Category: Union Territory

Srinagar, Feb 19: Punjab Police has arrested two persons including a lady for murdering a businessman from north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Friday morning in Firozpur area of Punjab.

As per a statement issued to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) by District Ferozepur Police, it has arrested the accused while exposing the blind murder of Kashmiri youth within 24 hours.

The statement said that Mohammad Amin Beg, son of Mohammad Rustam of village Sarajpura, police station Vesgas Handwara, district Kupwara (Jammu and Kashmir) had informed the police that he and other resident of his village have been coming to Ferozepur city for about 20 years to sell warm clothes.

“This year too he is living on rent in Khanuwali Basti along with his friends and working to sell warm clothes by cycling in two different villages. He was accompanied by Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, son of Habibullah Mir of Siraj Pura Tehsil, Handwara district,” the statement added.

It said that he and his companions come back every evening till around 5/6 pm, but on Feb 17, 2022, Mushtaq Ahmed Mir did not return and his mobile number 19149745999 was also blocked.

“When they searched for Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, they found a dead body lying in a sack on the side of the road from Ferozepur to Mallawal. The body was of Mushtaq Ahmed Mir, with blood oozing from his mouth.”

A case under number 36 dated 18-02-2022 against 302 Bhad Police Station Sadar Ferozepur was registered by the Chief Officer Sadar Police Station Ferozepur against unknown persons on the basis of the above information.

A team headed by Jagwinder Kumar, Deputy Captain of Police (Inv.) Ferozepur and Inspector Jagdish Kumar in charge of CIA Staff, Ferozepur was formed, it said, adding that the team formed was thoroughly investigated by different teams to trace the unidentified culprits and technical, scientific methods were used.

Two accused involved identified as Sonu son of Janta Singh of village Arif K Hall resident of village Sodhe Wala Police Station Sadar Ferozepur and Beant Kaur, wife of Shaan Singh resident of Aav Ke Hall resident of village Baure Wala Police Station Sadar Ferozepur were arrested today, police said.

It added that a motorcycle under number PB-66-A4699 Bajaj Paltina, Photo copy of late Mushtaq Ahmed’s bicycle purse along with cash, Bhagjat and Aadhar card 045 were recovered—(KNO)

Says 15 lakh Tulips to bloom this year also; ‘Another Tulip garden to be developed at Sonamarg, besides rose garden at Pahalgam’

Srinagar, Feb 19: Commissioner secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Floriculture department, Sheikh Fayaz on Saturday said that Tulip garden will be thrown open from March 20 onwards for public.

Talking exclusively to Kashmir News Service (KNS), he said that keeping in view the pleasant climate this year, the garden will be opened from March 20 onwards.

He said that like previous year, 15 lakh tulips will bloom which had set a record of about 2 lakh tourists visiting the garden last year.

“Department is fully prepared this year and new projects are being started for beautification and maintenance of new gardens and parks in the Kashmir valley,” he added.

He informed that 100 kanals of land has been identified in Sonamarg for setting up a Tulip garden there and a rose garden would be developed at Pahalgam which will attract more tourists.

“Department, besides maintaining old gardens is all set to develop new theme based gardens in the valley to attract more tourists. Department is handling now those parks which have more than 10 kanals of land and rest of the small parks have been handed over to municipality,” he said.

He further said that the department has taken over such parks which were earlier handled by J&K Bank like Iqbal park and Badamwari. (KNS)

‘Scrapping J&K’s special status of J&K has made its resolution more difficult’

Srinagar, Feb 16: Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of having turned into the “modern-day East India Company”, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday castigated the government for trying to make it “Godse’s India”.

According to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Mehbooba while talking with reporters after a condolence meeting in Pahnoo Shopian said that BJP is working like the East India Company and the saffron party like the company will one day leave the country.

“Illegal and unconstitutional actions of 5 August 2019 and beyond have only added to the complexities of the J & K issue whereby those with full faith in the democratic and constitutional mechanism of our country have been deeply hurt and feel betrayed,” she said.

Mufti further alleged that, “thousands of our people have been arrested and imprisoned in outside jails. The journalists who want to show the real truth have been arrested, and PAGD is a voice against it, that’s why the central government is against us. They do not want anyone to talk about the reality here, they want that only one message to go out that everything is fine here.’’

Mufti said that the PAGD is raising the voices of people and BJP just wants to keep everybody quiet to float the narrative that by scrapping special status of J&K they have solved Kashmir issue

“There are different kinds of people living in India and BJP can’t decide what people will eat and wear but there is a conspiracy that wants to keep our girls away from education but we know our girls are brave, they won’t let them succeed and continue their education,” she said.

Mufti said that the BJP wants to keep people engaged with one or the other issue and different names are being given like hybrid militants, white collar militants so that they can raid and people won’t raise any voice

“Neither Kakkar’s nor East India Company lasted long and BJP too will have to go and people must wake up and don’t let India become Godse’s India,” she said—(KNO)

President appeals JK LG to announce special package

Srinagar: The entrepreneurs of Jammu and Kashmir during the last three years of Covid 19 pandemic were most sufferers to survive their newly established business units despite taking financial support from the government department and banks for their newly business projects.
Babar Chowdhary, President Kashmir Youth Entrepreneurs Federation (KYEF) appeal to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Singh to intervene in the matter of business of entrepreneurs of Jammu and Kashmir to announce special package for the survival of all business units who are in deep crises and it will be a helping hand and can yield result oriented solution to them.
The KYEF president also urge to Lt Governor to announce special loan interest rates for the Jammu and Kashmir entrepreneurs so that the repayment of loan amount by the business entrepreneurs will be done on time.
Babar Chowdhary said, “During the last three years of Covid 19 pandemic, the business entrepreneurs of union territory of Jammu and Kashmir are facing huge hardships to manage the business operations in terms of bank loans, staff salaries, day to day expenses without getting any stability of business operations day by day.”
He further said that for setting up a new business venture in Jammu and Kashmir, the new business entrepreneur has to take all kind of permission from the concern departments to get it successfully done but in last three years nothing new happen to the survival of the businesses in Jammu and Kashmir.
Kashmir is seeing a new generation of young women entrepreneurs who are beating the challenges of unemployment, internet shutdowns, political instability and lockdowns to cash in on rising business opportunities. From food to fashion, these entrepreneurs have found an ally in social media, which is helping them expand faster than ever before.
Babar said that there has been a considerable rise in the number of registered entrepreneurs in Jammu and Kashmir. While there were 483 entrepreneurs in 2016, the number has risen over four times to 2,164 in 2018 and more till 2021 and need of the hour is that government should take immediate steps for Young entrepreneurs to make hassle-free procedure for all new entrepreneurs of the region.
“It takes months and in some cases years for an entrepreneur to get NOCs like Power Availability Certificate, Power Sanction, consent to establish, consent to operate from departments like PDD and PCB/PCC,” the president said.

Srinagar, Feb 15: A minor Kashmiri student who is currently studying in Madhya Pradesh has been arrested by police for posting objectionable status on Whatsapp on the eve of third anniversary of Pulwama attack.

Official sources told Srinagar based news agency Kashmir Dot Com (KDC) that one student of B.com Ist year at Swami Vivekanand Govt college Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh had posted objectionable video on his what-app status regarding Lethpora attack.

Quoting College Principal Spokesperson of J&K students association Nasir Khuehami said that the student posted a video of the slain Jawans of Pulwama attack on social media and wrote “it as Babri’s revenge”.

He said that an FIR in this regard has been registered and further investigation has been taken up.

The student who is studying under the Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) is under police custody and further investigations have been set into motion, he added. (KDC)

Srinagar: Babar Chowdhary, President Kashmir Youth Entrepreneurs Federation in a fervent appeal to Jammu and Kashmir government and urge them to open all primary and middle educational classes simultaneously with higher educational classes in government and private schools started from this Monday in physical manner in union territory regions as educational section has acquire huge loss due to pandemic of Covid 19.
The president said, “Due to Covid-19 pandemic, all the educational and coaching institutes across the world were shut in view of the chances of Covid-19 spread among the children in schools and colleges and now almost all higher school and colleges have started working from this Monday and it can be a big opportunity for Jammu and Kashmir government to open primary and middle classes simultaneously without any delay.”
He further said that during last three years students don’t have any physical activities while the time was spend with online classes by almost all the schools in Jammu and Kashmir and with the opening of school and colleges in the region from this Monday, it can be a confidence building measure for all such students of primary and middle classes who don’t even see the classroom during this epidemic period.
“Government machinery as well as teaching community of valley like in other parts of globe, geared up themselves to come up with some sort of an alternative to compensate the academic loss of students during Covid 19 pandemic, and now more thrust should be given to physical classes in schools and colleges by the government as it is need of the hour after the resumption of physical classes,” he said.
The president further said that government should direct all the school and college managements to follow all the Covid 19 SOPs in letter and spirit for all working days so that all teaching physical classes will run smoothly during the current academic sessions.
“During the past in Covid 19 period, all the educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir conducted online classes through Zoom app, Google classrooms etc with the intention to minimise the academic loss of students. Every institution instantly framed the timetable of teaching officials and they were directed to conduct the online classes according to the framed schedule but now with the opening of higher educational classes, time is right to take a decision by Jammu and Kashmir to start the primary and middle classes as well,” he said.

Srinagar, Feb 14: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Monday has sought to shorten the booster shot interval to 6 months.

Currently, the gap between the second dose and the booster shot in India is 9 months.

“Shortening the interval would prevent the emergence of new variants of Covid-19,” said DAK President and influenza expert Dr Nisar ul Hassan.

Dr Hassan said while two doses of Covid-19 vaccine protects you from severe disease, but immunity wanes over time.

“Various studies have confirmed that Covid-19 vaccine becomes less effective over time,” he said.

The DAK President said analysis from a UK study found that the protection provided by the two doses of Pfizer and Oxford (Covishield) vaccine wanes within six months.

“The study revealed that protection after two doses of the Pfizer vaccine decreased from 88% at one month to 74% at five to six months and protection for Oxford decreased from 77% at one month to 67% at four to five months,” he said.

Booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine are being given within 6 months of the second dose in many countries.

General Secretary DAK Dr Arshad Ali said booster shots should be extended to all adults to broaden individual’s immune response against the emerging variants of Covid-19.

“At the moment booster doses are being given to healthcare workers, frontline workers and people aged 60 with comorbidities,” he said.

“Dubbed as precautionary dose in India, booster shot is the third or the additional dose of Covid-19 vaccine given to ensure the protection is maintained against the new variants,” said Dr Riyaz Ahmad Dagga Spokesperson DAK

“CDC and FDA have approved booster shots for all adults to be given within six months after the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine,” he said.

Sopore, Feb 13: Since times immemorial, women have had to fight stereotypes and it is not uncommon even today to see girls being encouraged to be polite, while boys are not only allowed but expected to be boisterous and rowdy.

To over come such stereotypes Sopore girls have set and example by trekking 14 kms along Rampora-Rajpora hills in Sopore.

In order to boost the confidence of female gender Mountain Warriors Trekking and Hiking Club in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Forest department organised a trekking, starting from the Montane EcoPark Rampora-Rajpora. Around 15 girls from all age groups participated among including 13-year-old girl besides, mother of two children also took part in the adventurous trek.

Covering about 14 kms distance, the girl trekkers moved from Trimokhan Top to South Lolab boundary then descended down to Rampora, reaching an altitude of 2900m challenging about 3 feet of snow accumulation along the trek.

“I’m really overwhelmed as I was waiting for this day, I had a wish if I could go camping with my friends to hills and this Club fulfilled it and provided the opportunity for the girl folk,” said Peer Ishrat, a trekker.

She said that it was a great experience to be in the lap of nature and away from the worldly hustle and bustle.

Mudasir Bashir Shah, an ace adventurer who organised the trek said that whenever he would share photos from expeditions to lush green meadows and mountains on his social media handlers, besides boys he would get queries from girls desiring to go on such trips.

“As queries from girls swelled, I decided to give it a shot and put out an announcement asking females to sign up for trekking tour. It generated quite a good response. Girls too have an urge to connect with nature and we just want to show them a way to fulfil that urge,” Mudasir said.

He said that it is a non-profit initiative, they do it for passion and want to contribute to the society in some way. “I’m planning for more such events in the near future,” he said. (KNS)

Photo: A member of Bajrang Dal, a Hindu supremacist group, shouts slogans in front of a KIA Motors showroom during in Ahmedabad

Stores owned by several multinational companies have been forced to shut down by hardline Hindu groups in the Indian state of Gujarat after their Pakistan-based subsidiaries posted messages on social media in support of Kashmir.

The companies posted messages on social media on February 5 to coincide with Pakistan’s Kashmir Solidarity Day, held annually to commemorate the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination, causing anger among social media users in India.

Dozens of stores and showrooms belonging to Pizza Hut, KFC and South Korean car giants – Hyundai and KIA – were shut in the western Indian state by members of Hindu supremacist groups – the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) – linked to Prime Minister Modi’s governing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).

“These companies cannot be doing business in India and at the same time supporting Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir,” Dinesh Navadiya, national treasurer of VHP, told the Reuters news agency during a protest in the city of Surat.

Shouting slogans such as “Kashmir is Ours” and wearing saffron scarves, more than 100 members of Bajrang Dal also joined the protest – one of several held in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Modi.

“We protested peacefully against these companies for the tweets by their Pakistani affiliates in support of Kashmir,” said Hitendrasinh Rajput, spokesperson for the VHP’s state unit in Gujarat’s largest city of Ahmedabad.

“We want to make it clear to these companies and others that Kashmir is an inseparable part of India,” Rajput said.

Companies including Hyundai, Kia, Domino’s Pizza, Yum Brand’s Pizza Hut and KFC, Japan’s Suzuki Motor, Honda Motor and Isuzu Motor issued apologies as criticism of the posts grew.

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Company said it deeply regrets any offence caused to Indians by an “unauthorised” tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner that expressed solidarity for the people of Kashmir.

“We deeply regret any offence caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity. We have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence,” Hyundai said.

The company is India’s second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki, selling close to half a million vehicles in the country in the last fiscal year and exporting more than a million units, making it India’s largest car exporter.

Similarly, KFC India tweeted an apology for the post and said, “We honour and respect India, and remain steadfast in our commitment to serving all Indians with pride.”

The social media posts triggered a diplomatic dispute, leading India to summon South Korea’s envoy over the matter last week. India conveyed the “strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan”, ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi was quoted by the local Hindustan Times as saying.

South Korea’s foreign minister also called his Indian counterpart. The pair discussed the “Hyundai matter”, India’s Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in a Twitter post.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Jammu, Feb 13: Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Saturday said that drug abuse was a bigger challenge than militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

He was speaking at a function organized on laying of foundation stone of Police Drug-de-addiction by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at Channi Himmat, Jammu.

The DGP in his welcome address thanked the Lt. Governor J&K, other dignitaries and media fraternity for gracing the event. He thanked Lt. Governor with whose support the drug de-addiction facility Jammu is being created at a bigger scale. He also thanked district administration for providing land for the centre. He said that on the directions of Lt. Governor J&K, this facility has been included in Jammu Smart City project and its funds have been provided by Jammu Smart City Limited.

“It is a very happy occasion for all of us as much needed facility is being created here,” he said as per statement sent by police to GNS.

He said that drug abuse is a bigger challenge than militancy in J&K “as it not only provides oxygen to the (militancy) by means of funding (militant) networks but also targets our younger generation.”

He said that militancy targets civilians and security forces individually but the drugs target the society as a whole and takes people particularly youth on the path of destruction. Singh said Jammu and Kashmir Police is putting massive efforts against drug trade and has seized huge quantity of drugs and huge amount of narco trade-cash. He said that the menace has increased during past few years and JK Police besides its intensified war on drugs is putting best of the efforts to aware the people about the magnitude of the problem to fight the menace collectively.

The DGP said that 10 Police Drug de-addictions centers including two major centers one each in Jammu and Srinagar are being run by J&K Police to curb the alarming rise of drug addiction.

He said that a well equipped drug de-addiction centre has been constructed in Srinagar recently and is functional at present. He informed that more than 6000 affected persons are being treated at police drug de-addiction centers during a year.

“We have qualified doctors, counsellors and staff posted at these centre,” the DGP added.

“We are shouldering this responsibility under JKP’s Civic Action Programme and now with assistance from the local administration and the civil society we would be able fight the menace more effectively and help the affected population.”