Pawar will be ready to become PM in case of a consensus: Praful Patel

NEW DELHI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar will be certainly ready to become the Prime Minister if there is situation where there is a consensus on the issue, his party leader and Union Minister Praful Patel has said.

"And this gossip of merger with Congress, which happens many times, that is never possible," Patel said in an interview to Prabhu Chawla on 'Teekhi Baat' television programme.

"If there is a situation where there is consensus on the issue, then why not Prabhuji, Sharad Pawarji will be certainly ready (to become Prime Minister)," he said, adding, "But I think to talk like this now is basically wrong."

Noting that Pawar will remain the President of NCP and that the reins of the party will be with him even if he did not contest elections, Patel said Pawar will be NCP's candidate for the post of Prime Minister.

Asked if he was willing to work under Rahul Gandhi if UPA is in majority after the general elections, Patel said, "Certainly."

To a question that he and Pawar would both be willing to work under Rahul, the Minister for Heavy Industries said, "Who will take decisions (speaking of Congress-led UPA) is not the issue.

"The government runs on the basis of the largest party, Congress is the largest party in UPA and it does not seem that in future they won't be the largest party," Patel said.

He also said there is a similarity between NDA and UPA as far as foreign policy, economic policy are concerned. "This does not mean we are comparing NDA and UPA," he said.

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Two cops killed in shootout with terrorists in J&K

SRINAGAR: Two local policemen were killed by separatist guerrillas in a hit-and-run attack in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Saturday.

A senior police officer told IANS that militants fired from close range at two constables of an armed battalion near the bus stand in Handwara town, 75 kilometres from here this morning.

"The two constables belonging to the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) were removed to the hospital in a critical condition, where they succumbed to injuries," the officer said.

The area has been cordoned off and searches have started in the town. So far, no arrest has been made in this connection.

Senior police and paramilitary officers have rushed to the town to take stock of the situation.

This is the first hit-and-run attack on local policemen in the Valley this year.

No militant outfit has yet owned responsibility for the attack.

Last month some unidentified gunmen had killed a village sarpanch (elected representative) in Kalantara village of Baramulla district, north Kashmir.

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Congress MP Mukesh Gadhvi passes away

AHMEDABAD: Congress MP from Banaskantha, Mukesh Gadhvi, on Friday passed away at a private hospital in Ahmedabad, party sources said.

Gadhvi, 50, was admitted to Sterling Hospital ten days back after he suffered a brain stroke. He died of multiple organ failure on Friday, sources said.

Gadhvi was a two-time MP from Banaskantha and three-time MLA from Danta.

He is survived by wife, two daughters and a son. His father late B K Gadhvi was the Union Minister of State for Finance during the Rajiv Gandhi government and had also been the Gujarat unit party president.

Expressing grief, senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil tweeted: "Very sad and shocking to hear that my friend and senior Congress leader from Banaskantha is no more."

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief at Gadhvi's demise.

Modi tweeted: "Sad to know about the demise of Banaskantha MP Mukesh Gadhvi. My condolences to his family. May his soul rest in peace."

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Assembly polls: Left Front heads for landslide victory in Tripura

AGARTALA: In a virtual status quo, the ruling formations were ahead and appeared to be romping back to power in the assembly elections in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya where counting of votes was taken up on Thursday.

Tripura's ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led Left Front was Thursday heading for a landslide victory and seemed set to retain power for a fifth straight term.

TRIPURA

PARTY	LEADS	WINS
CONGRESS	6	1
CPM	36	10
CPI	0	0
Revolutionary Socialist Party	2	0
Others	1	0

MEGHALAYA

PARTY	LEADS	WINS
CONGRESS	24	1
UDP	4	0
NCP	2	0
National People's Party	2	0
Hill state People's Democratic party	4	0
Others	11	0

NAGALAND

PARTY	LEADS	WINS
CONGRESS	4	1
Janata Dal(United)	1	0
NPF	14	13
NCP	5	0
Rashtriya Janata Dal	1	0
Others	6	0

The Left Front government is set to come back to power for the fifth consecutive term in Tripura with leader of the coalition CPM leading in 32 of the 60 seats while its ally CPI was ahead in one.

Congress was a poor second leading only in four seats and others in one in the trends available so far.

In Meghalaya, the ruling Congress-UDP coalition is ahead in 14 of the 60 seats. Congress was ahead in 9 and its alliance partner UDP in 5.

Nagaland also continued with the same trend of favouring the ruling combination.

The Naga Peoples Front (NPF) was ahead in 15 seats while the Congress was ahead in 4, JD(U) 1 and others 2 in the 60-member assembly.

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Chuck Hagel's remarks against India 'bizarre': BJP

NEW DELHI: Terming as "outlandish and bizarre" the statement of Chuck Hagel, the new US defence secretary, that India has financed problems for Pakistan in Afghanistan, BJP on Wednesday asked the government to exert diplomatic pressure on Washington for unconditional withdrawal of his statement.

The statement given by Hagel that India has financed problems in Pakistan is "outlandish, bizarre and baseless," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.

He also expressed surprise over Hagel giving a clean to Pakistan, which has harboured in the backyard of its military base al-Qaida chief Osama Bin Laden, who was responsible for killing of more than 5000 Americans in the World Trade Centre attack.

"BJP is concerned at the indifference of the Indian government by not reacting to Hagel. BJP demands that government of India uses its diplomatic pressure to see that Mr Chuck Hagel retracts his statement unconditionally," Rudy said.

Hagel had made the remarks during a speech at Oklahoma's Cameron University in 2011, which has surfaced now.

"India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border," the former Republican Senator had said.

His remarks are considered in sharp contrast to viewpoint of Obama Administration that has always been in praise of India's developmental role in Afghanistan and in fact has been pressing New Delhi to do more in Afghanistan.

Reacting to this, the Indian Embassy in Washington had said, "Such comments attributed to Senator Hagel, who has been a long-standing friend of India and a prominent votary of close India-US relations, are contrary to the reality of India's unbounded dedication to the welfare of Afghan people".

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Terror mastermind Fayyaz Kagzi shifts base from Saudi to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: FayyazKagzi, a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative wanted in the 2010 German Bakery blasts and the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case, is said to have recently shifted base to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia, even as agencies here counted on the Saudi authorities to deport him.

According to intelligence sources, Kagzi was based in Saudi Arabia since 2009. He is accused of recruiting terrorists from India along with 26/11 handler Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who was deported by Saudi authorities last year.

Agencies believe that Kagzi, who hails from Beed district of Maharashtra, decided to shift back to Pakistan, where he had lived after escaping from India in the wake of the Aurangabad arms haul, on seeing the heightened cooperation of Saudi authorities in meeting India's requests for deportation of terror fugitives like Jundal and Fasih Mahmood.

While Jundal was deported in June 2012, Mahmood was handed over by Saudi authorities in October 2012. The two deportations had heightened the expectations of Indian agencies for Kagzi's custody as well. "But as per our latest information, Kagzi is living in Pakistan," an intelligence officer said.

Kagzi had fled to Pakistan via Bangladesh in the wake of the Aurangabad arms haul with the help of Hyderabad terror operative Shahid Bilal. He later shifted to Saudi Arabia and oversaw recruitment of Indian youth for LeT operations.

His aide Jundal told Indian investigators last year that he and Kagzi had a meeting in Colombo in 2008 to which Himayat Mirza Baig, also from Beed and now being tried in the German Bakery blasts case, was summoned. During the meeting, Jundal and Kagzi gave money to Baig to buy explosive devices and pay for indoctrinated youths to travel to Pakistan for terror training.

Kagzi hails from Feroz Shah Nagar, New Shahenshai Nagar, near Aqsa mosque in Beed. It is learnt that Kagzi and Jundal had formed a group of around 10 youths, who were selected from and around Beed to wage terror strikes.

On June 8, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered an FIR against Jundal and Kagzi for being part of a terror organization. The FIR was based on information that Kagzi and Jundal were trying to organize explosives for certain LeT and IM operatives in India for attacks in Delhi and Mumbai. Both Jundal and Kagzi have been charged under sections 18 and 20 (for being part of a terror organization) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act ( UAPA).

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PM visits Hyderabad bomb blast sites

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Dilsukhnagar area on Sunday where two bomb blasts had left 16 people dead and 117 injured last Thursday.

The Prime Minister, who reached Hyderabad by a special flight on Sunday morning, was accompanied by Andhra Pradesh governor ESL Narasimhan, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and top officials.

Singh inspected the tiffin centre area where the first bomb exploded, and later the bus shelter, scene of the second blast.

Senior police officials explained the sequence of events to the Prime Minister.

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59-hour countdown for Isro's PSLV-C20 begins

CHENNAI: The 59-hour countdown for the February 25 launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to put into orbit seven satellites, including Indo-French spacecraft SARAL, commenced at 6.56am today at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in the spaceport of Sriharikota.

The Launch Authorisation Board earlier cleared the launch schedule for February 25 at 5.56 PM from the first launch pad in Sriharikota, about 90 kms from here, Isro sources said.

PSLV-C20, the 23rd PSLV Mission of Isro, would put the 400 kg Indo-French satellite and six others into orbit.

SARAL refers to Satellite with ARgos and ALtika. The French space agency CNES has developed ARgos and ALtikameter for analysing the ocean.

The rehearsal launch of PSLV - C20 with the primary satellite SARAL and six other foreign satellites has been completed satisfactorily, the sources said.

The other six auxiliary payloads are - two each from Canada, Austria and one each from Denmark and the United Kingdom.

President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to witness the launch along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.

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Suspend question hour to discuss blasts: BJP

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday demanded that question hour be suspended in both houses to discuss the Hyderabad terror attack.

"We have asked for suspension of question hour and demanded discussion on the terror issue," BJP leader Prakash Javadekar told reporters outside parliament.

He said the country was united at this hour and party president Rajnath Singh had gone to Hyderabad to meet the victims.

"The government is failing in fight against terror and we will raise the matter in parliament," he said.

Sixteen people were killed and more than 100 injured in the twin bomb blasts that rocked Hyderabad Thursday evening.

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Kohinoor is ours, won't be returned, British PM David Cameron tells India

AMRITSAR: British Prime Minister David Cameron says a giant diamond his country forced India to hand over in the colonial era that was set in a royal crown will not be returned.

Speaking on the third and final day of a visit to India aimed at drumming up trade and investment, Cameron ruled out handing back the 105-carat Kohinoor diamond, now on display in the Tower of London. The diamond had been set in the crown of the current Queen Elizabeth's late mother.

One of the world's largest diamonds, some Indians - including Mahatma Gandhi's grandson - have demanded its return to atone for Britain's colonial past.

"I don't think that's the right approach," Cameron told reporters on Wednesday after becoming the first serving British prime minister to voice regret about one of the bloodiest episodes in colonial India, a massacre of unarmed civilians in the city of Amritsar in 1919.

"It is the same question with the Elgin Marbles," he said, referring to the classical Greek marble sculptures that Athens has long demanded be given back.

"The right answer is for the British Museum and other cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the world.

"I certainly don't believe in 'returnism', as it were. I don't think that's sensible."

Britain's then colonial governor-general of India arranged for the huge diamond to be presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.

If Kate Middleton, the wife of Prince William, who is second in line to the throne, eventually becomes queen consort she will don the crown holding the diamond on official occasions.

When Elizabeth II made a state visit to India to mark the 50th anniversary of India's independence from Britain in 1997, many Indians demanded the return of the diamond.

Cameron is keen to tap into India's economic rise, but says he is anxious to focus on the present and future rather than "reach back" into the past.

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Jallianwala Bagh massacre 'deeply shameful', says British PM Cameron

AMRITSAR: British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday termed as "shameful" the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of innocent Indians by British troops.

"This was a deeply shameful act in British history. One that Winston Churchill rightly described at that time as monstrous. We must never forget what happened here and we must ensure that the UK stands up for the right of peaceful protests," Cameron wrote in the visitors' book of the memorial.

However, Cameron, who is the first British prime minister to visit the Jallianwala Bagh, did not offer any apology for the massacre.

The British prime minister earlier paid homage at the Jallianwala Bagh memorial, the site of the massacre of hundreds of men, women and children by British troops April 13, 1919.

Queen Elizabeth too had visited the Jallianwala Bagh memorial in October 1997 and paid homage to those killed in the massacre of unarmed Indians by British forces led by Brigadier General Reginald Dyer.

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Akhilesh Yadav presents deficit budget for Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday presented a Rs 23,913 crore deficit budget for the state for 2013-14 at Rs 2,21,201.19 crore.

The budget tabled in the assembly showed a 10% increase from the last year's size of Rs 2,00,110.61 crore.

While no new tax has been imposed in the budget, the fiscal deficit has been estimated at Rs 23,913 crore -- 2.9% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

The government has estimated revenue receipts at Rs 2,15,919.82 crore and revenue savings at Rs 9,856.01 crore for the next financial year.

After deducting from the consolidated fund, the actual deficit would be Rs 5,281.37 crore, Yadav said in his address.

After adjusting Rs 3,550 crore from the PLA (personal ledger account), the net deficit is of Rs 1,731.7 crore.

While the opening balance is at Rs 2,957.9 crore, the expected closing balance has been shown at a surplus of Rs 1,226.53 crore.

Earlier, the BSP members staged a walk-out from the House.

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Supreme Court stays execution of Veerappan's aides till Wednesday

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of Veerappan's aides till Wednesday.

The apex court said though the petition filed by an advocate on behalf of the convicts is not maintainable, the case of 4 condemned prisoners were similar to the case of other death row convicts pending consideration of the Supreme Court.

SC's decision came after the defence advocate informed the court that he has now got authorization from all 4 convicts as well as their families.
Four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan had moved the Supreme Court against the execution of their death penalty in connection with a landmine blast that had killed 22 policemen in Karnataka nearly 20 years ago.

Veerappan's elder brother Gnanaprakash, Simon, Meesekar Madaiah and Bilavendran were awarded death sentence in 2004 in connection with a landmine blast at Palar in Karnataka in 1993 in which 22 police personnel were killed.

Their mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on February 13.

On Saturday, the apex court had refused urgent hearing on the plea of four aides of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan seeking stay of execution of their death penalty.

The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir but he did not give a hearing to it, said a staff from his office when contacted.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, who had mentioned the matter at the CJI's residence, said the Chief Justice did not hear the matter on Saturday evening on the ground that there was no proof that execution will take place on Sunday as was being feared.

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Malik aimed to boost his relevance at home, Pak?

NEW DELHI: The Indian security agencies suspect that JKLF chief Yasin Malik may have secretly met 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed during his stay in Pakistan, apart from sharing the dais with him at a protest in Islamabad. Even as his alleged one-on-one meeting with the LeT boss is kept carefully under wraps, Malik, intelligence officials say, ensured a photo opportunity alongside Saeed to "score" over moderate Hurriyat's "secret" meeting with him last December.

Till now sidelined in Kashmir's separatist politics and desperate to win over the support of Pakistani agencies, Malik possibly saw his appearance with Saeed as a last-ditch bid to boost his relevance at home and across the border.

The intelligence agencies have already rejected Malik's defence that his sharing the stage with Saeed was co-incidental. "I was on a hunger strike for 24 hours near Islamabad Press Club. Thousands of people came there including Hafiz Saeed, who came there for 15 minutes...where did the meeting take place?" the JKLF leader had argued after his public appearance with Saeed sparked an outrage here.

Agencies, however, feel Malik's photo-opportunity with the LeT boss was intentional. "It is virtually impossible for Malik to not have known the list of big leaders who he would be sharing the stage with, particularly those with a profile as daunting as Saeed's," an official pointed out.

"Considering the interest generated by moderate Hurriyat leaders' 'secret' meeting with Saeed in December, Malik possibly thought that a public appearance with the LeT founder in Islamabad would help him score over them. His real meeting with Saeed, however, may have happened away from the public eye to ensure deniability," the official added.

Saeed's active interest in Kashmir is public knowledge. In fact, at a recent rally in Lahore to mark the Kashmir solidarity day, the LeT founder and Jamaat ud Dawah boss urged India to "leave Kashmir", warning that Indian Army would be defeated and Kashmir would get independence. He pledged support to all Kashmiri leaders and hoped for their unity.

According to an intelligence assessment, Malik, who has lately been overshadowed by Kashmiri separatist leaders of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat like hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the moderate Hurriyat under Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, may have sensed an opportunity to bounce back to the centrestage just by being seen with Saeed. His fast in Islamabad against the hanging of Afzal Guru provided him the right setting to pull off the photo-opportunity.

Intelligence officials point out that just like leaders of the two Hurriyat factions, which are dependent on ideological and logistical support from Pakistan to further their campaign in the Valley, the JKLF leader too has shed his hardened pro-azaadi stand and is looking for support from across the border.

Though Malik may be questioned upon his return from Pakistan on his "encounter" with Saeed, the agencies believe there the Centre can do little beyond either revoking his passport or denying its extension beyond March 31, when it is due to expire anyway. "Arresting him will only help him play the victim," an official has warned.

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UN chief urges India, Pakistan to exercise restraint

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and resolve issues peacefully after a Pakistani soldier who intruded into the Indian territory was killed by the Indian Army along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky told reporters here yesterday that the UN Chief was aware of the latest incident on February 14 at the LoC in which the Pakistani soldier, after intruding into Indian territory in a fresh incident of ceasefire violation, was killed by the Indian troops.

"The Secretary-General has repeatedly called on all concerned to exercise restraint and solve issues peacefully," Nesirky said when asked if Ban had a comment on the fresh incident along the Indian-Pakistan border.

The incident comes over a month after tensions erupted between the two nuclear-armed neighbours after Pakistani troops entered Indian territory and killed two Indian soldiers, beheading one of them.

In the latest ceasefire violation, the Pakistani soldier opened indiscriminate fire injuring two jawans after he was challenged by a patrol party.

In the ensuing encounter the soldier was killed and one AK-56 rifle and some ammunition were recovered from him.

Indian authorities have handed over the body of the Pakistani soldier to its army with military honours.

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Maoists involved in IAS officer's kidnapping arrested in Odisha

MALKANGIRI (Odisha): Two hardcore Maoists, including a woman, who were allegedly involved in the abduction of IAS officer R Vineel Krishna in 2011, have been arrested in Odisha's Malkangiri district, police said on Friday.

The two ultras were nabbed during a combing operation by personnel of the elite special operation group (SOG) and district voluntary force (DVF) in a forest of Chitrakonda last evening, Superintendent of Police Akhileswar Singh said.

"One of rebels is a woman Maoist from Andhra-Odisha Border Area Committee. She was identified as Bhagya alias Satyabati (40) and had been working under Korkunda Maoist dal for the last about 12 years", he said.

The other ultra was identified as Undaliam Bangaraya (50), a hardcore Maoist working under Korkunda Maoist Dal in the region, he said.

The two hardcore Maoists were involved in the abduction of the then Malkangiri district collector R Vineel Krishna in 2011, attacks on pipiline of a private steel company and on the police force, police said.

Andhra Pradesh government had announced Rs four lakh as a reward on the head of the woman Maoist, a senior police officer said.

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Stormy start to UP assembly Budget session

LUCKNOW: The Budget session of the Uttar Pradesh assembly today got off to a stormy start with BSP and RLD members creating ruckus during the governor's address to the joint session of the House and throwing paper balls towards the chair.

As soon governor BL Joshi started his address, BSP and RLD members carrying placards and banners raised slogans and threw paper balls towards the chair forcing the governor to complete the formality in a few minutes.

BSP and RLD members raised slogans demanding judicial probe into the Allahabad stampede and also what they termed as the dismal law and order situation in the state.

BJP members were not present in the House as they had decided to boycott the governor's address.

Amidst the pandemonium, parliamentary affairs minister Azam Khan was heard saying that "there was no more the government of goondas in the state".

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Kerala rape case: Kurien's wife rubbishes charge against husband

PATHANMTHITTA, KERALA: Amid growing clamour for resignation of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien in the Suryanelli gangrape case, his wife has rubbished the allegations against him and said those hurling "malicious charges" never bothered to appreciate sentiments of her family.

Susan Kurien, a retired high school teacher, said in a statement here that her husband had reached home and they had supper together on the day he was alleged to have abused the victim in a guest house at distant Kumali.

"I am sure that the allegations against my husband are baseless. Myself and my two daughters firmly believe that the truth prevail in this matter," Susan said.

She said her family was deeply pained that Kurien was being haunted through media (by those levelling charges) after a span of 17 years, raising the same allegations which were found baseless by repeated investigations and judicial scrutiny.

"Those who are fighting for women's right should not forget the fact that Prof Kurien too has a family", she said.

Kurien has all along rejected the charge and opposition's demand for his resignation, saying it was a matter which had already been cleared by the Supreme Court.

The girl from Suryanelli in Idukki district was abducted in January 1996 and transported from place to place across Kerala and sexually exploited by different persons.

The victim had sent a letter to the Supreme Court last week, seeking a review of the apex court's order quashing all charges against Kurien.

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Kerala's Suryanelli rape case: Special team set up to trace absconding convict

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Police have set up a special team to trace and arrest the absconding convict in the Suryanelli gang-rape case, who appeared on a Malayalam TV channel alleging that Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien was involved in the case, as claimed by the victim.

The four-member team has left for Karnataka from where Dharmarajan purportedly gave the interview to the channel yesterday and made the startling claim.

The task entrusted with the team would be coordinated by Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, police sources said.

The third accused in the 1996 gang-rape case, Dharmarajan fled Kerala before the probe was completed, but he was traced and arrested at Udupi in Karnataka later.

The special court which tried the case sentenced him to life in 2002. The high court, however, remitted it to five years in 2005. He secured bail to file an appeal the same year but has been absconding since then.

In his TV interview, Dharmarajan claimed that Kurien, who was a minister at the Centre then, had travelled in his car to a guest house in Kumali, where the girl alleged she was molested.

He claimed he was under pressure from the chief investigator not to mention Kurien's name.

Kurien, however, rubbished Dharmarajan's charge, holding that the statement of a convict has no legal validity.

"Every accused gets a chance to make a statement before the judge. He did not say this at that time. You (mediapersons) find out why he is making this claim now," Kurien had said.

Kurien was acquitted in case but the victim had recently named him as one of those who assaulted her in 1996. She sent a letter to the Supreme Court last week, seeking a review of the apex court's order quashing all charges against Kurien.

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Curfew continues in Kashmir Valley

SRINAGAR:Kashmir Valley remained under curfew for the third day today even as mobile Internet services remained suspended and newspapers failed to hit the stands following hanging of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru.

The restrictions on the movement of people in the Valley were further tightened this morning in view of apprehension of widespread protests to commemorate the 29th death anniversary of JKLF founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat.

Bhat, who was sentenced to death for murder of a police officer, was hanged inside Tihar Jail on this day in 1984.

Protests continued in many parts of the Valley yesterday against hanging of Guru, forcing security forces to impose strict restrictions on civilian movement.

Only ambulances and staff of essential services department have been issued curfew passes to facilitate their movement.

Two persons have died and at least 50 others, including 23 policemen, injured in clashes between protestors and law enforcing agencies across the Valley since Saturday.

Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary CRPF remained in place in all vulnerable areas of the Valley to prevent any law and order problems.

The situation today is peaceful so far with no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere in the Valley, official sources said.

Meanwhile, mobile Internet services remained down for the third day as a precautionary measure.

Newspapers also failed to hit stands this morning due to curfew.

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