Newswallah: Bharat Edition

Jammu and Kashmir: Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of separatist groups in Kashmir, was allowed to return to the Kashmir Valley after being placed under house arrest in Delhi following the Feb. 9 execution of Muhammad Afzal, the militant convicted of conspiracy in the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, Kashmir Live reported. “The Mirwaiz was scheduled to visit the family of Afzal Guru after chairing a meeting of Hurriyat, but the government has imposed curbs on all his activities,” the report said.

West Bengal: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is rewarding state government employees, traders and transporters, who refused to participate in the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions earlier this week, according to an IANS report in The Assam Tribune. She has offered them tax breaks and a longer holiday during the Durga Puja festival that falls in October.

Tripura: The state set a new record by registering a 93 percent turnout in the recent elections for the state legislature, according to an IANS report on the India Today Web site. The chief electoral office of Tripura said, “This was an all-time high percentage of votes polled in any election in India.”

Uttar Pradesh: The state government has ordered a judicial probe into the Feb. 11 stampede at the Allahabad railway station that killed 37 people and injured scores, an IANS report on the NDTV Web site said. A retired high court judge! has been appointed for the task and is expected to submit a report within two months. The opposition parties had criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for poor administration in the wake of the accident.

Maharashtra: The gruesome rape and murder of three sisters prompted a bandh, or shutdown, in Bhandara city and neighboring villages in Maharashtra on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported. The sisters, ages 6, 9 and 10, went missing on Feb. 14 and were found dead on a farm on Feb. 16. Autopsy reports have confirmed sexual assault and murder. The police are investigating, but no one has been arrested yet.

Tamil Nadu: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Thursday announced that the state would not host the 20th Asian Athletics Championships scheduled for July, The Hindu newspaper reported. The participation of Sri Lankan athletes would hurt the feelings of Tamils, she said in a statement. Ms. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday condemned the Sri Lankan government over the alleged killing of Balachandran, son of V. Prabakaran, the slain leader of the separatist Tamil Tigers rebels, calling it an “inhuman act,” the report said.