

Editor

Exhibiting indomitable spirit and grit, four young girls from Ladakh scaled Mount Everest – the highest peak in the world. The four young girls from Leh district in the Ladakh region were part of an NCC cadet girls’ contingent of 10 members that scaled the highest peak on May 22. It is the first time in the history of the state that four young girls from the NCC have scaled the summit. They are Stanzin Laskit of Ney, Rigzin Dolker of Nubra, Tsering Angmo of Spithuk and Tashi Laskit of…

Read More

Govt nod for setting up powerful solar telescope at Ladakh

Editor

NLST will study astrophysics and the sun’s influence on earth The Jammu and Kashmir government has given a green signal to the establishment of indigenous National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) — one of world’s most powerful solar telescopes — at Merak village on shore of Pangong Lake in Ladakh. To address critical problems in astrophysics and sun’s influence on earth, the telescope with an aperture of two metres is a part of Central government-sponsored Rs 300-crore project to be established by Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), Bangalore. The project came…

Read More

All Weather Leh road ? Keep waiting

Editor

Govt yet to invite bids after Zojila tunnel contract was scrapped on March 3 With the Centre ordering fresh bidding for Rs 10,050 crore Zojila tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir, the eagerly awaited project, that will provide all-weather road connectivity to Ladakh, will take more time. The decision to bid afresh for the prestigious project was taken in March by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari following allegations by Congress leader Digvijay Singh in January. Digvijay had alleged that Gadkari violated the Central Vigilance Commission guidelines while…

Read More

Ladakh to get world’s largest telescope?

Editor

India may be home to the world’s largest telescope project – the $1.47-billion Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) International Observatory. Hanle in Ladakh has been short-listed as a prospective site by the TMT board following major hurdles in Mauna Kea, Hawaii – the first choice for the project. An international team is expected to visit Ladakh in a couple of months. The Hawaii Supreme Court had in December 2015 cancelled the permit issued to TMT for constructing the observatory following claims that the plot in Mauna Kea was sacred. While Hawaiian…

Read More

Avalanche hits Turtuk in Leh, Jawan goes missing

Editor

A soldier is missing and another is in critical condition after an Army patrol party was hit by an avalanche in Leh’s Turtuk on Friday morning. The Army has launched a search operation for the missing soldier. A ‘medium danger’ avalanche warning was issued for the higher areas of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday morning and people were advised to not venture into these areas. The advisory, issued by the Chandigarh-based Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment that comes under the ministry of defence, will remain effective for 24 hours beginning…

Read More

Buddhist eco-village to come up in Ladakh

Editor

Jammu and Kashmir will soon have the first-ever Buddhist “eco-village” in the arid Ladakh region. To be named “Lotus Eco-Village”, it will come up in Saboo at an altitude of 11,627 feet and nearly 7 km from Leh town. The project has been conceived by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) — a religious body in Leh which holds sway over Buddhists in the entire region. The project will be executed over 1,000 kanals with an estimated cost of Rs 400 crore. The LBA says the funds will be arranged through…

Read More

Army forces admn to stop all works near LAC in Ladakh

Editor

QUOTE: “The Army has not been allowing us to undertake development works in Chumar village. Last week, we started work on the construction of a road towards a village located close to the LAC, where the local grazers of our side go along with their cattle, but soldiers forced the contractor to abandon the project. Local Army officers had given a lame excuse that they had been directed by their higher-ups not to allow any kind of development work in the area,” Sonam Dawa Lonpo, CEC, LAHDC In a major…

Read More

Leh highway may reopen by March 25

Editor

Less snowfall paves way for early opening of Ladakh lifeline Less snowfall has turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the arid Ladakh region this year as the strategic 434-km Srinagar-Kargil-Leh highway, the lifeline of the country’s cold desert, is likely to be opened to traffic by March 25, almost one and a half months earlier than its opening last year. The highway usually remains closed for more than five months from December to first week of May due to accumulation of heavy snow at Zojila — the…

Read More

Mobile tower commissioned at Phila Sal Sal in Ladakh

Editor

A mobile tower has been commissioned at Phila Sal Sal in Ladakh region under a joint initiative by the Leh-based 14 Corps and BSNL. The requisite infrastructure for the project at Phila Sal Sal was provided by the Army. “BSNL moved its resources from Jammu, which were airlifted to Leh and further placed at a location under the aegis of 14 Corps Signalers. The initiative by the Army will benefit local residents and tourists visiting the area,” said a Defence spokesperson. Ladakh region has a poor communication network due to…

Read More

Highway connecting Ladakh with Kashmir likely to reopen a month earlier

Editor

The Highway, connecting the Ladakh region with the Kashmir valley is likely to reopen a month earlier this year if there is no fresh snowfall on the most troubled portion of the strategically important road between Sonmarg-Zojilla and Meenmarg. The highway was closed in December last year after snowfall and slippery road conditions due to below freezing point temperature.   The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) authorities have already started snow clearance operation on both sides of the Zojilla, where the Union government has already sanctioned construction of tunnel to make the…

Read More