Srinagar, Mar 18: After this year''s directive of the Saudi Arabia Government allowing only those to undertake the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina who have valid international passports, scores of pilgrimage aspirants queue outside the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Srinagar to submit application forms for passports for past few days.

Until now special pilgrimage passes used to be issued for the annual pilgrimage and Haj Committees used to invite applications from Muslim devotees and make the final selection through draw of lots.

Jammu, Mar 18: Union Home Minister P Chidambaram will visit Jammu and Kashmir today to review the security situation in the State.

According to official sources, Chidambaram will take stock of the security situation with top police, intelligence and Army officials in Jammu.

The Minister will be briefed about the situation across the border especially reports suggesting of high-scale infiltration from Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir during summer.

Srinagar, Mar 15: Renovation work at the centuries old Mosque of Akhund Mulla (also referred as Akhoon Mulla) at Srinagar in Kashmir is underway to restore the old grandeur of the monument.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has taken the responsibility to restore life in the much-neglected heritage.

Akhund Mulla is said to be a mosque within a mosque. The main sanctuary is a separate and detached building, placed within a courtyard surrounding the mosque.

Built in Circa 1049 by Dara Shikoh, son of the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to honour his tutor Akhun Mulla Shah, the little mosque is a grey limestone structure, located just below the Makhdum Sahib mosque.

Jammu, Mar 15 : A financial coordinator of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested and Rs 50,000 in hawala money recovered from his possession in Jammu and Kashmir''s Rajouri District, police sources said here.

''''Based on specific information about the movement of LeT aide Nazir Ahmed, resident of Bathoi, Tehsil Mahore, district Reasi along with hawala money, a team of SOG conducted a raid and arrested him from village Pangai in Thannamandi area of Rajouri district last night,'''' said Dy. S. P. operation Rajouri Farooq Qaiser.

He said hawala money Rs 50,000 was also recovered from his possession, which he collected from Thannamandi area and had to deliver it to Lashkar militants in Reasi district.

Srinagar, Mar 14 : The crisis in Pakistan has triggered concern among people in Jammu and Kashmir.

According to people in Srinagar, anything happening in Pakistan has a direct impact on India and subsequently on Kashmir.

Expressing the need for political stability in Pakistan, senior Separatist leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, "India will also be affected by the crisis in Pakistan as it is our neighbouring country. The situation prevailing there will definitely have an impact on India. It is the need of the hour that there should be political stability in Pakistan."