Women will have a decisive say as chairpersons in seven of Jammu and Kashmir's 20 districts.
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
Army Vice Chief Sarath Chand said that India will continue to give a "befitting reply"
The use of RDX in the explosion was confirmed by experts after samples from the scene were sent for examination. While one of the bombs was laced with 1.5 kg of RDX, the other contained nearly 1 kg of RDX, the officials said.
The BSF troops were carrying out border domination along the IB, when snipers of Pakistan Rangers opened fire on them around 1050 hours in Hiranagar-Samba sector of Kathua district, said a senior BSF officer.
In Jammu region, three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua are in red zone.
What the election demonstrated is that the BJP has a stranglehold on most of the Hindu votes in the Union territory, observes David Devadas.
Shelling and firing by Pakistani troops was "very heavy" in 2018, virtually making the 2003 India-Pakistan border truce "redundant", said officials.
Till August 5 last year, except for parliamentary elections, these refugees were barred from voting in Jammu and Kashmir's assembly, panchayat and urban local body polls.
'The people of Jammu and Kashmir are your own people. Do not use them as cannon fodder in your laboratory.'
The Border Security Force on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with the Pak Rangers over its "unprovoked" cross-border firing which killed one civilian and injured 14 in Jammu and Kashmir over past few days and warned that such acts or any other misadventure will not be tolerated at any cost.
Border dwellers in Bobiya and adjoining hamlets in Hiranagar sector in Kathua district have been experiencing sleepless nights due to the intensified shelling and firing by Pakistan.
Since LeT is involved and the outfit is run from Pakistan, so in a way Pakistan's involvement cannot be ruled out, the police chief told reporters.
Fresh protests against arrests in connection with the Kishtwar communal-strife on Tuesday rocked Jammu, Aknoor, Ramnagar and Samba areas even as curfew was relaxed in several towns of the Jammu region.
The first-ever district development council (DDC) elections will be held in eight phases to elect 280 members in 20 districts from November 28 to December 22.
The brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal girl has polarised the normally peaceful town of Jammu, with the local Bar association calling for a bandh against what it termed the "targeting of minority Dogras" while the state police had lodged a case against lawyers who allegedly tried to prevent it from filing a chargesheet against the accused.
Taking cognisance of the alleged defamatory posts, the high court had directed the CBI to probe the role of prominent persons in the southern state who were intentionally targeting Supreme Court and high court judges.
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.
Pakistani Rangers violated the ceasefire by resorting to firing by small arms on Indian posts along the international border in Jammu district, prompting the Border Security Force to retaliate.
Curfew remained in force on Saturday in violence-hit Kishtwar district, even as protests against Friday's communal clashes there rocked Jammu and adjoining districts, where normal life was disrupted due to a bandh.
Worried over the "increased infiltration" this year in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday said Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed could be training terrorists on the other side of Indo-Pak border for infiltration.
Heavy security arrangements have been put in place, ahead of the twin public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be held on Saturday in Kathua and Rajouri districts.
Hazra, who hails from Murshidabad in West Bengal, has served for about 27 years in the border guarding force. He is survived by a 21-year-old daughter and an 18-year-old son.
'People are very scared. And frightened. There is apprehension of war.' 'We are under the shadow of swords from both sides and in the middle, we get crushed.' As the conflict between India and Pakistan dramatically escalates, villages along the Line of Control fear for their lives.
Ignoring the separatists' call for boycott, residents of Qoimoh block in south Kashmir on Wednesday turned out in numbers to cast votes in the first phase of panchayat elections, which are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 10 years.
In the frontier areas of Jammu district, the number of people staying in the safe camps has also dwindled as the people want to tend to their standing crops.
On the situation in the Kashmir Valley, the army officials highlighted Wednesday evening's incident when a son of a prominent eatery owner was shot and critically wounded by terrorists at his shop in a high-security area of the city.
BSF troops guarding over 180 km of IB with Pakistan have strengthened their observation posts and 'listening posts' to keep a close watch against any intrusion by drones.
The Pakistani army again violated the ceasefire on Tuesday by firing on forward areas along the Line of Control in Poonch district, prompting Indian troops to retaliate.
After a brief lull, Pakistan on Saturday again violated the ceasefire by firing on forward posts along the Line of Control in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing retaliation from India.
Political and communal divide in Jammu and Kashmir has assumed such proportions that even the horrifying rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl is not bringing society together, writes Athar Parvaiz.
Media sources identified the soldiers, who belonged to the 21 Bihar Unit, as Naik Prem Nath Singh, Lance Naik Shambhu Saran Ray, Vyay Kumar Ray, Raghunandan Prasad and Naik Pundalik Mane
The order comes days after the Supreme Court had made harsh observation on the JK administration for snapping Internet services, which the apex court said was a fundamental right of the people.
Curfew was clamped again in Jammu and the army was deployed on Wednesday after violence erupted late on Tuesday night leaving 40 people, including nine policemen, injured.However, the curfew was relaxed for varying periods in Samba, Udhampur and Kishtwar districts.National Security Advisor M K Narayanan today met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and other top officials of the state administration to discuss the present security situation.
The businessman, who travelled to Delhi to attend a Tablighi Jamaat congregation, died on March 26 in a Srinagar hospital, 19 days after he set off for the national capital. He could have infected scores of people during his travels and about 300 people have been put under quarantine because of him, officials said.
After a brief lull, Pakistan on Saturday violated ceasefire twice along International Border and Line of Control in Poonch and Jammu district, drawing strong retaliation from India.
Here's a recap of moments captured in India in the past 48 hours.
Fearing disturbances from across the Indo-Pak border, Jammu and Kashmir government will relocate 125 polling stations along the borderline in Jammu district to safer places to ensure border dwellers vote freely.
The storage of water in the six major reservoirs in the state was just 6.2 per cent of capacity as of April 27, 2017, reports T E Narasimhan and Gireesh Babu.
The state has witnessed a spurt in Pakistani shelling and firing along the IB and the Line of Control. Over 700 such incidents were reported this year, which have left more than 44 people, including 18 security personnel, dead and scores injured.
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