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Former Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has claimed that he was told he would get Rs 300-crore bribe if he cleared two files belonging to “Ambani” and an “RSS-affiliated man” during his tenure but he cancelled the deals, and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting his decision by saying there is no need to compromise on corruption.

Malik, who currently holds the gubernatorial post in Meghalaya, also supported the ongoing farmer agitation against the Centre’s farm laws and said he is ready to leave his post and stand with them if their protest continues.

“After going to Kashmir, two files came to me (for clearance), one belonging to Ambani and another to an RSS-affiliated man who was a minister in the previous Mehbooba Mufti-led (PDP-BJP coalition) government and claimed to be very close to the prime minister.

“I was informed by secretaries in both the departments that there is a scandal involved and I accordingly cancelled both the deals. The secretaries told me that ‘you will get Rs 150 crore each for clearing the files’ but I told them that I have come with five kurta-pajamas and will leave with that only,” Malik told a gathering at an event in Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

A video of his speech has gone viral.

Malik did not elaborate on the two files, but he was apparently referring to a file related to the roll-out of a group health insurance policy for government employees, pensioners and accredited journalists, for which the government had tied up with Reliance General Insurance, part of the Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group.

In October 2018, Malik who was then the governor of J&K, had cancelled the tie-up with Reliance General Insurance Company for providing the group health insurance to employees as there was “some bungling” in it.

Two days later, the governor approved foreclosure of the contract with Reliance General Insurance and referred the matter to the Anti-Corruption Bureau for examining the entire process to see whether it was conducted in a transparent and fair manner.

“As a precaution, I took time from the prime minister and briefed him about the two files and the scandal as the people involved were taking his name. I straightaway told him (PM) that I am ready to leave the post but if I stay back, I am not going to clear the files,” he claimed and praised Modi for saying that there is no need to compromise on corruption.

Malik also alleged that Kashmir is the most corrupt place in the country.

“In the whole country, four to five per cent commission is sought, but in Kashmir 15 per cent commission is demanded,” he said without explaining, but added that under his leadership, there was no big case of corruption reported in J&K and that he even declined a favour to his relatives in the Valley.

He said after his return from Kashmir, he made a statement in favour of the agitating farmers.

He said that he being poor is his strength and he can fight any powerful man in the country.

“If the farmer agitation continues, I will leave my post and stand with them without caring for anyone. It is possible when I have done no wrong and do not have any wrong item in my wardrobe. I am satisfied that I have not done anything wrong,” he said.

Advising newly recruited officers not to budge under pressure and work honestly for the betterment of society, he asked them to remain alert against their wives who “spoil everything” by demanding more and prompting their husbands to indulge in corrupt practices.

“The pressure will come and you will also feel good (by taking bribe)…. In Jaipur, there are officers who did not even have thatched houses in their native places have built palatial houses. But if you remain steadfast and honest, you can fight anyone,” Malik said.

The former J&K governor said he does not have a house to live in after his retirement but “I do not have any worry that I have no

Srinagar, October 21:A Gunfight is underway between militants and security forces in Chanapora area of Central Kashmir’s Srinagar district on Thrusday evening.

Official sources told GNS that a joint team of Police and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

As the joint team advanced towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon the party leading to a gunfight.

Till this report is being filed intermittent exchange of firing was going on.(GNS)

The central government has decided to move extra forces to Jammu and Kashmir amid targetted killings and encounters between security forces and militants.

Quoting sources News18 reported, the official announcement of sending soldiers will be made soon to send about 25 companies of troops to Jammu and Kashmir to give security to civilians and help other forces to eliminate militants.

They said that the additional companies CRPF will be arranged mannerly. They will be sent in phases. 10 companies will be sent to J&K, while in the next two phases, the remaining 15 will be dispatched.

In a high-level meeting, the decision was taken in view of the current situation. ‘Almost two dozen CRPF companies will be moving to Jammu and Kashmir from different parts of the country in view of the current situation. Soon, an official communication will be released to move these troops,’ News18 reported quoting sources in the government.

Arrangements for the accommodation, transportation etc have already begun. The process of informing companies who will be going to J&K has also started.

‘The step was decided in a high-level meeting. Arrangements will be made soon and after that, an official communication will be released in a few days,’ the official claimed as per News18.

DG CRPF Kuldiep Singh is already in Jammu and Kashmir monitoring operations and the situation along with other top officials of the biggest paramilitary force.

It is expected that the DG would remain there till Home Minister Amit Shah reaches J&K for his visit from October 23-25.

On Wednesday, four unidentified militants were killed in separate encounters with security forces in the Shopian and Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Army’s longest operation in the last 10 years is going on in Mandher sector.

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Srinagar, 21 Oct: Particularly, in Kashmir girls are shining more than boys whether in competitive, board exams or any art and skill. With the same pace, a-22-year-old girl from north Kashmir’s Baramulla district has penned her first book on the cause of late marriages in the valley.
A 22-year-old, Razia Farooq, hailing from Khargam, Pattan village of district, pursuing masters degree in Gender studies in University of Kashmir, has penned a book with title ” The fire of Joy” in which she has focuses on the ritual customs which has become root cause of late marriages.
Talking to Good Morning Kashmir, Razia said that since childhood she had flair for writing she used to write on different social customs.
“With the passage of time, I started writing randomly in my notebook. At last I started putting my thoughts about curses which we are performing nowadays, which has caused the rise of late marriages and domestic violence in our society,” Razia said.
“The trend of the dowry system has become a leading cause of late marriage, if any family will not follow such a curse, their daughter will become a victim of criticism or domestic violence by her in-laws till death,” she said. Adding that we should avoid these rituals otherwise, we will be liable for those families, whose daughters have crossed marriageable age, but still unmarried due to this dowry system.
“I was always encouraged by my parents, teachers, other family members, relatives and friends. And today I wish to thank them for letting me realize that I can do it,” she adds.
She credits her success to her parents who she said have helped her in shaping her life irrespective of difficult situations.
Razia said that it took her three months to complete her social issue book. The book will be available in all the bookstores in the market as well as on Amazon, flipkart and Kindle.
Razia urges parents of girls to give wholly support to the dreams of their daughters. “Let them make their own choices, develop autonomy,” she said.(GMK)

New Delhi, Oct 21: Three persons were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raising ‘pro-Pakistan’ slogans during a religious procession taken out in Noida.

Arrests were made after a video of the incident went viral on social media and the Noida police in its investigation found the video as authentic.

According to the information, based on the video clipping, three people were identified and arrested by the Noida Police.

The procession was taken out in Sector 20 police station area on Tuesday to mark Eid Milad-un-Nabi.

According to the information, the police were also present on the spot in view of the security at the time when these slogans were raised.

“We have arrested three people in this case as well as got the video investigated, prima facie it appears that someone spoke Pakistan in the middle of the Hindustan Zindabad slogans, due to which the crowd also spoke Zindabad,” Noida DCP Rajesh S. told IANS.

Noida Additional DCP Ran Vijay Singh told IANS, “We got the video examined by experts and after investigation it was found that there was no tampering with the video. We have also registered a case against the accused under relevant sections.”—(IANS)

Srinagar: The administration of Jammu and Kashmir has adopted Kalij Pheasant as UT bird.

Talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), commissioner secretary, Forests, Environment and Ecology, Sanjeev Verma confirmed that Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos) has been adopted as UT bird. “J&K had to adopt new bird as UT bird because black-necked cranes are only found in Ladakh,” he said.

Erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state had the black-necked crane and Kashmir stag (Hangul) as its state bird and animal respectively.

After reorganization of J&K, Ladakh adopted black-necked crane as its UT bird.

Verma said Hangul would continue to remain as UT animal of Jammu & Kashmir—(KNO)

80% of semi-skilled and skilled work forces in Kashmir are non-locals

Srinagar October 20: There is shortage of manpower following leaving of non-local labourers in the wake of recent civilian killings in Kashmir.

Since October 2, at least 11 civilians including five non-local labourers have been killed in Kashmir which has created a fear across the valley. Many Kashmiri Pandits and non-local labourers have left Kashmir.

Vadav Kumar, a resident of Rajasthan, said Kashmir was second home. But he is preparing to leave early for his native place Rajasthan where his family is worried about his safety and has asked him to come home.

Suresh Kumar, a carpenter from Bihar said he was working in Kashmir for the last 15 years.

“We never feel insecure in Kashmir. But the situation is worrisome after recent killings of non-local labourers. My family is worried so I decided to go home. I will come if there is improvement in the situation,” Kumar told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

The leaving of non-local labourers would badly hit Kashmir’s economy.

Farmers are also worried about the leaving of non-local labourers. This is apple and rice harvesting season in Kashmir. Generally, non-local labourers work in the agriculture and horticulture fields and in their absence the agriculturists and horticulturists are facing immense difficulties in getting their routine works done.

“This is peak apple harvesting season. We have to pluck apples and send them to various Mandis. We don’t have a labour force available here to pluck fruit. Everything has been halted in Kashmir. I would earn Rs 7 lakh annually through apple production but I fear heavy losses as we don’t have labourers available,” said Ghulam Mohammad, a resident of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.

Horticulture is the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy with seven lakh families directly and indirectly associated with the sector. Horticulture contributes seven percent to the Gross State Domestic Product of Jammu and Kashmir.

More than 3.38 lakh hectares of land is under the fruit cultivation in the valley. Of which 1.62 lakh hectares is under the apple cultivation.

As non-local labourers have left Kashmir, the developmental works have also been halted in the valley.

The non-local workforce has helped in fulfilling Kashmir’s labour demands in view of minimal local labour class and their exodus under the prevailing situation has dealt severe blows to the developmental works in each and every district of the Kashmir province.

An official of Roads and Buildings Department said at least 80 percent of semi skilled and skilled work forces in Kashmir are non-locals mostly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and few other states.

“The works have been stopped on developmental projects. Construction works will be restarted only when skilled labourers are available here,” the official said.

As per rough estimates, almost five lakh labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal come to Kashmir every year to make their bread and butter.

The official said most of the works of PMGSY, Economic Reconstruction Agency, Roads and Buildings Department, cement factories, brick kilns, are largely dependent on non-local skilled labourers.

“We can’t do anything as outside labourers are reluctant to work on developmental projects under the present circumstances,” he added. (KINS)

SRINAGAR, OCT 20: The Administrative Council headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday authorized the Electricity Distribution Corporations of Jammu and Kashmir divisions to install 8 lakh prepaid electricity meters to check theft of more than 50% of electricity.

Under the smart metering project, 6 lakh prepaid meters will be installed in J&K through RECPDCL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rural Electrification Corporation under the Ministry of Power. At present, 2 lakh smart meters are being installed in Jammu and Srinagar under the Prime Minister’s Development Program (PMDP).

The ‘Reconstructed Distribution Sector Scheme’ primarily focuses on reforms in the power sector to improve the quality and reliability of power supply to the consumers through financially and operationally efficient distribution sector.

Prepaid meters will bring transparency in metering, billing and collection which will ultimately reduce power loss and ensure quality and reliable power supply to the consumers. The meter will be read remotely through communication channels at the data center in Srinagar and the data recovery center in Jammu, which will also facilitate the distribution corporations to know the power supply status at the consumer level and take prompt action.

Relevantly, the electricity distribution sector of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has a total consumer base of about 21 lakh, of which metered consumers constitute only about 50%. Poor consumer metering is the main reason for huge AT&C losses which goes up to 50% in J&K against the national average of 22%. (PTK)

Srinagar: Founding Chairman All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has once again been chosen to the list of 500 most influential Muslim personalities across the globe by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre, Jordan for 2022 .

Mirwaiz has been listed among the world’s 500 most influential Muslims and is categorized in the political group for the eighth consecutive year by RISSC, Jordon. Pertinently, Mirwaiz continues to be under house arrest  by the state authorities for the last 26 months , for his political views.

On Mirwaiz, RISSC Jordan said, “He has been advocating dialogue with both India and Pakistan so that the aspirations of the Kashmiri people may be realised.” Specifically mentioning Mirwaiz’s arrest, it stated that he has been under house arrest since August 2019.

The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre is an independent research entity affiliated with the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic thought, an international Islamic non-governmental, institute headquartered in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Topping the list, this year is immunologist Ugur Sahin CEO of BionTech for developing Covid vaccine with Pfizer, he has been declared ” Man of the Year”  while Samia Suluhu Hassan the current president of Tanzania has been declared ‘Woman of the Year”   other personalities include King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and King Abdullah of Jordan.