Police on Sunday arrested 12 persons allegedly involved in incidents of molestation and eve-teasing during the first-ever International half-marathon in Kashmir Valley, which witnessed disturbances due to stone-pelting.
'If the envoys are satisfied, it will either mean they are naive or that they are not serious about their trip, which they probably regard as some kind of a picnic, a much-needed break from their dreary routine in Delhi,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
Stressing that terrorism is now a world problem, Mariani said he did not want Kashmir to become a 'second Afghanistan'.
Earlier, a delegation of 23 EU MPs was taken on a two-day visit to assess the situation in the union territory by International Institute for Nonaligned Studies, a Delhi-based think tank.
The team originally comprised 27 parliamentarians, mostly from extreme right or right wing parties, but four did not travel to Kashmir and have reportedly returned to their respective countries, officials said.
The fresh batch of diplomats also includes EU representatives, and their participation assumes significance as the EU Parliament recently initiated to bring a joint draft resolution on the Citizenship Amendment Act and Kashmir, the vote on which was later deferred.
The world famous Dal Lake was completely frozen on Saturday when the night temperature dipped to minus 7.8 degrees Celsius in Srinagar.The plummeting mercury intensified the cold wave conditions in the Valley.
India on Wednesday hit out at Pakistan and the OIC for raising the Kashmir issue at the UN Human Rights Commission and said the grouping has 'helplessly' allowed itself to be held 'hostage' by Islamabad.
The idea of the garden, spread over 30 hectares in the foothills of snow-clad Zabarwan range, was conceived to advance the tourism season in the valley by two months.
People came out of homes in large numbers, offered namaz at mosques, greeted each other with hugs and exchanged food and gifts across the length and breadth of India to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha on Sunday.
The 40-day period marks the harshest phase of the winter in the Kashmir valley.
Leh and Kargil towns in Ladakh region recorded the season's coldest night as the cold wave intensified in Jammu and Kashmir after a slight respite for few days.
Clashes erupted in Srinagar on Sunday between the youth and security forces near the venue of the first-ever international half marathon in Kashmir valley.
The landscape of Kashmir is so beautiful that even if you stand in the middle of a traffic jam and click a picture, chances are, it will have something stunning, says Mridula Dwivedi.
Temperatures across the plains in north India on Tuesday hovered over 43 degrees Celsius at several places with the region getting little relief from the summer sun which continues to beat down with all its intensity.
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"The tourists desirous of undertaking visit to the state shall be provided with all necessary assistance and logistical support," read the order by the state administration.
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There were no curbs during the day in over 90 per cent of the Valley with the situation being eased in 92 police station areas in view of the improving situation.
The garden, nestled in the foothills of the Zabarwan mountain range overlooking the world famous Dal Lake, has 1.7 million tulips this unusually hot and dry spring.
A group of envoys including those from several Europe Union countries and a few Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.
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A senior police officer said the terrorists opened pistol fire at the wine shop located at the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation-owned hotel on the famous boulevard road running along the shores of the Dal Lake.
The minister assured the families that the people would be airlifted as soon as possible.
A British tourist was murdered on Friday night allegedly by a tourist from Holland in a houseboat on Dal Lake were both of them were staying. A senior police officer said that the Dutch tourist David Richard, who tried to flee the valley, was nabbed early on Saturday from Qazigund in south Kashmir, 80 km from Srinagar, on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Tight security cover has been thrown around the capital for Mukherjee's visit, the first to Jammu and Kashmir after he took over as President on July 25 this year.
Houseboat owners in summer capital Srinagar on Monday staged a floating protest in river Jhelum against the government decision disallowing repair of the damaged houseboats parked at the Dal Lake, the Nagin Lake and the Jhelum River. Mukhtar Ahmed reports
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Only 10,059 tourists have visited the state this month compared to around 90,000 in July
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Bengaluru's Namratha Nandish has trekked to 50 high altitudes lakes in Kashmir in one season to earn the sobriquet of 'Alpine Girl'.
Cold wave tightened its grip on Kashmir Valley ahead of the onset of 'Chillai-Kalan' -- the 40-day harshest winter period -- with the summer capital Srinagar and Leh town recording the coldest night of the season.
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