Nineteen candidates saw an extremely close contest in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir where the margin of victory was less than 100.
This is in addition to the four separatists whose security was withdrawn on Sunday.
Australia made the worst possible start to the defence of their Asian Cup crown on Sunday as Graham Arnold's Socceroos were handed a 1-0 defeat by unfancied Jordan.
An Indian-origin mother who beat her son "like a dog" for not being able to memorise passages of the Quran, has been found guilty by a British court of murdering him and setting his body on fire to hide evidence.
On the other hand, quasi-state owned National Bank of Pakistan and privately-owned United Bank Ltd will be running full-banking operations across the border, once licensed by India.
The arrested persons were planning to carry out a grenade attack on a temple at the behest of their Pakistani handler to disturb peace and communal amity in the district.
Officials said both the factions of the Hurriyat are likely to be banned under Section 3(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or the UAPA, under which "if the Central Government is of opinion that any association is, or has become, an unlawful association, it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare such association to be unlawful."
A senior Democratic Nationalist Party leader escaped unhurt while three policemen, including his personal security officer, were killed in a militant attack on his house in Sopore town of north Kashmir, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Tamil actor who made his Malayalam debut with a bang in Pazhassi Raja is currently shooting for his second Malayalam movie.
Curfew continued without any relaxation in Srinagar and other major towns of the Kashmir valley on Thursday where protestors defied curfew and clashed with the police in Sopore town. Meanwhile, Yasir Hamid Sheikh, cousin of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, succumbed to injuries at a private hospital in New Delhi in the wee hours of Thursday, said party spokesman Altaf Khan.
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik and four other party leaders were taken into preventive custody ahead of a public meeting in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Friday, officials said in Srinagar.
Chairman of Hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik were detained on Sunday when they tried to march to Handwara in north Kashmir, where situation was rife after army shot dead a suspected militant.
Even as Pune blast accused Abdul Sammad, who was granted bail by a Mumbai sessions court on June 15, awaits his release from a jail in Mumbai, the Bengaluru police have geared up to question him.
Normal life was on Thursday disrupted in Kashmir Valley due to a strike called by separatist groups to protest against the "proposed plans" to establish Sainik Colony, settlements for migrant Kashmiri Pandits and induction of new industrial policy in the state.
Authorities on Monday lifted restrictions on the movement of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik, who has been under house arrest in Srinagar for the past three months.
The manner in which the probe on 26/11 attacks and Pune blast suspect Abdul Sammad is progressing, gives one the indication that he is being used just as a bait to reach Yaseen Bhatkal -- Sammad's step-brother -- and the prime accused in the Pune blast. Reports Vicky Nanjappa:
Chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Moulvi Omar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Mohammad Yaseen Malik have been put under house arrest to prevent them from leading the Friday demonstrations in the valley.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday evening released chairman of the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik and chairman of moderate faction of Hurriyat Mirwaiz Umer Farooq.They were arrested ahead of their march to Lal Chowk last month. Geelani was taken to a hospital in Srinagar on Monday evening, after he complained of sickness in police custody.
A Hubli court issued warrants to secure the custody of four terror suspects currently lodged in Indore jail for interrogation by the Karnataka Police. The order was passed after after the Corps of Detectives, probing the terror network in Karnataka, sought the warrants to take Mohammed Yaseen, Mohamammed Ansar, Munroz Zama and P A Shadili into its custody for questioning them.
India and Pakistan should make Kashmiris a party in the peace process, which was set in motion five years ago, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front."Kashmir is not a border dispute between India and Pakistan that they will sit together and resolve it and thrust the decision on Kashmiris," JKLF Chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik said. "We appeal to both India and Pakistan to make Kashmiris a party in the peace process aimed at resolving the Kashmir issue," he said.
'DISGUST' -- that's how former army chief and now Minister of State for external affairs V K Singh reacted after attending the Pakistan Day celebrations in the country's high commission in New Delhi on Monday evening.
Yattoo, who hailed from Budgam district of central Kashmir, had a long association with Hizbul Mujahideen and was responsible for keeping alive the prolonged unrest of 2016 following the killing of group's commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces on July 8.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday rejected Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid's request to travel to Jammu and Kashmir by the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus on June 30.
Geelani was to visit the residence of four youths on Thursday to express sympathy and solidarity with them.
The Centre has said that it will hold talks with a cross-section of separatist leaders from the state and is also likely to call other separatist leaders outside Hurriyat, including Shabir Shah.
The leaders returned after a fortnight-long visit to Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir.\n
The Hizbul Mujahideen chief said he could not back their peace moves or any future Kashmir solution unless hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani was taken on board, local media reported.
Singh's meeting with Malik comes a week ahead of his talks with a cross-section of political parties and separatists groups from the state.
Among the first four militants who launched the violent secessionist movement in Kashmir in 1989, separatist leader Yaseen Malik on Thursday left on his first visit to the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir in 17 years.
A magical goal from midfielder Yaser Kasim gave Iraq a crucial 1-0 win over a 10-man Jordan in the Asian Cup on Monday.
Independent candidates have emerged as big winners in Jammu and Kashmir's maiden District Development Council polls, with 49 of them having been declared elected so far from 280 seats, putting them ahead of parties like the Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.
They want to gauge public opinion on the recent Indo-Pakistan peace talks.
Qazi Ahadullah is the second political leader to be released in five days.
Sarfaraz Khan's brilliant all-round showing helped the Indian Under-19 team crush South Africa U-19 by 201 runs in the final to win the Quadrangular Series in Visakhapatnam.
The team also visited Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front headquarters at Maisuma and held a prolonged meeting with chairman Mohammad Yaseen Malik.
According to the order, all security and vehicles provided to the separatists will stand withdrawn by Sunday evening. No security forces or cover will be provided, under any pretext, to them or any other separatists. If they have any other facilities provided by the government, they are to be withdrawn forthwith.
Holders Japan advanced to the Asian Cup semi-finals after beating Jordan 4-3 in a controversial penalty shootout that started at one end and finished at the other.
