Is there actually a threat which might justify all this extraordinary security? The nature of the separatist campaign has been changing, moving away from armed insurgency towards other forms of protest like street campaigns.
And compared with earlier years this election has been relatively peaceful. But two policemen were shot dead on Monday just north of Srinagar, and a few days earlier three militants from Lashkar-e-Taiba were killed in a clash with troops in a remote mountainous region.

Since 1989, Kashmir has seen a growing, and often violent, Muslim separatist movement against Indian rule.
Some separatists favour independence, others would like Kashmir to be part of Pakistan.
India says Pakistan gives the militants logistical and material support – a claim rejected by Islamabad.
Years of separatist attacks and cross-border firing between the Indian and Pakistani armies have left tens of thousands of people dead.

Kashmiri leaders have also, on many occasions, voiced their concern over what they say is the steady decline of the Muslim population in the Jammu region.
They have blamed this on people from neighbouring states settling down in the region.
In 1982, while Sheikh Abdullah governed the state, his National Conference party brought out a red book titled “Conspiracy to reduce the majority community in Jammu and Kashmir into a minority”.

The call comes amid increasing violence in Afghanistan and mounting concern in Britain, France and Germany over the Nato operation there
It is envisaged that it will take place in two phases before the end of the year.
The spokesman said that the first phase could be held in the Afghan capital, Kabul, depending on security considerations, while the second could be held in an “international city”.
The letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that “benchmarks and timelines” should be agreed “to formulate a joint framework for our transition phase in Afghanistan… to set our expectations of ownership and the clear view to hand over responsibility step-by-step to the Afghans, wherever possible”.

US researchers have pinned down new differences in the brain chemistry of people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
They found ADHD patients lack key proteins which allow them to experience a sense of reward and motivation.
The Brookhaven National Laboratory study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It is hoped it could help in the design of new ways to combat the condition.

Peoplesoft has now rejected five separate takeover approaches from Oracle over the past eighteen months.
Peoplesoft described Oracle’s latest bid as “inadequate” claiming the firm’s value had increased significantly since February when Oracle made a higher $9.2bn offer.
Oracle has since lowered its offer, claiming that Peoplesoft’s sale prospects have diminished considerably since the start of the year.
Oracle responded to Peoplesoft’s decision by saying it was “time to bring this matter to a close”.
“We absolutely believe that PeopleSoft is worth far more today than at any point since the process began,” said George Battle, chairman of Peoplesoft’s independent transaction committee.
“We believe it is clear that Oracle wants to acquire Peoplesoft to rescue its own declining applications business,” he added.

Mr Kagermann himself does not want to be drawn on direct comparisons with Oracle.
But he works hard to woo Peoplesoft customers with special offers and “safe passage” promises of supporting their software “until 2010 or 2011″.
“I’m optimistic that there are enough clients who are interested in SAP,” says the soft-spoken Deep Purple fan, who refuses to eat anything during the working day because it might make him tired.
And Mr Kagermann hopes to repeat a trick pulled off by SAP over the past five years: in 1999, SAP’s complex R3 software generated 90% of revenues. Today it accounts for less than 50%.
“In five years I want 50% of our revenues to be generated by software that doesn’t exist now,” says Mr Kagermann, who admits that this is “an ambitious target”.

SAP has admitted its TomorrowNow unit carried out “inappropriate downloads” of documents from its rival Oracle, but said SAP had not accessed the material.
Oracle is suing SAP, accusing it of hacking into its computer network and stealing vital product information.
In a written legal response to Oracle’s claims of intellectual property theft, SAP said the downloaded material had stayed in TomorrowNow’s systems.
SAP said changes had now been made to TomorrowNow’s management.
“Even a single inappropriate download is unacceptable from my perspective. We regret very much that this occurred,” SAP’s chief executive Henning Kagerman said in a statement.

With more people putting these desires on their wish lists, a raft of manufacturers are looking to mount a serious challenge to the best-selling iPod.
But it is going one better than Apple, offering its Sansa e200 which can hold up to six gigabytes of songs or video.
“Music is an incredibly important part of the digital lifestyle, where the emphasis is on accessibility of music, styling and ruggedness on the go,” said Sandisk’s Eric Bone.
Others are looking to offer up to 30GB. South Korea’s Samsung has its YM-P1 player, while Singapore’s Creative Labs has its Zen Vision: M.
Both devices hold 30GB and play video, as well as audio.
Creative’s player was chosen as best gizmo at CES by technology site Cnet.
The Singapore-based company has also taken the battle with Apple to software, launching an initial version of software to organise podcasts.
“It’s another way to aggregate content,” said a Creative spokesperson. “A lot of people have Zen players which are not compatible with iTunes.”

More and more people are buying into the idea of carrying their music, and now video, with them.
According to figures released by the organisers of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), sales of MP3 players soared by 200% in 2005 to $3bn (£1.73bn).
The trend will continue in 2006, as more video-playing gadgets appear, with sales expected to hit $4.5bn.
Dozens of such gizmos are expected to be on show at CES in Las Vegas, which starts on Thursday.