India divides Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories

Srinagar - Just after midnight on Wednesday, the federal government's orders came into effect.

India on Thursday formally revoked Jammu & Kashmir's constitutional autonomy and split it into two union territories.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision in August to change Kashmir's status over a region that has stoked anger in Pakistan.
Just after midnight on Wednesday, the federal government's orders came into effect, dividing up the old state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories - one Jammu and Kashmir, and the other the Buddhist-dominated enclave of Ladakh.
Both will be directly ruled by Delhi, and new lieutenant governors were sworn in at a governor's premises later on Thursday.
India is hoping that by opening up property rights in Kashmir to people from outside the region it can reignite economic growth, create jobs and turn the focus away from the militancy in which more than 40,000 people have died. - Reuters
 

• India