This falls into the realm of faking news, only it's not.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today asked political parties not to resort to bandhs as a mode of protest and said a legislation is required to
counter bandhs, strikes and blockades. 

It may be remembered that the Trinamool Congress has always used bandhs and blockades in the past, to protest the then Left front government's mandates.

Grappling with Anna Hazare's fast, the Congress leadership is expected to interact with party MPs on the issue on Thursday. A meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party is being convened at a time when there are growing concerns among the party MPs over the fallout of Hazare's anti-corruption agitation in their constituencies. 

Young MPs like Sandeep Dikshit, Priya Dutt, Sanjya Nirupam, Naveen Jindal and others have voiced their concern over the issue. While Dikshit had dubbed Hazare's arrest a "wrong" move, Dutt has found fault with the government's Lokpal bill dubbing it as "weak".

Justice Santosh Hegde reacts to the PM reaching out to Anna. Hegde says Anna should break his fast, though the protests can continue. He also says the Parliament should discuss Jan Lokpal, not just standing committee.

He adds that the PM has taken the right move, but should have done it earlier. 

In other news...

David Beckham -- the trend-setting multi-millionaire footballer flashed evidence of a thinning thatch as he was seen heading out for a family meal in Los Angeles, reports the sun.co.uk. Seen from behind, it appears that a hair-free patch is developing on the 36-year-old football player's crown. Read

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports that party president Sonia Gandhi is likely to come back to India this week. It may be remembered that Sonia left for the United States on August 3 and is reported to have undergone a major surgery in a New York hospital the next morning.  

Well timed return...

Just in: The PM now says the Jan Lokpal bill will be adopted if the Speaker allows it. The bill will then be sent to the Parliament Standing Committee.

Arvind Kerjriwal and Prashant Bhushan will soon meet Pranab Mukherjee for talks shortly. Pranab is the government appointed mediator.

World travellers have voted London's taxis the best but also the most expensive, says the Independent, London. The traditional London black cab was streets ahead of its nearest rival - the New York yellow taxi - in a survey of nearly 5,000 travellers from 23 countries by Hotels.com.

London was placed top in five of the seven categories voted on, being first in its class for safety, friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving, and knowledge of the area.

Hong Kong cabs were in third place overall, with Tokyo fourth and Singapore fifth. Dublin cabs were ninth.

Just in: Quick takes from what happened at Arvind Kejriwal's meeting with Salman Khurshid.

-- PM to write a personal letter to Anna Hazare to call off his fast.

-- Manmohan Singh says he will offer a personal guarantee to resolve the issue.

-- Anna will nominate three people to represent his team.

-- Rahul Gandhi meets the PM on the Anna issue.

Akhil Gogoi, an RTI activist from Assam has been with Team Anna from the last two years. He tells rediff.com's Prasanna Zore how the core members of Team Anna swung into action and carried the movement forward when Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were arrested by the Delhi police on August 16. 

Shortly on rediff.com.

Former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde says Anna Hazare must break his fast.

Here are some short takes on what happened when Law Minister Salman Khurshid met Team Anna:

Arvind Kejriwal says talks with the government have begun on the Lokpal logjam.

Meeting was good, says Law Minister Salman Khurshid, after his interaction with Kejriwal. 

I was just trying to understand what is happening. Whyare they so much agitated, says Khurshid. 

Contact should be made at every level, says Khurshid, but maintained he has not been officially nominated for talks withTeam Anna. 

"No", says Kejriwal when asked about any breakthroughduring his meeting with Khurshid.

It was nearly 40 hours since protesters had heard a single word from Anna Hazare, but when they took the microphone to roar Bharat Mata ki Jai at Ramlila Maidan today, excitement was back among his supporters.
The crowd was waiting impatiently since morning for Hazare to emerge from his tent behind the dais amid concerns and speculation about his health condition.

Incidentally, Salman Khurshid's meeting is the first time a minister has met the team after the fast began.

The Enforcement Directorate will soon attach more than Rs 230 crore worth of properties in connection with the alleged bribe money which the CBI has said was paid illegally to Kalaignar TV in the 2G spectrum scam.

The Directorate has identified various properties in this regard and formal orders will be issued soon. The properties are in the names of various entities, ED sources said. The properties will be attached under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and will be termed as "proceeds of crime" under the Act.

This would be the first attachment order in the 2G case, and the action is expected to be followed by the properties of various telecom firms involved in the case.

Too close for comfort?

The BJP, a vociferous supporter of Anna Hazare, has now said it does not support the August 30 deadline and the picketing of MPs homes.

The government today said it has permitted some naxal-affected states to hire helicopters for supporting security forces involved in anti-Maoist operations.
"To meet the shortfall, the Left Wing Extremism affected states have been permitted to hire helicopters under the security related expenditure scheme on need basis," Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh told Lok Sabha in a
written reply. 

Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa have also projected the requirement of dedicated helicopters to support the security forces deployed in LWE-affected areas.

Interesting read if you're wondering if there exists a world beyond Anna Hazare.

The story of how Tim Berners-Lee could have been a billionaire if he had sold his invention, the World Wide Web. Instead, he is campaigning for internet access to be a fundamental right of everyone on earth. Read it in the New Statesman.

An Air India Express flight from Singapore to Tiruchirapalli with 100 passengers on board made an emergency landing at Anna International Airport here in the afternoon following a technical snag.

Airport sources said the pilot identified the snag mid-air and requested clearance for landing, which was given immediately. The flight touched down at around 1.15 pm.  Passengers were accommodated in the Air India Express lounge at the airport, they said

As of now I cant say, but what I read in the newspapers this morning some progress has been made. But nothing is concrete. Because in that dialogue both the parties have the reservations.

"Whereas the Prime Minister says there is scope for give and take, the Anna group is saying will only talk with certain people, and not Chidambaram or Kapil Sibal and such like people," Hegde told mediapersons in Bangalore.

Anna break

A report in the sun.co.uk says that Titanic star Kate Winslet fled Sir Richard Branson's Caribbean home yesterday as it was engulfed by flames. Kate, 35, helped carry the tycoon's 90-year-old mum to safety after lightning hit the mansion on his 90million island Necker. The actress scooped up frail Eve after lightning set the mansion ablaze.

Read

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed the situation arising out of Anna Hazare's fast demanding a strong Lokpal.
Dikshit had yesterday said serious efforts are underway to resolve the issue. "Serious efforts are on to find a solution. The Prime Minister has already spoken about it. The government is working on it (to find a solution)," Dikshit said.

Superstar Rajnikanth has come out in support of Anna Hazare. He said there can be no doubt that corruption is a dreaded disease that needs to be weeded from the Indian Society. I am very happy that we have a very able and dedicated leader in Anna Hazare to lead us in this fight against corruption. I whole-heartedly support the India Against Corruption Movement in their campaign to get Jan Lokpal bill legislated in parliament...

Read

In the background of the fall for Tripoli, thousands of people across several Syrian cities took to the streets, shouting slogans that President Bashar Assad will meet the same consequences like that of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, reports bbc.co.uk.

The rebels claimed to have taken control of Tripoli, but Gaddafi's whereabouts are not known as of now. "Gaddafi is gone, now it''s your turn Bashar!' the protestors shouted.  

Rediff.com's Sahim Salim reporting from Ramlila Maidan says Anna's supporters have broken into a rain dance and a tent has collapsed due to the rains.

Senior advocate Sushil Kumar defending 47-year-old A Raja in court today said there was nothing wrong in his decision of not auctioning 2G spectrum and that he was merely following the policies pursued by his predecessors and the NDA government.    

"I (Raja) have implemented only what I (Raja) have inherited," Raja's counsel said.     

Kumar had said when Home Minister Chidambaram was theFinance Minister he had told the Prime Minister that dilutionof shares by the accused licencees to attract FDI did notamount to sale of licence.     

Arguing that the sale of equity was not the sale oflicence, Raja's counsel had said he cannot be accused ofcorruption in the controversial 2G spectrum allocation.      

"The matter (about sale of equity by spectrumlicencees) was discussed between the Prime Minister and the then Finance Minister.

This is what the bbc.co.uk has on Anna Hazare: Fasting Indian activist Anna Hazare is willing to talk to "responsible government mediators" about an anti-corruption bill, his aides have said. Read

And on cnn.com: Indian PM says watchdog alone cannot end graft

In Foreign Policy: Gandhi's revenge

Anna break for a bit...

In Libya, one of Col Muammar Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, has appeared in Tripoli and claimed the government had "broken the backbone" of the rebel offensive there, reports bbc.co.uk.

He turned up in a government vehicle at a hotel held by loyalists, a day after the rebels said they had detained him. Saif al-Islam seemed confident and full of adrenaline.

While on Anna Hazare, read the opinion pieces in the Hindu.

1. The way out

and

2. Ambedkar's way and Anna Hazare's methods

Anna Hazare, sprightly after a seven-day fast, running on the 8th, says he's lost 5.5 kilos, but is feeling well. Sitting on the stage at the Ramlila ground, he says the government betrayed the people over the Lokpal Bill and true freedom is yet to come. He says four to six ministers are running the government.

If no solution till August 30, we will sit on dharna, says Anna. It may be noted that the Gandhian did not speak to the people all of yesterday on the advice of doctors, who told him to take it easy.

In sports news: England pacer Stuart Broad has credited pre-series planning behind the success of the home team in the just-concluded four-match Test rubber against India, which they won 4-0.

England defeated India by an innings an eight runs in the fourth and final cricket Test at the Oval yesterday to complete a 4-0 whitewash of the visitors. Broad said the series win, which took England to the pinnacle of Test rankings, was the result of coach Andy Flower and captain Andrew Strauss' elaborate planning with the bowlers.

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.

Proceedings in Lok Sabha still on after it resumed at noon. In the earlier session, the Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj said she has given notice for suspension of Question Hour, claiming that the government cannot wash its hands off the protests which were culmination of "corruption resorted to by the government".
"Scams after scams are being revealed ... the Adarsh society followed by 2G, CWG, Air India and now the KG Basin. People are facing the brunt of price rise and ministers are looting crores (of rupees). People are saying crores are
stashed away in foreign banks and there are no funds to build village roads and gutters in the urban areas," she said. "At such a time, the Lokpal being envisaged in the Bill brought out by the government has neither teeth nor eyes. It
is totally ineffective," Swaraj said.

He called for an independent investigation into the unmarked mass graves in Kashmir.

This, coming from a man, who is the mastermind of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai!

Anna seems to have hijacked the headlines from the Tihar jail A-listers. DMK MP Kanimozhi, M Karunanidhi's daughter tells the Delhi court that the PM, the then Finance Minister and Telecom Minister decided not to auction 2G licences. She also said that the CAG report of Rs 1.76 lakh crore loss in 2G lacks evidenciary value as Parliament is yet to adopt it.

Read: Why is Kanimozhi in jail?

the BJP has given notices to suspend Question Hour in both houses of Parliament to discuss the issue of corruption. Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj is one of the members who has given notice for suspension of Question Hour. In the Rajya Sabha, BJP's Prakash Javadekar is among the the MPs who has moved a similar notice. NDA leaders met here this morning to fine tune their floor strategy in both houses of Parliament.

Meanwhile doctors have advised Hazare, not to venture into the sun as it could have a negative impact on his health. Manish Sisodia, a close associate of Hazare, said that medical advice came after doctors examined Hazare at the Ramlila Maidan late night. However, Anna said he was fine and could continue fasting for at least another week.

Details of where the govt vs Anna issue is stuck.

Civil society activist Arvind Kejriwal today said they want political dialogues since this is a political problem. "It's not a bureaucratic or technical problem it's completely political problem, so solution is also political," he added.  

Stating that nobody has met Team Anna officially yet, Kejriwal said, "Nobody has come to us officially yet. Anyone who has come to meet us has come unofficially."  

Kejriwal also said the negotiations should be formal and they do not want to speak to informal negotiators. He also asked the people to who are sitting on fast to come out of fast as Anna Hazare is already on fast.

Among the other big stories...

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's today announced that Deven Sharma, the company's Indian-origin President who was at the helm of affairs when S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating, will leave the company by the end of the year.

Taking Sharma's place will be Citibank Chief Operating Officer Douglas Peterson, 53, who will become President of Standard & Poor's effective September 12. Sharma, 55, will take on a special assignment working on S&P's strategic portfolio review "until the end of the year, when he will leave the company to pursue other opportunities," S&P's parent company McGraw Hill said here.

Amid the standoff with Team Anna over the Lokpal Bill, government has convened an all-party meeting tomorrow to find a way to solve the issue. Leaders of all political parties have been invited to attend the meet scheduled for 3.30 pm tomorrow.

Sources said government is of the view that some of the demands put forth by Hazare and his associates require a wider political consensus before a decision could be taken.

In a related development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held a detailed meeting with Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, looking into the Lokpal Bill.

Anna Hazare says he wants direct talks with the person appointed by the PM and names Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as his choice for mediator. He wants negotiators to be political.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Parliament's standing committee Abhishek Singhvi is to speak to the PM on the Jan Lokpal bill.

Good morning. On day 8 of Anna Hazare's fast, the pressure on the government has increased to arrive at a consensus. Team Anna says it's ready to start direct political dialogue and appeals to supporters not to take the law in their own hands. Stay with us through the day...

Govt may relent, put Prime Minister under Lokpal (The Times of India)

Anxious to resolve the standoff with the Anna Hazare group over Lokpal, the government appeared set to relent on placing the Prime Minister within the jurisdiction of the anti-graft ombudsman. Read

Pressure from within Cong on Rahul Gandhi to resolve Lokpal crisis (The Times of India)
Pressure is building up on Rahul Gandhi from within the party to step in and resolve the Lokpal crisis, in view of the nationwide response to Hazare's agitation. Read

Ready for talks with Centre's representative or Manmohan: Team Anna (The Hindu)
Scotching rumours that Anna Hazare would talk only to the Prime Minister or Rahul Gandhi, Team Anna said they were open to dialogue with any authorised representative of the government or the PM. Read

Lokpal: Govt to hold all-party meeting tomorrow (DNA)
As Anna Hazare's fast against corruption enters its 8th day today, the government has decided to hold an all-party meeting on the Lokpal Bill tomorrow. Read

Sarkari lokpal knocks out govt's credibility: Arun Jaitley (Hindustan Times)

In the first clear show of support for Anna Hazare, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley asked the government to drop the idea of a "sarkari lokpal".

Read

Good morning. On day 8 of Anna Hazare's fast, the pressure on the government has increased to arrive at a consensus. Team Anna says it's ready to start direct political dialogue and appeals to supporters not to take the law in their own hands. Stay with us through the day...

Govt may relent, put Prime Minister under Lokpal (The Times of India)

Anxious to resolve the standoff with the Anna Hazare group over Lokpal, the government appeared set to relent on placing the Prime Minister within the jurisdiction of the anti-graft ombudsman. Read

Pressure from within Cong on Rahul Gandhi to resolve Lokpal crisis (The Times of India)
Pressure is building up on Rahul Gandhi from within the party to step in and resolve the Lokpal crisis, in view of the nationwide response to Hazare's agitation. Read

Ready for talks with Centre's representative or Manmohan: Team Anna (The Hindu)
Scotching rumours that Anna Hazare would talk only to the Prime Minister or Rahul Gandhi, Team Anna said they were open to dialogue with any authorised representative of the government or the PM. Read

Lokpal: Govt to hold all-party meeting tomorrow (DNA)
As Anna Hazare's fast against corruption enters its 8th day today, the government has decided to hold an all-party meeting on the Lokpal Bill tomorrow. Read

Sarkari lokpal knocks out govt's credibility: Arun Jaitley (Hindustan Times)

In the first clear show of support for Anna Hazare, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley asked the government to drop the idea of a "sarkari lokpal".

Read