Month: July 2023

A day after police said it detained a group of former terrorists from a hotel here and alleged that they were planning to revive the JKLF and the Hurriyat Conference, the separatist amalgam on Monday said it had nothing to with their meeting. The Hurriyat said some members had gathered at a local hotel in private capacity for an Eid Milan party. The Hurriyat Conference “wants to make it clear that those who attended this lunch went in their individual capacity, and not as members of Hurriyat. It was not a Hurriyat event nor was Hurriyat leadership aware of it,” the amalgam said in a statement. After the crackdown on its leaders ahead of the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019, the Hurriyat has remained away from the limelight. The Yasin Malik-led Jammu Kashmir Liberation...

Renowned cleric Aga Syed Hasan Almosvi Alsafvi Monday alleged a lack of foolproof arrangements for the observance of the upcoming Muharram in Kashmir Valley. Accusing the government of ‘bias and discrimination,’ Aga Syed Hasan said that administration is not keen to make arrangements for the Muharram that is going to start in a week’s time. “For Amarnath Yatris arrangements are made months before. It’s good that such arrangements are made for Amarnath pilgrims, and we are happy but at the same time it is disturbing to see the discriminatory approach from the government,” he said adding that arrangements should not be made on the basis of religion. “We need an uninterrupted power supply, clean drinking water, and sanitation but such arrangements are missing. There is cold response ...

The National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) has called for suitable measures to prevent fire incidents in Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report by NIDM, densely populated urban areas in the union territory are highly susceptible to urban fire incidents. Particularly, areas such as Gurez, Doda, Kishtwar, and other dilapidated areas face significant risks. Moreover, many urban settlements in Srinagar and Jammu are susceptible to fire accidents. “The implementation of appropriate mitigation measures is necessary. During dry spells, forest fires are common in the union territory, especially during autumn and the months of May and June. The forest cover in the state spans about 20,230 sq.km., accounting for approximately 19.90% of the total geographical area of the erstwhile s...

Ranbir Singh Bali, Director of Finance, Forest, Ecology and Environment Department, his wife and son died and his daughter injured after a vehicle they were travelling in fell into gorge near Pannar bridge along Mughal Road on Sunday. Official sources told GNS that the accident took place at 7:40 pm when a swift car (JK02BD -4635) on way to Surankote from Kashmir Valley via Mughal Road. Three among those travelling in the car died on the spot and another was injured and evacuated to nearby hospital by rescuers including locals and police. The deceased have been identified as Ranbir Singh Bali (Director of Finance, Forest, Ecology and Environment Department), his wife Parvinder Kour and son Irvan Singh. Condition of his daughter Mahreen Kour is stated to be out of danger. So far...

A yatri from Madhya Pradesh died of heart attack at district hospital Ramban in Jammu Kashmir on Monday. Officials said that a pilgrim who was supposed to visit Amarnath cave had complained of heartache at Yatri Niwas and accordingly he was shifted to District Hospital Ramban where he breathed his last. Officials said that it was a case of myocardial infarction. The deceased has been identified as Satish Suryavansham son of Govind Ram, a resident of Lakshar, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. [KNT]

The Directorate of Rural Sanitation, Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, has accomplished a significant milestone as all villages in Jammu Kashmir have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus, according to a statement issued by DIPR Srinagar. The attainment of 100 percent ODF Plus status is a remarkable achievement as it surpasses the mere construction and usage of toilets, extending to the management of both greywater and solid waste in each village. The journey towards achieving a visually clean village with effective solid and liquid waste processing involves three stages: ODF Plus Aspiring, ODF Plus Rising, and ODF Plus Model. A village is designated as ODF Aspiring when it possesses mechanisms to handle either solid or liquid waste, in addition to ODF su...

Two more earthquakes hit Jammu Kashmir early on Monday morning. Locals around the Chenab region and parts of Kashmir valley felt the tremors, however, no damage has been reported from the two earthquakes. According to National Centre for Seismology, the ist earthquake with a magnitude of 4.9 on the Richter scale was felt around 5:38 am. The epicentre of the earthquake was  33.15°N / 75.68°E in the Doda district of Jammu Kashmir with a mere depth of 10 km. The second quake was felt around 5:34 AM, locals told The Kashmiriyat. According the NCS, the magnitude of the second earthquake was 3.6 with a shallow depth of 8 KM inside the earth. The epicentre of the earthquake was 33.15°N / 75.7°E in Chenab valley's Doda district. Frequent earthquakes have been occuring in Jammu Ka...