1. Letters rogatory issued for quizzing Headley, Rana
2. PM to armed forces: Terror groups more lethal now
3. Nitish Kumar flags off Advani's 38-day rath yatra
4. Karuna: Kani, Maran brothers equal for me
5. Yuvraj reacts to spot-fixing taint: Absolute rubbish!
6. Is Siberia home to Yeti?
7. Amitabh Bachchan turns 69 today
8. Pak court admits appeal against Qadri's execution
9. Dark Ages return to Maha: 16-hr power cuts
10. Pak: J-K not integral part of India

With increase in the presence of militants across the LoC, the army has deployed additional troops in priority areas to counter infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of snowfall. 

At present, opposite Shamsabari (range) and Uri, there are 600 militants," General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain said today.

Pessimism across the banking sector seems to be all-pervading,  including among investors. Most investors abroad are underweight on Indian banks, something that would not change in the near term.

Indian banks have been battling high interest rates, slowing credit growth and bad loans, all of which make the prospects of posting good numbers this quarter very weak. Read on Firstpost.com

Just in: Gangster Chhota Rajan to appear as an accused in the murder of senior crime reporter J Dey. Mumbai DCP says the underworld felt threatened by Dey's reporting. The charges will be framed under MCOCA. Dey was shot dead on June 11 in broad daylight.  

On rediff.com: Why J Dey's murder poses serious questions

Sumit Ganguly in Foreign Affairs: Is the Gandhi scion ready to rule world's largest democracy? Read 

A Pakistan court today disposed of a petition challenging an anti-terrorism court's decision to allow the constitution of a commission to visit India and
record the statements of key officials who investigated the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court disposed of the petition filed by Khwaja Sultan, the counsel for Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, "as it was not pressed".

Sultan had filed the petition after the anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks, including Lakhvi, had allowed the formation of the commission to visit India.

Speaking to top commanders of armed forces PM Manmohan Singh says the international strategic and political environment has deteriorated and must be factored in while adopting policies. He added that terror groups are highly networked, nimble-footed, more lethal and called for appropriate responses.

Advani's address ends and the entourage gets on to the hi-tech rath designed by Dilip Chhabria. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar flags off the yatra. Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj on top of the bus (rath).  

Advani says enough is enough is the theme of his yatra and embodies what the people of India feel about the UPA government's corruption. He says people have finally taken a stand against corruption that they won't tolerate it any more.

He compares former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad with Nitish Kumar and says it was Nitish Kumar who brought welcome change in Bihar.

Breaking his silence on the CBI action against the Maran brothers over the Aircel-Maxis deal, DMK President M Karunanidhi today said his support would always be with them to face the present situation.

"I treat my daughter Kanimozhi and Maran brothers equally. Reports that I did not support Maran brothers is a part of a conspiracy by some vested interests to destroy the DMK totally," he said in a statement a day after CBI searched the residences of Maran brothers and eight other locations.

Meet Shopirai Shirzai who joined the police force in Afghanistan more than 20 years ago, when she was just 14. Read

From Foreign Policy magazine.

"Seattle has Bill," Thomas Friedman once wrote. "Bangalore has Nandan." The co-founder of Infosys -- the Indian company that made "outsourcing" a household word -- famously gave Friedman the central conceit for The World Is Flat when he said that global commerce's "playing field is being leveled" by communications technology.

Now tasked with providing digital IDs to 1.2 billion Indians, Nandan Nilekani is trying to finish the job he started in the private sector: bringing a country that never entirely left the 19th century all the way into the 21st.  Read

Husham Ahmed on Twitter: Lunatics are on the roads again in Islamabad supporting Qadri.

The Islamabad High Court today admitted the appeal against Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri's death sentence for hearing, the Dawn, Pakistan reported. Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was sentenced to death on two counts for murder and terrorism by a court on October 1.

Yuvraj Singh reacts on Twitter: And who is majid!! absolute rubbish! Don't no never met! The problem in India is if someone says a rooster has given an egg it will become news !! Whether its true or not its doesn't matter.  

Mazhar Majeed, the Pakistani players' agent at the heart of the spot-fixing scandal, bragged to the undercover reporter, Mazhar Mahmood of the now defunct tabloid News of the World, that he "had access" to Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh.

Days after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' death, his biological father still holds on to his son's legacy: his iPhone as he reveals his grief. Read the story in the Daily Mail.

Incidentally, Amitabh Bachchan turns 69 today. The megastar says one of the best ways to celebrate birthdays is to keep working. Despite completing 40 years in Bollywood, the ageing actor is not the one to rest on his laurels, says PTI. He is busy shooting for Ram Gopal Varma's 'Department', despite getting
injured on the sets of the film and is also hosting season 5 of 'Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC)' on Sony TV.
"One of the best ways to bring in birthdays is to be working at what you need to be working on...I work because of I need to ....love!!," he said.

Also read: Anupama Chopra's on Amitabh in LA Times.

Myanmar's president is to grant amnesty to more than 6,300 prisoners, state-controlled media has announced.

The announcement, on state television, did not specify how many of those freed would be political detainees. But the news came hours after Myanmar's new human rights body called for the release of "prisoners of conscience" who did not threaten state stability. Read the report on bbc.co.uk

Neighbourhood news:  

The Islamabad High Court today admitted the appeal against Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri's death sentence for hearing, the Dawn, Pakistan reported. Qadri, the self-confessed assassin of Punjab governor Salman Taseer, was sentenced to death on two counts for murder and terrorism by a court on October 1.

On October 6, Qadri filed an appeal against the death sentence. Qadri had confessed to shooting Taseer dead outside an upmarket coffee shop close to his residence in the leafy capital Islamabad on January 4.

Advani and senior BJP leaders alongwith Bihar CM Nitish Kumar are now on their way to Chhapra, from where the yatra will be flagged off.

Advani hits out at the UPA saying the party in the centre is in power due to corruption and corrupt practices.

He said the time had come not just to change the government, but the system.

He says corruption is eroding faith in democracy and governance.

Advani takes the opportunity to criticise former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad Yadav's regime for the mess it made of Bihar in its 15-year period of governance.

-- He says when he came to Bihar in 1998, he was when was shocked at the poor affairs of the state.

-- In the same breath, Advani lauds Nitish Kumar for good governance.

Advani says he accepted Nitish Kumar's invitation to return to Bihar and says there is a need to change the systems in the country and fight against corruption and for good governance. (An echo of Anna Hazare's platform)

The Jan Chetana yetra will cover 7600 km, 100 districts, 38 days, 23 states, 4 union territories.

Just before he began his speech at Sitabdiara, Advani, accompanied by his daughter Pratibha Advani and other party leaders including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, today visited the ancestral house of late Jayaprakash Narayan and
garlanded his statue. 

They then arrived at the Gandhi Maidan, from where Advani's Jan Chetna Yatra is to roll out, paid floral tributes to the departed Lok Nayak.

Also from Sitabdiara, this exclusive story from rediff.com's MI Khan.

After 64 years, electricity has finally reached JP village Sitabdiara -- thanks to Advani's anti-corruption rath yatra. Full story on our website in a bit.

In Sitabdiara, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar addresses the crowd. Says people are frustrated with widespread corruption and welcomed Advani for starting his yatra against corruption. Nitish Kumar will be flagging off the 38-day yatra.

Industry in Maharashtra is now subject to a 16-hour 'staggering day' every week, in which they will receive no electricity from state power utility
Mahavitaran, starting tomorrow, due to supply shortfalls.

The staggering day will be implemented once a week from Wednesday, a spokesperson from Mahavitaran said in a statement issued here last night.

The state has been facing a shortfall of 3,500 MW of power. Power plants in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are unable to generate electricity due to coal shortages. In addition, the Telangana agitation in Andhra
Pradesh has hurt power production.

In other news, Pakistan today claimed that Jammu and Kashmir has never been an "integral part" of India and sought a UN-led plebiscite to determine the will of the Kashmiri people, evoking an angry rebuttal by India which termed the remarks as "unwarranted". "Jammu and Kashmir is neither an integral part of India, nor has it ever been so," Tahir Hussain Andrabi, Counsellor at Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN, said during a debate at the General Assembly.

This morning, LK Advani reached Sitabdiara, accompanied by Leaders of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, arrived in Patna by a chartered plane from the Delhi and straightaway took off in a chopper for Sitabdiara.

He is scheduled to address a public meeting at Chhapra and proceed by road to Patna where he would be addressing another rally in the evening. Advani has said his 'rath yatra' would put pressure on the government to retrieve black money stashed away in foreign shores and pursue good governance as well as clean politics for a change.

Legendry socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly called JP's village -- Sitabdiara in Bihar's Saran district -- is ready for the much-hyped rath yatra, says rediff.com's MI Khan.

The Business Standard reports that although the yatra will formally begin at Sitabdiara (the birthplace of late socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan), the rath will roll out from Chhapra.

According to the party sources, the entire village has been decorated to welcome Advani and state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a leader of the Janata Dal United which is a key ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

The late JP's native house has been specially decked up for the occasion. A wooden stage has been created for the leaders, from where they will formally start the yatra and address the public.  Read more

CBI names Marans in FIR; searches premises (The Hindu)
According to the FIR, Dayanidhi Maran, as Telecom Minister, allegedly misused his office to help Ananda Krishnan, a business tycoon from Malaysia, to acquire Indian telecom firm Aircel. Read

New policy rings in free roaming (The Hindu)

The draft National Telecom Policy 2011 will remove national roaming charges, make broadband available on demand, bring in an one-nation, one-licence policy and allow mobile numbers to be ported to any part of the country. Read

Lokpal bill: How Team Anna, govt representatives fought clause-by-clause (The Times of India)
Team Anna and government representatives on the joint drafting committee engaged in clause-by-clause combat over the draft Lokpal bill spread over nine long meetings. Read

Spot fixing: I had access to Yuvraj & Bhajji, claims Majeed (The Times of India)

Pakistani players' agent at the heart of the spot-fixing scandal Mazhar Majeed also dropped the names of Gayle, Ponting and Lee to the undercover reporter. Read

LK Advani not out of PM race yet (DNA)
BJP veteran says its too early to decide on partys PM candidate for the next election. Read

Last chance for Advani; BJP leader goes on yatra today (Hindustan Times)

BJP patriarch LK Advani, 83, will start his 12,000-km campaign against corruption from Sitab Diara village in Bihar to create public awareness against corruption, a journey many see as an attempt to be his party's candidate for the PM's post in 2014. Read

2G scam: Bail on cards for Kanimozhi? (DNA)
DMK MP Kanimozhi is expected to get relief from the walls of Tihar Jail as the CBI is likely to go soft on her bail plea when it comes up for hearing on October 17. Read

For mother-in-law, CM Chavan calls govt nurses home (Indian Express)
Nurses unions at Cama and Albless Hospital go on three-hour strike against request. Read