1. Cabinet approves BP buying stake in RIL's 21 block
2.  PM's media adviser sues columnist for Fai 'lie'
3. Zaheer may be fit to bowl in 2nd innings: Manager
4. 'Anti-Karnataka' Singham shows stopped
5. Cameron says Murdoch has 'questions to answer'
6. Amar's 'aides' Hindustani, Saxena in Tihar
7. Amar Singh may be grilled again next week
8. Lokpal Bill ready for Cabinet: Kapil Sibal
9. SC nod to CBI to probe Jagan's assets
10. Zaheer, Jwala, Somdev nominated for Arjuna Award
11. Gagan Narang recommended for Khel Ratna
12. 'ISI agent' Fai's hearing begins today
13. No talks with rebels until Judgment Day: Gaddafi

If you've been watching the Test match at Lord's, unfolding before youre eyes, is a strange act. India skipper MS Dhoni had decided to bowl. India has only three fit bowlers available to bowl in this innings, though the injured Zaheer Khan may be fit enough to do so in the next innings. Rahul Dravid is keeping wickets for India.   

Details on the BP-RIL deal.

After a nearly five-month wait, the government today cleared UK's BP Plc buying 30 per cent stake in most of Reliance Industries' oil and gas blocks, including the showpiece KG-D6 gas fields, for USD 7.2 billion.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, today approved BP buying stake in RIL's 21 blocks. RIL, India's most valuable company, had on February 21 agreed to sell 30 per cent stake in 23 out of its 29 oil and gas blocks to London-based BP Plc for USD 7.2 billion, and may get an additional USD 1.8 billion if the two explorers find more hydrocarbons.

The Prime Minister's media adviser Harish Khare today strongly refuted a columnist's claim that he was one of those who had enjoyed the hospitality of Ghulam Nabi Fai, arrested in the US for links with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI.

Khare asserted that he does not know Fai and had never met him. "(it) is a total lie. I completely deny the allegation. I do not know Mr Fai. I have never met him, much less accepted his hospitality for any seminar or convention," Khare said in a statement.

He was reacting to the mention of his name by columnist S Gurumurthy as one of those who had enjoyed Fai's hospitality. He said a legal notice was also being sent to the newspaper, the New Indian Express, where the article was published today.

Here's Khare's denial verbatim

Away from cricket, questioning of all the accused in the Sankararaman murder case, in which Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra Saraswathi are the prime accused, was completed today.

Questioning of the last batch of four of the total 24 accused was conducted before Principal District and Sessions Judge T Ramasamy today. The four told the court that "false case" had been foisted against them. Sankararaman, manager of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram, was allegedly murdered on the premises of the temple on September 3, 2004.

We told you  a while before the second day's play fo the Test match at Lord's was to begin, that Zaheer Khan had strained his hamstring during the course of the first day's play yesterday between India and England and would not be playing today.

However, a press release issued by Anirudh Chaudhry, the manager of the Indian cricket team, says that Zaheer may in fact be fit to bowl for the second innings. Chaudhry says Zaheer is undergoing treatment which is being administered by the team physio.

A fortnight after Jairam Ramesh was given the new rural development portfolio, the former environment minister is now in Bastar, says R Rajagopalan in his tweet.

The first stop is at a Naxal district. The purpose of the visit is to oversee the rural development schemes and also understand the situation in Naxal affected districts.

In Assam, flood waters are receding and the situation arising out of the deluge in nine districts had improved. However, the floods have led to an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis.

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that about 6 lakh people had been affected and three dead in the floods, besides 15,942 heactres of cropland submerged in the nine districts.

A total 29 others have so far died of Japanese encephalitis, while malaria was taking an endemic form claiming 86 lives.

The image of the iconic Sydney Opera House in an Al Qaeda magazine on terrorism and bomb-making, has raised concerns about Australian links to the terror organization.  

The image was used to illustrate the introduction to a section on bomb making in the latest issue of Inspire, an English-language magazine published by associates of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  

Australia's intelligence agencies and police are treating the image with concern because of the possibility it might encourage 'lone wolves', people who commit terrorist acts without direct contact with terrorist groups.

The screening of the Ajay Devgn starrer Singham, released today has been stopped at theatres in Karnataka for allegedly using anti-Kannada and anti- Karnataka dialogue. Hundreds of volunteers of tje Karnataka Rakshana Vedike protested against the screening of the film in Bengaluru. 

Also read: The Singham review by Raja Sen

Home Minister P Chidambaram and his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik today travelled on the same flight to attend a SAARC ministerial meeting in Bhutan, but it is not yet clear whether they had a chance encounter.

Both ministers took the same Druk Air commercial flight from Delhi to Paro, 56 km from the capital, to attend the 4th meeting of the SAARC Interior/Home Ministers here tomorrow.

The speculation here is rife whether Chidambaram and Malik had bilateral discussions on the flight or just exchanged pleasantries.

Back to the News of the World phone hacking scandal:

UK PM David Cameron says Rupert Murdoch's son James needs to answer more questions in Parliament about the phone hacking scandal, says a bbc.uk.co report.

Read

Incidentally, Suhail Hindustani and Sanjeev Saxena were sent to Tihar Jail today by a Delhi court. The duo were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam. The Delhi police probing the case said they were no longer required for interrogation.

Remains to be seen whether Amar Singh will join them in Tihar.

Amar Singh was questioned for three-and-a-half hours today by the Delhi police.

The police, however, have not ruled out the possibility of Singh being questioned again and it could take place after a status report is filed in the Supreme court next Friday. BJP MP Ashok Argal, who was allegedly sought to be bribed, is expected to be questioned on Monday.

Amar Singh's appearance before the police comes after the Delhi Police issued summons to him under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code, asking him to present himself before the Crime branch.

He drove to the Crime branch's Inter-State Cell in Chanakyapuri at 10.45 amin his Mercedes car. The decision to call Singh for questioning comes after the arrest of Suhail Hindustani, who allegedly acted as a liaison between Singh and BJP MPs.

Just in: Zaheer Khan will not bowl on Day 2 of the Lord's Test. Zaheer had strained his hamstring yesterday.

See our 13:25 pm post.

Just in: The Supreme Court rejects Jagan Mohan Reddy's plea to stop a CBI probe in disproportionate assets case against him. The Supreme Court today heard the plea of the former Congress leader seeking a stay on the CBI probe into the alleged disproportionate assets accumulated by him.

Jagan, son of late chief minister YS Rajasekar Reddy, has approached the apex court challenging Andhra Pradesh his alleged disproportionate assets.

The petition has challenged the July 12 high court order arguing it was "illegal" "erroneous" and "unsustainable" and deserves to be quashed. Jagan contended the high court did not have the jurisdiction to order a preliminary CBI probe on a "politically motivated" petition.

More specifically, in April 2008, #Headley purchased books with titles like International Fugitive, Silent Killing - Nazi Counters to Fairbairn-Sykes Techniques, Counter- insurgency, How to Bury Your Goods Boxing Mastery, Combat Conditioning, Ragnar's Guide to Interviews, Investigations and Interrogations, Gladiator Conditioning Course, Executive Protection and Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking & Pressing Vital Targets.

According to an email confirmation dated April 26, 2008, which was sent to one of Headley's accounts, a vendor shipped these books to "David C Headley," at an address in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Six months before the 2008 Mumbai attacks, David Headley purchased several books with sinister titles like the 'Brutal Art of Ripping, Poking & Pressing Vital Targets', which FBI says assisted him in his criminal activities.

Headley maintained books and other documents that would assist in his criminal activity, said Lorenzo Benedict, FBI's Special Agent in a 158-page submission before a Chicago court, which was unsealed on Wednesday.

Even as Gagan Narang has been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, which is India's highest sports honour, the list of Arjuna Award nominees are out. Zaheer has not been recommended for the Khel Ratna.

• Zaheer Khan -- Cricket
• Somdev Devvarman -- Tennis
• Rahul Banerjee -- Archery
• Ravi Kumar Katulu -- Weightlifting
• Preeja Sreedharan -- Athletics
• Ashish Kumar -- Gymnastics
• Suranjoy Singh -- Boxing
• Jwala Gutta -- Badminton
• Tejaswaini Sawant -- Shooting
• Prashant Karmakar -- Disabled sports

The Sports ministry will take a final call based on the recommendations. 

Just in: Selection panel recommends shooter Gagan Narang and pacer Zaheer Khan for the Khel Ratna award.

The big question today is whether pace spearhead #Zaheer Khan will play today. His leg injury has turned out to be a hamstring strain, but it is not yet known how serious the problem is. Anirudh Choudhary declared at the press briefing yesterday that Zaheer was suffering from the "strain in the hamstring". More

Just in: Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj has said that he will act on the Lokayukta report on the illegal mining issue in two-days time. However, no action can be takne against CM B S Yeddyurappa till the report is made official.

Yesterday, the Karnataka high court gave a green signal to the Lokayukta court to go ahead with the proceedings against Yeddyurappa in the alleged land scam.

Yeddyurappa is accused of denotifying land, allotting them to family members. The high court while dismissing a petition that sought quashing of proceedings against the CM stated that there was no discrepancy in the order of the Lokayukta court.

The petitioner had moved the court after Governor HR Bhardwaj had accorded sanction to prosecute the CM.

Getting nostalgic about his interaction with Tendulkar, former test cricket umpire, Dickie Bird said that he was always certain of Sachin's success.

"When I first saw Sachin Tendulkar play as a youngster, to him, I said young man you will put your name in the record books, and he certainly has. There is no doubt that and he will be trying to get this century in international cricket which is a wonderful achievement because he is a tremendous player , there is no doubt about that; one of the greatest," he said.

Lord's is the fitting backdrop for the 2000th Test in history and the 100th between the two teams with England seeking to challenge India's position as the top-ranked Test side.

A French court is said to have reopened Princess Diana's death probe by seeking to question two former top British police officials over allegations that
they withheld "crucial evidence" about the Paris car crash which killed her in 1997. 

French Judge Gerard Caddeo wants to interrogate former Scotland Yard chief Lord Condon and ex-Assistant Commissioner of Metropolitan Police Sir David Veness why they had failed to disclose the existence of a note in which the late Princess of Wales predicted her assassination.
Under French law, "removing or concealing" evidence, which could "facilitate the discovery of a crime", is punishable by three to five years in jail.

A controversial board game has become famous among Allied troops fighting in Afghanistan.

The traditional pieces in the terror chess game have been replaced with late terrorist Osama Bin Laden and the US President as respective kings - and the World Trade Center towers as rooks.

Several versions of terror chess exist, each modified to appeal to American or British forces, but all games feature Bin Laden as the opposing king.

From Foreign Policy magazine: Sorry, Pakistan: China is no sugar daddy.

Read: Just because Washington and Islamabad are at odds doesn't mean Beijing is looking to step in.

Also on Pakistan, the country's former president Pervez Musharraf believes the killing of Osama bin Laden and his stay in the country for years was a big embarrassment for Islamabad, but there was little chance the leadership knew of his presence.

"No, I don't believe that, no. That I don't believe,"he said when asked if bin Laden was protected in Pakistan. "I don't believe that, because they are my people. I'm from them. Even if there was some policy from the top that he has to be protected and hidden," he said.

Pakistani Ambassador to United States Husain Haqani said that the relations between both the countries was facing many challenges, adding that we look forward to working together in addressing concerns of the US Congress, reports the International News.

Haqqani said that foreign office made all out efforts to strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and United States.He said that Pakistan persuade 32 US Congress members to reject the bill presented before the US Congress panel that would have cut all Pakistani aid.

A secret new anti-terror law being drawn up by the Saudi authorities would "strangle peaceful protest", Amnesty International has said.

The report in the bbc.co.uk says that a classified copy of the draft law showing a number of measures Amnesty said, would severely restrict human rights.

These include lengthy detention without trial, restricted legal access and increased use of the death penalty. More

British painter, Lucian Freud who gained fame for his intense and deeply textural nude paintings died in his London home on Wednesday at the age of 88.  

Born in 1922 in Berlin, Freud was psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud's grandson.   New York dealer William Acquavella has portrayed Freud "as one of the great painters of the 20th Century'.

Days ahead of her visit to New Delhi for crucial talks with her Indian counterpart, Pakistan's new Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said her
priority in the parleys with India would be to set a future direction for the bilateral relationship. 
Khar said it is a "positive step" that India is serious in the talks and is moving to institutionalise the process of negotiations with Pakistan. There was forward movement in recent talks between the two countries, she said.
The Pakistani position for the upcoming talks is that it wants to "look at the entire picture and at the root causes of problems", Khar said in an interview with PTV. 
It was the success of Pakistan to bring India back to the negotiating table, and the priority for the upcoming talks would be to set a future direction for bilateral relationship, she added.

The hearing of alleged ISI agent Ghulam Nabi Fai will begin today, even as the  Pakistani government lodged a protest with the US over the arrest of the Kashmiri separatist. Pakistan accused Washington of running a "slander campaign" against Islamabad. 

"A demarche was made to the US Embassy in  Islamabad today to register our concerns, in particular the slander campaign against Pakistan. Our Embassy in Washington has also been asked to ascertain details," said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Office statement lauded the role of Fai, who was arrested in Virginia earlier this week for allegedly funnelling at least four million dollars from Pakistan's spy agency into American political activities with the aim of influencing American policy on the Kashmir issue. 

In other news, love rat Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused spousal support to his estranged wife Maria Shriver in 400 million dollars divorce.

The former California Governor has filed his response to Shriver's divorce petition and had asked the judge to terminate her spousal support request. The papers also showed that that 63-year-old Schwarzenegger - like Shriver - is asking for joint custody of the couple's two minor children Patrick, 17, and Christopher, 13.

According to a Times of India report the Delhi Police, has found the bank accounts from where money was withdrawn to bribe three BJP MPs to help the UPA government win the July 2008 trust vote.

Police have asked Amar Singh to appear before them on Friday morning, although he has not yet acknowledged the notice. Police have prepared a 12-point questionaire for Singh on the basis of the interrogation of Suhail Hindustani. He will be asked why three BJP MPs went to his house before the trust vote.

Former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh has reached the Delhi Crime Branch for questioning in the cash-for-votes scandal. He has been accused of bribing BJP MPs in the 2008 trust vote.

A senior leader of Yemen's Al Qaeda branch has been killed in fighting in the south of the country.  

A statement said that one of the leader's cousins, Awad al-Shabwani, was also killed in the fighting.

Any time now, Amar Singh will be questioned by the Delhi police in the cash for votes scandal.

But as we wait, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said that he will not enter into any negotiations about the future of his country.  

"I will not speak to them. There will not be any talks between me and them until Judgment Day,' Gaddafi said, while addressing a rally in his hometown of Sirte. Gaddafi has urged tribal leaders from Misurata to fight and help him take back Libya's third-largest city from the rebels, who have kept Gaddafi's forces out of the city for over four months.  

"It is impossible to leave Misurata like this. You must go to Misurata, enter it,' Gaddafi said.

Good morning. Top stories this morning...

Court upholds Lokayukta police inquiry against Yeddyurappa (The Hindu)
Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa suffered a setback, with the Karnataka High Court on Thursday upholding the Special Lokayukta Court's order to take cognisance of charges against him and others in alleged land scams and allowing the Lokayukta police to inquire into them. Read

I-T dept raids homes and offices of Malayalam stars Mammootty and Mohanlal (DNA)
The income tax department on Friday morning raided the homes and offices of Malayalam stars Mammootty and Mohanlal. Read

ISI-backed Kashmir lobby group under probe in UK (The Times of India)

The revelation comes a day after the Kashmiri American Council director in Washington DC, Ghulam Nabi Fai, was arrested by the FBI. Read

Income tax sleuths at BJP president Nitin Gadkari's son's door (The Times of India)
Income Tax officials carried out searches at the premises of a company in which Nikhil Gadkari, son of BJP president Nitin Gadkari, is a significant shareholder. Read

Cash-for-vote: Delhi police to quiz Amar Singh today (Hindustan Times)

Taking forward its probe in the cash-for-votes scam, Delhi Police is all set to grill Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh today for his alleged role in the sensational case. Read

'Pak nurtured terror groups, army projected India as threat' (Hindustan Times)

Pakistan nurtured extremist groups to fight "proxy irregular" war against India, while its military benefited from presenting New Delhi as a threat, a top Pentagon official told US lawmakers. Read