US woman kidnapped in Afghanistan

Unknown gunmen took the pair outside of the southern city of Kandahar, said provincial governor Asadullah Khalid.

He blamed the kidnapping on the "enemy of Islam and the enemy of Afghanistan", Associated Press news agency said.

It quoted Mr Khalid as saying the unidentified 49-year-old US woman was wearing a burka when she was taken.

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He said the gunmen had not contacted the government or the aid agency Asian Rural Life Development Foundation, where she worked.

Mr Khalid added that police and intelligence officials were working to find the woman, who he said had lived in the country for years.

Followers of the hardline Taleban - ousted in 2001 - have been mounting a violent comeback over the past two years, centring on the south of the country.

There is also criminal violence in the region, associated with the opium poppy trade.

GOOGLE Ranked NO.1 in employee satisfaction....!!

For the second year in a row, Internet search engine giant Google has been named as the best company to work for in America by Fortune magazine.

Google has topped the latest list of '100 Best American Companies to Work for' followed by online mortgage lender Quicken Loans and store chain Wegmans Food Markets in the second and third positions, respectively.

"Back in our No.1 spot, Google continued to mint millionaires as the stock cracked $700 . It gives stock options to 99 per cent of employees," the magazine said.

Interestingly, in last year's list of best companies to work for in America, Quicken Loans was ranked at the 17th position whereas Wegmans Food Markets was at the third place itself.

Other leading names in the list include Cisco Systems, Starbucks Coffee, Adobe Systems, Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Procter & Gamble, AstraZeneca and Nike.

Microsoft slipped to the 86th place in the latest list from 50th position last year.

According to the report, the job growth at Google is down to 60 per cent as compared to 67 per cent in 2007. Moreover, Quicken Loans had witnessed a steep jump in job growth to 68 per cent this year whereas it was just 19 per cent previous year.

"Ethically driven is what one employee calls the online mortgage lender. It avoided the subprime crisis by sticking with plain-vanilla loans," noted the magazine report.

The list was jointly prepared by Fortune and consulting firm Great Place to Work Institute after surveying 406 companies. About 1 lakh employees at these firms responded to queries related to their attitudes about the management's credibility and job satisfaction, among others.

Aussies' GILLY Retires.....

Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist has announced his retirement from all international cricket after the end of the third day's play at the Adelaide Oval against India on Saturday.

Gilchrist, 36, who broke the world record for most number of Test dismissals on the second day, clarified that this would be his last Test.

"It is with great pride and happiness that I make the decision to retire from Test and One-Day cricket. I've come to this decision after much thought and discussion with those most important to me," Gilchrist said in a statement issued by Cricket Australia on Saturday.

"My family and I have been fortunate to have had an amazing journey full of rich experiences throughout my career and are sincerely grateful to all who have helped make this stage of our lives so fulfilling," Gilchrist said.

"I am now ready and excited to move into the next phase of my life," he added, meaning the forthcoming Commonwealth Bank tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka will be his final appearance.

Player profile

Full name Adam Craig Gilchrist
Born November 14, 1971, Bellingen, New South Wales
Current age 36 years
Major teams Australia, ICC World XI, New South Wales, Western Australia
Nickname Gilly
Playing role Wicketkeeper batsman
Batting style Left-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm offbreak
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
Height 1.85 m

INFOSYS MENTOR's NEW HEIGHTS

After having been declared as one of the recipients of state honour Padma Vibhushan, Murthy was also conferred with the Officer of the Legion of Honour, the highest civilian distinction of the Government of France.

The award was given to the veteran entrepreneur by the French Minister of Higher Education and Research Valerie Pecresse at a glittering function on Saturday evening.

Murthy was described as the "most admired business leader" of India.

Acknowledging the humble beginnings of Infosys - co-founded by Murthy in 1981 along with six friends - Pecresse said to have brought a company from $215 to a multi-million-dollar firm was a feat.

"Infosys, which employs over 82,000 staff, is a shining example of development in India," Pecresse was quoted as saying by news agencies.

First INDIAN Woman President to take Salute on Repulic Day March...!!

It was a historic moment on Saturday, as Pratibha Patil, who drove to the Rajpath in her motorcade along with her French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy, became the first woman to take the salute in her capacity as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces at Delhi's Rajpath on the 59th Republic Day.

Her husband Devisingh Shekhawat, who was mistakenly identified as Devisingh 'Patil' once by the commentator, was beside her when she took salute.

The crowds were out in full flow for the parade and amidst heavy security cover, the procession moved from Raisina Hill near the Rashtrapati Bhawan to the Red Fort.

As always, India's weaponry was on display and for the first time this year, the new Agni-3 missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead more than 3000 kilometers.

And while the parade was held in Delhi, the school contingents from across the country truly made it a slice of India.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy, the Chief Guest at this year's parade, is on a two-day visit to India, during which several agreements between India and France have been signed. They include pacts on defence and civil nuclear cooperation, transfer of technology trade and education.

The different regiments of the Army, Navy and the Air Force in all their finery and official decorations made it a grand occasion.

A march past by the armed forces was followed by a fly past by India air force jets. Four army men were awarded the Ashok Chakra, the highest gallantry award.

And the tableaux this year by various states and departments were as colourful as ever.

In the wake of intelligence warning about possible terror strikes all intelligence agencies were on high alert.

Delhi was made a no-fly zone during the Republic Day parade, and public transport services including the Delhi metro train service were suspended till 1.30 pm. Around 20,000 security personnel were deployed across the capital while commandoes of the ITBP and Delhi Police took positions at strategic locations. (With PTI inputs)

TATA'S NANO--- THE PEOPLE'S CAR(RS 1 LAC)

And simple the Nano is. The two-cylinder engine is rear-mounted and has a capacity of just 634 cc -- enough to produce a meager 30 horsepower. It's a similar displacement and power rating to the popular Fiat 600 city car of the 1950s and 60s. The four-door Nano seats four people "comfortably" and is just over ten feet long (more than two feet shorter than the Honda Fit) and less than five feet wide -- perfect for negotiating those narrow New Delhi streets.

Two trim levels are available -- "Standard" and "Luxury" -- though the latter moniker is likely highly relative. The primary difference we see between the two models is the alloy wheels installed on the Luxury model (as opposed to steel items on the Standard version).

The Nano utilizes a CVT transmission and is expected to get up to 50 mpg. The vehicle has already passed all relevant Indian crash tests and emissions regulations, and is reported to be able to pass selected international crash tests. Tata says that the Nano also features exceptionally low emissions that rival even two-wheeled transportation in India.

Tata is currently the largest automaker in India and is currently in negotiations with Ford for the purchase of luxury British automakers Jaguar and Land Rover.

India captain Anil Kumble joined the 600-wicket club

India captain Anil Kumble joined the 600-wicket club on Thursday at Perth.

Kumble got rid of the dangerous looking Andrew Symonds to reach the summit that no Indian bowler has ever reached before him.

Captaining India can be a huge burden, especially when up against the best team in the world. Anil Kumble, though, as the cricket world has discovered over the last few decades is a cricketer who rises to the challenge in the face of adversity.

Kumble is the highest wicket taker currently in the series, the only Indian bowler who has consistently threatened the Aussies. Kumble announced his intent of leading from the front on day one of the series on Boxing Day - 5-84.

Over the years Kumble has been India's colossus; the man every Indian skipper turned to when a breakthrough was needed. He has been India's greatest match winner. In 41 Test wins he has been part of, Kumble has 279 wickets at an average of just 18.

Pakistan bore witness to Kumble's amazing skill. He ran though them on a memorable winter afternoon in Delhi - all 10 for 74 - only the second man to take ten wickets in an innings in Tests.

And who can forget the joy on the face of the man when he scored his first ever Test hundred against England at the Oval; the only hundred by an Indian batsman in the series.

The happenings of the last week have elevated Kumble's status from just a mere statesman of the game. The legend of Anil Kumble is growing with every passing day.

Sultan The Warrior - EXCLUSIVE TRAILER VIDEO.....!!!

This is Our INDIAN SUPER STAR RAJNIKANTH's 3D Animation
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FANS fired BUCKNOR , BENSON's POSTERS

India on Sunday erupted in rage and disgust at the horrendous umpiring and unsporting conduct of the Australian team in the second cricket Test in Sydney.

Fans were particularly scathing on Steve Bucknor and felt the West Indian should immediately call it a day as an umpire.

Effigies of Bucknor and his colleague Mark Benson were burnt in several parts of the country, including Kolkata and Kanpur.

"Bucknor has lost his vision and hearing. He should retire immediately as such umpiring blunders are not acceptable," a fan Rajesh Tiwari said.

Cricket lovers were also unimpressed by Benson's decision to ask Australian captain Ricky Ponting whether Michael Clarke had taken the catch of Sourav Ganguly cleanly.

"What's the point of asking the fielding captain about a catch? Obviously, he will say it was clean," another puzzled fan asked.

The conduct of the Australian players during the Test match also came in for scathing criticism.

"The Aussies don't play the game in the right spirit. They claim catches when they know the ball has bounced," one of them said.

They were also referring to the catch Ponting claimed against Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The television replays clearly showed the ball had hit the turf.

SACK RICKY : Says Peter Roebuck

The growing clamour to put a stop to Australian bullying comes not only from Indians. Well-known cricket writer Peter Roebuck has written a hard-hitting column in the Sydney Morning Herald suggesting that Australia captain Ricky Ponting be sacked.

Roebuck writes: "Ricky Ponting must be sacked as captain of the Australian cricket team. If Cricket Australia cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players over the past few days. Beyond comparison it was the ugliest performance put up by an Australian side for 20 years. The only surprising part of it is that the Indians have not packed their bags and gone home. There is no justice for them in this country, nor any manners."

Roebuck warns that the behaviour of the Australian team has damaged cricket in that country. "That the senior players in the Australian team are oblivious to the fury they raised among many followers of the game in this country and beyond merely confirms their own narrow and self-obsessed viewpoint. Doubtless they were not exposed to the messages that poured in from distressed enthusiasts aghast to see the scenes of bad sportsmanship and triumphalism presented at the SCG during and after the Test. Pained past players rang to express their disgust. It was a wretched and ill-mannered display and not to be endured from any side, let alone an international outfit representing a proud sporting nation."

And, he says, it is not merely the reputation of these cricketers that has suffered. "Australia itself has been embarrassed. The notion that Ponting can hereafter take the Australian team to India is preposterous. He has shown not the slightest interest in the well-being of the game, not the slightest sign of diplomatic skills, not a single mark of respect for his accomplished and widely admired opponents."

On Bhajji and his demeanor, Roebuck says: "Harbhajan Singh can be an irritating young man but he is head of a family and responsible for raising nine people. And all the Australian elders want to do is to hunt him from the game. Australian fieldsmen fire insults from the corners of their mouths, an intemperate Sikh warrior overreacts and his rudeness is seized upon. It might impress barrack room lawyers."

Ponting comes in for more bashing. Roebuck, one of the more respected names in cricket writing, says that in the past few days "Ponting has presided over a performance that dragged the game into the pits. He turned a group of professional cricketers into a pack of wild dogs. As much can be told from the conduct of his closest allies in the team. As usual, Matthew Hayden crossed himself upon reaching three figures in his commanding second innings, a gesture he does not perform while wearing the colours of his state. Exactly how he combines his faith with throwing his weight around on the field has long bemused opposing sides, whose fondness for him ran out a long time ago. Hayden has much better in him."

He adds: "Michael Clarke also had a dreadful match but he is a young man and has time to rethink his outlook. That his mind was in disarray could be told from his batting. In the first innings he offered no shot to a straight ball and in the second he remained at the crease after giving an easy catch to slip. On this evidence Clarke cannot be promoted to the vice-captaincy of his country. It is a captain's primary task to rear his younger players and to prepare his successor for the ordeals of office. Nothing need be said about the catch Clarke took in the second innings except that in the prevailing circumstances the umpires were ill-advised to take anyone's word for anything.

"The Indians were convinced Ponting grounded a catch he claimed on the final afternoon at the SCG. Throughout those heated hours, the Australian remained hostile, kicking the ground, demanding decisions, pressuring the umpires. So much for the corporate smile that has been produced these last few years."

Roebuck writes that, "probably the worst aspect of the Australians' performance was their conduct at the end. When the last catch was taken they formed into a huddle and started jumping up and down like teenagers at a rave. It was not euphoria. It was ecstasy. They had swallowed a dangerous pill called vengeance. Not one player so much as thought about shaking hands with the defeated and departing.

"So much for Andrew Flintoff consoling a stricken opponent in his hour of defeat. Nor could Ponting and Gilchrist stop themselves publicly chiding Tony Greig for daring to criticise the timing of the declaration. They should have been thanking their lucky stars that three wickets had fallen in five balls, one of them in dubious circumstances. Australia had 150 runs and five minutes to spare. It was unfitting conduct from an Australian captain or vice-captain. By all accounts Ponting was later rude towards Indian reporters at his news conference."

The writer concludes: "Ponting has not provided the leadership expected from an Australian cricket captain and so must be sacked. On this evidence the time has also come to thank Hayden and Gilchrist for their services. None of them are bad fellows. All will look back on this match not as their finest hour but their worst. Obviously a new captain and side is required. But that is a task for another day. It is possible to love a country and not its cricket team."

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto--Brave Women

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto
Former Prime Minister of Pakistan and
Chairperson - Pakistan Peoples Party


PERSONAL

* Born June 21, 1953, in Karachi, Pakistan
* Daughter of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (a political leader and
former Prime Minister) and Nusrat Bhutto (former Member of Parliament and
Deputy Prime Minister of Pakistan)
* Married, December 18, 1987 to Asif Ali Zardari (in business, twice
elected Member of National Assembly and Senate)
* Children: Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Aseefa (03-02-1993).

EDUCATION

Radcliffe College, Harvard University, B.A., 1973;
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University, B.A., 1976;
Graduate study at Oxford in Foreign Service, 1976-77.

CAREER
Political activist with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan, 1977-84; repeatedly imprisoned and kept under house arrest by the Pakistani government; political exile in London, England, 1984-86; returned to Pakistan in April, 1986; Pakistan Peoples Party, Karachi, Pakistan co-chair, beginning in 1986; After elections held November 1988, invited to form the government, became Prime Minister in 1988 but her government was illegally dismissed in August 1990. She again came to power after her party won a majority in elections held in October 1993. Her government was once again dismissed illegally in November 1996.



NARRATIVE

Pakistani former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, the first woman ever to lead a modern Islamic nation, did not plan to be a politician. She became active in politics after her father, the late Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was ousted from office in a 1977 military coup and later executed. Having sworn to carry her father's political flame, Benazir Bhutto overcame government persecution and a lack of political experience, leading her Pakistan Peoples Party to victory in the November 1988 and October 1993 parliamentary elections. As Prime Minister, Bhutto has been praised for moving swiftly to restore civil liberties and political freedom, suspended under military rule. During her terms of office, she has faced enormous challenges in governing a poor, politically fractious, and ethnically diverse nation.

Bhutto discusses her personal life and political career in her autobiography "Daughter of Destiny", which was published in 1989 to favorable reviews. Born into a wealthy landholding family with a tradition of political activism in southeastern Sindh province, Bhutto enjoyed a privileged childhood and went on to study political science and philosophy at Radcliffe College and Oxford University. She excelled academically and planned to work with her father's government as a professional diplomat upon her return to Pakistan in June 1977.

Only two weeks later, however, military officers led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq - capitalizing on public protests of disputed parliamentary elections - overthrew Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a bloodless coup. Benazir Bhutto spent the next eighteen months in and out of house arrest as she struggled to rally political support to force Zia to drop fallacious murder charges against her father. The military dictator ignored worldwide appeals for clemency and had Zulfikar Bhutto hanged in April of 1979.

Bhutto writes in her autobiography of her last meeting with her father just before his execution. She also vigorously defends her father's government. Zulfikar Bhutto's government had mass support and was a democratic regime that worked for down trodden and have-nots.

Bhutto's persecution began in earnest after the dismissal of her father's government in 1977 and his execution in 1979 as she intensified her denunciations of Zia and sought to organize a political movement against him. Repeatedly put under house arrest, she was finally imprisoned under solitary confinement in a desert cell in Sindh province during the summer of 1981. Bhutto described the hellish conditions in her wall less cage in "Daughter of Destiny":

"The summer heat turned my cell into an oven. My skin split and peeled, coming off my hands in sheets. Boils erupted on my face. My hair, which had always been thick, began to come out by the handful. Insects crept into the cell like invading armies. Grasshoppers, mosquitoes, stinging flies, bees and bugs came up through the cracks in the floor and through the open bars from the courtyard. Big black ants, cockroaches, seething clumps of little red ants and spiders. I tried pulling the sheet over my head at night to hide from their bites, pushing it back when it got too hot to breathe."

Weakened but still defiant, Bhutto was finally allowed to travel to England in 1984 to receive treatment for a serious ear infection, and she remained in exile there until after Zia lifted Martial Law in December of 1985. A huge crowd numbering in the hundreds of thousands turned out on the streets to greet her - by then the leading symbol of the anti-Zia movement -- when she returned to Lahore in April of 1986. Formally elected chair in the following month, Bhutto lost no time in organizing mass protests and civil disobedience campaigns to pressure Zia to relinquish office and call national elections. Bhutto's stirring oratory, familiar name, and striking appearance helped give her a strong mass appeal, but she had to struggle to wrest real power from the PPP's old-guard leadership, members of which were wary of her gender, youth, and political wisdom.

"An arranged marriage was the price had to pay for the political path my life had taken," she writes in "Daughter of Destiny". "My high profile in Pakistan precluded the possibility of meeting a man in the normal course of events, getting to know him, and then getting married." But Bhutto had hopes that the relationship would deepen. "We were coming to marriage with no preconceptions," she observes. "Our love could only grow."

General Zia's death in a mysterious airplane crash in August of 1988 instantly thrust Bhutto to political center stage. In November, she led the PPP to victory in the first free Pakistani elections in eleven years. Sworn into office as Prime Minister the following month, Bhutto acted quickly to release Zia's political prisoners and guaranteed basic civil and political freedom. A strong and contentious rightist parliamentary opposition of former Zia allies and Islamic fundamentalists accused the new Prime Minister of packing the civil service with PPP supporters.
Relations with Pakistan's longtime enemy India showed early signs of improving when Bhutto met with former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, but Muslim unrest in the disputed territory of Kashmir threatened to renew tensions in early 1990. Despite these problems, political observers credited Bhutto with keeping the country's chronic ethnic and regionalist tensions in check and developing a working relationship with the coup-prone military during her first year in office.

Notwithstanding, she decided to face the system and accepted the challenge to guide people in the transition from military dictatorship to the management of democracy. Her government gave a high priority to social sectors like health, education, clean drinking water, sanitation and energy. The budgetary allocations in these sectors were increased so that fruits of democracy and freedom could reach the common man. Similarly, in the domain of foreign policy, her government pursued an aggressive and dynamic policy.

Addressing a historic US Joint Session of Congress during her state visit to the United States in 1989, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto called for the establishment of an Association of New Democratic Nations.

On August 6, 1990 after having been in office less than half of her tenure, President Ghulam Ishaque Khan dismissed her government unilaterally and called for fresh elections.

While ensuring that her Party was not returned to power, the President and the Caretaker Prime Minister filed a series of references against Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Her husband, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari was arrested and imprisoned for over two years on a number of trumped up charges.

In July 1993, the President of Pakistan dismissed the Government of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges and called for fresh elections. The Pakistan Peoples Party went to the people in October, 1993 with a new "Agenda for Change". The programme envisaged government at the door-step of the people and priority to the social sectors. Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was again elected Prime Minister with a broad mandate after achieving strong popular support in all the four provinces of Pakistan.

She has been mentioned as "The world's most popular politician" in the New Guinness Book of Record 1996.

The "Times" and the "Australian Magazine" (May 4, 1996) have drawn up a list of 100 most powerful women and have included Benazir Bhutto as one of them.

PUBLICATIONS

Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto is the author of two books "Foreign Policy in Perspective" (1978) and her autobiography, "Daughter of the East" (1989). Several collections of her speeches and works have been compiled which include "The Way Out", Pakistan Foreign Policy, Challenges and Responses in the Post-Cold War era in "After the Cold War" by Keith Philip Lepor and Male Domination of Women offends her Islamic religion in "Lend Me Your ears: Great Speeches in History" by William Saffire. The most recent being "The Way Out" (1980). She has also contributed to many periodicals and to the books, "Predictions for the Next Millennium" by Kristof and Nickerson and "Book of Hopes and Dreams" published by Bookmaster Inc.

Info Gathered From :http://www.ppp.org.pk/mbb/biography.html

Sachin Breaks the 90's JINX

Sachin Tendulkar provided further evidence of his genius with a superb century against Australia on Friday.

The 34-year-old scored an unbeaten 154 to help his team to take a 69-run first innings lead over Australia after tormenting Australia's fearsome bowling attack for almost seven hours.

It was the Indian maestro's 38th Test hundred, more than any other player in history, but he celebrated like it was his first, thrusting his arms into the air and embracing batting partner Harbhajan Singh.

For a player who has already scored so many hundreds, Tendulkar's animated celebration was slightly out of character but he said he was relieved after a relatively lean 2007.

"It was a little different this time because in 2007 I missed a lot of hundreds and I didn't want that to continue," he told a news conference.

"I wanted to move on and in the year 2008 the beginning of the year is extremely important. It came at the right time so I am happy about that."

Tendulkar left the Sydney Cricket Ground to a standing ovation in what is possibly his last Test match at a venue he has developed a long lasting love affair with.

He scored an unbeaten double-century on his last visit to Sydney four years ago and now averages an astonishing 326 in four Test appearances at the world's third oldest Test ground.

"It's one of my favourite grounds. I've really enjoyed batting here every moment. It's truly been memorable, all my outings," he said.

"Sometimes you walk onto a field and it gives you a good feeling. It's one of those grounds that I really enjoy batting."

Tendulkar has made a habit out of making big scores against the Australians and said the challenge of playing them brought out the best in him.

"They are the best side in the world. It's good when you perform well against the top side in the world," he said.

"It's a great challenge. I've always enjoyed the competition. It's a challenge to rise up to the occasion and beat them. That's what the whole world is trying to do."

Shame Mumbai.......?!?!?

The Mumbai Police has detained seven persons in connection with the molestation of two women on New Year's night outside the JW Marriott hotel in Mumbai.

Police stations across the city have been alerted and attempts are being made to identify the men who molested the NRI women—an incident that has outraged the nation.

One of the NRI women spoke to Media on Thursday and said she and her cousin were still trying to “get over” the incident and would be very difficult for them to identify the men who had “harassed” her.

Kenya Unrest

At least 50 bodies have been found in a burnt church, The Associated Press has reported the Red Cross as saying, as tribal tensions simmered following the contested election of incumbent President Mwai Kibaki.

A local reporter told CNN he counted at least 15 charred bodies, including those of children, at the church and an adjacent field in Kiambaa, about 185 miles (300 km) northwest of Nairobi.

"There was a huge mob, they attacked the church," said a witness in comments reported by The Associated Press. The person, who asked to remain anonymous in case of reprisals, added: "We counted 15 to 20 bodies."

The deaths came as opposition supporters fought with police firing tear gas and live ammunition across the country.

The demonstrators are protesting the government's announcement Sunday that voters had re-elected Kibaki with 51.3 per cent of the vote, compared with 48.7 per cent for Raila Odinga, the opposition leader.

The victims found in Kiambaa were of the Kikuyu tribe, who comprise roughly 22 per cent of the country's population and of which Kibaki is a member.

It is believed they had been seeking refuge from members of the Luo tribe, which makes up about 13 per cent of population and of which Odinga is a member.

Kenya, long one of the most stable nations in east Africa, descended into chaos after the disputed election triggered violence that has left at least 124 people dead.

The number is expected to rise, with AP putting the number of dead as at least 228 since Saturday, based on reports from police, morgues and witnesses.

The deaths came as opposition supporters fought with police firing tear gas and live ammunition.

Speaking Tuesday, Odinga said more than 160 people died in Monday's violence and that "many people have been killed today."

The death toll, he said, "will be much, much higher than what the government is giving."

Local media report many of those killed in the post-election violence died of gunshot and machete wounds.

Meanwhile international observers have also called into question the result, which saw Kibaki re-elected to a second term.

"We find that these elections have fallen short of international standards of democratic elections," said Alexander Lambsdorff, the head of the EU Election Observation Mission in Kenya.

Lambsdorff cited discrepancies in vote counts, election observers being turned away from polling places and observers being refused entrance to the electoral commission vote counting room.

The violence is rare for Kenya, an island of stability that has enjoyed relative calm even as war and chronic political violence wracked neighboring countries, such as Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda.

The United States has withheld congratulations for Kibaki, citing concerns of voting problems, even though Kibaki has claimed victory.

The opposition Orange Democratic Movement scheduled rallies for Tuesday, raising fears of more violence.

"The Kenyan people are right now in a state of mourning," Odinga told CNN on Monday as he appealed for calm. "They are mourning the loss of democracy."

"With the general election now behind us, it is now time for healing and reconciliation among all Kenyans," he also said on Monday.

Witnesses told CNN Monday that they had seen widespread violence in the Nairobi slum of Kibera as angry Odinga supporters set fire to buildings. Police attempted to hold them back with tear gas and water cannons, the witnesses said.

Local media reported a number of deaths as a result of the rioting, as well as reports of police brutality, although CNN has been unable to confirm this independently.

In the western port city of Kisumu -- the capital of Odinga's home province -- at least 19 people were shot dead by police, according to the Kenyan daily newspaper the Nation.

Other media reports put the figure much higher, claiming up to 50 were killed there overnight.

In Nairobi, small bands of Odinga supporters were stopped from making their way to a rally in Uhuru Park -- a traditional site for political demonstrations in the center of the city. The rally was called by Odinga, who accused Kibaki of "doctoring" the vote.

Businesses in Nairobi were shut down and a government ban on live television broadcasts imposed Sunday was still in place as Kibaki struggled to cope with the fallout from the vote.

A Dr. Mawji at the Agha Khan hospital, Kisumu, said the medical staff had treated seven men for gunshot injuries, one of who is in a critical condition.

A member of staff in the Imperial hotel in Kisumu told CNN by telephone that a curfew was in force on the streets.

She said she and other hotel staff had been forced to sleep in the hotel overnight after police threatened to shoot on sight anyone who breached the curfew.

The official count had put Kibaki narrowly ahead of Odinga of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement - 4,584,721 votes to 4,352,993.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in a statement Sunday that Britain had "real concerns at the irregularities reported by the EU observers and others".

One international observer, who did not wish to be identified, told CNN that the vote count was "clearly cooked."

Analysts said, however, that it was probable that both of the main parties had been involved in electoral fraud.

Thomas Cargill, a specialist on African politics at the British think tank Chatham House, said it was difficult to imagine Odinga giving up his claims for the presidency without a fight. "It is very worrying," Cargill told CNN.

Kibaki was sworn in Sunday in a ceremony at the presidential palace.

His slim margin of victory is a marked difference from his win five years ago in a landslide election. He had run on promises to fight corruption.

Since then, he has seen his authority erode amid a number of high-profile corruption scandals in his government.

He faced a serious challenge from Odinga, a flamboyant politician who had won support from the rural and urban after promising to share the wealth among all the people.

CRPF Camp Attacked...7 Died ....

Five jawans and two civilians were killed in a suicide attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Tuesday.

The attack took place at 0230 hrs (IST) when armed fidayeens reportedly tried to enter the camp from the gate. At least six troopers are reportedly injured.

Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Gupta told news agency PTI that the terrorists armed with AK-47s and grenades opened fire at the camp and killed the troopers after being intercepted by the jawans and civil police patrolling the site.

They are believed to have first gunned down the sentry before barging into the nearest tent and opening fire from their assault rifles.

The CRPF camp is located in Rampur on National Highway 24. Both attackers fled as the troopers fired back. Lal said that at least one of them had probably been shot in the leg because he was seen limping away.

The civilian who died was reported to be a rickshaw puller. IANS reports he was hit by bullets fired by the terrorists while they were escaping from the CRPF base.

New reports say the area was immediately cordoned off and police launched a combing operation. Senior officials also rushed to the spot.

Inspector General of Police Gurbachan Lal told IANS said the injured men were taken to Moradabad town for treatment. Their condition was reported to be stable.

Lal said a public road that ran through the CRPF base had been closed after terrorist attacks in various courts in Uttar Pradesh in November.

"However, the possibility of the terrorists using this route to escape cannot be ruled out," he said.

In the last week of November, intelligence agencies had issued an alert of possible terrorist attack at the CRPF camp in Rampur.

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