Srinagar-Leh highway, Mar20 : Border Roads Organisation (BRO) officials are toiling hard to reopen the Leh- Srinagar highway in Kashmir, which remains snow-blocked for six months.

"Leh remains cut-off from Kashmir for six months. We want to open the highway as soon as possible so that Leh and Kashmir could stay connected," said Abdul Rasheed, a BRO worker.

The work which had started on March 9 is expected to be over within a month.

The highway linking Srinagar with Ladakh region, passes through Zojila, one of the highest mountain passes of the world.

New Delhi, Mar 20 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday released the names of candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir.

Advocate Leela Karan Sharma will be BJP’s candidate for the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat while the former State BJP Chief Dr. Nirmal Singh will try his luck from the Udhampur-Doda seat.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers’ Party has announced the name of Professor Bhim Singh as its candidate from the Udhampur parliamentary constituency.

New Delhi, Mar 19 : The Jammu and Kashmir Government on Thursday directed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to hand over their men who were involved in the killing a civilian mistaking him to be a militant.

The government has asked the police to register a case of murder against all those involved in the incident.

Earlier in the day, the CRPF had suspended one Assistant Commandant and three personnel in connection with the incident.

Srinagar, Mar 18: After this year''s directive of the Saudi Arabia Government allowing only those to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina who have valid international passports, scores of pilgrimage aspirants queue outside the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Srinagar to submit application forms for passports for past few days.

Until now special pilgrimage passes used to be issued for the annual pilgrimage and Haj Committees used to invite applications from Muslim devotees and make the final selection through draw of lots.

Jammu, Mar 18: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit Jammu and Kashmir today to review the security situation in the State.

According to official sources, Chidambaram will take stock of the security situation with top police, intelligence and Army officials in Jammu.

The Minister will be briefed about the situation across the border especially reports suggesting of high-scale infiltration from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir during summer.

Srinagar, Mar 15: Renovation work at the centuries old Mosque of Akhund Mulla (also referred as Akhoon Mulla) at Srinagar in Kashmir is underway to restore the old grandeur of the monument.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has taken the responsibility to restore life in the much-neglected heritage.

Akhund Mulla is said to be a mosque within a mosque. The main sanctuary is a separate and detached building, placed within a courtyard surrounding the mosque.

Built in Circa 1049 by Dara Shikoh, son of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to honour his tutor Akhun Mulla Shah, the little mosque is a grey limestone structure, located just below the Makhdum Sahib mosque.