PUBLIC MARKS from hemanshu_desai

The Chief Justice of India designate Justice K G Balakrishnan has denied any confrontation between the judiciary and the Parliament. "There is no serious confrontation between the judiciary and the Parliament. Some disputes come to the court and people think there is a dispute. It is not a serious problem either for the judiciary or the parliament," he said. Justice Balakrishnan, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, will be the first-ever Dalit to occupy the coveted post.

Giraffes Zaraffa, left, Andara, center, and Nyota feast on a 'Christmas Tree' at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006. (AP Photo/Paul Miller)

An installation of Christmas lights made of recycled plastic containers hangs near the London Eye wheel, in central London December 21, 2006. The commission by British artist David Batchelor will be on display along the South Bank of the River Thames throughout December. REUTERS/Toby Melville (BRITAIN)

Horses graze in a field as the last of a winter storm leaves Colorado on Thursday afternoon, Dec. 21, 2006, near Longmont, Colo. (AP Photo/Peter M. Fredin)

India, Pakistan in border talks Sir Creek Map India and Pakistan have begun two days of talks on a long-running border demarcation issue. The talks will focus on Sir Creek, a narrow strip of marsh land separating India's western border from Pakistan. In May, the two sides decided to do a joint survey of Sir Creek and adjoining areas to obtain information which would allow for better decisions to be made. The talks are part of a tentative peace process between the two neighbours, launched in 2004.

Trump to Miss USA: You get a second chance 20 minutes ago NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miss USA 2006 was given a second chance on Tuesday by billionaire Donald Trump who came close to firing her after reported misbehavior. ADVERTISEMENT Instead, Trump, co-owner of the Miss USA and Miss Universe contests, said Conner would go into a rehabilitation program for an unspecified problem and would not be stripped of her Miss USA title. Media reports of blond beauty queen Conner partying at bars and nightclubs in New York -- where the legal drinking age is 21 -- began surfacing last week. The former Miss Kentucky USA turned 21 on Monday. It was widely expected that Trump, host of the television reality show "The Apprentice," would fire Conner.

Actor Jamie Kennedy arrives at an awards ceremony in Burbank, California wearing a pair of women's panties on his head and holding up a sign that reads: "I found Britteny's Panties". Pop princess Britney Spears has spoken out about a string of recent photos showing her partying minus her underwear, admitting that she had probably taken her new-found freedom "too far"(AFP/Getty Images/File/Jamie Kennedy)

Britney Spears stops to walk her dog on the red carpet during the Billboard Music Awards Dec. 8, 2004, in Las Vegas. 'Britney was the overwhelming choice' for worst celebrity dog owner for 2006, Hilary O'Hagan, editor of The New York Dog and The Hollywood Dog magazines, said in a statement.(AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

n this July 17, 2006 file photo released by Miss Universe, Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, poses in her swimsuit at the Wilshire Grand Hotel in Los Angeles a week before she competes for the title of Miss Universe. (AP Photo/Miss Universe, Darrren Decker, File)

Fireworks light up Colpatria Tower during the traditional festival of candle night in Bogota, Colombia, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006 (AP Photo/ Willliam Fernando Martinez)

Icy reflection : Japanese Mao Asada perfoms during the gala exhibition at ISU Grand Prix Figure Skating final in St. Petersburg. (AFP/Alexander Nemenov)

Hong Kong's financial buildings, printed on an advertisement billboard, are reflected by an escalator at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre December 15, 2006. REUTERS/Paul Yeung (CHINA)

The square outside the Monte Carlo Casino is decorated for Christmas and New Year, with a depiction of a fountain of ice, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006, in Monaco. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

A local woman applies henna to the hand of a foreign customer in Mumbai December 18, 2006. Henna is an ancient body art which uses botanical dyes to decorate parts of the body for adornment in India. REUTERS/Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi (INDIA)

Monday night had the dancefloor on fire. Television actors Tina and Hussain won Star One's Nach Baliye 2 dance competition, beating Gouri and Yash Tonk by a margin of four lakh audience votes. The couple walked away with a cash prize of Rs 20 lakh. In the final round, they enthralled the audience with a solo dance round and a jugalbandi. "I would like to thank STAR One for such a lovely first wedding gift," Tina said after winning the prize.

A court in Mumbai on Tuesday gave actor Sanjay Dutt time till December 21 to surrender following his conviction in the 1993 bomb blasts case for illegally possessing arms. Sanjay, convicted under the Arms Act on November 28 for possessing a 9mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, had earlier been granted time till today by the TADA court to surrender. He moved an application yesterday seeking more time on various grounds to surrender. The court will hear his plea on December 21, when the CBI has been asked to file its views. Clad in blue jeans and a striped shirt, Sanjay asked Judge PD Kode to allow him to surrender when the case concludes or the final verdict is delivered or until such time as the court may permit. He pleaded that he needed to make arrangements for his daughter Trishala's education in the US. She is coming to India on December 23 and he said he needed to spend time with her.

Honda Motor President and CEO Takeo Fukui today announced the company will launch a small car in India as it goes in for a new plant to expand capacity in the country. In his year-end address in Tokyo, Fukui said the company was aiming to produce and sell more than 1,50,000 cars in India annually by the end of 2010. This is the first time Fukui has officially announced that the company would be joining the big-volume small car bandwagon in India. Honda, which is currently doubling capacity at its Greater Noida plant to 1,00,000 units at an investment of Rs 400 crore, is also scouting for a location for a new greenfield plant, possibly to be used for the small car. The company is estimated to be mulling investments of around 200 million dollars for the new plant.

The Delhi High Court on Monday convicted Manu Sharma, son of former Haryana minister and Congress leader Vinod Sharma, for murder of Jessica Lall. The court, which reversed the trial court order acquitting him, said the lower court hastily decided on the matter without applying its mind. The court on Wednesday will deliver the quantum of sentence which may be either death or life imprisonment for the convict. “We have no hesitation in holding that Manu Sharma is guilty of an offence under Section 302 (murder) of IPC for having committed the murder of Jessica Lall ... as also under Section 27 of the Arms Act,” said a division bench comprising Justice RS Sodhi and Justice PK Bhashin.

Jessica Lal case: Gill moves HC for bail New Delhi, Dec. 19 (PTI): A day after his conviction in the Jessica Lal murder case, Amardeep Singh Gill today moved an application in the High Court seeking bail. Gill's plea for bail is likely to be heard tomorrow by the Division Bench of Justice R S Sodhi and Justice P K Bhasin. The Bench yesterday convicted Gill and Vikas Yadav for desrtucting evidence besides holding prime accused Manu Sharma guilty of murdering the model in 1999. The court said both Yadav and Gill had removed the black Tata Safari car, which Manu had abandoned in the parking area after shooting Jessica at Qutub Colonnade restaurant on the intervening night of April 29-30,1999.

Joe Barbera and Bill Hanna were hired within a month of each other in 1937 by the MGM cartoon factory. They soon hit on the idea of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. "When we started, people said, 'Cat and mouse? That's old stuff,'" Barbera recalled in a 1993 interview with The Associated Press. "They said it had been done by everybody _ Felix the Cat, Ignatz the Cat, not to mention Mickey Mouse.

Russian sunset : Ships sail offshore during sunset at the Russian Black Sea coast resort city of Sochi. (AFP/Denis Sinyakov)

Fighting between the ruling Hamas movement and its Fatah rivals escalated Sunday, with an attack launched on the foreign minister's convoy followed by shots fired at the Palestinian president's Gaza residence in apparent retaliation, witnesses said.