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Business community concerned, say not in a position to pay taxes, deadline must be extended

Srinagar: The business community in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir here has expressed serious concerns after the government has directed them to pay the taxes till October 31st, 2020.

The traders have said that they have already suffered huge losses and are not a position to pay taxes at this juncture, saying that the deadline for paying the taxes should be extended till the ongoing situation improves on the ground.

In an official communiqué, a copy of which lies with news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the government of Jammu and Kashmir under the amnesty for the settlement of unresolved issues in the old tax regime for the smooth implementation of goods and services tax (GST) has revised the timeline for payment of taxes and has set 31st October as last date of paying the taxes.

The dealers in Kashmir have expressed serious concern in this regard, stating that the pandemic has already pushed them towards starvation as all the business establishments remained closed and no business was conducted for nearly five months due to lockdown enforced by the government in wake of COVID-19

One of the businessman from South Kashmir told KNO that all the business in the Valley is down for over a year now. The business has got badly affected from past one year after the abrogation of Article 370 last year and now the ongoing COVID situation.

He said that the government has earlier issued revised final dates but the situation was not favorable in the Valley for any sort of business but the revised date for paying taxes issued by the government is merely a joke for the business community.

The aggrieved traders said that the government is well aware about the huge lossses suffered by them due to continuous lockdown enforced in view of the pandemic to contain the deadly virus. “The business community is yet to resume the regular work since the lockdown hasn’t been eased completely across the Valley due to rising COVID cases,” they said.

They also said that the governments in other parts of the country have started to rehabilitate the people linked with businesses to mitigate the losses but “we are being forced to pay the taxes that too at a time when the businessmen across the Valley have suffered huge losses.”

The businessman have sought the intervention of the concerned department and demanded personal intervention of Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha to ensure the traders are pushed to face further hardships during the ongoing situation—(KNO)

Srinagar: Residents of various areas of Southern Kashmir have accused sumo drivers for overcharging them besides not following SOPs to protect from COVID-19.

Residents of Kumdalan village of Shopian said sumo drivers are overcharging for travelling from Kumdullan to Shopian.

“Earlier, the fare charge on the same route was Rs 10 and now we are being charged Rs 30 for the same,” a local Fayaz Ahmad told news agency KINS.

The residents allege that sumo drivers not only overcharge them but also violate standard operating procedures (SOPs).

“They are allowing 10 passengers to travel in a vehicle which causes threat to commuters,” they said.

Similar complaints have been made by residents of other villages in Shopian and Pulwama districts.

“There is no check while sumo drivers are overcharging commuters,” said Javid Ahmad, a resident of Pulwama.

In view of Coronavirus, the government had increased 30% fare hike and asked drivers to carry only 50% passengers in the vehicle as a precautionary measure.

Locals have applied authorities to look into this matter and ease the suffering of people.(KINS)

PTI

Srinagar: The novel coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir crossed the 30,000 mark on Wednesday with 708 new infections, while 11 more deaths took the toll to 572, officials said.

There are 6,965 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 22,497 patients have recovered so far, according to the officials.

All the 11 coronavirus fatalities were from Kashmir, taking the toll to 572, including 531 from the Valley and 41 from the Jammu region, according to the officials.

Among the 708 new cases, 606 were from Kashmir and 102 from the Jammu region, taking the total to 30,034, the officials said.

Srinagar district reported the highest number of 229 new cases, followed by 88 in Budgam district, the officials said.

PTI

Jammu: The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire on Wednesday by resorting to heavy firing and mortar shelling in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, prompting a befitting retaliation from the security forces, officials said.

“At about 1630 hours today, Pak army initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation by firing with small arms and intense shelling with mortars along the LoC in Keri Battal area of Sunderbani sector,” defence spokesperson said.

The Indian Army retaliated befittingly, he said.

On August 7, a 65-year old man was killed as Pakistan army resorted to mortar shelling in Poonch district while on August 1, an army jawan was killed in firing by Pakistan in Rajouri sector.

On July 11, two women were killed as Pakistan shelled forward posts and villages along the LoC in different sectors in Poonch district and on July 10, an Army man was killed in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Rajouri district.

After over a year, MHA orders pull out of over 10,000 forces personnel from J&K

‘Decision taken after reviewing deployment of forces in the UT’

Abid Bashir

Srinagar, Aug 19 (KNO): The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Wednesday ordered the withdrawal of more than 10,000 security forces personnel who were brought to Kashmir prior to last year’s August 5 announcement of rollback of article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.

The development comes after over a year after at least 400 additional companies of security forces were deployed across J&K in the wake of last year’s August 5 announcement by the Government of India.

The MHA in its order sent to Advisor to the Administration of J&K UT, commissioner secretary , Administration J&K UT and Director General of Police J&K Dilbagh Singh, stated that it is to intimate that the deployed of Central Armed Forces in J&K has been further reviewed by the ministry. “It has been decided to withdraw 100 Companies of CAPFs with immediate effect from J&K  and revert them back to their respective locations,” reads the MHA order, a copy of which is with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO)

Each Security Forces’ Company comprises 100 to 110 men which means over 10,000 forces personnel are on way out from J&K UT. The breakup of 100 companies that are being pulled out of J&K include 40 companies from CRPF, 20 from BSF, 20 SSB and 20 from ITBB.

At least 40,000 additional troops were deployed across J&K prior to last year’s announcement about abrogation of Article 370 and slicing of the erstwhile state into two halves—J&K and Ladakh UTs. They were deployed for almost four months amid spontaneous shutdown—from August to November 2019 on all streets and sensitive places to contain possible protests and to deal with the law and order issues.

However, they were later retained and now after over a year, the MHA today decided to withdraw 100 companies. Sources revealed that 300 additional forces continue to remain stationed in Kashmir and their withdrawal will depend on the second review by the MHA scheduled to be held next month—(KNO)

Three families claimed that the three killed were their kin and were labourers by profession

The Army has ordered a high-level Court of Inquiry (CoI) into the July 18 Shopian encounter in south Kashmir in which three alleged militants were killed.

“A high-level CoI into the Operation Amshipora, Shopian, is under progress. Statements of key witnesses are being recorded and progress is being monitored closely,” an Army spokesman said on Tuesday.

The Shopian encounter came under a cloud after three families from the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district claimed that the three killed were their kin and were labourers by profession.

The encounter came under a cloud after three families from the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district claimed that the three killed were their kin and were labourers by profession.

“Additional civil witnesses are being asked to depose before the CoI. Concurrently, DNA samples have been collected from Rajouri under the aegis of the J&K police and sent for matching with the terrorists killed on July 18, 2020,” the Army said.

The spokesman said the Army was “committed to ethical conduct of all counter terrorist operations”. “Cases where doubts are raised are investigated under due process as per the law of the land. Since the case is under investigation, further details will be shared periodically, as appropriate without affecting due legal process.”

The DNA samples of the families were lifted on August 13 and have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination and comparison with the “three unidentified slain militants”.

The families have identified the missing youth as Abrar Ahmed Khan, 18, Imtiyaz Hussain, 26, and Abrar, 21, all from Rajouri, and claimed the faces resembled the pictures of the slain ‘militants’.

They claimed that all the three were carrying Aadhaar cards when they left home in June but the security forces said the three could not be identified immediately.

With inputs from The Hindu

(This story has not been edited by Kashmir Today staff and is published from a syndicated feed.).