Two pilgrims to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in Kashmir died on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 10 in the ongoing annual pilgrimage, official sources said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to take up the Amarnath land issue, the Centre's 'soft' handling of terror and the 'appeasement policy' of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government in Saturday's youth rally in New Delhi, which will be addressed by party leader L K Advani.Announcing the youth rally at Ramlila Grounds in New Delhi, Thaker said, "The people of the country are agitated over the working of the government."
Of these, 64,993 pilgrims paid obeisance at the cave shrine till Tuesday evening, while over 1,500 had darshan on Wednesday morning.
The green panel ordered removal of iron grills in front of the ice stalagmite resembling the 'Shiva Linga' so that devotees could get a better view of it and said there should be no noise pollution near the sacred structure.
Curfew-like restrictions were imposed on Saturday in parts of Kashmir, including Srinagar city, and Amarnath yatra suspended as authorities apprehended protests in the Valley, where tension prevailed following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani by security forces.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath in south Kashmir started Friday amid tight security and despite the rains along the route this morning.
Vehicular movement was badly affected on the busy Vikas Marg, Akshardham, Deepali Chowk, Wazirpur, Moolchand and the Delhi-Jaipur Highway. Carrying VHP flags, slogan-shouting supporters of the Sangh Parivar started assembling at various intersections at about 0900 hours for their two-hour nationwide road blockade stir.
The board said the yatra would continue between June 21 and July 5 from the Baltal route and not the Pahalgam one due to heavy snowfall in that region.
Lala Amarnath was the first Test captain of independent India in 1948.\n\n
The Amarnath yatra was suspended on Saturday due to closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in the wake of a landslide triggered by heavy rains in Udhampur district of the state.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is least excited at the selection of Duncan Fletcher as thr coach of Team India and said someone like Mohinder Amarnath would have been a better choice.
Demanding deployment of army in Kashmir to bring back normalcy, Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangrash Samiti, which had spearheaded the land agitation in Jammu last year, on Friday gave a call for a Jammu bandh on Saturday to protest the alleged attempts to disrupt the pilgrimage.
The yatra was suspended for three hours as explosives experts removed the IED and then checked the entire area all over again, official sources said.
India, led by a young Kapil Dev, shocked the cricketing world as they upset the mighty West Indies in the final to win their first World Cup.
The ongoing Amarnath yatra was suspended from Jammu on Saturday due to inclement weather and to control heavy rush of devotees thronging the 13,500 feet cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
The Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS) on Thursday asked the local Congress leaders to have the demand for restoration of land to Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) conceded by the UPA government or else resign from the party and join the agitation.
Militants have blown up a bridge on the route to the holy shrine of Amarnath.
All 10 members of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board sent in their resignations to Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra on Wednesday.
Sheikh Salim Gafur has been selected for the honour as he displayed some rare grit and bravery and continued to drive the bus of the Amarnath pilgrims, which came under attack by the terrorists on July 10, 2017, in Jammu and Kashmir, a home ministry official said.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday chose former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath as the recipient of the C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award. Amarnath scored 4,378 runs from 69 Test matches, in a Test career that stretched from 1969 to 1988. He also played 85 One-Day Internationals, in which he scored 1,924 runs.
The annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine of Amarnath will begin on June 28 this year and it will be spread over 55 days. The yatra schedule was announced after a meeting of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board chaired by SASB Chairman and Governor N N Vohra.
A meeting of senior police and civil officers under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner, Jammu, Pawan Kotwal was held on Friday to review the yatra arrangements.
As former selector Mohinder Amarnath and other former players launched an offensive against Mahendra Singh Dhoni by questioning his place in the Test side, the Indian captain was calmness personified on the eve of the fourth and final Test in Nagpur.
A massive manhunt has been launched for the four terrorists
The first batch comprising 1,160 Amarnath yatris was on Friday flagged off by the state tourism minister from Jammu base camp to the holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas.
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
Voicing concern over nearly 100 deaths in the course of the Amarnath Yatra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded extension of the pilgrimage period and proper medical facilities and accommodation for the pilgrims.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday said there was no increased threat perception to this year's Amarnath yatra compared to previous years and fears of attack as reported in the media were "gross exaggeration".
The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Wednesday under a tight security cover, with the first batch of 1,272 pilgrims leaving the Jammu base camp for the cave shrine, located at an altitude of 3,338-metres.A cavalcade of 53 vehicles carrying the devotees under tight security was flagged off by Tourism and Culture Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora from the Amarnath base camp at Bagwatinagar Yatri Niwas at approximately 5 am. Security is being provided by the Central Reserve Police Force
Almost 3,000 Border Security Force personnel have been airlifted to Kashmir from New Delhi to guard devotees embarking on the Amarnath yatra, that commences from July 1, and protecting the route.
Sixty-year-old Nirmala Tripathi, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, died of cardiac arrest at the 3,880 metre high cave shrine after paying obeisance to the naturally formed ice-shivlingam on Thursday night, the officials said.
The crisis over the start date of the Amarnath Yatra deepened with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad showing no signs of relenting and a top VHP leader on Tuesday stating that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti will lead a contingent of devotees to the cave shrine on June 3. The board has left sadhus all across India angry by disobeying him, he added.
The Amarnath yatra resumed on Friday, after it remained suspended for the last three days due to inclement weather, with a batch of 1,860 pilgrims leaving from Jammu for their onward journey to the cave shrine in south Kashmir.
Restrictions have been imposed in five police station areas of Srinagar, a police official said.
'England were going great guns when Kapil threw the ball to Jimmy and then to me.'
'He was a cricketer who come once in a lifetime...'
Tension gripped the north Kashmir Baltel base camp of the annual Amarnath yatra following clashes between security forces and locals on Thursday evening.
Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS) on Wednesday announced the launch of civil disobedience movement in Jammu region.
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