Intense cold wave gripped Kashmir, with Kargil becoming the coldest place this winter.
More than 40 food items have been banned at the upcoming Amarnath Yatra and the pilgrims have been advised to achieve physical fitness by walking at least 5 kilometres a day, the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board said in its health advisory issued on Thursday.
Curfew continued in Srinagar city for the second day on Wednesday while it was extended to two towns in Anantnag district following violent clashes between protestors and security forces in these areas.
With floods rendering the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway inoperational for 12 consecutive days on Monday, Valley residents are facing an acute shortage of essential commodities even as people in some areas of north and south Kashmir accused the administration of concentrating only on Srinagar city.
The operation to neutralise the terrorists involved in the encounter that led to the killing of four security forces personnel continued for the second day on Thursday as the police claimed to have "encircled" two Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists in the higher reaches of Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
The annual pilgrimage to the 3,880 metre high holy cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas will resume on Tuesday, they said.
After four days of violence and deaths, Kashmir was today relatively incident-free even as more violence-hit areas were brought under curfew in South Kashmir where 3 youths were killed in alleged CRPF firing.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has approved the project plan for the South Campus of Kashmir University for which over 15 hectares of land has been acquired at Fatehgarh near Anantnag.
The video showed the terrorists enjoying snowfall and brandishing AK 47 assault rifles while treading a snow-clad hillock after heavy snowfall on January 6.
Colonel Yadav often meets the village elders and is seen greeted by an affectionate hug which he calls a jadoo ki jhapi.
Modi began his nearly 45-minute speech by welcoming the people who attended the rally in the Kashmiri language. "This time, the (assembly) election will decide the future of Jammu and Kashmir, which has remained the target of foreign powers since Independence," he told the gathering.
All the victims hailed from Murshidabad district of West Bengal, the police said.
Zoom identified and attacked the terrorists during which the canine received two gunshots.
The fourth phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir ended peacefully on Sunday recording a turnout of 49 per cent, the lowest compared to the earlier three phases.
A police official said the curbs have been imposed to maintain law and order in view of the separatists call for a march to the three districts of Baramulla, Pulwama and Srinagar.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Targeted killings in Srinagar and in South Kashmir have inspired fear among migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh plying their trade in the Kashmir Valley.
As a spate of targeted killings of minorities rock Kashmir, a Kashmiri Pandits' organisation on Friday said some employees from the community, who were provided government jobs under a rehabilitation package in 2010-11, have started moving to Jammu quietly fearing for their life, alleging the administration was unable to provide then a secure environment.
The grenade blast which killed a protester took place at Brakpora village in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.
Villagers have been asked not to come back till the place is cleared.
Curfew is in force in five police station areas of downtown city and Batamaloo and Maisuma areas in uptown, a police official said.
An Army colonel commanding a battalion, a major and a Jammu and Kashmir deputy superintendent of police were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in the higher reaches of Kokorenag area in the valley while one soldier was missing, officials said on Wednesday.
The cold conditions returned in Kashmir division as the night temperature in most places, including Leh, plunged further below the freezing point followed with clear skies and unusual sunny days.
The minimum temperature across the Kashmir Valley and Ladakh Union Territory stayed several degrees below the freezing point, intensifying the cold wave in some areas in the region, an official of the Meteorological Department said. He said Srinagar city recorded the low of minus 6.2 degrees Celsius last night, down from minus 5.8 degree Celsius the previous night.
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
Zoom was two years and one month old Malinois or Belgian shepherd breed who was active in the service for the last eight months, they said.
A junior commissioned officer (JCO) and two militants were killed, while four policemen were injured in an encounter between security forces and ultras in Kralpora area of Kupwara district in Jammu and Kashmir.
There were no reports of anyone getting hurt in these clashes.
With Lone's death, the number of people killed in the unrest in the Valley, which entered the second month on Monday, reached 55, including two police personnel.
Mir's son, Zahoor Ahmed Mir, said his father's security was withdrawn two months ago and all efforts to get it back had fallen on deaf ears.
Among those abducted included brother of a deputy superintendent of police.
Militants shot at and killed a Sarpanch (village headman) in Gulzarpora village of south Kashmir Pulwama district, part of the Anantnag parliamentary constituency which goes to polls on April 24.
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.
With the death of the three JeM terrorists in Anantnag, the number of terrorists killed in two gunfights, which broke out in South Kashmir on Wednesday night, has risen to six.
Security agencies braced for a march called by separatists on Monday.
Curfew from the south Kashmir town was briefly lifted on Saturday morning after remaining in force for 49 days.
Restrictions on assembly of four or more people were in force in rest of the Valley as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order.
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
The police officer said the main aim of the module was to target security forces during the elections and they had even made a failed attempt in Bijbehara area of Anantnag on March 19.
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