The government believes that the change in Jammu & Kashmir’s status will encourage private sector investment in the new Union Territory. Till now, officials say, provisions of Articles 370 and 35A have prevented business houses from purchasing land and hiring skilled manpower.
According to official statistics, 10% of all central funds have gone to the state between 2000 and 2016 but private investment had been below par due to the special provisions. The change in administrative st ..
More than 24 hours after the Centre pulled off a political coup to end Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the “abuse of executive power” by the ruling BJP and said the move would have grave implications for India’s national security.
Gandhi’s statement, voicing strong opposition to the way the government went about repealing the special status, comes at a time when an internal rift in the Congress has come to the fore over the stand taken by the party on the crucial issue.
“This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he wrote on Twitter, spelling out what the party line would be going forward.
“National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land,” he said.
The Congress has been a divided house after the government on Monday moved to end special status to Jammu and Kashmir by amending Article 370 with a presidential decree, and turn the state into two Union Territories, which would give the Centre all the power in the region.
While senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram vehemently opposed the move in Rajya Sabha on Monday, senior party leaders, including Janardan Dwivedi, a Congress veteran and Gandhi family loyalist, took a different stand.
“My mentor Ram Manohar Lohia was against Article 370 from the start…My personal view is that this is a matter of national satisfaction. A mistake made during independence has been corrected, even if belatedly,” Janardhan Dwivedi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Monday.
Congress leader Deepender Hooda, the son of former Haryanaa Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had also welcomed the government move and so had another leader Jaiveer Shergill.
This was in sharp contrast to the stand taken by the party in Parliament. Azad and Chidambaram had called the repeal of special status as “murder of democracy” in Rajya Sabha, while Manish Tewari called it a constitutional travesty in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
He said that even during the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the polity’s consent had been sought, unlike in Jammu and Kashmir, where the decision was sprung as a surprise without the consent of stakeholders and after massive troop buildup.
The presidential order amending the clause of Article 370 that gave autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir came after a constitutional manoeuvre by the government that is likely to be challenged in Supreme Court.
Article 370 stated that changes through the presidential order could only be done in consultation with the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, which was dissolved after the accession of the state to the Indian Union.
Rubbishing Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement that he was at home of his own free will, an emotional National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said he was arrested in his own house and no else was allowed to meet him in the last two days.
“Whatever the Home Minister claims about my absence is a complete lie. It is baseless. I am totally jailed. They have stationed a DSP outside my house. I can’t even visit my daughter who lives a few metres away. There is a lock outside her door,” he said, breaking down on camera while speaking to CNN-News18.
The government, in a security crackdown in the Kashmir Valley ahead of its move to repeal J&K’s special status, had sent thousands of troops, snapped all communication and put Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on house arrest. The two leaders, on Monday, were detained by authorities and moved to guest houses.
Abdullah said there was complete curtailment of movement in Kashmir as he described the Centre’s move on Article 370 via a presidential decree as a “robbery”.
“This is absolute dictatorship,” he said, as he called the government actions “undemocratic” and a betrayal of the secular and democratic principles that had made Kashmir align with India.
“For them, all Muslims are separatists. Is this what we deserve? I have never thought of this… not even in my wildest dream,” he told CNN-News18.
The veteran leader further said that when he had gone to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week to seek a response on the reasons behind troop build-up in the Valley, he was assured that the Amarnath Yatra was going well.
He said he and his party would fight the government’s repeal of special status and would explore all possible options. Omar Abdullah, in a statement issued on Monday, had also said that the move was “unconstitutional” and the party would challenge it in the Supreme Court.
American electronics company RCA has just launched its latest Smart TV series in the Indian market. According to the product listing on Amazon India, the company has launched two different products. Both the products come with different screen sizes providing a total of five different variants. Taking a closer look, first product features 4K UHD resolution, while the second one comes with up to FHD resolution. To make the new series a competitive offering, RCA has priced the FHD Smart LED TV and 4K UHD models at a rather attractive price point.
According to the Amazon listing, RCA Smart LED TV with up to FHD resolution is available in three different variants. The most inexpensive of the lot is the RCASmart LED TV 32-inch “HD-Ready” variant for Rs 10,499. The second variant with FHD resolution and a 43-inch display is priced at Rs 18,999. The third variant comes with a 49-inch display with FHD resolution for Rs 23,999. Interested buyers can further push the price down with the help of exchange offers. The listing reveals that all the variants feature A+ grade display panels to get rid of reflections while providing detailed quality.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has directed to introduce a ‘Single Window System’ for all types of permissions and no-objection certificates for construction of colonies and township development.
The state government’s latest move is expected to help thousands of middle income group families to realize the dream of owning houses.
The single window system will be set up in premises of office of collector where revenue, urban administration and town planning and other concerned department will deal with the application. Chief Minister has directed the housing and environment department to issue a detailed order within a month.
Recently, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) had called on Chief Minister and raised problems being faced by them for developing housing colonies and township.
They pointed out that they needed to get separate no objection certificates and permission from revenue, urban development, town planning and other concerned departments which take years and it finally escalate the total project cost.
Chief Minister directed to authorize district collectors for all necessary sanctions and made Housing and Environment department as nodal department.An additional collector will be made nodal officer in each district office. The builder will submit all the departmental application in a single window. The applications after registration will be sent to all the concerned departments. Collector during time-limit meeting will review the pending cases and at maximum three months, all types of permission through additional collector will be provided through single window.
With chaos gripping Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre is chairing an urgent cabinet meeting in the National Capital, on Monday.
All eyes are on the Cabinet meeting which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and attended by Union home minister Amit Shah and other top leaders, shortly before the Parliament session.
While Modi also held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Amit Shah prior to the cabinet meeting at his residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
Although no clarity has been offered on the matter by the Centre, a person familiar with the development stated that the point of discussion was likely to be the ongoing security situation in the valley amid speculations of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, with a “major policy decision likely to be announced after the meeting,” the person said.
Yuvraj Singh has been enjoying a brilliant run of form in the ongoing Canada Global T20 League and he continued his momentum in the tournament with a brilliant juggling catch during the match between Toronto Nationals and Montreal Tigers. The Nationals captain, who is well known for his fielding, showed off his juggling act to take a catch to dismiss Lendl Simmons. The ball was hit straight to him at mid-off and he showed great skill in balancing the ball three times before finishing the catch. Nationals went on to win the match by four wickets.
However, it was not all good news for the former India cricketer as he was forced to retire hurt due to backache.
Earlier, Yuvraj turned back the clock as he slammed 51 off just 22 balls against Brampton Wolves with the help of five sixes.Yuvraj, who walked in at No.4, was at his aggressive best as he dominated the bowlers and with the help of three fours and five sixes, he was able to score his first half century of the tournament.
In the previous match,Yuvraj showed glimpses of his glory days while playing an important role in his side’s victory over Edmonton Royals by two wickets. Chasing 192 in a 19-over game – curtailed because of rain – Nationals had a poor start after losing both their openers for 29.
Xiaomi has been making some very prominent releases under its sub-brand Redmi this year. Now that we are done with the 7th generation series of Redmi phones, it is high time that we finally get to hear about the 8th generation of Redmi devices. A lot of fans of the brand have been asking questions online about the presence of the Redmi Note 8, but till now there was no word from the company about this device. However, that seems to have taken a turn as Xiaomi’s General Manager Lu Weibing has confirmed the presence of Redmi Note 8. The response which Weibing has put up online can be translated to “Redmi Note 8 is much stronger than the next door…” and it seems that the line implies that the launch of the Redmi Note 8 can be considered as just around the corner.
Xiaomi General Manager Teases Redmi Note 8
Now although the executive has mentioned about the launch of this device, he has not given away any of the details related to the Redmi Note 8. However, there is the speculation that Redmi might debut this new phone with a 64MP camera sensor which has been in the talks since a few weeks now. It is worth noting that the Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 sensor with 64MP configuration has already been teased by the company and we know that a device is in works which would sport the 64MP CMOS sensor. Since the Redmi Note 8 is going to be a big debut from the company, it is quite possible that the brand might ship the Redmi Note 8 with this sensor only.
Abdullah’s statement come just a day after the government in an unprecedented move cut short the Amarnath Yatra citing terror threats. An advisory that was issued by the state Home Department asking people to take “necessary measures to return as soon as possible” sent a wave of frenzy among hundreds of pilgrims, tourists and residents.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday also announced the cancellation of the upcoming annual Budha Amarnath yatra, citing threats posed by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists to the pilgrimage. The 10-day yatra in Poonch district of Jammu region, organised by the VHP, was scheduled to begin on August 6.
“In view of the emerging security situation following the recovery of a US-made sniper rifle and landmines along the Amarnath yatra track in Kashmir, we have decided to cancel the yatra to Budha Amarnath for the safety of the pilgrims,” said state VHP president Leela Karan Sharma.
On Saturday, the last batch of 363 Amarnath pilgrims were shifted from the Baltal route to Jammu even as the government suspended the Machail Mata Yatra in Kishtwar and stopped devotees at Udhampur.
Meanwhile, Indian Air Force’s Lockheed Martin C-130s on Saturday morning reportedly brought in additional troops. News18.com had on Friday reported that an additional 25,000 troops have been called in to the Valley although the Central Reserve Police Force denied such reports.
Then in another unexpected move, the state police withdrew security from a number of shrines, mosques and even some courts.
The deployment has given rise to apprehension about the abrogation of the contentious Article 35A. Justifying their decision to call in 100 additional companies last week, the Home Ministry on Friday had said that deployment of paramilitary forces in the state was based on the security situation there and requirements of rotation.
Gamin India today added one more smartwatch in its Forerunner series called the ‘Forerunner 45’. The built-in GPS running smartwatch comes with features like safety & incident detection, Garmin Coach 2.0, 24/7 Heart Rate monitoring, Body battery and more. The new Garmin Forerunner 45 comes in two color options, Black and Lava Red. The smartwatch costs Rs 19,990 in India. It is currently available on online platforms like Amazon India, Tata Cliq, Myntra, Paytm Malland offline stores across metro cities. Garmin will soon make the availability broader.
“Forerunner 45 is another significant addition to the existing forerunner collection. It is a marquee device when it comes to guiding beginners towards an athletic lifestyle. It aims to compel people to run and track their accomplishments, making running an experience in itself and not just a mere fitness activity. The fact that the device has all the key features such as a built-in GPS, heart monitor, VO2 max, incident detection and at the same time is also extremely user-friendly, distinguishes itself from every other tech product in the market,” said Ali Rizvi, National Sales Manager, Garmin India.