With the launch, RCom became the first private service provider to launch the service in Kashmir Valley.
Sopore -- known as the 'apple town' of Kashmir -- is fast gaining notoriety for becoming a safe haven of terrorists, especially of Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, as it has seen a sudden spurt in violence during the last six weeks.
Barring a clash between protesters and security forces which left one person injured in Sopore, situation in strike-hit Kashmir Valley remained calm though restrictions were imposed in parts of interior city where Hurriyat Conference had planned to hold a meeting.
'From the time we landed to the time we left, we got so much love that I didn't feel like coming home.'
Despite assurances by the Jammu and Kashmir government, over 100 more terror-stricken panches and sarpanches announced their resignations through paid advertisements in the valley.
Security forces gunned down five militants in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Thursday night.
Chidambaram, who arrived in the north Kashmir town of Baramulla from Kargil in Ladakh region, took stock of the situation in Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara -- the three districts along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Valley which witnessed violent protests during the past four months.
The area has been cordoned off and counter-operations are in progress.
The BJP's victory in the Delhi Assembly elections has sparked speculation over who will lead the next government. Several prominent leaders, including Pravesh Verma, Ashish Sood, Pawan Sharma, Vijender Gupta, and Satish Upadhyay, are in the running for the chief minister's post. The party's national leadership is expected to make the final decision, leaving the contenders in a state of anticipation.
Temples across Uttar Pradesh were packed with devotees on Sunday for Ram Navami, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath leading prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple. Heavy crowds were witnessed at temples in Lucknow, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi, where security was heightened. In Gorakhpur, Adityanath performed the traditional kanya pujan ritual, while in Varanasi, a 51-foot statue of Lord Ram has become a major attraction. The festival was celebrated with enthusiastic fervor across the state.
Power supply in the snow-bound Valley has become almost normal with the state electricity department ensuring working of almost all the 19 power stations including those in far flung Lolab and Tangdhar areas of north Kashmir.
Cold wave conditions continued unabated in Kashmir Valley with minimum temperatures remaining several degrees below the freezing point.
A top terrorist commander of the frontline Lashkar-e-Tayiba outfit was among two militants killed in two separate encounters in north Kashmir on Thursday.
After occupying it for over two decades, paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force vacated the Firdous Cinema located in the old city, thereby meeting a long pending demand of the locals.
The nightlong fierce gunfight in north Kashmir Kupwara district ended early on Tuesday morning after the three holed up militants were killed.
Normal life was affected in Kashmir for the third consecutive day on Wednesday because of the curfew in several parts of the valley to prevent deterioration of law and order in the wake of killing of a youth allegedly in army firing in Baramulla.
A 22-year-old civilian was killed allegedly in firing by security forces in a remote village of Baramulla district in north Kashmir, leading to protests in the area, official sources said on Friday night.
'Many of them are mutilated beyond recognition. Every day an encounter takes place.' 'Bastar has been burnt to ash.'
Panic-stricken people rushed out of buildings as the earthquake struck around 10.20 pm and was also felt in Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan.
The terrorists attacked a police station in Handwara area of Kupwara by resorting to firing and also lobbed a grenade, a police officer said.
Leh in Ladakh region recorded the lowest temperature this winter as mercury plummeted to minus 17.1 degree Celsius on Tuesday night, a meteorological department official said.
The NIA will seek their transit remand and bring them to Delhi for further questioning
Priyanka Gandhi made a low-key visit to Kashmir during which she offered prayers at the Mata Kheer Bhawani shrine in Ganderbal district, officials said on Friday.
This comes as the neighbouring country strengthens defence ties with Gulf and Western European countries, and its long-standing ally Turkiye, the officials said.
'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
The killing of a youth, by the army in northern Kashmir's Baramulla district, triggered protests on Saturday, even as the army claimed that the youth had forcibly entered their camp and injured a soldier.The youth, identified as 25-year old Sajad Ahmad Ganai, was asked to stop by a guard manning the main gate of an army camp in north Kashmir's Wattergam village in Baramulla.When the youth did not heed the warning, the sentry opened fire, killing him instantly, sources said.
Three civilians were injured in a powerful explosion in North Kashmir's Kupwara district on Tuesday afternoon.
Two days after a village head was gunned down in north Kashmir's Baramulla district, scare and panic has struck the elected village heads and representatives in the region, forcing many of them to resign.
There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in these clashes.
Five paramilitary, Central Reserve Police Force troopers were injured, two of them critically, in a powerful blast at Sopore in north Kashmir Baramulla district on Sunday morning.
A top militant commander of the Laskar-e-Tayiba was killed in a fierce encounter in North Kashmir's Sopore on Tuesday afternoon.
The incident took place at the shop-cum-residence of BJP leader Wasim Bari, earlier district president of the party, where some motorcycle-borne terrorists attacked the three from a close range with a silencer-fitted revolver, they said.
Two 'foreign' militants were killed in a daylong encounter in Chattergul village of north Kashmir's Ganderbal district on Sunday.
Life in the Kashmir valley was affected on Monday by a protest shutdown against the killing of two youth in firing allegedly by the army on Sunday.
"Tayab alias Abu Talha, the LeT operational commander for Kashmir, was killed in Hanjipora village of north Kashmir Kupwara district on Wednesday," a police spokesman said in Srinagar.
At 4 am, troops roared their war cry! In the long running tradition of the armed forces, soldiers seek the blessings of the Goddess before setting out on their mission -- in war or peace. The Republic Day parade is one such mission.
An unidentified terrorist on Thursday killed in an encounter with security forces in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
In his maiden rally in Kashmir Valley after quitting the Congress last month, he said only a government with a two-thirds majority in Parliament can ensure the restoration of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
