SC stays 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab's execution

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab's execution and issued a notice to the Maharashtra government on his plea. Kasab's execution has been stayed till amicus curae report is heard. The Supreme Court will hear Kasab's case regularly from January 31, 2012.

The apex court has asked the state government to reply to Kasab's plea. No specific time frame has been set for the Maharashtra government to reply, but the court stressed on the fact that the case would be dealt with expeditiously.

While passing the order, the judge said that the case has to be decided on a top priority basis, adding that after such acts Kasab does not deserve an appeal.

The case is in its preliminary stage in the Supreme Court. Around three to four months back, the court first heard Kasab's case in which most documents were in Marathi and it asked the governnment to come back with the documents translated in English.

Special Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that since this was a judicial process no specific time frame can be set.

It has also appointed Raju Ramachandran as the amicus curae.

Kasab was convicted on the charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation and murder. Kasab, the sole convict in the case, has filed the petition through jail authorities in the apex court which has appointed senior advocate Raju Ramachandaran as amicus curie to assist it in deciding the appeal.

On September 2, the apex court had agreed to hear the plea of Maharashtra government against the acquittal of two accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case.

It, however, had refused to pass any order on Kasab when the state government pleaded that his letter to the Supreme Court challenging his death sentence should be tagged with this appeal.

"We are taking a step regarding this (Kasab's letter)," the bench had said.

The Bombay High Court had in its February 21 verdict upheld the trial court order of death sentence of Kasab for the 'brutal and diabolical' attacks aimed at 'destabilising' the government.

Kasab's death penalty was upheld on charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation, IPC section related to murder and under sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The Bombay High Court had also upheld his conviction on 19 counts under IPC, Arms Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act, Foreigners Act, Passport Act and Railway Act.

The trial court had acquitted Faheem and Sabauddin.

Kasab, the sole 26/11 terrorist captured alive, had been sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6 last year.

He and his accomplices had landed at Budhwar Park in South Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night from Karachi by sea and went on a shooting spree at various city landmarks, leaving 166 people dead and many more wounded.

Sensex rises 1% mirroring global rally; BPCL, ONGC dip

Indian equity benchmarks moved up 1% in the opening trade on Tuesday, following a global rally that was fuelled by a hope to stem stem Europe’s debt crisis. Yesterday German and French leaders promised to take a concrete step to mitigate the problem that has snowballed into a crisis.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gained 160.88 points at 16,718.11 and the 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 48 points to 5,027.60.

Aditya Narain of Citigroup said India should offer some upside in near-term. "Valuations are reasonable, earnings & growth for FY12 have been cut sharply, rate/inflation cycle is likely to peak, commodities have begun to weaken and consensus is very bearish. We remain optimistic on the market," he explained.

Hindalco, Sterlite Industries, JSPL, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bank, DLF, L&T, Reliance Communications, Reliance Industries, TCS, IDFC and Tata Motors were the major contributors in the early trade.

HUL, ITC and Maruti too were on buyers' radar.

However, BPCL and ONGC declined marginally due to rise in crude oil prices.

The CNX Midcap jumped 67 points to 7,054. About four shares gained for every share falling.

Jaypee Infra shot up 11%.

Jubilant Foodworks, Educomp, Zee Learn, CMC (ahead of numbers) and Hexaware were up 2-4%.

However, Sun TV plunged 4% and Camlin lost 9%.

Global Cues

Asian markets were trading higher. Hang Seng jumped 3%. Nikkei, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan gained 2%. Shanghai rose 0.8%.

Ghazal King Jagjit Singh passes away

Renowned ghazal singer Jagjit Singh suffering from brain haemorrhage has passed away.

Singh, who underwent a brain surgery, was in the intensive care unit of Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai. Singh was admitted to the hospital on September 18 after he suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Singh was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, composer, music director, activist and entrepreneur. Popularly known as "The Ghazal King" he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh, in the 1970s and 1980s.

Born on February 8, 1941, 'the Ghazal King' was a singer, composer, activist and entrepreneur. He has sung in several languages including Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi and Nepali. Jagjit Singh entered the music circuit at a time which was primarily dominated by Pakistani ghazal singers, and Indian singers were considered relatively lesser authentic than their Pakistani counterparts.

Unlike other ghazal singers, Singh did not hesitate in lending his voice for films. His silky voice ruled during early 80's in films like Prem Geet, Saath Saath and Arth. However, his major work is spread over more than 60 filmy and non filmy albums.

Jagjit Singh was also known for modern approach and infusion of technology in the traditional art of ghazal singing. Singh was the first Indian music director to use the technique of multi-track recording for his album 'Beyond Time'.

Recipient of Padma Bhushan award, Jagjit Singh was the man behind making the ghazal genre available and understandable to all. Prior to Singh, ghazal singing was considered as an elite art, which was difficult for the common mass to understand due to high class Urdu and Persian.

Jagjit Singh broke this myth by coming up with songs such as 'Kaagaz ki kashti', 'Chaak jigar ke', 'Kal chadhanvi ki raat thi', and 'Shaam se aankh me name si hai'. He mixed the words of legends like Ghalib, Qateel Shifai, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Nida Fazli and Sudarshan Faakir with melodious indigenous tunes and achieved a state where nothing came in between him and his listeners.

Later when television started showcasing music videos, he was among one of the prominent members of the music fraternity to avail the facility. He again came up with brilliant albums such as 'Face to Face', 'Marasim', 'Aaeena', and 'Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin'.

Jagjit Singh had also given his voice for ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Bajpayee poems in the albums 'Nayi Disha' and 'Samvedna'.

Jagjit Singh is survived by his wife Chitra Singh, with whom he had produced several record breaking albums. Their only son Vivek Singh had died in a road accident in 1990

Constitution has given us the right to protest: Anna

Anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has warned the Congress that he will go on fast again if the Government doesn't pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament, saying that the Constitution has given us the right to protest.

Hazare also said that he will campaign against the Congress in the polls if the Jan Lokpal Bill is not passed in the Winter Session of Parliament. Hazare plans to tour the five poll-bound states and said that he will start his campaign from Uttar Pradesh.

"If the Congress doesn't approve the Jan Lokpal Bill, I will go to all poll-bound states and ask people not to vote for the Congress," Hazare said.

After the Congress on Tuesday called Anna Hazare's warning to campaign against the party a 'political' move, the anti-corruption crusader hit back and said that he was not being political. "If the Congress thinks that I have entered politics, let them say that. The people of the country know the truth," Hazare said.

Attacking the Congress, Hazare said that the Congress does not have the will to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill. "In the last 42 years, the Congress was in power, why wasn't the bill passed in the last 42 years? The Congress doesn't have the will to pass this bill," Hazare said.

Hazare appealed to Hissar voters in Haryana, which has by-polls this month saying they shouldn't vote for the Congress.

He also said that he has been forced to take up the campaign against political parties as there was no other way to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed.

But Hazare said, though he will campaign against parties who do not support Jan Lokpal Bill, he will not enter politics.

"If I become the leader of a political party, then I will not be able to do what am doing today, it's better to remain outside," Hazare said.

There were some lessons for the Prime Minister as well as Hazare asked the Prime Minister to face an 'agnipareeksha' to cleanse his name in the 2G scam.

"The Prime Minister should be ready for an 'agnipareeksha'. His name has come up in the 2G scandal," Hazare said.

From initially abusing the entire political class to now identifying one party as a clear enemy, Hazare seems to have moved on. But he did clarify that his opposition to the Congress shouldn't be interpreted as support for the BJP. To re-emphasise his point he even criticised Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for arresting suspended IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt.

"Those who think that I am with the BJP are mentally unfit," Hazare said.

Sensex opens 300 pts lower

Indian equity benchmarks opened sharply lower following a sell-off across globe. All significant sectors were hit in the morning trade including metal, realty, financial, technology and oil & gas. The Nifty dropped below the 4900 level.

At 9:19 hours IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex plunged 305 points to 16,158 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost 93 points to 4,850.

The Indian rupee depreciated by 0.57 to 49.54 per dollar.

Commodities related stocks like Hindalco, Tata Steel, Sesa Goa, JSPL and Reliance Industries were under selling pressure as commodities sliped last week.

Rate sensitives like DLF, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PNB and SBI too were down.

BHEL fell 2.5% to Rs 320 post ex-split (from Rs 10 to Rs 2).

Technology stocks like Wipro, HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS dropped more than 1%.

 Among others, L&T, Tata Power and Jaiprakash Associates were on sellers' radar.

However, Reliance Communications, Reliance Capital, Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Power were up 1.5-2% as CBI gave clean chit to Anil Ambani.

Maruti Suzuki gained 1% post September sales numbers.

The CNX Midcap fell 84 points to 7,009.  About six shares declined for every share rising.

Sintex Industries plunged 6.5%. 

South Indian Bank, Unitech, Kingfisher Airlines, Voltas, Jaypee Infra, JSW Steel, Sun TV, Orchid Chemical, Pantaloon Retail and Yes Bank were down 2-4%.

Recently listed PG Electroplast continued its downtrend - lost 15% to Rs 257.

TVS Motor rose 1.5% post September sales numbers.

Global cues

Asian markets fell 2-4%, following weak US cues. Only Shanghai was flat.