Hello,

Thanks everyone for the tips and links. I am getting the parts now from e-bay.
Rentron is always my favourite site for tutorials for amateur like me(thanks mkit)

On way is 12c672. And trying to get 16f877 - seems a bit more expensive.

From Wikipedia got valuable info on li-ion cells(thanks briant).

Got $1.59/each (X 8pc) charging circuit from batteryspace.com. The charger works fine but charging is stopped once the voltage reaches 4.2v and stops discharging when <3.0v. It is not current limited and the batteries do not get warm in the process of charging. So, I guess it does not charge the batteries to their full capacity. Interested people might find it useful for ready-made low cost chargers.

This micro controller world is really fascinating.

thanks
Aftab.