Jammu & Kashmir

Srinagar, Mar 12: Amid growing criticism over imposition of property tax in Jammu & Kashmir, the administration of the Union Territory has sought feedback from the general public over the proposed tax.

In a notice , a copy of which is in possession of news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), the Housing & Urban Development has sought suggestions/ comments from the general public over imposition of property tax in Jammu & Kashmir.

“Any suggestions/ comments in this regard are welcome and may be sent to the Housing & Urban Development Department at the email address housingudd9@gmail.com within 10 days ,” reads the notice lying with KNO

The notice states that UT of Jammu & Kashmir is levying property tax on residential houses/apartments, commercial establishments, within the municipal areas from April 01, 2023 in terms of two notifications issued by the H&UDD on Feb 21.

On February 21, 2023, J&K’s Housing and Urban Development Department issued two separate notifications for levying, assessment and collection of property tax in the urban areas of Jammu and Kashmir, where 27% of the UT’s population resides as per the 2011 census figures.

The Jammu & Kashmir Property Tax (Municipal Corporation) Rules, 2023 and the Jammu & Kashmir (Other Municipalities) Rules, 2023, notified by the government, define the procedure for collection of property tax within the limits of municipal corporations, committees and councils in the UT.

As per these rules, property tax is to be 5% of the taxable annual value (TAV) on residential properties and 6% of the taxable annual value on commercial properties.

The rules faced widespread criticism, with political parties including National Conference, Congress, Peoples Conference, and Peoples Democratic Party assailing the move. Even the State BJP distanced itself from the move—(KNO)

War against drug continues in Baramulla District

Police under the supervision of Sh Altaf Ahmad-JKPS Offg. SDPO Kreeri assisted by Inspr. Irfan Ahmad, SHO PS Chandoosa arrested 2 Drug Peddlers including female namely Haroon Rashid Bhat S/O Ab Rashid R/O Pachar & Naza Begum W/O Ab Majeed Sofi R/O Shumlaran among them the lady is notorious drug peddler involved in selling contraband drugs to the youth of the area.

During their personal search 70 grams of contraband Charas like substance was recovered from them and were taken into custody immediately.

Cases under NDPS Act registered in Police Station Chandoosa and investigations set in motion.

General People of the area hailed the efforts of Baramulla Police and showed their willingness to support police to eradicate menace of drugs from the society which is the real sign of Police Public relationship.

Srinagar, Mar 12: In a gruesome and shocking incident, a man has killed a 30-year-old woman by chopping off her head and slicing her body into pieces in Mohanpora area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district, police said here on Sunday.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) the man later dumped the body parts at different spots in his neighbourhood to conceal the crime.

He said that police have recovered all body parts from different spots yesterday after the man admitted to have committed the crime.

A similar murder was reported in Delhi last year when a man killed her girlfriend and chopped her body into pieces. He later stored them in a fridge before dumping the parts one by one in a nearby forest area.

The official said that the incident came to light after brother of the woman, a resident of Soibug area of Budgam had filed a missing complaint on March 8.

“Tanveer Ahmad Khan, brother of the woman had stated that his sister aged 30 years left for coaching classes on March 07 but didn’t return home. In this regard, a missing report was filed and investigation was taken up,” he said.

He said during investigation police rounded up several suspects including Shabir Ahmad Wani son Abdul Aziz Wani of Mohandpora Budgam.

“After sustained interrogation, Shabir confessed to have murdered the missing girl. To hide his crime, the culprit had cut the body into pieces and buried the parts at different locations,” he said.

The official said on his disclosure, the parts have been recovered and medico-legal formalities are underway.

He said further investigation into the case is going on—(KNO)

Srinagar, Mar 11: Patwaris have deferred their UT-wide pen-down strike for a month, after discussions with the government.

The logjam between the government and patwaris on Saturday witnessed a breakthrough as the All J&K Patwar Association (AJKPA) announced to defer their strike for a month.

Addressing a press conference, AJKPA president Abdul Majeed Malla, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that after a series of “online and offline” meetings with the administration, they have given a month’s time to the government to fulfill their “demands”.

“A series of deliberations were held with the administration on our demands where we both placed our positions. The government asked for three months, but we gave a month’s time to resolve our genuine demands,” he said.

Malla said they have not permanently called off their strike but only deferred it by a month. “We have proved that 100 percent of primary members were supportive of the strike and that they should not be tested again otherwise they will be forced to go back to the strike,” he said.

The AJKPA president further said, “The government has declared all our demands as genuine and also shared minutes of meeting with us. They have asked for the time to solve our demands within a stipulated time.”

Following a charter of demands, the patwaris’ association earlier stated that they have been fighting for their “legitimate demands” for the last ten years. On March 1, 2023, they called for an indefinite strike and refused to resume their duties till their “demands” were not met—(KNO)

Waris Fayaz

Kupwara, Mar 11 : Deputy commissioner Kupwara Dr Diofode Sagar Dattary on Saturday suspended the executive officer MC Handwara, who was holding the additional charge of MC Kupwara.

Additional deputy commissioner Kupwara has been asked to conduct a thorough probe into the matter and submit the report within 15 days positively, an official order said.

The copy which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that Farooq Ahmed executive officer Municipal Council Handwara has been suspended with immediate effect for dereliction of his duties. “Farooq, as per the order, failed to provide necessary public services, besides mismanagement and lack of administrative acumen”.

Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir on his recent visit to Kupwara district observed serious issues of maintaining sanitary conditions, lifting of garbage in Handwara and Kupwara townships, while as time and again, the EO was already directed about the same however, the officer failed to act, it added.

The order also stated that the executive officer failed to act over the irregular building permissions in Handwara town, which are still on a rise. Besides, there is total executive action, coordination amongst various staff and stakeholders in the MC Handwara.

Meanwhile, the additional deputy commissioner, Kupwara has been asked to conduct a thorough inquiry into the matter and furnish his report to DC’s office within 15 days positively.

The order furthermore stated that, Imran Ahmed, Tehsildar Machil shall hold the charge of chief executive officer, Municipal Council Kupwara while Shahbaz Ahmed, Tehsildar Handwara as executive officer, Municipal Council Handwara in addition to their own duties—(KNO)

Srinagar, Mar 11 : As the Tulip garden is set to be thrown open for public on March 19, the government is expecting a record break visitors this year at the garden, saying that 16 lakh flowers with 68 tulip varieties will be in a full bloom to mesmerize the people.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Director Floriculture, Farooq Ahmad Rather said that Asia’s largest Tulip garden will be thrown open for the general public on March 19.

He said that a total of 16 lakh flowers with 68 varieties of Tulips including mascaras, daffodils and others will be in full bloom from March 19 and they are expecting a record break visitor this season. “Keeping in view the number of visitors last year, this year, we are again expecting a record break of visitors,” he said.

“The improvement is being done every year, and this year apart from tulips, we are taking care of facilities available at the garden. Rain shelter, washrooms, water ATMs and other things have been made available,” he said, adding that the garden is being improved constantly.

“Tulip garden in Srinagar is a garden of international standard. In 2015, Canada based Tulip society declared Tulip garden Srinagar as second best garden across the globe,” he said.

Apart from the facilities, the online facilities have also been made available for the people. “We have observed that the rush of people remains high on Saturdays and Sundays, which lead to congestion. We appeal to people to plan their trip on other days of the week too so that the issue of congestion is addressed,” he said.

He added that the Floriculture Department welcomes people to visit the garden as belongs to them only, but they should not come along plastic bags and other trash, which affects the ambiance of the garden—(KNO)

BARAMULLA, MARCH 11: An awareness camp regarding Army Recruitment Rally, 2023 was today held at Dak Bungalow Baramulla, here.

The event was presided over by Deputy Commissioner (DC) BaramullaDr Sehrish Asgar. The event was aimed to provide detailed information about the Agniveer recruitment process.

The event was attended by Army Recruiting Officer, Srinagar Colonel G Suresh, District Information Officer Jahangir Akhoon, Tehsildar Headquarter Baramulla Syed Bashrat Hussain and Chief Education officer Baramulla Balbir Singh Raina, officials from Army and prospective candidates and school students.

Speaking on the occasion, the DC said that the aim of organising the camp is to aware the aspirants of the district about the benefits of recruitment in the Army and the procedure to apply.

On the occasion, Colonel G Suresh briefed the attendees on the recruitment procedure, which began on February 16 and will end on March 15. He said the first step is for the aspirants to register online and the registered candidates will have to undergo Computer-based CEE (Common Entrance Examination), which will commence on April 17. Qualified candidates will then have to participate in recruitment rallies and medical tests.

Sharing details of the improvised process, the Colonel said the website has been linked with DigiLocker so that candidates can easily access their documents. Further, a 50% subsidy in registration fees is being provided so that aspirants will only have to pay Rs 250.

Underlining the reduction time in recruitment, he informed the aspirants that a written exam will precede the medical and physical fitness tests.

Srinagar, Mar 10 : Reacting to a series of news reports by the news agency KNO on seat reservation for ladies and senior citizens, regional transport authorities in Kashmir on Friday said women should seek their rights and that the office will take action after receiving complaints.

Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Kashmir, Syed Shahnawaz Bukhari told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the department will enforce seat reservations for ladies.

“Written information about reserved seats for ladies or senior citizens is on display in buses, but the women do not seek their rights. They should invoke their legitimate right by asking a male occupant to vacate the seat reserved for a lady,” he said.

In a response to a question on the department’s role in ensuring the reservation of seats to ladies or senior citizens, he said they are going to act if there are complaints. “There is a government order and there are a set of instructions on it. If there are violations and complaints are received, we will act accordingly with whatever enforcement is needed,” he added.

Speaking about the late-night bus service in Srinagar, Bukhari said although there is a bit of shortage; as of now they have roped in the bus fleet of JKRTC who are operating from Srinagar during late hours.

“We need to understand that there is not so much flow of people during late night hours; had it been so there was no reason for the bus operators not to run their buses,” the RTO Kashmir said.

KNO carried a series of news items on the issue where women complained that the seats reserved for them in public transport are generally occupied by men—(KNO)

Baramulla, March 10: The Deputy Commissioner Baramulla, Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar today convened a meeting of concerned officers in her office chamber to discuss the possession of land , other related matters regarding construction of National Highway Four Lanning under Package A1 and AB from Narbal Pattan and Tappar Sangrama.

During the meeting, a threadbare discussion was held wherein Deputy Commissioner asserted that the project is of strategic importance and stressed upon the concerned officers to redouble their efforts so that the project is completed in a time bound manner.

Discussing various issues related to the project, the Deputy Commissioner directed the officers of Revenue Department to handover the possessed land in first instance to Beacon Authorities so that the work is assigned to them and accordingly the other formalities are carried out including disbursement of funds for land acquisition.

Dr Sehrish Asgar also directed R&B Department to make auction within 10 days duration for chopping down of trees falling under A1 and AB package besides directed Divisional Forest Officer to make a detailed Project Report for planting more trees so that the deficiency of trees is made up and beautification of the road and afforestation is not compromised.

The DC also passed on spot directions to resolve the issues hindering the project.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Sopore, Tariq Ahmad Reshi, Assistant Commissioner Revenue Baramulla, Peerzada Mumtaz Ahmad, Sub Divisional Megistrate Pattan, Syed Faheem, SDM Gulmarg, OC BEACON besides all concerned functionaries of Revenue, R&B and Social Forestry Departments were present in the meeting.

Earlier, the Deputy Commissioner chaired a meeting with Revenue officers to discuss the change of Land use in the district.

On the occasion, threadbare discussion was held with regard to the process of change in land use from agricultural to non-agricultural activities in the district.

While taking a comprehensive review, DC enquired about the status of NOCs being issued in favour of applicants and applications received till date besides their reporting and follow up status by the concerned departments.

Dr Sehrish Asgar directed the concerned line departments to ensure timely issuance of NOCs to the applicants after proper verification of documents and rules under land conversion.

Srinagar, Mar 10 : Fire broke out on Friday evening in the forest area of Meebagh in upper reaches of Brein, Nishat.

Officials told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the fire broke out this evening in Meebagh forest area.

They said that the forest team has reached the spot and the efforts are on to do use the flames—(KNO)