News today has been hijacked by MF Husain's death. Scroll down for all that happened...

His devotees apparently claim that Baba Ramdev will stop darshans if donations stop.

Detailed story on Baba Ramdev and his asset base on rediff.com shortly.

An upset M Karunanidhi could decide tomorrow on the withdrawal of the DMK Ministers at the Centre at a meeting of the party's top brass in Chennai.

This is the impression gaining ground in Congress circles here ahead of the emergency meeting of the DMK's high-level Action Committee.The meeting, the first after DMK's drubbing in the Assembly polls in which it finished a poor third, is being held in the wake of the Delhi High Court denying bail to DMK
MP and Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi, in the 2G spectrum case.
She is currently in Tihar jail.

Sushma Swaraj tweets:

Congress has taken exception to my meeting with Baba Ramdev. Is it that only Congress Ministers can meet Baba Ramdevand not the Leader of Opposition?

Just in: A Libyanofficial has denied the UN report accusing troops of rape; says it is NATO and rebels who are guilty of 'violating human rights'.

See our 11:14 am post: Gaddafi gave Viagra to troops for mass rape

This is what Bal Thackeray said of MF Husain today. We can't give you the Hindi text since this platform won't accept the script, so here's the same thing in English.

MF Husain ek sirfira aur ziddi admi tha. Kala ke mamle mein usne zid chhodne ke bajay desh chhodna pasand kiya...

Husain ne modern art ka kaam kaafi zid se sambhal kar rakha tha. Hindu devtaon ke chitra banaye aur woh isi baat par phasgaya tha. Uske jaane se modern art ki kifi nuksan hua.

The leader of the front-benchers hasn't heard of respecting the dead, we guess... Also, note the use of 'uske' not 'unke'.

If this kind of testosterone-charged newsis your scene...

The latest version of India's main battle tank, Arjun Mark II, will be tested for the first time at Pokhran in Rajasthan from June 11.Developed by the country's leading defence research and development organisation, the DRDO, the machine and its performance will be closely watched by the Army.

Our Delhi correspondent says that the BJP has demanded that the last rites of MF Hussain be held in India as per his wishes.

Party General Secretary Ananth Kumar said though Hussain was controversial, he was after all an Indian and so his last rites should be allowed in India in the manner his family and friends want.

Tata Nano, one of the world's cheapest cars, today entered Sri Lanka's lucrative taxi market with a fleet of 45 cars and an overload of passengers.

A local company launched the service as an alternative to expensive air conditioned taxis, but more comfortable than the ubiquitous three-wheel taxi.
"We launched with 45 cars and hope to raise the fleet to 200 before the end of this year," a spokesman for the Nano Taxi companysaid.

He said the fare was almost half of what is charged by other companies which use Japanese and Korean-made sedans.The Nano Taxi will also employ female drivers, he said.

OK, Baba Ramdev is back in the news. On Day 6 of his fast, the yoga guru has been refusing to take glucose IV. Yesterday, doctors said Ramdev needed to get off his fast soon as he was weak and had recommended glucose.

Apparently, he has agreed to take lemonade and honey. The District Magistrate, Haridwar, says he may be forced to put Baba on a drip this evening.

Every other person seems to have an MF painting... Unfair world, this. Incidentally, his death ups the value of the paintings 2.5 times stat.

On Twitter

Sucheta Dalal
Murli deora, close friend of MFHussain owns large collection of paintings. Value doubled today, none listed in his assets! :-) PM's farce

Amitabh Bachchan
Hussain's best painting gift to me..a Hanuman with 'jadi buti' flying .. given to me in Breach Candy Hospital, during Coolie episode.

Pritish Nandy
Few people had that zest for living as Husain. My walls are full of his notes and drawings left in my office when I wasnt there.

A Hyderabad junket for the CPI(M) politburo. After their debacle in the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala will be up for discussion and consideration at the three-day meeting in Hyderabad.

"The Central Committee will be held on June 11-12," CPI(M)'s State Secretariat member Y Venkateswara Rao said here today.

The meetings assume significance as they are the first after the Assembly elections in the states of Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and the union territory of Puducherry.

The BJP is back to business today doing something worthwhile -- lambasting Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran's continuation in the Cabinet.

The party said itwas "untenable" in the wake of allegations that he could have indirectly benefitted by pay-offs in a telecom deal. "Maran's continuation as Union Minister is untenable...." BJP's National Secretary Muralidhar Rao said.

Maran is in the eye of a controversy after former Aircel Chief C Sivasankaran alleged that the former as Telecom Minister in 2006 "forced and arm-twisted" him to sell his stake in Aircel to Malaysian firm Maxis, whose owner is considered to be close to Maran and his brother Kalanidhi, who owns Sun TV Network.

Maran has rejected the allegations.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said today, he would seek public assurances from Pakistani leaders during his forthcoming visit to Islamabad that they will protect any Taliban officials who want to enter peace talks, and arrest all others.

Afghan leaders say they are looking for meaningful gestures from Pakistan''s leaders that they will not attempt to quash any peace talks Afghanistan launches with Taliban leaders and their insurgent allies.

Tibetan spiritual leader, theDalai Lama arrived in Melbourne today from New Zealand.The 75-year-old Dalai Lama will spend 11 days in Australia, giving public lectures and meeting political leaders. Reports said that his meeting with Prime Minister Julia Gillard was unlikely.

Gillard is obviously treading carefully with the Chinese dragon threatening to breathe fire.

And more reactions...

Corporate Affairs Minister Murli Deora: "Husain was a great artist who was known to me for the last 35 years. He was a noble soul... a very humble person at heart."

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury: "It is tragic that during his last years, he was forced to live outside India because of relentless campaign against him by the communalists. We convey heartfelt condolences to his son and painter Shamshad and other relatives."

Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray: Husain "slipped" while drawing paintings of Hindu deities. Damage may have been caused to modern art due to his demise. Thats all. May Allah give him peace.

Reactions to MF Husain's death.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee: described him as "a unique painter whom the world will miss forever". Banerjee said though Husain courted controversy over some of his paintings and many did not like some of his works, "as an admirer of Husain's paintings, I accord full honour to him. He carved a niche for himself in the minds of common men".

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah: "I will never forget the privilege of watching you paint in Sanawar (Shimla) all those years ago."

JD(U) president Sharad Yadav: The country has not only lost a diamond in the galaxy of painters but also a true statesman.

Feels good that India is finally in the reckoning as a global economy when just 20 years ago, we had just enough forex to last a month.

Tomorrow, Mexican Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens will visit India to seek support for his candidature for the top IMF post. The Finance Ministry today said the decision on India's vote will be taken by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"It (India's support) has to be decided at the Prime Minister's level. In between, we would like to see who are the candidates," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters here when asked about India's stand on Carstens.

Earlier this week, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who came calling here for India's support for her candidature, did not get any commitment from India.

Pakistan's jails have become breeding grounds for extremists because outlawed groups like Tehrik-e-Taliban have taken their "ideological campaign" to prisoners, according to an adviser to Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The jail, one of the oldest in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, came under the spotlight after the 9/11 attacks in the US as many Pakistanis were brought there from Afghanistan, where they had gone with radical cleric Maulana Sufi Muhammad and other extremists to join the 'jihad'.

Everytime we go to Google, we seem to stay there forever, playing the doodle guitar. Absolutely awesome. Try it.

As liberal India (and there doesn't seem to be much of it) struggles to live with the fact that it did preciousl little to push the government to get MF Husain back to his country, the German people faces an entirely different kind of struggle -- the struggle to live after the E.Coli outbreak.

The German government convened an emergency meeting of federal and state health ministers for the first time since the outbreak of the deadly E coli infection over a month ago.

The ministers admitted failures in their crisis management and lack of proper co-ordination between federal and state authorities in dealing with Germany's worst E coli outbreak in more than 60 years.

So far, the outbreak has claimed 25 lives and infected 1,959 people, 700 of them with the lethal haemolytic uramic syndrome (HUS), according to the Robert Koch Institute.

This is the BBC obituary on MF Husain.

One of India's most famous artists, MF Husain, has died in hospital in London at the age of 95, a source close to his family has said.

He had been unwell for several months.

Maqbool Fida Husain was India's most highly prized - and perhaps most controversial - painter and his work sold for millions of dollars.

His paintings of nude Hindu goddesses angered hardline Hindus who accused him of obscenity. He left India in 2006 and took up Qatari nationality in 2010.

Another story of exile.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today said while efforts were on to bring migrant Kashmiri Pandits back to the Valley, it will only be possible when the community feels confident about their return. "We are making efforts for their return but they (Kashmiri Pandits) have to be prepared for it. They should feel assured and confident about their return."

Here's why MF Husain chose exile in London over return to India. From the Tehelka interview with Shoma Chaudhury...

Why don't you come back to India and take on the fight?

As things stand, I cannot come back. No one has exiled me; I cameaway myself because I am an old man and vulnerable to physical danger. It's not just the cases. If I came back, given the mood they have created, someone could just push or assault me on the street, and I would not be able to defend myself.

The only way I can come back to India, perhaps, is if the BJP comes to power at the Centre. Or maybe, Mayawati. This government has no spine. Their hands are tied. They think if they speak out or take action, they will be accused of appeasement.

The irony is, out of power, the BJP uses issues like this to fan its votebank. In power, they would probably control their extreme brigades to look respectable and secular! (laughs) These are the ironies of India. Actually, it is for the courts to sort this out. The allegation that my work is obscene or hurts religious sentiment can never stand merit in a court. Perhaps, if someone filed a counter public interest litigation... It is not my place to do so.

PM Manmohan Singh condoles MF Husain's death calling it a national loss.

Reactions: MF Husain's lawyer Akhil Sibal says he was at peace so long as he could work. He always had great love, affection and gratitude for India and the Indian people.

He never felt his physical presence was required in India. His work has immortalised him. He is perhaps no more, but is still with us.

Cutting in on the MF Husain story to give you this...

More than 100 militants have stormed a security checkpoint in north-western Pakistan, killing at least eight soldiers. At least 12 insurgents were also reported killed in the overnight gun battle that lasted some hours.

Newsflash.

Arnab Goswami's 2010 interview shows him actually allowing MF Husain to talk.

Comments pour in on Twitter...

Suhel Seth:Would be great is if the so-called 'civil society' now went on a fast seeking a state burial or at least a prayer ceremony for him in India.

Barkha Dutt: I hope the UPA government that could not create conditions for Hussains safe return will have the grace to mourn him in death.

TusharGandhi:RIP Maqbool Fida Hussain. Victim of Indian lunatic fringe & apathy of sane Indians. Alvida Hussain Saab.

An earlier media report says Husain had in fact sketched West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee in a black-and-white graffiti for the Hindustan Times.

The etching, typical of Husain's Bharatmata and Gajagamini style of figurative drawing, shows Banerjee in a slimmer and more glamorous avatar.

The artist posted the fetching graffiti portraying Banerjee -- flying a dove of peace with a Royal Bengal tiger as a mascot by her side, in a posture akin to the Bengali goddess of strength Durga, poised over the globe.

Husain also made news for his muses: First, Madhuri Dixit, then Tabu, Amrita Rao, and finally Anushka Sharma.

Meet the lucky women who inspired India's greatest artist

Irrespective of whether you liked his paintings, MF Husain was, without doubt, one of the most celebrated painters of the world and his paintings put India on the world map.

Husain first became well-known as an artist in the late 1940s. In 1947, he joined the Progressive Artists' Group, founded by Francis Newton Souza.

This was a group of young artists who wished to break with the nationalist traditions established by the Bengal school of art and to encourage an Indian avant-garde, engaged at an international level. In 1952, his first solo exhibition was held at Zrich and over the next few years, his work was widely seen in Europe and the US.

In 1955, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shree prize by the Government of India. According to Forbes magazine, he has been called the "Picasso of India".

PTI report says his family has confirmed that MF Husain has indeed passed away early this morning in London.

Husain was admitted to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London for lung congestion, following which he died of a heart attack, say unconfirmed reports. He was 96.

Ironic that news of his death has everyone waxing eloquent about his art and the man he was, but the nation chose to remain largely silent when hewas forced out of this country in 2006.

If he is indeed dead, his last rites will be performed in London. Truly tragic that the man, who was singularly responsible for introducing and popularising Indian art abroad, cannot come home even in death.

For all that you need to know on MF Husain, who is incidentally a Padmashri, his paintings,the controversies he courted, read this.

He was also India's highest-selling artist -- a Husain painting auctioned at Christies recently sold for over Rs 2 crore.

Do remember, the reports onMF Husain's death is still unconfirmed byeither his family of friends.

In 1996, Husain courted controversy after his paintings of Hindu deities in the nude, originally painted in the 1970s, were interpreted as anti-Hindu. After eight legal cases and death threats in India, he was on a self imposed exile from 2006.

In January, 2010, he was offered the citizenship of Qatar, which he accepted.

Hindu militants in India attacked his home and galleries showing his work. For almost a decade, India's censorship laws, which allow the prosecution of anyone who threatens communal harmony, aided and abetted them.

Newsflash: News agencies say Maqbool Fida Husain, India's grand old man of art has passed away in London, where his last rites will be held.

TV reports as well as a report in the Hindustan Times says he died in a London hospital at 2.30 am today. Husain was in self-imposed exile since 2006 after Hindu groups threatened him for his nude depictions of Hindu deities.

He died of a heart attack brought by lung congestion.

While on Gaddafi, Western and Arab nations are to meet in the United Arab Emirates to discuss how events in Libya might develop if Gaddafi were no longer in power. The bbc.co.uk report says that a so-called Contact Group is also expected to firm up its pledge to set up a fund to help the Libyan rebels. The meeting comes as Nato intensified its air strikes on government targets in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, 14 rebels were reportedly killed in the city of Misrata as they tried to push back government troops.

Try the amazing Google doodle today. Superlative!

Go here for the explanationor just strum along

As yet unconfirmed, but if it's true...

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi apparently gave Viagra to his troops and ordered mass rapes to terrorise rebels, the International Criminal Court''s top prosecutor has claimed.

"In some areas we had 100 people raped. The issue for us was, can we attribute these rapes to Gaddafi? Or is it something that happened in the barracks,' Luis Moreno-Ocampo said.

"Now we are confirming that there was a policy to rape in Libya. It was never the pattern he used to control the population. The rape is a new attribute of his repression,' he added.

Moreno-Ocampo also cited witnesses to insist that he Gaddafi loyalists were found buying containers of sex drugs to "enhance the possibility to rape".

The biggest news yesterday coming out of Baba Ramdev's fast was his call to raise a private army of 11,000 so that there would be "no more Ramlila attacks". See what happened yesterday.

Obviously, he came under attack, so the Baba has softened his stance today saying he was not trying to train terrorists or Maoists but just wanted to set up a "nationalist" force.

"It is for self-defence," Ramdev, who is continuing his fast against corruption, told his followers at Patanjali Yogapeeth in Haridwar.

"If our women are able to safeguard themselves then nobody will dare to harm them and if our men are able then they can defend any Ramlila ground-type attack," he said.

"My words should be taken in the right context. People should understand what I have said.I want to train them for self-defence. Shaastra means knowledge and shastra means self-defence," Ramdev said, referring to his comments yesterday that young men will be trained in both shaastra (vedas) and shastra (weapons).

Good morning. Tragedy for 20 pilgrims who were crushed to death by a speeding truck. Later in the day, is a meeting on black money. Stay with us for the rest of the news.

NRIs' big stake in Baba Ramdev's empire (The Times of India)
According to filings by Patanjali Ayurved with the Registrar of Companies, a couple from Scotland holds 12.46 lakh shares each in the company. Read

Baba Ramdev to make his assets public today. (The Times of India)
With questions being raised over his huge assets, Baba Ramdev on Thursday morning said he will make public all his personal financial details and also the assets of firms and trusts associated with him in the evening. Read

At least 20 dead as speeding truck runs over sleeping pilgrims in Gujarat (The Times of India)
The incident took place on Dolka-Bagodra highway where a number of people on their way to pilgrimage were sleeping on the roadside. Read

2G scam: No wrongdoing by Tata Teleservices found, CBI tells JPC (The Times of India)
In its probe into the 2G spectrum scam, the CBI has also noted that the company unfairly lost out to Swan Telecom in the lucrative Delhi circle. Read

No Karuna for Maran: 'He can help himself'(DNA)
'Maran had said that he himself would prove his innocence. He will take the necessary course of action. I do not have anything more to add to this,' said Karunanidhi on Wednesday morning. Read

Barbie destroying Indonesia rainforests (Hindustan Times)

Greenpeace said on Wednesday it had evidence that Barbie doll packaging comes from Indonesian rainforests, accusing toy manufacturers such as Mattel and Walt Disney Co of contributing to the country's rapid deforestation. Read