Suspended IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt today accused the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team of "deliberately tweaking" timings of the meetings held by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on February 27 and 28, 2002, which he claims to have attended.

"It is now apparent from the report submitted by SIT that certain very crucial portions of my statement, including the timings of extremely consequential meetings with the chief minister Mr Narendra Modi on 27/02/2002 and 28/02/2002, have either been incorrectly recorded or deliberately tweaked by the SIT," said Bhatt in his additional affidavit filed before the National Commission of Minorities today.

"This has been done possibly with the ulterior motive and intent of shielding certain powerful persons including the chief minister Modi, from legal punishment," he said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday dubbed the corruption allegations against him and his colleagues by Team Anna as 'unfortunate' and 'irresponsible.'

I will give up my public life if allegations are proved against me, PM told reporters on his way back from Myanmar.

The big split in Team Anna?

Former Team Anna member Santosh Hegde said in Bangalore today that he was not party to the decision to target Singh, Pranab Mukhrjee, S M Krishna and other ministers. Anna Hazare himself appeared to distance himself from the move to target Singh and described the Prime Minister as an "honest man" soon after his team put Singh's name on a list of 14 "corrupt" ministers last Saturday. He had said that he will seek clarification from the team. 

Hegde added that he was not walking out of Team Anna. "If they want me to go out of Anna's team, then it is another matter," Hegde, who had earlier opposed Team Anna's anti-Congress campaign during Hisar bypolls, said.

To questions on Hazare's views on Singh, Bhushan said most of the documents are in English and Hazare cannot read the language. "So these large number of documents have to be translated into Hindi to enable him to go through it. It is not possible to translate all these documents that fast so that he can read
it. He knew the larger points like which minister has what charges against him and all."

BJP has called for a 'Delhi bandh' on Thursday to protest against the spiralling price rise, including of petrol and introduction of VAT on CNG by the state government. "All prominent business organisation, including the auto-taxi operators, have decided to support the 'Delhi bandh' by BJP in protest against hike in petrol prices," Delhi BJP Chief Vijender Gupta said. As part of the agitation, BJP workers would block traffic and stage demonstration at major places.
 

Read our 16:05 pm post for what Mumbaikars should expect.

After calling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 'Shikhandi', Prashant Bhushan backtracked on his statement today, even as key member of Team Anna and former Supreme Court judge, Justice Santosh Hegde said he dissociated himself from the comment.

"I did not call PM a 'Shikhandi''. But when the PM lets corruption flourish under his leadership, what is the point of personal honesty,' Bhushan said, reports Firstpost.com.

Meanwhile Justice (retd) Hegde said that he would not like to associate himself with Bhushan's opinions on the Prime Minister.

In his book, this Olympic medallist, writes that when younger, he practiced by shooting bottles perched on the heads of his maid and her daughter.

Pretty obvious actually, but here's the answer: Abhinav Bindra -- who caught the public eye in 2008 after becoming Indias first person to win an individual Olympic gold.

Read more about the man as the London Olympics near

Congress leader ND Tiwari speaking to Times Now on the paternity case says, "Every man has a private side, let it remain private. When asked about Rohit Shekhar, Tiwari says he doesn't hold any prejudice against him.

Shekhar has slapped a paternity suit against Tiwari, claiming he is the Congress leader's son. Tiwari has been refusing to give his blood sample for a DNA test for the last four years, but finally was forced to do so today.

Delhi-based novelist Rahul Bhattacharya has won the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize with his debut novel. The Sly Company of People Who Care, published by Picador, took the 10,000 prize, and was described by judge Michele Roberts as "one of the most exhilarating novels I have read for years'.

More

Sacked army officer Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash has said that he will challenge Army Chief General VK Singh's decision to dismiss him from the service after he was found guilty by an Army court in the Sukna land scam case.

Speaking to CNN IBN, he said, "I am going to take recourse and challenge the Army Chief's order. General VK Singh has been interested in this case right from the beginning. This is against the basic principles of justice. It has been a difficult time both emotionally and mentally. This is what a person who is biased and because he wants to be vindictive towards you."

In India, the biggest impact of improved relations with Myanmar is likely to be felt in the Northeast. This is where the Indian government will have to focus its development efforts to sustain stronger ties with its neighboring country '" whether it's in building infrastructure, trade or tourism.

Also on the WSJ

Kolkata came to a standstill Tuesday as the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, launched a party to honor the cricketers from the Kolkata Knight Riders, newly crowned champions of the Indian Premier League.

On the WSJ

The West Bengal government, in the news since morning, has been quick to cash in on Kolkata Knight Riders' maiden IPL triumph organising a grand felicitation ceremony at the Eden Gardens today. But Kolkata Police, in their bid to enhance the image of 'Brand Kolkata', has conceived an innovative 'Road Safety' advertisement campaign. They have connected William Blake's
famous poem "Tyger" with KKR's IPL victory. 

Kolkata Traffic Police have put out 150 giant billboards across Kolkata which has illustration of team owner Shah Rukh Khan with the IPL trophy along with skipper Gautam Gambhir, star spinner Sunil Narine and local hero Manoj Tiwary in a car with a caption that reads: 

"Knight Knight, Burning Bright,
Drive Safe, Day & Night."

Although the concept design and execution of the idea happened in only 48 hours, it has been grabbing eyeballs since morning.

Woman student, 22, 'savagely raped' after she was thrown off night bus because she was 20p short on cost of fare

Read more 

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi today hit out at Lalu Prasad calling him a tired man.

"Lalu has now become old and tired ... he is harping on the old rhetoric without substance ... he doesn't have strength and capacity to wage a struggle ... he has lost on several scores," Modi said.

Claiming that he and the chief minister met people braving 45 degree Celsius of scorching summer, Modi said "Lalu Prasad can't tolerate the temperature and he is speaking about going to the people."

Salman Rushdie @SalmanRushdie Hoping the good weather lasts. Hay festival so great when the sun shines. When it rains, like muddy Woodstock with writers, not rock stars.  

The Hay Festival is held in Wales every year and according to their website: celebrates great writing from poets and scientists, lyricists and comedians, novelists and environmentalists, and the power of great ideas to transform our way of thinking.

All that you wanted to know about Aung San Kyu.

Here's the information on Suu Kyi's first trip out of Myanmar in 24 years that she postponed for the PM's visit.

In order to meet Prime Minister Singh, Suu Kyi pushed back her proposed departure for Bangkok to attend a World Economic Forum meeting in her first visit abroad in 24 years. Singh said "it has been a great honour, a great privilege" to interact with Suu Kyi and added India hopes that she "will play a defining role" in the national reconciliation and political reforms launched by Myanmar President Thein Sein. 

Suu Kyi, on her part, said "we are pursuing our democratic goals on the basis of peace ad stability". The leader of the National League for Democracy said she was "very happy at the prospect of closer ties with India because I think we have much to learn from one another and we have much to contribute to peace and stability in this region because our goals, our democratic goals work on the basis of peace and stability and these are what we shall aim towards". 

Suu Kyi expressed the hope that "there will be greater exchanges between our two peoples. I said to the Prime Minister true friendship between the countries can be based only on friendship between our people and that is what I hope we will be able to achieve".

In the highest-level contact between India and Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today held talks with Myanmar's democracy icon here and invited her to visit his country which has a "long-standing association" with her. Singh, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in 25 years, and Suu Kyi held discussions for 45 minutes. 

Accepting in principle the invite to visit India, 66-year-old Suu Kyi, Myanmar's opposition leader, said "I hope I will be able to take up the invitation not before too long". 

Emerging from the meeting at Sedonia Hotel, where she called on Singh by sticking to protocol, Suu Kyi, clad in a violet sarong and flip-flops, recalled her family's association with the Nehru family and said "her parents were great admirers of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian leaders but we were particularly close to Panditji, as I was taught to call him from a very young age".

Italian news agency ANSA said at least three people had been killed in an earthquake today, which occured nine days after a quake in the same region and killed seven people.

Read

Anders Behring Breivik was preoccupied with his appearance, a former friend of the self-confessed mass killer has told a court in Oslo. He had a nose job to appear more Aryan, used powder on his face and worried about how his hair looked, said the friend, a fireman. He is the first of four former friends to testify at Breivik's trial.

More on the BBC.

Vijay Mallya @TheVijayMallya Great to see the West Bengal CM and people of Kolkata felicitate the KKR team for winning the IPL. Such encouragement goes a long way.    

Abhijit Majumder '@abhijitmajumder Had it been Mayawati, she would have ordered a hathi charge

All's well at Eden now.

Moving on to the Cannes 2012: Abbas Kiarostami's interview on the Guardian. Read

Times Now reports that unruly fans surrounded Mamata Banerjee as she tried to leave the stadium. But the situation seems to have been brought under control with people leaving in a more orderly fashion now.  

Mamata's free-for-all at Eden resulted in huge crowds and not enough crowd control. This was a disaster waiting to happen as crowds overwhelmed the police. It happened immediately after the celebrations inside the stadium ended with the thousands waiting outside trying to get in. A few people were injured.

Outside Eden Gardens: Celebrations turn violent. Total chaos outside Eden Gardens as spectators break through the barricades. Police have resorted to lathicharge. Several people have been injured.

What seems to have happened is that the police couldn't control the huge numbers since Mamata Banerjee announced yesterday that anyone and everyone could attend the celebrations at Eden. The police had less than a day to organise the security arrangements, say TV reports. There are between 70,000 and 90,000 people inside the stadium. In fact, Mamata was inviting more people inside the stadium just before the victory lap began.

Meanwhile, in Yangon, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi addresses the media immediately after her morning meeting with PM Manmohan Singh. She says she doesn't fear for her life and will continue her fight for democracy.

Lovely moment as SRK tries to coax Mamata to dance, who very sportingly claps and nods her head. Gets a big kiss on the head from SRK. SRK thanks everyone present  with a thank you Bengal, thank you Kolkata. Juhi says, "Didi-ji, we thank you for this moment. We thank Bengal." That's a new one -- Didi-ji.

Mamata says: All the best for next year also. All the best to all the players. We are proud of you. We are specially obliged to the governor.

She thanks the crowds and and in a moment of concern asks them not to drink water immediately. Transport arrangements have apparently been made.

In Myanmar, where people have no idea what KKR is, the PM and his wife Gursharan Kaur met Aung San Suu Kyi this morning.

Media briefings from the MEA

Anish Jacob @apjac RT @rathinikesh There is as much Kolkata in KKR, as there was jeans in the movie Jeans or progressive in United Progressive Alliance!

@b_rohini #Srk climbs a fence to meet the fans and the photographers follow him & climb too...hayeee re nandkissor.. LOL #KKR

Mamata begins to lose her temper as she begs the photographers (paay porchchi) not to crowd the ceremony so that the audience can watch what's happening. She's taken over as emcee. Says "SRK and 'Goutom' will now run around the stadium. Let them go freely."

Also present with Mamata Banerjee, among other ministers, is Madan Mitra, the TMC minister who famously said of the Park Street rape victim: why "a mother had to go to a nightclub".

Mamata now prepares for the cake cutting ceremony. It's a cake made of sandesh which says "korechhi, lorechhi, jitechhi" -- the KKR theme song with a twist.   

Security nightmare for the Calcutta police. The gold chains with pendants 'Bengal loves you' presented to KKR, beginning with SRK and Juhi. Both make a dash for Mamata's feet.

Governor NK Narayanan presents blue shawls to the team. Every move is overseen by Mamata.  The emcee (not Mamata) announces in Bengali in a high-pitched voice that we can see  Bollywood and Tollywood "milemishe akotrito hoyegachche". (That both the film industries have mingled at Eden.) Tollywood represented by actors Dev, Jeet and Rituparna Sengupta.

Diptosh Majumdar @diptosh Oh Lord what is Mamata doing. Even the Governor is there at Eden Gardens. #IPL #KKR

@Anti_Idiot He's Bengal Governor. RT @_fakeiplplayer: What's our former National Security Advisor doing at the KKR celebration?

Mamata seems to be worried about security -- in deep conversation with cops.

The CM takesover. She says the national 'anthom' will be sung -- Shah Rukh please kom, she says. The police band will sing the athem.

Chandrabindu sings: Eden Gardens e Shah Rukh Khan-er dance dekhte jai. Asks everyone at stadium to raise their hands and sing Hari bol, Hari bol.

@shominisen Bengali superstars Dev and Jeet going berserk dancing with@iamsrk on stage at #Eden. Gambhir remains gambhir. 

More praise for Gautam Gambhir.

Australian speedster Brett Lee is impressed with the leadership skills of his IPL-winning side Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir and praised him for the way he lived up to the challenge of captaining a side with players from different countries. 

Lee praised Gambhir for his fighting qualities and also for his ability to make the dressing room light with banters. "I am impressed. He is a very structured player, someone who likes to take on opposition. Off the field, he likes to have a joke with his teammates. More importantly, I think he is respected for his fairness," Lee told PTI.

Priyanka Chopra @priyankachopra Congrats team KKR sooo well deserved!! Played like champions! Super parade in Kolkata comin up! Congrats @iamsrk

Swapan Dasgupta @swapan55 @PritishNandy @kanchangupta Tragically it hasn't produced much of late, except a cricket captain. So KKR will just have to do  

Pritish Nandy @PritishNandy If the Mumbai-based business entity was not called KKR but DDLJ or K3G would the Chief Minister of WB applaud its success? Be real, Didi.

Blessen Varghese '@blessenv Didi's day out at Eden! Deservedly so. Her all-round performance won KKR the IPL!

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly hailed the maiden victory of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, saying the team was destined to win and credited little-known Manvinder Singh Bisla for the triumph.

Read the report on Rediff.com

Bouquets and blue embroidered stoles being presented to the players.

Ticker-tape welcome for the team. Mamata speaking to Gambhir as both hold the IPL cup. Lucky coincidence for Mamata that the KKR colour is blue, which is also the TMC's colour and what she wants to paint the city in, wiping out the brick-red colours on the British era building.

OK, Gautam Gambhir presents IPL trophy to Mamata Banerjee.  

Breathless TV reporter says the KKR victory parade is reaching Writers' Building. Banner outside the gates says Knights become Kings -- Welcome to Bengal.

You can now see CM Mamata Banerjee with railway minister Mukul Roy. And yes, Mamata is smiling, while trying to get her ministry (huge representation) in line.

Disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has said Pakistan has the capability to shoot down unmanned surveillance drone aircrafts, adding that the country is facing internal threats rather than external.

He said they had built missiles in Kahuta some 15 years ago which have the capability to shoot down drone aircraft, reports The Nation."Pakistan''s defence looks very impenetrable externally, but it is internally vulnerable due to the internal situation of the country. We had planned that the nation would focus on progress, education and industrial advancement but rulers have plundered the public property for many years," Dr Khan was quoted, as saying.

Ramesh Srivats puts it well:

@rameshsrivats If CSK had won the IPL, Chennai people would have just yawned, and gone home. 

Team owners Shah Rukh Khan, Jay Mehta and Juhi Chawla arrived around 11.45 pm as they were thrilled at the crowd response late into the night.

Chawla, dressed in a maroon top and white trousers, said, "It feels really special to see you people here every time. It's because of your support we could win the title. I thank Chief Minister (Mamata Banerjee) for the grand welcome."
Shah Rukh Khan also joined in and said, "From today, KKR belongs to Bengal...Thank you very much for your support. We're extremely happy to see all of you here." 

Around one thousand frenzied supporters gathered and danced well past midnight as the players of the newly-crowned IPL champions Kolkata Knight
Riders and team owners arrived from Chennai in two batches at the NSC Bose International Airportin Kolkata.

Skipper Gautam Gambhir's three Bengali words "ami Kolkatar chhele" (I am son of the city) won the hearts of fans gathered to welcome 'home' the Knight Riders who beat two-time defending champions Chennai Super Kings to win their maiden title in five appearances.

"Thank you very much for your support," Gambhir added as the crowd danced to the drum beats when the team members arrived around 10.30pm last night.
Venky Mysore, the CEO of the Knight Riders, and coach Trevor Bayliss were among those on the crowded makeshift dais just outside the VIP Gate number five. 

"I just want to say that we are very, very proud of the team. They have done a fantastic job under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir. I want to thank you all for your support. I also want to thank our head coach Trevor Bayliss and Vijay Dahiya... he is hiding there, our assistant coach," Mysore said.

No sign of SRK yet, but the numbers on the streets and at Eden keep increasing. Possibly the last time Kolkata saw crowds in these numbers was when filmstar and icon Uttam Kumar passed away, but the mood obviously, was very different.

The Kolkata Knight Riders' bond with the state and the city keeps getting stronger. If principal owner Shah Rukh Khan is Bengal's brand ambassador, captain Gautam Gambhir has declared himself a son of Calcutta. "Aami Kolkatar chhele (I am a son of Kolkata)", Gambhir said tonight after landing from Chennai. As with his drives, Gambhir timed that perfectly. In any case, he has been open about his affection for the city. And Calcutta has taken to him too.

More on the Telegraph, Kolkata

We'll get back to Kolkata in a bit, but before that, this piece of news:

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman said that India should withdraw its forces from occupied Kashmir and remove the black laws imposed there, adding that the deployment of forces in the state meant that everything was not well there.

More

In other news, Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, convicted for alleged involvement in bomb attacks in 1990 in Pakistan, has sent a fresh clemency appeal to President Asif Ali Zardari, a media report said today.  This is the fifth mercy petition from Sarabjit, who was sentenced to death for alleged involvement in a string of bombings in Punjab in 1990 that killed 14 people.

The 49-year-old Indian is currently being held at Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore and has been on death row for over 20 years. Sarabjit's fresh petition, which includes a document with the signatures of 100,000 Indians, urges Zardari toreciprocate the recent release of Pakistani virologist Khalil Chishti by India, The Express Tribune reported.

No other city has ever had victory celebrations of this kind for IPL wins. Chennai won it consecutively for two years, Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals before that, but KKR's victory celebrations stands out. A mix of politics, genuine celebrations and the Bengali 'hujog'.  

TV reports say there are at least 1 lakh people at Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 65,000. Mamata Banerjee had announced yesterday that anyone and everyone can come to Eden, all the gates would be open, and there will be no tickets.

The KKR bus have left ITC Sonar where they stayed last night. The bus will leave the hotel and head to Writers' Building where Shah Rukh and skipper Gautam Gambhir will present the IPL cup to Mamata Banerjee. 

West Bengal CM has sent three TMC ministers to receive the KKR team. Shah Rukh Khan will present the IPL cup to Mamata Banerjee at Writers' Building.

Yesterday, when asked what the team would be give, the CM said that a winner is always a winner. "We are a poor state. What can we give? We will only give our greetings and good wishes to them," she said.

However, each member of the team will get a gold chain with Kolkata loves you inscribed.

The state government has planned to receive the KKR team with special sweets from north Kolkata's century old sweets shop Girish Chandra Dey & Nakur Chandra Nandy -- huge sandesh cake.

Meanwhile, celebrations have begun in Kolkata to celebrate Kolkata Knight Riders IPL win. Eden Gardens is packed with jubilant Calcutans. The West Bengal government will felicitate the victorious city franchise at Eden Gardens.

The victory march will begin from south Kolkata's Hazra area to the Eden Gardens through the state secretariat Writers' Buildings, where the KKR players would meet the CM. The team will be on an open bus during the procession. The road show will start at 11 am.

There will be a proper felicitation ceremony at Eden with Bengali music bands such as Chandrabindoo, Bhoomi and Dohar are scheduled to perform at the event.

Claimant Rohit Shekhar and his mother have just reached Tiwari's house in Dehradun. The paternity case has been on since four years.