However, the usual rush of the devotees was missing due to the recent targeted killings in the valley.
Motorcycle-borne terrorists fired upon the BSF jawans at a picket in Pandach area, 17 km from Srinagar in the outskirts of the city, the officials said. The area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched to nab the attackers, the officials added.
Ganderbal district recorded the highest of 56.40 per cent polling in the Valley, while Poonch district of Jammu region polled the highest of 71.62 per cent votes across J-K.
Describing the order as a "matter most urgent", the director asked the oil marketing companies to make adequate stocks of LPG which can last up to two months both at bottling plants as well as godowns.
The DDC election is being seen as a triangular contest among the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, the BJP and the Apni Party floated by former finance minister Altaf Bukhari.
A cop also lost his life in the encounter which took place at Najibhat crossing in Kreeri area in the north Kashmir district.
Fresh snowfall disrupted normal life in Jammu and Kashmir, where an avalanche warning was issued in five districts, higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh and the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand on Monday.
The national capital, parts of which reeled under heatwave conditions for the past few days, had some relief on Wednesday with strong winds and partly cloudy skies witnessed during the day.
Australian spin legend Shane Warne praised the bowling skills of the boy - identified as Ahmad, a resident of Ganderbal district in central Kashmir.
As winter arrives, parts of Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are blanketed by snow.
Poonch district of Jammu region recorded the highest turnout at 75.42 per cent. Ganderbal district recorded the highest polling in Kashmir valley at 56.28 per cent.
He said 100 youths joined terrorism in J-K this year, which is also the lowest in many years.
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Adil Parray, who was involved in the recent killings of two police personnel, was killed in a 'chance' encounter with a 'small team' of police in Srinagar on Sunday, taking the number of ultras killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 24 hours to five.
The incident occurred ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas for which security has been tightened.
High-speed mobile internet services had been restored in two districts -- Ganderbal in Kashmir region and Udhampur in Jammu region -- in August last year.
The upper reaches of Kashmir valley witnessed the first snowfall of the season. The weather department has predicted bad weather for a few days. Snowfall at hill stations like Gulmarg and Pahalgam also brings the hope of revival of tourism in the area which has been severely hit for most of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The armed forces can undertake infrastructure development even in ecologically fragile areas which are declared "strategic areas" by the government.
Minimum temperatures have plummeted below the freezing point across the Kashmir Valley, but pilgrims from all over India can be seen taking a dip at Shadipora located at the confluence of the Jhelum river and Sindh stream in the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir these days.
Scores of individuals and groups including from many political parties, and Panchayati Raj Institutions members, met the commission.
It has met 20 such delegations and members of the public from Ramban, Rajouri, Poonch, Kishtwar, Kathua and Doda districts.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region
'We do not want Kashmiri Pandits to migrate from Kashmir.'
Rather than contesting the state elections from Ganderbal, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister will be contesting the state elections from Sonwar and Beerwah, reports Mukhtar Ahmad.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday reached out to displaced Kashmiri Pandits, saying he and his family belong to this community, and promised them all help.
The resumption of 4G Internet services on mobile devices came days after the Centre had informed the Supreme Court that a special committee looking into the matter was considering allowing the facility on a trial basis in two districts of the Union Territory.
Front-line bases of the Indian army and the air force along the nearly 3,500 km de-facto border with China were Wednesday put on high alert in view of the worst border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh that left 20 Army personnel dead, official sources said.
Top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Saddam Padder is also believed to be among the slain terrorists.
The broadband services were restored on Saturday after working journalists protested against the communication 'gag'.
Normal life remained paralysed for the 42nd day in the Valley which has been rocked by violence after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.
'India will always remain indebted for their supreme sacrifice. Entire nation and Modi government stands firmly with their families in this hour of grief. Praying for the speedy recovery of those injured,' he said.
The Border Security Force is deployed along the LoC under the operational command of the Army as part of guarding the front against Pakistan.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Babu Ram and Constable Altaf Hussain Bhat of Jammu and Kashmir Police were on Saturday posthumously conferred with the Ashoka Chakra and the Kirti Chakra awards respectively on the eve of the 75th Independence Day. While the Ashoka Chakra is India's highest peacetime gallantry honour, Kirti Chakra is the second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards.
The roads will reduce the distance to the border considerably and make easier the movement of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, who at present have walk up to 25 kms to reach there, officials said.
The troops detected the movement of terrorists along the LoC
A police spokesperson said two of the four recent cases of target killings in Srinagar and Bandipora have been solved with the elimination of the terrorists involved in these incidents.
'The Indian Army is there to give a second chance to any youth who accepts his mistakes and wants to surrender and come back to the mainstream. We, the uniformed forces, are here to save lives and not to take lives. The system, the entire administration, will facilitate not only their surrender but also ensure that they are well integrated back into the mainstream,' Lt Gen Y K Joshi said.
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.
This is not the first time when she has been assigned such a tough task, earlier also, she had worked as IG, the Bihar sector in CRPF and has dealt with Naxals.
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.
The army said on Thursday that the longest surviving militant commander who was gunned down on Wednesday by the security forces in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district was responsible for 30 civilian killings.
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