Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao on Friday held constructive and useful discussions with Japanese Vice-Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Deputy Foreign Minister Koro Bessho in Tokyo on bilateral, regional and global issues. She also called on Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto.

Rao conveyed India's condolences at the loss of life and damage to property due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and reiterated India's offer to assist Japan in any way required.

The Japanese side expressed their appreciation for the assistance provided by India for relief and rehabilitation including the sterling efforts of the 46-member team from the National Disaster Response Force of India, an official statement said.

Rao also conveyed that the government of India had not yet taken a decision on banning Japanese food imports. India will consult Japan prior to taking a decision on the advisory issued by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

The two sides also agreed that the new ministerial-level economic dialogue, announced by the prime ministers at their Annual Summit in Tokyo in October 2010, will be led by the foreign ministers of the two countries. The first meeting of the dialogue will take place later this year.

The government and Anna Hazare's men are supposed to meet at 6 pm. Stay with rediff.com for updates. Anna addresses the protestors basically giving them a round-up of what happened through the day with the government.

Meanwhile, here are the big stories today, most of which revolve around Anna Hazare, of course.

Anna's villagers threaten self immolation

Anna demands co-chairman for Lokpal panel

Veerappa Moily to be Lokpal panel head: Govt

MP who wrote to Hazare offering to resign

India to get Swiss bank info from Jan 2011

After 3 days of silence India Inc say aye to Anna

Srinagar tense after cleric dies in blast

Pak hikes defence spend to Rs 500 billion

Satya Sai Baba on liquid diet, dialysis to end

Moving away from Jantar Mantar for a bit...

Queen Elizabeth II will visit Ireland on May 17-20 in the first state visit by a British monarch since the republic gained independence in 1922, Buckingham Palace said today.

Sky News reports that the queen will be accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, for a visit which will be surrounded by tight security following the murder of a policeman in neighbouring Northern Ireland this month.

A Delhi court today dismissed the bail plea of two former top officials of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in awarding Rs 107 crore contract to a Swiss firm for providing logistic support for the 2010 event.

The bail of OC's former Secretary-General Lalit Bhanot and its ex-Director General V K Verma were dismissed.

"Bail applications of both the accused are dismissed," the judge said and also extended their judicial custody till April 21.

Bhanot and Verma were arrested on February 23 by CBI for striking a Rs 107 crore deal with a Swiss firm in procuring the Timing, Scoring and Result System for the Commonwealth Games.

World news coming up.

The Times, London says that intelligence in Afghanistan is being gathered by security companies as the contracting-out of military duties becomes much more commonplace.

More than £240 million was paid to six businesses during the past five years for work in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Afghanistan, the amount has risen from £15 million between 2003 and 2006 to £80 million since then.

The type of work that ministers are asking them to carry out is also expanding, prompting fears that the companies are being used to prop up the stretched Armed Forces.

As well as private protection services and police training, the Government has out-sourced "intelligence analysis" and "intelligence advisers", potentially giving private consultants access to sensitive information.

And in Mumbai: Hundreds of Mumbaikars protested at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai wearing Mahatma Gandhi caps embossed with the slogan, 'I am Anna Hazare' and white bands to spread the message 'Pehno Safed Patti, Karo Corruption Se Katti.'

Ad guru Bharat Dabholkar, who was there said, "To eradicate corruption the people needed a focal point which Anna Hazare has provided us. We are not asking for removal of this government but changing the system."

But Pooja Bhatttweets: Just left Azad Maidan! Disappointed with the numbers! Where are the hoards that partied on the streets during the world cup?

Rediff.com's Prasanna DZore and Sanjay Sawant who are at Anna Hazare's village Ralegan Siddhi. in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, says between 15 and 20 youth, including women have threatened to self-immolate if the government does not meet Hazare's demands by April 12.

Thiswas confirmed by the sarpanch, Jaisingh Sadashiv Mopari. The youth saidwhile they respected Anna Hazare, there came a time when Gandhian principles of non-violence did not work as well asmore seemingly 'violent' ones. It was then time to adopt Bhagat Singh's and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's teachings.

The police have however denied the claims. Details awaited.

IIPM's Arindam Chaudhuri has apparently awarded the 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs 1 crore to Anna Hazare.Prize to be handed over on May 9. Last year's winner was Irom Sharmila. IIPM has also got Hazare's blessings to institute 50 annual Anna Hazare fellowships of Rs 4000 per month on rural leadership.

Criticshave been saying Chaudhuri is cashingin on the moment, but money always comes in handy for causes like this. Wonder what Anna will do with the prize.

Remember WikiLeaks?

The latest Wikileaks cables show an intimate co-operation between US and Israeli intelligence organisations and also give a detailed insight on Israel's military analyses of its other enemies and friends in the region.

Wikileaks has named Mohammed Tantawi, the head of Egypt's ruling military as an obstacle in Israel's efforts to stop arms smuggling into Gaza.

Egypt is the primary route for weapons and munitions to be smuggled into the Gaza strip, and the US has been facilitating co-operation between Israel and Egypt to tackle the problem for several years.

Anna Hazare activists react to the government's 10-member committee proposal saying they want a government order for a co-chairperson to the panel.They also said theyhad suggested an amendment to the draft, but kept mum on the demand for a notification.

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: A protestor, Sunil Sharma,who sits at the far end of Jantar Mantar holds a placard urging the Page 3 fraternity to come and show solidarity. He says Fashion Week and the like can wait.

He's particularly perturbed because his daughter choose to go to Fashion Week over Jantar Mantar. "I asked her to come, but she didn't," says Sharma.

He's got himself a folding chair and sits quietly wearing a director's hat and dark glasses.

Poll news

Senior BJP leader L Ganesan today claimed that the AIADMK would join hands with the Congress after the April 13 Assembly elections to oust DMK from the UPA at the Centre.

The Jayalalithaa-led party treats DMK as its main rival and may have plans to join Congress and this is the reason why it has not been attacking the party during the campaigning. Jayalalithaa's intention is not to support Congress, but to throw out the DMK from central government," said Ganesan, a former state unit president.

As always, the superlative Amul ad. See

Just in: Government decides to step up joint drafting panel. Says convernor or the chairperson of the panel will beLaw Minister Veerappa Moily and will include five ministers and five from Hazare's team.

Anna Hazare has pitched for former CJI J S Verma or former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde as chairman of the joint committee to draft an effective Lokpal bill instead of government's earlier suggestion that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee should head it.

Hegde has declined saying it would be a conflict of interest.

Must read: While hailing Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement, Rediff.com columnist B Raman refuses to accept Hazare's 'monopoly of wisdom' over the issue.

Read: Youth must be wary of 'anti-corruption ayatollahs'

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: Inspector Shyam Singh who has been deputed at Jantar Mantar says he estimates the crowd strength to be around 10,000.

As a comparative, on day one, the numbers were around 1,200 to 1,400.

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: Five IIT Kharagpur alumni have taken leave from work. Say they will be here for as long as the protests continue.

Dinkar Jha, a software engineer, says, "This man has inspired all of us. I have taken casual leave for the past two days and will extend it depending on how stubborn the government remains.

Atul Bal, an IT consultant, says, "Sometimes you have to decided between who is right and what is right. We are here to support a man of integrity."

Social activist Swami Agnivesh today voiced hope that an "honourable resolution" would be found soon to the stalemate over the Lokpal Bill issue. "High-level meetings are taking place between top ministers," Agnivesh said. "We are hoping that by this evening an honourable resolution to the issue would be found," he added.

"After the high-level meeting at Prime Minister's residence, we hope that when we go to the meeting later, the government will come out with a respectable solution to our demands," he said.

Anand Mahindratweets: We're 'argumentative Indians' so no surprise that Civil Rights NGOs differ on Anna's demands. This shouldn't deflect us from his core purpose

And this one's surely in jest, coming from a someone who he is accused of many irregularities in the running of the IPL.

Lalit Kumar Moditweets: IPL organisers should also use the IPL to spread the word to support Anti corruption Move. Jan Lok Pal bill must be implemented.

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports that Dinesh Trivedi , Minister of State for Health had offered his resignation in a letter written to Anna Hazare, within the first few hours of his fast at Jantar Mantar on April 5.

Trivedi has told Hazare that he is ready to do anything that would strengthen his fight against corruption.

Trivedi, an MP from Barrackpore,West Bengal, and senior leader of the Trinmool Congress is associated with Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal since many years.

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: He meets Hassan Siddiqui, who was born blind. But it did not stop the 55-year-old garment trader from participating in the protests. Armed with his white stick, he cries, Vande Mataram!

Siddiqui says, "So what if I'm blind? I can still hear and shout. I will make my voice heard. I am here as an Indian and will support any Indian who protests corruption."

He says his friends and relatives have told him about many government schemes benefitting the handicapped. "Since I fall in the Below Poverty Line group, I'm entitled to all these schemes, but nothing reaches me. So then, who eats up all the benefits?"

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: The Jats have drowned out Baba Ramdev's voice on the mic. Around a 100 jats have taken over protests with dhols and anti-corruption songs. More and more protestors join the Jat chorus. It goes something like this:

Desh ke Jat hain

Hazare ke saath hain

Bhrashtacharon ki khaat hain.

India can get information on secret bank accounts from Swiss authorities for cases dating from January 2011, once the revised taxation treaty between the two countries is ratified by the Switzerland Parliament.

The revised Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between India and Switzerland is awaiting ratification from the Swiss Parliament, which is expected to happen by end of this year.

Can already feel India's big blackmoney hoarders quaking with fear.

A quick run through of other news before we return to Anna Hazare.

The Supreme Court passes the order for an appointment of the Special Public Prosecutor in 2G scam on April 11. The SC will direct the holding of a day-to-day trial of 2G scam without any adjournment.

And Kareena Kapoor who spoke from some other event says she's "glad that the Bill [Lokpal] is being passed." Didn't know she could predict the future.

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: Two more fastingprotestors have collapsed, bringing the total to three, since this morning.

A cop says he's nervous. The situation today is different -- markedly more inclined towards violence. Theprotestors are gettingrestless. Two groups have already burnt effigies of politicians,egged on by cries of Inquilab Zindabad.Organisers tell protestorsthat the situation should remain peaceful, which it has so far.

Our correspondent in Delhi reports that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is meeting President Prathibha Patil to brief her on the initiatives taken by the government to end the fast undertaken by Anna Hazare.

Earlier in the day, Dr Singhhad a meeting with the AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and his cabinet colleagues at 7 Race Course Road.

After three days of complete silence, India Inc today extended support to Anna Hazare in his fight against corruption, stating it is "sick" of the menace.

Rahul Bajaj, Bajaj Auto Chairman: We support any such movement by anybody, including Ramdev and Anna Hazare, to reduce corruption soon... We are sick of corruption.

Adi Godrej, Chairman of the Godrej Group: Industry cannot go on to the streets. Yes, corporate India does support his cause. We are with him

Rajiv Kumar, Director General of industry chamber Ficci: We completely support Hazare in his fight against corruption, which has been denting India. He said he favoured setting up of ombudsman-type institutions to deal with issues of corruption and governance.

TV yoga evangelist Baba Ramdev has joined Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement. TV images show him on the dias with Kiran Bedi.

Sahim Salim from Jantar Mantar: Protestors have brought a priest and a mandap has been set up to offer prayers for Hazare's well being. Rishi Pal a student protestor says they want Anna to be safe, which the priest will do. The protestors job is to raise slogans so that the momentum is not lost.

Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, the ombudsman battling corruption in Karnataka, and one of the two names Anna Hazare wants as the chairperson of the joint committee panel, says he will not be able to accept the honour. Justice Hegde says he is a supporter of Anna Hazare and therefore there would be a conflict of interest.

The other person is Justice GS Verma.

Who is Justice Hegde?

We take a break from Jantar Mantar from other news.

An Indian national, who cheated unsuspecting women he met on Internet dating sites and fleeced them of thousands of dollars, has been sentenced to 42 months in prison by a US court.

Jaitass Dhanoa (27) preyed on three women of Indian descent, lying to them about his name, citizenship, and employment and convinced them of his love before using their credit cards for the fraud. He also used his name as Jay D Singh and Jay Singh. He has also been ordered to pay a USD 1,000 fine and a USD 1,500 special assessment fine.

Yesterday, an elderly man, collapsed because of severe weakness and dehydration. Earlier, an18-year-old student, had also collapsed. Both protestors have been taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and are undergoing treatment.

Rediff.com's Sahim Salim who is at Jantar Mantar reports that the turnout in support of Anna Hazare has been going up steadily. The atmosphere here is electrifying, cries of Anna Hazare Jai, or Down with Corruption, errupting every few minutes.

A major cleric has been killed in bomb blast in Srinagar. Rediff.com's Mukhtar Ahmad reports that Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, head of the Ahli-Hadees organisation in Jammu and Kashmir, was killed in a powerful bomb explosion outside a mosque in Maisuma locality near Srinagar's city centre Lal Chowk on this afternoon.

A senior police official said, Shah was just about to step inside the mosque when the bomb exploded, injuring him and another bystander critically. They were then rushed to the SHMS hospital in Srinagar.

Despite the best efforts of doctors, Shah succumbed to his injuries. High tension has gripped Maisuma locality after the blast with security personnel searching the area.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident.

Former International Cricket Council boss Malcolm Speed has published a letter in which the Indian and Australian boards are accused of colluding in a way that could have been disastrous for cricket at the height of the Monkeygate scandal.

In his new memoirs, Speed says India's wealth and power can be a great advantage for cricket, but they must be used responsibly. His warning coincides with India confirming its superpower status, with the world's No 1 Test nation lifting the World Cup in Mumbai last weekend, and ahead of an Indian tour next summer that will generate media rights worth between five and six times more to Cricket Australia than England''s Ashes visit.

If you've been wondering, here's why, Kiran Bedi was missing from the agitation at Jantar Mantar yesterday. She's very much there this morning.

Bedi said she was very much with the movement and would continue with the fight. She said she could not be present yesterday as she was suffering from a severe throat problem and was advised rest.

Her absence yesterday at the protest site triggered reports of a crack in the movement.

After a surly morning, the government on the backfoot again. Pranab Mukherjee now says that Anna Hazare should be part of the joint committee and talks were on to end the stalemate.He also asks Hazare to join in the drafting of the amended Lokpal bill.

Earlier today, Anna Hazare wrote to Sonia Gandhi that he was relieved to know she supported the cause. He also requested the PM to consider an apolitical person to head the panel.

Just in: Residents of Bhingar village in Ahmednagar of Maharastra, Anna's village, begin hunger strike. Civil society follows with serial hunger strikes across the nation.

Anna Hazare is on a fast unto death on the anti-graft Lokpal bill.

Just as Japan was inching its way to the beginnings of recovery a powerful aftershock (7.1 magnitude) struck in Japan's tsunami disaster zone. This is the outcome.

• Four dead, over 100injured.
• Electricity outage in a huge area of northern Japan, forcing cooling systems at three nuclear plants to switch to emergency power and plunging more than 3.3 million households into darkness last night.

While on Carla Bruni, the telegraph.co.uk reports that Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to "smash the face' of a political editor during a 40-minute conversation after his magazine suggested that Bruni was a maneater, a new biography claims.

Read!

Benito Mussolini's granddaughter has lashed out at France's First Lady Carla Bruni saying that she should welcome illegal immigrants into her numerous "chateaux'.

Alessandra Mussolini, 48, an Italian MP and granddaughter of the country's Second World War fascist leader, wants Bruni, 43, to take in Africans displaced by revolutions in Tunisia and Libya into her homes.

Mocking Bruni as a Marie-Antoinette-style Leftist, Mussolini said she should have "protested against the shutting of French borders to illegal immigrants decided by her husband', President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Mussolini, who like Bruni has worked as a model and actress, is angry that the French have not accepted thousands of refugees arriving on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Four foreign journalists have reportedly been detained by Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi while they were reporting from the outskirts of Brega, an oil town in eastern Libya. Their whereabouts are not known as yet.

Now, quickly on to some other news.

The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to use social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to spread terror alert warnings.

The current system, which comes with color codes for 'Severe', 'High', 'Elevated', 'Guarded' and 'Low' risks of terror threats, will be replaced by the new system which comes with two levels, elevated, when there is a credible threat against the United States and imminent, for a credible, specific and impending terrorist threat or on-going attack

The plan is expected to go into effect on April 27.

By the way, Anna Hazare's jail bharo andolan is on April 12 AND April 13.

Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa has fresh news on Sathya Sai Baba. He writes that the latest medical bulletin states that the doctors will now start giving him liquid food through the mouth.

The statement issued by Dr Safaya, the director of the hospital where Baba is being treated also mentions that the dialysis will be stopped.

The bulletin comes as a huge relief for all the devotees in both Puttaparthi and Whitefield who have spent many anxious moments since the past week awaiting better news of Baba's health condition.

As per a prophecy, Baba is expected to live till the age of 96 following which he will be reincarnated as Prema Sai Baba who would be born in a small village in Karnataka.

Geeta Reddy, a minister in the Andhra Pradesh government and an ardent devotee camping inside the hospital says they are hopeful that Baba will give darshan to all his devotees in the next two days.

Here's why the meeting with Anna Hazare's supporters did not take place this morning,according to KapilSibal.

Sibal said he was waiting along with his ministerial colleague Salman Khurshid for Hazare's supporters - Arvind Kejriwal and Swami Agnivesh - this morning but as they did not turn up, he called them on the phone.

When Agnivesh asked him about the position of the government on the notification issue, Sibal said, "I told him our position remains the same. It is not possible for the government to issue a notification with respect to the constitution of a joint committee. However, we are willing to issue an official letter through a department of the government, may be the law ministry and, of course, through a press note," he said.

Sibal said it was not possible for the government to accept that the chairman of the joint committee should be a member from the civil society.

"All other conditions and all other points are acceptable to us," the minister said.

Just in: The Supreme Court orders a CBI probe into the Tulsiram Prajapati fake encounter killing in Gujarat. Prajapati was stated to be an eyewitness in the fake encounter death of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi allegedly involving ex-Home Minister Amit Shah.

More on that later.

A nice one.

Prabhu Chawlatweets: Yeh hai kaisi Aandhi? Kahan se aiye Anna Ke Gandhi? Yehi soch rahen hain Bofors ke Gandhi.

News flash: Anna Hazare will write to PM Manmohan Singh asking for a the joint committee panel to be headed by retired judges. The names doing the rounds are Justice Santosh Hegde and Justice GS Verma.

Hazare has maintained that he will not become the chairman of the proposed draft committee for the Lokpal Bill, but would only assist the committee in an advisory capacity.

However, the government has already rejected these names.

FYI: Three of the five demands raised by Anna Hazare and his supporters have been met by the government.

These are:

1. Formation of a joint committee with five members each from government and civil society;
2. The immediate setting up of the panel
3. Bringing the Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament.

News on Sri Sathya Sai Baba: His medical bulletin says he has been showing signs of improvement and doctors treating him are optimistic about his recovery. "His blood pressure and other clinical parameters continue to be nearly normal and satisfactory. His kidneys are also showing signs of recovery.

"The state of his consciousness also continues to show improvement. Indices of other vital organs like the heart and liver have also shown improvement. He is in a stable condition of health, though he still continues to be on the ventilator and slow dialysis," the bulletin said.

Chamatkari Patrakar tweets:Dear GOI, postponing meetings will make the matter worst. And there is a 73 yr old guy fasting for his country. Whats wrong with you people?

Scroll down to see the reference.

Good morning. First up, news of Anna Hazare's agitation, which enters its fourth day today.

The government today talked tough on Hazare's demand for an effective Lokpal Bill, saying it cannot accede to the demands of chairmanship of the joint drafting committee being given to a civil society member and for issuing an official notification.

A meeting of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal with activists Swami Agnivesh and Arvind Kejriwal scheduled this morning did not take place with both sides saying they were waiting for each other.

The meeting is now scheduled at 6 pm. Sibal said only government officials will be members of the joint drafting committee on Lokpal Bill and that no minister will be part of it.

"There is no possibility of an official notification on the constitution of the joint committee but we have told them that we are willing to give an official letter through the law ministry and a press note," he said.