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U Government forces on Monday morning launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) in twin villages of north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
An official said that a joint team of army’s 14 RR unit and the state police launched searches in Suribal locality of Sumlar village.

Another cordon and search operation was launched in Pazalpora village by the forces.
“The CASO was launched by Army’s 31 RR unit and the state police, ” said the official.
He said the searches were launched following inputs about the presence of militants in the area.
Door-to-door searches were on when last reports came.

‘Pakistan’s decision of releasing 20 stamps on Kashmir didn’t help’

London: Kashmir youth are perhaps more alienated today than they have been since the early 1990s, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said.
“The youth of Jammu Kashmir are perhaps more alienated today than they have been since the early 1990s; when educated youngsters and people with secure jobs are joining the ranks of militancy. And that’s a very worrying sign,” said the former chief minister, who was in London to participate in an event organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) around changing the narratives within the India-Pakistan bilateral context.
“At the moment, it is about hoping that some smaller corrective measures can be taken now to reduce the levels of alienation, with a higher degree of engagement once we are through with this election cycle,” he said.
The National Conference (NC) vice president lamented the “vast gap” between the Government of India (GoI) and its representative in Jammu Kashmir, Governor Satya Pal Malik, and the youth of J&K, which needs to be narrowed urgently.
He said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan government must do some soul searching on India’s legitimate concerns to make way for a process of engagement on Kashmir.
Omar said while a one-off summit-based approach was not the answer, any hopes of a proper dialogue on the issue, “insulated from forces that are inimical to a dialogue on both sides of the border”, would have to wait to be realised at the end of India’s general election cycle in May 2019.
“While we are going through our election process, I think Pakistan needs to do a bit of soul searching in terms of addressing legitimate concerns that India has,” he said.
The former chief minister said the Pakistan government’s decisions such as letting Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed “roam free” had proved a setback to the much-needed confidence building measures.
“The recent decision of the Imran Khan government to release 20 stamps on Kashmir does not help, when instead of confidence building measures we have steps that break confidence,” he said on the sidelines of the event in London on Friday.

The release of some 20 postal stamps, glorifying Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani and others, by Pakistan was one of the reasons India cited to call off a proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi in New York in September.
“Pakistan is our neighbour; whatever concerns we have with Pakistan, we have accepted that war is not an option. So, the only option available to us is talks. We need to resolve our differences through dialogue. But for that, at some stage, Pakistan will also have to take India’s concerns on board,” Omar said.
A S Dulat, former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Special Director and former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief who was among the participants at the IISS event, also expressed hope that dialogue would be re-initiated between India and Pakistan soon.
“We should talk and never stop talking. I remain optimistic on a solution in Kashmir,” said Dulat, who pointed to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s four-point formula dating back to 2006 as a “good starting point”.
“If that agreement had been worked out between (Gen Pervez) Musharraf and Manmohan Singh, my assessment is that we would have had at least 15 years of peace in Kashmir,” he said.
Congress spokesman Manish Tewari explained that the aim of the London event was to explore the building blocks of a narrative which can correct perceptions that India and Pakistan have about each other.
“There is a feeling that confidence building measures and the creation of a positive narrative have to precede conflict resolution. It is a step by step process and every incremental step would then add up to a whole,” he said.
Other speakers at the event, including Pakistan-based ‘The News’ daily Editor Aamir Ghauri, proposed exchange programmes for Indian and Pakistani journalists and a free flow of people on both sides of the border to foster greater understanding. PTI

Srinagar: Would it snow again coming week? Following is the updated Ziraat Times weather outlook for the coming five-day period between Sunday and Thursday in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh regions.
At this stage the available data does not indicate a heavy snowfall in the plains of Kashmir valley. However, like the previous spell, in this spell too, Sonamarg, Zojila Pass, Zanaskar valley, Kargil areas, Thajiwas glacier area, upper reaches of Dachigam National Park, Aru and Baltal would receive continuous and heaviest snowfall between 11-14 November, Ziraat Times interpretation of the available weather parameters indicates.
In Srinagar and plains of Kashmir valley while heavy rainfall is very likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, at this stage snowfall is not confirmed.
Sunday outlook:
While Sonamarg, Zanaskar and Kargil areas are likely to receive snowfall on Sunday, some upper areas of Pirpanjal like Tatakuti, Tosamaidan, Sunset Peak would receive light to moderate snowfall on Sunday.
Heavy to moderate snowfall on Sunday is also likely in Gund range, Kargil and Zanaskar valley, Kohohoi Glacier area, Baltal, Chandanwari, north Kashmir mountains of Kupwara district and Bandipora, Harmukh mountains, Ziraat Times analysis suggests.
Light rainfall in some valley plains is also expected.
Monday outlook:
Analysis of various weather parameters by Ziraat Times indicates that again heavy snowfall is likely in Sonamarg, Gund, Kargil and Zanaskar valley, Kohohoi Glacier area, Baltal, Chandanwari, Margan valley and all peaks in and around the Great Lakes. Some South Kashmir areas would receive rainfall as well.
Would it snow on Tuesday and Wednesday in Kashmir plains like the previous week?
At this stage analysis of the available data by Ziraat Times suggests snowfall is likely in Sindh-Gund valley of Ganderbal, Zabarwan mountains in Srinagar, upper karewas of Rafiabad, upper karewas of Kupwara, Handwara, Kandi Baramulla and upper reaches of Bandpora district, including the Razdan Pass.
All mountain areas of Lolab valley, upper Tral-Shikargah areas, Kapran in South Kashmir, Gool-Gulabgarh areas of Ramban, Banihal, Aharbal areas, and Kishtwar and Bhaderwah mountains are also likely to receive snowfall.
In Srinagar and plains in Kashmir valley while heavy rainfall is very likely on Tuesday and Wednesday, at this stage snowfall is not confirmed.
Some rainfall is likely in Jammu, Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua districts during this period.
The weather system would shift to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhad on late Wednesday and Thursday, resulting in snowfall in the mountains there.
Snowfall activity is not going to be as widespread in northern Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan region, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as the previous snowfall on 1-3 November, available data suggests.
Thursday:
On Thursday some scattered snowfall and rainfall is likely in South Kashmir high mountains of the Pirpanjal and outer Himalayas.

Farmers and orchardists may plan their activities accordingly.

Ziraat Times Weather Monitoring

Handwara: One Militant killed after a brief exchange of gunfire took place between militants and Army at Handwara bypass here in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Sunday. Sources told KNO that patrolling party of Army was fired upon by the militants in the area. “The fire was retaliated triggering off a brief exchange of gunshots”. Official Sources said that the exchange of fire continued for some time and in brief exchange of gunfire one Militant has been killed and arms and ammunition has been recovered from his possession. However the identification of Militant is yet to be ascertained.(KNO)

Jammu: After a gap of about 30 years, Kashmir Valley is going to have a first cinema theatre soon, with Governor Satya Pal Malik giving a go ahead for the proposal.
As per sources privy to this development, Governor Malik has given his nod for the establishment of a cinema hall in state’s summer capital Srinagar. The process of bidding is likely to commence within days.
There are reports that the Governor has been expressing much interest in the opening of a cinema theatre in the Valley so that the youth who have no means of recreation could enjoy the latest Bollywood movies and spend quality time with peers.
“The process is likely to begun within days and for this purpose, many affluent people were called so that the idea of having a high tech cinema hall is discussed and deliberated upon in detail,” says an official.
He added that the Governor soon after assuming office in the state was exploring ways to provide means of entertainment to the Valley youth who have been reeling under the volatile times for years. For this purpose, besides a sport stadium of international level, cinema hall is coming in Kashmir after the gap of almost 30 years.
The cinema owners in Kashmir attempted to reopen theatres in 1999 when the then government offered them interest-free loans. There were three cinema halls which accepted the offer and attempted to re-open the halls. They later had to close down their businesses once again after the militants carried attacks.
On September 24, 1999, a grenade exploded outside one cinema hall located in the city centre, when the viewers were coming out after the maiden show. One person from Lasjan area namely Muhammad Hafeez Rather died and a dozen others were wounded. The theatres were abruptly shut again.
Before the outbreak of militancy in Kashmir, cinema halls were one of the big businesses in Kashmir valley. There were nine single screen cinemas in Srinagar. But at present most of them have either been converted into the forces garrisons or shopping malls. Some of the cinema halls like Sheeraz in the old city have been transformed into security camps. The Khayam is now a heart institute while the Naaz has been replaced by a mammoth shopping plaza. The skeleton of Palladium Theatre in historic Lal Chowk houses security bunkers. It served as a makeshift office for the police officers deployed in the area.
The present generation of Kashmiris has seen cinemas in the movies that too from the pirated DVDs and CDs available on the roadside pavements. Only the affluent people from Kashmir who could afford to travel outside Kashmir take kids to cinemas to show them how a movie theatre looks like.

Srinagar: Superintendent of Police, North, Srinagar city, Sajad Shah on Sunday said that Ehtisham Bilal had “liking” for militancy and was an over ground worker—who closely worked for slain militant, Fahad Mushtaq Waza.
“He had a liking for militants. He was friend and an Over Ground Worker of Faid Mushtaq Waza,” Shah revealed. The SP said that a stone pelting case was registered against him in 2015 at Police Station Nowhatta. He said that IS has also not rebutted the audio clip that has been circulated on social media in Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir Police Chief, Dilbag Singh had identified the two militants killed in a recent gunfight with the forces in Fateh Kadal as Mehraj ud Din Bangroo and Faid Mushtaq Waza. Waza, who also lived in Khanyar, was a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant—who was killed along with his associate Mehraj-ud-din Bangroo in a gunfight with forces on Oct 17.