Ahead of the PM's meeting with Mamata Banerjee, the Punjab MPs today asked the Centre to be impartial on the issue of granting financial package to states and sought to be treated on a par with West Bengal, where UPA
ally Trinamool Congress is in power. "The Centre has to deal with all the states evenly and it is in the interest of national unity that the claims of no state are overlooked," Naresh Gujral, MP of ruling Akali Dal in Punjab. 

The Rajya Sabha Akali member said while Punjab would welcome a financial package to West Bengal, it hoped their state would not be ignored on the same issue. He said Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, who has earlier taken up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would again raise the issue with him.

For the second straight year, the top two positions in the Civil Services Examination 2011 have been bagged by women -- an AIIMS graduate and a social scientist. Shena Aggarwal, who holds a MBBS degree from the premier
All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) here, bagged the top slot in the exams conducted by the Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) results for which were announced today.

The second rank was secured by Rukmani Riar, a Master of  Arts (Social Entrepreneurship) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Chennai-based law graduate S Divyadharshini topped the list in the 2010 exams followed by computer engineer Sweta Mohanty from Hyderabad.

In a major setback to CPI (Maoists), the bodyguard of its leader Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil surrendered before the police here today. Prasant Majhi (23), who claimed to have worked as a bodyguard of Panda for over two years, surrendered without any weapons before Gajapati district Superintendent of Police Sarthak Sarangi.

Mamata says if the Centre cannot find a solution, the party would have to find a political solution. "I have met the PM and the finance minister many times, nothing has changed." she says with a frown.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee addresses the media after her meeting with the Prime Minister. She says the Left made Bengal bankrupt and the state needs funds from the Centre for development. She said the PM is working on a solution it was unfair to compare Bengal, which is in acute financial crisis, with any other state.

On the Daily Mail: Thousands of deaths have been prevented in hospitals because medical staff are being more diligent about washing their hands, a study has claimed.

Read more

Legend has it that after an unusual desultory concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, MS Subbulakshmi by way of an explanation told the essentially British audience that she was couldn't concentrate when she realised everyone present had not washed up for their morning ablutions.

Nix earlier reports by CNN IBN that the Mamata-PM meet would be at 7 pm

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today. The Trinamool Congress chief had yesterday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and
is believed to have discussed the possible candidate for Presidential polls due in July. 

Banerjee reached the Race Course Road official residence of Singh this evening. At the meeting, she is understood to have also sought a three-year moratorium on repayment of loan to the Centre. Her meeting with the Prime Minister also assumes significance as it comes on the eve of the meeting of chief
ministers on NCTC issue.

With Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma pressing for CBI probe into the death of his niece Dana Sangma, Amity University today dismissed allegations that the student, who allegedly committed suicide after being caught with a mobile phone during an exam, was discriminated against. 

The University strongly defended its action of asking Dana to leave the exam hall after she was found with a mobile phone inside the hall saying the same process would have been applied to any another student in such circumstances and suggested Dana may have taken the extreme step due to personal reasons. 

Addressing a press conference here, authorities of the University's Gurgaon campus on the city outskirts, where Sangma was studying, said there is "feedback" that the girl was using her phone continuously for a few days, sometimes throughout the night before the incident and also she was seen crying.

French prosecutors said on Friday they are examining witness testimony that suggests disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn took part in a gang-rape at a sex party in Washington DC.
 
Strauss-Kahn, two businessmen and a police chief had already been charged with "aggravated pimping in an organised gang" for allegedly organising a prostitution ring for orgies in France, the United States and elsewhere.

More

In one of his satsang discourses, which he typically infuses with levity to sustain 'devotees' interest, self-styled spiritual guru Swami Nityananda narrates a joke about God and Adam.

God approaches Adam and tells him, "I have good news and I have bad news for you.' Adam asks to be told the good news first, upon which God says that He has endowed Adam with a brain -- with unbounded capacity to think and reason -- and a sexual organ, which would open the gateway to limitless pleasures.

Interested? Read more on Firstpost.com

Here's what else has been happening in Delhi today.

Members of Parliament from Left parties in Tamil Nadu plan to lodge a protest against the Union Minister of Environment Jayanthi Natarajan after she refused to give appointments to the AIADMK and Left MPs to discuss and redress their grievances on environmental clearance issues. CPI(M) MP TK Rangarajan was heard complaining of this to senior UPA ministers.

Incidentally, elections for the deputy chairmanship of the Rajya Sabha has been postponed to the monsoon session of Parliament.

Update on the Prez polls: CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat today met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the two leaders are understood have discussed the pros and cons of probable candidates for the upcoming Presidential election. 

Yadav, who has been holding parleys with different parties on the issue, had yesterday met Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and both are believed to have decided to adopt a common approach on the crucial election. Karat and Yadav met for about half-an-hour this morning at the latter's residence, sources said.

The meeting came ahead of discussions amongst the four Left parties. The newly-elected Politburo of the CPI(M) is also meeting on Sunday to take a decision on the matter.

Our sources in Delhi tell us that although Pranab Mukherjee has denied that he is a front-runner for the top post, the question doing the rounds is, who will be the leader of the Lok Sabha in the monsoon session of Parliament?

Probable names include Ghulam Nabi Azad and P Chidambaram, both senior leaders who have been elected to the Lok Sabha five times. 

Several Congress MPs also speculate that if Pranab Mukherjee is indeed the next President, it can be safely assumed that early elections to the Lok Sabha are unavoidable because neither Dr Manmohan Singh nor Sonia Gandhi can be firefighting on such a scale and with such alacrity as the finance minister has been doing.

Up ahead tomorrow, the Centre will try its best to get a nod from Chief Ministers to set up the controversial anti-terror hub NCTC at a crucial meeting which is expected to witness fiery scenes. 

Non-Congress Chief Ministers such as Odisha's Naveen Patnaik, Tamil Nadu's J Jayalalithaa and Gujarat's Narendra Modi are likely to oppose the formation of the National Counter Terrorism Centre at the Chief Ministers' conference despite the Centre's assurance that state governments will be taken into confidence before any operation is conducted in any state.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram are expected to allay the apprehensions of some of the Chief Ministers who had opposed the NCTC saying it would encroach upon the states' powers and hurt the federal structure of the country.

The Supreme Court has postponed Nupur Talwar's bail plea hearing to next week. This means, Talwar, an accused in the Aarushi-Hemraj murders stays in jail. She was sent to judicial custody on April 30. Her bail plea hearing will now be heard on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  

Defending the mechanism of self regulation for the Media, Information and Broadcasting minister Ambika Soni today said that this slower but surer
system only needed more time to establish itself. Soni was speaking at an event hosted by ASSOCHAM where Press Council Chairman Justice Markandey Katju had in his speech earlier heavily criticised the news media for not
highlighting the real issues facing the country.

"Rules and regulations for media, cable, television, the Censor Board which the Parliament in its wisdom has put in its place should be at least given an initial chance of self regulation", Soni said responding to Katju. 

Making a case for self regulation, Soni said that when a person is given the responsibility of deciding whether he has done the right thing by showing one hour of superstition or other illogical things, somewhere down the line his conscious is going to prick.

The Army's Western Command is conducting a major exercise in the plains of Punjab during this month as part of its operational preparedness. The battle manoeuvres being undertaken aim at validating the army's fighting concepts and the absorption of new technologies, a defence spokesman said here today.

This exercise is part of the Army's systems approach to training which aims at transforming it into a modern, lean, agile and well-equipped force, capable of accomplishing assigned tasks thus showcasing its rapid response capability.

The exercise will encompass all the fighting arms of the Indian Army, including approximately 20,000 soldiers, tanks, mechanised vehicles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Attack Helicopters and front line Fighter Aircraft of the Indian Air Force.

Read: Army Chief oversees Shoor Veer in Jaipur

For months following their split her Twitter handle has remained as Mrs Kutcher.  But Demi Moore has finally dropped her ex-husband's name on the social networking site. Today the 49-year-old changed her name to @justdemi.

More

Close on the heels of a Manipuri student who was found dead in "mysterious circumstances" in his college hostel last month, another student from the
north-eastern state allegedly committed suicide in Bangalore by hanging.

The deceased was identified as Jackio Heisnam (23), a second year student of mechanical engineering had a heated argument with his 19-year-old girlfriend, also from Manipur, as she had not been answering his phone calls for the past few days. Though she explained that she was busy with her exams, Jackio suspected her of cheating on him and started shouting at her. 

In the course of the argument, Jackio picked up a wire and twisted it around his neck and hung himself from the fan in front of the girl. The girl cut the wire and rushed Jackio to a private hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar's wife Saira Bano, veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna and others have received Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards. Bahchchan got the Phalke Ratna award, while SairaBanu and Dilip Kumar got Saraswatibai Phalke award, at a ceremony held in Mumbai last night.   

Veteran actors Tanuja and Vinod Khanna were handed over Legendary actor award in male and female category, respectively, Waheeda Rehman received Phalke Icon Cine Artiste award. Ram Gopal Gupta was given Phalke Senior Most Producer award, Gurudas Maan got Phalke Versatile Singer award and Neila Devi received Phalke Golden Era award (Shammi Kapoor's wife).   Among the young lot of actors - Vidya Balan got Phalke Memorable Performance award ('The Dirty Picture'), Ajay Devgan got Outstanding Performance award ('Singham'), Parineeti Chopra and Pakistani singer-turned-actor Ali Zafar received Phalke New Talent award in male and female category, Farhan Akhtar was handed over Best Commercial Film ('Zindagi Naa Milegi Dobara'), Prakash Raj got Phalke Versatile Cine Star. Ekta Kapoor was given Phalke Icon Producer award - Film & Television.

Besides the awards, Big B unveiled a wax statue of Dadasaheb Phalke, the Hindi film pioneer who directed India`s first full-length feature, 'Raja Harishchandra' in 1913. Dadasaheb Phalke Academy awards are being held in the name of father of Indian cinema Dadasaheb Phalke. This award is different from the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award instituted by the Government of India.

Congress member Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who had got into a CD controversy last month, is unwell and will not be attending Rajya Sabha during in the
second half of the budget session of Parliament. Citing "illness and family commitment", the Rajya Sabha MP sought leave from April 24 to May 22, which was granted by the Upper House today. 

P J Kurien, who was in the Chair, informed during the Zero Hour about Singhvi's application for leave. The House also granted leave to another ruling party member T Subbarami Reddy, who had sought permission to remain absent from April 25 to May 22.

Singhvi, was seen in Parliament corridor on the first day, when the session had resumed on April 24 after recess. The budget session comes to an end on May 22. A day before the session reconvened, Singhvi on April 23 resigned as Chairman of a Parliamentary Committee and party spokesperson in a damage control exercise. 

At least it will save him the sniggers from the MPs

Security forces engaged in anti-Naxal operations in various states, including
Chhattisgarh, have decided to get different variants of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) ranging from small drones to long-range surveillance ones.

Forces deployed in Maoist hotbeds of the country have recently begun to pick up ground conversation, movement and pictures with the help of these devices and authorities say they are handy in cases where quick information is needed like the abduction of Sukma district Collector in Chhattisgarh.

'We are now getting an array...a spectrum of medium to long-range  reconnaissance UAVs. While the small ones give the security forces an immediate input of activity happening in the surrounding area, the big UAVs provide you with advanced information about a far away area where a operation is to be launched," a top security official involved in the operations
said. 

Rejecting the contention that students from North East are subjected to discrimination and racial profiling, Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the Government will take every step to ensure their security and asked states to do the same. 

"The Government of India will take every step to ensure their security and I am confident that all state governments will discharge their constitutional responsibilities to ensure the safety and security of all people residing within that  state," Chidambaram said in Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to a calling attention notice by Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley in the wake of deaths of two students from North East in Gurgaon, Haryana and Bengaluru. Jaitley said, "I call the attention of Home Minister towards issues of racial profiling and discrimination towards students of North East, who go to different parts."

The Supreme Court has given a life sentence to the nine people convicted in the Ode massacre. The verdict in the 2002 post-riot Ode killings was read out this morning with the Supreme Court convicting nine people and acquitting 32.

Three persons including two women were killed at Ode village in Anand 2002 in the post-Godhra riots. This is the third case of the 2002 riots at Ode village being probed by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team.

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today announced in the House that Kanauj MP Akhilesh Yadav, who is now Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had submitted his resignation on May 2 and it was accepted by her the same day.

"Akhilesh Yadav had submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha with immediate effect on May 2. I have accepted his resignation with effect from May 2," Kumar informed the House. Yadav, who was MP from Kanauj, is now a Member of Legislative Council in Uttar Pradesh.

If you have sneakily picked up food that's fallen on the floor and popped it in your mouth, here's what you need to know.

The idea that food is not contaminated if it is retrieved quickly has been believed for many years - but there has not been extensive proof that this is the case. Now though, the doubt is out as scientists have finally investigated the theory to discover whether the rule is fact or fiction.

Eating processed food from the floor poses the lowest risk - one of its few benefits - given that it generally contains such high levels of sugar and salt.

The Bombay High Court has ruled that a wife's refusal to have sex with her husband without a condom does not constitute grounds for divorce.

Read the full report on the bbc.

Facebook Inc aims to raise about $10.6 billion in Silicon Valley's largest IPO, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc and granting the world's largest social network a market value close to Amazon.com's.

Read the full report on Reuters.

Also read on Rediff.com: Facebook gets ready for IPO, sets price range at $28 to $35

Update on the Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng story. China today said Chen can apply to study abroad, potentially indicating a way out of the diplomatic crisis with the US over him. A foreign ministry statement said Chen could "apply through normal channels in accordance with the law".

More on the bbc.

Haqqani was forced to resign as Pakistan's ambassador to the US after American businessman Mansoor Ijaz made public the memo last year.
Ijaz claimed he had drafted and delivered the memo to the then US military chief on the instructions of Haqqani. The government has dismissed Ijaz's claims. 

After Ijaz deposed via a video link from London, Haqqani too sought the same facility but his request was turned down. Haqqani is currently in the US and has said he cannot return to Pakistan to testify as he is being treated for a heart condition.

A Pakistani judicial panel probing a mysterious memo sent to the US has rejected Husain Haqqani's plea that ex-ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha appear as a witness, amid claims by the former envoy that the commission has been
"converted into a virtual prosecution" against him. 

The Supreme Court-appointed commission, which has been investigating the memo that had sought US help to stave off a feared coup in Pakistan following al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's killing last year, also refused to accept Haqqani's written explanation regarding the use of secret diplomatic funds during a hearing yesterday. 

Another rape in the rape capital of the country. A girl was allegedly raped in the basement parking lot of a shopping mall in suburban Delhi. She was raped in a Scorpio by two men, residents of Noida, both absconding at the PVR Mahagun Mall in Noida.

The battle for Rashtrapati Bhavan continues. Today, NCP leader PA Sangma said, "Tribal leaders belonging to all political parties are meeting on May 9 here and our demand will be to make a tribal the next President," Sangma said.

However, the former Lok Sabha Speaker and Meghalaya MP made it clear that he was not a candidate for the President's post. "I am not the candidate. We are trying to meet the leaders of different political parties to agree in principle (tribal candidate for presidency)... After agreeing in principle, we will decide the candidate," he said. 

Asked whether making a tribal the next  President is NCP's view or his own, he said, "This is the view of tribals of the country. This is not view of any political party. We have written letters to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP President Nitin Gadkari, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and NCP leader Sharad Pawar seeking appointments to discuss the issue."

Just in: For now, District Collector Alex Paul Menon has been relieved from his posting at Sukma. The Dantewada DM OP Chaudhary takes over as Sukma DM.

After six days of negotiations between the United States and China, blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng left the US Embassy in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon. Details remain sparse, but the deal is already proving controversial. Chen apparently told reporters that he believed his wife would be beaten to death if he stayed in the embassy.

More on Foreign Policy.

An analysis of recent events related to Maoist terrorism shows that the four-decades-old phenomenon has entered its most dangerous phase.

The abduction of two Italian nationals, Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo, on 18 March, the deportation of 10 French tourists from Bihar in the last week of April, the abduction of the Odisha MLA Jhina Hikaka on 24 March, and the abduction of Alex Menon, the Sukma Collector in Chhattisgarh and the killing of his two bodyguards on 21 April -- may appear ostensibly disparate occurrences, but are linked.

More on Firstpost.com

Noted Bollywood producer-director Subhash Ghai, whose film institute Whistling Woods is embroiled in a property battle, has said his academy will go
on to live for 100 years. 

Last month, the Supreme Court had asked Ghai to return the Whistling Woods land in Mumbai, measuring 20 acres, to the state and also rapped former Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, saying he could not have treated anyone as is "blue-eyed boy". 

"Whistling Woods is in question today. But I can assure you that it will be alive for 100 years no matter how much one tries to bend it," Ghai said on the sidelines of Dadasaheb Phalke award ceremony held last night. The Supreme Court had upheld the Bombay High Court order quashing the 20 acre land allotted to his film institute in Film City.

On Firstpost.com: Lessons from the Alex Paul kidnap on dealing with Maoists.

Read

The mediators-- Prof G Hargopal and B D Sharma --  told reporters a day after the release of Collector Alex Paul Menon by the Maoists that the committee, headed by Nirmala Buch, one of the two state government negoatiators, had started its work this morning. 

On the demand for release of some jailed Maoists, Hargopal said the government should consider specially the release of those persons against whom there were least number of cases. He also said the committee should take up the case of a woman Maoist who had been acquitted in all the cases against her but had been arrested again.

Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh says he will taken up the Naxal issue with the PM and reiterates there is a need for an unified policy on Naxals. Yet again, he denies any swap and says there is no Salwa Judum in Chhattisgarh and there is nothing called Green Hunt.

Raman says the three-member committee, which also included the Chief Secretary and the DGP will look at each case.

Thanking the media and the mediators, Raman says they were crucial in securing the collector's release.

On April 19, India welcomed Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's remarks on demilitarisation of  Siachen and said the money spent on deployment of troops there could be diverted for development work. There is definitely a requirement to go in for demilitarisation of the Siachen  glacier and delineate a permanent mutually agreed actual ground position line (AGPL) for a lasting peace.

Defence analyst and commentator PK Vasudeva writes for the Hindustan Times. Read

How the might fall!

Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines hit another air pocket with two real estate developers slapping eviction notice on it for allegedly defaulting on rent payments since last November.

The airlines sources confirmed the development and said the management is negotiating with the developers to resolve the deadlock. 

The cash-strapped airline has a rented property in the Andheri suburb of the city, from where it is running a part of its operations, while the main administrative office is located at the Kingfisher House, which the promoter Mallya has been planning to monetise to raise some working capital funds for the airline. 

Politicians better tune in Sunday morning. Given that some have speculated that actor Aamir Khan's turn in the 2006 movie Rang de Basanti led to an upsurge of patriotism that fed into last year's anti-corruption movement, there's no knowing what his first foray into television -- in a show whose name means Truth Shall Prevail, no less -- could unleash. Now, if only we knew what the show was about.

More on the WSJ

On the Wall Street Journal: A rare Mughal-era diamond necklace is up for grabs. Bonham's, the London-based auction house, announced this week it is offering the necklace for private sale for a whopping Rs 106-crore.

What makes it so special, above all, are its mirror-like, flat-top diamonds -- five of them in total. The biggest one -- the necklace's central stone -- weighs 28 carats, making it the largest known flat-top diamond in the world. More

In a shocking development, Indian troops are found to have been drilling in the Siachen Glacier with the purpose of the geo-thermal exploration owing to which the glaciers, which are water tanks for Pakistan, are fast receding.  

That's the fantasy piece on The News, Pakistan. Read

This morning, and a day after Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon was set free, the 32-year-old IAS officer returned to his Sukma home, about 450 km from the state capital, this morning to an emotional welcome from his pregnant wife Asha and other family members.

Menon spent the night at CRPF base camp at Chintalnar before reaching Sukma by helicopter and was brought home under tight security. "There is no secret deal or any understanding to facilitate the release of Alex Paul Menon," Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh told reporters when asked whether there was any understanding between the state government and the rebels to bring to an end the 12-day hostage crisis.

At a press conference in Sukma, the two Maoists' mediators--B D Sharma and Prof Hargopal--who facilitated the  release of Menon denied any secret deal for the freedom of the Collector.

S K Mishra, one of the two Government mediators, also categorically said there was no "secret deal" or any "quid pro quo" between the two sides. "Everything is in public domain," he said referring to the agreement reached at between the mediators of the state government and the Maoists that paved the way for the release of the official. 

Chief Minister Singh said the three-member committee, which also included the Chief Secretary and the DGP, had a meeting last night within one hour as agreed as part of the agreement. He said the committee will examine the issue of delay in cases of under-trials lodged in different jails in Chhattisgarh.

Asked about the bail plea filed by jailed woman Naxal Meena Chaudhary, who was among those whose release was demanded by the rebels for freeing Menon, Singh asserted that no assurance has been given other than the agreement reached with Maoists.

This is the third case of the 2002 riots at Ode village, probed by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT). According to details of this case, during communal violence that broke out in Ode village of Anand after the Godhra train burning incident on February 27, 2002, three persons including two women were burnt to death by a mob in Malav Bhagol area of the village.

But the FIR in the matter was registered on March 5, after some of the victims reported the incident while in relief camp. Based on the FIR initially 43 persons were arrested, out of which two fled out of India, while four others jumped bail and are still absconding.

Charges were framed against 37 persons but during the trial an application under section 319 of the CrPC was filed by some of the victims, following which four more persons were included as accused, taking the number of accused who were tried to 41.

The verdict in the 2002 post-riot Ode killings has just been declared. The Supreme Court has convicted nine people and acquitted 32.

Three persons including two women were killed at Ode village in Anand a decade ago. This is the third case of the 2002 riots at Ode village being probed by the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Forty-one people are undergoing trial in the case. According to details of this case, during communal violence that broke out in Ode village of Anand after the Godhra train burning incident on February 27, 2002, three persons including two women were burnt to death by a mob in Malav Bhagol area of the village.

Just in: The Supreme Court dismisses a petition seeking action against Anna Hazare and team members for dishonouring national flag during their agitation. A case was filed in a Bihar court in August 2011 against social activists Anna Hazareand Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly insulting the national flag during a television commercial.

The case was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate in Muzaffarpur by advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha. In his complaint, Ojha said that the duo insulted the national flag by hoisted it during a TV channel's commercial programme on August 12.

An official Chinese newspaper hit out at dissident lawyer Chen Guangcheng, accusing him Friday of being a 'tool' for the US in an attempt to undermine the Communist Party by ginning up human-rights controversies. 

More on that story on msnbc.

Here's the latest on the Chinese activist/dissident Chen Guangcheng. He has telephoned a US Congressional hearing to plead for help in his attempts to leave China with his family. Chen said he feared for the safety of his family and wanted to meet visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton face-to-face.

More on the bbc.

Also read: US officials to visit Chinese activist in Beijing hospital

India can tackle terror effectively only when politicians and officials stop looking at it as a piece of turf to fight over, and start treating it as a threat to our nation.

That's the editorial in the Hindu. Read

And news of another blast.

Two blasts near a police post killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 20 in Dagestan, part of Russia's restive Caucasus region. "At least 15 people have been killed, including 12 police officers and three rescue workers from Russia's emergency services ministry, adding that the dead in yesterday's blasts included civilians. And while early reports had said more than 20 people had been wounded that figure could rise.

Details on that suicide bombing attack in Pakistan we posted a while ago.

A teenage suicide bomber targeted security personnel in a crowded market in the restive Bajaur tribal region of northwest Pakistan today, killing 17 people
and injuring 42 others, officials said. 

The security personnel had gathered at a shop at the bazar in Khar, the main town of Bajaur Agency, after conducting a patrol when the teenage attacker approached them and detonated his suicide vest, witnesses told the media. 

Four personnel of the Levies militia were among the 17 people killed, officials told the media. At least 42 injured people were taken to a nearby hospital, they said. Several injured persons were in a serious condition.

The district collector is yet to address the media. We'll get you that as it happens.  

In other news, the UPA leadership was aggressively wooing West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee yesterday in order to sew up her support for the presidential elections, and shut any opening for the BJP to cause trouble in the looming political contest. Read the report here

Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon to address the media in a bit.

The government mediators G Hargopal and BD Sharma say that the Nirmala Buch committee will take up the demands of the Naxals. But they reiterate there has been no swap.

Sharma says that under the government has agreed to set up a committee headed by Nirmala Buch, one of the two government mediators, to review the cases of all prisoners languishing in Chhattisgarh jails, including those demanded by the Maoists.

Update on the Aarushi-Hemraj murder case. Aarushi's father Rajesh Talwar is due to appear in court today. The trial is to begin on May 9. The Supreme Court is to hear Nupur Talwar's bail plea (in Dasna jail since April 30) and the review petition filed in January 2011.

Last evening, when the DC finally arrived at Chintalnar, his father-in-law speaking to news channels, lined up in his living room, said the government had supported them throughout the ordeal and treated them like family.

Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, who was released by Maoists on Thursday after almost two weeks in captivity, reached home on Friday morning.

His brother and brother-in-law were at the Sukma helipad to receive him on Friday morning.

When the convoy of cars with Menon reached his home, he was greeted by hundreds of villagers waiting outside. His mother-in-law then did a traditional aarti before he stepped inside his home.

Read: I thank Chhattisgarh govt: Sukma collector after release

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday dismissed as speculation reports that he has emerged as a front runner in the race for presidential election.

"It is speculative. I don't want to comment on it," he told reporters on way to Manila where he will be attending the 45th Annual Meeting of Asian Development Bank's Board of Governors.

Media on Friday carried reports that he has emerged as a front runner as ruling combination's candidate in the presidential election.

Telephone call by blind Chinese dissident relayed to US Congress, hours after Mitt Romney condemns Barack Obama's handling of controversy.

Read the full story on guardian.uk

Sitting in his secret refuge, hiding from the world, Osama bin Laden spent the last months of his life rethinking strategy, worrying about his legacy and struggling to maintain control over the sprawling terrorist network that operated in his name.

Read the full story on NYT here

Facebook has set the share price for its upcoming initial public offering at between $28 and $35 per share, valuing the company at between $85bn-$95bn.

The IPO is set to be the largest ever for an internet firm, bigger than Google's valuation of $23bn in 2004.

Read the full story here.

The US transportation department has slapped a $80,000 fine on Air India for failing to post customer service and tarmac delay contingency plans on its website and adequately inform passengers about its optional fees.

This is the first penalty assessed for a violation of the department's new airline consumer rules that took effect last August.

"Our new airline consumer rules help ensure that passengers are fully informed about airline services and fees and what to expect if their flight is delayed on the tarmac," US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on Thursday.

China will start issuing a new type of passport with an electronic chip that will contain a record of cardholder's personal informations.

The new passports will look like the traditional ones but a chip containing informations like the cardholder's name, his date of birth, photograph and finger prints will be installed in them, a statement by Chinese ministry of public security said today.

These passports were under preparation for the past three years and will be available from May 15.