Ajmal Kasab death penalty appeal adjourned

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court adjourned an appeal hearing on Tuesday into the death sentence handed down to Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai in attacks which lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people, has appealed for his sentence to be overturned after he was convicted in May 2010.

The 24-year-old was found guilty of a series of crimes, including waging war against India, murder and terror acts.

The November 2008 attacks saw 10 heavily-armed gunmen storm targets including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

One of the two Supreme Court judges due to hear the appeal was unavailable on Tuesday, forcing the adjournment, officials said. No date was immediately set for the next hearing.

Kasab’s court-appointed lawyer Raju Ramachandran told AFP that his job was “a call of duty”, but declined to talk further about the case.

Kasab’s death sentence was confirmed by a state high court in Mumbai last year. If he loses his Supreme Court appeal, he will be able to appeal for clemency from the president.

Ujjwal Nikam, who prosecuted the case in Mumbai on behalf of the Maharashtra state, is seeking to push through the death sentence. “This is the rarest of rare cases,” Nikam told AFP. “He should not be entitled to any mercy.”

At the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eyewitness and television evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main railway station in the bloodiest episode of the attacks.

Kasab — who is in jail in Mumbai — initially pleaded not guilty but later made a confession, admitting to being one of the gunmen allegedly sent by the banned militant group.

He then reverted back to his initial denial and said he was framed by the police.

Pakistan has indicted seven alleged perpetrators over the attacks but they have not been brought to trial, triggering Indian accusations that the process is a sham.

Pakistani investigators and lawyers will visit India next month to gather more evidence ahead of any trial in Islamabad.

Most death sentences in India are commuted to life imprisonment, and convicts can sit on death row for years awaiting a final decision. AGENCIES

Pak-India football series cancelled

A two-match football series between the two sides scheduled to be held in Britain next month has been called off.

“The series has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances and a fresh date will be announced in due course,” said a Pakistan Football Federation spokesman in a statement.

The two matches were scheduled for Derby on September 3 and Glasgow on September 9 and were anxiously awaited by fans at home and in Britain, which has a sizeable South Asian population.

Pakistan had announced a 22-member squad for the series on Thursday and the team was scheduled to fly on Saturday.

The series was supposed to be played last year but the Indian Football Federation could not get clearance from its own government.

New Delhi put a stop to bilateral sporting ties with Pakistan in the wake of terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2006, which India blamed on militants based in Pakistan.

Pakistan cricket authorities are trying to organise a tour of India early next year

Mumbai attacks case: contempt notice issued to Rehman Malik

The notice has been issued on a statement given by him in London with reference to despatching judicial commission to India in Mumbai attack case.

FIA had filed application under section 503 about despatching a judicial commission to India. FIA has completed its arguments on it while defence counsel Khawaja Sultan and other lawyers were yet to give arguments on behalf of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and other accused.

Defence lawyer Khawaja Sultan Ahmad had made interior minister and government respondents in contempt plea. It was said in the contempt application that interior minister while addressing a seminar in London had said with respect to the petition pending hearing in the court in Mumbai attack case that court had granted commission’s request for sending judicial commission to India and the commission would leave for India within 7 to 11 days.

The court while granting plea of Khawaja Sultan Ahmad stopped debate over the application filed by FIA for sending commission to India and issued contempt of court notice to Interior Minister Rehman Malik on his statement.

The court on the request of lawyers has also summoned three prosecution witnesses including forensic expert of FIA Noman Ashraf Godla, Inspector Sardar Muhammad Azam and Nisar Jadoon from FIA on August, 13 for recording their statements.

Ekta Kapoor gets detained at the airport

Looks like the Mumbai airport is all set to create history in terms of ‘star-detains’! First, it was Minissha Lamba, which was then followed by Bipasha Basu and Anushka Sharma. And now it was the Czarina of telly land Ekta Kapoor who was questioned by the airport authorities.

Reports have it that, Ekta was carrying undeclared luxury goods to the tune of approximately Rs. one lakh. She got intercepted while she tried to pass through the green channel without declaring her assets. News has it that Ekta, after being detained, claimed innocence and said that she was not aware of the existing laws. She was finally permitted to leave after being fined approximately Rs. 50,000 by the Customs Department.

Singham sold for Rs. 12 crores in the Mumbai territory

Rohit Shetty’s remake of the Tamil super-hit Singham starring Ajay Devgn in the lead role as a cop has been generating tremendous buzz ever since it was announced. The film, produced by Reliance Entertainment, has now been sold to Raksha Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. for a handsome sum of Rs. 12 crore and that too only in the Mumbai territory.

This is certainly a big triumph for Ajay Devgn who seems to be having a dream run since last year with many hits at the Box Office. Singham is currently being shot in Goa and also stars debutant Kajal Aggarwal and Prakash Raj in prominent roles. The film is scheduled to release on July 22.

Pak-India secretary-level talks on all issues

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India home secretaries would hold talks on all issues including the Mumbai attacks.

Senior officials told that the talks slated March 28-29 in New Delhi would discuss besides terrorism, wide range of issues covering eight different subjects including swapping of prisoners, easing the visa facility, anti-drug measures etc.

The officials said that the schedule of the proposed Indian visit of Pakistan Judicial Commission would also be decided in these meetings.

Pakistan would be participating in the talks with open mind, official further said.

Slumdog child star’s Mumbai home burns down

MUMBAI: Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali said Saturday her home and the awards she won for the Oscar-winning film had been destroyed in a fire that raged through a congested Mumbai slum.

The family of 12-year-old Rubina, who played the role of young poverty-stricken Latika in Danny Boyle’s movie, watched helplessly as their tin-roofed shack in the crowded slum went up in flames late Friday.

“I have lost everything, including books and precious belongings like awards, photographs, newspaper clippings and memorabilia from the success of the film,” Rubina said, according to the Press Trust of India.

Rubina was just eight when she appeared in the rags-to-riches blockbuster, which won eight Oscars in 2009 and her journey from Mumbai slum to Hollywood red carpet made her famous around the world.

“We all were at home watching TV when a neighbour came to alert us about the fire. We all rushed out. We spent the entire night at the railway station,” Rubina said.

“So far nobody has come to help us.”

The blaze raced through the slum in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra on Friday evening, injuring at least 21 people and leaving 2,000 people homeless, a fire official said.

“We feel relieved to see that all our family members are safe. But all the good memories of my daughter’s fame have been reduced to ashes. We have lost everything,” Rubina’s father Rafiq Ali said.

Rubina said the family was yet to move into a new apartment paid for by a trust set up by Slumdog director Boyle.

More than half of Mumbai’s estimated 18 million residents live in either officially designated slums or illegal shanties. AGENCIES

Celebrity Cricket League, South Superstars won by 36 runs

South Superstars won by 36 runs against Mumbai Heroes inaugural match of Celebrity Cricket League. The South Superstars, wearing red t-shirts were led by actor Venkatesh while the team leader of Mumbai team was superstar Salman Khan.

According to details Venkatesh won the toss and decided to bat first. In the limited 20 overs Venkatesh-XI set a huge score of 192 for the loss of eight wickets. Adarsh was the top scorer who scored 48 runs from 28 balls. Captain Venkatesh hit a massive six on the last ball of innings. At the end he was notout on 27. Tarakaratna took the start aggressively by scoring a 30 runs from 13 balls. From the Mumbai Heroes team Mahesh Manjrekar bowled really well and finished the innings of six players.

Following a massive total, Mumbai Heroes gave a reasonable fight with the help of Aftab and Angad but the target was too big and overs finished when they were 36 runs behind from their target. Adarsh picked two wickets for his side and nominated for Man of The Match for his all round performance.

Before the start of the match, both sides were greeted by Rajya Sabha MP T. Subbarami Reddy, actor Mohan Babu and Deputy Inspector-General Sowmya Mishra

SRK and Salman avoid bumping into each other at Star Screen Awards

Ever since their fallout, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan have always avoided bumping into each other at social functions. Earlier this week, the two superstars missed clashing with each other at the Mumbai International airport by just a few minutes when both arrived from Dubai after celebrating New Year’s Eve with their respective families.

Last night also the media and fans were expecting to see SRK and Sallu together at the Star Screen Awards which took place in Mumbai. However, that was not to be. While SRK was the host for the evening along with Shahid Kapoor, Salman made an appearance for just a few minutes. Despite winning the Best Actor Award for Dabangg, Salman didn’t go up on stage to collect the award and it was his brother Arbaaz who collected the award.

The buzz is that Salman didn’t want any kind of unnecessary media-created controversy between SRK and him and hence he came to the venue, recorded his part for the T.V. telecast post the awards function, and left soon after.

Looks like these two superstars are in no mood to sort out their differences.

India Demands Access to Mumbai Attacks Accused

NEW DELHI: India has requested access to Mumbai attack accused arrested in Pakistan.

New Delhi wants to send a commission to Pakistan for probing into Mumbai terror attacks, local media reports said.

Indian authorities have also requested for providing  results of the investigation into the incident and the record of the telephonic conversation of the accused.

Indian officials also want to question Mumbai case accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Zarar Shah etc.

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