Top stories today...

1. Chandrababu Naidu has assets of Rs 38 crore
2. Tough to track social networking content: Sibal
3. Meira Kumar's secy removed after CBI raid scandal
4. Hegde moots auditing of lawmakers
5. Chairman Irani resigns amid Everonn scandal
6. Kejriwal on I-tax notice: Have completed 3-yr bond
7. Despite resignation, Justice Sen will be impeached
8. Prashant Bhushan: Govt is fighting dirty
9. Prez rejects Justice Soumitra Sen's resignation
10. Mum airport main runway closed till 8 pm
11. Agnivesh has betrayed us: Kiran Bedi
12. Cash-for-votes: SC to Del police: Find source of money
13. Manish Tewari to remain in Lokpal Committee

R Rajagopalan tweets: PM to take Mamata Banerjee and four other chief ministers to Bangladesh,.a powerful politically heavy weight delegation.

Read: Sheela Bhatt's report on how the PM's visit to Bangladesh on September 6 and 7, his first to Bangladesh and the first by an Indian prime minister in 12 years, promises to take bilateral ties to the next level.

On the Wall Street Journal, R. Jai Krishna writes how Indian security agencies are facing difficulties in tracking content on social networking websites as they are encrypted, says telecom minister Kapil Sibal. Read

Anna begins addressing the rally at Ralegan Siddhi: Says in the last 64 years corruption has not reduced. And so if people want real change, sacrifice is needed. He thanks all those who participated saying it was their victory.

Saying youth power was national power, the day youth is awakened, India will realise its true freedom.

Quoting 'Election Watch' magazine, Hegde said from 2004 to 2009, out of a sample of about 500 members in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, only 174 spoke during Parliamentary proceedings in those five years.

"What a disgrace... And who are these people who beat their chest and say we are the law-makers; who are you (civil society)?... unelected tyrants. Are they doing their job," Hegde commented, apparently referring to some politicians
targeting the anti-corruption campaign, demanding strong Lokpal.

He suggested annual auditing of Parliamentarians and its publication in their constituencies to give an idea to people on how many times their representatives spoke in Parliament or in assembly and on what subject, "apart from increase in their allowance and salary".

Earlier in the day, former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde responding to continued criticism over the Lokpal movement said if  democracy was functioning "normally", he might have agreed with the view of those who say "you can't make laws in maidan and can't make laws through agitation" in the context of the recent Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption campaign.

Hegde, who retired as Karnataka Lokayukta a month ago, referred to law-making processes in some countries, including in the UK, where a lot of importance is given to public opinion because "it's for the people that laws are made".

Palestinian demonstrators heckled and repeatedly disrupted a performance by Israel's Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Indian-born Zubin Mehta at
London's famed Proms festival last night. 

The booing and shouting by about 30 protestors in and outside the prestigious Royal Albert Hall where the concert was being conducted also forced the BBC Radio to take the live broadcast off the air for sometime. 

Zubin Mehta, 75, was conducting to celebrate his 50 years with orchestra, which last played at the Proms in 2003. Security around the Albert Hall had been tightened before the show as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign had earlier called on people to boycott the concert and also urged BBC to cancel it.

They alleged that Israel's Philharmonic orchestra had close links with the Israeli army and had been performing shows at army outposts. 

United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast lured poor and underage girls in the West African nation to have sex with them in exchange for food, a United States Embassy cable released by WikiLeaks has revealed.      

The cable written in January 2010 focuses on the behavior of Beninese peacekeepers stationed in the western town of Toulepleu, an area that has been at the crosshairs of the nation''s 10-year-long conflict.  

An aid group, Save The Children U.K. in 2009, has found in a random poll that eight out of ten underage girls (respondents) in Toulepleu performed sexual acts for Benin peacekeepers on a regular basis in order to secure their most basic needs.

Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court yesterday avoided the ignominy of becoming the first judge to be impeached by Parliament by tendering his resignation.

Fifty-three-year-old Justice Sen sent in his resignation to President Pratibha Patil five days before the Lok Sabha was to take up an impeachment motion against him.

The Rajya Sabha has already passed the motion making him the first judge to have been impeached by the Upper House for misconduct. In his letter to the President, Justice Sen said, "I am not guilty of any form of corruption".

Read: Justice Sen's resignation letter

Ramesh Srivats on Twitter:"N>ass>er" has a straight "ass" in it, while while "Hu>ssa>in has a reverse one. 

Former England captain Nasser Hussain compared Indian cricketers to 'donkeys' yesterday. 

Prashant Bhushan who is also at the press conference says that if the government wants to fight the Jan Lokpal bill, it should not fight on issues. What it is now doing is fighting dirty and running a smear campaign.

The I-T department has said that Kejriwal owes the Indian Revenue department two years' salary and his resignation can only be accpted once his dues are paid.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi, team Anna key member Arvind Kejriwal says he has not violated any law or his job contract.

Claiming that the government was trying to frame him, he said he has fulfilled the bond terms of three years and the government's interpretation was therefore wrong.

He said the IT department is under pressure from political bosses to act against him because for four years the I-T department has not replied to his missives.

He said he had donated the entire amount he received as provident fund while working for the IRS.

Arvind Kejriwal was slapped with a Rs 9 lakh notice from the income tax department for alleged unpaid dues during the time he was an IRS officer. The notice was served a week before Anna Hazare kicked off his anti-corruption crusade on August 16 at Ramlila Maidan.

Officially, Kejriwal is still an IRS employee as the department has not accepted his resignation tendered in 2006. The I-T department maintains that Kejriwal violated bond conditions and his resignation, will be accepted only once the dues are cleared. Kejriwal, however wants to know why the department woke up so late.

Just in: Rediff.com's Onkar Singh says President Pratibha Patil rejects Justice Soumitra Sen's resignation and seeks advice from the law ministry on the issue.

Justice Soumitra Sen of the Calcutta High Court yesterday avoided the ignominy of becoming the first judge to be impeached by Parliament by tendering his resignation.

Fifty-three-year-old Justice Sen sent in his resignation to President Pratibha Patil five days before the Lok Sabha was to take up an impeachment motion against him.

The Rajya Sabha has already passed the motion making him the first judge to have been impeached by the Upper House for misconduct. In his letter to the President, Justice Sen said, "I am not guilty of any form of corruption".

R Rajagopalan tweets on the day in Parliament:

1. Lalu Prasad was snoring in Lok Sabha today. Noticing it Speaker Meira Kumar asked Umashankar Singh another Bihar MP to wake up Lalu.

2. Gulam Nabi Azad, Health Minister in Question Hour in Parliament keeps red, blue, yellow marker pens to note important points in answer sheets.

3. Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal was in Lok Sabha VVIP gallery for five minutes to watch his daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur speak on SGPC.

In India Real Time: All members of the upper house of Parliament, the Rajya Sabha, are now required to use a tablet. The Lok Sabha is set to follow suit in the next few weeks.

The Rajya Sabha agreed to increase MPs' computer allowance by 50,000 rupees ($1000) to 200,000 rupees ($4000) and to make it mandatory for all to own a tablet. They can choose between Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which can be ordered from the Rajya Sabha itself. Over half of the Rajya Sabha's 245 members already picked one up.

Read more

Thirty Pakistani children, who had gone for picnic to celebrate Eid and had mistakenly crossed into Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province, have been taken
hostage by militants, officials said. 

The children were from Pakistan's Bajaur tribal region, TV channels quoted an official as saying. It was not clear which group has held them hostage but Pakistan army said that deputy chief of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Maulvi Faqir, who belonged to Bajajur, is now operating from Kunar.

BJP senior leader LK Advani led a delegation to Rashtrapati Bhavan today to register his party's protest over the controversial appointment of retired high court judge RA Mehta as the new Lokayukta of Gujarat.

Advani's meeting with President Patil comes a day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi asked the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to recall Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal for violating constitutional norms in appointing Justice R A Mehta as the state's Lokayukta.

Advani addressing the press outside Rashtrapati Bhavan said he is hopeful that the President will act and recall the governor.

For thus of us whining about our lives, here's a must read.

Venus Williams has pledged to fight the illness that threatens to put an end to a tennis career which already looked to be entering its twilight stage now she is 31, reports the Daily Mail. 

The five-time Wimbledon champion admitted that there is no cure for Sjogren's syndrome, which forced her to withdraw from her US Open second-round match just before she was due to play on Wednesday night. 

At minimum the disease - which attacks the auto-immune system and causes energy loss and joint pain - appears to have finished a season in which she will have played only three tournaments. Read more

Kiran Bedi to CNN IBN: I don't care about my image as long as I can speak truth. Contesting against Kapil Sibal will be a fitting response.

Agnivesh has betrayed us, up to him to tell core commitee where he belongs.

Sonia MMS directly resp for corruption. All our funds donors are to be made public. We will reveal exactly who funds us. Art Of Living not our main sponsor

In a sign of his frustration at the investigations into his alleged crimes and misdemeanours, Silvio Berlusconi vowed in July to leave Italy, which he described as a "shitty country" that "sickened" him.

The Italian prime minister's astonishing remarks are contained in the transcript of a telephone conversation secretly recorded by police investigating claims he was being blackmailed about his sex life, reports the Guardian. Read

Just in: The Supreme Court has directed the Delhi Police to trace the source of money used in 2008 cash-for-vote scam, which will be the 'clinching proof'. The SC said today that substantial work had been done and the police were entirely capable of finding the source. The Delhi police have been given four more weeks.

On August 24, the Delhi police had filed a chargesheet against former Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh, his ex-aide Sanjeev Saxena, senior BJP leader LK Advani's ex-aide Sudheendra Kulkarni, former BJP MPs Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Singh Bhagora and pro-BJP activist Suhail Hindustani in the cash-for-votes scam.

Back in Libya, the country's new interim leaders have assured world leaders they will build a society full of tolerance and respect for the rule of law. Speaking at a Paris meeting, National Transitional Council (NTC) head Mustafa Abdel Jalil promised a new constitution and elections within 18 months.

Read more in the bbc.co.uk

Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's allies tried to "buy the silence' of one of his ex-lovers with a four million pound pay off to stop her 'talking too much' about their affair.  

The bid was allegedly made last month when Strauss-Kahn was still facing attempted rape charges in the US, The Telegraph reports.         

It is claimed that Strauss-Kahn's sympathisers in Sarcelles, where he was mayor and deputy mayor from 1997 to 2007, were worried that a testimony from Marie-Victorine M'Bissa about their "forceful' relationship could damage his attempt to set himself free from sex allegation case filed against him by a hotel maid in New York.

Read: The New York Times on how Iran is moving its most critical nuclear fuel production to a heavily defended underground military facility outside the holy city of Qum, where it is less vulnerable to attack from the air and, the Iranians hope, the kind of cyberattack that crippled its nuclear program, according to intelligence officials.

Just in: Manish Tewari to remain as part of the Lokpal Standing Committee, says the Congress.  

If you remember, the Congress spokesperson had decided to stay out of the Parliamentary Standing Committee, which is examining the Lokpal Bill and matters related to it.

The Standing Committee on Personnel, Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, is due for a re-constitution following the completion of its one-year term.

Tewari had told the media that he had read some speculation in the press that some individuals ostensibly have reservation about my continuance in the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. I am for a strong and effective Lokpal Bill. I do not want even a shadow of a controversy to cloud the deliberations of this committee when it sets out to consider this legislation. I, therefore, decided to recuse myself.'

The Supreme Court agrees to hear the Maharashtra government's plea against the acquittal of two accused --  Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed -- in 26/11 Mumbai attack case. The SC has issued notices to both Ansari and Ahmed, who were acquitted by Bombay High Court in the Mumbai terror attacks.

The SC is also likely to take up Ajmal Kasab's letter challenging the death penalty awarded to him in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.   Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, had moved the apex court on July 29 in this regard.  

Rajya Sabha adjourns for 15 minutes after BJP creates uproar demanding recall of Gujarat governor over appointment of Lokayukta.

Later in the day, a delegation of BJP leaders is to meet President Pratibha Patil to demand the Gujarat governor's recall.

Read: LS, RS in turmoil over Lokayukta appointment

We will keep you updated on any change in flight schedules at Mumbai airport.

Meanwhile, read the Washington Post story on how the CIA has assembled a new counterterrorism unit whose job is to find al-Qaeda targets in Yemen. A corresponding commotion has been underway in the Arabian Peninsula, where construction workers have been laying out a secret new runway for CIA drones. When the missiles start falling, it will mark another expansion of the paramilitary mission of the CIA.

The main runway of the Mumbai airport has been shut after the Turkish airline skid off the runway at 4:15 am today. However, flights are taking off and landing on schedule.

Even as Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, in a radio message, urges his countrymen to fight on, Germany has announced it will release 1 billion euros from 7 billion euros frozen assets of the ousted regime of Muammar Gaddafi to provide urgent medical and humanitarian assistance and to support Libya's interim government in meeting some of its most pressing needs. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists last evening at the conclusion of the "friends of Libya" international conference hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the UN Security Council's sanctions committee has approved Germany's request to unfreeze 1 billion euros.

Team Anna key member Arvind Kejriwal has been slapped with a Rs 9 lakh notice from the income tax department for alleged unpaid dues during the time he was an IRS officer. The notice was served a week before Anna Hazare kicked off his anti-corruption crusade on August 16 at Ramlila Maidan, reports CNN IBN.

Officially, Kejriwal is still an IRS employee as the department has not accepted his resignation tendered in 2006. The I-T department maintains that Kejriwal violated bond conditions and his resignation, will be accepted only once the dues are cleared.

Kejriwal, however wants to know why the department woke up so late.