Tomorrow, Anna Hazare and his team will fast at Rajghat in protest over the government's midnight swoop-in on Baba Ramdev and his followers. It's set to begin at 10 am and end at 7 pm. As you can imagine, most of what made the headlines today centered around the Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. Here's a pick...

1. BJP: Govt behaves like a headless chicken
2. Digvijay: BJP has gone from Ram to Ramdev
3. India undecided on Lagarde IMF candidacy
4. Digvijay: Mayawati, Ramdev two faces of same coin
5. Kejriwal: Govt's arrogance is unacceptable
6. BJP is my anchor, my destination: Uma
7. Slain Pak journo's call records wiped out
8. Expelled for 6 yrs, Uma Bharti back in BJP
9. Verdict in 26/11 accused Rana's case tomorrow
10. Yemen president has 40% burns, collapsed lung

Vikram Lamba, brother of Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat, was today booked under the Foreign Exchange Management Act for carrying foreign currency beyond permissible limit and not declaring dutiable goods. Lamba was detained at the Mumbai international airport in the morning by the Customs officials when he was passing through the green channel after he landed from an Emirates flight that arrived from London via Dubai.

Read our 12:57 pm post for the genesis.

Sushma Swaraj says party workers were singing and dancing on 'Ye desh hai veer jawano ka.'

Seriously, irrespective of where you stand on the Baba Ramdev issue, song and dance during a protest, is perfectly fine even if it is at Rajghat. They were not defiling the sanctitity of the place.

2G fallout....

R Rajagopalan on Twitter says that the Prime Minister today directed his council of ministers to submit their assets. This is the sixth time such a letter has been circulated. PM in his letter to the Union Ministers wants their gifts and souvenirs to be returned to the treasury. WIll any one listen this code of conduct?

Finally.

Sushma Swarajtweetson the hullaballoo aboutdancing at Rajghat yesterday.

We are patriotic people. We will sing, swing and dance on patriotic songs till our last breath. Those who do not like this suffer from mental slavery.. Earlier they felt ashamed on singing Vande matram. Now they are opposed to all patriotic songs.

The dance that launched a 1000 words

The new body will have more territory apart from Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong. A committe has been formed to identify new areas in Dooars, Terai and Siliguri.

The pact was signed with the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Team Anna, Baba Ramdev, Congress, RSS, BJP, civil society... the dramatis personae are making earnest theatre into a tamasha.

Meanwhile, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has announced an end to the Darjeeling conflict with the signing of a pact with Gorkha leaders. A new body with more administrative powers will replace the Gorkha Hill Council.

Now BJP leader Arun Jaitley addresses a press conference.

Says:

• There are structural defects in the UPA. People who have authority do not have accountability.
• PM takes orders from the party.
• Gandhis never commit a mistake, they are misled.

The most likely person to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as IMF chief -- French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde -- is in India on a day-long tour to seek support to her bid.

She met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee butIndia wants the selection of the IMF chief to be merit-based and through a transparent process, and a broad consensus is needed to appoint the candidate, reports WSJ.

Allegations, quips, flow fast and furious at the Digvijay's presser.

Says the Delhi police and not the party was responsible for the crackdown on Ramdev at Ramlila Maidan.

Ends the conference telling reporters at the press conference: "No arguments."

Cong General secretary Digvijay Singh holds a press conference in Lucknow, says there is no comparison with the midnight swoop-down on Baba Ramdev and Jallianwala Bagh.

He says Mayawati and Baba Ramdev are two faces of the same coin.

The Guardian has an interview with Ravi Shankar, the musician, not Sri Sri.

Terribly sad to see how much he has aged.

Here's why Baba Ramdev needs a savvy legion of supporters around him.

The Jammu and Kashmir wing of the Sri Ram Sena said it will support the bandh call given by Haridwar-based Patanjali Yog Samiti against the forcible eviction of Baba Ramdev from Ramlila ground in Delhi.

The members of the outfit will carry out a peaceful procession across Jammu city tomorrow to lend support to Ramdev's movement against corruption.

It may be remembered that supporters of the Sri Ram Sena headed by Pramod Muthalik had beaten up women in a pub in Mangalore in an act of moral policing, in 2009. The Pink Chaddi Campaign was a nonviolent protest launched in response to the attack.

Now somebody needs to fast protesting child marriages in Rajasthan. CNN IBN shows minors being married in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

TheChild Marriage Restraint Act was passed by the British in 1929 -- illegal for a man to below 21and woman below 18 years to marry. Eight-two years on, very little seems to have changed in Rajasthan.

In its report published today, the global think-tank said that India and Pakistan are "expanding their capacity to produce fissile material for military purposes."

The Human Centipede sequel -- the film that's just too horrible to show, as it features brutality, degradation and mutilation 'poses a real risk to cinemagoers', say censors.

So what's it about?

Vishnu Prakashfrom the Ministry of External Affairs tweets: Indian nationls once agan advised to leave Yemen given the security situation there. Should urgently contact the mission in Sana on helplines, for assistance if needed.

Here's why: Fighting has flared today in a southern Yemen city seized by al Qaeda and other Islamist militants, killing at least 15 people, after Washington urged President Ali Abdullah Saleh to hand over power peacefully.

Another sex scandal bites the dust. Latest update on New York congressman Anthony Weiner.

The man openly wept today after he refused to resign amid stunning admissions that he lied about extramarital online and phone sex with several young women. He said he was "deeply ashamed" for maintaining a string of lewd online relationships.

The 46-year-old Democrat admitted he had sent a close-up picture of an aroused male member in underpants to a woman in Seattle via his Twitter account.

For a week he hotly denied sending the picture and claimed to have been hacked, but wiping away tears, Weiner confessed: "The picture was of me and I sent it. I am deeply sorry for the pain this has caused."

He said he had been sending naughty pictures online and sexting with about six women over the years and "we had become friends".

But he said he had not met any of them and had not had a physical relationship outside his year-old marriage to Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Weiner, a seven-term congressman who until now was seen as a leading candidate to take over as New York mayor in 2013, said he does not intend to resign his seat in the US House of Representatives.

"I don't know what I was thinking. This was a destructive thing to do," he said. But "I am not resigning. I have made it clear that I accept responsibility for this."

Just in: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati has refused to respond to the questionnaire on provisions of the Lokpal Bill, saying that seeking opinion of her party before tabling the bill in the Lok Sabha was contradictory to Parliamentary traditions.

Mayawati in her three-page reply sent on June 4 to Pranab Mukherjee, the Chairman of Lokpal Bill drafting committee, said there was no representative of BSP in the drafting committee and she was not in a position to express her views.

Earlier, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar had also refused to give his opinion on the Lokpal Bill draft.

A breather with some international news...

In an unusual gesture, US President Barack Obama took German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a two-hour dinner at a Washington restaurant on the eve of their crucial official talks at the White House.

Obama's gesture is being considered by observers here as an attempt on the part of the US President to sort out differences with Merkel, against the backdrop of Germany's move to abstain from a UN Security Council resolution for establishing a no-fly zone over Libya.

Whatever the outcome of the talks, Merkel can at least rest assured, she won't be pounced upon and shoulders massaged.

Watch: Bush massage Merkel

Big day tomorrow. Stay with us.

Meanwhile, CBI Director A P Singh appeared before the Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into the 2G spectrum issue to brief it on the allocation and pricing of telecom licences and spectrum during the period from 1998 to 2009. At the last meeting of JPC on June 30, CAG Vinod Rai had also briefed the panel on the issue.

Kiran Bedi says government is not transparent.

The huge advantage Anna Hazare has over Baba Ramdev lies in the people supporting him -- two eminent jurists (the Bhushans), two Magsaysay Award winners (Kiran Bedi and Arvind Kejriwal), all of who are erudite, sharp and completely in sync with what civil society wants. People of impeccable credentials.

Baba, despite his right intentions, has people of possible disrepute, dubious credentials,who will only trip him up.

Lokpal Bill members Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bediaddress a press meet at Maharashtra Bhavan in Delhi.

What they say is...

• They do not want any confrontation with the government or the Delhi police
• They will protest at Rajghat instead of Jantar Mantar tomorrow.
• The meeting is an assertion of democratic right to dissent and speak up against corruption.
• Reiterate that Team Anna is not leaving the joint committee. (Inresponse to Kapil Sibal'scomment yesterday that irrespective ofwhether the team was present the draft committee wouldmeet.) Kiran Bedi says the team is very much a part of the panel and will attend the next meeting. The next meeting is on June 15.
• Imposition of Section 144 (unlawful assembly) is wrong. (It is not imposed at Rajghat.)
• Fast is in support of those injured at Ramlila Maidan.

Back to India on dissent...

Eminent lawyer Shanti Bhushan, who is part of Anna Hazare's team in the Lokpal Bill draft panelhaswritten to the Delhi Police seeking permission for the protest, and said they were putting police on notice that they intend to go ahead with the fast and any attempt to prevent the people from reaching Jantar Mantar would be viewed as a serious violation of fundamental democratic rights of the people.

"This is not acceptable. We appeal to the people to be calm tomorrow when they come to Jantar Mantar. We will stop wherever police tries to stop us. After that few people can get arrested, others can go home," he said.

On an aside, it's Mahesh Bhupathi's happy birthday today.

Sania Mirza-Maliktweets: Wishing one of my favourtie ppl and closest friends a very very happy birthday..have a good one@maheshbhupathilots of love:)

And Mahesh's reply...

Mahesh Bhupathi @ MirzaSania: Thanks Darling :) good luck this week...

Baba Ramdev's key aide Acharya Balkrishna has been missing since the government's midnight swoop on Saturday.

Balkrishna had allegedly signed a deal with the government on behalf of Ramdev's camp that the ongoing fast will be called off on June 6. Balkrishna, who is believed to befrom Nepal, will also be probed over his dualpassports.

Quote unquote from Uma Bharti at the BJP HQ where she was reinducted into theparty:

"I fell like the proverbial bird of the ship, who leaves it only to come back again. Out of the party for five six years, I have realised that only BJP is my anchor and destination...

In these six years I learnt that if one has to serve the nation and keep some idelogical committment, there is no option other than BJP. I want to forget the last five years I was out of BJP."

Yet again. Why don't these guys ever learn?

Now Vikram Lamba, who by way of introduction, is Mallika Sherawat's brother, was detained at the Mumbai international airport today for carrying foreign currency beyond permissible limit and not declaring dutiable goods.

In the same league: Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.That's just top of mind recall; Google and you'd get more.

Meanwhile, in China, flood waters inundated large areas of a southwest China province, killing 14 people and leaving 35 others missing, and forcing evacuation of at least 45,000 residents.

This happens so regularly that, unfortunately, it passes off as ho-hum news.

More reason why Digvijay Singh should be straitjacketed.

Watch the video of Digvijay kicking the journalist who attempted to attack Janardhan Dwivedi at yesterday's party meet.

As the Indian government continues to mimick Libya's Muammar Gaddafi with its intent and will to quash peaceful protests, the Delhi policetoday refused permission to Anna Hazare and his team to hold a fast to protest police atrocties against Baba Ramdev and his supporters.

Activist Arvind Kerjriwal, whoispart ofHazare's Lokpal Bill drafting committee however said, "Nothing can stop us from protesting."

Anna Hazare and his supporters will sit on a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar in Delhi tomorrow from 10 am to 7 pm atJantar Mantar, Delhi.

The call record of slain Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad's cell phone has been erased, with the log of the 18 days before his abduction and murder being wiped out from the system.

The last call made by Shahzad that is reflected in the log was on May 12, 17 days before his abduction on May 29.

Hamza Ameer, the brother-in-law of the slain journalist, said he had found Shahzad's mobile phone switched off when he tried to contact him at 5:42 pm on May 29.

Shahzad made his last call, according to the data, on May 12 near a cell phone tower installed atop a bank in Islamabad's Blue Area. Shahzad, according to the cellular phone data, was in Islamabad between May 1 and May 12.

Shahzad, who worked for Hong Kong-based Asia Times Online and Italian news agency, was abducted shortly after he his article that al Qaeda had infiltrated the Pakistan Navy.

Gadkari says Uma Bharti has always been loyal to the party even when she was out of the party. She will head the BJP's campaign for the 2012 UP elections.

Uma Bharti can barely be recognised. The woman who stormed out of the party meet in the presence of L K Advani, and the woman we see today, sitting composedly beside Gadkari are not the same. Obviously, living in political wilderness has put out some of that fire.

Uma Bharti says she wants to forget the last six years, but all through the time when she was out of the party, she remained completely loyal to the party's philosophy.

She says she will focus on the BJP's campaign in UP.

Flashback to December 5, 2005, when Uma Bharti was expelled from the party.

The BJP expelled one of its mass leaders Uma Bharti for 'anti-party activities' after she made a scathing attack on the top brass in her response to a show cause notice to her.

It took the BJP Parliamentary Board, the party's highest decision making body, less than 20 minutes to seal the fate of Bharti's two decades-old career in the saffron party that included her chiefministership of Madhya Pradesh and union ministership in the NDA government.

The BJP is set to re-induct expelled leader Uma Bharti today. Bharti was expelled in 2005 for indiscipline. Apparently the RSS and BJP president Nitin Gadkari want Uma back in the fold.

The lady is now a the party headquarters at the dais with Gadkari who feeds her mithai and then sits down to address the press.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled a groundbreaking new cloud service today, spelling the end of traditional computers as we know them.

The Daily Beast says the world of personal computing is about to make a huge evolutionary leap, with Apple paving the way for a business model in which desktop, and laptop computers start to resemble mobile devices like iPhones and iPads, and the cloud (a bunch of Internet servers) becomes the center of the action, letting you fetch your data from any device.

Read more

While the PM finally spoke up yesterday on the midnight swoop at Ramlila Maidan on Saturday-Sunday night, saying it was unfortunate, there is still absolutely no excuse for the lathicharge or teargas being used on people who were asleep.

Ramdev's followerRajbala, who was allegedly beaten by the police continues to be on ventilator and is likely to be paralysed for life.

The trial of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana, co-accused with David Headly, came to a close today with the defence resting its case after calling two witnesses. Rana himself did not testify.

At the hearing of the terror trial, the defence said employees at Rana's Immigration offices in New York or Toronto did not remember working with Headley.

The employees -- Rehana and Kashif Khan -- among others, take calls at the offices. The defense called in a computer forensic expert and an immigration attorney but Rana waived his right to testify.

Closing arguments by the prosecution and defense are scheduled for Tuesday.

Big internationalstory: Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has suffered burns on 40% of his body and has a collapsed lung, US officials said.

A report on cnn.com says that given this, it is uncertain whether Saleh will return to the conflict in Yemen. Saleh was injured Friday from an attack at a mosque in his presidential compound and is seeking treatment in Saudi Arabia.

An Arab diplomatic source with knowledge of Saleh's condition says one shrapnel wound is 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) deep.

Good morning. Let's see what Day 4 of Baba Ramdev's fast brings today considering the drama yesterday.The other stories today...

Annoyed Cong questions govt on Baba Ramdev botch-up. (The Times of India)
"It is unfortunate that the operation had to be conducted, but quite honestly there was no alternative," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. Read

How Baba Ramdev foiled government's plans (DNA)
The idea was to know beforehand what exactly Ramdev wanted and how far would he accommodate. But, it is learnt, Ramdev dilly-dallied his meeting with the ministers in Ujjain and straightaway landed in Delhi taking the government by surprise. Read

Yes, we supported Baba Ramdev: RSS (DNA)
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh tonight lashed at the Centre for its midnight crackdown on protesters, including women and children, at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, while admitting that it "extended" support to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's agitation. Read

US releases video of Rana, closing arguments today (Hindustan Times)

Chicago court will hear closing arguments on 26/11 trial today. The prosecution and the defence rested on Monday after jurors were shown the videotaped interrogation of Tahawwur Rana, who is accused of helping the Pakistan-based LeT in the 26/11 attack. Read

Cabinet clears biggest-ever defence deal with US (The Times of India)
India has cleared the biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal, the $4.1 billion contract for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft. Read

Christine Lagarde seeks to charm India in IMF bid (Hindustan Times)

France's Christine Lagarde brings her IMF roadshow to India today in the latest leg of a world tour aimed at overcoming opposition in emerging countries to her bid to lead the institution. Read

Forced to sell stake to Maxis: ex-Aircel owner (The Hindu)
Highly placed sources in the CBI said the agency officials recorded the statement of former Aircel owner C. Sivasankaran which pertained to the period when Dayanidhi Maran held the Telecom portfolio. Read

I didn't arm-twist Aircel: Maran (The Hindu)

"Sivasankaran is not a millionaire. He is a multi-multi billionaire. No one can force him to sell his business. Read