Opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti has dubbed the ruling National Conference (NC) as a political deadwood and urged the people to weed it out which, she insisted, was in their interest.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah was swamped with pleas seeking financial assistance or waiver of loans at his "Open House" on Wednesday reflecting the harsh impact of the frequent strikes and unrest on the common man during the past one decade in Jammu and Kashmir.

Even as the VHP and some other right-wing Hindu groups have threatened to start this year’s Amarnath yatra on June 15, about a fortnight early than planned by the concerned authorities, it is unlikely that the tracks to the 12,729-foot-high cave shrine will be ready for devotees embarking on the arduous journey through rugged hills of southeast Kashmir.

From tearful requests for funds for marriage of daughters to passionate pleas for financial help for treatment of a cancer afflicted boy, people from Kashmir Valley queued up before daybreak here on Wednesday to meet Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.

The Arab League, an association of 22 Arab countries, looks forward to "peaceful coexistence" in Jammu and Kashmir but has no specific position on the dispute between India and Pakistan, says its ambassador.

An earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale struck Jammu and Kashmir on early Sunday, just 24 hours after a 4.9 quake rocked the state.

"A moderate intensity quake struck Kashmir at 2.37 a.m.on

Failing twice to clear the IAS examination did not deter Ovessa Iqbal from trying again to break into the coveted civil services as she felt it was the only way she could change the lives of people of her state Jammu and Kashmir.

A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale rock the valley on Saturday morning, even as no report of loss of life or property was reported from anywhere so far.

The government, in order to boost cross-LoC trade in Jammu and Kashmir, is working towards making banking facilities available to the traders replacing the existing bartering system.

“Regardless of what the extremist elements of both sides want the world to believe, there is still hope for the Valley and Kashmiriyat,” said chief minister Omar Abdullah in a tweet soon after Aasha Jee became the first Kashmiri pandit woman to be elected a panch from the Muslim-majority Valley on Monday night.