J&K

29 June 2021; MEMO: India has mobilised 50,000 additional troops to LAC with China, the world’s second biggest economy, despite several rounds of talks between the two countries to diffuse the current tensions. India now has about 200,000 troops focused on the border.

The move comes after a period of calm following a fighting last year that saw India lose control over about 300 square kilometers of land the LAC, and 20 of its soldiers.

Jammu, Jun 28 (PTI) A fresh attempt to attack a military installation with the help of drones was foiled by alert Army sentries at the Ratnuchak-Kaluchak station who fired at the unmanned aerial vehicles that flew away, an incident that came hours after an IAF station saw the first terror attack using quadcopters.

The first drone was spotted at around 11.45 pm on Sunday followed by another at 2.40 am over the military station, which was witness to a terror attack in 2002 in which 31 people were killed, including 10 children.

Srinagar, Jun 26 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz on Saturday said the abrogation of Article 370, which accorded special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was a big mistake by the Centre.

"While the Home Minister Shri Amit Shah is free to say what he said recently on our internal autonomy as enshrined by Article 370 of the Constitution of India, the fact remains that the abrogation of the said Article unilaterally is a very big mistake on the part of the Union of India," Soz said in a statement.

Jammu, Jun 27 (PTI) Two explosions, within a gap of five minutes, rocked the high security technical area of Jammu airport in the early hours of Sunday, officials said.

The first blast, which took place around 1.45 am, ripped off the roof of a building at the technical area of the airport manned by the Air Force. The second one was on the ground

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Srinagar, Jun 21 (PTI) In the wake of the Covid pandemic, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has decided that the annual Amarnath Yatra will be kept symbolic, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Monday.

He also directed officials to make arrangements so that devotees can virtually attend the morning and evening aartis' at the Himalayan cave shrine.

This will allow them to pay obeisance while avoiding travel and exposure to the infection, the lieutenant governor (L-G) said .

Banihal, Jun 21 (PTI) Five makeshift shops were gutted in a blaze on Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Seri in Ramban district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, police said.

Fire broke out in one of the roadside tin-roofed shops around 5 am due to short circuit, Station House Officer (SHO) Ramban, Pardeep Sharma said.

He said police and fire service teams rushed to the spot and put off the fire well in time.

Bhaderwah/Jammu, Jun 21 (PTI) A seven-year-old girl was allegedly abducted and raped by a man in a remote village in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday.

Sohan Singh (35) has been arrested and booked under section 363 (abduction) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Superintendent of Police, Bhaderwah, Abdul Qayoom said.

He said the incident took place at Kundi-Chiralla village of Thathri on Saturday night during a marriage function there.

Srinagar, Jun 20 (PTI) PDP leader Naeem Akhtar was Sunday released from house detention after over a month, officials said here.

This comes amid hectic political consultations in Jammu and Kashmir within mainstream regional parties, including the PDP and National Conference (NC), over an all-party meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 24.

"Akhtar has been released from house detention," an official said.

Srinagar, Jun 19 (PTI) PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday welcomed the release of her uncle and senior party leader Sartaj Madni from a six-month-long preventive detention and said it is high time all political prisoners and other detainees be let go by the Centre.

Srinagar, Jun 18 (PTI) J-K Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha on Friday approved a proposal to recruit 800 sub-inspectors in the Jammu and Kashmir Police, giving a fresh impetus to the recruitment process which had slowed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The selection process will be based on written and physical tests, and a committee will be formed by the Services Selection Board (SSB) in consultation with the government for physical endurance tests, an official spokesperson said here.