SRINAGAR, June 22 (2009): Central government will spend more than $290 million cleaning up two iconic lakes in Kashmir, India's environment minister said on Monday, which have been polluted during decades of neglect and a separatist revolt. Dal Lake, the region's main tourist attraction which has drawn visitors from Mughal emperors to the Beatles star George Harrison, has shrunk from 25 sq km to 13 sq km since the 1980s, environmental campaigners say. Raw sewage, rubbish and land encroachment threaten the survival of...

SRINAGAR, June 20 (2009): Kashmir valley closed down on Saturday in the latest protest over the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women that has triggered massive anti-India demonstrations in the disputed Himalayan region. Shops and businesses were shut and most streets deserted except for security patrols in Srinagar, the summer capital. Anti-India protests have raged in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley since the bodies of two Muslim women were found on May 29 in Shopian town, 60 km (37 miles) south of...

SRINAGAR, June 12 (2009): As violence ebbs in Kashmir, India is planning to withdraw some troops from towns across the disputed Himalayan region, the country's home (Interior) minister said on Friday. Kashmir is a core issue between rivals India and Pakistan, and tens of thousands of people have been killed in the mainly Muslim region since a rebellion against Indian rule broke out there in 1989. A partial withdrawal would mark the first troop reduction in the region's urban areas since separatists started their...

SRINAGAR, June 5 (2009):Police detained a prominent Kashmiri separatist leader in the strife-torn region's main city on Friday after he led a demonstration to protest the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women. Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, was held in Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, during a protest march, where hundreds were shouting, "We want freedom". "Malik was detained for precautionary measures," Mohammad Ashraf, a police officer said. Residents say two Muslim women, aged...

SRINAGAR, June 4 (2009): The death of a Kashmiri man injured in a protest over the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women triggered fresh demonstrations in Indian Kashmir on Thursday, in which at least 40 people were injured, police and witnesses said. Nisar Ahmad was hit on the head by a teargas shell fired by police during a protest early this week in Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir where regular protests since last year have given a new life to a separatist movement. Residents say the two women,...

SRINAGAR, June 1 (2009): Angry protesters clashed with troops in Indian Kashmir on Monday, injuring dozens in ongoing protests over the rape and murder of two Muslim women, police and witnesses said. Offices and businesses were shut as a strike called by separatists crippled activity on Monday, the third day of protests in Kashmir, where near daily street protests since last year are giving new life to a separatist movement. Residents said the two women, aged 17 and 22, were abducted, raped and killed by security...