Normal life was disrupted in Kashmir Valley on Friday due to a strike called by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest the encounter killing of seven men by the Army in Kupwara district.
President Droupadi Murmu has approved gallantry awards to 93 armed forces personnel, including two Kirti Chakras and 14 Shaurya Chakras, on the eve of Republic Day. The Kirti Chakras, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award, have been awarded to Major Manjit from 22 Rashtriya Rifles and posthumously to Naik Dilwar Khan, 28 Rashtriya Rifles. The president also approved 305 defense decorations to Armed Forces and other personnel.
The work of reconstruction in the flood-ravaged Kashmir could get delayed by at least 6 months due to the mass exodus of migrant labour force in the wake of the natural calamity that hit the valley causing huge damage to infrastructure -- both public as well as private.
We have seen such scenes from legislatures in South Korea and Europe for instance, but who would have wagered that we would witness such tumult in India, in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, no less, which only convened for legislative business days ago.
Travelling from South India to Kashmir in December was magical for Ganesh Nadar as he feasted his eyes on the beauty of the snow-capped Himalayas.
He also said if security forces, the Union Territory administration and people come together, then terrorism could be eliminated from the region in a year.
Normal life was on Monday disrupted in Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by the Medical Employees Joint Action Forum against the alleged failure of the government to bring to book those involved in the spurious drug scam.
The eastern Ladakh military standoff between India and China began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.
Cold wave conditions continued unabated in Kashmir Valley with minimum temperatures remaining several degrees below the freezing point.
In a related development, protests continued for the second day in north Kashmir's Kangan town, where protesters shutdown markets and blocked the highway leading to the Baltal base camp of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
A round-the-clock curfew was imposed in Kashmir Valley in the wee hours of Sunday to foil the Monday's separatist march to city centre, Lal Chowk. Hours before the imposition of curfew, police swooped on the pro-Independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front headquarters in Maisuma locality near Lal Chowk and detained the outfit's chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
Restrictions on assembly of four or more people were in force in rest of the Valley as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.
'I want to break the notion that models can't act.'
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to arrive in Srinagar on a two-day visit later in the day, official sources said.
Over 63,500 students appeared for the matriculation examination in Kashmir.
A report from Baramulla said a complete shutdown was observed in all major towns in north Kashmir in support of \nthe strike call
Aamina Zehra, a young martial artist from Srinagar, has brought pride to her hometown and country by winning a silver medal at the Pencak Silat World Championship held in Abu Dhabi.
Imran Khan has said that the Indian foreign ministry has cleared his visit to Kashmir Valley next year.
A senior doctor at the Soura medical institute confirmed this after relevant tests were carried out at the state's only tertiary medical facility.
During his visit, Rajnath will review the situation and may hold talks with cross section of people.
A cold wave has gripped many parts of north and east India, with Srinagar recording a minimum temperature of minus 5.3 degrees Celsius. Other areas experiencing below-freezing temperatures include Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Konibal, Qazigund, Kupwara, and Kokernag in Kashmir. Himachal Pradesh has issued an orange warning for severe cold wave conditions in several districts. Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 5.9 degrees Celsius, while Faridkot in Punjab was the coldest in the region at 0 degrees Celsius. Extreme cold conditions also continued in parts of Rajasthan and Jharkhand. The Met office has forecast mainly dry weather until December 26, with the possibility of light snowfall in the higher reaches of Kashmir on the intervening night of December 21-22.
The Congress is fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and has fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party. Additionally, the CPI(M) and the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) have each been allocated one seat while both the Congress and NC had a 'friendly contest' on five seats.
More than 40 per cent of the 908 candidates contesting the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are Independents, leading to claims that a large number of them have been propped up by the Bharatiya Janata Party to divide votes.
The attack, which took place near a heavily guarded complex housing All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra near the Tourist Reception Centre, comes a day after security forces eliminated a top Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Tayiba in the Khanyar locality of downtown Srinagar.
'With all outlets of public expression virtually choked for the last five years, suppressed anger and frustration is looking for an opening via the ballot box.' 'There is no escape from the inevitability of the 'Engineer Rashid' factor surfacing in a big enough way to upset everyone's applecart,' alerts Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
After two men -- who were working Kashmir -- were murdered by terrorists in Shopian district, south Kashmir, the security machinery in the Valley commenced the difficult business of tracking down the killers.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the first elected government in the Union Territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.
Official also said the recent escalation in targeted terrorist violence would not lead to any change in plans for holding the annual Amarnath Yatra which is scheduled from June 30-August 11.
The attack, which claimed the lives of seven individuals, including a local doctor and two labourers from Bihar, has raised concerns about the unreported trend of local youths joining terrorist groups in Kashmir during this period.
A fresh avalanche hit Kashmir Valley on Tuesday, killing an army jawan in Kupwara district; a day after 17 armymen met a similar fate during a winter warfare training exercise.
A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale shook the Kashmir Valley on Thursday but there were no reports of any damage due to it.
Alleging that forces across the border are fomenting trouble in violence-hit Kashmir, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said that "a small percentage" of people in the Valley are holding the majority to ransom.
The cold conditions returned in Kashmir division as the night temperature in most places, including Leh, plunged further below the freezing point followed with clear skies and unusual sunny days.
'In today's political spectrum, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that always says, nation first.'
The BJP's Central Election Committee had met on Sunday evening to finalise the party's candidates for the polls.
Udit Narayan, who recently shot for a music album in Kashmir, says the Valley continues to mesmerise.
Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh, who has spent a major part of his 40 years of service in Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday recalled his days in the Valley saying that he has "shed his blood" there as he was wounded in a terrorist incident there.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances