Security deployment at vital installations increased

Political parties hold meeting

Rumour, panic spread by parties baseless: BJP

Ticket-checking to be lenient for next 48 hours on trains leaving Jammu, Udhampur & Katra

Amit Shah chairs security meeting

Trials postponed, cricketer

Irfan Pathan

leaves for home

National Conference will oppose any bid to abrogate Art 35A, 370

Kashmir remained on the edge on Sunday amid suspense over the recent developments. Authorities stepped up security at vital installations and sensitive areas amid heightened terror threat and flare up of hostilities with Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC).Here are the top developments of the day:Authorities have stepped up security deployment at vital installations and sensitive areas such as the civil secretariat, police headquarters, airport and various central government establishments in the city.Barricades have been erected on many arterial roads, including the entry and exit points to Srinagar, the summer capital of the state.Riot control vehicles have also been kept on standby in some areas where apprehension of law and order disturbances is more, the officials said.Leaders of the political parties in Kashmir held a meeting to discuss the prevailing situation in the Valley . The meeting that was supposed to be held at the residence of Mehbooba Mufti was shifted to Farooq Abdullah's residence as the NC leader was not well.Speaking to media after the meeting, Farooq Abdullah said the parties are united in their resolve to protect the special identity of the state of Jammu and Kashmir . He also appealed to India and Pakistan not to take steps that might further raise tension between the countries.Waheed Rehman Para of PDP said: "We just want to appeal to the Union government that we are united in this issue and we want that there should be no fiddling with the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir."Leaders of NC, Congress, PDP, Awami National Conference, Jammu and Kashmir People's conference, Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement and Communist Party of India (Marxist) attended the meeting.The J&K unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asked people not to believe rumours as the top leadership of the party would not take any decision that would not be pro-people as far as Jammu and Kashmir was concerned.After a meeting of its middle rung leaders and party men at the Jawahar Nagar headquarters of the BJP, state spokesman Altaf Thakur said that local political parties were trying to spread panic among the people to remain relevant after they had lost all the support of the people at the ground level in the state.The railways has decided that ticket-checking will be lenient on trains leaving Jammu, Udhampur and Katra for the next 48 hours, sources said.This will enable scores of passengers, especially Amarnath pilgrims, to leave Jammu and Kashmir even without holding reserved tickets, after the state administration's orders cancelling the pilgrimage.Union home minister Amit Shah held a meeting with top security officials on Sunday and is believed to have discussed the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.The hour-long meeting was attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba and other senior officials.Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is the mentor of Jammu & Kashmir state teams, along with age-group aspirants left for their respective homes after ongoing U-16 and U-19 trials in Srinagar have been postponed due to prevailing security situation in the valley.Pathan was in Srinagar to oversee the trials for the U-16 (Vijay Merchant Trophy) and U-19 (Cooch Behar Trophy) and prune the list of probables.The National Conference has voiced concern over the "uncertain and uptight" situation in Jammu and Kashmir and said the party would fight against any infringement of the special constitutional status of the state.The NC had a four-hour-long meeting of its party's political affairs committee (PAC) over the current situation in the valley. The meeting was chaired by party vice-president Omar Abdullah .After the meeting, an NC spokesperson said, the party called for "effective and immediate" measures to instill confidence among the people in Kashmir.