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  • Russia rules out mediating between India and China

    PTI

    Moscow: Russia on Tuesday ruled out mediating between India and China following the violent clashes in the Galwan Valley, saying the two nations do not need any kind of assistance to resolve their disputes.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov”s remarks came after a virtual conference of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended the conference.

    The conference was held amid escalating tension between India and China following the violent clashes in Galwan Valley on June 15 that left 20 Indian Army personnel dead, significantly escalating the already volatile situation in the region.

    “I do not think that India and China need any help, any kind of assistance specifically aimed at helping them to resolve disputes,” Lavrov said.

    “As soon as the border incidents took place, meetings were held and contact was established between the military command on the ground and the foreign ministers,” Sputnik News quoted Lavrov as saying.”

    As I understand, these contacts are ongoing, and neither party has made any statement indicating a lack of willingness to negotiate based on generally acceptable approaches. We naturally expect it to continue that way,” Lavrov said.

    India and China have rejected any role for other parties in finding a peaceful resolution to their boundary issue.Russia has maintained close ties with both China and India.

    Russia last week expressed concern over the clashes but hoped that both of its close allies can resolve the conflict themselves.Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh is currently in Moscow to attend Wednesday”s parade on Red Square marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi defeat in World War II.

    PTI NSA AKJ NSA

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

  • 85 new COVID-19 cases in Ladakh; number rises to 932

    PTI

    Leh: The Union Territory of Ladakh on Tuesday recorded 85 fresh COVID-19 cases, raising its tally to 932, while 12 patients were cured of the disease and subsequently discharged from a hospital, officials said.

    While 65 persons tested positive for coronavirus in Kargil district, 20 others returned positive for the infection in Leh district, the health department officials said.

    One person has died of the coronavirus, while 148 others, including 80 in Leh, have been cured of the disease so far. They included 12 patients who were discharged form a COVID hospital in Leh on Tuesday.

    With 85 new cases, the number of active cases in Ladakh has gone up to 783 — 622 in Kargil and 161 in Leh, the officials said.

    They said the condition of all 783 positive patients is stable.

  • Rising population growth of pigs will have bad impact on ecosystem: Experts

    Srinagar: Experts have concerned over rising population growth of pigs in Kashmir saying it will have a bad impact on the ecosystem.
    Wild boar or pig has been sighted in various parts of Kashmir in the recent years.

    On Sunday, a dead wild boar was found at a graveyard in the Boniyar area of Baramulla district.

    Range Officer Wildlife Department Baramulla, Altaf Koul claimed over 100 wild boars (pigs) are present in Baramulla district alone.

    While Dr Bilal Ahmad Bhat who teaches at Zoology Department of University of Kashmir said pig a not a native animal and is not good for ecosystem in Kashmir.

    “It is not good for ecosystem especially for our native species. This animal should not grow here,” Dr Bilal told news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).

    Retired Professor of Centre Of Research For Development (CORD) University of Kashmir, G A Bhat said the non-native species should not grow in Kashmir.

    “Exotic species should not come here. This animal (pig) most reside in residential area and eat waste. Religious point of view, people won’t like its presence here. Both exotic plants and animals should not come here which is not good for ecosystem,” Bhat told KINS.

    Wild boar has also been sighted in the Dachigam National Park of Srinagar in recent years. In 2010, a dead wild pig was also sighted in Lachipora Wildlife Sanctuary of north Kashmir by a team of researchers when they were surveying for Markhor.

    The species was considered locally extinct even from the Dachigam National Park, and according to the State Wildlife Department, was not sighted from the park and its adjoining areas since 1984. The sighting of the wild pig in Dachigam after a gap of about 30 years however proves that it still survives in Dachigam, a 2018 research paper says.(KINS)

    Wildlife team sent to Uri to catch pigs

    A day after news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) reported that over 100 pigs are present in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, authorities on Tuesday sent a team of the Wildlife Department to catch non-native animals.

    On Sunday, a dead wild boar (pig) was found at a graveyard in the Boniyar area of Baramulla district. The presence of wild boar or pig, which is not a native animal of Kashmir, has created a scare among people.

    Range Officer Wildlife Department Baramulla, Altaf Koul claimed over 100 wild boars (pigs) are present in Baramulla district alone.
    SDM Uri Baramulla Riyaz Ahmad Malik Tuesday said they have called a team of the Wildlife Department.

    “The team will be camping in the area to catch pigs. We don’t want to harm them (pigs) but will be chased away,” Malik told KINS.
    Range Officer Wildlife Department Baramulla, Altaf Koul Monday claimed over 100 wild boars are present in Baramulla district alone.

    “They (wild boars) mostly reside near the Line of Control. They have tusk teeth and can attack people. The wild boar is a wild species of pig. If anyone found dead wild boar anywhere, this animal should be burnt immediately to contain the spread of disease,” Altaf told KINS.

    He said Kashmir being a Muslim dominated society won’t accept the presence of this animal. “People won’t allow these animals to go in their areas. These could be sighted in Kazinag National Park, Limber Wildlife Sanctuary, and Lachipora Wildlife Sanctuary. There has been a rapid increase in their population in north Kashmir,” he said.

    Wild boar has also been sighted in the Dachigam National Park of Srinagar in recent years. In 2010, a dead wild pig was also sighted in Lachipora Wildlife Sanctuary of north Kashmir by a team of researchers when they were surveying for Markhor.(KINS)

  • Rupee jumps 37 paise to 75.66 against US dollar

    PTI

    Mumbai:The rupee on Tuesday appreciated 37 paise to provisionally close at 75.66 against the US dollar, following a rally in domestic equity market and persistent foreign fund inflows.

    Besides, an unstable US dollar against major global currencies also helped the rupee surge, forex dealers said.

    At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened strong at 75.86. During the session the domestic unit swung between a high of 75.65 and a low of 75.89.

    It finally settled at 75.66 against the US dollar, registering a rise of 37 paise over its previous close of 76.03.

    On the equities front, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 397.86 points higher at 35,309.18 and broader Nifty rose 122.60 points to 10,433.80.

    Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market, as they bought equity shares worth Rs 424.21 crore in the previous trading session on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

    The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.13 per cent to 96.91.

    Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.67 per cent to USD 43.37 per barrel.

  • Petrol rate hiked 20 paise, diesel 55 paise, in 17th consecutive price hike

    PTI

    New Delhi: Petrol price on Tuesday was hiked by 20 paise per litre and diesel by 55 paise as the oil companies increased prices for the 17th day in a row that took the cumulative increase to a steep Rs 8.5 and Rs 10.01 per litre, respectively.

    Petrol price in Delhi was hiked to Rs 79.76 per litre from Rs 79.56, while diesel rates were increased to Rs 79.40 a litre from Rs 78.55, according to a price notification of state oil marketing companies.

    Rates have been increased across the country and vary from state to state depending on the incidence of local sales tax or value added tax.

    The 17th daily increase in rates, since oil companies on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs after ending an 82-day hiatus in rate revision, has taken diesel prices to fresh highs. Petrol price too is at a two-year high.

  • Militant hideout busted in J-K’s Poonch

    PTI

    Jammu: Security forces have busted a militant hideout in a remote village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir and recovered a universal machine gun along with 222 rounds of ammunition, a senior police officer said on Tuesday.

    The hideout was unearthed during a joint search operation by troops of 16 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the police at Murrah village in the Surankote area, Senior Superintendent of Police, Poonch, Ramesh Angral told PTI.

    He said the search operation was launched Monday on a tip-off about the presence of a hideout in the hilly village.

    However, no one was arrested during the operation, the officer said.

  • BJP MP Pragya Thakur faints at party event in Bhopal

    PTI

    Bhopal: BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur fainted during an event organised at party office here on Tuesday to pay tributes to Bharatiya Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookherjee on his death anniversary.

    The incident occurred when Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other senior BJP leaders were paying tributes to Mookherjee at the event held at the party’s state headquarters here.

    Former Bhopal MP Alok Sanjar told PTI that Thakur has been undergoing treatment for her ailments and was taking heavy doses of medicines, which could have caused dizziness.

    Following the incident, Thakur (50) was taken to her home, where she is currently recuperating, he said.

    Earlier on Sunday, Thakur had attributed her health issues, including “loss” of vision, to “torture” she had suffered under the Congress regime.

    “I sustained several injuries due to torture by the Congress for nine years. Many injuries resurface due to this torture. There was formation of pus and swelling in my eyes and brain.

    “I have blurred vision in the right eye and I can’t see at all from the left one,” she had said, apparently referring to her imprisonment in the 2008 Malegaon blast case in which she is an accused.

  • Centre’s top agenda is including PoK in India: Dr Jitendra Singh

    ANI

    New Delhi: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the Centre’s top agenda currently is including Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) in India.

    “We had been instructed to give due importance to Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh, along the lines of treatment meted out to the North-East (in NDA rule). Nobody can imagine what is going to happen in the future, and top priority on the list of agendas is to make POK part of the Republic of India and bring it back to the form in which Maharaja Hari Singh gave it to us,” Singh said during the ‘Jammu-Kashmir Jan Samvad’ being held through video conferencing.

    Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also spoke at the rally being held today.

    s, the priority of other governments was such that no project in the country was named after Syama Prasad Mukharjee, but the first national-level road project named after Mukherjee is in this region. It is the 9 kilometres long, Chenani-Nashri tunnel,” Singh said.

    Mukherjee died in police custody on June 23, 1953, after he was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police for entering the erstwhile state without a permit.

    Singh also spoke about the sacrifices made by the late Jana Sangh founder and added that the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was “fitting compensation for years of sacrifices made by BJP workers and the struggle of 68 years for the cause” and added that with the move “assimilation has begun and appeasement is on the decline in Jammu and Kashmir.” (ANI)

  • Opening of liquor shops and cinema’s in kashmir valley an attack on religion

    Islamic Fraternity asks people to halt such moves.

    Condemening the administration’s move to open liquor shops and cinema’s Islamic Fraternity (IF) has asked the people of valley to halt such moves with tooth and nail,as it is a direct attack on the relious identity and freedom of the people.

    Islamic Fraternity president Muhammad Aamir said that administration want to harm the social bonding of a modest society like kashmir. He further said that administration want to turn the morally peaceful society of Kashmir into a corrupt one as is the condition of their own states in the erstwhile parts of India where no women,young or old,local or foreigner is safe & it is actually a moral degredation. He further went on to say Liquor is the “MOTHER OF ALL EVILS”.

    Islamic Fraternity President cautioned people that the under cover sale of drugs and liquors is a well hatched conspiracy of anti islam,anti muslim and anti youth agencies who want to further widen their web of criminal activities and want to detach the Kashmiri youth from their Islamic roots. That is why when anybody want to raise its voice against this Drug Mafia, they are victimized one or the other way of which Nighat Bashir of North Kashmir is a recent example, who when tried to raise her voice against these criminals,she was threatened in a broad day light.

    Advising those who are involved in this well planned conspiracy within the society, Islamic Fraternity advised them to fear the wrath of ALLAH Subhanatalla and don’t support this conspiracy, Or else the time will come, when their own progeny will be morally destroyed by the same plot of which they are a part now & they will curse us for not raising voice against this conspiracy when there was still time for that.

    In a special appeal to the youth of kashmir, President of IF Mr Aamir said, “Nevertheless how many conspiracies are hatched and no matter how strongly they try to drag you into this dirty game, if we remain steadfast on our religious faith no conspiracy will affect us.’’

  • Hindu Sena activists deface Chinese embassy signboard

    ‘China gaddar hai, Hindi cheeni bye bye’

    PTI

    New Delhi: Hindu Sena workers on Tuesday defaced a signboard outside the Chinese embassy here against the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in clashes with the Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley last week.

    “Today in protest against People’s Republic of China’s aggression on LAC, Hindu Sena activists pasted protest poster stating ‘Cheen Gaddar Hai, Hindi Cheeni Bye Bye’ (China is a traitor, India China Bye bye) on Chinese embassy’s signboard, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta said.

    Hindu Sena, Chinese Embassy
    Photo Credit: IANS

    The police, however, said no formal complaint has been received in this regard.

    “Someone pasted a piece of black paper on the board. CCTV cameras installed in the area are being scanned to identify the culprit. No action has been taken yet in this matter,” a police official said.

    There was no immediate response from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) which maintains the signages in the area.

    This is not the first time the right-wing outfit has blackened the road signs in the national capital.

    In May 2015, signboards of roads named after Muslim rulers Akbar and Feroz Shah were defaced, and posters of the right-wing group Shiv Sena Hindustan were pasted on them.

    Last year, the Babar Road signboard in Bengali Market area in Delhi was blackened by Hindu Sena workers demanding that the name of the road be changed.