Jammu Mar 25 PTI The Geographical Indication GI tag provided by the government to the famed hand-knotted Kashmiri carpets has given a new lease of life to the trade in the Valley The GI tag certifies the genuineness of these carpets with information of the manufacturer weaver district and raw material mentioned on them a government spokesperson said Kashmiri carpet has always been a brand big enough to be sold anywhere in the world but some people were selling Iranian and machine-made carpets in its name Now buyers can distinguish between hand and machine-made carpets an artisan from Gadekhoud villageknown for carpet weaving said Several artisans said that the GI tag will fetch better returns on their products and will certainly encourage the younger generation to learn carpet weaving and preserve the art On February 11 Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had introduced QR-code for handmade Kashmiri carpets thus giving the customers a platform to verify the authenticity of the carpet besides other requisite details The carpets from Jammu and Kashmir are being exported to at least 25 countries In 2020-21 carpets worthRs 115 crore were exported to Germany while Rs 34 crore worth rugs were sent to the US Rs 36 crore to the UAE and Rs 22 crore to the Netherlands the spokesperson said The Jammu and Kashmir administration is also working on launching a mega carpet village he said PTI AB CJ CJ

Jammu Mar 25 PTI Ten explosive devices and a pistol were seized from Jammu and Kashmirs Kishtwar district on Friday officials saidOn specific information police along with the army launched a cordon and search operation in the general area of Tillar forest of Marwah they saidDuring the operation the team busted a hideout and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition including one pistol with eight rounds a Chinese grenade three UBGL grenades three RPG rounds three explosive sticks one IED remote and one pressure cooker they saidAccordingly a FIR was registered at the Marwah police station under relevant sections of the law PTI AB AB AB ANB ANB

Jammu Mar 25 PTI Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday termed the Rs 112 lakh crore annual budget as futuristic one and said that the union territory has got almost two-fold increase in the budget compared to that of erstwhile state of JK few years ago He said that a growth-oriented budget is aimed at ensuring developments of all sectors with focus on economic growth and fulfill the aspiration of the people The picture is clear The budget has almost doubled for this union territory as compared to Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh when it was not a union territory a few years ago This needs to be understood Sinha told reporters here Sinha elaborated his point by quoting the budgetary figures of the past few years In 2015-16 we had a budget of Rs 51670 crores followed by Rs 61480 crores in 2016-17 Rs 69728 crores in 2017-18 when Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh was a state In 2019-2020 the budget was Rs 88911 crores followed by Rs 101428 crores in 2020-21 and Rs 108621 crores in 2021-22 This year it has gone up to Rs 112950 crores he said Thanking the union government for increasing budget support the LG said that the aim is to ensure overall development in all the sectors and journey of continued peace and progress This budget will fulfill the aspiration of 115 crores people of Jammu and Kashmir It is a futuristic and growth-oriented budget he said The LG spelt out various components of the budgets and said that out of Rs 41335 crores of capital expenditure 61 per cent of this amount will be spent on social and infrastructure sectors and Rs 8085 crores will be spent on rural development The immediate goal is to accelerate the peace economic development in the union territory and make it multi-dimensional he said Sinha said that the budget reflects the needs and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and commitment of the UT administration for peace progress and prosperity The LG said that GDP for the year 2022-23 has been projected at Rs 203716 crores which shows a growth of 75 per cent Sinha highlighted the main focal areas of the budget on horticulture and tourism will be the main thrust areas He said that tourism has been the backbone of JKs economy and we will once again ensure that the tourism sector reaches the same height where it was a few decades ago The worlds highest rail bridge will be ready in the Reasi which will connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari by September this year he added PTI AB MR