In his brief address, the external affairs minister said India's friendship with Afghanistan is "strong and unshaken" and that no part of the country is untouched by New Delhi's development programmes.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said he would discuss the issue of providing security to panchayat members at the next meeting of the Unified Headquarters to ensure their safety and smooth functioning.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is working on changes in the laws relating to rape to make these more stringent.
The Congress hit out at the BJP, demanding the immediate arrest of those who have defamed India at the international level instead of enacting a "drama of action".
Former Union minister Farooq Abdullah on Thursday said India will not be able to keep Kashmir if the forces who see Muslims of the country with suspicion and pit the minority community against the majority are not reined in.
'Aggravated fears about the fate of Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution have reopened old wounds and laid bare the widening emotional distance between Srinagar and New Delhi,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
A total of 123 candidates, including seven ministers of Congress-National Conference coalition, eight former ministers and legislators are in fray for the Jammu and Kashmir's first phase of elections scheduled later this month.
The chain of events set off by 'August 9, 1953' has swept away many illusions, demolished quite a few landmarks and woven an altogether new tapestry of the Centre-state relationship, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
The separatist groups had called for a march to Lal Chowk to protest civilian deaths during the unrest.
Clarifying her stand on alleged custodial death of a ruling National Conference activist, opposition Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said that her party was not demanding the dismissal of the state government on the issue, but only stepping down of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his junior home minister Nasir Aslam Wani to enable a fair investigation.
While Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he would present his case before the judicial inquiry ordered by the state government into mysterious death of Syed Mohammad Yousuf, a National Conference worker last week, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti is unwilling to buy his theory.
Only three per cent of women candidates have been allotted tickets in Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls.
The Jammu and Kashmir government has rubbished allegations by the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party about the death of a worker of the ruling National Conference allegedly in police custody. PDP has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani so that the "judicial probe can proceed impartially'.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed will continue in the council of ministers, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday, a day after he divested him of education portfolio in the wake of examination scandal involving his step-son.
>All old signposts have been uprooted and milestones bulldozed. New ones have yet to emerge. The old order stands degraded in the new landscape whose contours are indistinct, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The suspension of four National Conference members had prompted the opposition leaders to boycott the ongoing session of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
An anti-corruption court on Tuesday rejected the plea of the family of the ruling National Conference activist Sayeed Mohammad Yusuf, who allegedly died in police custody on September 30, for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe.
Reeling under strict restrictions with no access to communication since August 5 when the Centre announced its decision to end Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two union territories, the people in the Valley have been facing a hair-raising challenge of finding a hairdresser to have their unkempt beards trimmed and unruly locks chopped.
Raja Ijaz, inspector general crime of Jammu and Kashmir police, has denied comments attributed to him by Syed Talib about his father Syed Mohammad Yousuf, who died under mysterious circumstances after a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
The chargesheet, filed by the State Investigation Agency, has highlighted several instances where parents were taken across the border using valid travel documents but were later compelled to pay extra money for their wards' admission to universities and colleges there.
The report published in the gazettes of India appeared in local newspapers on Monday and showed that Habba Kadal seat in Kashmir division and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu province had been restored.
With political stalemate continuing in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference's working president Omar Abdullah on Monday held a meeting with top party leaders where it was decided that it will have no tie-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party but was ready to support the Peoples Democratic Party in the government-formation.
Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.
One of the most wanted terrorist, Mudasir Pandit, and a Pakistani ultra were among the three terrorist killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in the Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said.
A man of perseverance and great survivor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had an astute political sense honed by decades of experience in Kashmir politics that has stood him in good stead in crafting a delicate alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party to return as chief minister for the second time.
India strongly condemned the terror attack, saying targeting of a religious place in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak reflects the "diabolical mindset" of the perpetrators and their backers.
Protests broke out in some states on Friday, including Delhi's Jama Masjid and stone-petling at policemen in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj and Saharanpur, over the controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad by two now-suspended Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries with demonstrators in Jharkhand injuring a few policemen while authorities in Jammu imposed a curfew in few areas and parts of Kashmir observed a shutdown.
The outgoing Lok Sabha had 23 Muslim MPs, the most being from Congress and TMC. The highest number of Muslim MPs were in 1980 when as many as 49 MPs from the community which constitute nearly fifth of Indian population present in the Lok Sabha.
Afghanistan caused a major upset in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup when it defeated three-time champion and last edition runner-up Australia by 36 runs at Abu Dhabi Oval 2 on Monday.
The Peoples Democratic Party on Wednesday virtually turned down the offer of support from its arch rival National Conference for government formation, dimming the prospects of an early resolution to the political stalemate resulting from the hung verdict in last month's assembly polls.
The efforts to forge unity among the various Kashmiri separatist groups received a jolt after hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani rejected the unity move of the moderate, All Parties Hurriyat Conference on Wednesday.
The fourth phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir ended peacefully on Sunday recording a turnout of 49 per cent, the lowest compared to the earlier three phases.
Two government school teachers, including a woman, were shot dead by terrorists in Eidgah area of Srinagar amid increasing attacks on civilians in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India will continue to extend all support to the Afghanistan as a contiguous neighbour, in a clear reference that the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir belongs to India.
If Mehbooba is 'allowed' to survive unchecked she could transform her campaign into a sentiment typically suited to the ground conditions in Kashmir, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
When he was chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was able to blunt inter-regional and inter-communal tensions which Farooq and Omar Abdullah could not do. Whether he can repeat it with the BJP by his side would have to be seen, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
With the Islamic State and Pakistani flags being repeatedly displayed in Kashmir, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah on Friday said it was an expression of "anger" and "frustration" by the youth who want to "wake up the nation".
With uncertainty looming large over the continuance of Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said his party is ready to consider a tie-up with the saffron party for government formation if such an offer is received.
