Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
The plan to relieve NSG from VIP security tasks has been in the making since 2012 when NSG commanders foresaw an event where simultaneous terror attacks could be witnessed at one time on multiple centres in the country and the commandos will have to be rushed in different directions.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti, who is also the media advisor to the PDP president, confirmed that her mother is safe.
The statement comes after political leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, claimed they were put under house arrest.
The Army cancelled the event "due to implementation of the Model Code of Conduct".
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
Last month, Dr Farooq Abdullah announced that he would step down as president of the National Conference in December, saying it is time to hand over the mantle to the new generation.
A Russian skier died while six others, including a local guide, were rescued as an avalanche struck the ski slopes of Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister alleged that government employees were 'forcibly mobilised' and ferried to Modi's rally to paint a 'pretty picture that all is well' post 2019, when the Centre abrogated the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the erstwhile state into Union territories.
The L-G will take decisions on police, officers of all-India services such as the IAS and the IPS, and giving sanction for prosecution in various cases.
Security forces tightened their cordon around a forest area in the higher reaches of Doda district on Tuesday evening following an encounter with hiding terrorists, officials said.
The vehicle, a Tavera, was on its way to Jammu from Srinagar and it fell into a 300-foot gorge at the Battery Cheshma area of the district around 1.15 am, they said.
Loud wails rent the air at the Police Lines area in Srinagar as soon as the tricolour-draped coffin of Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani was brought for a wreath laying ceremony.
With two phases of voting already completed, political parties are busy with filing nominations, addressing roadshows and undertaking hectic campaigns for the constituencies that will vote this month.
'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.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
Five army personnel were killed and six injured on Monday when terrorists ambushed their vehicle in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said.
Abdullah said he joined the yatra as he was more concerned about the image of the country.
All parties in Jammu and Kashmir said the assembly election should be held with the parliamentary polls, but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously
Omar urged everyone who came in contact with his father recently to get tested.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah said notifying the rules for the CAA days before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections shows the Bharatiya Janata Party is not confident about winning 400 seats in the ensuing polls.
A boat carrying mostly school children capsized in the Jhelum river on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday, leaving six people dead, officials said.
'There is no link between Article 370 abrogation and a rise in voting percentage.'
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
Police inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani, who was critically injured when he was shot at by a Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist while playing cricket in Srinagar in October, died at AIIMS, New Delhi, on Thursday. He leaves behind his wife, who is expecting their first child.
The area has been cordoned off and a hunt launched to nab the attackers.
Nine people including three women were killed and 33 injured as a bus carrying pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi plunged into a deep gorge after an ambush by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district on Sunday evening, police said, as political leaders cutting across party lines strongly condemn the dastardly attack.
On Friday, January 27, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he had to cancel his walk for the day in Kashmir because police arrangements by the Jammu and Kashmir administration "unfortunately completely collapsed".
Mufti resigned from the post of the chief minister on June 19, 2018 after alliance partner BJP withdrew support to her coalition government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said that there should not be any politics on the Supreme Court ruling and everyone should respect it.
Union minister Raosaheb Danve has caused a flutter by saying if the Bharatiya Janata Party needs victory in the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra in 2024, then it must ensure that All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and sitting MP Imtiaz Jaleel contests the election next year.
The officials said the SSG will be "right-sized" by reducing the number of the elite force to the "bare minimum".
Abdullah had tested positive for coronavirus on March 30 after which he was admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
This is the third such terrorist attack in as many days in Kashmir valley.
Abdullah faced an embarrassing situation at the annual day function of the Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences in Jammu, as an awardee refused to accept an award from him. Not only this, the awardee then used the platform to air the grievances of student community, much to the chagrin of CM.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.