A court in Norway has ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik after an earlier report found him legally insane. Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said in Oslo that the new evaluation was necessary because of widespread criticism of the initial findings.

On the basis of the earlier report, Breivik would be placed in psychiatric care instead of prison. His twin attacks on 22 July left 77 people dead and 151 injured.

More on the bbc.co.uk

While no other news site has confirmed this, the reason Gilani's alleged call to the UK embassy boggles the mind is because the latest crisis in Pakistan stems from a similar, if we may call it so, complaint -- the memogate controversy.

In October 2011 an anonymous memo was unearthed in Washington that sought US help to avert a possible military coup in Pakistan following the killing by US forces of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in May.

Pakistan's ambassador to the US at the time, Husain Haqqani, was alleged to have drafted the memo at the behest of President Zardari, who is alleged to have offered to replace his country's military leadership and sever all ties with militant groups in exchange for US help against the army.

Boggles the mind, If this is true!    

On Twitter: Khaver Siddiqi  Here we go! RT @andrewbuncombe: AP: Gilani called British high commissioner this week, expressing fears army might be about to stage a coup

Chairman of the moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq today advocated a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue. He said delay in resolution of the long standing issue between India and Pakistan was a major impediment in economic growth in South Asia.

Myanmar was in the process of releasing over 600 prisoners Friday, including many high-profile political detainees, a further step in the military-led government's bid to engage with the outside world and pave the way for an end to economic sanctions. More on the LA Times

And that's what Brahma Chellaney tweeted about: By freeing top political prisoners today, Burma's new government has kept its word. Now the West must keep its word by easing the sanctions.

Just in: Yuvraj Singh has been ruled out of the ODI tri-series vs Australia and New Zealand as his lung tumour has not yet healed.

Yuvraj was diagnosed with a non-malignant tumour in his left lung, which is why he had opted out of the ODI cricket series against West Indies. Yuvraj has been troubled by health issues since the World Cup, which India won, and has played just one Test match in England after that.

His mother Shabnam said in a statement that reports and scans then showed that Yuvraj was dealing with something really serious. "A golf-ball size lump was found over his left lung and doctors advised us to go in for more detailed scans. The initial reports suggested that Yuvraj had what in medical terms, is called a abnormal tumor called lymphoma over his left lung. The danger was, we were told, that it could be malignant," she added.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid, who has courted controversy by his statement on granting 9 per cent quota for minorities, today said he had no regrets as he
had not done anything unlawful.

"No. Why should I regret? You regret when you do something unlawful," he told reporters while emerging from a meeting of the Group of Ministers on Bhopal gas tragedy. 

Khurshid made the promise of nine per cent sub-quota for muslims within the existing 27 per cent OBC quota in Farrukhabad Assembly Constituency in Uttar Pradesh where his wife Louise is in the fray. 

He was slapped with a notice on Tuesday by the Election Commission which held that prima facie his promise on sub-quota for backward muslims within existing 27 per cent OBC quota was "serious violation" of the model code of conduct.

For those of you who live outside Mumbai, a reference point:

Anna Hazare's fast at the MMRDA grounds in Mumbai was at the Bandra Kurla Complex.

Abhishek Mande standing in front of the The Capital building which caught fire early this afternoon, says the first and second floor have been affected, though not entirely gutted. The exact time of the fire is yet to be established.

Ravi Yadav who manages the pay-and-park lot adjacent to the building said vehicles were moved away from the area early on.

Update on the BKC fire.

Rediff.com's Abhishek Mande reporting from the spot, says fire is at a building called The Capital, at the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai. It's behind the ICICI Bank building and is under construction.

The cause of the fire has yet to be established. Five fire tenders are at the spot and the fire is believed to be under control.  No casualites so far.

Ayesha Tammy Haq: 20 long and painful weeks since my beloved nephew @ShahbazTaseer was abducted please pray he is returned safely to his family.

Who? He's the son of assassinated Punjab governor in Pakistan, Salman Taseer.

On the Telegraph, Calcutta.

Ahead of Army Day on January 15, Army chief VK Singh addresses the media on the age controversy, among other things. Read

Hang in there for updates on that Mumbai fire.

Meanwhile, an interesting read on the Economist on the Unique Identity (UID) scheme.

As of now, four fire tenders have been rushed to the Reliance Capital building (unconfirmed) at the Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Dense smokes emanates from what seems like the ground and top floor of the building. Details awaited.

Here's the picture on Twitter... 

Putting aside the incessant brinkmanship over Arunachal Pradesh and visas, China and India are catapulting to the forefront of astronomy research with their decision to join up as partners in a Hawaii telescope that will be the world's largest when it's built later this decade.

Both countries will pay a share of the construction cost - expected to top US$1 billion - for the Thirty Metre Telescope at the summit of Mauna Kea volcano. They will also have a share of the observation time.

It's the first advanced telescope in which either country has been a partner.

Cash-rich Punjab Cricket Association and Preity Zinta's IPL team Kings XI are sitting over nearly Rs 4.5 crore of bills raised by Punjab Police for security arrangements of world cup and IPL matches organised at Mohali. 

The pending bills are related to security arrangements done by the police for World Cup semi-finals on March 30, last year and the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches played during April last year, an RTI reply from the state police said.

BJP leader L K Advani and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will be here tomorrow, fuelling speculation that they may meet Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa.

The two BJP leaders, who share a good rapport with Jayalalithaa, will be here to attend the 42nd anniversary celebrations of Tamil political weekly Thuglaq edited by noted political commentator 'Cho' S Ramaswamy, according to the magazine.

Here's a sample of what Mumbaikars call time pass...

A British government survey has now estimated that youth ends at 32 while old age beings at 54. The survey by the UK's Department for Work and Pensions has claimed that people below 25 believe old age starts sooner than those over the age of 50. 

Though officially the old age begins at 54, the survey estimated, on average, it says, Britons believe that ripe age starts at 59, while people over 80 believe that youth ends at 52 and old age starts at 68.

Heads for those whose idea of heaven is to wake up to the aroma of sausages and bacon being fried for breakfast.

A new research says that eating one sausage a day or two rashers of bacon raises the risk of pancreatic cancer by a fifth.

Scientists have found that even relatively small amounts of processed meat increase the chance of developing this deadly illness.

Pancreatic cancer is called 'the silent killer' because it often does not produce symptoms in early stages.

More of that on the Daily Mail.

From MK Bhadrakumar's blog: The former National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra was spot on when he observed that Indian pundits would do exceedingly well by keeping their traps shut with regard to the dramatic events in Pakistan. Yet, the establishment set the ball rolling. So far so good, though.

More

On the back of US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's comment that he has an idea who killed the Iranian nuclear scientist, is this story on the Atlantic: The long tradition of killing Middle Eastern nuclear scientists. Read 

Amitabh Bachchan: And Polio free year for India ..!! had tweeted earlier when UNICEF decorated me for it ! A sense of pride to have been involved in it  

Raza Rumi  @YusraSAskari spoke to Mehdi Hasan's doctor in the morning. He is under treatment in a Special Care Unit at the AKU. "Improving".

UK Prime Minister David Cameron did not like a 90 minute BBC  programme on India, and has "the utmost respect" for Indians, Downing Street sources have said in the wake of the programme coming under the scanner for showing Indians in a poor light.

"He did not like the programme at all. The Indian people should know that the Prime Minister has the utmost respect for them,' The Telegraph quoted a source, as saying.

But a UK Government spokesperson said that the BBC and not the government was responsible for issuing an apology. "The government is not responsible for editorial decisions made by the BBC or any media organisation," he said.

The comments came after British parliamentarians warned that the Top Gear India special programme threatened India-UK trade relations and the Indian High Commission in London had earlier lodged a complaint about the programme. The programme shows Cameron waving to three presenters in Downing Street, and urging them to "stay away from India".

It also shows presenters reading out a letter from Cameron in which he jokingly advised them to consider "a fence-mending trip to Mexico'.

The programme shows the presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, speaking to the local population, while operating a trouser press on his boxer shorts and driving a Jaguar with a lavatory fixed to the boot.

For all that you wanted to know about the Pak crisis that's happening right now. Click here.

In other news...

Strongly denying any American role in the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist this week, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta has said that he has
some idea on who was behind the killing in Tehran. 

Addressing soldiers at Fort Bliss in Texas, Panetta said the US was not involved in any way in the assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist, a charge levied by Tehran.

"I'm not sure who was involved. We have some ideas as to who might be involved. But we don't know exactly who was involved," Panetta said, but did not divulge any further details.

As we said earlier, obituaries have begun on Twitter for ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan. However, there are NO confirmations, that the critically ill legend has indeed passed away.

Some tweets:

Mian Ahmad Hussain:  Fantastic news! "@ePakistanToday: Mehdi Hassan's condition is improving: doctor pakistantoday.com.pk/?

Hartej Singh Sawhney  "@THEKOMINAS: Whoops Mehdi Hassan is still alive #unRipMedhiHassan' Got me all sorts of emotional jammin to his ghazals today.

Atul  Ameen RT @Rachna49 Someone based in Karachi saying that Mehdi Hassan is improving and is now not on a ventilator..Hopes and prayers.

Gilani tables resolution for strengthening democracy in Pakistan, says he  welcomes suggestions from opposition parties

Says: It was disinformation that I was denotifying 17 judges. I was the one who freed them.

Don't punish democracy for mistakes that may have been made by government.

Parliament has to decide whether it wants democracy or dictatorship.

Also read: Memogate scandal deepens as American accuser threatens to tell all. Mansoor Ijaz claims he will prove in Pakistani courts that ex-US ambassador Husain Haqqani offered to rein in military.

On the Guardian.

Gilani at the National Assembly: "Even crows get together when their community is threatened, I appeal to you, parliamentarians for unity."

In his short but impassioned speech, Gilani also said, "We do not need support from opposition to save the government from the military: Opposition may think we have come here to be saved from the NRO, we have not come here for that. Constitution is such a document that should be respected by all.

Impassioned speech by Pak PM Gilani in the Parliament on the crisis in the nation.

Says that he does NOT want a confrontation with the army or the Supreme Court.

He says the House has unanimously elected him and the country does not need the army to save it.

"We are not here to become we want to become martyrs."

Pakistan PM Yousaf Raza Gilani addressing the National Assembly of Pakistan now.

Says he does not need a vote of confidence.

He wants a constitutional amendment to limit the tenure of the president, PM.

Says all dictators have said they represent the people.

On the back of that double murder, an Indian professor is arrested for allegedly killing his friend, also a professor, in the UK. Oxford University Professor Steve Rawlings was found dead at the home of a fellow academic Dr Devinder Sivia, who claimed that the victim had attacked him after they spent an evening out together.

More on the Telegraph.

In other news:

A reward of up to 10,000 has been offered for information over the murder of a couple at their Birmingham home.

Avtar Singh-Kolar, 62, and his wife, Carole, 58, were found by their police officer son, Jason, at the Friary Road house in Handsworth Wood on Wednesday.

Post-mortem examinations into the deaths are expected to be completed later. Det Supt Richard Baker, who is leading the inquiry, has described the killings as an "atrocious crime".

More on the bbc.co.uk

Just in: Pakistan interior minister Rehman Malik says elections will be held on time and calls the propaganda against the government, baseless.  

Right now, in the Pakistan Parliament is meeting to discuss corruption at high levels.

The Delhi high court has also ordered Subramanian Swamy not to write any inflammatory articles and to give an undertaking to the effect.

The case was filed against Swamy for spreading enmity by writing an inflammatory article in a Mumbai newspaper, DNA, last year, titled How to wipe out Islamic terror. He has been given bail till January 30.

A FIR was registered by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police in October, three months after the publication of the article which was considered offensive to Muslims.

He was charged under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for spreading enmity between communities after a complaint by a member of the National Minorities Commission.

The Delhi HC grants interim protection against possible arrest of Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy in a case of allegedly writing an "inflammatory" article.

Subramanian Swamy tweets: Anticipatory bail granted till 30. Upon giving assurance I will recirculate article then permanent bail. Now, I shall move for quashing of the FIR. Then sue PC and Delhi Police for Rs. 5 crore for malfeasance in office.

Contradictory tweets say Pakistani ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan has passed away. He has been unwell for a while and is on a ventilator in a hospital in Islamabad.

The India-born legendary ghazal singer was on Thursday put on a ventilator at a private clinic in Pakistan's Sindh provincial capital Karachi after he collapsed due to respiratory problems.

84-year-old Hassan has been ill for the last few years due to a serious lung condition thathas led to complications and breathing problems.

The Trinbune, Pakistan reports that it is not a question of if but when Mansoor Ijaz will come to Pakistan.

The central character in the Memogate scandal is likely to not appear before the judicial commission probing the matter on January 16, recent developments suggest.

Akram Sheikh, counsel for the Pakistani-origin American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, at the last hearing on January 9 had said that his client will appear before the panel on January 16.

That appears unlikely given that he has yet to submit a visa request. "We have not received a visa application by Mansoor Ijaz, either at the High Commission in London or any other consulate," Foreign Office Spokesperson Abdul Basit said on Thursday.

To the uninitiated, here's who Mansoor Ijaz is.

Ijaz is involved in the memogate controversy, which revolves around a memorandum seeking help from the Obama administration to avert a military takeover of the civilian government in Pakistan in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid, and to assist in a civilian takeover of the military apparatus. 

The contents of the confidential memo, addressed to Admiral Mike Mullen, were published in its entirety on Foreign Policy magazine's website on November 17.

Ijaz alleged that former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani asked him to deliver the confidential memo asking for US assistance.

The memo is alleged to have been drafted by Haqqani at the behest of  the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan has opened a broader inquiry into the origins, credibility and purpose of the memo.

At least two of four US Marines shown in a video appearing to urinate on Taliban corpses have been identified, a Marine Corps official has told the BBC.

The video, which was posted online, purports to show the Marines standing over the bodies of several Taliban fighters, at least one of whom is covered in blood.

The Marines have begun a criminal investigation and an internal inquiry. US officials and Afghan officials have condemned the video as "deplorable". The Taliban condemned the video, but said it would not affect the political process.

Readmore on bbc.co.uk

The number of prisoners in South Asia's largest prison Tihar Jail here has climbed to 12,000 with 1,500 more wrong-doers lodged in it last year.  Over 55,000 wrong-doers were sent to the prison last year. Out of this, 53,500 inmates were released, adding 1500 inmates to the prison population, jail officials said. 

"The 10 jails of Tihar Prisons have a sanctioned capacity to keep 6,250 inmates. However, at present there are nearly 12,000 inmates lodged there," Sunil Gupta, spokesperson Tihar Prisons, said. 

Nineteen high-profile inmates including several politicians and businessmen are also lodged inside the prison. The 1,500 inmates who added to the overrcrowded prison population include former Telecom Minister A Raja and sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi. Tihar is one of the largest prison complex in the world comprising nine central prisons and one District Prison at Rohini Prison Complex.

Zardari's trip cane at time when he is facing growing threats over a memo allegedly crafted by his former ambassador to the United States seeking help in preventing a coup by Pakistan's powerful generals.

Zardari, 56, was released from a Dubai hospital last month after being treated for what Pakistani officials said was a transient ischemic attack, in which blood supply to a part of the nervous system is cut off, but not for long enough to kill tissue as in a stroke.

His trip to Dubai in December had triggered speculation that he might resign.

For a nation that notoriously had, only two years ago, the largest number of polio cases in the world (741), this is clearly an unprecedented achievement.  

Today, the nation will reach a major milestone in the history of polio eradication -- a year without any case of wild polio being recorded.

For a nation that notoriously had, only two years ago, the largest number of polio cases in the world (741), this is clearly an unprecedented achievement.

Read the report on The Hindu

It was another chilly morning for Delhiites today as cold winds kept the mercury at below normal levels. The minimum temperature was recorded at 5.5 degree
Celsius, two degrees be low normal and up from yesterday's 5.3 degrees.

The maximum was recorded at 18.7, two degrees below normal, yesterday.
Though there was marginal increase in night temperatures, the wind chill factor added to the cold in the city. 

A shallow fog was also witnessed in the morning. The Weatherman has predicted similar weather conditions for the next couple of days with temperature oscillating between seven and 21 degrees Celsius.

Good morning.

Amid continuing rumours of an army coup in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari has returned to Pakistan from a trip toDubai, his spokesman said on Friday, as speculation swirled over whether he would survive heightened tension between his civilian government and the country's powerful military. 

"The president returned to Islamabad in the wee hours of Friday morning," the spokesman, Farhatullah Babar, told Reuters. A disputed memo allegedly from Zardari's government seeking US help in reining in the military has soured relations to their lowest point since a coup in 1999. 

Officials said Zardari had gone to Dubai to attend the wedding of the son of a friend and had returned as scheduled. Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar confirmed to the media that Zardari had travelled to Dubai to attend the
wedding and had reached Islamabad at 5 am. 

Zardari had triggered widespread speculation about his future when he abruptly travelled to Dubai last month and spent nearly a fortnight there to be treated for a heart condition. 

He made the one-day trip to Dubai after matters reached a head in the confrontation between the civilian government and the military over an alleged memo that had sought US help in reining in the army following the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May last year.