The first budget session of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Assembly will begin on March 3. For the first time in seven years, an elected government will present the budget. The last J&K budget was presented in the Assembly on January 11, 2018, by Dr Haseeb Drabu, the erstwhile finance minister of the PDP-BJP government, for financial year 2018-19, worth `80,313 crore. It would be the second session of the J&K Assembly after formation of the Omar Abdullah government. The first session was held in November, when the government passed a resolution calling for restoration of special status to J&K.Rare Eurasian Otter spotted in Gurez ValleyThe endangered Eurasian Otter has been spotted in Gurez Valley in North Kashmir’s Bandipora district. A wildlife official said the otters were spotted in the centrally located tehsil of Dawar in Gurez Valley on the banks of the Kishanganga River a few days back. The official said the first documented sighting of these otters in recent times happened in August 2023 when researchers unintentionally recorded images of two Eurasian Otters near Tarbal, close to the Line of Control. Eurasian Otter is “Near Threatened” species, primarily due to destruction of its habitat and pollution.
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