So then, the Lokpal meetings ended today without a consensus.  The draft will be presented in the monsoon session of Parliament on August 1, which has been postponed by two weeks. As for what else happened today, here you go...

1. Final Lokpal panel meet ends minus consensus
2. Kejriwal: Deeply disappointed by govt draft
3. Karuna meets Kanimozhi, Raja in Tihar jail
4. Pak brigadier detained for terror links
5. Murder charge in Jaipal Reddy's niece death
6. Munde: No reward from BJP after 35 years
7. Sulking Munde gives BJP mega meet a miss
8. Nanavati Commission term extended for 16th time
9. Dey murder: Police to file 2nd status report
10. Mayawati on rapes: Don't politicise issue
11. Monsoon Parl session postponed to August 1
12. Girl commits suicide in UP after 'rape'
13. Egypt's ex-pres Mubarak dying of cancer
14. Cong forbids leaders to attend Ramdev's yoga
15. Lankan navy detains 23 Indian fishermen
16. Chilean volcano grounds Oz flights yet again:

As the last meeting of the Lokpal panel ended today, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she stood with the UPA over the issue of the inclusion of the Prime Minister or the Chief Justice of India in the ambit of Lokpal,

"It is not a big question...whether Prime Minister or Chief Justice is included, it hardly matters. Do you think that inclusion of one person will strengthen the fight against corruption?" she asked.

However, she also said that in case the Prime Minister was included in the ambit of Lokpal, "I have no problem. I am with the UPA."

In an apparent dig at civil society, she had yesterday said: "Our party is against corruption. But we are also against creating drama."

To another question, Banerjee said "if anyone says all politicians are corrupt, then let them join politics."

Pressing for a comprehensive package to check the menace of corruption at all levels, Trinamool Congress chief demanded that the moneys illegally stashed abroad should be brought back.

Prashant Bhushan from Anna Hazare's team says he is deeply disappointed by the government's model of the Lokpal draft.

The issues that have divided the Lokpal panels are:

1. Prison term for guilty: Hazare wants mininum 6 months to a max of life; government wants 10 years.
2. Hazare says common man can refer complaints for removal of Lokpal, government says only government can refer it to SC.
3. Hazare says the PM should be under the purveiw of the Lokpal; government disagrees.
4. Hazare says PM and higher judiciary should be under the purview
5. Hazare wants Lokpal to have the authority to remove any minister; government says yes, barring the PM.
6. Hazare says conduct of MPs to be included; government says conduct not within the house.  
7. Hazare says CBI's vigilante wing and the CVC should be merged with Lokpal
8. Hazare says CAG and CED to be part of Lokpal panel
9. Hazare says all bureaucrats should be included; govt says only senior bureaucracy.
10. Hazare wants prosecution and power to tap phones; govt says no to prosecution, and permission from home secretary for phone taps.

The final Lokpal meeting is now over. Kapil Sibal says the draft will be circulated and though there were differences on six issues, the two sides have agreed to disagree. The meeting basically ended without a consensus, though amicably.

From the Pakistani newspaper Dawn.

Authorities have detained a serving brigadier suspected for ties with a banned organisation. The report of the brigadier's detention was confirmed by the Inter-Services Public Relations, DawnNews quoted BBCUrdu as saying.

The senior army officer Brigadier Ali Khan was posted at the GHQ, for the past two years, was detained on May 6.

Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed that the officer had been arrested, but released no further details on which groups he was alleged to have been in contact with.

One of the brigadiers who we found having contacts with one of the defunct organisations is under detention, Abbas said.

More on the J Dey murder probe. This is what happened when editors of various newspapers met Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today.

The CM ruled out handing over to the CBI the probe into the murder of senior journalist J Dey and asserted that Mumbai police would crack the case soon.

"If the High Court orders the government to do it, the case would be given to the CBI to honour the court verdict. But, the Mumbai police would put forth its case before the court properly," Chavan told a group of editors from print and electronic media who called on him this afternoon.

Chavan said Mumbai police were working round-the-clock on the murder case and they will crack it soon. Dey (56) was shot dead by four unidentified assailants on June 11.

Referring to the demand for separate legislation to prevent attacks on journalists, the chief minister said the government was considering a proposal to include professionals from creative field like authors, artistes along with journalists in the draft bill.

He said if police personnel were found to be involved in the Dey murder case, nobody would be spared and stringent action would be taken against them.

The police have began questioning the husband and in-laws of Kiran Reddy, niece of the Union Minister for Petroleum S Jaipal Reddy, in connection with her mysterious death.

Kiran (26), was found dead in her house in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, on June 18. The Jubilee Hills Police had initially registered a case of suspicious death and later altered it to murder after her father Raghottam Reddy suspected foul play by her husband Chaitanya Reddy and his family members.

Kiran's mother, Bharathi, is the elder sister of Jaipal Reddy. Kiran, a dermatologist, was married to Chaitanya Reddy, also a doctor, five years ago.

Rediff.com's N Ganesh spoke to BJP General Secretary, Gopinath Munde today, even as the party held a conclave (MPs, MLAs and MLCs) without him in Mumbai.

Munde said he was upset at not being invited to today's meet held in Mumbai.  Speaking from his residence in Purna in Mumbai's Prabhadevi, Munde lamented that he was in Mumbai from Monday night, but still wasn't invited for the BJP meet.

"I have been working for the BJP for the last 35 years, I am an MP and have been an MLA for the party, yet I was not invited to the meeting. This is the reward that I have got for working selflessly for the party all these years," said Munde.

Update on the J Dey murder case: The Bombay High Court has told the police to submit another status report by July 6 and has said it would take the police to task if it finds it has made no effort.

However, the court accepted that the police was indeed making progress in the case and said it should be given more time.

Dey was shot dead on July 11 and 10 days on there are still no clues.

The Gujarat government has extended the term of the Nanavati Commission, probing the 2002 riots in Ahmedabad, till December 31, 2011.

The term of the Commission comprising retd Justices G T Nanavati and Akshay Mehta that was extended in December last was to get over on June 30. Officials of the Nanavati Commission said that they received the extension letter from the state government few days ago.

It is the 16th time that the tenure of the panel has been extended. The Commission is presently in the process of recording the statement of IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt.

The Commission has already probed 4,145 cases which took place between February 27, 2002 and May 31, 2002.

UP chief minister Mayawati goes on the defensive addressing a press conference in Lucknow even as the state registered its seventh rape in three days.

She said strict action would be taken against the accused and shielding them would not be tolerated. Appealing to opposition parties not politicise the issue, Mayawati said the BSP government has been successful in maintaining law and order. And of course that, media reports of the rapes were wrong, but doesn't elaborate.

She also promised fast track courts for rape cases.

UPA postpones the monsoon Parliament session to August 1, a delay of two weeks. Sources say it wants to be better prepared as it expects a stormy session. Moreover, the cabinet reshuffle in July has added to the delay.

Mid Day editor Sachin Kalbag tweets:

Back from the meeting with the CM. Assured journos of support. [CM said] "J Dey murder investigation on track." Police say definite leads opening up.

And his earlier tweet. In 20 mins, meeting Maharashtra CM Chavan over the J Dey murder case. Hoping to see at least progress soon.

The merits of being engaged to a multibillionaire, however doddering.

Hugh Hefner has let his runaway bride Crystal Harris keep her engagement ring and a Bentley despite the model breaking his heart by calling off their wedding at the eleventh hour.  

The blonde beauty returned to the Playboy mansion on Sunday (which incidentally was Father's Day) to return the jewellery, but she left with the pricey diamond still in her possession.  

Jilted Hefner allowed his ex-fiancee to keep the three-carat diamond ring worth an estimated 90,000 dollars as well as a Bentley.  

In return, the animal loving millionaire was very pleased to get the couple's King Charles dog Charlie back.

The BJP today announced that the party would launch a four-day agitation from June 23 against the UPA government's alleged inaction in combating corruption, black money and the "barbaric dictatorial attitude" of the government.

The opposition plans to hold meetings, rallies, seminars, street plays, and public awareness programmes which will be attended by national and state leaders.

On Twitter:

Mid Day Editor Sachin Kalbag: In 20 mins, meeting Maharashtra CM Chavan over the J Dey murder case. Hoping to see at least progress soon.

We did tell you earlier that Rediff,com's Toral Varia, will be giving us the update on the J Dey murder case, from the Bombay High Court. So here you go...

Jt Commissioner of police Himanshu Roy and Additional Commissioner of police Deven Bharti have just arrived at the Bombay High Court. The Mumbai crime branch is all set to file the status report in the J Dey murder case.

Sources tell rediff.com that the report which runs into approximately eight pages will be filed in a seal cover.

The court had earlier, asked that the matter be argued by advocate general Ravi Kadam himself because of the case's importance. It also allowed Press Club, Mumbai, and Marathi Patrakar Parishad to intervene in the two PILs, which are demanding that the probe into Dey's killing be handed over to the CBI.

The Congress, relentless in its witchhunt of Baba Ramdev has asked partymen to boycott Baba Ramdev's classes, forbidding attendance.

No, not even a peg is OK if you're going to be driving, so stop kidding yourself.

A new study has ruled that no amount of alcohol is safe for driving, contradicting the blood-alcohol limit set by the US at 0.08 pc.  

Researchers from the University of California examined the official data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to arrive at the number of accidents caused due to the influence of alcohol.  

All the accidents included in FARS were, by definition, severe. But the researchers looked at different levels of accident severity by examining the ratio of severe injuries to minor ones.  

"Accidents are 36.6 pc more severe even when alcohol was barely detectable in a driver''s blood,' said David Phillips, of University of California.

Google Inc says it has plans to kill the I'm feeling lucky button, which has for more than 10 years now proved to be an essential part of its search engine.  

The button is missing from a new user interface design Google is testing in Finland.  

I'm Feeling Lucky was first created to reflect Google's confidence that its top search result would almost always be the one being looked for.  

But since the launch of the Google Instant search last year, the button only works if the user first disables the instant search function.   There has been no official word yet confirming whether or not it will be permanently removed.

More bombings:

Hundreds of Islamic scholars in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region have declared suicide bombings as unlawful and asked all foreign militants hiding in the area to stop such attacks..

About 300 religious scholars unanimously agreed on the move to declare suicide attacks as "haram" or forbidden by Islam and condemned all forms of terrorist activities in North Waziristan Agency.

The scholars strongly condemned all those involved in recruiting and training suicide bombers.

Meanwhile, in Iraq, at least 21 people were killed today when bombs exploded at a checkpoint outside a provincial governor's house in central Iraq, the latest attack targeting a government building, reports Reuters.

One suicide bomber blew himself up and at least one car bomb exploded outside the Diwaniya governor's house, 150 km (95 miles) south of Baghdad, as guards changed shifts at the checkpoint.

Most of the victims were bodyguards, officials said. "The initial death toll is 21 killed at a guard's checkpoint," Fadhel Mawat, a spokesman for the provincial council said.

Reports just coming in say that BJP senior leader Gopinath Munde has given the Maharashtra party meet a miss. The BJP has called a meeting of all MPs, MLAs and MLCs today. It may be remembered that Munde has been sulking saying he is being ignored and wants to become the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly.

A married woman was allegedly raped and set on fire in Etah district late Sunday night while three other cases of sexual assault on minors were reported a minor Dalit girl missing since June 17 was found murdered in Gonda district on Sunday, a case of alleged rape of a minor was registered in Ferozabad district and a 15-year-old girl was raped and killed in Sitapur district on Monday. In Akrabad, a woman alleged rape by a constable and his accomplice in custody.

Back in deep, but not dark any more, Africa, news is that Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak has cancer, his defence lawyer has said, citing a medical report to assess whether the former leader is fit to face trial.

"Mubarak has cancer and this was included in the last medical report," said lawyer Farid el-Deeb. Mubarak, 83, was forced from office in February during Egypt's uprising. He is due to stand trial on 3 August over the killing of protesters and abuse of power, charges he denies, reports the Guardian.

He has been detained in hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh since mid-April after officials claimed he had heart problems during initial questioning. The timing of Mubarak's illness means he has been spared jail, fuelling claims that he is receiving special treatment from the Egyptian army, which took power following his ousting.

Not particularly well known for their cuisine, Britain could well change that with the worlds first strawberries and cream sandwiches which go on sale today to celebrate what is undoubtedly British -- Wimbledon.

Retail giant Tesco is serving sweet sarnies, which will be stocked by hundreds of stores. The snack, made of poppy seed bread is stuffed with clotted cream, fruit and jam.

Incidentally, it's always been tradition to savour strawberries and cream at Wimbledon and this is just a variant.

The treat, priced at a pound, will be sold in Union Jack packaging to support tennis star Andy Murray.

Rediff.com correspondent Toral Varia who is at the Bombay High Court today to hear the court's decision on the status report on the investigation into the killing of journalist J Dey, says the hearing has been postponed for later in the day, possibly post lunch.

Apparently, the report runs into over a 1000 pages.

The court asked that the matter be argued by advocate general Ravi Kadam himself because of the case's importance. It also allowed Press Club, Mumbai, and Marathi Patrakar Parishad to intervene in the two PILs, which are demanding that the probe into Dey's killing be handed over to the CBI.

Former Hollywood star Zsa Zsa Gabor was first in the news a few months ago for a report that said she had gangrene in her foot and it would have to be amputatated. Luckily, she kept her foot.

Then, she went into a coma.

And now back to the land of the living (since three weeks ago), Zsa Zsa Gabor (94) is back in good spirits and capable of enjoying a glass of champagne as she celebrated her husband's 68th birthday yesterday, reports the Daily Mail. 

See the picture

Big day for DMK MP Kanimozhi today as father M Karunanidhi flies all the way to Delhi to meet up with her in Tihar jail. He must have missed her on Father's Day on Sunday.

Yesterday, the SC denied bail to Kanimozhi and directed her to approach the trial court once again. Ditto co-accused and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar.

Sex scandals and the Clintons seem inseparable. Here's one now, but to be fair, Hillary is just incidental to what happened.

A former intern for Hillary Clinton who once wanted to become an attorney has ended up becoming an adult film actress.  

XXX porn star Sammie Spades was attending community college in Buffalo, New York, when she met the then Senator and now the Secretary of State Clinton at a banquet and inquired about job opportunities.  

Spades impressed Clinton and spent the summer of 2006 interning at her Buffalo office, where she did "miscellaneous office work.'  

She wanted to become an attorney, but changed plans and went on to star in "Bomb Ass White Booty 13,' among other titles.

Apparently, diplomatic encounters with the MEA did not work. The Sri Lankan Navy has taken into custody 23 Indian fishermen hailing from Mandapam and Rameswaram areas when they were fishing in mid sea.

The reason for the detainment, which took place around 11 pm yesterday, was not known. The Sri Lankan Navy has also taken their five boats into custody.

Authorities came to know about the incident from a fisherman who managed to escape with his boat from the Lankan naval men, he said.

More travails for travellers. The ash cloud from the Chilean volcano Puyehue-Cordon Caulle is causing renewed chaos for flights in Australia, reports bbc.co.uk.

Last week, tens of thousands of flights were affected as airlines grounded flights, and now the cloud has returned after drifting around the world.

Adelaide airport has been shut, and flights are being cancelled out of Canberra and Sydney for the first time.

Qantas said it was simply too dangerous to fly as the ash cloud from the volcano did another lap of the planet.

With the cloud hovering right above the flight path, Adelaide airport in South Australia has been shut throughout Tuesday.

Domestic flights are also being grounded in the capital Canberra and Sydney, the busiest airport in the country.

Former IPL chief Lalit Modi went viral on Twitter yesterday lambasting the BCCI every few minutes in fresh tweets over the ICL.

Today, Indian Cricket Board chief Shashank Manohar rejected Lalit Modi's tirade against the BCCI and ridiculed him by saying that the former IPL Commissioner might fascinate the media but not him.

"I don't want to react at all to Mr Modi. Modi seems to fascinate the media. He does not fascinate me," BCCI chief Manohar said.

Modi, in his Twitter page, had alleged that the BCCI forced the International Cricket Council to change its constitution to outlaw the now defunct Indian Cricket League floated by the Essel Group.

In a series of tweets, Modi, who was sacked as IPL Commissioner in April last year, disclosed that the BCCI had wanted ICL to shut shop at any cost and it flexed its muscle to ensure that ICC and the other Cricket Boards fell in line.

Good morning. The Lokpal panel meets today once again, for the last time before the draft is tabled before the monsoon session of Parliament next month. Stay with us for that and all that happens today.

Lokpal bill panel to resolve differences at all-party meet (The Hindu)

The government representatives and civil society members of the Joint Drafting Committee on the Lokpal Bill decided on Monday to leave the differences to be resolved at the next stage of wider consultations with political parties. Read

Karunanidhi leaves for Delhi to meet Kanimozhi (The Hindu)

Mr. Karunanidhi left by a private airline at 8.50 a.m. and was accompanied by senior leaders Duraimurugan and K. Ponmudy among others. Read

Pranab reported 'serious security breach in his office, urged PM to order probe (Indian Express)
In Sept 2010, taxmen and private detectives found 16 planted adhesives in North Block offices. Read

Police access Deys e-mails, claim fresh clues (Indian Express)

Claiming that significant progress had been made in the investigations into the murder of veteran investigative journalist J Dey, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch sources indicated that the probe had gained momentum after fresh leads were obtained recently from Deys e-mail communications. Read

Samjhauta blast: NIA to charge sheet top RSS leader Indresh Kumar (DNA)

After naming Hindutva leader Swami Aseemanand and others in 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to include top RSS functionary Indresh Kumar in its supplementary charge sheet of the case, which claimed 68 lives. Read

Indian consul general in New York slapped with forced-labour suit (Hindustan Times)

Prabhu Dayal, the Indian consul general in New York, has been accused of treating a former domestic help as a slave and making sexual advances, a charge rejected by Dayal as "complete nonsense". Read

44 killed in Russian plane crash (Hindustan Times)

At least 44 people were killed when a passenger plane broke up and caught fire on coming into land in heavy fog in north-western Russia, an emergency ministry spokeswoman said today. Read

Lalit Modi doesn't fascinate me: Indian Cricket Board chief (DNA)
Modi, in his Twitter page, had alleged that the BCCI forced the International Cricket Council to change its constitution to outlaw the now defunct Indian Cricket League floated by the Essel Group. Read