Death Sentence for Ajmal Kasab

Thu, May 6 02:18 PM

A Mumbai Special Court, which conducted the trial of 26/11 terror strikes, announced the death penalty for Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist. The sentencing by Judge M L Tahiliyani makes Kasab the 52nd person on death row in India. Kasab was handed capital punishment for killing 72 people and waging war against the state.

Kasab got the death sentence on four counts, while he got life-term in five other cases.


Kasab, a Pakistan citizen, has turned into one of India's costliest prisoners. Till now, the Government has spent over 35 crore rupees for his safety.

Public prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam, described him as "worse than a wild beast... Kasab is a killing machine... and the orders for this machine came from Pakistan."

On Monday, Kasab was found guilty on more than 80 of the 86 charges brought against him for planning and executing the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

The death penalty will not be implemented immediately. Kasab has the option of appealing to higher courts, and can also file a mercy petition for the consideration of the President.

Special Public Prosecutor in the Mumbai attack case Ujjwal Nikam today expressed happiness over awarding of death sentence to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for the carnage, saying the verdict has delivered justice to the families of the victims. "I am happy about the verdict.

Nikam, who fought India's biggest terror attack case, said the "fair and open trial in the case" has given the message to the entire world that in India everybody, even a dreaded terrorist, gets full opportunity to defend himself. Speaking on the trial procedure in the special court, he said Kasab tried every trick to mislead the court on several occasions. "Sometimes he would ask for chicken biriyani, sometimes he would tell us that he wanted to tie a rakhi. He used all the theatrics so as to save himself," Nikam said

The 22-year-old Kasab, from Pakistan's Punjab province was seen crying as he was led back to the court room after stepping out briefly with the judge's consent to drink water.

At one point, special judge M.L. Tahaliyani asked the defence lawyer if Kasab wanted to say something. When the question was posed to him, Kasab just shook his head. He looked irritated and again sat down. The judge then spoke directly to the prisoner in Hindi: 'Do you want to say something?' Kasab looked at the judge blankly, shook his head and sat down.

Speaking later, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said: "Those were crocodile tears." Nikam went on to recite a Sanskrit verse to mean that no matter how much milk is given to a snake, it will always spew venom.

Capital goods push ECBs 18%

With risk appetite for Indian paper improving, Indian companies managed to mop up significant amounts of money through external commercial borrowings (ECBs) last fiscal (2009-10). Companies received approvals to raise $21.67 billion compared with $18.36 billion in 2008-09, an increase of 18%. In March 2010, companies raised $4.32 billion, up 300% over $1.11 billion mobilised in March 2009.

Most companies are raising these funds to import capital goods and modernise plants. Along with large companies, mid-sized and small companies are choosing the ECB route to raise money.

"More companies are looking to borrow through ECBs, but they will also keep a close watch on interest rates," said Prakash Subramanian, MD & regional head, capital markets, South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank.

Post the Lehman crises, when the ECB window had dried up, overseas funding was available at (London Interbank Offered Rate) LIBOR (base rate) +500 basis points (bps). However, with an improvement in liquidity scenario globally, a AAA Indian corporate can now borrow at close to LIBOR+200 bps.

Manmohan Singh, managing director (head-primary debt markets), India at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) observes that with an increase expected in local interest rates and recent tightening of spreads for Indian paper in international markets, overseas borrowing seems to be a competitive option.

"There is a lot of interest from the corporate and institutional space for overseas funds. In fact, ECBs and ECA loans continue to do well. There are pipelines of projects which need to be funded," says Hemant Mishr, managing director and head of global markets, South Asia, Standard Chartered Bank. He adds that the credit spreads have compressed and that there is higher appetite for funds.

RBI data for March 2010, shows that as many as 73 companies have opted for ECBs. Reliance Industries (RELIANCE.NS : 1018.9 -1.75), Reliance Infratel, Nacil, Aircel and PFCL account for more than half the borrowings.

Kasab verdict a message to Pak: Chidambaram

Mon, May 3 05:30 PM

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that the conviction of Ajmal Kasab and acquittal of two local accomplices in Mumbai attack case shows India is governed by rule of law but sends a message to Pakistan that it should not export terror.

"The court has convicted certain accused. It also acquitted two accused. That shows the independence, fearlessness and integrity of the court," he told reporters reacting to the judgement of a Mumbai special court.
He said that it was an open trial in accordance with law and full opportunities were given to the accused to defend themselves.

"I am satisfied that within a year we have been able to bring a verdict of conviction of a large number of accused in perhaps a very complex trial.

"The trial undermines the fact that India is a country governed by rule of law. A criminal trial can only proceed step by step and within a year, the prosecution has been able to get conviction," he said.

Asked what was the message for Pakistan, the Home Minister said the judgement "is a message to Pakistan that they should not export terror to India. If they do and if the terrorists are apprehended, we will be able to bring them to justice and give them exemplary punishment".

Happy over the trial ending in conviction, Chidambaram complimented the investigating agencies and prosecution for marshalling evidence that proved beyond doubt the horrific crimes Kasab and his associates were charged with.

Despite demands swayed by anger and emotions, he said, government decided that Kasab and associates should be tried in accordance with law, given all the rights available to any accused.

Asked if Kasab's case would meet the same fate as Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, whose mercy petition against death sentence is pending, Chidambaram expressed surprise why the media was obsessed with the issue like the Opposition.

"The Opposition may be obsessed with Afzal Guru. I have explained so many times and I am surprised that you in the media repeating the question.

"We will take up each case according to the order in which the case is pending before the Ministry of Home Affairs and before the President of India. So, the cases will be taken up one by one," he said.
The Home Minister said his Ministry already has sent four cases after reconsideration.

"Please remember that all these cases have been sent to President once. After reconsideration, we have sent four cases to President. We will continue to send one case to the President. No one can speak what the President will do. I think we should respect the office of the President.

McDonald’s may bring McCafe coffee shop to India by 2012

The move is aimed at tapping the estimated over Rs 1,000 crore organised retail coffee chain market.
"The plans for introducing McCafe are in the drawing board right now ... It will take one -- and -- a -- half to two years to implement the idea," a company spokesperson told PTI.

Under McCafe, the company will create a space within its existing outlets and sell coffee.
The McCafe concept was started in Australia in 1993, and gradually expanded across markets. Today it is estimated that there are over 1,300 such outlets in the world.

"In India, the coffee chain market is over Rs. 1,000 crore and it is a good market for us," the official said.
The company plans to introduce McCafe across the country in a phased manner, starting from the metros.
McDonald's, which currently has 177 outlets across India, said it is also planning to introduce its breakfast menu to another 15 -- 20 stores by August this year.

It had recently started its breakfast concept in six outlets in Delhi and National Capital Region.
"We have recently introduced breakfast system in our outlets. We have got a huge response and we plan to expand and take it to the rest of the outlets as well," he said.

The company had earlier announced that it will invest around Rs. 100 crore this year on setting up another 40 -- 45 outlets across the country.


Source: PTI

16-digit Aadhaar to have four hidden numbers

16-digit Aadhaar to have four hidden numbers

"As far as people are concerned, there would only be a 12-digit number that would be relevant for their identification and use. However, we are making a provision of extra four digits that would be a post-fix for this 12-digit number for pin-based identification. So, UID will become a 16-digit number for our use and the database that we will maintain," Ram Sewak Sharma, Director General and Mission Director of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), told Business Standard.

These four digits, which the authority terms a 'virtual number', will change as and when the resident changes his pin number or residence. The user, however, will only use the 12-digit number allotted to him.

The first set of Aadhaars will be issued between August this year and February 2011. The authority plans to issue 600 million UIDs over the next five years.

UIDAI, which is being headed by Nandan Nilekani, has been allocated Rs 1,900 crore for the financial year 2010-11. Of this, Rs 1,300 crore will be used to enable the registrars to enrol people in the system and the remaining Rs 600 crore will be spent for setting up the information technology infrastructure.

Moreover, the 13th Finance Commission has given Rs 3,000 crore to the authority over the next five years.

"With this pin-based number, we will have two types of authentication. The first will be biometric identification using finger prints and the iris scan for 100 per cent authentication, and the second is a pin-based process for our database," added Sharma.

UIDAI estimates total annual revenue of Rs 288 crore from authentication services in the initial stages.