Srinagar, July 20 : Kashmir has a bumper crop of plums this season and farmers hope that the total turnover will be around 500 metric tones.

"Last year it was only 2 to 2.5 thousand tones because of adverse weather conditions and this year the target is 500 metric tones," said M S Qasba, Director, Department of Horticulture.

"This year the crop has been very good because snowfall took place at the right time. The plums are juicy and very sweet this year," said Zahoor Ahmad, a plum dealer.

Kashmir, known for its meadows, pine forests and snow-capped peaks, is popular for its fruits and dry-fruits as well.

Srinagar, India- At least 12 Indian soldiers

The government of India has given nod to set up eight new IITs in the country at a cost of Rs6080 crore. The total numbers of IITs will be 16 in India following this announcement.

The first Indian World Beach Volley Ball tournament, which is to be held at Chennai, had been surrounded by controversies. The issue was that the Indian Women’s team completely refused to wear bikinis, which was the dress code of the tournament.

But now the authorities have relaxed the dress code and made it easy for the Indian Women players by introducing sleeveless t-shirt and short trouser. The team which was about to withdraw earlier will now play in the new introduced dress code.

However, international women teams will stick to the earlier dress code only. Zoe Chater, a French spiker, feels that it doesn’t matter what their attire is. In fact it’s the performance which matters at the end of the day.

It was a proud moment for the women heptathetes JJ Pramila and Sushmita Singha Roy on Friday when they qualified for Olympic Games by winning ‘A’ standard in the National Jumps and Combined events.

New Delhi, July 19 :