Author: Yusara Askari

Indian, Chinese troops completed disengagement at most locations: China
14Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Indian, Chinese troops completed disengagement at most locations: China

After being in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Chinese government has said that Indian and Chinese frontline troops have completed disengagement at most locations and that preparations are underway to hold the next round of military-level talks."Chinese and Indian border troops on the frontline have disengaged in most locations. The 5th round of commander-level talks is currently under preparation to resolve the remaining issues," Chinese state media Global Times quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin as saying.Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control since May.On July 24, India and China had held the 17th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) and agreed that early and c...
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LED Street lights installed in Srinagar under ‘Smart Cities’ mission
12Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

LED Street lights installed in Srinagar under ‘Smart Cities’ mission

Taking advantage of the COVID-19 induced lockdown, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has taken the initiative to install LED street lights in Srinagar under the Smart Cities mission.Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, District Magistrate, Srinagar said the work of installing LED street lights were done for the last five to six months. "The work to install LED street lights was going on in the city for the last five to six months. The old and dysfunctional lights in the market areas across the city were removed and new LED lights have been installed," said Choudhary.Prior to the project completion, locals and business community were facing issues during late hours in the markets. After the installation of the LED lights, locals have now demanded that these lights should be installed in their loca...
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Indian schoolgirls discover asteroid moving toward Earth
12Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Indian schoolgirls discover asteroid moving toward Earth

During a project sponsored by Space India and NASA, two Indian schoolgirls discovered an asteroid slowly shifting its orbit and moving toward Earth.Radhika Lakhani and Vaidehi Vekariya, both 10th grade students, were working on a school project when they discovered the asteroid, which they named HLV2514.Hailing from the city of Surat in the western Indian state of Gujarat, both girls had participated in a Space India and NASA project, which allows students to analyze images taken by a telescope positioned at the University of Hawaii.Aakash Dwivedi, senior educator and astronomer at Space India, said that students across India were taught how to spot the celestial bodies using software which analyzes images collected by NASA's PAN Star telescope. Students then searched for moving objects in...
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A year after Article 370, Kashmir valley voter turnout a big number to watch
12Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia, Opinion

A year after Article 370, Kashmir valley voter turnout a big number to watch

Last year, on August 5, the Narendra Modi government in the Center effectively revoked Article 370 that conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and bifurcated the state into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.Now, a year has passed and still there is little convergence of views on the move. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continues to assert that the decision was in the interest of Kashmir and the nation at large, mainstream political actors in Kashmir continue to oppose it.In an opinion piece, former chief minister Omar Abdullah wrote that unless the central government restores statehood to J&K, he will not participate in elections.In making this threat, Abdullah is raising a metric which has often been seen as the most important measure of de
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Separatist leaders signed ‘good behaviour bond’ before release from detention: J&K Police Chief
11Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Separatist leaders signed ‘good behaviour bond’ before release from detention: J&K Police Chief

Around 504 separatist leaders, who had been detained in light of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, were released after they signed a 'good behaviour' bond, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police chief Dilbag Singh said.He said that out of 350 separatists who were sent to jail, only 50-60 are still behind bars even as others were released."A total of 504 separatist leaders belonging to Hurriyat Conference and Jamaat-e-Islami (JK) and others have been released so far after they signed good behaviour bond," Singh said.Over 5,500 youth were detained by the security forces on August 5, 2019, after the abrogation of Article 370, but were let off after few days of counselling. “Cases were filed against 1200 for indulging in violent acts,” Singh said."We will review the cases of other 50-60 peopl
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J-K: Huge cache of weapons, drugs recovered from vehicle in Kupwara
8Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

J-K: Huge cache of weapons, drugs recovered from vehicle in Kupwara

The Jammu and Kashmir police and Indian Army seized an enormous cache of weapons and drugs on July 26 when a vehicle was stopped at a joint check post, sources said.According to sources, teams of 7 Rashtriya Rifles and the Kupwara police had stopped a vehicle for checking at Sadna Top, which was being driven by Umar Sheikh, a resident of Hajinagar.On searching the vehicle, the security forces found one AK-56 rifle with two magazines, two pistols along with four magazines, 76 rounds of rifle ammunition and 90 rounds of pistol ammo.Six grenades with Chinese markings, six blue-plastic grenades, and eight OG plastic grenades were also recovered along with approximately 10 kilogram of packets containing narcotics, the sources added.“10 kgs of brown sugar, Ak 47 rifle, 2 pistols, 20 grenades &am
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Pakistan pushing terrorists in Kashmir to disrupt peace in Kashmir
8Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan pushing terrorists in Kashmir to disrupt peace in Kashmir

During the last week of July, Indian Amy had reported repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan, saying these violations are being done to push more terrorists in the Kashmir Valley in the wake of first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370 on August 5.The most recent one took place on July 23 in Nowgam and Tangdhar sectors of frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir. Senior Indian Army officials of the Srinagar-based 15 corps said that on the LoC, the number of ceasefire violations have gone up since last year and has remained high since.“The Pakistan Army is keen on pushing more terrorists,” a senior Army officer said. “First anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 is very near and we believe they might try to disrupt the prevailing peace.”The figures available with the Indi
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No violence, stone pelting, Pakistan flag since scrapping Article 370: J&K BJP leader
6Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

No violence, stone pelting, Pakistan flag since scrapping Article 370: J&K BJP leader

On the first anniversary of abrogation of Article 370, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Kashmir unit unfurled the national flag at the party office and accused those protesting the constitutional changes of being sympathizers of the ISIS.“We are celebrating the completion of one year of abrogation of Article 370 (provisions) and the positive changes that it brought in Jammu and Kashmir,” BJP leader Altaf Thakur told reporters at the party office in Jawahar Nagar.Thakur said the abrogation of Article 370 provisions of the Constitution, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, had brought about many positive changes and put an end to stone pelting in Kashmir.“There used to be stone pelting during encounters that has stopped. There used to be ISIS flag, Pakistani flag…that has st
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Kashmiris celebrate one year of abrogation of Article 370 with fervour
6Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Kashmiris celebrate one year of abrogation of Article 370 with fervour

As the abrogation of Article 370 completed its one year on August 5, hundreds of Gujjars, Bakarwals and other Kashmiri sightseers from Kupwara, Tangdhar and Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir celebrated Bangus Awaam Mela, rejecting Pakistan's efforts to create a false narrative about abrogation of Article 370.The Annual Fair saw participation with great fanfare for two days since it kicked off on August 3.Rustic games like horse racing, sheep herding, Tug of War and Wood Chopping competitions were organized on the first day in which the Gujjar, Bakerwal communities from various Bhaiks living in the meadows during the summer months actively participated.On the request of senior community members, a veterinary and medical camp was also organized by the local Rashtriya Rifles unit. A total of 679 ...
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Article 370 abrogation impact: Decline in stone-pelting incidents, strikes in Kashmir
5Aug By Yusara AskariNo Comments
Asia

Article 370 abrogation impact: Decline in stone-pelting incidents, strikes in Kashmir

After the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, people of the valley have reported a significant drop in the incidents of stone pelting and militancy, saying the youth is now more focused on their studies.“The youth here has become prudent. The game that few people played with the youth of Kashmir has stopped. They know it very well that they will get nothing from militancy. Today’s youth is focused on their studies. All the protests and stone-pelting incidents that we used to see every day no longer takes place,” says Mohammed Yousuf.Stone pelting, as the name suggests, refers to assault by throwing stones, by a section of Kashmiri youth on security forces, deployed for crowd control. There were 2,653 incidents of stone-throwing in 2016. A probe by the National Investigating Age
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