President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil is visiting J&K. She arrived on Thursday and will be in the state till Sunday. In addition to having routine interactions with the elite, the president will preside over the convocation at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), visit Vaishno Devi shrine, Ragunath Temple in Jammu city and inaugurate Spiritual Growth Centre of the Shrine Board.
The president will stay at the Raj Bhawan. Governor N N Vohra will brief the president about the overall security situation on the borders and the hinterland.
PUNE
Azhara Jan, alias Zara, who had performed smaller roles in serial Kasauti Zindagi Ki and film Lamhaa, was detained in a hotel by police last week along with spot boy Neeraj Bhadani. She is accused of being a high profile, expensive call girl. Srinagar resident Zara has lived in Versova, Mumbai, for past few years. For a case registered with the Bundgarden police station, she is currently in judicial custody. Police is investigating her call records to probe who else is in the net.
MUMBAI
J&K’s lone listed company, the J&K Bank, received its AA (ind) rating by the global rating agency Fitch Ratings; suggesting a very low default risk with a stable outlook. The bank, according to Fitch Ratings, has 75 percent share in the state’s lending, 68 percent in deposits, and receives government support, when required. The Bank’s lowest NPA in the industry is one of the major confidence factors for its investors. “JK Bank’s liquidity profile is strong, given the high proportion of retail deposits in its funding mix, which should enable it to limit its refinancing risk,” Fitch said. Meanwhile, the Bank has doubled daily limits on all variants of debit cards and Point of Sale (PoS) machines. Now, deluxe card carriers can withdraw a maximum of Rs 100,000 through their cards and purchase items worth Rs 150,000 a day.
BOULEVARD 
Last time, there was crisis and then politicians intervened and finally it was suggested that Centaur Lake View Hotel will not be sold to Mumbai’s DB Realty; instead, the state government will take over. Now, after several months, it seems it have been a storm in the teacup. The deal stays, according to a response to an RTI application. Owners Hotel Corporation of India has issued no order that could scrap the deal. It also adds that the hotel was supposed to be taken over by the state government, but is pending with the state.
KUPWARA
Many think it is a bit shocking. The Deputy Superintendent for examinations was allegedly caught “forging” answer sheets of some “influential students” in a Kupwara college, where students were taking an exam for BA (I). At Centre No 343, reports said the official was found replacing three answer books with the “forged ones” that were written somewhere outside the centre. The books belonged to private candidates, one of whom did not appear in the examination. It was a whistleblower from outside the centre who alerted his boss well before the packet would go for scrutiny to the University of Kashmir.
GUPKAR
Kashmir’s tech-savvy chief minister Omar Abdullah quickly refuted rumours that Facebook will be banned in Kashmir. The rumours came after people posted controversial videos, including one about Muslims converting to Christianity in Kashmir. “Stop the rumour mongering; government has no intention of banning Facebook. Only a request to block certain blasphemous pages has been made,” Omar tweeted on his Twitter account, which now has more than 79,000 followers. But no one talks about pre-paid SMS that once started the information blockade in Kashmir. Geanz Nus!
