Google Inc today said that its Middle East and North Africa marketing head is missing in strife-torn Egypt and the company is asking people's help in finding the executive. Wael Ghonim has not been seen since late Thursday evening in central Cairo.

Read Rediff.com's caustic critic Raja Sen's column in the Mumbai Mirror today. He writes about the disproportionate feedback a critic has to live with, especially an internet critic.

Enjoy!

And while you're at it, read Raja's review of Dhobi Ghatto understand whypeople want to 'bash his skull in'

So what exactly is the Egyptian uprising all about, apart from the ouster of president Hosni Mubarak?

Here's what the anti-government protestors in Egypt want...

-- The movement began with an Internet call for "freedom, dignity and democracy.

--The top demand in eight days of protests has been the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak and no transfer of power to his son, Gamal.

They then have a sequential list of demands.

-- First, their representatives will negotiate with the military only after Mubarak's departure. They reject negotiations with the new vice president, Omar Suleiman, the former intelligence chief and army general. However, some might be willing to talk with Suleiman if Mubarak steps down. Many consider Suleiman tainted because he was appointed by Mubarak

-- They want negotiations on a transitional period during which the constitution will be rewritten to set term limits on the presidency, among other changes.

-- They then want free and fair elections for a president and new parliament.

More power to the people...

Egyptians turn down president Hosni Mubarak's offer to quit in September. Writing on the issue, M Bhadrakumar blogs...

The Sultan has spoken. From Ankara. This was the voice that the Middle East wanted to hear. It is heavily laden with nostalgia - Caliphs, Ottoman Expire, Istanbul. But it is also the harbinger of hope. Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan has taken the lead among the world statesmen to directly ask Hosni Mubarak to quit.

"Mubarak, we are human beings. We are not immortals. We will die one day, and we will be questioned for the things we left behind. The important thing is to leave behind sweet memories.'

Rediff.com's Mukhtar Ahmed reports from Srinagar.

A day after two sisters were gunned down, militants fired a grenade in north Kashmir's apple-rich Sopore town this morning.A senior police officer said the explosion injured one young girl when the grenade was hurled at a CRPF post in the town. Security forces have been rushed to the spot and the area has been cordoned off.

Militants, late Monday night, had gunned down two sisters in the Muslim Peer locality of the Sopore town after forcing them out of their home at gunpoint.

Two Indian students of California's sham Tri-Valley university have been detained even as TDP leaders are on their way to New Delhi to meet external affairs minister SM Krishna on the issue.

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram today accused Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj of making thoughtless allegations and "tying herself in knots" by levelling a charge that he had misled the panel which selected P V Thomas as CVC.

Taking exception to Swaraj's charge that he misled the committee by informing it that Thomas had been acquitted in the palmolein case, the minister asserted that he did not say so.Swaraj said Chidambaram had told the committee that Thomas had been acquitted in the case. Following this, she had asked whether he was eligible even if he was acquitted in the case on the ground that the Central Vigilance Commissioner must be an outstanding officer with impeccable integrity.

Close to a million Egyptians from diverse sections marched into central Cairo in an unprecedented mammoth rally on Tuesday mounting relentless pressure on President Hosni Mubarak to quit after three decades in power.

See the pictures.

And for the Live! news stories yesterday (especially on the Egypt uprising) go here

Al Qaeda is on the verge of producing radioactive weapons after sourcing nuclear material and recruiting rogue scientists to build "dirty" bombs, according to leaked diplomatic documents.

A leading atomic regulator has privately warned that the world stands on the brink of a "nuclear 9/11", reports vancouversun.com.

Security briefings suggest that jihadi groups are also close to producing "workable and efficient" biological and chemical weapons that could kill thousands if unleashed in attacks on the West.

National carrier Air India it will operate a third flight to airlift Indian citizens caught in the violent unrest in Cairo over the demand for ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The flight is expected to take off around 2.30 pm today and will be operated as a special commercial flight in its return leg. AI has already transported 534 people back home, including 46 children and two infants, in two flights, in the last two days, amid complaints by passengers that they were overcharged.

Former telecom minister A Raja is now at the CBI headquarters in New Delhi for questioning in the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

The CBI questioned Raja for the third time on December 31 and earlier on December 24 and 25 last year. He has also been indicted in the Justice Shivraj Patil report which says he was responsible for procedural lapses.

Raja, who was forced to resign as telecom minister after the scam surfaced, has all along maintained that he followed the established rules and procedures.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he will not stand for re-election in September, as protests against his rule grow. Mubarak promised constitutional reform, but said he wanted to stay until the end of his current presidential term. The announcement came as hundreds of thousands rallied in central Cairo urging him to step down immediately, reports bbc.co.uk.

US President Barack Obama said that Egypt's transition "must begin now". He said the US would be happy to offer assistance to Egypt during that process.

Also read: Egypt's transition must begin now, says Obama

An Indian-American doctor has been sentenced to 15 years in prison by a US court for committing health care fraud with his wife and has been ordered to forfeit over USD 43 million in cash and property gained through the fraud.

Arun Sharma, 56, conspired with his wife Kiran Sharma and committed a health care fraud over a 10-year-period in Texas.

From January 1, 1998 through June 10, 2009, he and his wife had fraudulently billed Medicare, Medicaid and various private health care providers for medical procedures that were not performed.

The couple owned and operated multiple medical clinics operating under the name Allergy, Asthma, Arthritis Pain Centre in Texas.

Just in: Two people have been killed after the compoind wall of the Chepauk stadium in Chennai crashed after crowds thronged the stadium for tickets.

Good morning and welcome to Live! news. An unfortunate bit of news coming in about an Army helicopter crashing into a residential area of Nashik. TwoMajors on board perished.

Here are the other top stories this morning...

Mubarak won't seek new term; go now, crowds shout(The Times of India)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he will not run for a new term in office in September elections, but rejected demands that he step down immediately and leave the country, vowing to die on Egypt's soil.

Jordan's king fires cabinet amid protests(Hindustan Times)

Jordan's King Abdullah II fired his government Tuesday in the wake of street protests and asked an ex-prime minister to form a new cabinet, ordering him to launch immediate political reform

Ashok Chavan abused official position in Adarsh case: CBI FIR(The Times of India)

The CBI's FIR says Chavan played a key role in theconspiracy and abused his official position as revenue minister back in 2000 and later as CM

2G regularisation subject to our final orders: court (The Hindu)
The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it clear that any decision taken by the government on the issue will be subject to the outcome of the petitions pending before it

Malegaon blast plotter Pravin Mutallik lands in ATS net (DNA)
The police have arrested 12 accused in the case so far and two more are absconding

If I'm fit for Secy, why not for CVC: Thomas to SC(The Indian Express)

Questioning the relevance of a query by the Supreme Court on whether the Prime Minister's panel was informed about his criminal liability in the palmolein import case, P J Thomas said today that Secretaries to the Government of Indiaare "deemed" to be of "impeccable integrity"

Modi, Chidambaram trade charges(The Indian Express)

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi criticised the UPA government for failing to take adverse note of Germany and Austria's refusal to grant licences to arms manufacturers for exporting arms to states such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Orissa.

Ministry, GoM didn't stop DD loot: Shunglu(The Times of India)

Senior political figures responsible for conduct of the Commonwealth Games are in the line of fire for their inability in preventing officials from colluding with a UK-based broadcaster to cause a Rs 135 crore loss to the government.

MS Dhoni's mantra: Relish rather than perish(DNA)

India haven't experienced World Cup glory since 1983 and their last campaign (West Indies 2007) was simply forgettable. However, Dhoni is ready to absorb all that pressure and relish in it

Sachin Tendulkar strikes gold, thief loots it (The Times of India)
On the cricket field, there are very few deliveries that can get past master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar's defence. Off the field, however, things can be different, as Tendulkar learnt to his dismay on Saturday.