Srinagar, Dec 13 (IANS) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday that J&K is set to receive Rs 5.5 billion investment in the tourism sector under an externally funded project.

Omar Abdullah hoped that the investment and collective effort would help J&K establish itself again as India’s leading adventure tourism destination.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister inaugurated Asia’s longest ski drag lift at Kongdori, Gulmarg. This landmark addition will significantly enhance skiing infrastructure and further strengthen Gulmarg’s standing on the international winter sports map.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated the rotating conference hall at Affarwat, Gulmarg. He was accompanied by Advisor Nasir Sogandi, MLA Gulmarg Farooq Shah and MLA Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq.

Later Addressing a gathering of adventure tour operations, who are here to attend 17th annual convention of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) being held from December 17th to December 20th, the Chief Minister said Jammu and Kashmir has immense natural potential and, if properly blended with professional experience and coordinated work, there would be no difficulty in restoring its past position in adventure tourism.

Omar said he had made the point earlier as well that the success of tourism should not be measured by bringing tourists to Kashmir once, but real success would be achieved only when tourists feel motivated to return repeatedly, year after year.

He said the approach of the government and the tourism sector should always be centred on long-term engagement with visitors.

“Our attempt should be that tourists say they will not go anywhere else and will come only to Kashmir to celebrate their vacations. Such a goal could be achieved only if all stakeholders worked together,” he said.

The Chief Minister added that the tourism department and all related agencies must act in coordination to strengthen the sector and improve the overall tourist experience.

“It has been extremely difficult for Jammu and Kashmir, with setbacks and troubling incidents emerging from different places almost every month. At times, it felt as if the region was being repeatedly hit from one side or another,” he added.

Omar said that even the hope of some relief during winter did not fully materialize as the season remained largely dry, which further impacted tourism and those dependent on it for their livelihoods. He asked people to pray for snowfall, but not in such a measure that it becomes unbearable.

Mumbai: Nagpur Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Abu Asim Azmi presented a private bill in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly against those who spread blasphemy and religious hatred. The bill demands action against hate elements and calls for action under MCOCA and UAPA against those who spread religious hatred, in addition to ten years of imprisonment and a bail of Rs 2 lakh so that sectarians do not get bail and such cases of spreading religious hatred are banned. He told the House that there has been an increase in cases of blasphemy in the country and in such a situation, tension arises in the country. Action should be taken against such elements to maintain law and order. This will be possible only when action is taken against such sectarians who promote a hate agenda under the guise of freedom of expression. He said that the Supreme Court had also issued an order for strict action against hate elements and miscreants and has banned inflammatory and hate speech. In such a situation, Maharashtra The bill has been formally introduced in the House to take action against those who spread religious hatred and incite hatred against important people. The draft bill proposes to register a case against communalists under the section of the MCOCA UAPA, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years, so that such elements cannot be granted bail.

Mumbai: Police claims to have busted a petrol theft gang. The accused were arrested for attempting to steal petrol from BPCL company on November 14 at around 3:30 am under the limits of RCF police station in Mumbai. A complaint was registered for attempting to steal fuel from the underground 18-inch Mumbai Manmade Multi-Product pipeline on Mumbai Gadkari Road. Vinod Devchand Pandit was arrested from Chembur on November 17 on the basis of technical investigation and information from an informant. His investigation revealed that the mastermind of this racket, Riaz Ahmed Ayub (59), Salim Mohammad Ali, Vinod Devchand Pandit had hatched a plan to steal fuel. 13 accused including Gopal Narayan, Mohammad Irfan, Vinay Shashikant, Ahmed Khan Juman Khan, Nishan Jagdish, Mustafa Manzoor, Nasir Shaukat, Imtiaz Asif have been arrested. All these accused have been arrested from various areas. Their arrests were made from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas. This operation was carried out by Additional Commissioner Mahesh Patil and DCP Sameer Sheikh on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti.