Category: Today

Rajnath Singh to arrive this weekend, may offer talks to Separatists

Editor

Home Minister to review security, hold meetings with Governor, CM The coming weekend will see a lot of political activity in the state. Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be in Srinagar and is likely to make a breakthrough in initiating a dialogue with various stakeholders while former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will land in Jammu. The ruling Peoples Democratic Party will also be holding a party convention in the summer capital. Rajnath will arrive on a two-day visit to Kashmir on September 9 and there is a possibility that he…

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Centre open to talks, but wants no preconditions: Home Secy

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Says Pakistan sponsoring terrorism, ensuring infiltration into Kashmir Talks with separatists in Jammu and Kashmir are a possibility but these have to take place without any pre-conditions, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi said today. Mehrishi, who is demitting office tomorrow, also refused to blame the Haryana Government for its alleged failure in handling the law and order situation after the conviction of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief, saying that it was not proper to judge any situation sitting in Delhi as law and order was a “live and dynamic situation”.…

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19 Hour Pulwama gunfight ends after consuming 4 CRPF Men, 4 Policemen and 3 Militants

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The 19-hour-long gunfight that broke out after ‘fidayeen’ militants stormed the Pulwama police lines here ended at about 11.30 pm after government forces killed the third militant, officials said, even as a spontaneous shutdown was observed in most parts of the district on Sunday to mourn the militant killings. Four CRPF personnel, four policemen and three non-local militants of Jaish-e-Muhammad died in the gunfight while at least eight forces personnel were injured, according to officials. Two of the slain police personnel Rafiq Ahmad Hajam and Muhammad Yousuf Hajam, residents of…

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Supreme Court to hear pleas against Article 35A after Diwali

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The Supreme Court today agreed to hear after Diwali pleas challenging Article 35A, relating to special rights and privileges of permanent residents of J&K. A bench headed by Justice J S Khehar accepted the plea of the J&K Government that the pleas challenging Article 35A be heard after Diwali. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi and advocate Shoeb Alam mentioned the matter before a bench also comprising Justices Dipak Misra and DY Chandrachud that even the Centre had no objection if the pleas were taken up after Diwali. “All the pleas will…

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State govt gears up to defend Article 35A

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The J&K Government has intensified its efforts to safeguard Article 35A which has been challenged in the Supreme Court. From regular consultations with legal luminaries to late hour meetings on the issue, the state government has kept officials on toes to present a water-tight case in the apex court. “It is a settled case but we are ready to face any challenge thrown at us. More than anyone else, it is of great concern to us,” a senior official in the Law Department told Kashmir Post. The state government would…

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Twist to Article 35A row, key file goes missing from Home Ministry

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A key Kashmir file justifying the insertion of Article 35A into the Constitution has gone missing from the high security vaults of North Block in New Delhi, a media report said today. The incident comes at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a petition by an RSS-backed NGO seeking the abrogation of the Article, which bars outsiders from acquiring land or jobs in Jammu and Kashmir. “A 63-year-old file containing legal opinion on Article 35A has vanished from North Block’s high-security vaults at a time the provision, which…

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Solution to Kashmir Issue, Terror would be found by 2022: Rajnath Singh

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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today asserted that by 2022, a solution would be found to the Kashmir problem as also other problems like terrorism, naxalism and North East insurgency. “There are a lot of problems — terrorism, naxalism, Kashmir problem. Much is not needed to be said about these problems. But I can assure you this much that by 2022, we have pledged to create a ‘new India’…So a solution will be found to all these problems before 2022. We want to assure the countrymen on this,” he said.…

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Centre extends tax break for industry in J&K till 2027

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Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states including Jammu and Kashmir will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. “Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027),” he said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given approval to the Scheme of providing budgetary support…

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Mehbooba, Omar, Mirwaiz welcome Modi’s Kashmir outreach

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach to Kashmir in his Independence Day address on Tuesday in which he said bullets or abuses will not help resolve the problems of Kashmir has been welcomed by moderate separatist leader, J&K Chief Minister and opposition National Conference. Moderate separatist leader and cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq welcomed PM Modi’s statement. “Welcome Modi also believes ‘Goli and Gaali’ will not help resolve Kashmir. If Insaniyat (humanity) and Insaaf (justice) replace them, resolution can become a reality,” Mirwaiz tweeted. In his I-Day address, PM Modi said, “Na…

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3 Militants, 2 Army jawans, 2 Civilians killed in Shopian gunfight

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Three militants including an operational commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and two army soldiers were killed while five soldiers sustained injuries in an 18-hour-long gunfight between government forces and militants in Awneera village in Shopian district on Sunday, police and reports said. Three residential houses where the militants were holed up were also destroyed by the government forces, they said. An official said the gunfight which broke around 5 pm on Saturday ended at 11 am on Sunday. “As soon as the forces laid a siege around Awneera, militants present in…

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