Yielding to the public pressure in Valley, the state government today finally cancelled its earlier order to divert 800 kanals of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). The government also decided to make land available to the tourism department from Jammu to holy cave on Pahalgam and Baltal routes for creating required infrastructure and providing logistic support for the pilgrims. The government also assured that it would not interfere in the religious affairs of Amarnath yatra.

Dissatisfied with the cabinet's decision of revoking the order of transfer of land to the Shrine Board, the state unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) today warned that the agitation for Amarnath issue will go nationwide. "The cabinet's decision today at Srinagar has made it clear that Jammu and Kashmir government is being run by Kashmir-centric leadership," Ashok Khajuria, BJP state president told mediapersons at a press conference here this afternoon.

Akhil Bhartiya Vidarthi Parishad activists wave the national flag during a protest in Jammu. JAMMU: Protesters blocked traffic and fought pitched battles with police here as the BJP-Shiv Sena sponsored shutdown demanding removal of Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra over the Amarnath Shrine land row entered the second day on Tuesday. Three BJP activists were injured in skirmishes with police as demonstrators burnt tyres and torched effigies of the Governor, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, police said.

SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet is likely to revoke the order to transfer land to the Amarnath shrine board besides allocating key portfolios that fell vacant after resignations by PDP ministers. A meeting of the cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is scheduled for Tuesday during which a discussion will be held on the order to hand over 39.88 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) and a decision taken on it, official sources said here.

The level of corruption is "alarming" in the states of Assam, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, says a new survey based on experience of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in availing various public services last year. The 'India Corruption Study 2007', brought out by NGOs Transparency International India (TII) and Centre for Media Studies (CMS), found that about one-third of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households in the country bribed officials to avail a total of 11 services -- from police to PDS.

A day after withdrawing support to the Congress in J-K, the PDP on Sunday said the reported decision of the state Government to take charge of the logistics arrangements of the Amarnath yatra was only a half-way measure which would not help in resolving the grave situation that had engulfed the state. The statement came after a party meeting presided over by its president Mehbooba Mufti here.

Suman K Jha Slamming the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government's decision to take over the arrangements of the yatra which will pave the way for the revocation of the transfer order of 40 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, the BJP has said it will become a major electoral issue. "It's a serious issue. First the UPA Government brought the obnoxious affidavit on the Ram Sethu (questioning the existence of Lord Ram) and now this. The state Government has succumbed to vote bank politics,' BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani told The Indian Express.

Muzamil Jaleel The smell of tear gas on the streets of Srinagar, littered with glass shards, stones and smouldering tyres, are testimony to the pitched battles over the controversial transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board. But as passions ran high, stoked mostly by politicians, the local Muslim population worked quietly, organising free langars for the hundreds of pilgrims stranded because of the shutdown

Muzamil Jaleel Ending three weeks of controversy over the transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board, Jammu and Kashmir's new Governor N N Vohra today stepped in and, in his capacity as chairman of the board, asked the state government to take over the Yatra arrangements. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government, reduced to a minority after partner PDP walked out of the coalition, promptly agreed and the board withdrew its request for the transfer of forest land.

Suman K Jha New Delhi, June 29: Slamming the Ghulam Nabi Azad Government's decision to take over the arrangements of the yatra which will pave the way for the revocation of the transfer order of 40 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, the BJP has said it will become a major electoral issue. "It's a serious issue. First the UPA Government brought the obnoxious affidavit on the Ram Sethu (questioning the existence of Lord Ram) and now this. The state Government has succumbed to vote bank politics,' BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani told The Indian Express.