Deadlock over government formation in J&K seems to have ended with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday calling on PM Narendra Modi, a meeting which she described as "very positive" and "good" in addressing issues pertaining to the people of the state.
Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad during his retirement speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in few Urdu couplets and a brief speech.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
The Union home ministry has sought a report from Jammu and Kashmir government on circumstances leading to release from jail of hardline separatist leader Masarat Alam, who has over 15 cases pending against him.
"Time has come when people should also take upon themselves the responsibility of using their influence on militants to make them renounce violence," the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.
The chief minister sought assistance in power generation, development of railways and roads infrastructure and employment generation in his meetings with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his deputy Lal Kishenchand Advani.\n\n\n\n\n\n
"There are differences in the (PDP-BJP) coalition, no body can deny that. If you need evidence, just look at chief minister's iftaar party in Delhi yesterday where no Central BJP leader was present," said Omar Abdullah
"This is [an] unpardonable crime by militants to derail the peace process initiated in Jammu and Kashmir by the coalition\n\ngovernment," the chief minister said.
The PDP said the party will take a call on government formation in the state as and when it is confident that it can fulfill the vision and mission of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed met Reserve Bank of India Governor Bimal Jalan on Tuesday and discussed the issue of reviving nationalised banking operations in the state.\n\n\n\n
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also reminded the prime minister of the promise made during his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort this year of holding talks with to resolve the Kashmir issue.
The impression in the valley that Kashmir is not only 'expendable' for buttressing New Delhi's partisan interests, but also a preferred choice to do so, is getting strengthened, feels veteran Kashmir commentator Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Concerned over the series of attacks on mobile phone towers in the valley, the Centre also issued an advisory to the state government.
The Delhi Police, who have come under attack after the arrest of 'militant' Sayeed Liyaqat Shah, on Monday released a sketch of Shah's aide.
Four persons, accused of planning and executing the bomb blast in a BEST bus on December 2, have been remanded to police custody till January 17.
Lashkar founder Mohammad Sayeed and 26/11 attacks accused Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi must be neutralised one by one if Pakistan does not act against them, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
People's Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed on Monday called India a "banana republic" over Afzal Guru's family not being allowed to meet the Parliament attack convict before he was hanged, a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said this was a "tragedy".
Working in perfect coordination, the Delhi police, the National Investigation Agency and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad have managed to crack the Pune blasts case. They have also busted a major module of the Indian Mujahideen and arrested three suspects -- Asad from Aurangabad, Imran Khan from Nanded and Sayeed from Pune. Four kg of explosives, eight detonators and nine volt batteries were found to be in possession of the arrested accused.
PM Modi said the Centre was not consulted by the Jammu and Kashmir government.
The attack on an Indian Army patrol in January, in which one soldier was beheaded, was carried out by Special Services Group of Pakistan Army, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
Rashid was at the Press Club in Delhi on Monday afternoon, when three men set upon him and threw black ink on him.
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.
Amid the raging controversy over release of a Kashmiri separatist leader, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday asserted that his government's top priority was national security and not the continuance of the government in the state where the Bharatiya Janata Party is an alliance partner.
Major portfolios like home, finance and education were on Tuesday allocated to People's Democratic Party ministers by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed who will himself hold the charge of home ministry.
One year after his death, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's legacy stands crucially poised, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Ram Madhav on Friday said his party was holding consultations with all important stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir for providing a stable government.
There has been a decline in incidents of stone pelting, but it must stop altogether, he said.
'Sinha's skills at resolving contradictions will be required to smoothen the functioning of the bureaucracy which has been so fractious that it tripped up even a seasoned bureaucrat like his immediate predecessor, G C Murmu,' notes avid Devadas.
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.
Deploring the incidents witnessed in Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Congress on Monday came out in support of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is under Opposition attack following the controversy over the custodial death of a ruling National Conference worker.
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'.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Kavinder Gupta was elected unanimously as Speaker of the 12th Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress party and National Conference, the erstwhile ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, are likley to "stay away" from tomorrow's swearing-in ceremony.
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday appealed President Pratibha Patil to use 'the mercy option in favor of Parliament attack convict, Afzal Guru in view of the political and humanitarian situation prevailing in the state'.
Mufti said that whatever decision the PM takes, the country will support him.
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.
In the backdrop of the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam, Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Ram Madhav met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and called for a better coordination between the alliance partners
She indicated that she was not looking for any financial package but the confidence building measures sought by her should focus on political aspect of the problem.
