The big stories on Live! today...

1. Rana's trial left enduring mysteries
2. Revealed: Plan to oust Blair as PM during 7/7
3. Rana acquittal won't affect Kasab case: Nikam
4. Ramdev hospitalised in Doon, given glucose
5. Panetta: Terror safe havens in Pak to be uprooted
6. 'Sutali bombs' caused Nashik blast: Cops
7. Baba supporter Raj Bala's condition worsens
8. Cong paper blames DMK for TN, Pudu loss
9. CPI-M's first post poll meet begins

The big stories as we end Live! today.

Indian pace spearhead Zaheer Khan and Kerala seamer S Sreesanth are ruled out of the forthcoming Test series against the West Indies, beginning May 20. The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Friday said the two bowlers will be given enough time to recover from their respective injuries.

Karnataka medium pacer Abhimanyu Mithun and Uttar Pradesh's Praveen Kumar have been named as their replacements.

Zaheer is nursing an injury in his right ankle while Sreesanth has an elbow problem. Zaheer is among the senior players who opted out for the ongoing ODI series.

Just in: Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth have been ruled out of the West Indies Test series. Replacing the two will be Abhimanyu Mithun and Praveen Kumar.

Details on rediff.com soon.

Update on Baba Ramdev.

After the Uttarakhand government intervened today and ensured Baba Ramdev was hospitalised, here's what happened

"Ramdev was admitted to the ICU immediately after he was brought to the hospital where doctors have examined him," Medical Superintendent of Himalayan Hospital, Jolly Grant, Dr S L Jethani said. Doctors said Ramdev is being administered glucose.

Jethani had earlier refused to go into details about the condition of the 46-year yoga guru, saying that a statement on his health would be given only after thorough examination.

Uttarakhand Health Director General, Dr Asha Mathur said Ramdev was hospitalised as his health was deteriorating. She said two medical teams have been constituted to keep a constant watch on his condition and medical bulletins would be issued regularly.

Citing his health parameters, Mathur said Ramdev's "blood pressure is 104/70 while pulse rate is 56, which normally should have been between 70-75. An infection has also been found in his urine."

Just in: The environment ministry has asked the Maharashtra government to act against Lavasa, saying that Lavasa has been carrying on construction despite court orders and has therefore violated the Environment Protection Act.

He may have been truly fantastic in the Gladiator, but here's a rethink on the Oscar-winning actor.

Russel Crowe went on a Tweeting spree hitting out at male circumcision late Thursday night/early Friday morning, making clear his feelings on foreskin and those who would remove it from a newborn baby. "Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that GOD requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect," hesaid to begin his rant.

Read the report on the Huffington Post

Poonam Pandey, who will need an introduction, since public memory is remarkably short, is desperate to be back in the news.

Pandey was the model who promised to strip if Indian won the World Cup, but then reneged. Alas!

Now she says she wanted to be the muse of M F Husain. Mourning the legendary painter's death, Poonam tweeted, "RIP M F Husain its really sad day for India for such a great loss. I always had a wish, wanted him to paint me as he did it for Madhuri Dixit. I guess my wish would be just a Dream!!! Just a DREAM."

In a sordid tale of political intrigue, secret documents reveal that a group close to former chancellor Gordon Brown plotted to oust Tony Blair as the prime minister in 2005 at a time when the government was grappling with the London tube blasts.

The rivalry between Blair and Brown was an open secret, but this is the first time the intensity of their tussle for power has emerged on record.

The revelations are particularly damaging because the intrigues continued even as efforts were on to deal with the London blasts. The Daily Telegraph obtained more than 30 memos belonging to Ed Balls, who was the Education secretary then and one of Brown's closest advisers.

Read

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has arrived on a two-day visit to Pakistan during which he will hold talks with the leadership to boost the reconciliation process with the Taliban in the war-ravaged country.

During Karzai's visit, his second to Pakistan in 10 months, the two countries will formally launch a Joint Commission on Reconciliation.

Look who's going to China... After his recent visit to Bhutan, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will undertake a 'goodwill' tour of China from June 12.

Here's why: Kumar will visit power plants, besides looking into its agriculture and irrigation systems and inaugurate a seminar 'Budhhism: Mapping Asia's History and Culture' in Beijing on June 18 and attend a programme to be hosted in his honour by Indian origin citizens in Shanghai.

He would also visit Sandong and take a trip to the Great Wall of China.

Here's why:

Explaining why Rana's acquittal won't affect Kasab's sentencing, Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said, "The law of conspiracy in USA, UK, India and Pakistan is very clear to the effect that once a conspiracy is hatched and participants have been involved in that, then it is not necessary that conspirators should do overt acts as conspiracy itself is a punishable offence."

Nikam, was prosecutor in the Mumbai court which conducted the 26/11 trial.

Incidentally, if you're wondering whether Tahawwur Rana's acquittal will affect legal proceedings against Pakistani Ajmal Kasab, the answer is no.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam today said, "It pains me to hear how Rana was exonerated from criminal conspiracy of 26/11 terror attack particularly when co-accused David Headley's evidence about complicity of both of them in the conspiracy has been accepted by the court."

However, Nikam said the legal proceedings against 26/11 convict Kasab, who has been held guilty of participating in the terror attacks by the Bombay High Court, will not be affected by Rana's verdict.

External Affairs minister SM Krishna is finally makinga statement on the acquittal of Tahawwur Rana, saying Pakistan's involvement in the conspiracy behind 26/11 must be thoroughly probed and that there was enough proof to link both Rana and David Headley to 26/11.

In the immediate aftermath of Baba Ramdev's hospitalisation, civil society activists and the BJP mounted pressure on the Central Government to initiate talks with the yoga guru on humanitarian grounds.

Anna Hazare appealed to the Central Government to initiate talks with Ramdev on humanitarian grounds, and asked him to end his seven-day long fast.

Meanwhile, the BJP criticising the Central Government for its indifference asked it to act on the yoga guru's demands.

"The government must set its ego aside and act on Baba Ramdev's demands," said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.

It'll take Baba Ramdev just over an hour to reach the Jolly Grant hospital in Dehradun. Await developments from there.

Meanwhile, the Nashik police today said that the June 8 blast at the three-storey Saptshrungi Apartment in Panchavati area took place because of illegal manufacture of firecrackers at a ground floor shop.

Three persons were killed in the blast which destroyed ground floor and the first floor.

Prime accused Manohar Gurunani made `sutali bombs' in the shop using a newly-purchased machine, said the police.

Earlier reports had said the blast was due to gas cylinder explosions.

So then, is this the end of Baba Ramdev in the political sphere? His big mistake, despite hispossibly correct intentions,was to allow right-wing political parties to take over the anti-black money campaign.

That completely knocked the wind out his sails.

Also, he did not have the host of luminiaries that Anna Hazare has to steer him on a course of protest, the government would not see red over.

Hazare has Shanti and Prashant Bhushan, Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal (probably the best civil society speaker we have) to guide him.

The DM also confirmed that apart from Ramdev, the only other person on fast at the Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, is Ramdev's aide, Balkrishna, who is supposed to be in goodhealth.

Ramdev will be taken to the Jolly Grant Hospital in Dehradun since it is equipped with an ICU, unlike the hospital in Haridwar.

Incidentally, the union government has washed its hand off Ramdev's health saying it was entirely the responsibility of the Uttarakhand government.

The district administration -- both the superintendent of police and the district magistrate -- have stepped in and have taken Baba Ramdev to hospital in Dehradun.His condition worsened on the seventh day of his fast today.

En route to hospital, Ramdev will be administered glucose. The ambulance has ICU facilites.

Ramdev apparentlyagreed to the hospitalisation.

The district magistrate Haridwar, R Meenakshi Sundaram said Ramdev did not take any liquids yesterday, as reported in today's papers.

More power to Leon Panetta, the man to take over as America's next Defence Secretary.

Panetta said today that the war against terrorism in Afghanistan can only be won if terrorist safe heavens are uprooted inside Pakistan.

"We can only win in Afghanistan if we can win in Pakistan by reducing those safe havens. The two go hand in hand," Panetta told US lawmakers at his confirmation hearing.

Acknowledging that there is a level of distrust between the US and Pakistan, the CIA chief said, "We have to continually work at that. We have to work at developing a relationship of trust with the Pakistanis. I don't know that we're totally there yet."

"But there are a number of areas where, frankly, we don't have that level of trust or communication capability. It is in the interests of both countries to have a trusting relationship, because terrorism is an enemy not just for the United States, it's an enemy for Pakistan," he said.

From R Rajagopalan's blog

In the first ever audit of any intelligence agency in India, the Comptroller and Auditor General has unearthed a Rs 450-crore purchase scam of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles lying as junk with the Hyderabad-based National Technical Research Organisation, a technical arm of the external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing.

Read

Narendra Modiasks on Twitter:Will the US let the Indian court take a trial of 9/11 terrorist attack case??

Refers to the Chicago trial of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana, who was acquitted in the case. However, he is guilty of helping the LeT.

Here's MF Husain's sketch for the rupee symbol sent to Open magazine when the government had asked the public for suggestions.

Meanwhile, the condition of 51-year-old Raj Bala, who suffered spine injuries during the police action against yoga guru Ramdev and his supporters at Ramlila Maidan, has deteriorated and is stated to be "very critical."

Doctors, attending the Gurgaon resident at the Neurosurgery Department ICU of G B Pant Hospital here, said, "Her condition is very critical and her vital parameters are being maintained with increased pharmacological support."

Bala's blood pressure and heart rate fluctuated in the wee hours today and was brought under control with help of medicines, a doctor said. Currently, she is on ventilator, he said.

Pranab Mukherjee is likely to speak to the PM in the matter.

For those of you who have joined us now, Ramdev's fast has entered its seventh day today and his condition is worsening.

While we leave the DMK to mull things over, Baba Ramdev's condition has worsened and now the Haridwar administration -- the Superintendent of Police and the District Magistrate -- isconsidering taking him into detention and then hospitalising him.

News is that Swami Agnivesh, who is part of the civil society group in the Lokpal panel, may intervene. He has already spoken to Ramdev andis now meeting finance minister and the government's representative in the Lokpal panel, Pranab Mukherjee.

Even as the DMK goes into a huddle over whether it stays with the Congress or pulls out, the editorial in the latest issue of 'Congress Sandesh' the party's mouthpiece will certainly help them decide.

The Congress has virtually blamed the DMK for the drubbing in the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Assembly elections in the editorial.

"The results in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry were affected by the 2G scam and these states were lost to other parties," the editorial said. The editorial also noted the Congress has fared well in the Assembly polls by retaining power in Assam, returning to power in Kerala besides trouncing the Left Front Government in West Bengal with its alliance partner Trinamool Congress.

If you're a Facebook addict, spare a thought for the employees who run the social networking site -- they are among the youngest, the most satisfied, yet the most stressed, among workers at major US technology companies. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company had the lowest median age - 26.

And each time you Google, remember this -- staffers atGoogle are best paid as compared to those at other tech companies.

In a sudden U-turn, the government has now said it is "disappointed" over Tahawwur Rana's acquittal by a US court in the Mumbai attacks.

Earlier in the day, the Indian government said the verdict, holding the Pakistani-Canadian not guilty for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, is not a setback as the "government said India does not rely overtly on prosecution of terror suspects in other countries".

Read more

Also see: Rana's trial left enduring mysteries. The story by Propublica reporter Sebastian Rotella, who has probably done more to uncover the intrigue behind the 26/11 massacre than the CBI.

The CPI-M's Hyderabad junket has begun. With a discussion on poll debacle in West Bengal and Kerala high on the agenda, the three-day Politbureau and Central Committee meetings of the CPI(M) began today.

CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and senior leaders including Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechury and Biman Bose are attending the meetings.

The meetings assume significance as top party leaders would be coming together for discussion for the first time after the Assembly elections in five states.

Great news for Amitav Ghosh fans.

Three years after the internationally-acclaimed beginning to his masterful epic, the Ibis Trilogy with the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted "Sea of Poppies", author Ghosh returns with another engrossing novel depicting the further adventures of those aboard the ship,Ibis.

"River of Smoke" is second of the trilogy of Ibis, is published by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin.

Update on Baba Ramdev's health.

Doctors have suggested immediate hospitalisation of Ramdev whose indefinite fast against corruption and black money entered the seventh day today as his health parameters continued to remain "worrisome".

"His blood pressure is 104/70 which is low and pulse rate is 58 per minute which is also low. If his pulse rate and BP continue to go down, it may put some pressure on his heart. We found that his health is going down. It is worrisome," Chief Medical Officer Yogesh Chandra Sharma said after conducting the medical examination

From the Huffington Post, startling news.

Apparently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about leaving her job next year -- to become head of the World Bank.

The former first lady and onetime political rival to President Barack Obama quickly became one of the most influential members of his cabinet after she began her tenure at State in early 2009.

She has said publicly she did not plan to stay on at the State Department for more than four years.

Associates say Clinton has expressed interest in having the World Bank job should the Bank's current president, Robert Zoellick, leave at the end of his term, in the middle of 2012.

For all of us who are disappointed that LeT man Tahawwur Rana was acquitted of all charges in the 26/11 trial, here's something to cheer you up... Awaiting him for the other charge he has been found guilty of -- helping the LeT -- is a 30-year jail term.

Fingers crossed.

The Chief Medical Officer, Haridwar, is saying that Baba Ramdev's health is deteriorating and he needs to call off his fast, which is on its seventh day today. Yesterday, Ramdev made public the details of his business empire, worth over Rs 1,100 crore, claiming everything was in order.

Ramdev is believed to have been given lime juice and honey yesterday after he refused a glucose drip.

Mr Modi is at it on Twitter after the not guilty verdict for Tahawwur Rana...

Narendra Modi: The masterminds active behind the terrorist movements in India, will now seek justice in the courts of America.

Meanwhile, in Libya...

A UN resolution has justified the targeting of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, reports cnn.com.

The resolution applies to Gaddafi because, as head of the military, he is part of the control and command structure and therefore a legitimate target, says a NATO official.

NATO has been ramping up pressure on the regime, employing helicopters last weekend for the first time against Gaddafi's forces. Explosions are heard often in Tripoli, evidence of allied air strikes.

NATO began bombing Libya on March 31, under a UN mandate to protect civilians who have been targeted by Gadhafi's military. (And divide up the spoils among the alliance).

And if Gaddafi does get killed in NATO gunfire, expect the statement: collateral damage.

Narendra ModionTwitter:Just to please Pakistan, US has unlocked the ways for all the 26/11 'Mumbai attack' terrorists to be free of guilt

Just in: The Syrian army has begun operations to "restore security" to the town of Jisr al-Shughour and the surrounding area, reports bbc.co.uk.

Earlier in the week, the Syrian government said 120 security personnel were killed in the north-western town.

The announcement, and the positioning of troops in the area, has prompted a flow of refugees to nearby Turkey. The government has blamed the deaths on armed gangs, but there are reports of a mutiny among security forces.

GujaratCM Narendra Moditweets

US declaring Tahawwur Rana innocent in Mumbai attack has disgraced the sovereignty of India & it is a "major foreign policy setback'.

For those of you who have forgotten the details of why DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar are in Tihar, here's a refresher.

Kani was named as an accused for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 216 crore andboth were arrested on May 20 after the special court dismissed their bail pleas in the case.

Both Kanimozhi and Kumar have 20 per cent stake each in Kalaignar TV Pvt Ltd which allegedly received the Rs 216 crore through a "circuitous" route from Shahid Balwa promoted D B Realty.

DMK chief's wife Dayalu Ammal, who has been left out of the list of accused (because of the bizarre reason that she only understood Tamil), owns the remaining 60 per cent shares in the channel.

Kanimozhi and Kumar had moved the High Court on May 23 challenging the trial court's order which had rejected their bail pleas, saying the offence attributed to them was grave and the possibility of influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out.

CBI Special Judge O P Saini had on May 20 rejected the bail pleas of Kanimozhi and Kumar and ordered their "forthwith" arrest.

They are currently chakki pisaoing in Tihar Jail.

Shockwaves in the Tahawwur Rana verdict after the Chicago court acquitted the Pakistani-Canadian from charges that he was involved in the Mumbai terror attacks.

While India is stoic and says verdictis not a setback, a top US government attorney saiditwas disappointed with the verdict.

"We are disappointed in the not guilty verdict on the Mumbai attacks," US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald said after a Chicago jury gave its verdict on Rana case.

"We are gratified by the guilty verdict of providing material support for the Lashkar. And we are gratified by the guilty verdict to provide material support to the conspiracy in Denmark," the US attorney said.

"I do not know, the government had the burden of proof," he said when asked what went wrong on the 26/11 charges that killed more than 160 people. "We put our evidence forward and the jury found that we did not meet the burden (of proof) there.

"But they did find we made our burden proving material support to Lashkar and they found that we met our burden with regard to attack on Denmark," Fitzgerald said.

As her father and the party meet today to decide whether they stay with the UPA, DMK MP Kanimozhi has filed a bail plea before the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court had rejected her bail, following which her lawyer had said she would appeal to the SC. Kanimozhi is in Tihar jail for over 20 days after she was named as a co-conspirator in the 2G scam.

Good morning. Big day for the DMK as it readies for its meeting in Chennai to decide whether it stays with the UPA. Stay with us for more.

Tahawwur Rana acquitted in Mumbai attacks case (Indian Express)
But Rana is convicted for providing material support to LeT and helping a terror plot in Denmark. Read

Govt does not see Tahawwur Rana case verdict as setback: UK Bansal (DNA)

The Indian government does not see the verdict in Tahawwur Rana case as a setback, said secretary, internal security, UK Bansal. Read

MF Husain, celebrated artist, passes away in London (The Hindu)
Quiet end in London hospital after recent heart attack; burial to take place today. Read

Maoists renew attack, kill 10 security personnel in Dantewada (The Indian Express)
This is a second attack in last 24 hours after rebels killed 5 security personnel in Narayanpur. Read

Baba aide Balkrishna owns 99.9% of Aastha channel (The Times of India)
Baba Ramdev's world is not just a popular yoga empire but a clutch of hugely profitable businesses, ranging from successful ayurveda products to a popular TV channel. Read

No backing Ramdev's call to arms, says Anna Hazare (The Times of India)
Social crusader Anna Hazare on Thursday slammed fellow anti-graft campaigner Baba Ramdev's call to arms, saying he abhorred violence and would not associate himself with a man who planned to raise a militia of volunteers.Read

DMK wary as Jayalalithaa plans trip to Delhi (The Times of India)
Amid speculation that the DMK's high-level committee meeting on Friday is likely to review its ties with Congress, chief minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa is planning a Delhi trip on June 13 during which she is expected to meet both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

Read