The BJP and those 'friendly' with it, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti said, were afraid of the results and so trying to postpone the election in the constituency.

Aside from the fact that he will take on Sajad Lone, the constituency also has a significant population of Paharis, who the BJP wants to woo.

Mehbooba will be up against other political stalwarts from Jammu and Kashmir, including former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and veteran Gujjar and National Conference leader Mian Altaf, who has won five consecutive times from central Kashmir's Kangan assembly constituency.

The authorities have justified the prohibitory order, citing 'apprehension of breach of peace and public tranquility'.

The government-appointed committee’s report has, however, raised fresh questions about the legality of the contracting process through which 1,200 young aspirants from Jammu and Kashmir were recruited in the police force last year. 

Officials said 234 poplar and willow trees were cut. The plantation, which was an attraction among filmmakers and tourists in the city, has been a part of the original layout that synchronised the entries, pathways and the UNESCO-awarded colonial-era building of the Amar Singh College which was built in 1913, art conservator and historian Saleem Beg said.

Romesh Bhattacharji's latest book 'Kashmir - Travels in Paradise on Earth' is a must-read for travellers yearning for a tranquil few days away from the chaos of ‘civilisation’.

The officer also issued a second order that his “inadvertent remarks” should be “expunged from the records” of the government.

The DPAP president, who was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2022, is the only senior politician from Jammu and Kashmir who has been allowed to retain his ministerial bungalow after the erstwhile state was downgraded into a union territory in 2019.

Kashmir witnessed its worst power crisis in two decades this winter, which has taken a huge toll especially on the poor and the underprivileged, who depend on electricity to cook and keep themselves warm.

With the National Conference declaring that it intends to contest in the three Lok Sabha seats it currently holds in J&K and Ladakh, seat-sharing talks may be a tricky affair.

The shutdown was observed in Leh and Kargil districts, as businesses suspended their daily activities, even in the remote Zanskar and Nubra Valley regions, while public transport largely remained off the roads.

This is for the first time after the reading down of Article 370 that the issue of human rights, a recurrent theme in the five years of Union government’s rule of Jammu and Kashmir, will be taken up at the official level.

Herdsmen involved in the January 2 clash with the PLA have been reportedly ordered by PLA soldiers to keep their livestock away from some parts of Kakjung Valley.

Locals and officials said that the clash took place on January 2 in the Kakjung area of Nyoma village in Chushul Valley, Ladakh, which borders the Tibet region.

The dry spell has led to cancellation of hotel bookings, especially in Gulmarg which used to be thronged by tourists in winter.

The election to Panchayats and other local bodies are unlikely to be held in Jammu and Kashmir anytime soon given that the poll machinery will remain busy with the preparations for holding the Lok Sabha elections in the union territory. 

The court directed the Election Commission of India to conduct assembly polls in J&K by September 30, 2024.

The park, located near Srinagar, lost 8% of its forest cover in 55 years while the ‘exposed rock’ area reduced by 13%. There was an increase in the park’s shrublands and alpine pastures.

The operation was launched following an encounter in Rajouri’s Budhal on November 17, in which a militant was killed.