Amid the coronavirus scare, Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju inaugurated the Khelo India's first Winter Games chapter in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg town on Saturday. This comes amid calls from Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu seeking cancellation of the event.
A moderate earthquake rattled Jammu and Kashmir early on Friday morning. So far authorities say there has been no report of any loss of life and property.
Indian and Pakistan troops exchanged heavy fire in the Nowgam sector of the Line of Control in north Kashmir Baramulla district on Wednesday after two paramilitary border security force troopers were injured in sniper fire from across the LoC.
Srinagar is under a massive security blanket for the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's poll rally on Monday afternoon.
A militant was gunned down while a soldier got injured in fierce gun battles that broke out between militants and security forces in Uri sector near LoC and in Baramulla district of north Kashmir on Wednesday.
The properties of Bashir Ahmad Pir, a resident of the Babarpora area of Kralpora in the north Kashmir district, was attached by the agency as part of the action against the militants operating from Pakistan, they said.
Curfew was imposed on Friday morning in seven police station areas of Srinagar district as a precautionary measure, a police official said.
'It is a matter of concern. The number of forces on a 'naka' point is less and is normally in a remote area where they (terrorists) conceal themselves by coming along with civilians and then fire on the forces. We have faced losses and they have managed to flee a few times, but, we will soon find a response to this tactic and end this problem'
Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Yousuf Kantroo, one of the longest surviving terrorists in the Kashmir Valley, was among three terrorists killed in Baramulla district on Thursday.
On Friday, an attempt by the banned terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed to carry out a suicide attack ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's visit was foiled after two suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed in Jammu in an encounter in which a Central Industrial Security Force officer also died.
The guidelines come after director general of police RR Swain said that posting any content on social media that promotes disharmony will be a criminal offence in Jammu and Kashmir.
"Last time I stood, I was not allowed to speak. The ruling party paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP," she said, referring to her suspension in the last session.
Intense clashes between stone-pelting youth and security forces also rocked Jamia Masjid and adjoining areas in Srinagar shortly after Friday prayers.
Two persons were injured when security forces allegedly opened fire to chase away a stone-pelting mob in Baramulla district of north Kashmir on Tuesday morning. A group of people defied the curfew at Khanpora, 50 kms from Srinagar, and indulged in heavy stone-pelting on the police and paramilitary forces, official sources said. They said the security forces initially used teargas shells and batons to disperse the protestors but after they refused to disperse.
This time army killed 1 terrorists along the Line of Control in Gurez sector.
In a major breakthrough, security forces on Thursday gunned down 5 hardcore militants of Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen in a fierce gunbattle in Shopian district of south Kashmir.
In Srinagar city, prohibitory orders have been imposed in areas falling under 13 police stations of Nowhatta, Khanyar, Maharajgunj, Rainawari, Safakadal, Soura, Lalbazar, Nigeen and Noorbagh in old city and Batmaloo, Maisuma, Kralkhud and Shaheedgunj in uptown, police said.
Normal life remained crippled due to curfew and the shutdown call by separatists groups.
The situation in most parts of Kashmir Valley returned to normal after a week of curfew and violence, barring Anantnag town where police lobbed tear gas shells to quell stone-pelting protestors.
36 Union ministers will visit different districts in both the divisions of the Union Territory starting from January 18 to January 24 and the home ministry is coordinating it, the sources said.
Independence Day functions across Jammu and Kashmir went off peacefully on Friday even though curfew-like-restrictions were imposed in the old city areas of Srinagar.
After remaining disrupted for 11 days, Railways today partially resumed train services in Kashmir Valley following restoration of tracks damaged by flood waters.
A BSF jawan was killed on Thursday when Pakistani troops opened sniper fire at Indian forward post along the Line of Control in Baramulla of North Kashmir.
The killing of a Rajput driver by a terrorist has generated a sense of fear and uncertainty among members of the tiny community in Kakran village in Kulgam district who have stayed on in Kashmir Valley despite decades of militancy but are now considering leaving for a safer place.
'Zahida Amin and her group of village women have gained a better understanding of India.'
During routine checking at Chenad crossing in Baramulla, a joint team of officials from the police and the Army intercepted a truck with two persons on board.
Curfew was imposed on Tuesday night in 10 police station areas of KashmirValley as a precautionary measure with the authorities apprehending law and order problem following the killing of a youth in firing allegedly by security forces in Baramulla district.
With this death, the toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir has gone up to 69.
Political parties held protests against the ban on April 7 as well as Wednesday.
In the wake of the fresh militant attacks on Panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir, around 20 panches and sarpanches of the Baramulla district on Sunday tendered their resignations here citing "threats to their lives".
Normal life remained paralysed for the 37th consecutive day due to curfew, restrictions and separatist sponsored strike.
In the stone-pelting, SSP Doda, one SHO, one sub-inspector and two other police personnel were injured.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday undertook a train journey through the 11-km long tunnel under the Pir Panjal mountain ranges along with school children most of whom travelled by rail for the first time.
Normal life has been paralysed due to curfew-like restrictions and separatists-sponsored strike since Saturday.
Officials said the government has made necessary arrangements for opening of 190 primary schools in Srinagar city as security forces remained deployed in most of the Valley.
They have been deployed to foil suspicious activities at the border in Punjab.
Eid festivities were on Monday marred in Kashmir Valley as clashes broke out between protesting youths and police soon after the congregational prayers concluded in Anantnag and Sopore, said the police. Clashes broke out in Anantnag, 50 km from Srinagar, when the police tried to prevent a large group of teenage boys from taking out a protest rally after the congregational Eid-ul-Adha prayers, they said.
If the air pollution is not brought under control, tourism to Kashmir will be affected, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), who has been visiting the valley for 50 years.
Curfew was on Friday extended to several areas of Kashmir to foil a planned march by separatists to Eidgah in old city area as normal life continued to remain paralysed for the 49th consecutive day in the Valley in the wake of violence following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani last month.
As captain of the women's cricket team in Baramulla's Government Women's College, Insha is one of the young women setting trends in this suburban town in north Kashmir and in the Valley.
