On Firstpost.com: Today was Mamata Banerjee's test by fire. And Didi showed everyone that when it comes to a crisis, there are few others in West Bengal you would want on your side. The horrendous fire at the AMRI hospital in Kolkata has left at least 73 people dead and left enormous chaos in its wake. But it has also reminded Bengalis of the reason they elected Mamata Banerjee to power earlier this year. More

Meanwhile, the six top bosses of AMRI who were arrested earlier this afternoon will be produced in court tomorrow.

Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today asked Union Minister Farooq Abdullah to take "rest" following his suggestion for reopening of cinemas and liquor shops in Jammu and Kashmir to provide more options for
tourists. 

"It is our advice that the person who has made this statement (about opening of liquor shops) should take rest now," the Mirwaiz told a Friday congregation at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.

'He said tourists do not come to Kashmir to consume liquor but to see the beauty of the Valley "bestowed by Allah".

"It is unfortunate that the ruling class, under a plan, is talking about implementing those things which are un-Islamic," he said.

The world's first stalking clinic opened in London Thursday. The National Stalking Center will operate out of the ironically named Chase Farm Hospital in North London and treat offenders, instead of punishing them, reports the Independent.

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Also from Pakistan:

Interior Minister Rehman Malik said today that the people would foil any attempt to overthrow the elected government, as speculation mounted in the country of possibility of a silent coup. Dismissing rumours of a coup following President Asif Ali Zardari's sudden departure to Dubai for medical treatment,
Malik, a close aide of the President, said: "... if someone tries to do something to the government, the people will foil such attempts."
"The people have given us a mandate for five years through elections and votes," Malik said.

An Indian who moved to Pakistan, a blog post in response to an article published in Pakistan's The Express Tribune by Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy titled: Deepening the Pakistan-India divide.

Read Dr Ilmana Fasih's piece

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other international leaders urged countries and private businesses yesterday to fight increasing efforts to restrict access to the Internet by repressive governments and even some democratic ones.

Recommended reading for Mr Kapil Sibal 

Two aircraft with 395 passengers on board, narrowly escaped a mid-air collision as one of them landed within a minute after the other took off on the
same runway at the international airport in Thiruananthapuram today.

Digvijaya Singh was in greeted by many MPs inside Parliament. In a style, that seemed similar to former Kerala CM Karunakaran's, Digvijaya shook hands with everyone. Between 10 and 15 MPs walked with him from the main portico of the Parliament to the Central Hall.

Gulam Nabi Azad was greeted by almost all the Telangana Congress MPs, some of whom even touched his feet inside the Lok Sabha. Some of these MPs were seen holding huge posters reminding Sonia Gandhi that the promise of Telangana statehood had been made two years ago. 

Our Delhi correspondent with all that happened in Parliament today.

Sonia Gandhi walked briskly in and out of Central Hall and the lobby of Parliament today, smiling in acknowledgement at those who who greeted her on her 66th birthday today.

A Congress MP gave her special puja prasad from the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.

Former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav, who has got his head tonsured wore a fur cap in Parliament.

Former PM Deve Gowda walked straight into Lok Sabha at 11:02 am without realising that the entire House was observing a minute's silence to mourn the deaths in the AMRI hospital tragedy.

Deve Gowda was alerted by the watch-and-ward to walk slowly and quietly as the house was mourning the dead. Gowda did likewise and then took his seat in the first row seat in the Lok Sabha.  

An open letter by acclaimed painter and Padma Shree Anjolie Ela Menon to media houses...

Dear Sir,

I am extremely distressed by a tasteless TV ad being shown on NEO cricket channel. Is it dying Jawans are supposedly revived by a product called STOP NOT. As an ex-serviceman's wife I am appalled at the trivialization of the efforts and sacrifices made by our brave jawans. I call upon people to boycott this product and the channel to stop playing this ad. Its not clever or funny. Its frankly disgusting and in utter bad taste.

Sincerely,

Anjolie Menon

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna today moved the Karnataka High Court seeking a stay on proceedings initiated against him by the Lokayukta Court on a
private complaint alleging his involvement in illegal mining during his tenure as state Chief Minister. 

Krishna filed the petition a day after the Lokayukta police registered an FIR against him and 13 others, including former chief ministers N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy, on the private complaint accusing them of facilitating illegal mining for pecuniary gain causing loss to the state.

Two days ahead of Anna Hazare's fast for a strong Lokpal Bill, his team today stepped up attack on government questioning the "credibility" of the Standing Committee report on the issue saying it has only the support of 12 members.
Team Anna also said they will oppose "tooth and nail" the Standing Committee proposals on the ombudsman which they claimed is taking the anti-corruption systems in the country two steps backward.

The Standing Committee report

In other news, Pakistan could grant the Most Favoured Nation status to India by October next year, a senior official of the Foreign Ministry said here.
Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said "October next year is the timeframe which has been given" for granting MFN status to India. He was responding to a question during yesterday's weekly news briefing on the latest status of the Pakistan government's move to grant MFN status to India.

On November 26, the Pakistani terror organisation Jamaat-ud-Dawah, blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks, had organised a rally to protest the Most Favoured Nation-status to India.

Update: Indrani reports that AMRI hospital authorities have surrendered to the police. S K Todi, the key person in the hospital trust, has also surrendered. Members from the executive committee are expected to do so shortly.

Hospital authorities, however maintain that fire safety norms were in place.

Here is the complete report of the Standing Committee on the Lokpal Bill that was presented in Parliament today

The death toll from the AMRI hospital has risen to 73, a figure that includes 3 hospital employees. The hospital first said that 70 percent of its patients had been rescued, but it transpires that 70 of its 160 patients have been killed in the incident.

There is also worry that SSKM hospital which is receiving the bodies of those who were killed in the fire, may run out of space in its morgue.

More on Firstpost.com.

More than 50 per cent of women feel unsafe, while travelling on Indian roads, with the capital was perceived to be the most unsafe of all the metros, a study
claimed today. 

According to the study, 51 per cent of the women surveyed in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai felt unsafe while travelling on roads while 73 per cent said they were scared of travelling alone at night.

Market Research claims 87 per cent women regarded Delhi as most unsafe city while Mumbai was touted as the safest city by 74 per cent women.

FYI: In that context, at least 12 RTI activists have been killed in the line of duty since last year, including Shehla Masood in Bhopal, whose death raised a huge furore.

A report by the Asian Centre for Human Rights, called 'RTI Activists: Sitting ducks of India', said that from Jan 2010 to Aug 2011, at least 12 activists including Masood were killed for seeking information to "promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority" in India. 

An RTI activist actively involved in exposing blackmarketing, hoarding and corruption in development schemes, was shot dead in Bihar's Lakhisarai district, police said today.

Ram Vilas Singh, in his mid 50s, was killed by unidentified people at his native Bhabhangama village under Amhara panchayat, barely 5 km from the district headquarters of Lakhisarai.

Although Lakhisarai police downplayed Singh's murder by describing it as a simple case of rivalry with a powerful villager, RTI activists are not ready to buy the police theory, who say he was killed for exposing blackmarketers and hoarders.

According to Singh's family, he had had recently received a threat call and a complaint had also been lodged.

A few months back another RTI activist was killed in Begusarai district of Bihar.

From the New York Times' India blogs:

Late Monday night, at an ashram near the Ganges, an iron-willed former chemistry professor called Swami Shivanand took his first bite of food in 11 days.

Shivanand had been fasting, against the pleas of state officials, to protest renewed mining of stones and sand from the Ganges riverbed in the northern Indian holy city of Haridwar. He broke the fast after officials slid under his door a written order that bans mining and quarrying on the riverbed pending an environmental impact study.

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The Lok Sabha today congratulated cricketer Virender Sehwag for scoring a world record 219 runs in a one day international match. 

"This exceptional achievement is a matter of national pride and is a source of inspiration for budding cricketers of our country," Speaker Meira Kumar said in the Lok Sabha. The House also congratulated the Indian cricket team for their tremendous performance.

Angelina Jolie has admitted that she has hardly any female friends.  

In an interview with Marie Claire, the 36-year-old actress spoke about her lack of female confidantes.  

"It was nice for me to play with other girls; I don't really have girlfriends in movies, if you've noticed," the Daily Mail quoted the Salt star as telling the publication.  

"Well, I have a few girlfriends, I just... I stay at home a lot. I'm just not very social. I don't do a lot with them, and I'm very homebound," she revealed.  

The mother-of six, had previously bemoaned the fact that she really only chats with her partner, Brad Pitt.

Shekhar Kapur: AMRI hired Ernst n Young and Kotak Mahindra to make Rs 5 billion bid for Sterling Hospitals but could not install fire alarms. Shame.

Actually, as Indrani has told us earlier, there were fire alarms, but the hospital choose to turn them off because false alarms were raised.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Lokpal: I have suggested that if there is a compliant, then it first goes to the Lokpal. If the Lokpal finds it's true, it then goes to the CBI.

The CBI is not answerable to the government of the Lokpal. The case then comes to the Lokpal court. The CBI will not be subject to any control, will work on the merit of the investigation, but will not be under the Lokpal.

Anna Hazare says: PM could have had a strong Lokpal if he wanted, it is dangerous to have such a weak PM. We will campaign against Kapil Sibal in his constituency.

On the Daily Mail: A mum was shattered to receive "official" nursery portraits of her little girl with the two-year-old's birthmarks airbrushed out. Nikki Allen, 30, ordered the prints after seeing sample photos of daughter Omnee with the blemishes -- one near her right nostril and the other on her cheek. See

Our guess is Indian moms wouldn't really mind.  

From the Daily Mail: A polar bear prepares to eat a cub -- in shocking snaps fuelling fears that the Arctic beasts are being driven to cannibalism. Adults have long been known to kill rivals' cubs but incidents of them devouring their own kind are rare. Now, however, experts believe rising temperatures are leaving bears desperate with hunger.

Read

In other news: A CBI court today remanded missing nurse Bhanwari Devi's husband Amarchand, who was arrested for non-cooperation yesterday, to the agency's custody for five days. 

The court also extended the CBI custody of sacked Rajasthan Minister Mahipal Maderna and another accused Parasram till December 12.

The West Bengal government has announced Rs 10,000 to the next-of-kin for transferring the bodies from the hospital to their homes, says Indrani..

AMRI has so far announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the dead. No government compensation so far.

On the bbc.co.uk: Actor Harry Morgan, best known for playing Colonel Sherman Potter in US TV show Mash, has died aged 96. The star died at his Los Angeles home after suffering from pneumonia, his family confirmed. Mike Farrell, who played BJ Hunnicutt in the military series, said of Morgan: "There was not an unadorable bone in the man's body."

It was a TV series many of us have grown up watching when there was cable TV. 

A rush of other stories coming up, even as we continue to keep you posted n the latest from the horrific hospital fire in Kolkata, where the death toll is now 55.

Update on what's happening in Parliament. The RS, we told you, a while ago, has been adjourned over the FIR on SM Krishna.

Earlier, however, the Standing Committee report on the Lok Pal Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha. Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi laid the report of the Commission on Pensions, Public Grievances & Personnel before the House.

Excerpts of the report

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 12 pm over the SM Krishna issue. The Lokayukta police on Thursday registered FIRs against external affairs minister SM Krishna and two other former Karnataka chief ministers, N Dharam Singh and H D Kumaraswamy, in connection with alleged illegal mining.

Yesterday, Krishna, while refusing to make a statement, issued a press release which stated his point of view: "Attempts at character assassination are one of the most despicable of human behavioural patterns. I am more than certain that the Judiciary would vindicate me and put to rest once and for all such unholy attempts."

In other news, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had a "mild" stroke that caused bleeding in the brain and facial paralysis before he was flown to Dubai for treatment. However, the President was stable and out of danger as the
stroke and intenal bleeding were not "life threatening", The News daily reports.

Zardari, 56, would require "some treatment, including speech therapy, to resume his normal life", said the report in the daily known for its strident criticism of the President.
Zardari is "likely to be flown to London for detailed
treatment", the daily quoted a source as saying.

Rediff.com's Indrani Mitra who was at the site, quoting a hospital source, says that more than 80 per cent of the patients admitted to the ICCU and ITU of the hospital are feared dead. Some of the bodies have already been identified.

"Cans of diesel and petrol are kept at the hospital basement. They are used as fuel for the generators," a hospital employee told rediff.com on condition of anonymity. "Those cans fanned a minor fire into a disaster," he added.

Tarun Mukherjee, a volunteer who played a major role in rescuing people from Kolkata's Stephen Court fire in 2010, reached AMRI as early as 4.30 am.

"So far, I have moved 26 bodies from the hospital and rescued at least  40," he told rediff.com. "The toll is likely to be more than 100," Mukherjee added. 

WB CM Mamata Banerjee has ordered a FIR against AMRI hospital. The cause of the fire is still unknown. Sources say that most of the patients died due to suffocation from smoke in the centrally-airconditioned seven-storey private hospital at Dhakuria in the southern fringes of Kolkata.

As smoke billowed out, firemen using ladders with platforms smashed window panes in the facade of the building to rescue patients trapped inside the ICU, ICCU, Intensive Cardiac Care Unit.  

Outside AMRI hospital, fears of a stampede as the numbers rise. Toll so far, according to the chief minister's office is 54, of which 35 bodies have been taken to the SSKM hospital nearby. Police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowds. All roads leading to and from AMRI have been blocked.

Bengali news channel Star Ananda says the death toll could be over 60. The report also says there was absolutely no fire fighting equipment in hospital.

The planning and development minister says strict action will be taken on the hospital officials. All of them have fled the spot. Right now, the focus is on rescue work."  

The fire allegely broke out between 3.30 am and 4 am, but sources say fire tenders actually reached at 5 am. No confirmations on that however.

Chaos broke out on the premises of the AMRI Hospital where a fire broke out this morning with families of patients vandalising the reception counter,  aggrieved that no list of the dead and injured have been provided. 

Hundreds of family members of patients smashed glass panes at the reception and threw hospital registers. Some of the patients from the hospital were taken to the state-run SSKM Hospital, the police said.

TV sources say some patients have been charred beyond recognition, while other deaths occured due to suffocation.  

Angry relatives have gone on a rampage outside AMRI hospital. They say the staff abandoned the patients when the fire began. Official reports say over 20 patients have died of suffocation. Right now, the rescue team has entered the basement of the hospital.

Quick update:

Rescue teams have reached the AMRI hospital and are trying to evacuate patients.

Twenty-five fire tenders at the spot.

Cause of fire still not known.

Survivors being rushed to SSKM hospital.

West Bengal fire minister says fire is under control but has not been extinguished.

At least 50 patients have been feared killed while more are still trapped in a fire, which broke out early Friday morning at a private hospital at Dhakuria in Kolkata.

The fire, suspected to have originated in the electrical department in the basement of the AMRI hospital, swiftly spread to the first and second floors, trapping patients, with the fire brigade called in at 4:00 am, the sources said.Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached the spot and is inspecting the relief operations.