BUSINESS

In a significant development, the Government of JK has directed the SICOP authorities to hand over the custodianship and operations of Pashmina raw material bank to the Department of Handicrafts & Handloom (DH&H) Kashmir. The Director Handicrafts and Handloom, Kashmir Mahmood Ahmad Shah confirmed that this step has been taken to ensure hassle-free distribution of Pashmina raw material to the artisan and weaver community. The ready supply of Pashmina raw material shall help artisans and weavers to manufacture pashmina shawls mobilizing very little resources of their own. The department is also organizing weavers and spinners in Cooperative societies and providing them financial assistance to procure raw material. It may be reiterated that the Directorate of Handicrafts and ...

Petrol and diesel prices increased for the fifth consecutive day on Sunday to touch record high levels across the country. In Srinagar the petrol prices have surpassed 112 rupees a litre. With a hike of 35 paisa a litre, the price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of Rs 109.34 a litre. The price of diesel also saw a hike by 35 paisa and took the fuel’s rate to Rs 98.07 per litre in the national capital. Mumbai also reported a surge in fuel prices as compared to yesterday. The petrol in retail cost stands at Rs 115.51 per litre whereas diesel costs Rs 106.23 per litre today in Mumbai. As for Kolkata, the price of petrol is Rs 109. 79 per litre, while diesel is Rs 101.19 per litre. In Chennai, petrol and diesel cost Rs 106.04 and Rs 102.25 per litre respectively. ...

In a big achievement to the bat industry of Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir made willow bats have reached to international stage as few players from Oman cricket team are playing with Kashmiri bats in T20 World Cup. People who are associated with this industry since decades said that is the first time that a Kashmir made willow bat is being used by international players. They said that there are around 300 bat manufacturing units in the Industrial area from Sangam to Awantipora in southern Kashmir and this is the first time that bat of one unit has been selected by a few players of Oman cricket team and are playing with it. They said that such an achievement will pave the way for other units as well and in coming time, bats of other units will be used by more popular international play...

Lone Imran Khawaja Itrat, hailing from the Bandipora district of North Kashmir, has proven that age is just a number. An M.tech graduate from Chandigarh Group of Colleges who is 25 years old has eventually started back to back three business outlets back home after completing his studies in Chandigarh. Khawaja Itrat came into limelight in Chandigarh when he and his organization, Jammu Kashmir Students Organization successfully evacuated more than 400 students from various states of India in the aftermath of Pulwama Attack, as Kashmiri students in colleges all over India became victims of harassment. Khawaja is the president of the organization as well. Meanwhile, Khawaja kick-started his first business outlet in his hometown Bandipora after he realized that Kashmiri youth was ver...

RapiPay, a fintech company has on Monday announced its expansion in the Kashmir valley. RapiPay has become the first Indian company to start assisted payment services like Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) and Micro ATM in Srinagar. RapiPay has also installed Micro ATMs on Dal Lake’s shops, it said in a statement issued to the press. “RapiPay’s quest for growing financial inclusion to the last mile has enabled crores of Indian underbanked customers to withdraw government’s cashless incentives and DBT transfers seamlessly. Now, J&K will be part of this journey and to tap the Kashmir market further, we plan to have over 15000 new DBOs in the region over the next one year” said Yogendra Kashyap, Managing Director and Founder of RapiPay Fintech Private Ltd. The number of ATMs ...

As per a report by Business Line, Adani Logistics Ltd is shuttering operations at its rail-linked Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Kilaraipur, in Ludhiana. The news comes after a 7-month long blockade by protesting farmers agitating over the controversial farm bills passed by the Centre that rendered the facility idle causing huge losses to the group. The protestors have blocked the main gate of the ICD since January 2021. They've placed a tractor trolley, barring the movement of goods and personnel which led to a halt in operations at the facility. This multi-modal logistics park at Kilaraipur, which is spread over 80 acres, was opened in 2017. It was opened to cater to the industries in and around Ludhiana, offering services for the import and export of cargo by rail and road. Th...

Fuel prices have been hiked again across India on Wednesday adding to the miseries of the common people already suffering from rising food prices amidst shrinking income. In Srinagar petrol is being sold at 99.79 rupees at most of the places, while diesel prices have touched almost 91 rupees in the capital city. With this rise, petrol prices have reached near hitting the century-mark all across the country. At several places petrol prices have surpassed the 100-rupee mark, In Bhopal petrol prices on June 16 stood at 104.85 ₹/L. On Wednesday, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) raised the price of petrol and diesel between 12-25 per litre across the four metros. Accordingly, the price of petrol increased by 25 paise per litre to Rs 96.66 per litre and diesel by 13 paise per litre...

Kashmir economy has borne the brunt of three back-to-back lockdowns since the abrogation of article 370 in August 2019 resulting in the loss of a whopping Rs 45000 Crore. The month-long lockdown from April 30 to May 30 this year has registered a loss of Rs 5000 crore alone, reveal figures worked out by the trade bodies of Valley. According to the Kashmir Chamber and Commerce Industries president Sheikh Ashiq Hussain, the Kashmir economy suffered a loss of around Rs 17,878 crore in the first four months of restrictions and shut down in the valley post Article 370 abrogation by the Government of India in August 2019. This was followed by a nation-wide lockdown triggered by the Carona-virus pandemic in 2020 that cost Kashmir economy Rs 27,000 crore As per trade bodies, the ongoing Co...

As positive covid cases are continuously spiking in Jammu Kashmir (J&K), Jammu Pharmaceutical distributors held a press conference and appealed to the administration of Jammu Kashmir, to impose seven days lockdown from Saturday onwards, to control the spread of the virus. While addressing the media, they said that no option was left except for imposing a lockdown to stop its spread. "If this alarming situation remains to continues, we don't have preparation to tackle it," said the distributors. They said that later the administration will have to impose extended lockdowns to contain the virus. "If the lockdown is imposed right now, it will put less burden on the common people, a lockdown later will puncture the already fragile economy of Jammu Kashmir." Meanwhile, they called ...