Vishwanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand drew the first game of their 12-game world chess championship match played at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Anand, with white pieces, opened with a rare queen pawn opening while Gefland opted for the Grunfeld Indian Defence.

Anand made some aggressive moves mid-day through the match but Gefland matched him defensively.

Both agreed to a draw after 24 moves.     

The quake occured at approximately 6:15 pm. The tremors were felt across the north-east. Early reprots say people rushed out of their buildings in Guwahati and Shillong. The tremors felt in Kolkata were very mild. The Malda region of West Bengal and several other districts also reported the tremors. 

Time magazine's newest cover, with mom Jamie Lynne Grumet breast-feeding her 3-year-old son, is drawing fire on the Web. The photo showed Jamie Lynne Grumet, 26, a stay-at-home mom in Los Angeles who says her mother breastfed her until she was 6 years old.

She told the magazine in an interview that she's given up reasoning with strangers who see her son nursing and threaten "to call social services on me or that it's child molestation."

Read more

Home minister P Chidambaram today said the threat perception of terrorism in the country continues to be high and an institutional mechanism is needed to tackle it. "Given the gravity of the situation, every day we delay NCTC, we increase our risk," said Chidambaram.

In a major decision aimed at giving a boost to the armed forces, the government on Friday approved the deal to buy M-777 ultra light howitzers from the United States. 

The purchase of M777 ultra-light howitzers has been cleared nearly 27 years after the controversy over the purchase of howitzers from Switzerland-based AB Bofors. 

As per reports, the government aims at buying at least 145 guns at a total cost of USD 650 million. The purchase of the guns will be reportedly made through the US government's Foreign Military Sales program.

The Ultra-light weight Field Howitzers (UFH), designated M777 in the USA, was selected in 1997 by a joint US Army / Marine Corps initiative to replace the existing inventory of M198 155mm towed howitzers.  The M777 was deployed by the US Army and Marine Corps to Afghanistan in December 2007 and to Iraq in 2008. In July 2008, Australia requested the foreign military sale of 57 M77 howitzers.

A Delhi High Court today has said that the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) charges against underworld don Abu Salem will be dropped. Salem is facing prosecution in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and other criminal cases.

The Delhi Police have sought dropping of the charge in the backdrop of the Lisbon High Court terminating the extradition of the underworld for breach of the extradition conditions by India by booking him under MCOCA. 

In its petition, the Delhi Police had contended that the charge against the underworld don was framed by a local court here despite argument by the investigating agency that it was against the terms and conditions of Salem's extradition to face trial in the Mumbai serial blasts case of 1993.

The Supreme Court appointed SIT has endorsed the 'action and reaction' theory of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Gulburg society massacre case, saying that firing by former MP Ehsaan Jaffery led to killing
of 69 people in 2002. 

The SIT has given clean chit to Modi, in a specific allegation made by Zakia Jaffery, the widow of former MP Ehsaan Jaffrey, that Modi made objectionable statements in an interview to a private television channel and a newspaper invoking Newton's law of 'action and reaction'. The SIT has said that as per the correspondent of the private TV channel, Modi referred to Jaffery's firing as "action" and massacre that followed as "reaction".

In our second column, Dr Subhash C Kashyap, former secretary general Lok Sabha, writes to say that people feel that the new breed of politicians in all parties are selfish, power hungry, greedy, dishonest hypocrites and power merchants for whom the nation comes last.

Read

Also Read: Parliament's role in making India a great nation is over

This means  both Houses of Parliament will mark the anniversary of their first sitting by holding a special session on Sunday. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha will meet at 11 am on Sunday (May 13) to discuss 'The Journey of 60 years of Indian Parliament'.

A function will be held in the Central Hall of Parliament House at 5.30 pm when President Pratibha Patil will address the members of the two Houses. Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Mohd Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will also address the joint sitting.

The Kingfisher management has assured salaries by May 15. The pilots's strike has ended, which means the 24 flights that were cancelled can now be operational with the 72 'sick' pilots back at work.

But the Air India pilots' stir continues, dear reader.

A beautifully written piece celebrating Saadat Hasan Manto's 100th birthday today. On the Sunday Guardian

With 72 Kingfisher pilots on flash sick-leave yesterday, the airline had to cancel 17 flights. As of now, the airlines is under debt of over 7000 crore.

Yet the Kingfisher man seemed unconcerned even a few days back, as always high on life, this time, quite literally. On 5th May, Mallya had tweeted, "Having dinner at Atmosphere on the 123rd floor of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Never been so high up in my life. Awesome view.'

Just in: The Kingfisher strike has just been called off. At least 72 pilots in North India had gone on mass leave since yesterday protesting non-payment of salary  since December. Kingfisher promoter Vijay Mallya had written a letter to employees threatening action and promising salaries at the same time.

Mallya wrote saying overdue salary payments had begun from today and that he was disturbed by the actions of a few employees, who have put the airlines at risk. He said he won't let misguided employees derail his efforts. "I will act firmly and decisively to protect Kingfisher Airlines," Mallya said today. 

The 'misguided' employees haven't been paid salaries since December . Mallya had promised dues would be cleared by May 9

@DILIPtheCHERIAN Aamir's show gets more TRP than IPL. Has Aamir outshone IPL with all its stars and glamour?? SRK loses one more domain to arch nemesis?  

@BeingSalmanKhan: Ishaqzaadeeeeeeee . Both r superb , arjun ranawat n praniti chopra . Kamaal karte ho yaar

Art, culture, music, film and food... India woos Israel with 3-week festival

More on the New York Times' India blogs.

An apoplectic P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha yesterday: "I categorically state that neither me nor any member of my family have acquired or hold any stake in any telecom company. In particular, I categorically state that neither I nor any member of my family have acquired or hold any share in either Aircel or Maxis.'  More on Firstpost.com

And on Twitter: Subramanian Swamy @Swamy39 PC violated the one of the Ten Commandments by quoting Jesus in vain.

BR Ambedkar is trending on Twitter after the NCERT cartoon controversy.

Sidin Vadukut ' @sidin I hearing that ISI has inserted cartoon in NCERT textbook?

Eccentricandhow @Eccentricandhow The cartoons sitting in the Parliament are more insulting to Dr. Ambedkar.

Tension gripped an army regiment in Ladakh after a group of officers and jawans clashed following an incident of alleged molestation involving an orderly and the reported capturing of the armoury by the agitated soldiers.

Read more on rediff.com

In its closure report filed in the Zakia Jafri case, the RK Raghavan-led Special Investigation Team says Jafri's husband and former MP Ehsan Jafri was killed because he provoked a "violent mob' that had assembled "to take revenge of Godhra incident from the Muslims.'

Ehsan Jafri fired at the mob and "the provoked mob stormed the society and set it on fire.' Around 70 Muslims perished in the massacre at the Gulberg Society compound along with the ex-MP on February 28, 2002.

Read the Hindu report.

The Ambedkar cartoon that has disrupted proceedings in both the houses of Parliament today. The cartoon which appears in the NCERT textbook, Indian Constitution at Work, has a cartoon on page 18, showing Dr. Ambedkar sitting on a snail which is labelled Constitution, cracking a whip; behind him is Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, also shown with a whip. The caption says: "Cartoonist's impression of a snail's pace with which the Constitution was made. Making of the Constitution took almost three years''

Ramesh Srivats @rameshsrivats Today's uproar in parliament - Ambedkar cartoon in an NCERT textbook. Seriously man, our MPs put the sad in sansad.

Read Tripti Lahiri's piece on the Wall Street Journal.

An embattled former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today welcomed the Supreme Court order for a CBI probe into illegal mining and donations received by his family-run trust from mining firms. 

"The Supreme Court has ordered probe into illegal mining that pertained to my tenure as Chief Minister. I request the Prime Minister to order CBI probe into the issue since 2000 till my regime," Yeddyurappa said.

"Political conspiracy hatched against me has made me an accused in illegal mining though it is I who stopped it. I am facing the trouble after doing good work. I know how to come out of this political labyrinth," Yeddyurappa claimed.

The world's greatest athletes descend on London in July for the 2012 Olympics. Martyn Herman highlights 10 to watch when the Games get underway.

See the slideshow on rediff.com 

Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Saadat Hasan Manto.

A group of the celebrated Urdu writer's fans is out looking for traces of his life in Mumbai. While Manto is best known for his powerful short stories about the partition of India, he spent the happiest years of his life as a Bollywood groupie, in the 1940s. He wrote scripts and befriended movie stars but left heartbroken when his film industry friends nudged him to Pakistan.

Moreon the Wall Street Journal.

While on Satyamev Jayate, also read on rediff.com:

Saisuresh Sivaswamy: Aamir Khan's concern should be ours too

Sukanya Verma: Don't be cynical about Aamir's 'Satyamev Jayate', watch it!

Sheela Bhatt: Aamir Khan's Satyameva Jayate played it safe

The Maharashtra government has sought the support of Bollywood star Aamir Khan in their campaign against female foeticide, a day after the actor had taken up the issue with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Ever since it aired on Sunday, 11 am, the show has remained firmly in the news with rave reviews, peppered with a few intelligent criticisms.

Read: Systemic change needs sustained effort, not just Aamir Khan. The appeal of a courageous superstar with a conscience on a Sunday morning television show may help resolve some issues that affect us. But for us to change as a people needs much more effort and awareness, feels Sherna Gandhy. Exclusively on Rediff.com

Running a clandestine bomb factory in remote area in Yemen, a nondescript Saudi has emerged as the most potent threat to the United States, making three bids in past three years to spread mayhem in the world's most powerful nation.

His explosive devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and hard-to-detect for Americans counter-intelligence forces, who have now marked him as the nation's most wanted.

Read the full story on rediff.com. Also see our 12:28 pm post.

That's the picture of the underwear bomb.

The Republican Party of India (Athavale) has also demanded a ban on a textbook prescribed for Std. XI by the NCERT, arguing that it had insulted Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Ramdas Athavale held a press conference to burn copies of the page from the book for political science. He demanded the resignation of Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal, who is also president of the NCERT board.

The book, Indian Constitution at Work, has a cartoon on page 18, showing Dr. Ambedkar sitting on a snail which is labelled Constitution, cracking a whip; behind him is Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, also shown with a whip. The caption says: "Cartoonist's impression of a snail's pace with which the Constitution was made. Making of the Constitution took almost three years''

Half-French, half-Indian owner Roxane Sabatier's one-bedroom family flat is now available for Rs 8,289. She has converted her home into Roxane's Bed & Breakfast, which she rents out.  

Read

The cartoon of B R Ambedkar in an NCERT book threatened to snowball into a crisis with BSP Chief Mayawati today declaring she will not allow Parliament to function if action was not taken those responsible for the act within three days. 

She said: "This is an insult on Indian democracy. The government should intervene and take strong action against those, who are involved in this. If it failed to do so, we will wait for two to three days or else our party will not allow the House to run." 

LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan: He said that those who have made this kind of cartoon and also those who endorsed it should not only be suspended but
should be booked under the SC/ST act. How can such objectionable material creep into NCERT books.

A Raja is in custody since his arrest on February 2, 2011 and is facing trial in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case. The CBI filed its reply today on the bail plea of Raja, who had moved his first bail application yesterday after over 15 months of his arrest.

Special CBI Judge O.P. Saini had on Wednesday directed the CBI to file its response, if any, on Raja's bail plea today.

The DMK leader had filed the bail plea on the ground of parity with other 13 accused who all have been granted the relief by the Supreme Court, the Delhi High Court and the special court trying the case.

The Special CBI court reserves the bail order on former telecom minister A Raja. The bail plea hearing is now reserved till May 15. The CBI says the principle of parity does not apply. In effect Raja continues to stay in jail.

Aamir Khan says he is not an activist, just an actor. What he's forgotten to add is that he is an amazing marketing man.

After being widely appreciated for his TV show Satyamev Jayate, Aamir Khan will now connect with millions of radio listeners in a programme called
Dil Pe Lagi Aur Baat Bani. 

From tomorrow, the show anchored by Aamir will be broadcast every Saturday at 11 am on primary channels of All India Radio covering Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and West Bengal. It will be also available on all Vividh Bharati stations of AIR on Saturdays at 3.30 pm, a statement by Prasar Bharati said. Dil Pe Lagi Aur Baat Bani aims at stringing together real-life incidents touching a common chord across people of the country.

The Independent investigation into the background to a child abuse ring concludes by exploring cultural and religious implications. Read

Leading rights activist Ansar Burney today appealed to President Asif Ali Zardari to convert the death sentence of Indian national Sarabjit Singh, facinggallows on charges of involvement in bomb blasts in Pakistan, to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds.   

Noting that Sarabjit had been on death row for nearly 21 years, Burney said in a letter sent to the President that theIndian national's possible hanging should be halted and his death sentence converted to life imprisonment "in the greater interest of humanity, human dignity, justice and human rights".

Burney noted that he had submitted several mercy petitions on Sarabjit's behalf to the President. He said any move to hang a prisoner who had already spentsuch a long time in jail would be tantamount to a "murder of justice".

"I would like to mention here that one day in a death cell is equal to one year in a normal jail and that prolonged detention in the worst and inhuman circumstances on death row is, at the very least, cruel treatment and the worst kind of human rights violations...," Burney said in his letter.

Burney's request was made against the backdrop of the Indian Supreme Court's order allowing 82-year-old Pakistani national Khalil Chishti to travel back home after being granted bail.

Another one of those researches that makes you realise some people have a lot of time on their hands.

Motorists should be more wary when driving on Fridays, as it has been claimed to be the worst day of the week for a collision.  

A new research from NRMA Insurance shows collisions on a Friday spiked by 16 per cent above the weekly average and Sunday is the least likely day to have a collision, the Courier Mail reported.  

The peak hour times of 3 to 5pm during the week are the worst time for a collision and 11am to 1pm on the weekend.

Finally, after two years of planning wrangles, Britain's largest public sculpture towers over the Olympic park. See

Constructing Anish Kapoor's Orbit: time-lapse film. Stunning watch

If Kapoor sounds vaguely familiar, here's why

The new Bond movie is still in post-production, but celebrations of 50 years of Eon Bond films include screenings on the beach. Read

Also read: Sean Connery describes the guns of James Bond in the 1960s.

The quintessential Bond, we think.

The government ban on jeans and T-shirts ignores the fact our national dress can also provocatively show some skin.

Read more on the Daily Mail.  

For those of you who do not have your calendars marked and gifts or cards purchased, a reminder: Sunday is Mother's Day, a "holiday" that many Americans have the luxury and good fortune to be able to observe.

Read

And you do know that you can wish your mom right here? Try it and make your mom happy.

The BBC says that the man who foiled a Yemen-based al-Qaeda "underwear bomb" plot was a British man of Middle Eastern origin, according to US media. UK officials declined to comment on the reports, but earlier this week the US said foreign agencies were involved in the operation.

Read

Derek O'Brien ' @quizderek Thrilled to be a witness to 'history' on Sunday.LS & RS will work all of Sunday.Special session to mark 60 years of Parliament.

Just so you know, we will be following the Joint Parliamentary Session on Sunday. Stay with us.

On the Indian Express: Shekhar Gupta writes that the Congress owes it to Pranab Mukherjee to come clean. Say yes or tell him now that you cannot give him the presidency and why.

Read

Just in: The DGCA issues orders against the 20 per cent price hike by airlines in the wake of the Air India and Kingfisher strike. The DGCA tells airlines not to hike air fares sicne there are no "major changes in operation costs."

Those analyzing the cyberspies who are trying to infiltrate natural-gas pipeline companies have found similarities with an attack on a cybersecurity firm a year ago. At least one US government official has blamed China for that earlier attack.

Read

Shiv Aroor @ShivAroor Army officer-jawan punch-up happened at Mahe field firing range outside Nyoma. No weapons were used, only fists. 3 Div Cdr at spot.

TV reports had suggested that there has been a scuffle between an Army jawan and an officer in Leh.

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha has been adjourned till noon after uproar over publication of B R Ambedkar's cartoon in NCERT textbooks.

You may recollect that the HRD ministry was to ask the NCERT to review the cartoon in a class XI textbook on political science which appears to show Bhimrao Ambedkar in a bad light and is a reason for anger among dalits.

The NCERT had used Shankar's cartoon of Children's Book Trust to indicate that  framing of the constitution was a slow process. The cartoon showed Ambedkar sitting on a snail called the Constitution and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru whipping the snail to make it move faster. From the cartoon, it appeared that NCERT was blaming Ambedkar for three years the constituent assembly took to prepare the draft of the Constitution.  

HC blow for Bangaru: The Delhi High Court today refused to suspend the sentence awarded to former BJP President Bangaru Laxman, in a graft case, on his appeal filed against his conviction and sentencing by the trial court. 

The court declined his plea to immediately suspend the sentence on medical grounds. The trial court had on April 28 awarded Laxman four years jail term and had imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on him, 11 years after he had been caught accepting a bribe in a fictitious defence deal during a sting operation by Tehelka. 

Laxman's, senior counsel said his client is 72-years-old, suffering from several ailments, has undergone bypass surgeries twice and is also diabetic. He sought
Laxman's immediate release on medical grounds.

More on that in a bit.

Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal says that a massive trading bet boomeranged on J.P. Morgan Chase JPM +0.25%& Co., leaving the bank with at least $2 billion in trading losses and its chief executive, James Dimon, with a rare black eye following a long run as what some called the "King of Wall Street."

Read

The meeting between the PM and the Civil Aviation minister is over. Ajit Singh says there is no possibility of imposing ESMA (Essential Services Maintainance Act). Singh says the Dharmadhikari report is looking into the issue and reiterates that the government is not being inflexible or adamant.

The minister also says the government will NOT step into the Kingfisher mess.  

Another Supreme Court ruling that's just come in. The court is to hear the Presidential reference arising out of the 2G judgement on allocation of natural resources from July 10. The Apex court issues notices to all state governments and industry chambers FICCI and CII to represent private industries on the issue and has issued notices to petitioners, CPIL and Subramanian Swamy seeking their response on presidential reference.

Expect a tart tweet from Swamy any time now.

The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice S.H. Kapadia issued the order over the CBI probe against BS Yeddyurappa's alleged role in the mining scam during his tenure as the Karnataka CM.

The court-appointed central empowered committee had recommended a CBI probe against Yeddyurappa. The CEC, in its report, pointed to Yeddy's alleged role in illegal export of iron ore, transfer of some police officers and certain land deals for the benefit of his family.

The SC panel says Yeddyurappa received kickbacks for denotifying land and favoured mining companies for financial gain.

In Parliament right now, BJP says that P Chidambaram's decision to read out son's statement was against the rules. The home minister has therefore insulted the Constitution, says the BJP.

The Opposition yesterday targeted P Chidambaram in the Lok Sabha over the Aircel-Maxis deal, dubbing it as a "big scam" allegedly involving his son, but the home minister dismissed the charges as "wild and reckless".

Declaring that neither he nor any member of his family had acquired or had any stake in Aircel or Maxis, Chidambaram quoted from a statement of his son Karthi, hours after a BJP leader had accused him of having 5 per cent stake in either of the companies. Amid vociferous chants against him by the Opposition, which was demanding his resignation, Chidambaram read out a statement issued by his son, Karthi.

Civil Aviation minister Ajit Singh is due to speak with the prime minister any time now.

Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya writes to employees saying overdue salary payments have begun from today. He says actions by a few employees have put the airlines at risk, but he won't let misguided employees derail his efforts. Mallya says he will act firmly, decisively to protect Kingfisher Airlines.

The 'misguided' employees haven't been paid salaries since December . Mallya had promised dues would be cleared by May 9.

Back to the continuing turmoil at airports. Around 12 Kingfisher flights were today cancelled after the pilots reported sick in protest against non-payment of due salaries. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh says he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan over the issue.

Air India has refused to take any more international bookings till the 15th of this month. Twelve Air India flights were cancelled this morning as were seven Kingfisher flights, according to media reports. 

The total number of sacked pilots of Air India now stands at 46.

A total of 72 Kingfisher Airline pilots have called in sick in all of north India. The airline's pilots are protesting against the non-payment of their salaries.

Media entrepreneur, filmmaker, columnist, writer, blogger and  teacher (all her descriptives, not ours) Harini Kalamur proves with telling examples that the quality of students have been falling every single year since she began teaching at Mumbai University at the Kalina campus.

Here's why...

Vidya Balan is basically from Calkota. She is a Bongoli beauty (their spelling not mine)
She has revolutionised the screen with her fatty fat look
FM Channels started in British India
For a question on short skits we should have a separate channel to show short skirts on TV. 

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Toddlers may be jokingly called terrors when they hit the "terrible twos," but one little girl's parents said their daughter was accused of being an actual terrorist.

The family said the Transportation Security Administration and JetBlue have some explaining to do after ordering their 18-month-old daughter off a plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The couple, who asked not to be identified, said they were pulled from the plane because officials told them the toddler's name was on a no-fly list. "It's absurd," said the girl's father.

"It made no sense. Why would an 18-month-old child be on a no-fly list?" "The whole situation was bizarre," the toddler's mother added. "It was completely bizarre."

Another example of US paranoia, perhaps.

Just in: CBI registers a case against defence officials and others for granting No Objection Certificate (NOC) to private persons for defence land. The CBI has also begun searches in Patna, Jammu, Srinagar in connection with the case.

TV reports suggest that there has been a scuffle between an Army jawan and an officer in Leh.