Srinagar Mar 30 PTI A local court here has issued summons to Sunil Mawa who runs a civil society group - Jammu and Kashmir Reconciliation Front - after he allegedly made defamatory remarks against former chief minister of the state Farooq Abdullah and others A complaint was filed by provincial president of the National Conference Nasir Aslam Wani before Chief Judicial Magistrate Farooq Ahmed Bhat alleging that Mawa had given an interview to a web portal in which he had made derogatory remarks against Abdullah his son Omar and the complainant The court after hearing the matter on Wednesday ordered that summons be served to Mawa and posted the matter for April 6 Perused the contents of the complaint along with the statements of the complainant and the identifier accordingly I am satisfied that cognisance in respect of the offence under section 500 IPC defamation has to be taken against the accused Therefore the cognisance in the said offence is taken as such a summons is issued to the accused for his appearance before this court on next date of hearing Let the summons be sent to SHO Police Station Karan Nagar Srinagar for execution upon the accused along with a copy of the complaint the order said Mawa had made personal allegations against the NC leaders and even gone to the extent of their character assassination it is alleged Wanis counsel said that bare perusal of the contents of the excerpted comments it is manifest that the comments made are not only vile reckless unsubstantiated but are also absolutely uncouth and per se defamatory and disparaging and have incorrigibly tarnished and harmed the reputation goodwill and public image of the complainant herein It is averred that the defamatory disparaging and scurrilous comments made with malevolent intent and malicious design to expose the complainant to public hatred contempt and ridicule a fortiori are deleterious enough to harm or injure incorrigibly the reputation of the complainant besides lowering his image before the general public the complaint alleged In support of the claims raised in the complaint the statement of the complainant along with the identifier has been recorded and forms part of the record the court order said PTI SKL RT RT

Srinagar Mar 19 PTI National Conference NC vice president Omar Abdullah on Saturday said forces inimical to peace and brotherhood in Jammu and Kashmir were peddling a false narrative and there was a need to counter it with factsAbdullah made these remarks while addressing party functionaries at Nawa-e-Subha where the newly-appointed NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq assumed officeThe NC last week revamped the party media cell appointing Sadiq political secretary to Abdullah as its chief spokespersonThe party also made some other appointments in its media cell giving key positions to young faces including Imran Nabi Dar who has been appointed as the state spokespersonThey were also felicitated on the occasionOmar asked the asked the partys communications team to continue countering the false narrative being peddled by forces inimical to peace and brotherhood with factsHe said media has assumed immense importance but truth has become the first casualty in this manifest shift in public opinion and perception building techniquesHow much factual information is reported and how much of it is being manufactured is open to question Here what is important is not what people see but what they arent allowed to see Reporting from JK has been at the receiving end of this bias he saidIt is here that our media team has a role to play to put a real picture of what is happening in front of the people It is upon your shoulders to counter the lies being churned out day in and day out he addedIn the present times the NC leader said it is very hard to have an open debate on the issues that people are confrontingDuring our stint in power a number of columns and articles critical of our policies used to surface in local dailies Pens which used to tell us off have become silent these days Hardly ever do we see any column or articles exhibiting contrarian views being carried in local dailies We always took criticism positively but that cannot be said today he saidEven a single critical word is being loathed by the powers that be There is no way a contrarian view can make it to local dailies these days The new media policy has obliquely stifled the press Fear and intimidation have further choked the freedom of press he addedAt this juncture Abdullah said the NCs media team has to come in to fill in the voidOn one hand you have to show a mirror to the government and on the other hand put people of the country in general JK in particular in the picture about the ground realities of JK he said The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said all the ruling dispensation wants is to portray a false reality and cautioned the functionaries that with each passing day the shoddy and bogus propaganda machinery will go into overdrive to polarise the atmosphere in Jammu and KashmirThere is no way they can answer people on unavailability of jobs lack of development and economic backsliding Their face saving theatrics have fallen flat We have to remain vigilant and not allow them to thrive on societal regional and religious fault lines he saidIt is a big challenge before us and I believe our new media team headed by Sadiq will engage with such devious elements at all platforms with facts and reality checks he added PTI SSB RHL

Srinagar Feb 23 PTI National Conference NC vice president Omar Abdullah Wednesday alleged that air passengers to Srinagar were getting shafted by airlines after all the days flights to and from Kashmir were cancelled due to snowfall and people told to rebook at higher pricesHowever airport authorities said the options for refund and rescheduling at no extra cost for all the flights cancelled on Wednesday has been offered by all airlinesThis is how passengers to Srinagar are getting shafted by airlines - all flights got cancelled today people who had paid 30004000 for their seats are told to rebook Suddenly the same flights are being quoted at 1200014000 Day light robbery no government intervenes Abdullah tweetedAll 41 flights to and from the Srinagar airport were cancelled due to bad weather in the wake of heavy snowfallHowever responding to Abdullahs tweet the airport authorities said the options for refund and rescheduling at no extra cost for all the flights cancelled has been offered by all airlinesThe affected passengers may please contact the respective airlines call centre for refund or rescheduling the Srinagar airport said on its official Twitter handle PTI SSB MIJ TIR TIR

Kabul [Afghanistan], January 3 (ANI): The Taliban informed that at least ten thousand COVID-19 cases and 650 deaths were reported in Afghanistan in the past five months.

Kabul [Afghanistan], January 2 (ANI): The Taliban have said that international organisations including the World Bank had promised to support the health sector of Afghanistan but now they have stopped doing so, reported local media.

Srinagar Dec 25 PTI National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the central government should ensure an adequate supply of Covid vaccine booster shots across the country His comments came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers will begin from January 10 in the country Vaccines for children 15-18 age group to start from 3rd Jan 22 frontline workers people aged 60 with co-morbidities will be given a boosterprecautionary dose from 10th Jan The decision comes not a moment too soon vaccine BoosterJab PrecautionaryDose Abdullah wrote on Twitter After the announcement now all that remains is for the government to ensure an adequate supply of the vaccines he said Also a greater choice of vaccines beyond the two already available will go a long way to helping with the booster rollout the NC leader said PTI SSB AQS AQS

Srinagar Dec 19 PTI There is no bigger admission of failure for a civilian administration than to call upon the Army to operate its power supply infrastructure as it means the authorities have accepted a total breakdown of governance NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said on SundayHis remarks came after the Jammu administration sought the services of the police and the Army to operate grid stations in the city Electricity supply was affected in several parts of the region as a strike by power development department employees against privatisation and other issues entered its second dayThe army has been called to operate the power infrastructure in Jammu division of JK There is no bigger admission of failure for a civilian administration than to call upon the army it means a total breakdown of governance has been accepted by the JK government the NC leader wrote on TwitterEarlier the former Jammu Kashmir chief minister had asked the administration to leave privatisation decisions to an elected governmentThe JK administration may be able to claim constitutional authority to privatise the assets of JK but it completely lacks the political authority Decisions of this nature with far reaching consequences should be left to an elected government he said PTI SSB IJT

Srinagar Nov 29 PTI NC leader Omar Abdullah on Monday said people of Jammu and Kashmir are being punished due to the collective failure of the Centre and local administration by withholding the regions statehoodReacting to a statement of BJP leader Ashok Koul the former chief minister said the Centre and the UT administration failed to protect the people and manage the security situationSo the people of JK will be punished by having our statehood withheld because of the collective failure of the Union Government the JK administration They fail to protect people they fail to manage the security situation the rest of us are punished What an idea sir ji Omar tweetedKoul on Monday said Jammu and Kashmirs statehood will be restored when the situation becomes better and the common people are able to move freelyWhen the situation in J-K becomes better when it situation will be normal the selective killings will end and common people will be able to move freely the statehood will then be restored the BJP state general secretary organisation told reporters in north Kashmirs BandiporaPTI MIJ SRY

Jammu Nov 29 PTI Slamming the Congress for its silence National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah on Monday said his party will single-handedly continue its fight for the restoration of Article 370 if the grand old party is not ready to fight this battle JKs future is linked to the special status guaranteed by the Constitution he said adding that the case for restoration of Article 370 is very strong The former chief minister accused the BJP of murdering democracy in the Union Territory after abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 2019 by rendering institutions including newspapers feeble and said it has rendered hollow Indias slogan of being the biggest democracy in the world Our case for restoration of Article 370 before the Supreme Court is very strong We expected support from opposition parties but they are silent Our existence is linked to this article said Abdullah who is currently on a tour of the Chenab valley region while addressing a public meeting at Kishtwar town Earlier Abdullah along with other senior party leaders including general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar paid obeisance at the famous shrines of Hazrat Shah Farid-ud-Din Bagdadi and Hazrat Shah Asrar-ud-Din Wali and prayed for lasting peace and prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir Referring to the reported remarks of senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad that it is meaningless to speak about Article 370 Abdullah said Im disappointed by his statement as he is a senior leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir If Article 370 is our heritage it is also your partys legacy more than ours It was first prime minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru of the Congress who brought Article 370 and today Congressmen are not willing to safeguard their legacy So how can one expect it to save the people he said The NC leader said the Congressmen have taken a decision before the court which is yet to start hearing the petitions filed before it against the abrogation of Article 370 If they are not ready to fight this battle no issue we will single-handedly take it to its logical conclusion We will fight because this fight is linked to the future of the people of JK its jobs and land which is the first priority of the locals he said adding that their fight is based on justice and for restoration of the honour and dignity which was snatched from them unconstitutionally The former chief minister said he is not comfortable with the word Union Territory and alleged that the people were told lies and misled by false promises and slogans when the erstwhile state was downgraded We were told that Article 370 was an obstacle for industrialisation generation of employment opportunities for our youth and the main reason for poverty and its removal would pave the way for development and new projects it stands exposed today he said and questioned the claims that Article 370 was hollow asking then what was the need for its abrogation Accusing the BJP of murdering democracy in Jammu and Kashmir on a daily basis he said media persons are being pressurised and are not allowed to write truth in the valley If they write something they are called to police stations and booked immediately If the government gets angry they stop advertisements in newspapers He said newspapers are even being forced to remove old articles from archives so that a new history is written Likewise democratic institutions are being violated Abdullah said referring to the no confidence motion moved against a chairperson of the district development council in Budgam district of central Kashmir He claimed that the motion has been pending for the past four months as the DDC chairperson is a blue-eyed boy of the government this is no democracy the NC leader said adding that in a democracy people are allowed to speak freely criticise the government and speak the truth He said attempts are being made to break the NC which is not ready to compromise paddle falsehood betray people raise false slogans and do politics on the basis of religion and region Conspiracies were being hatched against the the party since its inception but they witnessed a spurt after August 2019 The party leadership was detained on immaterial charges for months and their only aim was to break the NC Abdullah said adding these attempts are still continuing Asking people what change they have witnessed on the ground since August 2019 he said If you report any improvement Ill stay silent and Ill not come again to seek votes for my party Keep religion caste creed and regional politics aside and ask yourselves if there has been any improvement in our lives If the answer is negative we have to set the accounts straight at the time of voting he said cautioning locals to remain vigilant against polarisation attempts ahead of the polls Abdullah said he was not in Kishtwar to seek votes as the election bugle was yet to be sounded We need to remain cautious of the powers which are sowing seeds of hatred with the announcement of polls to divide people for political gains He said power projects started by his government in 2009-2015 in Kishtwar are yet to be completed We do not have oil gas or gold mines but God has bestowed the region with beauty and rivers which we tried to exploit for the betterment of people when there will be change in the government we will refocus on it and will never snatch anyones rights he said PTI TAS AB AAR

Jammu Nov 28 PTI National Conference NC vice president Omar Abdullah claimed on Sunday that there is no accountability in the Jammu and Kashmir administration which was reflected when senior civil officers were made to wait for hours outside a police station in Rajouri districtThe Rajouri deputy commissioner along with two additional district magistrates had to wait outside the Rajouri police station for a long time on Saturday evening after policemen reportedly locked the main door from inside and opened it only when the additional superintendent of police reached thereThere is no accountability in the administration where the powerful gets everything Nobody is ready to listen to the public and they are also busy fighting each other The officers are behaving like kings without the crown the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said addressing a public rally in Doda districtHe referred to the Rajouri incident and said senior civil officers including the deputy commissioner were forced to wait for over two hours outside the police station on the pretext that they had not given prior information of their visit reflecting the tussle within the systemThis has happened to the deputy commissioner and one can easily guess the fate of ordinary people like you and me the NC leader saidThe situation has turned worse post the August 2019 developments and anyone speaking the truth is booked under stringent laws he said and referred to a 50-year-old political activist from Ganderbal who was booked under the Public Safety Act for allegedly saying that he had no expectations from officers who are from outside Jammu and KashmirIn a clarification issued on the Rajouri incident police said the deputy commissioner intended to visit the police station to review the functioning of the anti-human trafficking unit and to enquire about the welfare of policemenHowever on reaching the police station the gate was found closed from inside Since the district SSP was on leave and the DIG was out of station he called up Additional SP Vivek Shekhar In-Charge SSP Rajouri and brought the matter to his notice Since the Additional SP was in the field it took around 20-25 minutes to reach and the DC had to wait till his arrival the police saidThereafter the officers visited the police station The Deputy Commissioner was also accompanied by two Additional District Magistrates The DC instructed the ADMs and the Additional SP to make rounds of the premises and take best possible measures for the welfare of the jawans and further asked for carrying out some repairs in the police station the police saidThey said the DC lauded the role of the police in counter-terror operations and the continuous efforts to track militants that have recently infiltrated into Jammu and KashmirHe also lauded the role of the Additional SP Headquarters for his people-friendly approach and professionalism the police said PTI TAS RC