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SRINAGAR: Authorities have reportedly demolished a shopping complex that Qazi Yasir owned in Anantnag town. Qazi Yasir is slain politician Qazi Nisar’s son.
The demolition was reported on Thursday morning. While the complex has been raised to the ground, reports said the shops are being handed over to municipal council Anantnag.
“It was a double-storey structure and was demolished,” one eyewitness said. “The shutters of the shops are intact.”
Authorities said the complex near the stadium was illegal as it had been raised on state land.
(Photograph that features this report is not directly linked to the details described in the news story)
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#Shopping #Complex #Demolished #Anantnag
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )
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SRINAGAR: The minimum temperature recorded a slight rise at few places and drop at others but stayed below sub-zero level in Kashmir Valley barring Srinagar on Thursday.
Quoting a meteorological department official news agency GNS reported that Srinagar recorded a low of 0.4°C, the same as on the previous night. Today’s minimum temperature, he said, was above normal by 1.1°C for the summer capital.
Qazigund, he said, recorded a low of minus 2.0°C against 0.2°C on the previous night and it was 0.1°C above normal for the gateway town of Kashmir.
Pahalgam, he said, recorded a low of 2.9°C against minus 8.9°C on the previous night and it was 3.2°C above normal for the famous tourist resort in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
Kokernag recorded a low of minus 1.9°C against minus 0.5°C on the previous night and it was 0.5°C above normal for the place, the officials said.
Gulmarg recorded a low of minus 7.6°C against minus 8.2°C on the previous night and it was normal for the world famous skiing resort in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, he said.
In Kupwara town, he said, the mercury settled at minus 2.3°C against minus 1.4°C on the previous night and it was normal for the north Kashmir area.
Jammu recorded a low of 7.5°C against 6.7°C on the previous night. It was 0.9°C below normal for J&K’s winter capital, he said.
Banihal, he said, recorded a low of 1.4°C (above normal by 0.6°C), Batote 4.1°C (above normal by 2.0°C), Katra 8.1°C (1.1°C above normal) and Bhadarwah minus 0.2°C (0.4°C above normal).
Ladakh’s Leh and Kargil recorded a low of minus 11.0°C and minus 15.6°C respectively, the official said. Drass, the second coldest place after Siberia, recorded a low of minus 16.1°C.
While Chillai-Kalan, the 40-day long harsh winter period that started on December 21 has ended, Kashmir is under the grip of a 20-day-long period called ‘Chillai-Khurd’. It will be followed by a 10-day-long period ‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold) which is from February 20 to March 1.
The MeT department has forecast isolated very light rain and snow for next 24 hours. The weather department has already ruled out the possibility of any major snowfall for a week.
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#SubZero #Temp #Kashmir #Barring #Srinagar #Temp #Rises #Jammu
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )
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Mike Pompeo, former US Secretary of State has claimed that India and Pakistan were on the brink of a nuclear war in wake of the surgical strikes in 2018, an issue that the US settled in a night that he will never forget
The Balakot surgical strike on February 27, 2018, had triggered a serious diplomatic crisis and was heading towards a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan. This is precisely what Donald Trump’s Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has claimed in his memoir Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love.
“I do not think the world properly knows just how close the India-Pakistan rivalry came to spilling over into a nuclear conflagration in February 2019. The truth is, I don’t know precisely the answer either; I just know it was too close,” Pompeo wrote.
Then in Hanoi, Vietnam, for negotiations between North Korean leader and Trump, the Indo-Pak tensions flared after a militant blew up an explosive-laded vehicle hitting a CRPF convey killing more than forty paramilitary personnel on February 14. In retaliation, Indian Air Force flew bombers during the night of February 27 and 28, hitting Balakot, a key Jaish formation. A day later, there was a dogfight between the rival fighters as a result of which India lost a fighter jet and its pilot was caught (later returned). Pakistan Air Force also bombed various spots inside Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking about the call that he received from his counterpart, then Sushma Swaraj, Pompeo wrote that he was informed that “Pakistanis had begun to prepare their nuclear weapons” and India was also “contemplating its own escalation”.
“I asked him to do nothing and give us a minute to sort things out. I began to work with Ambassador Bolton, who was with me in the tiny secure communications facility in our hotel,” Pompeo wrote. “I reached the actual leader of Pakistan, General Bajwa, with whom I had engaged many times. I told him what the Indians had told me. He said it wasn’t true. As one might expect, he believed the Indians were preparing their nuclear weapons for deployment. It took us a few hours—and remarkably good work by our teams on the ground in New Delhi and Islamabad—to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war. No other nation could have done what we did that night to avoid a horrible outcome.”
Love for J
The Ministry of External Affairs Ministry in Delhi has avoided reacting to the revelation. At the same time, Pompeo has asserted that he actually worked with NSA Ajit Doval and the then foreign secretary, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who later in May 2019, became the Foreign Minister of India.
In his book, Pompeo has showered praises on Jaishankar’s capacity and knowledge – a man speaking seven languages, English “somewhat better than mine”, professional, rational, and a “fierce defender of his boss and his country”. However, Pompeo has termed Swaraj, a “goofball and a heartland political hack”. Jaishanker has strongly reacted to this and termed it “disrespectful” to his predecessor.
India versus Pakistan
While Pompeo’s book is an idea about Trump’s world order, it offers many details about the Indian subcontinent, especially India and Pakistan.
Indian leaders, Pompeo writes are “intently focused every minute on their bête noire of Pakistan” because the nuclear power controlled by its military and Islamist-sympathizing intelligence services presents a significant strategic and a terroristic threat to India. “Every action I took with respect to Pakistan—a trip or a phone call or a comment—was sure to result in a message saying that Prime Minister Modi or Foreign Minister Jaishankar wanted to speak. They were relentless and appropriately so,” the book reads.
Great Allies
At the same time, however, Pompeo has staked credit for ensuring a shift in India’s foreign policy that has always “charted its own course without a true alliance system, and that is still mostly the case” and has never remained tilted either towards USSR or the USA.
Pompeo sees the China angle as the key to a change. A strong ally of Pakistan, the Chinese army clubbed 20 soldiers in a skirmish in Ladakh. “That bloody incident caused the Indian public to demand a change in their country’s relationship with China. India also banned TikTok and dozens of Chinese apps as part of its response,” Pompeo wrote.
Offer details of a shift in US foreign policy, Pompeo – who was CIA chief before becoming Secretary of State, wrote that American diplomacy put Tokyo at the centre of its Asia policy and viewed Seoul as its primary location for geostrategic reach, which neglected India.
“Its population rivals that of China. We are natural allies, as we share a history of democracy, a common language, and ties of people and technology. India is also a market with enormous demand for American intellectual property and products. These factors, plus its strategic location in South Asia, made India the fulcrum of my diplomacy to counteract Chinese aggression,” explained Pompeo. “In my mind, a counter-China bloc made up of the United States, India, Japan, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the European Union would have an economic weight at least three times that of China. I chose to devote serious quantities of time and effort to help make India the next great American ally.”
This was the key reason why India joined Quad, according to the book. However, certain inherent limitations remain. These include India’s inherent dislike for alliances, a deeply protectionist and state-directed economy, Russian weaponry and its trading relationship and a long international border with China. These issues limit “India’s appetite for risk”.
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#Nuclear #Conflict
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )
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SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday alleged that the encroachment drive launched by the government is another UAPA for the people in Jammu & Kashmir, terming the step a part of corruption practice as under the influence of this drive, the government wants money from rich and vote from the poor.
Addressing a news conference here, the former chief minister said that the drive to retrieve the land is being used as a weapon against the people of J&K to uproot them, suppress and harass them and also make them homeless. “It is another UAPA for the people, otherwise China has encroached our 20000 sq km land, if the government is serious then let the encroached land be retrieved from China first,” she said.
Quoting Mehbooba news agency KNO reported that there are some people who possess the land since Maharajas rule and their land properties are also being demolished, adding that first the government created rift between the religious communities and now it is making attempts to create a rift between poor and rich class through this drive.
However, she said that such measures cannot be stopped until and unless the people from J&K and Ladakh are not united. “The people here in Kashmir are not being allowed to hit the streets.
The people were even trying to participate in Bharat Jodo Yatra in large number, but they were not allowed. The government has created a situation where the people are not being allowed to come out. The people of Ladakh have united, but until and unless Jammu’s Dogra and Kashmiri people don’t get united, these measures cannot be stopped,” she said.
“Jammu people reacted yesterday, but people in Kashmir can’t do so as there is NIA, ED and other agencies behind Kashmir. How would it be possible that the people will come out to react over the issue,” she said, adding that these drives are part of a massive corruption here as they want to get money from the rich and vote from the poor. “The poor are being asked to vote against their land and the rich are being asked to meet some officials in this regard,” she said.
Mehbooba also said that if the government is serious in retrieving the land; let it start from Governor House, B B Cant here.
Asked about the budget presented today in parliament, Mehbooba said that there was nothing new in today’s budget as the financial plan by the incumbent government is being made for the benefits of some capitals and businessmen. “The taxes being collected should have been used for the welfare of people, but the budget is being made for some businessmen only. The situation is such that the poor are getting poorer, the free ration quantity has been reduced to four kilograms,” she added.
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#Encroachment #Drive #UAPA #People #Alleges #Mehbooba
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )
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SRINAGAR: Authorities on Wednesday sealed more than 20 shops at Aftab market in Srinagar, stating that the land was illegally occupied.
Quoting an official, news agency KNO reported that 2.7 Kanals of land was illegally occupied, where more than 20 shops were built.
“Authorities had received a complaint regarding illegal occupation of land at Aftab Market where more than 20 shops were raised and eviction notices to illegal occupants were also served but they failed to vacate after which we started the sealing the shop”, the official said.
Meanwhile, shopkeepers held a protest claiming that they have been paying rent to the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, however, authorities refuted same.
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#Shops #Sealed #Aftab #Market #Srinagar #Authorities #Claim #Land #Encroached
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )