The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally in Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in several years but the party and its allies are expected to not only recoup the their losses but also make some gains when by-elections to fill the existing vacancies are held in the coming weeks.
Mehbooba asked Pakistan to take concrete confidence building measures towards reviving the peace and reconciliation process in the region to end the miseries of the people.
It's a different Srinagar from what Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf encountered 24 years ago. Tourists throng the Kashmir Valley post-Article 370, azaadi appears dead, and everyone says one man is responsible for this change, so what if his poster is nowhere to be seen.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
For the last four years since abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir-based political parties have been struggling to forge an alternate narrative to the one forcibly snatched from them. The BJP is bound to go hammer and tongs at them now that their armoury is reinforced with the Supreme Court judgment, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The replies from the governor seek to put to rest a week's uncertainty that had been dogging the valley especially after Centre had rushed 100 companies (10,000 security personnel) to the state.
The 50-share Nifty plunged by 134.75 points or 1.23 per cent to close at 10,862.60 points as 38 of its constituents declined.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who recently parted ways with the Congress, on Monday launched his new party -- the Democratic Azad party (DAP).
The Islamabad Declaration was issued at the conclusion of the 48th session of the foreign minister of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation which was attended by the ministers and delegates from 57 Muslim states and international organisations.
Amaran is effective as a intimate, well researched piece of storytelling but does not try to break any new ground, observes Arjun Menon.
India has been maintaining that China has no locus standi in commenting on Jammu and Kashmir.
Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit on Monday met Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and briefed him about the issues discussed between India and Pakistan during Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's visit to Islamabad.
She also voiced hope that the Centre will initiate an inclusive engagement through an institutionalised mechanism to address the Kashmir issue and the separatists will respond positively to it.
The unrest could have easily been avoided if only both the state and central governments at the highest levels had had the leadership, imagination and sensitivity to gauge the delicate nature of the crisis at hand and taken effective measures to address it.
Who can recommend the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir when no constituent assembly exists there? The Supreme Court on Wednesday put this question to the petitioners who have challenged the abrogation of the constitutional provision that bestowed special status on the erstwhile state.
Indian police arrested seven students in the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region under anti-terror laws for allegedly celebrating Australia's victory over India in the men's Cricket World Cup final earlier this month, police said on Tuesday.
In Jammu region, three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua are in red zone.
Iltija, daughter of the former CM, had filed a habeas corpus (bring the person) petition in the apex court challenging the government's order issued on February 5 for invoking the Public Safety Act provision against Mehbooba Mufti to keep her in detention.
"The Kashmiri people, like people everywhere, deserve their fundamental human rights... They should live free of fear and repression," Malala said.
As of now, Azad couldn't be in the BJP leadership's calculus. The BJP has been trying to drill into the J&K electorate that this time around the UT would most certainly have a Hindu chief minister, explains Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Although the tactical move to outflank the BJP fell through with New Delhi's decisive intervention and eventual dissolution of the state assembly, the PDP, NC and the Congress appeared to be more than satisfied.' 'They see the assembly dissolution as their 'great achievement'.' 'If one were to believe what they say, this was also their main objective,' reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the doyen of Kashmiri commentators.
The restrictions barred civilian traffic from plying on the highway on Wednesdays and Sundays from 4 am to 5 pm till May 31.
The veteran leader was cremated at his native Bhugterian village amid "Bhim Singh amar rahe" slogans.
Addressing a public event in Kolhapur city on Monday evening, Fadnavis pointed out instances wherein women were tricked into inter-faith marriage and subsequently abandoned after they gave birth to children.
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
India also objected to the ambassador holding some meetings there.
Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora, a body representing the community across the world, said the decision cements territorial, political and cultural unity of the Indian Union.
'The government can do many things to improve the situation in Kashmir.'
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
Jammu nad Kashmir chief minister, Omar Abdullah made an emphatic statement on the floor of the state assembly saying that 'the political issue of Jammu and Kashmir was a reality and cannot be changed.'
Gandhi, who met a cross section of people from Jammu and Kashmir during his yatra, said J-K has the highest level of unemployment in the country.
'The Kashmiri identity and its unique blend of Sufi Islam, its culture and language can best survive in a plural and secular India.' 'Neither independence nor merger with Pakistan can achieve that objective.' 'Peace will return to Kashmir only when Kashmiris realise this, else they will be part of the 1,000- year war,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday charged the Jammu and Kashmir government with playing politics on the Kishtwar riots and cautioned that this was another Pakistan design in which separatist forces were involved.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has neither accepted nor rejected the demand but the protest had to be suspended as stopping of salaries is 'choking us financially', protesters affiliated to the All Migrant (Displaced) Employees Association Kashmir (AMEAK) said.
Modi referred to the Lok Sabha polls as a "Kurukshetra (battle)" in which "there is development on one hand and 'vote jihad' on the other".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Gujjar, Bakerwal and Pahari communities in Jammu and Kashmir will get reservation benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Sharma Commission which examined the issue of quota.
'Modi has missed the bus in Kashmir.'
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The 59-year-old Vikram Misri assumed charge of the key position at a time India is looking to navigate various geo-political challenges, including its frosty ties with China following the lingering eastern Ladakh border row and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
