In other news: A day after granting MFN status to India, the Pakistan government today appeared to be playing to the gallery by being ambiguous on the issue.

The Foreign Office here said the Cabinet had cleared a move for normalisation of bilateral trade relations that will "culminate" with MFN.

India had granted Pakistan MFN status way back in 1996, but Islamabad had so far held out on reciprocating due to opposition from some trade lobbies and religious and hardline political parties which contended that such a move would harm the country's stand on the Kashmir issue.

Rediff.com's Toral Varia says that according to naval commander PV Satish, the chief PRO for the navy, the fire is still on and it is still too early to say anything right now. He says tomorrow will bring answers.  

While early reports had suggested there were two deaths in the naval dockyard fire in Mumbai, no confirmation as yet.

Another report from rediff.com's Toral Varia: The fire is in the Admiral Superintendent's building at the dockyard.

Rediff.com's N Ganesh reports: According to Mumbai Fire Brigade, the building that has caught fire, has a Mangalore tiled roof and is known as HD building. Between 10 and 12 fire tenders have been rushed to douse the fire which has been categorised as Grade II-- a major fire.

There are no new reports about injuries or loss of life. The entire stretch from Lion Gate to Old Customs House are lined with heritage buildings that were constructed in the colonial era.

Conflicting reports: One report says more than 10 fire tenders and 65 fire fighters rushed to the spot; another report says eight fire tenders have been sent.

TV reports say there are no casualties.

Major fire breaks out at Lion Gate, South Mumbai. Upwards of 10 fire brigades sent to battle flames. Early reports say a building is on fire.  

That's one of the first pictures, taken by Chandrakant Kotian.

On Twitter: The title of 23rd Bond film is, officially, Skyfall. Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes are the villains.

Read: Bardem confirms Bond villain role

Early reports say there is major fire at the naval dockyard at Lion's Gate, Mumbai. Details awaited.

He was a doctor in India, a trucker in Canada and a hero for delivering a baby midflight. Read the story on star.com.

Balvinder Ahuja is the physician who kicked into high gear on Saturday when he performed an emergency delivery on an Air India flight from New Delhi to Toronto, turning a passenger cabin into a birthing room within minutes and improvising with makeshift instruments.

Completely irrelevant in a sense, but makes a good read...

Ever wondered why scraping your nails down a blackboard sounds so awful? It's because human ears are designed in such a way that it amplifies the screeching sound to make it intolerable, scientists say. Researchers from Germany and Austria found that the noise of fingernails on a chalkboard is similar to human speech and human ears are "built" to hear sounds at that frequency.

Nails on a blackboard ranked above sounds such as a fork scraping on a plate and squeaking polystyrene. It was found that the listeners who'd been told they were listening to fingernails were more disgusted and appalled thanthose who hadn't.

As the Pakistan cricketers and bookie Majeed head to Wandsworth jail in London, Anna Hazare heads to Delhi.

The anti-graft crusader today left his village Ralegan Siddhi for New Delhi where he is expected to end his vow of silence and attend the meeting of the Standing Committee on the issue of Lokpal Bill tomorrow.

"Anna will board the evening flight to Delhi from Pune today," his aide said.
The 74-year-old anti-graft crusader is on a 'Maun  vrat' from October 16.

Details of the Team Anna's first victory: The Uttarakhand Lokayukta bill

Another update on the spot-fixing sentencing: Apart from a jail term, the cricketers will have to pay a fine in lieu of court charges. Salman Butt has to pay 30,937 pounds, Amir: 9,389 pounds, while Asif has to pay 8,120 pounds. Amir's  lawyer says he may appeal against the sentence.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan today got into a spat with a journalist over a wrong territorial map of India, during which he yelled "shut up" at the scribe.

The map of India minus some parts of Kashmir and Arunachal was distributed by a state-owned Chinese company TBEA at a business function. Apart from Zhang, the event was attended by visiting Chinese Governor of Xinjiang province and senior officials from Ministry of External Affairs.

Asked about his reaction over the map, Zhang, who apparently got miffed over the persistent queries over the issue, shot back "shut up". Following which the journo objected saying "if you don't want to answer, don't but you cannot say shut up." 

Later, the Chinese envoy tried to clarify to the agitating scribe and said the issue has already been brought to his notice by Indian officials and the issue was being handled.

Zhang also said "shut up is not something that changes the nature of these things because we are handling this in a friendly way."

Quick takes: Two Hizbul Mujahideen over ground workers were today arrested from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district in connection with the Delhi High Court blast case.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan today got into a spat with a journalist over a wrong territorial map of India, during which he yelled "shut up" at the scribe. (Details on our next post)

The judge also said the players could be released half-way through their sentence if they behave. Judge was more sympathetic towards Mohd Amir, and told Salman Butt: You bear more responsibility. (Also see our 14:04 post). The men will serve their term at the Wandsworth prison in London.  

Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif  were found guilty of taking bribes to fix part of a Test match against England in a case that prosecutors said revealed rampant corruption at the heart of international cricket.

The Judge also turned down the bail plea of Mazhar Majeed, the man at the centre of the spot-fixing controversy. "You took lion share of spoils," the judge said. The three cricketers face a maximum of seven years in jail for plotting to bowl deliberate no-balls at pre-arranged times during the Lord's Test against England in August last year.

Judge Justice Cooke ruled at London's Southwark Crown Court today announced the sentencing of the three disgraced Pakistan cricketers convicted of spot-fixing.

Mohammed Asif gets a year in jail

Salman Butt gets 2 years, 6 months

and bookie Majeed gets 2 years, 8 months.  

The judge said, "The offences [are] so serious that only a prison sentence will suffice."

Arvind Kejriwal today returned over Rs 9 lakh in dues to settle the issue of his resignation from the IRS, insisting that he was doing so in protest and it does not mean he has accepted any mistake. 

Kejriwal sent a cheque of Rs 9,27,787 along with a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him not to "trouble" his six friends, including Magsaysay winner Harish Hande, who had given him an interest-free loan to settle his dues. 

The 43-year-old activist's decision to settle the dues is seen as an attempt by the Team Anna member to blunt attacks from detractors.

What's this all about?

On the New York Times: Dozens of new students crowded into a lobby of the University of Delaware's student center at the start of the school year. Many were stylishly attired in distressed jeans and bright-colored sneakers; half tapped away silently on smartphones while the rest engaged in boisterous conversations.

Eavesdropping on those conversations, however, would have been difficult for an observer not fluent in Mandarin. That's because, with the exception of one lost-looking soul from Colombia, all the students were from China. Read

European leaders were preparing on Thursday for the possibility of Greece leaving the euro zone to preserve the 12-year-old single currency.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Prime Minister George Papandreou at a torrid meeting in Cannes that Athens would not receive a cent more in aid -- Greece was due an 8 billion euros aid payment this month -- until it votes to meet its commitments to the euro zone. The story on Reuters

Julian Assange will return to the unlikely place he's called home for the last 11 months: a 10-bedroom manor house in the British countryside, in the beautiful, rolling lands on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk, surrounded by 600 acres of woods, farms, and fields.

His host, who stepped in at Assange's darkest hour last December when a court refused to let the WikiLeaks founder post bail unless he had a permanent address in Britain, is Vaughan Smith, the founder of the Frontline Club and avid campaigner for journalistic freedoms. Read the story onthe Daily Beast.

Meanwhile, in Kolhapur, LK Advani steps up his attack on the UPA government today, branded it as "corrupt" and said it brought "disgrace" to democracy.
Advani, who is on Day 24 of the Jan Chetna yatra demanded that the government publish a white paper on black money salted away in Switzerland and other tax havens. 

Remember Paul the Octopus and his psychic predictions during the 2010 Soccer World Cup? Don't? Read this.

Anyway, this post is not on Paul really, but why he was so clever. On Orion magazine: Inside the world of an octopus. Read 

Expected today, is the sentencing of Mohd Amir, Mohd Asif and Salman Butt Yesterday, filled with remorse, Amir, the teen Pakistan pacer apologised for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, saying his dream of becoming the world's best cricketer lies in tatters and he is not sure if the game would ever want him back. 

Amir had become the youngest player to take 50 Test wickets before being embroiled in the spot-fixing scandal last year. The 19-year-old said he was trapped and would now accept whatever punishment the court decides. 

Just in: The Supreme Court stays EC proceedings against former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan.

Chavan had filed a petition challenging an EC notice after it began proceedings against him following complaints by BJP leaders that he incurred a poll expenditure of only Rs11,000 during the election. The complainants alleged that Chavan paid a huge amount to several newspapers for favourable coverage during the election.

US President Barack Obama has reclaimed the top spot in Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful people, edging out last year's winner Chinese President Hu Jintao.  

According to The Telegraph, due to the success of his international policies, including the war in Libya and the death of Osama bin Laden, Obama once again came on top of magazine's annual list of the global elite.  

British Prime Minister David Cameron was placed tenth, one spot behind Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and four down on his position last year.

On Twitter: Sherry Rehman: Lets welcome Pakistan's move to grant ndia MFN status. This will open an important new path to peace in South Asia.  

For those unfamiliar with the name, read this. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's defiant prisoner of intolerance, vows to stay put.

A CBI team from Delhi has arrived here in Bhopal to take over investigations into the murder of RTI activist Shehla Masood. 

The team comprising Joint Director Keshav and DIG Arun Bosra arrived yesterday to take charge of the probe into the killing of the RTI activist who was shot dead by an unidentified person in front of her residence in the posh Koh-e-Fiza locality on August 16. 

The probe is being handed over to Delhi CBI since the Bhopal unit has failed to make any headway into the matter.

Also read on rediff.com: Delhi-based politicians involved in Shehla Masood murder?

The Income Tax Department today conducted searches at the premises of prominent industrialist Gautam Singhania here and in Delhi over alleged tax evasion. '

The I-T operation began early in the morning and was initiated by the Intelligence Wing of the department. A team of about 150 I-T sleuths began searching the official premises of the business tycoon, who is the Chairman
and Managing Director of the Raymond Group.

It was not immediately known if the residential premises of the industrialist were also being searched by the sleuths.

The bail plea for former Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa which was heard at the high court today, has been granted. Yeddyurappa is in judicial custody in connection with two government land denotification cases.

The cases have been registered by  Lokayukta police on private complaints by city advocate Sirijan Basha alleging that Yeddyurappa had denotified governments lands for the benefit of his family members. Yeddyurappa, has moved the high court for bail after special Lokayukta judge NK Sudhindra Rao rejected his plea for the relief.

Quick takes...

• Calcutta High Court grants continuation of the stay appeal of Tata Motors in Singur case.
• Food inflation rises to 12.21 per cent for week ended October 22 from 11.43 per cent in previous week, says Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee

Minutes after the court verdict denying her bail, a visibly upset Kanimozhi turned to the media hounding her for a sound byte, saying, "Are you human!"

As Kanimozhi and the seven other accused head back to what is now home, Tihar jail, a look at world news...  

Here's what's happening in post-Gaddafi Libya: The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor says Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam may be trying to flee Libya with help from mercenaries. In a statement to the UN Security Council, Luis Moreno-Ocampo called on other countries to disrupt such plans. Read more on the bbc.co.uk

Judge OP Saini also said the decision to deny the bail pleas was not given by any external influence.

Karunanidhi's son Stalin is in Delhi and was expected to bring Kanimozhi home, but that is not to happen. Though Stalin was not present in court, senior DMK leaders including TR Baalu were in court today. 

Kani has been in jail for the past five months and had sought bail on grounds of being a woman and a mother and that there was nobody to care for her son. It may be remembered that the CBI had NOT opposed the bail plea, saying since the chargesheet had been filed, it was unlikely that Kani or the other accused would tamper with evidence. Kani had been charged on October 23.

The accused could face a life term if found guilty, but as of now all eight, including Kanimozhi, will approach the High Court.

Just in: DMK MP Kanimozhi and the seven others have all been denied bail. The 2G trial will begin on November 7, says rediff.com's Priyanka. Details awaited.

While we await the verdict, here's other news:

The G20 leaders are due to meet in France amid concerns the eurozone's debt crisis may be worsening. On Wednesday, eurozone leaders withheld the latest 8bn euro rescue loans for Greece until after its referendum on the package. At the same time, China refused to commit to the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) seeking more clarity on the Greece situation. Read more on the bbc.co.uk.

This is Kanimozhi's first bail plea hearing after Diwali. As you may recollect, the DMK MP and six others accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case were refused bail and had spent the festive week in Tihar jail.

The CBI special court had reserved the order on their bail pleas till November 3. The CBI had told the Judge O P Saini that it had no objection to bail being given to directors of Kusegaon, Asif Balwa and Rajeev B. Agarwal, Cineyug Film's Karim Morani and Kalaignar TV's Sharad Kumar.

Hope for Kanimozhi as CBI court hears bail plea today (Hindustan Times)

The special CBI court is likely to pronounce its decision on the bail pleas moved by DMK MP Kanimozhi and seven other persons accused in the 2G spectrum case today. Read

Finally, India is Pakistan's most favoured nation (DNA)
The decision was taken during a federal cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani in Islamabad. Read

Spot-fixing: Pak's tainted trio to be sentenced (Hindustan Times)

The judge, who convicted the three Pak cricketers and their agent for spot-fixing, on Wednesday deferred the pronouncement of sentences for today after the lawyers pleaded for leniency in the quantum of punishment. Read

Relationship with India, Pak not zero sum game: US (Indian Express)
US has unveiled major plans to strengthen defence ties with India including offer to sell F-35s. Read

Gender equality: The old story gets worse (DNA)
Forget China, India lags behind even Pak, Bangladesh and Nepal on the bar of women empowerment. Read

UK court rules Julian Assange should be extradited to Sweden (Indian Express)
In Sweden, Wikileaks founder faces accusations of rape made by female volunteers of organisation. Read

WikiLeaks will soldier on (The Hindu)

The leading whistleblowing organisation is certainly not going to lie down quietly and die. Read

Diesel, LPG, kerosene prices too may go up (The Hindu)

Oil Minister S. Jaipal Reddy has sought a meeting of the Empowered Group of Ministers to decide on increasing the prices of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene due to the growing under-recoveries from the sale of the subsidised fuels. Read