Abc/ans

Dr Farooq dismisses demand to curtail Amaranth Yatra's duration
=>Dismissing the demand by separatists to curtail the duration of Amarnath Yatra, National Conference President Farooq Abdullah today said the pilgrimage should continue to be of two months as it was notonly religiously important but also served as a source of livelihood for many.
"The pilgrimage must take place for two months. Not only will people be able to have proper darshan but there are many poor people in the state whose livelihoods depend on the yatra," the former chief minister told reporters here.
"I think any restriction on the Yatra is notwhat I would want, it must go freely for two months," he said.The annual yatra is scheduled to commence on July 2.
At a rally in Tral on May 1, Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani had demanded that the Amarnath Yatra in south Kashmir Himalayas should be restricted to 30 days for "safety" of pilgrims and protection of environment.
On the issue of Kashmiri Pandits' return to the Valley, Abdullah said that any decision taken must not create tension in the minds of the people.
"Whatever has to be done, the Pandits, Muslims, Sikhs who live in Kashmir will have to sit together and arrive at conducive way of doing it in the manner that would not create any more tension," he said.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China, Abdullah said, "China has its own policy...We are trying to develop better relations and now it is upto China."
On being asked if Modi's visit to China would be fruitful, he reiterated that it depends on China.
"Whether it (Modi's visit) will achieve something or not... The success is upto God and Chinese," he said.
Abdullah said he hoped Modi will raise the issue of stapled visa with Chinese authorities. "PM should tell them to pleasegive us a normal visa," he said.
He was referring to stapled visas issued by China for residents of J&K and Arunachal Pradesh.
Abdullah had come here to meet ailing BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta.
This was his first visit to Jammu after an organ transplant surgery in London last year.(PTI)

Ladakh's lifeline'' Srinagar-Leh highway opens
Srinagar: The Srinagar-Leh highway, that links the Ladakh region to the rest of the country, has been opened for vehicular traffic after five months.
Working against the odds in a tough terrain, the Border Roads Organisation was successful in clearing the snow-blocked roads to open the highway.
The BRO is assigned with the task of clearing the snow-bound stretch across the 11,578-foot high Zojila pass, which lies on the lower depression of the Himalayan range, along the 434 kilometre Srinagar-Kargil-Leh Highway.
The highway had earlier been closed for traffic after the Zojila pass had experienced heavy snowfall and avalanches over the past five months.

AFSPA not Applicable to Us: DG CRPF
=>The CRPF revealed on Thursday that AFSPA is not applicable to it and that it cannot comment over whether it should continue to be scraped from Jammu and Kashmir.
“AFSPA is not applicable to us. So, I wouldnot like to comment on this,” Director General CRPF Prakash Mishra told reporters here, adding that he is giving a proposal to the Jammu and Kashmir government for special recruitment of youth here.
“We are happy that Kashmiri youth are taking part in it (army recruitment rallies). Chief Minister is also keen that more youths should join the forces,” the DG CRPF said.
Commenting over the recent killing of two of its personnel in Islamabad district,the DG maintained that CRPF is working on changing the strategy of deployment and patrolling in order to curb the incidents of weapon-snatching by militants.
“Strategy will be changed to stop weaponsnatching incidents. Do not want militantsto take away our weapons or that we suffer any damages in these incidents. We are working on that,” Mishra said.
He maintained that it is very difficult to rule out such incidents and that the CRPF is changing the road opening drill so that it would be able to do its job and its personnel also remain safe. He added that apart from that, CRPF is working with the state police to tackle militancy.
He, however, he was quick to add that such incidents cannot be stopped immediately and that it will take time.

Lady dies in a flash flood in Anantnag
=>A woman lost her life after she was swept away in flash flood in Kokernag area of Anantnag district.
A 38-years old lady Haseena Begum wife of Nazir Ahmad Dar resident of Cheri Larnoo died after being washed away in flash floods caused by heavy rains and hail storm in Larnoo area of Kokernag.The body was later retrieved and handed over to her relatives for last rites.