Finally, a name has been announced.

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry will succeed Ratan Tata at the helm of Tata Sons. He's been appointed Deputy Chairman and will work with Tata for one year before taking over, says a NDTV report.

Mistry was a director of Tata Sons and Tata Elxsi (India) and is the younger son of Pallonji Mistry.

Born on July 4, 1968, Mistry graduated from the Imperial College, London with a BE in civil engineering.

He also holds a masters degree in management from the London Business School, and is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Apart from the Tata Group, he also serves as a director on the board of several other companies, including Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, Forbes Gokak, Afcons Infrastructure and United Motors (India).

As great sporting 'Blimey!' moments go, the shattering of the long-jump world record in 1968 still stands at the pinnacle. On the Guardian

Here's who's at the Goa film fest.  

SHAH RUKH KHAN:  At the Goa film festival...wearing a suit in goa...kinda takes away the spirit of the place...feel like a sore thumb...  

Madhuri Dixit-Nene: Treating myself and family to Goan curry. Delicious!! Goa rocks!    

Yoga guru Ramdev today threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against UPA, starting from five poll-bound states, if it did not take "decisive" steps to
bring the Jan Lokpal Bill and repatriate black money stashed abroad in the winter session of Parliament.

In a letter shot off to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the yoga guru, who was bundled out of Delhi during his June agitation at Ramlila Maidan against corruption, underlined his demands and set a one-week deadline for being informed about the measures taken to address his concerns. 

He said he was demanding that the Jan Lokpal bill be passed in the Winter session and efforts be made to bring back black money stashed abroad. He also said there was a need for change in the system.

Isn't easy getting back into the limelight.

Team Anna member Kiran Bedi today tweeted what was stopping the ruling Congress from declaring its resolve to create an effective Lokpal through a special session of Parliament or an ordinance in case Parliament by any chance is stalled. 

Bedi's latest tweet is not in sync with Anna Hazare's stand that the Jan Lokpal Bill be passed during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. 

Asked whether her stand means Team Anna is reconciling to the idea that the Lokpal Bill may not be passed during the Winter Session, Bedi said, "It's my personal tweet. It is not a reconciliation.

"What I am saying is that nothing can stop the party in power from creating Lokpal. It can do so through any means... even if Parliament by any chance is stalled. It can express its resolve by calling a special session focussed on Lokpal."

The Governor of Karnataka, H R Bharadwaj sprung a surprise today when he said that he would immediately sign the papers if the government proposed the name of Justice Santhosh Hegde for the post of Lokayukta.

Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa says that speaking at a function today at Bangalore, the governor said that he would have no problem in agreeing to the candidature of Justice Hegde if the government decided to appoint him as Lokayukta once again.

However he also added that he would also have no problem in approving any other name provided the person was honest and a man of integrity. The government of Karnataka is however in no mood to re appoint Justice Hegde as the Lokayukta.

The name of Justice Bannur Math which was suggested by the government was rejected by the governor.

After this the post of Lokayukta has remained vacant ever since and it has also raised a debate as to whether the government wants to close down the Lokayukta office.

Behind bars for more than two decades in the US and France, former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega may soon be headed home likely to another prison cell. 

A Paris appeals court rules today whether to grant an extradition request from Panama so the elderly ex-military strongman can serve out sentences given after he was convicted in absentia there, in the latest phase of his complex legal odyssey.

Friends and foes alike have feared that Noriega might die in a French prison notably Panamanians who fought against human rights abuses during his 1983-1989 regime. They want to see him face justice at home. 

Noriega, a one-time CIA asset who lorded over Panama from 1983 to 1989, turned into an embarrassment for the US after he sidled up to Colombia's Medellin drug cartel and turned to crime.

Husain Haqqani tweets: Congratulations, best wishes and prayers for Sherry Rehman for her new assignment. Pakistan Zindabad.

Rehman replaced Haqqani as Pakistan's envoy to the US after he was forced to quit over the memogate scandal.

The Indian government intends to issue one-year multiple entry visas to businessmen under a proposed pact that is part of measures to boost trade with
Pakistan, High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal said today. 

Prices of essentials commodities in Manipur continued to soar as the economic blockade on the state's two vital national highways entered the 94th day
today. As supplies have dwindled due to the blockade, prices of all essential items have skyrocketed, market reports said. Petrol was available at Rs 200 per litre, while diesel was priced at Rs 90 per litre and cooking gas at around Rs 1650 per cylinder.

The blockade on Imphal-Dimapur-Guwahati and Imphal-Jiribam-Silchar national highways was launched by United Naga Council (UNC) to protest the signing of an agreement between the state government and the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) which has been demanding conversion of Kuki-majority Sadar hills area in Naga-majority Senapati district.

Also on the Daily Beast: The US loses a key friend in the war on terror as a political controversy in Pakistan forces its diplomat to Washington to resign. Husain Haqqani's departure is a new blow to U.S.-Pakistan relations. Read

(The story was posted before Sherry Rehman became the new envoy)

More on Ms Rehman on the Pakistani newspaper Jang in 2009. Read

Maharashtra Government has proposed stringent punishments under the Indian Penal Code in cases related to crime against women and the proposal
to this effect is expected to be tabled in the cabinet soon.

The state government had set up an expert committee, headed by justice Chandrashekhar Dharmadhikari, to suggest recommentations for amending existing laws related to crime against women.

Amitabh Bachchan tweets: Just heard #Kolaveri after much talk on it ... its so original and catchy ..congrats Dhanush and Aishwarya(Rajni's daughter) .. love

Watch the video on rediff.com

For a sense of Sherry Rehman, check out the report her institute put out on AfPak in August this year.

On the Wall Street Journal

On Firstpost.com: David Coleman Headley is the subject of a Frontline documentary A Perfect Terrorist by ProPublica reporter Sebastian Rotella.

The new documentary identifies cases in which relatives or associates warned the FBI prior to the Mumbai attacks that Headley was working with Pakistani militants.

Read

A Hindu right-wing organisation in Goa has taken objection to a film section at the International Film Festival of India, which pays tributes to the painter, MF Husain. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, which had sued the painter for his controversial paintings on Hindu Gods and Goddesses, has urged the organisers of the festival not to pay tribute to the painter.

Husain, who earned both fame and wrath for his paintings, died in London in June this year at the age of 95.

Details of the Sherry Rehman story on the International News.

Moving quickly to fill the vacant ambassador post in Washington left by the resignation of Husain Haqqani, Pakistan unexpectedly appointed a former information minister and outspoken human rights campaigner as its new envoy. 

Sherry Rehman is also serving as the chairperson of Pakistan Red Crescent Society.

"The prime minister is pleased to appoint Sherry Rehman as the new ambassador to the United States," said a spokesman for the Prime Minister's office.

Haqqani resigned on Tuesday, days after a Pakistani-American businessman accused him of being behind a memo that accused the Pakistani military of plotting a coup in May.

Details of the train derailment at Pulwama in Kashmir.

Rediff.com's Mukhtar Ahmad files this report from Srinagar.

In a first train mishap in the Kashmir Valley, at least 20 passengers were injured when the Qazigund to Srinagar train derailed at Sadhora village in south Kashmir's Anantnag district this afternoon.

Police sources said that the engine and two bogies of the train went off the rails. "All the passengers were safe and senior police officials, along with more rescue teams are on their way to the accident spot," a senior police officer told rediff.com.

This is the third major train mishap in the last two days after seven passengers were killed when two AC bogies of the Howrah-Dehradun Express caught fire in Jharkhand. Four passengers were injured in a train collision in Odisha earlier in the day.

Just in: Former minister Sherry Rehman has been named as the new Pakistan ambassador to the US after Husain Haqqani resigned yesterday.

For an insight into Rehman, read the Guardian piece: Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's defiant prisoner of intolerance, vows to stay put  

Detals of Rahul Gandhi's speech on the second day of his rally in UP: Targeting UP Chief Minister Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi today said they have "forgotten" the people after becoming big leaders and they "don't feel for them". 

"They (Mayawati and Mulayam) have become big leaders. They can travel in helicopters. But they do not feel angry now when they see sufferings. They do not feel anything when farmers' land spanning 2,000 km is taken away. 

"That time has gone when these leaders used to feel for the people. They don't feel anything when contractors are minting money. I have learnt many things from Mulayamji. But he is not there in your midst. He does not come to you. His anger (against injustice) is over," Gandhi said. 

Gandhi said Congress-led government brought the land acquisition bill but it was prevented by opposition parties. 

Conflicting accounts emerged today of a possible nascent peace process between Pakistani authorities and the Taliban, with a militant spokesman
confirming preliminary peace talks while denying the announcement of a ceasefire. 

Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan led by Hakimullah Mahsud, confirmed that "initial peace talks" had been held with the government but strongly denied that any ceasefire was in place in the tribal areas or in settled districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

Ehsan and  several unnamed senior Taliban commanders told The News daily they were surprised at media reports of a ceasefire with the government.

In the Rajya Sabha, BJP members were on their feet demanding a discussion on black money. They also wanted suspension of Question Hour to discuss price rise. CPI-M members trooped into the Well, ignoring appeals of the Chair, demanding a discussion on price rise under a rule which entails voting.

Home Minister P Chidambaram was present in the Upper House as he had to give replies to questions related to his ministry, but no question could be taken up.

Chidambaram had the first taste of the BJP-led NDA's boycott of him in the Lok Sabha yesterday alleging his involvement in the 2G scam during his tenure as Finance Minister.

Amid uproar, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned, first, till noon within minutes after they met for the day. And finally till tomorrow, just now.

Trouble broke out in the Lok Sabha soon after it mourned the death of the seven passengers in Doon Express train accident, with even DMK members storming the Well. 

The DMK members displayed a news item that had appeared in a vernacular newspaper. Party leader T R Baalu was seen persuading members to leave the Well and carry out the protest from the aisle. 

Left parties and BJP had moved Adjournment motions on price rise and black money and wanted a discussion.

Several members from the Telangana region, including TRS Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, also walked into the Well and pressed for a separate Telangana. Some held placards saying "Implement UPA's promise of introducing Bill for Telangana". 

NCP members Sameer Bhujbal and Sanjiv Naik, whose party is also part of the UPA - raised slogans and displayed placards seeking scrapping of minimum export price on onion. 

Parliament sessions resume after adjournment. Up ahead, if Parliment is not adjourned again, is the price rise debate.

OK, LS has just been adjourned over Opposition protests on Telangana and price rise. 

The International Criminal Court has said that Libya can put Muammar Gaddafis son and one-time heir apparent Saif al-Islam on trial at home, provided that international standards are met. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also stressed that the Hague courts judges must be involved in the case.

See our Live! commentary yesterday for more on Saif al-Islam

Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Ambassador to the European Union Jalil Abbas Jilani are among possible contenders to replace Husain
Haqqani, who resigned yesterday as the country's envoy to the US because of the "Memogate" controversy. 

Even before Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani asked Haqqani to resign yesterday, the names of several contenders for the crucial post of Ambassador to the US had been doing the rounds.

Bashir first emerged as a possible contender for the post last year after Haqqani was linked by the army to several pro-democracy provisions in the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Act that provides USD 1.5 billion dollars every year as aid for
Pakistan. 

The name of Jilani, who is related to Prime Minister Gilani, came to the fore after he met the premier at his private residence in Lahore on November 19.

Speech so far is much the same of what he said yesterday. He says the Centre is giving all possible help to UP but the funds are not reaching the needy. The CBI will probe the misuse of funds. He says BSP leaders pocketing MNREGA funds.

More on the Egypt turmoil.  

Egypt's military-led government yesterday denied using violence against protesters and said the resignation of the country's Cabinet has been accepted, although members will remain until a new government is formed. Read on cnn.com.

On Twitter: Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya ought to appeal to Amitabh Bachchan for more privacy. Rather than the media.

Here's why: See the press conference by Amitabh and Abhishek yesterday.

Custom officials in the Pakistani city of Karachi have released 52 falcons that they say were unlawfully transported into the country.

Officials say the falcons were brought from Qatar by a member of its royal family without proper documentation. They say another 22 birds have been handed back to the Qataris. More on the bbc.co.uk

More countries deployed anti-personnel mines last year than in any year since 2004, an international survey of landmines has found. The Landmine Monitor report says use of the weapons increased despite record areas of land being cleared of them. Read the bbc report.

In world news:

Thousands of Egyptians have continued to occupy Cairo's Tahrir Square despite an offer from the military for a speedier handover to civilian rule. After four days of violent clashes, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said presidential elections would be held by July 2012. On bbc.co.uk

Parliament has been adjourned till noon. The BJP moved the adjournment motion in Lok Sabha and demanded suspension of the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha on the blackmoney issue. BJP to continue boycott of Home Minister P Chidambaram in Parliament, says Gopinath Munde.

The second day of the winter session of Parliament should begin any minute now. Here's the schedule:

Lok Sabha

1. Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2011
2. Damodar Valley Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2011
3. Discussion on inflation situation

Rajya Sabha
1. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2011
2. The Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Bill, 2011
3. The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill, 2010.
4. Railway Minister to make a Statement regarding the incident of fire in Howrah Dehradun Doon Express on East Central Railway.

And, of course, adjournments.

The five men have got bail after seven months in Tihar jail. They were charged with criminal conspiracy and cheating. Remember, this is the first bail granted by the court in the 2G case.

Whether there will be similar relief for Kanimozhi and A Raja soon, has to be seen.

The five who were granted bail by the Supreme Court are:

• Unitech's Sanjay Chandra,
• Swan Telecom's Vinod Goenka 
• Reliance ADAG executives Gautam Doshi, Hari Nair and Surendra Pipara.

This is the first verdict on bail petitions by the apex court after the trial court framed charges against all accused.

All the 14 accused, including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi, are lodged in Tihar jail.

A TOI report says that shortly after framing charges against the 14, the trial court on November 3 had rejected bail pleas of Kanimozhi, Cineyug's Karim Morani, Kalaignar TV MD Sarath Kumar, Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Balwa, Kusegaon Fruits and Vegetables executives Asif Balwa and Rajiv Aggarwal, former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura and Raja's former aide R K Chandolia.

The order on the bail plea of of five corporate honchos, who are in jail for over seven months for their alleged involvement in 2G spectrum allocation scam, has been delivered by the Supreme Court today.

The bench, which also includes justice GS Singhvi, had reserved its verdict November One on the plea of corporate executives - Unitech Wireless' MD Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom's director Vinod Goenka and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surrendra Pipara - who had approached the apex court for bail.