SRINAGAR: Omar Abdullah, Vice President, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday termed the upcoming G-20 summit a ‘tamasha’ and said that the preparations for the same are causing inconvenience to the people of Kashmir.
Omar was reacting to his father and NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah’s comments on Jammu not being a part of upcoming G-20 event.
Lashing out at BJP, Omar tweeted, “Things are a mess in Srinagar because of this G-20 tamasha. The actual meeting will probably see most areas locked down and people stuck in their homes. Perhaps the BJP is being sensible sparing the people of Jammu the pain we are suffering here in the valley. The G20 has only punished the residents of Srinagar,” he said.
Things are a mess in Srinagar because of this G-20 tamasha. The actual meeting will probably see most areas locked down & people stuck in their homes. Perhaps the BJP is being sensible sparing the people of Jammu the pain we are suffering here in the valley. The G20 has only… https://t.co/QG4P2Xc2OR
Pertinent to mention, Kashmir is set to host G20 event and the visiting delegates will be in Kashmir on a three day visit and will also opt for sightseeing. The administration in Srinagar is busy in execution of Smart City Projects in the city as delegates from guest countries and many international organisations are expected to participate in the event.
SRINAGAR: On Monday, an official press release stated that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir experienced an exceptional surge in GST collections during April 2023. The total collections for the month reached Rs 917.85 crores, which is a remarkable increase of Rs 215.77 crores from the April collections of the previous year. This represents a growth rate of 30.73 percent.
As per Ministry of Finance data released today, the SGST growth rate in the aforementioned region has been among the highest in the country, showing a significant increase of 44.51 percent compared to the same period last year. Additionally, there has been a growth of 22 percent in IGST settlement in comparison to the previous financial year.
Moreover, the State Taxes Department reported that the GST collections for April 2023 are the highest-ever recorded since the implementation of GST. This is noteworthy because the previous best-ever collections for a month in terms of SGST cash and IGST monthly average in the last financial year were over Rs 600 crores, according to the release.
The monthly GST collections in the financial year 2021-2022 were Rs 496.95 crores. Recently, the SGST cash collections have been steadily increasing and have gained national attention due to the record growth in Jammu and Kashmir in April 2023, which has surpassed all previous records since the inception of GST.
The State Taxes Department has successfully expanded the tax base from 1.17 Lakh in 2021-22 to 1.34 Lakh in the financial year 2022-23. Additionally, the department granted around 25982 new registrations during the same period.
This increase in revenue collections can be attributed to the department’s efforts in improving compliance behaviour by taxpayers and providing proactive support for GST compliance. The department has also used various IT tools like BIFA, GST Prime, and GST BO portal, along with human intelligence to identify and take action against defaulters. As a result, 8800 cancellations were made in the financial year 2022-23.
Furthermore, honest taxpayers have been recognized and rewarded through the department’s tax awareness program “KARTAVYA,” which was recently launched by the Lieutenant Governor of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, according to the press release.
SRINAGAR: The Srinagar-Kargil road has been closed for traffic following the fresh snowfall along the Zojila Pass on the road on Tuesday.
An official said that Srinagar-Kargil road has been closed for vehicular movement of traffic due to fresh snow fall at Zojila.
He said that decision has been taken for the safety of the passengers.
Meanwhile, scores of passenger vehicles as well as trucks are stationed at Sonamarg and on the side of Kargil waiting for the nod from the administration—(KS)
SRINAGAR: Weather department on Tuesday morning forecast intermittent light to moderate rain at many places of Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours.
A meteorological department official here said that a brief spell of rain and thunderstorm was expected at scattered places towards evening on May 3.
From May 4-6, he said, “weather was likely to be fair to partly cloudy. A brief spell of rain/thunderstorm may occur towards late afternoon/evening.”
From May 7-8, he said, rain was likely at “many places”.
Regarding temperature, he said, Srinagar recorded a low of 10.6°C against 11.3°C on the previous night and it was 0.9°C below normal for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of 9.0°C against 7.8°C on the previous night and it was above normal by 1.3°C for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 6.5°C against 4.7°C on previous night and it was 1.6°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of 8.3°C against 7.7°C on the previous night and it was 0.1°C below normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of 3.9°C against 4.0°C on previous night and it was 0.4°C below normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at 8.1°C against 8.7°C on the previous night and it was 0.3°C below normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 16.8°C against 18.7°C on the previous night. It was 5.8°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said. (GNS)
SRINAGAR: With the latest addition of a new JK Bank branch in Srinagar, the JK Bank has croseed the new milestone of having 100 branches of the bank in the Srinagar zone.
As part of its measures to enhance ease of banking for its growing customer base, JK Bank dedicated the new branch for public at Tengpora, Srinagar. The latest addition has taken the branch count in Srinagar zone to one hundred.
The Bank’s General Manager and Divisional Head (Kashmir) Tabassum Nazir inaugurated the branch in presence of Zonal Head (Srinagar) Shabir Ahmad, Cluster Heads Shabir Ahmad Bulla & Asmat Ara, and Branch Manager Syed Irrum amid a gathering of senior citizens and local businessmen.
Highlighting the Bank’s sustained efforts to enhance ease of banking across its areas of operations, GM Tabassum Nazir told the gathering, “It is a significant occasion for J&K Bank to have established 100th branch in Srinagar Zone. We at J&K Bank always devise plans to ensure new banking touch-points are commissioned in line with the needs of our customers.”
While urging the customers to avail all the available facilities, she assured them of best services including that of digital banking. “We attach great importance to your association with our bank and shall continue to add value to this bond by ensuring best customer services in physical as well as digital domains of banking” she said.
Zonal Head Srinagar impressed upon the staff to live up to the expectations of the customers. “On this occasion, I assure you that the staff posted here shall extend full support towards the financial progress of Tengpora and its adjoining area,” he told the gathering.
Notably, besides the business community in and around Tengpora, the newly established branch will also cater to areas like Gangbug, Mushtaq Colony, Galwanpora, Mahrajpora, Moominabad, Muslimabad and Naveedabad.
Local residents and business community hailed the Bank for opening of the branch in the area stating that such initiatives strengthen the association between people and the Bank.
SRINAGAR: National Investigation Agency carried out raids at different locations across Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday morning.
Quoting an official,GNS reported that the searches are underway in Awantipora, Pulwama, Anantnag and Srinagar in the Valley. while raids are also underway in Jammu and Poonch districts.
The searches are carried against OGWs of different militant outfits in connection with the militancy case and one person has been detained for questioning by the agency,the officer added.
Remains of the ill-fated army truck that went up in flames after suspected militants attacked it in Bhata Dhurian area in Mendhar (Poonch) on April 20, 2023. Six soldiers were killed and one survived injured.
Jammu and Kashmir Police have detained six persons after questioning nearly 200 people in Poonch following April 22, attack on an army vehicle in which five soldiers were killed. The operation involving various security agencies in the Bhata Durian belt is still in progress. The agencies investigating the attack have narrowed their focus on two militant handlers based in Pakistan, Rafiq Nai and Habibullah Malik, who are believed to have played a key role in the attack. Both men were designated as militants by the Indian government last year, and their involvement in the recent attack underscores the ongoing threat posed by militants operating from across the border in Pakistan.
Asserting that the attack was carried out with active local support, Dilbagh Singh, the Police Chief said a native, Nasir Ahmad has provided shelter and logistics to attackers. The massive crackdown has triggered outrage after Mukhtar Hussain Shah, a resident of Nar (Mendhar) consumed poison and died by suicide over alleged harassment and torture. Before committing suicide, he had recorded a video.
Singh said the attackers were supplied arms through drones. Three persons formally arrested include Gursi residents- Nissar Ahmad, Farid Ahmad, and Mushtaq. The Poonch Rajouri region is emerging as a challenge. Only six army men were killed in militancy violence in Kashmir since October 2021 as against 21 in Poonch and Rajouri districts during the same period.
School Education Department has directed private schools operating from Government land to admit 25 per cent of their students from weaker sections of society.
KUPWARA
A Kashmiri Imam, who led taraveh prayers during Ramzan 2023, was gifted an Umarh package by the village in north Kashmir.
For Muslims within and outside Kashmir, Ramzan, the Muslim month of fasting, is the era for protracted prayers, charity, and self-introspection. Most of the mosques ensure they have a Hafiz-e-Quran who will lead them in Taraweh prayers and once the month concludes these Imam’s are honoured. Residents of Mareed Mohalla in Kupwara thought out-of-box. Instead of paying him in cash or gifting him worldly valuables, they recognised Maulana Bilal Ahmad Nadvi’s contribution by sending him on Umrah. This was a surprise to the Imam, too. This first-of-its-kind gesture has the potential of becoming the new fashion statement of the faithful, naysayers say.
The government is providing land free of charge in favour of BSNL for saturation of 4G mobile services in all the 303 uncovered villages across Jammu and Kashmir.
HANDWARA
Police arrested a couple in Handwara on April 25, 2023, for running a prostitution racket. Photo:JKP
In yet another shocking event, the Jammu and Kashmir Police uncovered a prostitution ring in the Reshipora, Kupwara. Police said they conducted a raid on a house leading to the arrest of Shabir Ahmad War, his wife and three more people. This is the fourth such scandal in the last few weeks that has come to light in Jammu and Kashmir, with similar operations having been uncovered in Srinagar outskirts including Bagh-e-Mehtab and Nowgam area, and another in Jammu Jewel Chowk. It is immediately not known what pushes individuals to prostitution.
11 Gujaratis were arrested for taking Gandola for a ride with a fake ticket. Earlier a Mumbai tourist group went to jail for the same offence.
MUMBAI
Bollywood flick, Pathaan poster showing the lead actors including Shahrukh Khan, John Ibrahim and Deepika Padukone
Bollywood’s heartthrob Shahrukh Khan has set Kashmir abuzz with excitement as he returned after 11 years to shoot for his upcoming film Dunki. Directed by Raj Kumar Hirani and co-starring Tapsee Pannu, the movie scenes were filmed in the stunning locales of Sonamarg and Pulwama. He also did some shopping in Srinagar but at the S airport, he was mobbed by fans.
Khan’s arrival for a few days has boosted the morale of the administration that recorded 300 film shootings in 2022. LT Governor Manoj Sinha said the region is experiencing a resurgence of the Bollywood era of the 1980s when many films were shot in the area due to its breathtaking beauty. For Shahrukh Khan, his return to Kashmir is a nostalgic one, having shot Jab Tak Hai Jaan in the region back in 2012. Bollywood has always been in love with Kashmir. The only difference from the 1980s is that the government was not incentivising the Bollywood shooting as it is being done big time in 2020.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha laid the foundation stone of Kashmir Medical College and Super-Speciality Hospital being developed by Milli Trust, Delhi, a 100-bed Rs 525-crore project that will have 150 MBBS seats and provide jobs for 2,000 people.
SAMBA
A government employee was arrested for allegedly raping a woman under the guise of being a tantrik. The accused lured the woman to his house on the pretext of healing her skin disease through “magical powers” and then raped her. The police have identified the accused as Subash Chander of Rarian Ramgarh village and a case has been registered against him. The accused is currently behind bars.
Rekha Sharma, chairperson, National Commission for Women (NCW), has revealed that in 2022, women trafficking in Jammu and Kashmir have increased by about 15.26 per cent but it is “just the tip of an iceberg”
BHADERWAH
A group photograph showing the scholars, farmers and representatives of industry in CSIR-IIIM interaction in Pulwama. The photograph was taken in the lavender farm on June 13, 2022
The Chenab Valley’s mini-Kashmir is purple these days as farmers have switched from traditional crops to lucrative lavender cultivation. Over the past decade, lavender cultivation has expanded from 10 kanals of land to about 4000 kanals, with around 2500 farmers now engaged in it. A single lavender plant bears flowers for 15 years and needs little maintenance, and its oil is used in a variety of products, including soaps, cosmetics, perfumes, and medicines.
Bharat Bhushan, one of the first farmers to switch to lavender farming in the region, found that he earned four times more profit from lavender than from traditional maize farming, and he gradually converted his entire 10 kanals of farmland to a lavender farm. After Bhushan’s video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016, the Aroma Mission was launched in Jammu and Kashmir, providing free lavender plants to farmers. The program has been a great success, with 500-600 farmers switching to lavender farming and 1000 kanals of land being brought under its cultivation. Modi acknowledged the region’s effort in his Mann Ki Baat.
KPDCL has 700 positions vacant
DUBAI
Safina Nabi
Kashmir journalist Safina Nabi has won the second prize in the Outstanding Contribution to Peace category of the Fetisov Journalism Award for her article titled “How Kashmir’s half-widows are denied their basic property rights.” The article sheds light on the plight of countless women in Kashmir who have been cut out of inheritances and left to fend for themselves after their husbands disappeared and could never be traced. Women whose husbands have disappeared but not yet been declared dead are referred to as “half-widows” by in Kashmir.
Last week, more than 1200 flats were inaugurated for migrant Kashmiri Pandit migrants under the Prime Minister’s package.
KOKERNAG
A government-run school in Kokernag has performed abysmally as only one of its 25 students in the eighth class passed the examination. The Middle School Khokarpora Adhal Vailoo is now the focus of an investigation. It caters to the requirements of the weaker sections but failed in imparting education.
Of 9700 water bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, more than 76 per are ‘in use’. Almost 48.6 per cent of water bodies are privately owned leaving only the remaining 51.4 percent to public ownership.
SOIBUG
NIA official on a piece of land that was attached by it in a terror funding case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached two houses of sons of banned Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s chief Syed Salahuddin. Shahid Yusuf lives in Soibug and Syed Ahmad Shakeel in Rambagh Srinagar. NIA spokesperson said they “had been receiving funds from abroad from the associates of their father and overground workers of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.” Their properties were attached under Section 33(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the NIA said. In August 2018, the NIA arrested Shakeel, who was working as a lab technician at SKIMS Soura. In August 2022, the administration sacked Salahuddin’s third son Syed Abdul Mueed, Manager, IT, Jammu Kashmir Entrepreneur Development Institute.
Srinagar Tulip Garden which attracted 375 thousand tourists was open for 33 days, unlike 21 days in 2022.
JAMMU
LG Manoj Sinha inaugurated 576 residential accommodations for PM Package Employees on Wednesday, April 26, 2023.
Days after Padma Bushan awardee, Muzaffar Hussain Baig said the assembly election can take place after the general election across India, LG Manoj Sinha said his administration wants Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir to be held on time. He maintained that three-tier Panchayati Raj System is working very well under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Panchayats will be completing their five-year term in November-December this year and elections to them will have to be conducted in October-November. Polls to Panchayats were held in November-December 2018 after nearly four decades in Jammu and Kashmir during President’s Rule after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP Government in the erstwhile State.
SRINAGAR: A driver from Haryana died apparently due to heart attack in Sonamarg area of Central Kashmir Ganderbal district on Monday evening.
An official said that Naresh Kumar (47) son of Balwant Singh, a resident of Haryana had halted his truck on the roadside in Sonamarg area this evening and suddenly had pain in chest.
He was taken to PHC Sonamarg by other drivers where he breathed his last, he said, adding that driver died apparently due to major heart attack.
The body is lying at PHC Sonamarg for further formalities while further proceedings have been taken up, he said. (KS)
SRINAGAR: National Conference president and Member Parliament from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah on Monday said it is unfortunate that G20 meetings are being conducted in Kashmir and Ladakh and not in Jammu.
Abdullah lashed out at the government for ignoring Jammu in the upcoming G-20 event.
“Centre has avoided Jammu and I am surprised that none of the leaders from BJP is speaking about it. Is Jammu being taken for granted or do they think that it is in their pocket? Even those who chanted ‘Jammu and Dodra’ raised voices on not holding meeting in Jammu,” he said.
Asked about the residential facilities for non-locals in Jammu, the NC president termed it “an effort to end the Dogra language and culture”.
“If outsiders are settled here, identity of dogras will vanish. People from outside will take our jobs and land,” he added.
Speaking to the media persons in Jammu, Abdullah further said the party would neither skip any of the elections nor beg for holding the exercise in J&K. He was responding to a question on the speculations on holding Panchayat elections in the Union Territory.
“It is good if panchayat elections will take place; that is the basic democracy,” Farooq said, adding, “Whether it is panchayat or DDC elections, we will contest all and won’t skip any; but we also won’t beg for holding the polls.”
Speaking about the joint opposition platform against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Farooq Abdullah said, “I have no magical lamp to predict opposition unity ahead of 2024 polls, but we are trying”.
Reacting over former J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik’s support for the abrogation of Article 370 and his remarks on the Pulwama attack, Abdullah said, “Satya Pal Malik himself acknowledged that the Pulwama incident was their mistake and that they did not provide five aircraft for the transportation of force personnel.”
On the recent Poonch attack, he said that even after the abrogation of Article 370, “terrorism” has not ended.
SRINAGAR: A notorious bovine smuggler hailing from Rajdhani village of Thanamandi in Rajouri was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA).
A police spokesman identified the bovine smuggler as Imran Ahmed son of Shabir Ahmed of village Rajdhani in Tehsil Thanamandi Rajouri.
A police spokesman said that the accused has been booked under Public Safety Act for smuggling bovines in an organised manner and hence posing a threat to peace and order.
He did not change his behaviour despite being booked in several FIRs and arrest by police in these cases but he continued his illegal and unlawful activity of smuggling bovines. This, police said, is likely to disturb public order particularly in Rajouri.
“The cases in which the accused has been booked earlier include FIR No. 71/2018 of Police Station Dharamsala, 155/2019 of Police Station Akhnoor, 93/2020 of Police Station Nowshera, 129/2020 of Police Station Nowshera, 171/2020 of Police Station Thanamandi, 117/2021 of Police Station Nowshera,” it said.
“Police said that keeping in view the activities of said accused as his activities amounts to propagating and creating feelings of enmity, hatred among communities, the accused was ordered to be detained under section 8 of Public Safety Act and has been lodged in jail,” it added.
Senior Superintendent of Police Rajouri Amritpal Singh said that many people in the district have booked under PSA in last couple of weeks. (KNO)
