Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tried to buy a house on his recent visit to Srinagar.
As the US gets tougher with visas, the prayers of US-bound devotees in India are getting more fervent, and their purse strings looser. Called Visa Hanuman temples (there are half a dozen all over India), some of them ask for a 'fee'.
The eight-phase DDC polls, which began on November 28, is also the first election after Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a Union Territory.
The Congress was fighting the elections in a pre-poll alliance with National Conference and had fielded 32 candidates, mostly in Jammu region, compared to 51 by the regional party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hit the poll campaign trail in support of his party candidates on Saturday by addressing a mega rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, amid tight security arrangements.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
In 2022 Nanaji Dembi pulled down the Hurriyat office board in Srinagar, an act of defiance that grabbed headlines. Despite such nationalistic bravado, the BJP has denied him a ticket for the assembly election.
The Kashmir Valley remained cut off from rest of the country for the third consecutive day on Thursday as the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway was shut for vehicular traffic following snowfall in high altitude areas.
'We called him Sher-e-Kashmir but we realised he was no lion but a pussycat who surrendered.'
Manmohan Singh and Musharraf felt that what they were embarking upon, if successful, could lead to a future of boundless potential for the two countries and for the relationship that was hard to foresee from the prism of the existing situation and the historical position and orthodox ideas on both sides.
The home minister also reviewed the preparations for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage scheduled to begin on June 29.
Iltija said the PDP suffered defeat and could manage only three seats in the valley because there was an "assault" on the party.
Additional sessions judge Chander Jit Singh granted the relief to Rashid, who had moved the court seeking interim bail to campaign in the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections.
Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases from September 18 while Haryana will go to polls in a single phase on October 1, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
Kashmir is currently under the grip of 'Chillai-Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period when a cold wave grips the region
The Congress will make it the main issue when its Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi reaches Jammu and Kashmir early next year.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday inaugurated the valley's first multiplex in Sonawar area of Srinagar, ending the three-decade wait of the movie buffs to watch their favourite stars on the big screen.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the EC was very enthused by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir during the Lok Sabha elections, which showed the eagerness of the people to participate in the democratic process.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi Monday said there is still a 'degree' of standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and both sides need to sit down and firm up a broader understanding on how to calm down the situation.
'We put the seed of BJP's ideology in Jammu, watered it, nurtured it for four decades and when it was time to reap the fruits of those efforts, the fruits are being sold out to the very same people who worked hard to uproot this tree.' 'Shockingly, our own people are letting this happen and nobody from Delhi bothers to even listen to us.'
Kashmiri Pandit businessman Sandeep Mawa, whose salesman was killed here in a militant attack believed to be aimed at him, on Wednesday said he will not leave Kashmir and remain in Srinagar despite opposition from his family.
Pressure is mounting for a resolution to be moved in the assembly when it meets next week for its maiden sitting to demand 'restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A' as committed in the National Conference's election manifesto, reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
'The lack of opportunities here remains the biggest worry.' 'We have seen investment summits, but if you look around, much of it is only on paper and not on the ground.'
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
Bengaluru's Namratha Nandish has trekked to 50 high altitudes lakes in Kashmir in one season to earn the sobriquet of 'Alpine Girl'.
'If the country felt very strongly about the BJP, then why did the country not put money where the mouth is?'
Asserting that Article 370 is a thing of the past, Shah stated that no one can bring it back.
The fresh companies were moved into the valley as part of the strategy of 'enhancing security and visibility' of the forces on the ground following the killings, they said.
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
It is the eighth targeted killing in the Kashmir Valley since May 1 and the third of a non-Muslim government employee.
Recently, the Kedarnath actress went on a trekking trip to Pahalgam, and made the best memories.
Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday accused the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party of taking support from ex-militants for the assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the two parties want to take the Union territory back to its 'trouble-filled days'.
Thousands of labourers, mostly Hindus and some Muslims, from different states arrived at railway stations and bus stands in Jammu and Udhampur after leaving the Valley.
Umar Ganie captures Gulmarg as the town and other higher reaches of the Kashmir Valley receive snow.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Kashmir were a low-key affair on Thursday as the faithful marked the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan by offering the thanksgiving prayers in small congregations at local mosques by observing social distancing in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday praised the Indian Army as one of the most trusted and inspiring organisations in the country, highlighting its significant role in safeguarding borders, combating terrorism and assisting civil administration in times of need.
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