Take this with a large dose of salt.

The US says it does not have the leverage on Pakistan to make it hand over the 1993 Mumbai blast mastermind Dawood Ibrahim and Taliban leader Mullah Omar to India, former U S ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill said today.

"The US probably has less influence on Pakistan today than what it had in many years. Certainly since 9/11, the relationship has been so bad that to think the
US is in a position to influence Islamabad on what India wants, which is to hand terrorists over, is unrealistic," Blackwill told newsmen on the sidelines of an interaction in Kolkata

NDTV anchorperson Sonia Singh may be surprised to know that her husband Union Minister of State R P N Singh has changed his name

Here's the Press Information Bureau release sent by Sudhir Tiwari,

Dear Sir/Madam,

You are requested to cover the following event as per the given schedule: Event : Minister of State for Corporate Affairs.

Shri RPN Singh Moily will inaugurate the ICSI Foundation Day Celebrations. Date: 9th December, 2011 (Friday)

Time: 6.30 pm.

Venue : Main Auditorium, Scope Convention Centre Scope Complex, Lodi Road New Delhi.

Yours sincerely,

Sudhir Tiwari

Team Anna member Kiran Bedi has also demanded the resignation of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in the wake of a FIR against him by the Lokayukta Police, saying such a step would not be taken "without basic homework". 

"If this is based on sound preliminary enquiry then they ought to step aside. Lokayukta Police would not register an FIR without basic homework. This is why we must have sound and independent Lokayuktas in all states," she said.

Heads up if you're heading to Tirupathi.

The famous hill shrine of Lord Venkataeswara at Tirumala will remain closed for over 10 hours during lunar eclipse from 12 noon to 10-30 pm on Saturday. Rituals conducted to the processional idols including "Kalyanotsavam" and "Sahasradeepaalankara Seva" would be cancelled on that day, temple sources said. The free meal complexes on the hills would also be closed during the time, the sources added.

Australia today made it clear that the ruling Labor's decision to lift the ban on uranium sales to New Delhi does not open doors to Pakistan, which is demanding similar treatment. 

"The circumstances for India so far as export of uranium is concerned are in my view unique," Defence Minister Stephen Smith, who is currently visiting New Delhi to discuss security and defence cooperation, told ABC news channel.

Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag at 197 runs, nears second ever double century in ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar was the first to score a 200 in ODIs in 2010.

All the action on our cricket commentary

In the Rajya Sabha today, Union Sports minister Ajay Sports announced that a new sports bill would be introduced soon.

The minister said that in order to bring transparency and accountability in the functioning of the National Sports Federations and Indian Olympic Association, the government would be formulating a regulatory framework with the objective of promoting good governance among sports bodies.

It was a new low for Indian democracy today when two important members of Parliament -- S.S.Ahluwalia (BJP) and Rashid Alvi (Congress) had physical fight when they were attending a meeting of the Standing Committee on UID.     Sources say that the reason for provocation between them was the leak of proceedings of the committee to the media.

Both MPs reportedly used bad language, which was followed by a fist fight. In the melee, Alvi`s mobile fell down and was damaged. Sources also say that senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha tried to stop the fight between them, reports news24online.com.

Reacting to the Opposition's attacks on the UPA over price rise, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee lashed out at the Right and the Left, and pointed out that there is a difference between rhetoric and reality. "It is wrong to blame the UPA for the price rise. Prices were high even during the NDA's time. And to quote prices from 10 years back is naive. Prices never remain static,' Pranab Mukherjee said while addressing the Rajya Sabha today.

More on Firstpost.com

Foreignhina HRK: Uncle Babar Awan just sent me an email asking for $6,000. He says he's stuck in Africa. Worried.

One assumes the Pak foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar hasn't fallen for one of the oldest and popular online scams.

Just in: The Allahabad High Court has directed the trial court for a recording of evidence on a day-to-day basis in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Read the rediff.com report: One Ayodhya verdict, 28 issues answered

US website Gawker on the other side of the Wal-Mart story:

India has an opportunity that America has already lost: the opportunity to not have Wal-Marts everywhere. Politicians, business people, and labor advocates in India arecurrently battling over whether or not to allow Wal-Marts to build retail outlets in their cities. More

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha's blog on Livemint.com

Last week, I met a rural activist who told me that a good bullock now costs more than a Nano car. And he said that rising fodder prices have pushed the cost of maintaining such a farm animal to anywhere upto Rs2,000 a month. What's more, a bullock has to be fed even during the months it has no work

More

Abhijit Majumder tweets: I'm no Swamy fan, but is this same Harvard that defended Prophet toons, free speech?

Read

Lokayukta police registers FIRs against Union Minister S M Krishna, two other former chief ministers in connection with alleged illegal mining.

The lokayukta police filed an FIR against external affairs minister SM Krishna and two former Karnataka chief ministers N Dharam Singh (Congress) and HD Kumaraswamy (Janata Dal-Secular) in the illegal mining scam, a report said.

Authorities in Bihar have ordered the arrest of men who are found to be exploiting their elected wives' positions, in a bid to end the practice of "rule by proxy" which plagues many rural councils in the largely patriarchal country. More

Recommended reading for Lalu Prasad Yadav.

On the Pakistan paper, Dawn: One of the unspoken attributes defining their calibre among the older Indian actors was that they all spoke excellent Urdu, which was advertised for a variety of reasons as Hindi cinema.

On the other hand, most of the younger lot, if we are sensitive enough to notice, can't pronounce their own names properly,more so if they happen to be one of the popular Khans. Read

Also see on rediff.com: Dev Anand, a man of all seasons

On Firstpost.com: The news that MPs who were denied First Class AC travel on the Patna Rajdhani protested so strongly with Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi that he had to assuage their feelings of hurt and humiliation by transferring and suspending senior officials is startling.

But, as usual, the country will take it in its stride. Because, it happens like that only in India when the privileged raise Cain.

More

In world news:

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of being behind protests over the results of Russia's parliamentary elections. Putin said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "set the tone for some opposition activists". Clinton "gave them a signal, they heard this signal and started active work," Putin claimed. Read the bbc.co.uk report.

A bowel cancer screening programme in England is on course to cut deaths by a sixth, say researchers studying results from the first million people tested. However, the work, published in the journal, aptly called, Gut, has raised concerns that the programme, launched in 2006, misses tumours in certain parts of the colon.

More

Health stories coming up.

People, especially women, who mix day and night shifts are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes, a new Harvard study has claimed. People who rotate through shifts for just a few years are more to susceptible as they are more likely to suffer from disrupted eating patterns and sleep deprivation, which in turn leads to weight gain and diabetes.

Parliament today mourned the death of legendary actor-filmmaker Dev Anand, who breathed his last on December 3 at the age of 88. In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Meira Kumar said Dev Anand had mesmerised generations of cinema goers within the country and outside with his on-screen performance.

Why the miss yesterday, we wonder.

While on the arms race, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said yesterday that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal was at risk of being seized by "extremists" who had probably infiltrated Islamabad's military.

"My guess is that they have well over 100 nuclear weapons and that the Pakistani military is so penetrated by extremist elements you have no idea if one morning, they are going to lose three or four of them. I mean just have them stolen," Gingrich told CNN's Situation Room program.

India has jumped to become the third biggest arms purchaser from America logging contracts worth over USD 4.5 billion last year alone. Had the US firms bagged India's biggest ever deal for fighter jets, New Delhi would have been on the top spot of American arms sales worldwide, according to a Pentagon report.

Afghan Security Forces (USD 5.4 billion) is in the first position, followed by Taipei

Dharmendra, easily one of Hindi cinema's sexiest heroes, turns 76 today. Warm wishes and much happinness, sir.

If you aren't clued in yet, India has won the toss in the fourth ODI against West Indies in Indore and on this occasion, Virender Sehwag has decided he will bat first. For all the action as it happens click here.

And on the Sydney Morning Herald: Ricky Ponting is to break his Test century drought, there are many historical and sentimental reasons why Bellerive Oval is a likely venue for it. Read #IndiavsAustraliaMahaYuddh

From the Independent.co.uk: Activists in Pakistan have warned the US ambassador they intend to launch legal action against him and seek to have him charged over the alleged murder of two boys killed by a CIA drone strike. One of the boys had attended a conference in Islamabad highlighting the human toll from the use of drones.

Read

Congratulations are in order for the Islamabad court.

The court today rejected an application which was filed by a local lawyer against Veena Malik's 'nude' photo shoot which appeared in in the FHM India magazine.

The petitioner sought action against Malik for posing nude with a tattoo saying ISI on her arm. During the hearing, the court said that it cannot take any action as the photos had been published in another country.

Khan, in his petition, had maintained that being a Muslim woman, Malik has trampled "all standards of Islamic cultures and morality".

More on Salman Khurshid's reaction to PC's involvement in the 2G case.

"Chidambaram is a part of the government. We all are a part of the government. Please respect a person's dignity. This is not any decision, steps are taken to proceed further. It cannot be called as a decision,' he added  

He further slammed the Opposition for demanding Chidambaram's resignation saying that their behaviour was "not acceptable".  

"We cant change the law of the country, we can't change it according to the way the opposition wants,' he said.  

Swamy has to appear before the court on December 17.

With the opposition planning to raise the blackmoney issue in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today briefed Congress MPs on
different aspects of the matter and steps taken by the government to curb the menace. (Read our 12:25 pm post)

In a 45-minute meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), Mukherjee also apprised the members of various international frameworks to access banking information. 

The Arunachal Pradesh assembly did today, what the Parliament has not --paid tributes to legendary singer Bhupen Hazarika and yesteryear superstar Dev Anand, who died recently.

Speaker Wangling Lowangdong while participating in the obituary references of the duo in the day-long special session of the assembly termed their deaths as "irreparable loss" to the country.

Model Yana Gupta has donned the writer's hat and has come out with a book on fitness tips and health and wellness. For some years, the Czech Republic-born Yana has been suffering from chronic eating disorder, despite being a
fitness freak. In How To Love Your Body And Get The Body You Love, she
reveals how she put all this behind her and evolved a unique approach to health and wellness.

The last time Yana was in the news was when she went without her panties.

Anna Hazare's anti-corruption movement that saw Indians rally in support has been named among the top 10 news stories in the world this year by Time
magazine, which listed the Arab Spring and killing of Osama bin Laden as the top attention-grabbing headlines. 

Time magazine compiled 54 wide-ranging lists of the top 10 happenings in 2011 in the field of politics, entertainment, business, sports and pop culture.

Which reminds us, Team Anna has got permission for a day-long protest at Jantar Mantar on 11 Dec.

The much awaited wedding of star couple Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor will be solemnised in 2012, probably after the release of 'Agent Vinod'.

That's not news as far as we are concerned -- (our December 1 story: Kareena: Will announce wedding date after release of Agent Vinod).

An update on that story is that Karishma Kapoor yesterday, confirmed that news: "As far as I know, no date has been finalised yet for the marriage, but it will happen after the release of 'Agent Vinod'. We all will let you know about the same as we all want the whole world... everyone to enjoy the moment," Kareena's sister, actress Karishma Kapoor, said at an event.

If you're heading to Delhi, don't miss the streefood fest celebrating 100 years of the capital.

Mouth-watering kebabs, tasty biryanis, chatpata chaat, hot jalebis dipped in milk and parathas -- Old Delhi's cuisine has come to the the heart of the capital from the bylanes.

The nine-day festival --  'Delhi ke Pakwaan' on Baba Kharak Singh Marg -- which began on Saturady, in Connaught Place is a must visit.

Nobody wants a crabby colleague. Must-read, if you are:

It happens to all of us: we suddenly and inexplicably feel cheery or blue, even though our mood was quite different just moments before. Often the culprit is a subliminal cue, or, as psychologists call it, priming. But we do not have to be at the mercy of these unconscious cues. Recent research suggests that simply recognizing the phenomenon can help us take control.

Read the story on the Scientific American.

Just in: The Central tax authorities have frozen the bank accounts of national carrier Air India for non-payment of service tax. AI says some payments will be made today.

The service tax department has also frozen the bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines. While the AI owes the department approximately Rs 100 crore, Vijay Mallya's airline owes approximately Rs 70 crore. This effectively means that while both the companies collected the service tax on the air tickets they sold from their customers, they did not deposit it with the department.

Every day, beginning today, we will give you one a listing for 2011. We begin with the 26 best films of this year. Read it on the New Yorker.  

Man of the moment, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy today said Harvard University should have a re-look at its decision to remove courses taught by him while maintaining that it should have sought his comments before reaching a conclusion.

 In his reaction to the University's decision to remove courses taught by him terming as "reprehensible" his views in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism, Swamy said the University should have first sought his comments which is a normal procedure and this has not been done.

The context: Harvard scraps Swamy's courses

Olympic medallist Karnam Malleswari has shot back at Kunjarani Devi for putting her weight behind the Indian Weightlifting Federation, saying her
compatriot's view regarding the current office bearers of IWF is "unwarranted and sponsored". 

"The outburst of my compatriot (Kunjarani) on this issue after a period of hibernation is unwarranted and sponsored especially when the concerned office bearers (of IWF) are silent. As per the legal saying, their mere silence amounts to acceptance," Malleswari, country's lone Olympic medallist lifter, said in a rejoinder to IWF and Kunjarani yesterday. 

Here's why:

BJP MPs will submit tomorrow declarations to the presiding officers of their respective Houses of Parliament, stating that they do not have any illegal money stashed in any foreign bank or tax haven abroad. The issue was discussed at the BJP parliamentary party meeting today. 

"Our MPs have submitted their declarations to the Leader of Opposition of their respective Houses. Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley will submit these declarations from BJP MPs to the presiding officers of their respective Houses tomorrow which is also the World Anti-Corruption Day," BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.

Food inflation fell sharply to 6.60 per cent for the week ended November 26, reflecting a decline in prices of essential items like vegetables, onions, potatoes and wheat.

Food inflation, as measured by the Wholesale Price Index, stood at 8 per cent in the previous week ended November 19. It was recorded at 8.93 per cent in the corresponding period last year.

On the New York Times' India blogs: The Indian government's most recent attempt at censorship may be mired in controversy, but it is hardly unusual. Read

From the Pakistani paper, the News.

Fearing retaliation from India after the 26/ 11 attacks, Pakistan went on an overdrive in constructing defence mechanisms such as bunkers, outposts and observation towers on its side of the border with India. The

India released figures to Parliament yesterday pertaining to the construction undertaken by the Pakistani government on its side of the border between November 2003 -- when both countries declared a ceasefire -- and December 2011.

The figures show that compared to 63 bunkers constructed by India in 2007 and 85 bunkers in 2008, Pakistan constructed 133 bunkers in 2009 and as many as 159 in 2010.

Figure it out

Pope Benedict XVI touched a Sony tablet Wednesday, lighting "the biggest Christmas tree in the world."  Wait, the Pope didn't go with the iPad?

The "tree" is actually a 2,132-foot-high lighting display on a Mount Ingino above the Italian town of Gubbio, and as you can see in the above video -- by msnbc.com's Dara Brown -- the Pope did the "lighting" by pressing a virtual button on the tablet from his home, 130 miles away.

More on msnbc

While on obscenity and culture, hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani has lashed out at Union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah for advocating the idea of reopening liquor shops and cinema halls in Kashmir, saying the former is unleashing its policy of "cultural aggression" but there is no place for ''immoral activities'' in the Valley. 

"The government is trying to impose Indian and western cultures. The decisions such as making liquor and drugs available for the common people, and opening cinema halls and giving liberty to young boys and girls to roam around together are all part of this cultural aggression. The government is using all its sources to make this aggression successful in the state," Geelani said. 

Geelani said: "We consider it our duty to protest against this cultural aggression of the government on us. We will continue our protest and will not allow such things to grow here."

As a tweet today said, Veena Malik is either delusional, or the greatest PR genius since Max Clifford and Don King.  

The Pakistani 'actress' is getting more than 15 minutes of fame with her 'nude' magazine cover.

A petitioner moved the Islamabad High Court against Malik contending that she should be tried under article 294 of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) for obscene acts, article 124-A for sedition, article 140 for wearing garb or carrying token used by soldier, sailor or airman and article 500 for defamation. 

The petitioner contended that the conduct of Veena Malik is controversial and shameful for everybody in Pakistan and it should be stopped.

More on the International News.

After the deluge of rumours yesterday that a coup was imminent in Pakistan after president Asif Ali Zardari suddenly fell ill and had a 'minor heart attack' and had to be hospitalised in Dubai, the US and the Pak government have rubbished the rumours.

The US today wished Zardari well and dismissed rumors that the civilian leader was being pushed out. "We have seen the reports. We certainly wish him a speedy recovery,' said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

The BJP of course, has raised the red flag again, saying Chidambaram must quit and says it will continue to boycott him in Parliament.

Swamy now has to explain why he wants CBI witnesses to be examined. The Lok Sabha has just been adjourned till noon over the opposition demand
that Chidambaram resign in connection with the 2G case.

In other news, separatist leader Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai has pleaded guilty of spying for the ISI. A PTI report says that his Kashmiri American Council were under full control of ISI, being run as an extension of Pakistan's spy agency to convince US lawmakers, officials and thinktanks about their viewpoint on Kashmir, according to latest court documents. 

The US-based Kashmiri separatist pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges of spying for the ISI, illegally lobbying the Congress to influence the American policy on Kashmir and clandestinely receiving money from the ISI.

Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy's plea is bascially to examine witnesses, including senior CBI officials, to establish erstwhile finance minister and the present Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's role in the 2G spectrum allocation.

Swamy sought Chidamabaram's impeachment, saying the decision on spectrum pricing was taken jointly by him and former telecom minister A Raja.

Single-brand FDI map stays, may be step by step now for multi-brand (Indian Express)
Govt likely to recalibrate retail foreign investment strategy and bridge divide with allies. Read

China frees 13 Indians from jail, Modi claims credit (The Times of India)

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was quick to claim credit and thanked China for acting on his request made during his visit to China last month. Read

Asif Ali Zardari out? Rumours of coup swirl in Pakistan (The Times of India)

Reports of a military coup swirled across Pakistan on Wednesday, a day after President Asif Ali Zardari quietly flew out to Dubai, ostensibly for treatment. Read

Harvard scraps Swamy's courses (The Hindu)

Harvard University has decided to remove courses taught by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, terming his views as "reprehensible" in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism in India. Read

Will Chidambaram be brought into the dock in 2G case? (The Hindustan Times)
A Delhi trial court will today pronounce its order on a petition filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy demanding that Union home minister P Chidambaram be made a co-accused in the 2G case. Read

Mamata Banerjee gets Rs 8,750 cr bailout after FDI hit (The Hindustan Times)
The bailout package, in the form of the backward regions grant fund (BRGF), comes just three days after Mamata Banerjee, the chief of the second-largest ally in the UPA-2, spiked the FDI in multi-brand retail policy. Read

Pak ministry thanks Taliban (The Hindustan Times)
Pakistani interior minister Rehman Malik has thanked the Taliban for not attacking Shia Muslims during their religious rituals yesterday. Read