The body of 20-year-old Indian-origin student Gurdeep Hayer has been found in Manchester city centre, eight days after he went missing, UK police said on Tuesday.

The body was found in River Medlock in the city centre of Manchester on Monday and was identified today as that of Gurdeep, who was missing since January 2.

The Greater Manchester Police investigating his disappearance today said the body was found in the river near the York Street in the Manchester city centre and was today formally identified as that of Gurdeep.

"There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances surrounding his death. A Home Office post-mortem is due to take place later this week," the police said.

Tamil Nadu ended the day on 246/6 against Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium.
The visitors who were reeling at 139/6 at one stage fought back through a century partnership between R Prasanna (81 no) and Yo Mahesh (34 no). B S Sandhu claimed 4 wickets.

In the other s-f, Rajasthan who were shot out for 89, fought back to have Haryana struggling at 82/8.

Team Anna today decided to desist from campaigning against any party in the five election-bound states, a decision apparently prompted by divisions within its fold over its strident anti-Congress stand.

"There was a consensus in the Core Committee meeting that we should tour all five poll-bound states but we should not campaign against any party. Anna Ji shares this view and we will not campaign against any particular party," Anna aide Arvind Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the ailing Gandhian at his native village.

Team Anna's Core Committee had met in Delhi yesterday amid "confusion" on how to take the movement forward after a tepid public response to Hazare's fast in Mumbai against the "weak" Lokpal Bill brought by the government in Parliament and criticism of their anti-Congress posture.

According to sources, a section in the team, including social activist Medha Patkar and a few others, were against the movement solely targeting Congress on Lokpal issue. Though Patkar did not attend yesterday's meeting, she sent a note in this regard.

The ruling Congress swept the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council polls in Assam for the third consecutive term winning 15 of the 26 seats, official sources said.

The main opposition Peoples' Alliance for Peace Agreement won nine seats while independents bagged three seats.

The Congress tally, however, came down from the previous 21 with prominent losers including Karbi Anglong District Congress president Sum Ronghang.
 
The Council polls were held on January four last

Suspended Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta arrested over 21 months ago allegedly for passing country's sensitive information to Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI, was today granted bail by a Delhi court.

While enlarging Gupta on bail, Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Kumar Jain, however, restrained her from leaving Delhi without prior permission of the court.

The court also warned her against trying to contact any prosecution witness in the case.

The judge, who had on January 7, charged her with offences entailing three years jail term on conviction, released her on bail on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 and surety of same amount.

The court granted bail on her plea that she has already spent over 21 months in jail while the offences she has been charged with carries a maximum jail term of three years on being held guilty.

Gupta, 55, was arrested on April 22, 2010 by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. She was posted as Second Secretary (Press and
Information) in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Amarinder Singh today filed his nomination papers from Patiala Assembly segment in the state going to polls on January 30.

He was accompanied by his family members including wife and Minister of State for External Affairs Perneet Kaur, son Raninder Singh, daughter Jai Inder Kaur and daughter-in-law Rishma Kaur.
    
Replying to questions from reporters on his way back, Amarinder said, Congress was confident of forming the government in Punjab as people were looking for change.

He said, people were so upset with the Akalis that they were eagerly waiting for their (Akalis) ouster.

The PCC president also clarified that there was not much dissidence within the party after the announcement of the candidates.

A group of 15 Indian sailors who were in the captivity of Somali pirates for over 11 months returned to the country in the wee hours today.

They were among 22 seamen who had been held hostage by
Somali pirates along with their vessel M T Savina Caylyn since February 8 last year.

The crew was released along with the vessel on December 21. It was not known whether a ransom was paid for their release.

It was an emotional reunion for the sailors as they came out of the international airport in Mumbai. They were received by their family members and peers from the sailors community.

Savina Caylyn, owned by the Italian shipping company Fratelli D'Amato was hijacked 500 miles off the coast of India while on a voyage from Sudan to Malaysia in February last year. There were 22 seamen on board when the vessel was taken hostage of which 17 were Indians and five Italians. All of them have been released. Two Indian sailors returned by a different flight, according to sources.

The Army today said security forces had foiled numerous infiltration attempts and terrorists were on the run with their leadership eliminated to a great extent
in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The relentless hard work by security forces has kept terrorists on the run in Jammu and Kashmir", General Officer Commanding in Chief, Northern Command, Lt. Gen. K T Parnaik said.

"As their numbers have dwindled and the leadership has been eliminated to a great extent, the operations are now entering a more difficult phase," he told troops in Akhnoor sector along the LoC," he said.

Highlighting that 42 per cent children were underweight in a country witnessing high growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today described it as a national shame and said the government could not rely solely on ICDS, a programme for early childhood development, to address it.

"...the problem of malnutrition is a matter of national shame. Despite impressive growth in our GDP, the level of under-nutrition in the country is unacceptably high," he said releasing a report on Hunger and Malnutrition (HUNGaMA) in New Delhi.

Pointing out that India had not succeeded in reducing the levels of malnutrition fast enough, he said, "Though the ICDS continues to be our most important tool to fight malnutrition, we can no longer rely solely on it."

The Integrated Child Development Services scheme is a major national programme that addresses the health and nutrition needs of children under the age of six.

Eyes to the sky from tonight...

A celestial spectacle awaits astro-enthusiasts for the next three-four nights when Earth's three neighbouring planets will be seen in the dark sky after sunset.
Jupiter, Venus and Mars are closing in and can be seen in the sky from tonight, Sri N Raghuanandan Kumar of Planetary Society of India said.

 "While Jupiter and Mars can be seen in east direction tll 1:30 am 11:45 pm respectively, Venus shall figure in west direction up to 8 pm," he said.

The alignment of these three planets will be visible with the naked eye, Kumar said, adding that the geometrical pattern will provide an opportunity to the sky gazers to click the celestial spectacle.

Ranji semis update: Tamil Nadu fighting back after a dismal 130/6. They are now 227/6 with R Prasanna batting on 71. Haryana are tottering at 56/7 in reply to Rajasthan's 89 all out.

Watch  the Live telecast here

For the live scores, go here and here

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has said that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is not an upright man and he showed loyalty for a political party instead of the Constitution .

An SC bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa issued its verdict in NRO implementation case and said that a dishonest man could not become member of the Parliament.

The court observed that the prime minister might be declared disqualified and hinted that it might form a commission to look into whether Gilani could be declared illegal.

If you didn't, you do now.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is in Israel meeing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for anti-terrorism talks.

Quick takes:

• Israel is a natural ally of India
• International terrorism is a problem for both countries.
• India is a natural ally of Israel in science.
• India looks forward to an increased economic content to our existing areas of cooperation.
• Our efforts should be to checkmate it and ultimately eradicate terror from the face of the earth.

From the Daily Mail: Healing crystals, hidden doors and no bedrooms: A fascinating glimpse inside Coco Chanel's Paris apartment.

See

Update on EC notice to Salman Khurshid (see our 15:03 post). A full bench of the Election Commission is meeting this evening to issue a strict warning to political parties not to make such statements when the election campaign gainsmomentum.

Khurshid courted controversy yesterday, when he promised that the Congress party would provide a nine per cent sub-quota for backward Muslims if the party was voted to power in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

The impromptu dance that First Lady Michelle Obama did at a school in Mumbai when she accompanied President Barack Obama on his India trip in 2010 was stage managed by the White House staff so as to send a positive image throughout the world, a new book has claimed. 

"In Mumbai, while the President was in discussions on trade relations between the two countries, the first lady visited with a group of orphans and runaways, kicking off her shoes to play hopscotch with them, dancing and shimmying to the beat of a song from a Bollywood movie," wrote the New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor in her latest book The Obamas.

"The first lady's staff knew the formula by now: put Michelle Obama in a roomful of kidsespecially kids who were outsiders in one way or anotherjust let them interact, and they were likely to end with a Moment that generated warm, positive images and video," Cantor wrote.

"All we had to do was set the stage," Melissa Winter, her deputy chief of staff, said later according to the book, which has been described as highly exaggerated by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

Just in: Our Delhi correspondent tells us that the Election Commission has decided to issue a notice to union law minister Salman Khurshid on his press statement about the quota for Muslims. The EC said that action will be taken against the law minister once he replies to the notice.

Khurshid, yesterday, said that the Muslim quota would be increased if the Congress is voted back to power in UP.

A new book says that Michelle Obama felt isolated, frightened and unsure of what to do during initial days at White House.

The Obamas, a new book by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor has asserted that despite her husband's historic win in the 2008 presidential race, Michelle Obama was in favour of staying put in Chicago with her girls and not shifitng to the White House.

She was apprehensive about her children bumping into White House tourists during play dates. Later, she would acknowledge just how tough life at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue can be, ABC News reported.

"Sometimes it becomes difficult to live in what we call a bubble,' she said, according to the book. It was a trip to a London girls' school, which eventually proved to be a turning point for the First Lady, where she discovered a public role for herself and evaded the isolation she felt at the White House

"We are counting on every single one of you to be the very best that you can be,' Obama told them.

Ranji Trophy update: 15 wickets have already fallen on Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy semifinal between Rajasthan and Haryana.

And it not yet time for tea. Haryana are 16/5, after skittling out the defending champs for 89. The match is being played at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Lalhi in Rohatak district of Haryana.

Watch  the Live telecast here

For the live scores, go here and here

Financially, 2011 was a windfall year for Tim Cook. His appointment as Apple CEO following the departure of co-founder Steve Jobs brought with it a new salary and a wheelbarrow full of stock awards.

Read

Rolls Royce, that metaphor for luxury and class, has sold a record 3,500 cars in a year with China leading the demand.

Read the story on the Daily Mail.  

A colleague has been waxing eloquent about the new Sherlock Holmes series on the BBC. Here's what the Telegraph, London, says. Read

Girlfriend of football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo shows off her figure in a selection of pretty underwear. 

Drool on the Daily Mail

David Remnick, Pulitzer prizer winning author and editor of the New Yorker on the Obamas' marriage.

Read

@Mrityunjoykjha: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina makes a historic border crossing here Wednesday with a 100-member delegation to commemorate the northeast Indian state's role in her nation's liberation.

Tripura had six to seven camps under four different sectors from where the 'muktijoddhas' (freedom fighters) fought the Pakistani forces in the nine-month-long war in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh from East Pakistan.

From the Tribune, Pakistan: The horrors of sexual abuse in the Fata region of Pakistan...

Kashmala Bibi (name changed) says her cousin's breasts were cut into pieces when five militants walked into their house and saw the woman breastfeeding her child. One of the insurgents then asked the other women around to eat the pieces. This is one of the many tales of horror recorded in a report titled "Impact of crisis on women and girls in Fata'.

More

Ranji Trophy semi-final update: Defending Champion Rajasthan have collapsed to 89 all out versus Haryana. Harshal Patel who wrecked Karnataka in the q-f with 8 wickets, repeats the feat with 8/34.

Live scores here

In the other semis, Tamil Nadu were in trouble at 152/6 against Mumbai, with most of their famed top order back in the hut.

Live telecast here

Blogs from Pakistan's Dawn newspaper:

Muslims in North America often have to confront issues that those in the Islamic world do not, such as: Can a woman pray beside a man? Read

That Pervez Musharraf`s rally in Karachi on Sunday wasn`t much of a success goes without saying. Television showed the reality, and flags and buntings failed to hide the lack of popular enthusiasm. Coming after Imran Khan`s much larger rally last month, the small crowd must have been embarrassing for the former president-general. Read

If you've been feeling particularly moody about the dismal showings at the stock market, perk up.

Global agency Moody's today upgraded India's short-term foreign currency rating from speculative to investment grade, a development which will help
domestic companies to raise funds from overseas markets at better rates.     

"... there has been another upgrade by Moody's with the short-term country ceiling on foreign currency bank deposit increasing from NP (not prime) to Prime (P-3), suggesting acceptable ability to repay short-term obligations," the
Finance Ministry said. The 'P-3' ratings suggest acceptable ability to repay
short-term obligations.   

The latest upgrade comes less than a month after Moody's had upgraded the credit rating of Indian government's bonds from speculative to investment grade, a move that was expected to encourage FIIs to increase their exposure in gilts and help companies raise funds from abroad at competitive rates. 

On the Daily Beast: The media have flocked to report the shocking torture of Sahar Gul for refusing to become a prostitute, but her case is just one example of widespread violence against women in Afghanistan, which mostly goes unreported and unpunished.

Read

Quick takes:

Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India went up by an impressive 56 per cent to USD 2.53 billion in November 2011, signalling improvement in investor
sentiment.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez defended his close ally Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as tensions rose with the US over Tehran's nuclear programme and a death sentence against an American man convicted of
working for the CIA.

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has taken on the countrys army again in the Memogate issue, insisting that the replies of Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and ISI chief Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha in the Supreme Court were illegal as they were not given clearance by the government before submitting their responses over the issue.

JDey case update.

The newly appointed special public prosecutor Raja Thakare is also special public prosecutor in various other cases including the July 11, 2006 serial train blasts, Aurangabad arms haul case and murder case against gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli.

A powerful bomb blast ripped through a crowded market in the restive Khyber tribal region of northwest Pakistan today, killing at least 20 people and
injuring over 30 others, officials said. 

The bomb was planted in a pick-up truck that was parked at a stand for trucks and buses at the market in Jamrud, one of the main towns of Khyber Agency. 

All persons sitting in the truck were killed instantly when the bomb went off, witnesses and officials said. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals. Those with serious injuries were shifted to nearby Peshawar city, the capital of Khyber-Paktunkhwa province.

Mr Rushdie is trending on Twitter over Islamic Seminary Darul Uloom Deoband asking the government to cancel his visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.

Rushdie, who had earned the wrath of Muslims worldwide due to his novel 'The Satanic Verses', is set to attend the Jaipur Literature Festival this month end.

Here's what the tweets say:

sulmnz Sul  So Salman Rushdie is visiting India... Hoping and praying we Muslims will be civil with their discontentment. Matter of our dignity again...

marculyseas Mark Ulyseas
marculyseas.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/sal PLease keep the mullahs away from the 2012 Jaipur Literary festival !

marculyseas Mark Ulyseas
marculyseas.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/sal India should not bow to the Thugs that masquerade as Mullahs. India is secular!

DailyDominic Arjun
People have lost perspective bit.ly/yESPz2 even in the case of Salman Rushdie ! so he's the 'bad guy'! but let give the guy a chance!

Rushdie tweeted earlier: ... Don't need a visa for India.

Congress national general secretary Digvijay Singh said there was a possibility of a post-poll alliance between the Samajwadi Party and BJP as SP Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav never gives any statement against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. 

Addressing an election meeting last night, Singh said Yadav also had friendship with Kalyan Singh, an accused in the Babri mosque demolition case. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav never gives any statement against Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, he said adding that under such circumstances Yadav can join hands with BJP to form government after UP polls. 

Attacking the ruling BSP, he said that the party's act against corruption was nothing more than farce. BSP ousted ministers facing corruption charges from the cabinet, but FIRs were not lodged against any of them, he said. Uttar Pradesh will go to polls spread over seven phases in February. 

Health update:

Losing a loved one can really break your heart -- in fact, the risk of an attack is significantly higher on first day of bereavement itself, say researchers. A new study has found that the death of a loved one makes you up to 21 times more likely to suffer a heart attack within a day of your loss; and during the first week of bereavement, the risk is almost six times higher than normal.

 However, the risk slowly declines during the month that follows, says the study published in 'Journal of the American Heart Association'.

The Maharashtra government has appointed a special public prosecutor to fight its case against the 11 accused in the murder of senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey. 

Raja Thakare is the special public prosecutor in the case, sources said adding the notification pertaining to his appointment was issued today.

Dey (56), editor of investigations with Mid Day, was shot dead in broad daylight by three assailants allegedly affliated to gangster Chhota Rajan outside his house at Powai on June 11, 2011.

While the crime branch has filed its chargesheet against ten persons, it is yet to file its supplementary chargesheet against journalist Jigna Vora, the eleventh arrested accused in the case.

In other news:

Pakistan has complained to UN chief Ban Ki-moon that the geographical coordinates notified by India of the Sir Creek estuary are "inconsistent"
with international law and "impinge" upon Islamabad's territorial limits in the disputed area. The complaint was made in a letter from Pakistan's mission to the UN here which has been posted on the UN website.

It is in response to India's notifications specifying its geographical coordinates and boundary claims with regard to Sir Creek, which were placed on the website of the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea in May and November 2009.

Read

On the Guardian:

The tragic story of exploitation: Women (mostly naked) in the Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands forced to dance for the amusement of rich tourists.

Watch

Just in: Reports of stone pelting at Jagan Reddy's convoy in Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Jagan has begun a 48-hour fast at Armoor in Nizamabad district over farmers' problems. TRS, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC) and Congress leaders from the region yesterday voiced stiff opposition to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's fast.

"Jagan has an anti-Telangana attitude. He never spoke in support of Telangana. He has tried to evade a clear stance on the separate statehood demand (by saying that the decision on it has to be taken by Centre). All Congress activists in Telangana should oppose his visit," Congress Lok Sabha member from Karimnagar Ponnam Prabhakar said yesterday.

A reuters story says that US authorities are investigating allegations that an Indian government spy unit hacked into emails of an official US commission that monitors economic and security relations between the United States and China, including cyber-security issues.

More

North Korea says it will grant an amnesty for prisoners to mark the birthdays of two late leaders. State news agency KCNA said that the amnesty would begin from 1 February, in honour of Kim Jong-il, who died last month, and his father Kim Il-sung. No information was given as to how many prisoners would be released or who.

More on bbc.co.uk

World news:

The US has said Iran's enrichment of uranium at an underground site is "a further escalation" of its ongoing violation of UN resolutions. The warning comes after the UN's nuclear watchdog confirmed that Tehran had begun enriching uranium up to 20% at its northern Fordo plant.  

More on the bbc.co.uk

A Chinese man has grown the world's most expensive tea using panda excretion.  

An Yanshi bought 11 tons of excrement from a panda breeding centre in Sichuan province and used it to grow tea leaves costing 22,000 pounds per pound.  

The 41-year-old entrepreneur has revealed that panda poo is the key ingredient to a new luxury brew.  

So far there have been no takers for the unusual product that comes accompanied by a special panda-shaped tea set and two wildlife paintings.  

His method remains a closely guarded secret, but he promises drinkers they can expect 'a mature and nutty taste'.  

The tea is also being heralded for its health properties as the excrement is enriched with nutrients from bamboo, which is a major food source for the bear.

Releasing the first-ever child malnutrition report, PM Manmohan Singh today said the problem of malnutrition in the country is a matter of national shame, despite the impressive growth in our GDP. The level of under-nutrition is unacceptably high. A report says that India has the highest number of stunted children in the world.

The PM announces a  multi-sectoral programme in districts across India. 

The report says that every third malnourished child is from India.

A milder Kiran Bedi on Twitter: Each Indian is/can b movement against corruption by self regulation/whistle blower. V begin with ourselves to drive change.

Rants against the government seem to have disappeared.  

Ruling JD(U) in Bihar has a green idea - plant trees to enter the party fold.
Any person wanting to join the party needs to plant a sapling and furnish photographic evidence of it.

An ID is then generated for each sapling and a three-monthly review is conducted to ensure that it is well taken care of. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar hit upon the idea during his tour of a village in Bhagalpur last year where he found people planting a sapling on birth of a girl child. The concept was to celebrate birth of girl and also increase greenery.

"Anyone who wants to join JD(U) or renew his membership, must plant a sapling and provide a proof of this," JD(U) national spokesperson Shivanand Tiwari said.

The billionaires may be dropping, but India's representation in higher education abroad, goes from strength to strength...

IIT-Delhi alumnus Soumitra Dutta has been named the new Dean of the Ivy league Cornell University's business school, joining a growing list of noted
Indian-origin academicians assuming leaderships roles at prestigious global universities. 

Dutta, 48, is the first Indian-origin dean at the 66-year old Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management. He will become the 11th dean of the New York-based Cornell University's business school when he begins his renewable five-year term on July 1.

According to a new study, the number of billionaires in India dropped by more than 30% in 2011. Press reports blamed the drop on the country's stock market, which fell by 40% last year. On the Wall Street Journal.

Read

In presidential elections, family matters, and the 2012 Republican contest is getting weirdly twisted about dark horse presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's harmless adopted daughters. There is a big fight going on about who posted an obnoxious web video called "Jon Huntsman's Values' mocking first Huntsman's service as US ambassador to China, then the fact that he adopted a child in China and India.

More on Firstpost.com

On the Wall Street Journal:  

Despite growing up on the vibrant, picture-perfect shores of Palos Verdes, California, author and filmmaker Keshni Kashyap endured pangs of loneliness as an apprehensive teenager, maneuvering the many social gauntlets that defined her elite, private school.

Read

Feeling, um, down and out. A certain omega-3 fatty acid, which is present in marine fishes like salmon or tuna, can help.

The Omega-3 fatty acid plays a vital role in determining male fertility, a new study has revealed. A University of Illinois study reported that docosahexaenoic acid is necessary to construct the arch that turns a round, immature sperm cell into a pointy-headed super swimmer with an extra long tail.

"Normal sperm cells contain an arc-like structure called the acrosome that is critical in fertilization because it houses, organizes, and concentrates a variety of enzymes that sperm use to penetrate an egg,' said Manabu Nakamura, a U of I associate professor of biochemical and molecular nutrition.

The study shows for the first time that DHA is essential in fusing the building blocks of the acrosome together.

Quick takes:

Observing that cylone-Thane had caused extensive damage,the CPI has slammed the Centre for "delay" in sanctioning relief to Puducherry.

With the air-version of BrahMos missile likely to be inducted in IAF within a year,works have already been started to develop BrahMos 2, the fastest
Hypersonic missile in the world, which would take final shape in five years, a top scientist said.

The US is looking to reduce the number of its troops in Europe, but the exact figures would be available only when President Barack Obama presents his budget to the Congress next month.

The story so far:

The teenaged son of the missing nurse confirmed last week that a watch, locket and toe-ring recovered from a canal in Jodhpur last week belonged to his mother.

Bhanwari Devi, 36, went missing under mysterious circumstances on September 1.

Her body is yet to be found, but she is presumed  dead. Some burnt bones and a tooth were also recovered from the Rajiv Gandhi Canal at Jaloda village, around 100 km from here, where Bhanwari Devi's body was allegedly abandoned.

The CBI has sent the bones and tooth to New Delhi's CFSL for DNA testing. The CBI on Monday claimed it had corroborative evidence to establish that Bhanwari Devi was murdered and burnt after a conspiracy.

Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna and legislator Malkhan Singh Bishnoi are among the 12 people arrested in connection with the case so far. Bhanwari Devi allegedly had in her possession sex CDs showing her with the two political leaders and was blackmailing them.

Retweeted by Salman Rushdie:

@oinkness: OnJeopardy today: Which nation is the #postcolonial #novel Midnight's Children by @SalmanRushdie set in? Answer: Syria"

Good morning. Anna Hazare, on whose delicate shoulders rested the hopes and aspirations of millions of Indians hoping for a corruption-free country, is unwell. And with him, is the movement, called India Against Corruption.

Today, Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan will meet Anna Hazare in Ralegan Siddhi to discuss further strategy in fight against corruption.

Hazare is expected to take a final decision about their next move keeping in mind the upcoming assembly polls in five states and is likely to announce that his team will campaign for a strong lokpal bill in four of the five states bound for assembly elections in the coming weeks but will not name any political party.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams withdrew from the Australian Open as she struggles to return from the autoimmune disease Sjogren's syndrome. 

In a posting on her website, the US star said that she
has been making progress and plans to return to WTA Tour play in February, when events begin in the United States.

"I regret to announce that I am withdrawing from the 2012 Australian Open," Williams said on her website. "After several months of training and treatment, I am making steady progress to top competitive form."

The United States has said that Iran's uranium enrichment at heavily fortified Fordu underground site near Qom is a "further escalation" in the nuclear showdown with the international community.

"We are closely monitoring their nuclear programme in general, and this development, given their track record and what the IAEA inspectors have been able to report, it's not a surprise to us, what we're hearing," State Department
spokesperson Victoria Nuland said today.

In Delhi, icy winds blowing from mountains today gave no respite to winter chill as it brought down mercury to below five degree Celsius. The mercury plummeted to 4.5 degree Celsius, three degrees below normal and a sharp decline from yesterday's 8.4 degrees, on a sunny morning. Since Sunday, the minimum temperature has been dipping.

This is the first time in the new year that the minimum temperature dropped to below normal levels and on four days, in last ten days, the lowest temperature was five degrees above normal.

MEA officials in gift scam shame nation (Hindustan Times)
When foreign minister SM Krishna visited Malaysia last May, he carried gifts representing the finest traditions of India's craftwork on behalf of the Indian government for the dignitaries. It now appears that not only were the gifts billed to the government at highly inflated costs, they were also of very poor quality. Read

Adopted Indian girl targeted in US poll fight (The Times of India)
Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman is the target of a smear campaign through an online video over his two adopted daughters. Read

Team Anna not to target any party (The Hindu)
However, the core committee of the anti-corruption movement, left it to the ailing social activist to take a final call on the matter. Read

My fight against corruption will continue once I get better: Hazare (The Hindu)

Amid talk of the Jan Lokpal movement being directionless, anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare on Sunday said he would not be undertaking a tour to campaign against the Congress in the five poll-bound States because of his poor health. Read

Nakkheeran Editor moves court for police protection (The Hindu)

The magazine's Editor, Gopal, says he has given police complant; seeks court direction to police authorities to give effective protection to his life, his family members and employees. Read

Pink plastic for elephants, cloth for Maya in Noida (Indian Express)
1.5 km plastic sheet needed to drape 30 stone, 22 bronze elephants at Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal. Read

Meet ahead, Kanimozhi likely to get bigger role in DMK (Indian Express)

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) has convened a meeting of its highest policy-making committee on February 3, leading to widespread speculation that party president M Karunanidhis daughter Kanimozhi, who was recently released on bail after being incarcerated for her alleged role in the 2G spectrum sale scam, could see herself elevated within the party structure. Read