Jammu, Mar 24 : Displaced Kashmiri Pandits staged a protest in front of the Election Commission office in Jammu, demanding inclusion in the voter''s list.

Kashmiri Pandits, who have migrant''s status in the region, want their names to be included in the voter''s list so that they can exercise their franchise in the upcoming general elections.

Srinagar, Mar 24 : With mustard blossoms in full bloom, farmers in Kashmir are hopeful of bumper mustard crop this year due to timely rain.

Mustard crop is cultivated during winter in an estimated 60 thousand hectares of paddy fields in the Kashmir valley, which according to an estimate is about 40 percent of the total area under paddy.

The crop is sown in September-October after paddy is harvested. As temperatures rise after winter, rapeseed-mustard crop blossoms and is harvested towards the end of May.

Srinagar, Kashmir - Five Muslim militants and four soldiers were killed as fighting between security forces and rebels hiding in dense forests in India-administered Kashmir entered a fifth day on Tuesday, officials said.

Four troopers succumbed to injuries sustained during combat in the Hafrooda forests in northern Kupwara district on Monday, defence spokesman Lieutenant Colonel JS Brar told reporters.

Five militants were also killed in the clashes on Monday raising the number of slain militants to 11.

Srinagar, Mar 23 : Wildlife authorities in Kashmir have initiated a census on the Hangul deer, one of the endangered species, to identify threats to the species and formulate a strategy to save them.

The Hangul is characterized by impressive, spreading antlers of the adult male and its rich brownish red coat. Female Hanguls don''t have horns.

Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir), Mar 22 : Khadim Hussain, a teenager from Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, reportedly missing for the past three years, is now suspected to have been lured by militants to join their outfit.

Khadim had quit school in July 2005 and went missing afterwards.

After a few months his family heard a rumour that Khadim has been forcibly recruited by an unknown militant organisation.

Suleiman Hussain, Khadim's father hopes that his son has taken up some productive vocation and not fallen as a prey to the militants.

Srinagar, Kashmir - Four Indian soldiers including a major and six suspected Muslim militants were killed in clashes in India-administered Kashmir, a defence spokesman said Sunday.

Acting on a tip about the presence of militant groups in the Hafrooda forests in the northern Kupwara district, a team of the army and police launched the operation on Friday evening.

Militants hiding in the forests opened fire resulting in the gunbattles in the area, situated some 80 kilometres north of state capital Srinagar, officials said.