Blind voters will be able to use voting machines in Jammu and Kashmir

September 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In view of the special status of State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Central Government has decided to establish, as a special dispensation, two appropriate Central Universities in the State - one in Jammu region and another in the Kashmir Valley. It is expected that this will meet the regional aspirations in the State.

June 10th, 2009 JAMMU - Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad arrived here Wednesday to a rousing reception during his first visit to his home state Jammu and Kashmir after his induction in the central government. The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister was received by over 5,000 supporters who had come here from various parts of Jammu district.

May 13th, 2009 BARAMULLA - Polling began peacefully in the Baramulla and Ladakh Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir Wednesday morning. In Baramulla constituency, voting started on a low key in the towns of Baramulla, Sopore, Pattan and Kupwara.

May 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unhappy at being classified as 'migrants', the Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave their homes in the Kashmir Valley boycotted elections Thursday. The Election Commission has not received a single 'M' (Migrant) form, which Kashmiri Pandit migrants have to fill up to be eligible to vote.

May 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unhappy at being classified as 'migrants', the Kashmiri Pandits who were forced to leave their homes in Jammu and Kashmir boycotted elections Thursday. The Election Commission has not received a single 'M' (Migrant) form, which Kashmiri Pandit migrants have to fill up to be eligible to vote.

May 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The number of voters among Kashmiri Pandit migrants has dropped 'considerably', from nearly 150,000 in 1996 to just 71,000 presently - a 52 percent dip. In 1996 there were 147,000 voters among the migrants all over the country, in 2002 the number went down to 117,000 and during the assembly elections last year it was only 71,000, according to the Roots in Kashmir (RIK), a migrant Kashmiri Pandits' organisation.

April 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Wednesday appealed to every voter - young and old, living in rural or urban areas - to exercise their 'most valuable democratic right' and vote in the third round of the general elections Thursday. In the third phase, elections will be held in 107 parliamentary constituencies spread over nine states of Bihar, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, and two Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

April 23rd, 2009 JAMMU - Most of the polling stations in the predominantly mountainous Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir wore a deserted look as voting began in the second of the five-phase parliamentary polls Thursday morning. Tight security was in place in this constituency that witnessed gunbattles between separatist militants and security personnel till a day before.

April 23rd, 2009 JAMMU - Security personnel outnumbered voters at polling stations in the predominantly mountainous Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir where the second of the five-phase parliamentary polls was underway Thursday. According to election officials, only five percent turnout was recorded in the first three hours of polling, which began at 7 a.m.

April 23rd, 2009 JAMMU - Over 45 percent of the 1.3 million electorate cast their votes Thursday in Jammu and Kashmir's predominantly mountainous Udhampur parliamentary constituency amid tight security, officials said. The voting ended peacefully in the constituency some segments of which are close to the border with Pakistan and are prone to militant attacks.

April 2nd, 2009 JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government will move April 24 from this winter capital to the state's summer capital Srinagar, where the offices will open May 4. The practice of shifting the Jammu and Kashmir capital, called 'darbar move', continues since the Dogra rule started it some 135 years ago.

March 28th, 2009 JAMMU - Army troops Saturday recovered a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) in a forest area of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said. The three-kg bomb was recovered in jungles of Thanna Mandi in Rajouri district, about 200 km northwest of Jammu, said a defence spokesman.

March 4th, 2009 BERLIN - Voting booths in Germany can no longer be equipped with electronic 'vote computers', the German Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday. At this year's general election due in September, voters can expect to use pen and paper, after the Karlsruhe-based court ruled that the machines contradict the public nature of elections.

March 4th, 2009 BHOPAL - The Election Commission is preparing Braille signs for some polling booths in Madhya Pradesh to help blind voters exercise their franchise, an official said Tuesday. 'Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in some centres will have Braille script to enable the visually challenged persons to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha elections,' said state's Chief Electoral Officer J.S.

December 23rd, 2008 SRINAGAR - Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra Wednesday complimented the people of Jammu and Kashmir for 'reiterating their faith in democracy despite constraints, difficulties and threats'.