26/11 convict Ajmal Kasab gets death sentence

Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone survivor from amongst the ten gunmen who carried out the horrific November 26, 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, was sentenced to death on four counts and to life imprisonment on five other counts by a special sessions court in the city today.

Designated Judge M L Tahaliyani awarded the death penalty to Kasab, 22, for conspiring with others in Pakistan to commit acts of terrorism against India, murder and abetment to murder of 166 people, waging war against the state and under section 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

While pronouncing the sentence, the Judge said there was an overwhelming preponderance of aggravating circumstances against Kasab and hardly any mitigating factors in his favour. He said he had no option but to sentence him to death by hanging in the circumstances.

During arguments on the sentence on Tuesday the Judge, the prosecution had sought the death penalty for Kasab. The defence, on the other hand, pleaded for leniency, given his young age.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Kasab deserved the maximum penalty given the fact that he had been found guilty of waging war against the country and his role in the conspiracy to carry out the attacks had been proved.

Court-appointed defence counsel K P Pawar, on the other hand, had argued that Kasab should not be given the death penalty in view of his young age and did not fully understand the implications of his actions. He also argued that Kasab was under mental pressure from a terrorist group. He said that, given his young age, there was also some scope for reformation and rehabilitation.

Kasab was convicted of all 86 charges against him by the special court on Monday for his role in the attacks which killed 166 people, including 23 foreigners.

The other nine gunmen, all Pakistanis, were killed in the action by security forces during the 66-hour seige.

Two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, who were charged with drawing maps of the places targeted by the terrorists and passing them on to the Lashkar-e-Taiba to enable them to execute the attacks, were acquitted by the court, saying the evidence against them was not convincing.

Kasab and the other gunmen opened fire indiscriminately and hurled hand grandes at places such as the Central Railway's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) (formerly Victoria Terminus), Hotel Taj Mahal, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, Nariman House and Cama Hospital.

Kasab was held guilty of waging war against the Indian state and of killing seven people at CST and Cama Hospital as well as abetting the murder of 159 others killed in the attacks.

The death sentence will now automatically be referred to the Bombay High Court before it can be carried out. If the High Court confirms the sentence, Kasab will have the option to go in appeal to the Supreme Court. Finally, he would have the option to file a mercy petition to the President.

Kasab, who hails from Faridkot in Pakistan, was nabbed alive by the police from the Girgaum-Chowpatty police barricade after an encounter. Earlier, Kasab and Abu Ismail, one of the nine other terroritsts, had killed several people at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Cama Hospital and Metro Junction.

Source :netindian.in

Union Budget 2010: Indian Budget Highlights

New Delhi: A further relief for individual Tax payers, increased allocation for welfare schemes, Re 1 per litre excise duty hike on petrol and diesel were among the key features of the Union Budget 2010-11, presented in Parliament on Friday by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The minister said fiscal deficit would be brought down to 5.5 percent next fiscal from 6.9 percent in 2009-10.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Friday allocated Rs 22,300 crore (Rs 223 billion/$4.82 billion) for the health sector in his 2010-11 budget, an increase of over Rs 2,700 crore over the previous. The minister said the country was set to conduct a national health survey next fiscal and this would benefit in more than one way. Mukherjee said he was proposing to allocate Rs.22,300 crore as health expenditure as against Rs 19,534 crore in 2009-10.

Budget Highlights:

Personal Income Tax

Personal Income Tax slabs widened

Income up to Rs 1.6 lakh -- NIL

Above Rs 1.6 lakh to 5 lakh -- 10%

Above Rs 5 lakh to 8 lakh -- 20%

Above Rs 8 lakh -- 30%

Deduction of Rs 20,000 in long term infrastructure bonds

Contribution under central scheme to be included for Health Insurance exemption

Income Tax department ready with Saral-2 form for salaried tax-payers

2000 Income Tax Returns daily

Two more centres for tax filing

Income tax centres in Pune and Cochin -- Single window system to address grievances

Four more cities to get this system

Revamp needed of internal working system

System to tackle tax evasion and get black money abroad

Other Taxes

Minimum Alternative Tax hiked from 15% to 18%

Corporate Surcharge down from 10% to 7.5%

Service taxes unchanged

Revenue loss from direct taxes to be Rs 26,000 crore

Research and Development deduction hiked

Exemptions for two-star and above hotels anywhere in the country

5% tax on crude petrol and 7.5% on diesel

Excise duty hiked on tobacco

Partial excise on cement, cars

Indian Railway Budget 2010

Feb 24: Mamata Banerjee concluded her two-hour long presentation of Railway Budget 2010 by delivering a good news to the country that the Railways doesn't find it necessary to hike the passenger fares. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday presented Railway Budget for the next fiscal with the promise of a new business model to encourage private investment along with social commitment but without privatisation.

Speech highlights:

• First rail line in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to connect Port Blair to Diglipur, farthest town of North Andamans.

• Railways to have master plan for North Eastern region.

• Railways to run a special train to Bangladesh on the 150th birth centenary of Rabindranath Tagore.

• Net profit of Rs.1,328 crore in 2009-10

• 10 automobile ancillary hubs to be created

• Twenty-two million energy saving CFLs for lighting distributed already

• Policy decision to employ one member of family whose land is requisitioned for railway projects

• North-south, east-west dedicated freight corridors to be created

• Construction of high-speed passenger rail corridors envisaged

• More multi-functional hospitals to be set up

• Educational facilities to be set up for children of 80,000 women families

• Special facilities to be established for gangmen

• Insurance facilities for licensed porters as part of railway's corporate social responsibility

• Centre for railway research to be established with Indian Institutes of Technology and Defence Research and Development Organisation

• Will involve unions in policy making

• Integral Coach Factory Chennai to be further modernised

• New wagon repair shop in Mumbai

• Design, development and testing centre for railway wheels at Bangalore

• Rs 1,302 crore provided for passenger amenities in the 2010-11 Budget against Rs 923 crore last year.

• Allocation for construction of new lines increased from Rs 2848 crore to Rs 4411 crore.

• Gross traffic receipt for 2010-11 pegged at Rs 94,765 crore.

• Freight loading target for 2010-11 fixed at 944 million tonnes, 54 million tonnes more than the current year's revised target.

• Connectivity is key to India's growth.

• Time has come for the business firms to join hands with railways.

• Railways to come out with 10-year plan 'Vision 2020'

• Railways open for public private partnership model in projects.

• Need to make policies investment friendly; investments proposals should be cleared within 100 days

• Special task force will be set up clear business projects within 100 days.

• New anti-collision devices, better traffic signaling systems along 880 kms of track.

• Out of 17,000 unmanned crossings 13,000 will be manned within five years to avoid accidents.

• Railway plans to have e-ticketing mobile vans at hospitals, universities.

• Railways to come up with multilayer parking space through PPP (public private partnership).

• Cheap drinking water will be provided at all the stations, plans to open six bottling plants.

• Railways to come with a special drive to have better amenities.

• 117 trains will be flagged off within seven months.

• 1000 kms of rail lines to be completed in one year.

• We want to strengthen Railway Protection Force (RPF) but law and order is a state subject. We have very few RPF personnel. RPF is not sufficient of taking care of the security.

• Railways proposes to set up five sports academies at Delhi, Secunderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai.

H1N1 Flu or Swine Flu

The H!N1 flu has become an official global epidemic and claimed many lives, many people are likely to become anxious that they might catch the H1N1 flu otherwise known as the Swine Flu. There are several very simple things one can do to prevent or minimize your chances of getting the swine flu and the regular flu.

These include finding out more about the illness from reliable sources, learning how serious swine flu is, learn what can be done prevent it, discovering what symptoms to watch for and when to seek additional treatment.

Also included is some interesting information about the history of Swine Influenza and Swine Flu as a Zoonosis or an infectious disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans.

Four Key Steps to Prevent Getting the H1N1 Flu

The four key things to do that will help in preventing you from getting the H1N1 Flu or Swine Flu:

1. Wash Your Hands
2. Cover Your Cough
3. Don't Touch Your Face
4. Stay Away from People Who are Sick

Michael Jackson Dies at Age 50

UPDATED 3:23 PM: Legendary musician Michael Jackson has died, law enforcement sources have Confirmed.

TMZ reports that someone at Jackson's Holmby Hills home called 911 at 12:21 pm. When paramedics arrived at his home, he was not breathing. The Los angeles Times reports by the time he reached the UCLA Medical center, Jackson was in a coma. He was pronounced dead by doctors this afternoon.

Several months ago, celebrity biographer Ian Halperin claimed jackson was deathly ill and required a lung transplant. Jackson's rep quickly disputed Halperin's claims.

Jackson was readying for a 50-show run of performances at London's O2 Arena. He had voiced concern about being physically able to complete that many performances.

Jackson is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson, and Prince Michael Jackson.

As a child star turned King of Pop who set the world dancing but whose musical genius was overshadowed by a bizarre lifestyle and sex scandals, died on Thursday. He was 50.

Jackson was pronounced dead at about 2:26 p.m. PDT (2126 GMT) after arriving at a Los Angeles hospital in full cardiac arrest, said Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Coroner's office. The cause of death was not known and an autopsy would likely take place on Friday, he said.

Jackson's sudden death had been reported earlier by U.S. media, which said he was taken ill at his home and rushed to the hospital by paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived.

STD 25 Paise, Local 10 Paise per minute!

New Delhi: New IT and Telecom minister A. Raja has announced that his department would be slashing the STD and Local telephone call rates soon.

Now you would be able to do STD and Local telephone call at a rate of 25 Paise and 10 paise per minute respectively.

With this announcement Raja has showed his strong will power. Raja, who is MP from the Nilgiri constituency, is close to Karunanidhi’s wife Rajati Ammal.

It’s being believed that Raja would be taking some more people friendly decisions. A Raja took oath yesterday as Cabinet Minister in the new government set-up, retaining the IT & Communications Ministry which he held for two years in the previous tenure of UPA government as well.

Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States

In just a little while, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the first black President of America. Over two million people are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony in Washington.

The presidential motorcade approaches Capitol Hill during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, in Washington January 20, 2009.