Indian Naval Ship Sukanya, presently deployed on anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden under the operational control of the Western Naval Command, found herself once again in the thick of things, thwarting a multiple-boat piracy attack yesterday.            

The ship was escorting a group of five merchant vessels through the IRTC (Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor) when, at about 9:25 in the morning of 10th Nov, she detected a group of five suspicious boats, speedily approaching the merchant vessels of her group.

The warship immediately altered towards the suspicious vessels and challenged them. The pirate skiffs reversed course and tried to flee the area. While two of them managed to get away, the Sukanya successfully intercepted the remaining three.

Kingfisher Airlines cancelled more flights on Friday and its shares hit a record low amid continuing debt fears, reports bbc.co.uk.

Thousands of passengers have been hit by hundreds of cancellations this week. India's second-biggest airline is about $1.2bn in debt and struggling to raise cash. Founder and part-owner Vijay Mallya insists the airline will not close but is just cutting losses by rationalising flights and reconfiguring airlines.

Just in: Vishal Yadav, who along with his cousin Vikas, is serving life term for killing MBA graduate Nitish Katara in 2002, today moved the Supreme Court for bail. 

Pleading for bail, he submitted in his petition that he is not keeping well and there was no "direct evidence" against him and the lower court had convicted him on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

Vishal, the son of controversial UP politician D P Yadav, approached the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court order of February 24 in which his plea for bail plea was dismissed.

The High Court had rejected Vishal's plea for  suspension of his sentence till the court decides on his appeal filed in 2008 after being sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court.

The trial court had in May 2008 sentenced Vishal and Vikas to life imprisonment for kidnapping Katara on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002, from a marriage party in Ghaziabad and killed him as they were against their sister Bharti Yadav's relationship with him.

In other news, taking on Press Council Chairman Justice Markandeya Katju for "running down" self-regulatory mechanisms in media, the South Asia Media Commission today expressed concern over suggestions for arming the government with "draconian" powers to deal with the press. 

The Commission, an associate of South Asian Free Media Association, appealed to the media community to expedite steps to give a shape to a self-regulatory mechanism which it felt will lend credibility to the plans of the media to reform its affairs itself.

Maldives today made it clear that its friendship with China will not affect its ties
with India. Replying to a question on China opening its embassy in Maldives this week, President Mohammad Nasheed said, "India has been a good friend, best neighbour and we will continue to work with India."

China opened its full diplomatic mission in Male, the capital of Maldives, on November 8, coinciding with the Saarc Summit.

Maldivian President Mohammad Nasheed at the concluding ceremony of the two-day 17th SAARC summit announced that the next meet will be held in Nepal.

The concluding ceremony was attended among others by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Nashid congratulated Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai for hosting the next SAARC summit.

Rediff.com's Prasanna Zore reporting from the Saarc summit at Maldives says that Pakistan PM Yousuf Raza Gilani left the just-concluded meet at the atoll of Addu 15 minutes before curtains officially came down.

Gilani left in a Pak airforce jet and while it is not odd for heads of state to leave either early or mid-way (Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai left early as well), Gilani's departure raised eyebrows because other heads of state fly the national airlines. PM Dr Manmohan Singh flies Air India 1, for instance.

There was speculation about Gilani's early departure in the context of the Indo-Pak bilateral talks that took place yesterday where Gilani thanked Dr Singh for access to the European Union market and India's support for a UNSC seat.  

Chocolate milk is the best fitness drink, and has been preferred by the health conscious, a new research has revealed.  

Even the most basic version of its shake was found to top "isotonic' drinks such as Powerade, Gatorade and Lucozade at helping the body recover from workouts.

Billy Crystal will present the 2012 Academy Awards after the departure of Eddie Murphy, the original host. The 63-year-old actor has previously hosted the Oscars nine times, most recently in 2004.

"Some of the best moments of my career have happened on the Oscar stage," he said. Eddie Murphy had previously been scheduled to host the show, but he pulled out following the departure of producer and friend Brett Ratner.

More on bbc.co.uk

Armstice Day ceremonies take place at 11 am across the globe to commemorate members of armed forces who died in the line of duty since the first World War. See the pictures on the Guardian

The date marks the anniversary of Germany signing the Armistice agreement on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918

Also see: There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets who lie side by side. On the Telegraph.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has said he will insist on civilian supremacy over Pakistan's powerful military if his party comes to power and would rather resign if the army and the ISI did not function under him if he becomes Prime Minister.

Days after his Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf party stunned its opponents by drawing a mammoth crowd during a rally in Lahore, Khan said that if he becomes the Prime Minister after the next election, he would press for civilian supremacy over the army and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency so that he could implement his agenda.

In a related story, a series of revelations and allegations in recent months have exposed a murky world of bugging and phone tapping in India's corridors of power.

Unlike the phone-hacking scandal in Britain - where reporters at Rupert Murdoch's News International were caught listening to celebrities and public figures to generate news - in India, secret surveillance is more often tied up with vendettas between members of the political and corporate elite.

Read the National story.

Hitesh Wardhan (22), a BCom grad from from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, has won Rs 1 crore on Kaun Banega Crorepati via the 'Ek Crore Ka Shortcut'. After correctly answering just one question about his favourite cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hitesh's shortcut worked and landed him on the sets of KBC, where he received his mega prize. The episode featuring Hitesh's win will be telecast on Tuesday, November 15 at 8:30 pm. 

Just in: South Africa beat Australia by 8 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two Test matches at Cape Town. Skipper Graeme Smith scored an unbeaten 101 to guide Proteas to a convincing win. Earlier, Veron Philander picked up 5-15.

Details awaited.

Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi today  ruled out any sort of bailout to be given to the financially stricken Kingfisher Airlines.

The minister however said that the Airline is free to approach the banks for the rescue."There will be no bailout to Kingfisher but it can approach the banks,' the Aviation Minister said. Ravi also added that Kingfisher authorities had approached him for help but he told them to speak to Pranab.

James Murdoch has refused to rule out the possibility of closing down Britain's best selling tabloid, The Sun, if the phone hacking scandal spreads to it.  

The News International chairman made the comment as he faced a day of questioning from British MPs over previous evidence that he gave to Parliament about the hacking scandal. At one point he was compared to a mafia boss by an MP, The Telegraph reports.    

Murdoch denied misleading the committee when he told them in July this year that he was unaware of the now infamous 'for Neville' email, which implicated other reporters at the News of the World in hacking.

The bikinis worn by the women beach volleyball players participating in the Olympics have inevitably landed them in the middle of controversies.

The controversies apart, body grooming too starts weighing on the minds of the players. "We're not body-conscious any more' obviously we wax and there are still some days when you think, 'Today the arms should not come up'. But it's what we wear,' the Daily Mail quoted Team GB beach volleyball Olympic hopeful Shauna Mullin as telling the Sun.

Hitting out at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for calling his Pakistani counterpart Yusuf Raza Gilani "a man of peace", BJP leader Rajnat Singh todaysaid such a statement is wrong from a moral, diplomatic and strategical point of view. 

"Terming Gilani as a man of peace when he has done nothing for checking terror camps on Pakistani soil and Chinese activity in PoK is a result of the wrong policies being pursued by Manmoham Singh and UPA government," he said.

"It is also not right from either moral, diplomatic or strategical point of view as he (Gilani) has made no serious efforts for establishing peace with India," the former BJP president said.

He said Gilani has also not taken any concrete action against those behind 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes and the accused are moving freely in Pakistan.

Also on Foreign Policy magazine: How Twitter saved my friend from the Kyrgyz secret police. Read

Also see our 11:06 am post: Teen tweeted 144 times before committing suicide

Also from Raja Sen: Who should be in Bigg Boss 5.

We asked you who you would like to see living in that constantly-monitored house. Clearly you had a blast throwing in the different kinds of names to make up a spectacularly twisted list. Here it is. Read

Raja Sen's (famously stingy in doling out the stars) review of Rockstar. Read

And while you're at it, read the other two reviews also on rediff.com:

Rockstar is more Devdas than Jim Morrison

Rockstar is flawed but fabulous

Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee last night said Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has rightly commented that Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist in the 26/11 attack, should be hanged.

"He (Rehman Malik) has rightly said it,' Mukherjee told reporters at his residence here while commenting on Malik's remark that Kasab is a terrorist who should be hanged. Pakistan Interior Minister said at Addu in Maldives that Ajmal Kasab is a terrorist, a non-state actor and he should be sent to gallows.

On the Atlantic: The three-episode finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show consisted of a two-part spectacular at the United Center in Chicago and a final sermon delivered from the show's studio at Harpo Productions.

Together, these three hours of television encompassed many of the program's enduring concerns: celebrity, philanthropy, Dale Carnegie'"style positive thinking, and'"the true foundation of the show and its creator'"the theology of the black Baptist Church that raised her. Read

In pictures: The dangerous dirty dancing that Chennai witnessed and India did not. On the Daily Mail.

The Supreme Court today sought the Andhra Pradesh government's reply on a plea contending that normal activities and administration in the state have
been paralysed for the last one year due to the agitation for a separate state of Telangana. The apex court issued notices on advocate P V Krishnaiah's plea, seeking the court's direction to the Centre to restrain it from carving a new state out of Andhra Pradesh.

On Firstpost.com: TV reports say that Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya has spoken to the aviation ministry about bailing out the cash-strapped airline. Sources also suggest that finance minister Pranab Mukherjee will talk to banks on the airline's finanancial crisis, even as the ground handling staff threaten to go on strike over unpaid dues.

The aviation ministry has, in turn, spoken to the finance ministry on the issue, reports said. Sources at the aviation ministry said while an Air India-type recast is not possible for Kingfisher Airlines, oil companies might be asked to extend credit on fuel purchases to the airline.

Internet titan Google Inc has acquired two startup firms -- Apture and Katango -- for an undisclosed amount that would help it enhance the user experience of its browser and social networking services.

The 4-year old Apture focuses on providing instant access to information with in-page search technology. Katango, on the other hand, was founded a little over a year ago and builds algorithms for automatically sorting friends that improves online social interaction.

And for good measure, another review of Rockstar on rediff.com. The film is essentially a love story between two very curious individuals, writes Sukanya Verma.  

Also read: Sumit Bhattacharya's review: Rockstar is more Devdas than Jim Morrison  

Want a more innovative company? Get rid of these folks. Today. Read it on Business Week.

(So, should you be fired?)

In other news, the Pakistani Taliban have described cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan as a "slave of the US and Europe" after he called himself a liberal.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan made the remarks in an interview with BBC Urdu. 

Ehsan noted that Khan had said he is not a Taliban supporter and remarked: "We also think Imran Khan is not our sympathiser." The Taliban spokesman advised Khan to talk in Urdu, if he considers himself the representative of the people.

Lending support to DMK MP Kanimozhi at the CBI trial court today are her husband and her mother.

In Chennai, the party distanced itself from special prayers reportedly conducted by a Rajya Sabha member for Kanimozhi's release, terming it as an "unilateral act" which lacked the party's consent. 

Stanley had reportedly conducted a special 'pooja' at a temple in Kancheepuram yesterday, seeking the early release of Kanimozhi.

Update on the 2G trial today.

A plea by former telecom minister A Raja that he would not cross-examine prosecution witnesses unless the CBI probe is over in 2G spectrum case, was
dismissed today by a Delhi court which began formal trial in the matter.

Raja made the plea minutes before Special Judge O P Saini commenced formal trial, beginning it with the recording of first prosecution witness, Reliance Capital Ltd Vice President Anand Subramaniam's statement.

So, are you headed to Rockstar over the weekend?

We suggest you read Sumit Bhattacharya's review before you do. Ranbir Kapoor's new film is a love story that tries to pose as an insight into an artiste's anguish. Director Imtiaz Ali's new film Rockstar has two heroes: Ranbir Kapoor, and A R Rahman. Read

And Sumit, our colleague, obviously knows what's he talking about. Here's why (He's the guy to the extreme right of the frame playing the guitar).

The Supreme Court today expressed shock on Friday that more than 250 Pakistanis were being held in Indian jails without ever having faced trial, with at least one behind bars since 1965.

The court, hearing a public interest litigation filed by a member of the public, ordered the central government to file a comprehensive report explaining the detentions.

"It's shocking that over 254 Pakistani nationals are languishing in jails without a trial,' said Supreme Court judge R.N. Lodha.

The inmates are being held in Jammu and Kashmir, with many thought to be people arrested after unwittingly crossing the disputed border in the area, the court heard. Four are women. It is thought that there may be inmates held without trial in other states too. That's the report on the Dawn.

A fast track court in Thrissur today awarded the death sentence to killer Govindachamy in the sensational Soumya murder case.

Soumya was pushed out of a moving train, raped and killed in February this year.

Judge Raveendra Babu had found the accused, Govindachamy (30)  hailing from Tamil Nadu, guilty of the rape and murder. Special prosecutor A Suresan had pleaded for the maximum punishment of death.

Amid controversy over the issue of revocation of AFSPA from parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister A K Antony today said the final decision on it would be taken by the Unified Command Headquarters in the state.

The Defence Minister was asked to comment on the issue of revocation of AFSPA and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's statement that he had the authority to withdraw it from the state.

Abdullah had said, "As chief minister of the state, I have the authority to lift AFSPA." He has been seeking partial withdrawal of AFSPA in areas where militancy has been contained and where the Army does not operate.

Also read on Live! commentary yesterday: So, who's leaking meeting details to media, asks Omar  

News from the Saarc summit in the Maldives.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said today that talks between the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan have imparted a "seriousness of purpose" to bilateral engagements with both sides agreeing to finalise a calender of meetings to discuss all outstanding issues in a result-oriented manner, said today.

"Pakistan had positively evaluated the talks and welcomed India's readiness for a broad ranging engagement," Khar said in a statement issued here by the Foreign Office, a day after Manmohan Singh met his Pakistani counterpart Yosuf Raza Gilani on the margins of the SAARC summit in Maldives.

In the backdrop of an Afghan woman and her daughter being stoned to death, read this blog by MK Bhadrakumar.

According to the Pentagon, India trains only Afghan police personnel on a "small scale'. And that too, India trains only Afghan women police officers. The US would like to play down India's role in Afghanistan as a "very responsible approach' very careful, very mindful' of Pakistani sensitivities, "in order not to exacerbate Pakistan's concerns.

Read

Yesterday, Greece announced that Lucas Papademos was its new Prime Minister. See the live update yesterday.  

Today the new PM says the priority of his incoming coalition cabinet is to seek unity to keep Greece in the eurozone. "The choices we make will be decisive for the Greek people," he said, adding that the euro was vital for prosperity.

In the first list, out of 28, eleven witnesses are from Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, which suggest that the agency wants to deal first with the charges against accused firms Reliance Telecom Ltd and Shahid Usman Balwa promoted Swan Telecom. 

Others in court today: Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, the court had framed charges against Reliance ADAG Managing Director Gautam Doshi, its Group President Surendra Pipara, its senior Vice President Hari Nair, Shahid Usman Balwa, Unitech Ltd's MD Sanjay Chandra, DB Realty MD Vinod Goenka, Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar and Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani. 

Update on what's happening in the CBI trial court hearing the 2G case today.

Former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi, corporate honchos and telecom firms are among the high-profile accused at the court. 

First person on the stand:  Special CBI Judge O P Saini started recording a statement of Anand Subramaniam, Assistant Vice President of Reliance Capital Ltd, as a prosecution witness. 

The court had also summoned for today two other prosecution witnesses -- Group President of Reliance A N Sethuraman and Chief Regulatory Officer of Etisalat DB Telecom Pvt Ltd Vinod Kumar Budhiraja -- for their examination. 

The CBI, in its first list, had submitted names of 28 persons to be examined as prosecution witnesses before the court in the month of November. The court after framing charges against 17 accused, including three telecom firms, had slated the trial to begin from today. 

"I went to the bathroom and locked the door," 18-year-old Ashley Billasano tweeted.

"I took apart a razor. I did what I had to do to forget. I swear after that night I was never the same."

Billasano told her painful story through the popular social networking site. Soon after, she had committed suicide.

This shocker on the Huffingtonpost. Read

Get married, make a movie, or just pause for reflection: the many ways you can mark Friday morning's magical mathematical moment. at the 11th second and the 11th minute after the 11th hour, the date and time will form a 12-digit palindrome.

It will be 11:11:11 on 11/11/11. We have had, since 2000, 10 such sextuplet moments, from one minute past one on 1 January, 2001, to 10:10:10, on 10 October last year. Tdoay's alignment, however, is the only one to consist entirely of a single digit, and -- assuming we don't suddenly switch to a calendar with 22 months -- will be the only moment of its kind for 100 years.

On the Guardian.

Earlier this week we reported how a new survey has revealed that more than half of young professionals won't work at a company that restricts the use of social media in the office.

Well, it appears that a lot of graduates will soon be joining the dole queue, as new data from UK job site Reed suggests that just one in three UK employees access platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at work, and a heady 60% believe access should be banned altogether. Read

On the sidelines of the Saarc summit in the Maldives, Pakistan Interior minister Rehman Malik yesterday, said two things -- one, that Ajmal Kasab should be hanged, as well as the Samjhauta blast accused and two, there was no evidence to include the JuD as a terror group.

Today, foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai reacting to that statement said that India has provided enough documentation against Jamaat-ul-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed and others under trial in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks to Pakistan to be able to forward their case.

To a poser on Pakistan saying that there is insufficient evidence against Hafiz Saeed, Mathai said: "We have provided extensive documentation on Hafiz Saeed and those who are under trial for their involvement in the Mumbai attacks. This evidence has been provided. A number of dossiers have been handed over. We believe there is enough information in that for Pakistan to be able to forward their case against those seven accused."

Stay with us for details of the trial as it happens. On to world news for a bit.

Iran and the nuclear crisis. After weeks of hyping intelligence on the military aspects of Iran's nuclear program, the Obama administration's public statements on the recently released International Atomic Energy Agency report are curiously moderate. Read more on the NYT

The 2G trial begins in the Delhi court in which former Telecom Minister A Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and 150 witnesses will be examined. Court starts recording statement of Anand Subramaniam of Reliance Capital as prosecution witness in the case. CBI has to establish that Swan Telecom is a front for Reliance. 11 Reliance ADAG witnesses to be examined as well.

Kingfisher crisis: 130 pilots quit, 149 flights cancelled (The Times of India)

The actual reason for the huge chaos among Kingfisher flyers across India became apparent on Thursday as the airline put its figures on the table. Read

Army to stop ops if Omar lifts AFSPA? (Hindustan Times)

In an indication of the growing chasm between the Army and the J&K government, senior military sources indicated on Thursday that the former might suspend counter-insurgency operations if chief minister Omar Abdullah unilaterally lifted the controversial AFSPA from parts of the state. Read

2G scam trial kicks off today (Hindustan Times)

The trial in the second generation (2G) spectrum allocation case is set to begin in a special court on Friday after formal charges were framed against all the 17 accused, including former telecom minister A. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and three corporate entities. Read

Manmohan's return gift for Pakistan's MFN gesture (The Hindu)

The decision to move towards a Preferential Trade Agreement with Pakistan will lead to zero customs duty on all traded goods by 2016 came as Dr.Singh met his counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani on the margins of the 17th SAARC summit in Maldives. Read

Gujarat riots: Narendra Modis role is the larger issue (DNA)

Internal security is all about justice. Justice in food distribution, justice in poverty alleviation, justice in the observation of rights, justice in law implementation are just some aspects that make citizens secure, and nations vibrant and healthy. Read