Explore Business Standard
Jammu And Kashmir
The security forces on Thursday morning resumed a search operation to track down terrorists hiding in a forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, where one security person suffered a minor injury. The joint action by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J-K Police and other security forces was launched at Kahog village in Billawar on Wednesday evening, leading to an encounter, officials said. The search operation to track down the hiding terrorists has been resumed after a night-long cordon, a senior security official said. The searches are being conducted in the Dhanu Parole-Kamadh nallah area. Additional forces have been called in, along with aerial surveillance, to pin down the terrorists hiding in the dense forest, they said. Despite darkness, thick vegetation and treacherous terrain, the SOG is relentlessly engaging the terrorists. Teams of the CRPF are also participating in the joint operation, Bhim Sen Tuti, IGP, Jammu Zone, said in a post on X. The gunfight broke out
An encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in a remote village in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said. The encounter started at Kahog village of Billawar this evening when security forces launched a search operation following information about presence of two to three terrorists, they said. "SOG Kathua has engaged terrorists in the forest of Kamadh Nullah, Kathua," Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti said in a post on X. According to sources, at around 4 pm, one terrorist was sighted by locals at Kamad Nallah under the Billawar police stattion area. It could be the same terrorist who was spotted this morning at Dhannu Parole, the sources said. The officials said reinforcements have been rushed to the village to neutralize the terrorists.
After a few days of respite, the cold returned to Kashmir as the minimum temperatures dropped in the valley and settled below the freezing point at most places, officials said on Saturday. Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of minus 1.5 degrees Celsius on Friday night, down from the previous night's 0.1 degrees Celsius, they said. The famous ski resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir remained the coldest spot, with the mercury dipping to minus 6.5 degrees Celsius, while the tourist resort of Pahalgam in south Kashmir recorded a low of minus 5.2 degrees Celsius. Qazigund, the gateway town of the valley, saw the mercury settling at minus 2.6 degrees Celsius, Kokernag recorded a low of minus 0.8 degrees Celsius, while Kupwara in north Kashmir registered a minimum of minus 1.6 degrees Celsius. The region is currently in the midst of 'Chilla-e-Kalan', the 40-day period of extreme cold, during which night temperatures often drop several degrees below the freezing point. However, curren
The Army on Thursday recovered a consignment suspected to have been dropped by a drone along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, recovering 70 rounds of ammunition and a suspected improvised explosive device, officials said. According to them, the consignment was dropped early in the morning in an area between Rangar Nallah and the Poonch River in the Chakkan da Bagh belt of Khari village. During inspection, Army personnel found a bag containing 70 rounds of ammunition and a yellow tiffin-box that is suspected to contain about two kilograms of IED, officials said. The Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was called to the spot, and they later defused the IED through a controlled explosion, the officials said. Joint teams of the Indian Army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Special Operations Group have launched a search operation in the area.
Braving sub-zero temperatures, the Army and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police have intensified their vigil in the high altitude areas of Chenab valley district to counter any attempt by terrorists to disrupt New Year celebrations, officials said on Wednesday. A massive counter-terrorist operation has been underway since last week in the upper reaches of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts of Chenab valley, including the snow-bound areas and adjoining Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua districts, besides Rajouri and Poonch districts. According to intelligence assessments, around 30 to 35 Pakistani terrorists are currently active in the forests of the Jammu region, and the operation to flush them out intensified after the recent snowfall in the higher reaches. The security forces are expecting the terrorists to shift to lower areas close to human habitat before the complete closure of the mountain passes. Intelligence inputs suggested terrorist groups active in ..
Jammu and Kashmir's quest for restoration of statehood suffered twin blows during the year in the form of the Pahalgam terror attack and the Delhi car blast. The elected government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made all the right noises in the first six months in office for the restoration of statehood, but the deadly strike by terrorists on tourists on Baisaran meadows of Pahalgam on April 22 put a halt to any immediate talk of Jammu and Kashmir's returning as a state. The terrorists shot dead 26 men -- 25 tourists and a local ponywalla. Survivors alleged that the assailants chose their targets after confirming that they were not Muslims a revelation that sent communal shockwaves to the rest of the country. The attack was denounced widely across the valley. For the first time in 35 years, spontaneous protests were held across the length and breadth of the valley in condemnation. The protestors unequivocally declared: "Not in my name." On May 7, the Indian forces launched
Authorities on Sunday placed several leaders, including PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, under house arrest to prevent them from joining the students' protest against the existing reservation policy in Jammu and Kashmir. Officials said Mehbooba Mufti, her daughter Iltija Mufti, Srinagar MP Ruhullah Mehdi, PDP leader Waheed Para, and former Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattoo have been placed under house arrest. The move came after these leaders expressed solidarity with students who planned to sit on a peaceful protest at Gupkar Road on Sunday and had announced their intention to join the agitation against the delay in rationalising the quota policy, a year after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah formed a committee to address the issue. Reacting to the development, Para said it was unfortunate that the leaders had been placed under house arrest to prevent them from showing solidarity with the protesting students. In a post on X, National Conference
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday laid the foundation stone to build 320 houses completely damaged during flash-floods and landslides in Reasi district. Funded entirely by High-range Rural Development Society (HRDS India) at an estimated cost of Rs 32 crore, the initiative will provide affected families in Reasi with modern, prefabricated 'smart houses' without any burden on the government exchequer. Earlier, the governor had laid the foundation stones for 1,869 houses for families affected due to Pakistani shelling during Operation Sindoor and recent natural calamities in eight districts, including Kishtwar, Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, Ramban, Jammu, Kathua, and Samba. "With the help of HRDS India, our vision is to ensure that no family affected by a natural calamity remains weak and disadvantaged. I see this movement as a new revolution and a new model for the country where needy families are being taken care of without involving government money, Sinha
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday opposed any free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union and the US, saying a similar deal with New Zealand had hurt the apple growers of Kashmir by exposing them to "unfair imports". Expressing concern that apple import duties may be diluted, she said flooding markets with imported apples risks destroying Jammu and Kashmir's horticulture backbone. She called upon Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to take up the issue with the Centre to protect the fruit growers of the Valley. "Deeply concerned that apple import duties may be diluted in FTAs with Europe, the US and Chile, repeating the damage done by the India-New Zealand FTA. A 25 per cent duty cut has already hurt Kashmir's apple growers, exposing them to unfair imports," Mehbooba said in a post on X. The PDP president said that flooding the markets with imports "risks destroying Jammu and Kashmir's horticulture backbone that sustains 15 lakh families". "This is not just about fruit but
Dozens of protesters on Saturday gathered outside Lok Bhavan here and set ablaze an effigy of Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, demanding revocation of the MBBS admission list of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi. Raising slogans such as LG go back, the protest was organised by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, a recently-formed conglomeration of various right-wing organizations. JK BJP's women activists and several trade leaders including president of Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries Arun Gupta also joined the protest. The protest led to the blocking of the main road outside Lok Bhavan, resulting in traffic snarls on adjoining roads and causing hardship to commuters for more than one-and-a-half hours. Police personnel were deployed in strength outside the Lok Bhavan to maintain law and order and regulate traffic, and a tough time to push back protesters who tried to move inside the complex. We will continue our protest till
A panel under the Ministry of Environment has approved the 260-megawatt Dulhasti Stage-II hydropower project on Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, officials said on Saturday. The clearance comes in the backdrop of India suspending the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in April this year. The Expert Appraisal Committee on hydel projects accorded the approval during its 45th meeting earlier this month, paving the way for floating construction tenders for the run-of-the-river project, estimated to cost over Rs 3,200 crore. According to the minutes of the meeting, the panel noted that the water of Chenab basin is shared between India and Pakistan in accordance with provisions of the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, and the project's parameters were planned in accordance with the treaty. "However, the Indus Water Treaty stands suspended effective from April 23, 2025," the panel noted. When the Indus Water Treaty was in force, ...
An NIA special court in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Saturday issued a non-bailable warrant against Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen chief Mohammad Yousuf Shah alias Syed Salah-ud-din, directing the police to arrest him. The Court of Special Judge designated under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act issued the direction after hearing a case registered under various provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and Section 506 of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) -- specific criminal law for Jammu and Kashmir until 2019, analogous to the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court said the investigating officer has collected sufficient evidence which prima facie implicates Shah in various offences under sections 13, 18, 20, and 39 of the UAPA, pertaining to threat to sovereignty, terror conspiracy, and involvement in terrorist activities. The accused has been evading arrest, the court held, thus issuing a non-bailable warrant against Shah and directing the Jammu and
Security forces searched for terrorists in Udhampur on Tuesday, a day after a policeman was killed in a gunfight there, a police officer said. During the encounter on Monday, one terrorist was believed to have been injured, while two policemen suffered minor bullet wounds. "The operation has been resumed in the area to track down the holed-up terrorists. The cordon has been further strengthened," the officer told PTI. A joint team of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of police, along with the army and the CRPF, is on the job with sniffer dogs, the officer said. On Monday, forces got locked in a gunfight with terrorists in Soan village of the Majalta area in Udhampur. The village was raided by the police on a tip-off about the presence of three terrorists, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit. The encounter took place in the besieged village around 6 pm and continued for some time, resulting in injuries to one SOG jawan, Amjad Pathan, so
In a sharp retort, India ripped through Pakistan's "divisive agenda" at the UN Security Council, calling out Islamabad's unique way of respecting the will of its people by jailing a prime minister and giving lifetime immunity to its army chief. India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, delivered a strong response in the Security Council on Monday after Pakistan's Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad raised the issues of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty during an open debate on 'Leadership for Peace'. "Pakistan's unwarranted reference to Jammu and Kashmir in today's open debate attests to its obsessive focus on harming India and its people. A serving non-permanent Security Council Member that chooses to further this obsession in all meetings and platforms of the UN in pursuit of its divisive agenda cannot be expected to fulfil its designated responsibilities and obligations. Let me be clear -- India will counter Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in