The Pakistan Supreme Court today announced an independent Inquiry Commission had been formed to investigate the circumstances and factual evidence in the Memogate affair. This is Mansoor Ijaz's statement in response to the announcement. Ijaz is the American business allegedly involved in the case.

Exceprts:

"My legal advisers have taken notice in recent weeks of the increasing vitriol and use of abusive language against my person, my businesses and my family members, and the threats that we are now sustaining continuously.

I had largely ignored the slander campaign against me until now because the facts I have, the evidence I hold and the truth I know cannot be altered no matter what Pakistan's press corps, Amb (Ambassador) Haqqani's legal advisers and certain political elements of your country may try and say to the contrary. Their gimmicks and schemes to hide the truth in these important proceedings have failed miserably.

The Supreme Court decision today is vindication enough that the truth I have spoken and conveyed to the senior leaders of your country is real and requires thorough investigation.

And so while this investigation now proceeds, I ask the media to respect the importance of the Inquiry Commission's work and to refrain from gratuitous slander and malicious character assassination against me or anyone else who is party to these proceedings."

Update on the Lokpal Bill drama: The BJP said today, "We have serious resercations. about the role of the RS Chairman."

Under attack over the way Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die abruptly by the chairman Hamid Ansari amid high drama, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal put up a brave face claiming that the government did not want the Lokpal Bill to become a "laughing stock".

Asserting that Government will bring back the measure to establish an anti-corruption watchdog in the Budget session, the minister said that the bill could not be passed yesterday due to as many as 187 amendments proposed by various parties.

And the movie that everyone has been, erm, waiting for... Kya Yahi Sach Hai. 

Read the review on IBN Live: Sometimes you feel bad about the filmmakers who take up good subjects but fail to accomplish the task with fineness. Director YP Singh's 'Kya Yahi Sach Hai' is one of those films where technical glitches mar the core issue.

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While on Lokpal and Lokayukta, Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj today said he would not allow "toning down" and "downgrading" of Lokayukta institution in the state as he stuck to his position that the government's recommendation on the new head to the anti-corruption body is not acceptable to him.

"I don't go back on my word. Whatever I have said will be done. But I have to give opportunity to the government and when they are open to dialogue we will see that (we will be able) to reconcile", he said today.

Shah Rukh Khan: Wot more could one ask for...??? Blissfully happy and lazy...

See 

However, the winter session was not a complete washout with as many as 17 Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament.

Here's the list

Chidambaram adds, "There are differences among UPA allies. I would not go so far as to say that there is a pattern in confrontational behaviour (of TMC) Quite clear that apart from regional parties, BJP wanted a weakened Bill.  How can a minister accept amendments being forced down his throat.

By no stretch of imagination 187 amendments could have been examined, analysed and accepted or rejected in the time available yesterday."

Home minister P Chidambaram on the Lokpal Bill:

"The Bill is still safe and it has not been defeated in the Rajya Sabha. It will be taken up in the Budget session and passed in the Budget session.

We will talk to parties By no stretch of imagination 187 amendments could have been examined, analysed and accepted or rejected in the time available yesterday."

On the Globe and Mail, an interesting read: 

As they walked away from the rubble of their destroyed homes, the people of KaShali could see in the distance the newest lavish palace of the man who ordered the demolitions: the King of Swaziland.

Read

More of what Team Anna said at the press conference today.

Government could have passed the bill if it had accepted the three amendments -- independence of CBI, selection and removal process and delinking Lokayukta -- on which opposition was in agreement.

They choose not to attack opposition on its insistence that Lokayukta in states should not be brought through the Bill, though it is one of their key demands, but insisted that its passage after accepting opposition amendments would have been the first step towards setting up a strong Lokpal. 

"The way the voting in Rajya Sabha was prevented shows that Government was committing fraud after fraud. They say they want to bring a strong Lokpal but they don't have the intention," Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal said.

Steve Jobs continues to make his presence felt, three months after he passed away.

Jobs was once dismissed as a 'joker' in 1976, when he was in his initial phase of business, according to a treasure trove of Apple papers documenting the rise of the technology giant. The collection, held in a secret location in California, includes a note handwritten in 1976 by a man who had just met Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the Daily Mail reported.

The pair, who unveiled Apple that year, had asked a printer called Mike to be given '10m catalog sheets' for free. He then wrote a historic note cautioning his colleagues about the young entrepreneurs.

An Indian IT major is assisting the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority  transform its valuation methodology to a transaction cost system from a minimum price setting system to prevent under-invoicing. Read more

And as that happens, the Congress addresses the media on the Lokpal Bill. RS MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who spoke right after Arun Jaitley in the house yesterday, says the BJP wanted the Lokpal to be put off. Singhvi said Sushma Swaraj leader of the opposition in the lower house had said they wanted the Bill to be placed before a Standing Committee, and by saying they wanted the bill passed in the RS yesterday, just shows they are opportunistic.

Team Anna key aide Arvind Kejriwal addressing the media today said what happened yesterday (in the Rajya Sabha) was clearly scripted outside. He said, "The government misused Parliamentary procedure. The government passed a weak bill in the Lok Sabha. Our agitation will now be to save democracy."

And here's what BJP leader Murali Manohar Joshi said today on the Lokpal Bill -- much of the same that Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj said.

Joshi: Congress never wanted the Lokpal bill to be passed by Parliament. The government's intention was not right since the beginning and the Congress did not want the Lokpal bill to be passed by Parliament. The manner in which RJD member Rajniti Prasad snatched the copy of the bill from Union Minister V Narayanasamy and tore it and there was no resistance showed the entire thing
was "orchestrated".

Joshi said since the Congress's proposal to grant constitutional status to Lokpal was rejected in the Lok Sabha, it "did not get the bill passed in the upper house". 

Refuting Congress' allegations of BJP agreeing on the constitutional status to the bill in the standing committee, the BJP leader said, "Did the government follow everything it said in the standing committee. Recommendations of the
standing committee are not binding."

He said the government's allegation that the opposition is responsible for stalling the passage of the bill was only an attempt to hide internal differences.
"Trinamool Congress and DMK are in the government, SP and BSP are supporting from outside, why did not they support it (the bill)?" Joshi asked.

The third piece on the New York Times' trilogy on Dharavi.

Shooting Dharavi, a photographer's view

Trading of charges go back and forth between the Congress and the Opposition.

Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy (the MP who went on and on just before the House was adjourned for 15 minutes at 11.30 pm. prompting Sitaram Yechury to tell the Chair, Sir, he can speak all night) said the Lokpal Bill will "definitely" be brought before the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh defended the move of sine die adjournment of Rajya Sabha saying extension of the House last night was not possible.

Singh tweeted this morning saying "187 Amendments given till 6 pm on the day of debate and those too contradictory to each other. Extension of the House not within powers of RS."

He also said, now that government has time, it must "try and bring about consensus and pass a strong implementable Lokpal Bill." Narayanasamy said after going through the amendments, the government will take a call on what to accept and what to reject and get back to the Opposition parties.

Referring to the amendments moved by key UPA partner Trinamool Congress on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Narayanasamy said its reservations are regarding the appointment of Lokayuktas in the states and "they have no grievances against Lokpal." 

But at the same time the minister said Trinamool was part of the Cabinet decision to clear the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill introduced in Lok Sabha a few days ago. 

"They voted with us in the Lok Sabha though they had some reservations about the Constitutional amendment...we are talking to them...there is still some time and we will bring them around," he said.

Speaking separately, Law Minister Salman Khurshid accused BJP of not speaking about its problems on Lokpal Bill before the debate on it in Rajya Sabha and sought to know from the party why it did not ask for the legislation to be put to vote with limited discussion.

Arun Jaitley, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha today said, "If it was freedom at midnight on August 15,1947, it was 'flee-dom' at midnight yesterday. If the government shies away from voting on amendments it does not want, it is a sad day for Parliamentary democracy."

Jaitley said that a government that ran away from the vote has no right to continue and must quit.

On the Telegraph, Calcutta, the editorial on Anna Hazare's Mumbai fast...

Malvika Singh writes: It was a mature India that did not waste its time at the 'rally' in Mumbai where Team Anna was making the same demands. It was rather odd that the 'messiah' cited failing health and extreme climactic conditions as reasons for calling off his fast and the nationwide "jail bharo' agitation. The Mahatma never used such excuses to stall his andolan. Many lessons should have been learnt from this odd show. The real face of Anna Hazare's brigade had begun to unfold, and television channels were left stumped.

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Sir, On "Great British Understatement " (Opinion, Dec 27), the late Lord Rowallan claimed that one of his uncles who was at Eton in 1912 was invited with some other boys to luncheon with the Head Master. During the meal the Head Master's wife came in to announce that there had been "a dreadful boating accident".

She was referring to the Titanic.

Peter Bond,
Marbella,
Spain

A curious alignment of planets that govern the course of politics and the economy could force Pranab Mukherjee to opt for a reformist budget -- by compulsion, even if not by conviction.

Read the story on Firstpost.com

Shane Warne seems a happy man.

Tweets: Had a great day in the sun with the family 4 children being beautiful little cherubs EH and I so happy and so lucky with such a nice family.

Reliance Industries lost its positionof the country's most valued company to Tata group firm TCS this afternoon, as the shares of billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led corporate giant fell sharply in a weak market.    \

At 1450 hours, Reliance Industries (RIL) commanded a market value of Rs 2,27,083 crore, a shade below Tata Consultancy Services' Rs 2,28,153 crore.

A doctor, who testified that Pakistan's security forces had killed a group of unarmed foreigners, has been shot dead at Quetta.Dr Baqir Shah was inside his car when unidentified gunmen bombarded his vehicle with bullets.

He succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. Dr Shah had carried out the autopsies of two men and three women of Russian and Tajik origin, who were killed at a checkpoint just outside Quetta, Balochistan.

Loved that read? You can now buy Joe Sacco's comics right here on rediff.com. Check it out

American journalist and cartoonist Joe Sacco, the world's foremost practitioner of what he calls 'comics journalism' came to India in 2010 to produce a long-form feature on rural poverty .

The comic appears for the first time in Caravan magazine details the stories of poor Dalit villagers in Kushinagar district in UP, along the Nepal border. 

Enjoy! 

While on chimps and the like (see our 14:20 post), research indicates that the animals are also able to calculate the odds before taking risks. Experts observed apes as they gambled using upturned cups concealing pieces of chopped banana.

More on the Telegraph.

Just in: TMC chief whip Kalyan Banerjee offers to resign over Lokpal Bill. Details awaited.  

Kanzi, the chimpanzee who has learned the secret of man's red fire and loves nothing more than a good fry-up.

Read more on the Daily Mail

Margaret Thatcher criticised civil servants for spending nearly £2,000 refurbishing the Downing Street flat and insisted on paying for a £19 ironing board herself, according to official papers made public for the first time today.

Read

The daughter of the former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has hired an Israeli lawyer to petition the international criminal court to investigate the circumstances of the death of her father.

More on the Guardian.

Outspoken TV personality Jeremy Clarkson has once again been accused of racism after mocking Indian culture in a Top Gear Christmas Special.

Viewers were furious after Clarkson staged a series of Carry On style digs at the country's clothing, trains, toilets, food and history.

At one point, the controversial presenter ridiculed the unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation among the poor by driving around the slums in a Jaguar fitted with a toilet.

More on the Daily Mail.

A New Year gift for Delhi.

The government today announced that it has hiked the price of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) by Rs 1.75 per kg blaming the devaluation of the rupee for increase in input costs. 

The new rates will be effective from midnight tonight.

Price of CNG after this hike will be Rs 33.75 per kg in the National Capital.IGL had last raised CNG in Delhi by Rs 2 per kg to Rs 32 per kg from October 1.

More of what Union minister PK Bansal has been saying today on the Lokpal botch up:

• Had the opposition been been serious they would've passed the amended bill passed by the LokSabha 
• The opposition would rather see the nation fail than the government succeed
• Our concern is a strong law not pandering to different people 
• With so many amendments there was no way the bill could be considered last night as the house had to cease functioning at 12.

A rumor of a possible military coup against Pakistan's sitting, though often invisible president, Asif Ali Zardari, made big headlines in the country this Christmas weekend. Leading newspapers claimed that a selection of top army brass had met in early December with leaders from the Pakistan Muslim League, a party led by two-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Read the report on The New Republic

Two identical NASA space probes are due to arrive at the moon on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day to find if the Earth's companion holds the wrecked body of a lost sibling body.

The twin GRAIL probes will determine what lies beneath the lunar crust by measuring the moon's gravitational field, Discovery News reported.  

The spacecraft will chase each other 34 miles above the moon's surface, speeding up and slowing down in response to gravitational forces.

Parliamentary Affairs minister PK Bansal trades charges with the opposition.

This morning, he said, "The opposition would rather see the nation fail than the government succeed. We were ready to talk to anyone, but Opposition parties were not willing to play the ball."

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on David Hume, the thinker, who 300 years ago, was far ahead of his time.

Read (But keep a Thesaurus handy.)

On Twitter, reactions to the Chair playing the National Song to silence the uproar in the Rajya Sabha yesterday

Meera Sanyal: National song silences Rajya Sabha at midnight. A sad day for India. Everyone is a loser and our faith in our leaders deeply shaken :(

Preetham Parvatam  Dear Hamid Ansari , you should have played chikni chameli instead of National song as that better suited mood &crowd in RS honestly by d ppl

Nigel Britto  Instead of the National Song, it would be far more appropriate for DJ Hamid Ansari to play #Kolaveri . Never been a more apt occasion.

Dilip Cherian  All of em ought to have hung their heads in shame when the National song played at midnight

On the Amnesty USA blog, some startling figures:

3.5 million people in the U.S. are homeless, many of them veterans.  It is worth noting that, at the same time, there are 18.5 million vacant homes in the country.    

1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty or are struggling to live on low incomes.

The bereaved family of slain student Anuj Bidve, who was shot dead in Manchester this week, have been told by the Consulate General of India in Birmingham, to apply for emergency visa to expedite the process of
repatriation of his body. 

"We have sought emergency visa and have been told that we are also required to be present in the United Kingdom to complete the procedures for handing over Anuj's body," his brother-in-law Rakesh Sonawane said.

BJP has called the Lokpal Bill debacle the: single greatest fraud in the history of Indian democracy.

Bansal says: BJP not interested in passing the Bill. It stalled the House.

India’s novel solar auctions fuel boom

From Dharavi, another view of India

In Dharavi: Misery, work, politics and hope

It's a term much used by the media in referring to the group of people leading the anti-corruption movement, including Kiran Bedi, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Arvind Kejriwal, and Anna Hazare. Since "team' should refer to a group of people and "Anna' refers to just one person, isn't Team Anna an oxymoron? '

On the Wall Street Journal:

North Korea tells the international community not to "expect any change" in the wake of Kim Jong-il's death, as the US sends a top diplomat to the region.

More on bbc.co.uk

Putting up a brave front after it failed to muster the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, Government today said the Lokpal Bill will "definitely" be brought before the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session even as Congress leader Digvijay Singh defended the move saying extension of the House last night was not possible.

"Definitely we will bring it in March in the Budget session...we have to study the 187 amendments brought by Opposition parties as most are overlapping. Some amendments relate to only a part of a clause and not the entire clause, some demand removing the entire part of the Bill," Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy said here. 

He said after going through the amendments, the government will take a call on what to accept and what to reject and get back to the Opposition parties.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh tweeted this morning saying "187 Amendments given till 6 pm on the day of debate and those too contradictory to each other. Extension of the House not within powers of RS (Rajya Sabha)."

He also said, now that government has time, it must "try and bring about consensus and pass a strong implementable Lokpal Bill." 

On Live Mint, Rohit Brijnath's column on Somdev Devvarman

In other news:

Ehud Barak, the defense minister of Israel, said in late November that it was probably a question of nine months before Iran's attempt to acquire nuclear weapons moved into a 'zone of immunity' where it could no longer be stopped.

Read the NYT story

If you missed the excitement of Rajya Sabha yesterday, read our Live! commentary on the 13-hour drama -- moment by moment.

Since we still have a hangover from the 'Constitutional cocktail' in Parliament yesterday, here's a couple of stories you can eyeball.

Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reporting from New Delhi says that the Congress Party deserves no pity because it got caught in its own web of deceit. They created a product they did not want and ensured nobody bought it.

Yesterday, Supreme Court lawyer Ram Jethmalani ensured headlines with a succession of comments, most of which were struck out by the Chair. He called the Congress dacoits, alluded to an ex-PM whose name had appeared in a report in a Swiss paper over black money deals. He also told the Chair: Tell these thrash (MPs) not to behave like trash.

For who said what in Parliament, read this story on Rediff.com

Read Prasanna Zore's stories on the murder of Anuj Bidve on rediff.com

Friends, family turn to Facebook for help

Four weeks to get body from UK? Anuj's family in shock

A report from Puducherry said the cyclonic storm, which hit the union territory since the wee hours of today, has caused extensive damages. Puducherry was cut off from the neighbouring districts of Villupuram and Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu as several trees fell on the roads due to the impact of gale winds, official sources said.

Bus services between Puducherry and Tamil Nadu and other distant pockets were suspended due to disruption of traffic. Power supply was suspended since last night as a precautionary measure.

Chief Minister N Rangasamy said revenue authorities have already geared up machinery to take all precautionary measures to protect people living in vulnerable areas. PWD officials were on alert to rise to any exigency. He said the current cyclone is the severest in the history of Puducherry.

Delivery of newspapers was also hit due to winds and heavy rain. Flying squads were functioning at the instance of the revenue and fire service authorities.

Official sources told PTI that the control room functioning in the premises of the Collectorate had received more than 10,000 calls for assistance since last night.
A holiday had been declared for all schools and colleges in Puducherry and Karaikal regions today. Officials said this was the first time that a high intensity cyclone was hitting the union territory after the one in the 1950s.

Good morning. As the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011, settles in for a deep winter slumber, possibly to awaken during the monsoon, every party has been talking about the other has committed fraud.

The BJP says the government has no moral right to rule and has committed a fraud..

The TMC says they are deeply disappointed.

The Congress says the BJP's big brother attitude in the Parliament is unfortunate.

Meanwhile, Cyclone Thane hit landfall between the Union territory of Puducherry and neighbouring Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu at about 9 am.

Cyclone Thane makes landfall between Cuddalore in TN and Puducherry (The Times of India)

Cyclone Thane, packing wind speed of 140 kmph, made landfall on the coast between Cuddalore in Tamil and Puducherry on Friday morning, IMD officials said. Read

Govt puts Lokpal Bill to sleep at midnight (The Times of India)

Govt ducked the vote, leaving fate of Lokpal Bill in limbo and prompting many parties to term it a sad day. Read

Allies, Opposition slam govt for postponing lokpal vote in RS (Hindustan Times)
Terming as 'black day' in the history of Indian parliament, political parties including key UPA ally Trinamool Comgress cried foul over the midnight drama in the Rajya Sabha that stalled the proceedings sine die on Thursday. Read

Teesta, FDI, Pension, now Lokayukta: why Mamata is Cong’s loyal adversary (Indian Express)
With 19 MPs in the Lok Sabha and six in the Rajya Sabha, Banerjee has virtually stalled the UPA. Read

Fog disrupts flight operations at Delhi airport; 9 flights cancelled, 40 delayed (The Times of India)

The visibility at the runway dropped to 50 metres as a result no flights could take off since 6 am. More than 40 domestic & international flights have been delayed. Read

Bansal: While I reiterate our intentions to pass the bill, I say that there are certain Constitutional proprieties. The year has to begin with the President's address, and motion of thanks to the President's address. The chairman, meantime, is helpless. 'What can I do in this situation?' he asks rhetorically. 187 amendments, Bansal points out plaintively, we have to consider these amendments. The honourable leader of the opposition was one of the authors of the Sesnse of House, and now they are backing out.

     Click here to read more on the Lokpal Bill debate in the Rajya Sabha