Normal life remains hit in Kashmir for 83rd day
Srinagar: Normal life remained affected in Kashmir for the 83rd consecutive day on Saturday as the main markets were shut and public transport was off the roads, officials said.
Some shops opened for a few hours early in the morning in some areas, including in the commercial hub of Lal Chowk in the city here, but downed their shutters around 11 am, they added.
These shops witnessed a huge rush of customers and the increased number of private vehicles led to traffic snarls at several places in the city centre and the adjoining areas, the officials said.
However, the main markets and other business establishments remained shut across the valley, they added. Autorickshaws and a few inter-district cabs were plying in a few areas of the valley, but other modes of public transport were off the roads, the officials said.
Internet services -- across all platforms -- continued to be snapped across the valley since the night of 4 August -- hours before the Centre announced its decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcate the state into two Union territories.
The internet services were snapped, along with mobile and landline telephone services. While landline services were restored gradually first, postpaid mobile services were restored only last week. Pre-paid services continue to remain barred.
Most of the top-level and second-rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody, while mainstream leaders, including two former chief ministers -- Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- have either been detained or placed under house arrest.
Another former chief minister and the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah, has been arrested under the controversial Public Safety Act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Compromised PM didn't sign trade deal with US, but a bargain for Adani's release: Rahul
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of signing a trade deal with the US only to secure the "release" of billionaire businessman Gautam Adani.
"Compromised PM did not strike a trade deal, but a bargain for Adani's release," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X, after reports that the US has agreed to settle the lawsuit that accused Adani of hiding alleged bribery.
The US government has agreed to settle the lawsuit filed against Adani, who is accused of duping investors by concealing that his company's huge solar energy project in India was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme, according to court filings published Thursday.
Reacting to the reports, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said it was now clear why the PM agreed to the "hopelessly one-sided Indo-US trade deal that was really a steal by the US".
"And it is also clear why he abruptly halted Operation Sindoor on May 10, 2025, acting on President Trump's threats rather than on our national interest. Reportedly, the Trump Administration is about to drop all charges of corruption against Modani," he said on X.
"How much more compromised can the PM get?" Ramesh asked.
In the lawsuit filed in late 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, who is a director at the group's renewable energy unit Adani Green Energy Ltd, of agreeing to pay about USD 265 million in bribes to Indian government officials between approximately 2020 and 2024 to obtain lucrative solar energy supply contracts on terms that expected to yield USD 2 billion of profit over 20 years.
It was alleged in the lawsuit that Adani Group raised USD 2 billion in loans and bonds, including from US firms, on the backs of false and misleading statements related to the firm's anti-bribery practices and policies.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate had denied the allegations.
