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Srinagar: Kashmir today observed a shutdown against the  visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inaugurated the Chenani-Nashri tunnel  on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.The shutdown call was given by separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik  to protest PM Modi’s visit to the state. Owing to the shutdown, the normal life in Kashmir was disrupted, with shops and business establishments remaining closed in Srinagar and other major towns of the Valley. Public transport on most of the Srinagar roads and inter-district highways was disrupted.Apprehending trouble, the authorities had increased security even as Srinagar city witnessed a  militant attack on an Army convoy on Saturday in which three jawans were injured.The police and Army had set up ‘nakas’ and check-points on the major highways across Kashmir as they had inputs about the  militant movement. While calling for the shutdown, the separatists, in their statement, said the “Indian Prime Minister is visiting (J&K)  at a time, when situation is extremely gloomy.”“The Kashmir issue is not about governance, economic packages or incentives, neither it is a law and order problem,” they said, adding that the Kashmir dispute  was a political issue related to human society and needed a just solution.

Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today dedicated to the nation the South-East Asia’s longest tunnel between Chenani in Udhampur district and Nashri of Ramban district on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.The state-of-the-art 9.2-km bidirectional tube is a part of the ambitious 286-km-long four-laning of the Jammu-Srinagar highway. It will reduce the distance between the state’s summer capital (Srinagar) and the winter capital (Jammu) by 31 km, cut the travel time by two hours and save fuel worth Rs 27 lakh per day. The structure consists of a 9-km-long, two-lane main tunnel with a parallel escape tunnel of the same length. The two tunnels are connected by 29 cross-passages at regular intervals along the entire length of the tunnel.Built at an elevation of 1,200 m on one of the most difficult Himalayan terrains, the tunnel will ensure an all-weather passage on a route that often sees heavy traffic jams and disruptions due to landslides, snow, sharp curves, breakdown of vehicles and accidents.Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jitendra Singh, Governor NN Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti received and accompanied the Prime Minister, who also rode the complete distance of 9.2 km in the tunnel in an open jeep to reach Nashri, the north-end of the tunnel.“I want to convey to the people of Kashmir that the tunnel might have been constructed between Udhampur and Ramban, but it will be a line of good fortune and destiny for them. It will prove a boon for farmers of Kashmir who have been facing losses due to poor connectivity and hostile weather conditions. They will now be able to sell their produce in Delhi markets. It will end the financial losses being suffered by them,” Modi said while addressing a rally in Udhampur after inaugurating the tunnel.“This is not merely a long tunnel. It is a big leap in terms of development and progress for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Modi said.The work on the tunnel was started on May 23, 2011, and its expected date of completion was May 2016 but the completion got delayed due to technical reasons and some “unavoidable circumstances”. The opening of tunnel will strengthen the Kashmir valley’s bond with the rest of the country.Constructed at a whopping cost of Rs 2,519 crore, the tunnel is the first in India to be equipped with the world-class integrated tunnel control system, through which ventilation, fire control, signals, communication, electrical systems and tolling etc are automatically actuated.“The tunnel has an efficient, transverse ventilation system. There are inlets bringing fresh air at 8-m intervals and outlet for exhaust every 100 m. There is also a fully integrated control system with ventilation, communication, power supply, incident detection, SOS call box and fire fighting. Fitted with intelligent traffic mechanism, the tunnel has fully automatic smart control and no human intervention will be required for its operations. The tunnel is also equipped with advanced scanners to ward off any security threat. Very few tunnels in the world have this kind of fully integrated control,” said an official spokesperson.The tunnel is illuminated with around 4,000 lights installed inside the two-lane tube. About 600 bulbs of 150 Watts each are installed in the escape tunnels while there are 1,200 lamps along the footpaths on both sides for pedestrians. At least 124 CCTV cameras have been installed at equal intervals of 75 m to keep round-the-clock surveillance on the movement of vehicles inside the tunnel. The maximum speed limit in the tunnel is 50 kmph.The project has provided employment to over 2,000 unskilled and skilled youth of J&K as 94 per cent of the work force was from the state. Around 600 to 900 people from across the country also worked on the project in three shifts over the past four years.

PM inspects tunnel, all praise for it PM Narendra Modi on Sunday inspected the 9.2-km Chenani-Nashri tunnel after dedicating it to the nation. He travelled through the tunnel from its south-end at Chenani up to the north-end at Nashri. He was accompanied by Governor NN Vohra and CM Mehbooba Mufti in an open Gypsy while Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and others travelled in another vehicle. After flying to Udhampur in his official plane, the PM reached Kendriya Vidyalaya at Chenani in a helicopter and then drove to the tunnel where he reached at 3.44 pm. He then boarded the Gypsy at the Chenani-end and inspected the tunnel by travelling up to Nashri. He then returned to Chenani.  Modi also inspected an SOS call unit and walked inside the escape tunnel. After spending 40 minutes inside the tunnel, he was all praise for it during his speech at Udhampur where thousands of people had reached to listen to him.  TNS

Commuters stranded after highway shut for inaugurationWhile Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Chenani-Nashri tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, commuters faced the heat as all traffic was stopped on the highway. No vehicle was allowed to move on the highway either from Jammu to Srinagar or to Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts or from the other side to Jammu since Sunday morning till evening when the PM left. Every day thousands of vehicles ply on the highway which is the lifeline of the state. Thousands of people from Doda, Ramban and Kishtwar districts daily come to Jammu for their official and personal work. Many ambulances carry patients from these districts to Government Medical College, Jammu, but all these were halted on Sunday as the PM had to inaugurate the tunnel. “Thousands of passengers left stranded in scorching heat, just to inaugurate a tunnel. #Fruits_Of_Democracy,” wrote a lawyer, Babur, on his Facebook page. Most of the people didn’t vent their anger on social networking sites but they were upset as neither the state government nor the administration had given any prior information for closing of the highway for the day. TNS

Not part of dais gathering, MLA skips functionUdhampur MLA Pawan Gupta boycotted the function organised in his constituency for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after allegedly being humiliated by state BJP leadership. “There was no reason to attend the function when due regard was not given to the people’s representative,” enraged Gupta told The Tribune. “Being the representative of the local people, it was my duty to welcome the dignitary, like the Prime Minister, but due to dirty politics the local BJP leadership managed to get my name deleted from the list of persons who were to share the dais with the Prime Minister.” The function was held in the area that falls under the Udhampur Assembly constituency. As per the protocol, the organisers had to give importance to local MLA Pawan Gupta but due to  “threats” from local BJP leaders, his name was deleted from the list of those persons who shared the dais with the Prime Minister. “Earlier my name was in the list but due to threats by some local BJP leaders, I was asked to sit with the audience. It is a humiliation to the institution of an MLA so I decided to stay away from the function,” Gupta said, adding that when former PM Manmohan Singh had inaugurated the Udhampur railway station some time ago, local MLA Balwant Singh Mankotia, who belonged to Panthers Party, was given due respect. “Settling political score in such functions reflect the cheap politics of the local unit of the BJP,” Gupta said, adding that by humiliating him the BJP had insulted the people of Udhampur. OC

SRINAGAR: As Spring has set in Kashmir, this year a little earlier than its usual arrival, the Asia’s largest Tulip Garden thrown open today for visitors in Srinagar.

The garden is expected to attract thousands of nature-lovers including domestic and foreign tourists to enjoy the view of plant life and around 1.3 million exotic tulips.

Many of tourists today on inaugral were seen taking selfies with their cell phones.

Spreading over an area of about 15 hectares, the garden is situated on the foothills of Zabarwan range with an overview of picturesque world famous Dal Lake. The tulips of 46 varieties adorn and add colour to the landscape at 5,600 feet altitude.

This garden was conceived, conceptualized and created by then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, in 2006-07 with the aim to boost floriculture and promote tourism in Kashmir Valley. In 2014, it was declared as the second best tulip garden in the world by World Tulip Summit Society.

Originally known as Siraj Bagh, Srinagar’s Tulip Garden has been described as a ‘flori-marvel’ by cultivators as the tulips spread a rainbow of red, orange, purple, white, pink, parrot and yellow colours on the precincts when in full bloom. About 500 gardeners and labourers have worked hard over the past few weeks to give final touches to what has become a major tourist attraction in Kashmir’s main town.

Local residents are equally enthused by beautifully laid garden next door. “The garden has started come to life with white, red, orange and purple varieties of tulips already in bloom. The full bloom is only about a week away,” an official of Kashmir’s Department of Parks, Gardens and Floriculture (PG&F Kashmir) told PTK.

He said that the department has imported around 220,000 tulip bulbs this season, mainly from Holland. As spring has set in Kashmir, the gardens and fruit orchards in the Valley are also in full bloom.

Tourist told PTK that the Tulip Garden with its alluring colourful buds in particular will be a major attraction for the tourists.

Meanwhile, many nature lovers and stakeholders in Kashmir’s tourism industry have expressed dismay over reports that the PG&F Kashmir is planning to convert the exclusive Tulip Garden into an all-season garden by planting other flower varieties like Lilium, Dahlia, Peony, Hydrangea, and Ranunculus besides fruit trees like Pome, berry and nuts along with tulips.

“If done, the Tulip Garden will only lose its peculiarity and won’t be known as Asia’s largest tulip garden as such then,” said owner Farooq Ahmad bhat houseboat who has been showing Tulip Garden as one of the main attractions a furlong away in his business promotion drive. (PTK)

Srinagar: The University of Kashmir has decided to shut down classes in the evening shift, citing lack of space and human resource as the reasons. The much-hyped classes were started a year ago to accommodate more students.The limited capacity at the varsity, the highest seat of learning in Kashmir, has become a hindrance for students to continue higher education in Kashmir. The evening classes last year had accommodated 3,000 students.“We cannot continue the evening shift this year because we don’t have space and human resource. We already have two semesters,” said Dean, Academics, University of Kashmir, Prof Muhammad Ashraf.On an average, more than 30,000 students apply for 37 postgraduate courses at the University of Kashmir every year. The intake capacity of the varsity is 3,500 seats (including in its north and south Kashmir campuses).However, the evening shift classes had doubled the roll at the university.The official said the decision whether to again continue with the two shifts in the next academic session would be taken after consultation with the department heads. “We have a time management problem and cannot accommodate one more semester,” the official said. “We had added two shifts in all subjects except botany, biochemistry and biotechnology,” he added. The decision has come as a disappointment to many aspirants.“The university took the decision in a haste last year but this year it has decided not to continue with it because it doesn’t have facilities. The university is playing with the careers of students,” said Nadir Ahmed, a student, who is waiting for his final year results. (TNS)

Anantnag: Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today said the stone-throwing youth were stuck in a vicious circle and the need of the hour was to pave the way and get them out of this web.Mehbooba was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a party workers’ convention at Dak Bungalow in Anantnag district today.“These kids (stone-throwers) are stuck in a vicious mess. We will try and pave the way for them to get out of this circle,” she said, adding that there has been no headway in the subject since 2008.The Chief Minister was in town to campaign for her brother and PDP candidate for the Anantnag Lok Sabha bypoll Tassaduq Mufti. The bypolls are scheduled for April 12.She said the youth of Kashmir were second to none in every field, including sports and education, but the overall atmosphere had gone awry. “We need to rectify things that have gone wrong,” Mehbooba said.She maintained that she had started the process of reviewing the cases filed against youth since 2008 soon after she had taken reins of the state.“Today, I seriously reiterate that there is a need to talk to these kids and engage them positively. We will try and engage them and ascertain what they want and what their problems are,” the Chief Minister said.Tasadduq Mufti was also present on the occasion along with some senior party leaders.Earlier, addressing workers, Mehbooba recounted her father’s contributions to bringing peace and normalcy in the state. (TNS)

‘RSS advances with PDP’s help, bound to disturb communal harmony in Valley’

Srinagar: Questioning the motive behind surrendering a safe MLC seat to BJP backed RSS man in Kashmir Province by PDP, Senior Congress leader and former Minister Tariq Hameed Karra Saturday said that PDP has now officially opened gateway to Kashmir for RSS.
In a statement issued to KNS, he said the trend is extremely dangerous and is bound to put the majority community in the ‘land of saints’ at danger. In a statement to press Karra said that despite huge resentment against their every decision, PDP leadership continues to live in oblivion and facilitate RSS in gaining foothold in the Muslim Majority areas of the State thus bartering the lives, peace and even religious belief of people for Power.
The former PDP leader who parted ways with the party for allying with BJP said that most of them being themselves Muslims, the PDP leadership should have been able to read the writings on the wall by taking a cue from recent incidents of UP and should have given preference to the interests of people over the chair, but unfortunately they did exactly opposite to that and instead of stopping the march of the saffron brigade to Muslim majority areas of the state, the PDP chose to be the prime facilitators for RSS to reach these areas through constitutional institutions which was impossible till 2015 when PDP got into alliance with BJP.
He said presence of RSS in Muslim majority areas of the state is bound to disturb the communal peace and harmony in these areas.
While condemning the PDP for surrendering safe legislative Council seat to a hardcore RSS man G.L Raina alias Ajay Bharti who is a known Pracharak of RSS, Karra said that the decision would provide official cover to these fascist forces to reach, otherwise out of bound areas for them and penetrate into the Muslim society.
While reminding PDP leadership of their deceitful 2014 poll campaigning days during which they would loudly appeal people to vote their party in order to keep BJP out of power corridors, Karra said that history will never forgive them for the worst kind of treachery and deceit they played with the mandate, for which people will surely teach them a lesson.
The former MP said that he has huge respect for all religions but being a proud Muslim and a proud Kashmiri first, he will never hesitate for raising voice against the fascist forces which have put ‘my religion and my community’ to danger with collaboration and facilitation of PDP. Karra further said, that communal harmony of the state which was under threat in the entire Muslim belt of the state in the hands of such collaborators and facilitators, are themselves Muslims. According to Karra, Raina’s selection from Kashmir is just a beginning of a larger sinister plan of bringing RSS army to Muslim areas of the state so that their voice, be it mainstream or otherwise, be muzzled and suppressed.
He however, said that he would fight the fascist forces elements till his last breath and will never retract from the path he has chosen aiming to liberate from the deceitful, treacherous and Machiavellian politics of people’s Democratic Party. (KNS)