R R Patil, who submitted his resignation as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home portfolio on Monday. As a consequence of this event the Nationalist Congress Party called an emergency meeting of its legislature assembly members on Tuesday to decide his successor.

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, is also expected to resign on Tuesday afternoon after the President leaves for Delhi. "I had already offered to resign at the CWC meeting. It is now for Sonia Gandhi to take a final call," said Deshmukh on Monday.

According to CNN, United States intelligence agencies had warned India "twice" about a potential maritime attack on Mumbai at least a month before the terror hit the financial capital of India leaving approximately hundred dead and three hundred injured.

"The United States warned the Indian government about a potential maritime attack against Mumbai at least a month before last week's massacre in the country's financial capital," the CNN quoted a US counter-terrorism official as saying.

After a smart opening today, Indian equities slipped into the negative terrain due to heavy selling pressure in select IT, realty, auto and FMCG stocks.

However metal and consumer goods stocks gained ground. BSE MIdcap and Smallcap index rose 0.55% and 0.27% respectively.

At 10.50 a.m., the 30-share index Sensex lost 95.21 points at 8,644.03 after hitting a high of 8,854.81 and a low of 8,620.71.

A train blast in Assam on Tuesday killed three people, leaving more than 30 wounded. According to the reports, one person died on the spot while two succumbed to their injuries at a local hospital.

"The train was parked at the Diphu railway station when a powerful explosion went off inside one of the crowded coaches," revealed a railway official.

"There are a large number of women and children among the casualties. The condition of at least six of them are stated to be critical," the police official said.

The police are yet to ascertain the culprits behind the blast.

Yesterday, India demanded that strong action should be taken by Pakistan over the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, claiming they were carried out by militants from its rival neighbor.

The attacks, which took the life of 183 people, including six Americans and one Briton, are being investigated by teams from Scotland Yard and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, who have come to Mumbai.

Possibly all of us might have come across ads on TV and read countless comments online that Macintosh has no need for anti-Virus software. However, it is quite surprising and ironic to know that Apple has chosen to reverse the marketing mantra and suggest that anti-virus protection is vital.