In yet another last ditch action, lawyers for Yakub Memon, facing execution tomorrow, moved the Supreme Court late tonight seeking stay of his hanging.

JUST IN: Memon's lawyers have moved the Supreme Court seeking stay on his execution for 14 days.

BREAKING: President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected the bail plea of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon's mercy plea.

Fresh reports indicate that Yakub Memon's lawyers are likely to move the Supreme Court.

Former RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav has been given 'Y' category security, over a week after former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was accorded the top 'Z-plus' security cover by the Centre. The move comes months ahead of polls in the state. The BJP-led NDA had been wooing Pappu Yadav, who is an influential leader of his community in the Purnea-Madhepura belt.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and senior advocate T R Andhyarujina today had heated exchanges at the fag end of the hearing on the plea of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon when the former questioned the latter's locus to argue the case, calling the convict a "traitor".  

In light of Yakub Memon's hanging (unless the President intervenes and grants him mercy) all leaves of policemen in Mumbai have been cancelled and the city has been put on high alert. Furthermore, Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibits an assembly of more than 10 people in an area, has been imposed around the Nagpur jail.

The Home ministry sends Yakub Memon's file back to President. The MHA is against the mercy petition and says there cannot be a rethink. The report says Yakub Memon should be hanged at the earliest, says CNN IBN.


All procedures for hanging Memon has to be cleared 12 hours prior including health check-ups of the person. The Nagpur jail authorities say that Memon is both physically and mentally fit. His lawyer had argued that Memon was a schizophrenic and was ailing and therefore should not be given the death penalty.


Reports say that Yakub will be woken up at 3 am, and after a bath and a health check-up, he will be taken to the hanging yard inside Nagpur jail. The government has earmarked Rs 22 lakh for the hanging, say TV reports.


Yakub's brother Suleiman and cousin Usman are at the Nagpur jail to meet Yakub.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi who said Yakub Memon was being hanged because he was a Muslim says Memon was involved but he did not deserve capital punishment. Owaisi said that the order of the Supreme Court was a huge disappointment and a setback. "Why were the killers of Rajiv Gandhi saved? Capital punishment is being given because there is no political backing," he said.

The Supreme Court today rejected the central government's curative petition and the upheld commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment of three convicts in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case

President Pranab Mukherjee rejects Yakub Memon's mercy plea, reports ABP News. Memon will hang at 7 am tomorrow at Nagpur jail if that's true. The president had rejected Memon's first plea filed by his brother in 2014.


However, other reports say that the President is still consulting with the MHA about the order and is waiting for inputs. The President's decision on Yakub Memon's mercy plea has to come in by 7 pm

The Nagpur jail, meanwhile, has all arrangements ready to hang Memon.

No word yet on whether President Mukherjee has upheld the Supreme Court on the death sentence for Yakub Memon. Security being upped across Maharashtra especially Mumbai, with senior police officers, DCPs and additional CPs being asked to report to sensitive spots in Mumbai.


Memon was convicted as the "driving spirit" behind the blasts that killed at least 257 people at separate landmarks in Mumbai. The case has aroused controversy because police considered Memon's brother, "Tiger" Memon, and mafia don Dawood Ibrahim to be the main masterminds behind the attacks that avenged the destruction of an ancient mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992.

Yakub Memon's family waits with bated breath as President Pranab Mukherjee sends his fresh mercy plea to the Union Home Ministry. If the president holds up the death warrant, the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict will hang at 7 am tomorrow at the Nagpur jail. The Supreme Court today refused to stop his hanging, rejecting his argument that correct procedure was not followed.

Cartoonist Satish Acharya's take on Yakub Memon's hanging. 

I have full faith in judiciary, I have full faith in almighty: Suleman Memon, Yakub Memon's brother after the SC's verdict.

If Yakub Memon hangs tomorrow it be on his birthday. His family had planned to celebrate his birthday at the Nagpur jail.

More importantly, the SC said that Yakub Memon fails to make out a case that the mandatory 14 days time was not conveyed to him for execution by the state government. 

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam says the Supreme Court has clearly held that the death warrant issued to Yakub Memon is legal and valid. Hence the state (Maharashtra) machinery can proceed on the basis of a death warrant.


The Supreme Court said today that it was not inclined to go into the issue of a second mercy plea made by Yakub Memon to the Maharashtra governor. The dismissal of Memon's curative petition by three senior most judges of the apex court was correct, the apex court ruled.


The SC said that it "does not find fault with the issuance of death warrant by TADA court." 

BREAKING: Supreme Court upholds death warrant on Yakub Memon. He is scheduled to hang at Nagpur Jail tomorrow at 7 am unless President Pranab Mukherjee intervenes and stays the death warrant. 

KTS Tulsi, Senior Lawyer of the Supreme Court says, Decision on expected lines, there is no practice that only judges who heard review plea should only consider curative plea. So far as the SC is concerned, there is no hurdle in the way of execution now.

ANI reports: The three-judge Supreme Court dismisses Yakub's petition on death warrant. Yakub Memon will be executed tomorrow

Read: Why Yakub Memon is being hanged

Maharashtra DGP Sanjeev Dayal has also reached Maharashtra Assembly to meet CM Devendra Fadnavis, Mumbai CP Rakesh Maria also present.

Now, only the mercy petition filed before President Pranab Mukherjee remains. Yakub Memon's mercy plea before the President was filed yesterday. Considering that the President had turned down the mercy plea earlier, it seems pretty much the end of the road for the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict.

Mumbai Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria in a meeting with Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, law and order situation being assessed.

Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao has just now rejected Yakub Memon's mercy petition: Ujjwal Nikam, Special Public Prosecutor.


On Tuesday, after an hour-long argument on Yakub's petition seeking stay of execution, the two judges on the bench - Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph - returned a split verdict. Justice Dave dismissed Yakub's petition while Justice Joseph stayed the execution, leaving Yakub dangling between hope and despair.


The bench then referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for a fresh hearing by an umpire bench. Justice Joseph requested Justice Dave that the bench should stay the execution till further orders by the new bench, but Justice Dave said, "I will not be a party to such an order."

Chief Justice H L Dattu had entrusted the matter to a bench of Justices Dipak Misra, P C Pant and Amitava Roy.


And that is the order you are reading now.


End of the road for Memon, it seems.

The decision on the hanging is awaited. Curative petition is not void, says the SC.

The SC said the issue of the date of the death warrant is nitpicking and there was no procedural lapse in issuing the death sentence. 

No stay on death penalty yet. SC holds that due process was followed in issuing Yakub Memon the death warrant, says Ujjwal Nikam, Special Public Prosecutor. The SC has today rejected curative petition filed by Yakub Memon and dismissed all the contentions raised by him.

The Supreme Court order is still being dictated. The validity of the curative petition has been upheld and the court dismissed Yakub Memon's plea that there was a procedural lapse. 

Matunga police arrests journalist Jyoti Punwani, lawyers Susan Abraham, Maharukh Adenwalla and others for protesting against Yakub's penalty.

The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court is now dictating the verdict on Yakub Memon. What we have now is that the SC says that there is no procedural lapse, which means Memon's plea questioning the validity of the curative petition has not been accepted.


The Mumbai serial blasts convict had filed a fresh mercy petition with the President today. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has started hearing the plea of Yakub Memon.

Starting his arguments, Yakub's lawyer R Ramachandran has questioned the validity of the SC bench which heard curative petition.


His lawyer also said that Memon's good conduct in jail should be taken into consideration and the fact that he was suffering from schizophrenia.

On Tuesday, after an hour-long argument on Yakub's petition seeking stay of execution, the two judges on the bench - Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph - returned a split verdict. Justice Dave dismissed Yakub's petition while Justice Joseph stayed the execution, leaving Yakub dangling between hope and despair.

The bench then referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for a fresh hearing by an umpire bench. Justice Joseph requested Justice Dave that the bench should stay the execution till further orders by the new bench, but Justice Dave said, "I will not be a party to such an order."

Chief Justice H L Dattu had entrusted the matter to a bench of Justices Dipak Misra, P C Pant and Amitava Roy.

A P J Abdul Kalam's body will kept in a huge maidan on the Mandapam-Rameswaram road.

Since the news of Kalam's death reached the town of nearly 45,000 people, Rameswaram has been in mourning. Large hoardings with images of Dr Kalam have been put up in almost all corners of the town.

Many residents lit lamps, candles and incense sticks to pay homage to the "people's President" who rose from a humble background. Shops and business establishments have been closed as a mark of respect to Kalam, who fondly reminisced about his childhood in Rameswaram in his 2013 autobiography "My Journey".

Pic: People line the streets of Rameswaram waiting for Dr Kalam's cortege to pass through.

@ShivAroor The wittiest tweet on Mullah Omar so far... "Mullah Omar probably at Chennai's Sankara Nethralaya.

Emotional welcome to the mortal remains of APJ Abdul Kalam on arrival at  Mandapam on the way to Rameswaram.

FLASH: Yakub Memon Case: Arguments over, order dictation has started in the Supreme Court.

Two Zimbabwean men were expected to appear in court Wednesday over the killing of Cecil the lion, one of Africa's best known big cats. But most of the attention -- and the anger -- is focused on Walter Palmer, a dentist from Minnesota whom Zimbabwean authorities say they are seeking for their investigation.


Palmer says he thought everything was above board with the lion hunt he paid to go on earlier this month.But the lion that he and his local guides hunted down and killed wasn't just any big cat, according to Zimbabwean officials.It was Cecil, a beloved resident of Hwange National Park and a major tourist draw for Zimbabwe.


Read more

Taliban leader Mullah Omar has died, Afghan government sources say, but the militant group has not commented. However, this is not the first time that Afghani officials have reported on Omar's death.


Omar has always functioned more as the spiritual and ideological leader of the movement than as an operational commander.

His inner circle, made up of village mullahs who have known one another for decades, has provided the active leadership of the Taliban's many local factions.

Officials in the presidential palace said Mullah Omar was in custody of the Pakistani security forces in Karachi. Aimal Faizi, spokesman for former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said the issue was shared by the US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Yakub Memon Case: AG Mukul Rohatgi completes his arguments, Yakub's lawyer R Ramachandran begins his rebuttal.

The death of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam led to an outpouring of grief across the country with tributes flowing in from across all quarters. However, there was one person who didn't think much of the former President's accomplishments as a scientist.


Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan in an interview to BBC said Abdul Kalam was an ordinary scientist. A Q Khan, considered the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme said, "Kalam used to prefer simplicity in all walks of life but he was an ordinary scientist."n a phone interview to BBC, Khan said he could not remember anything noteworthy that Kalam had achieved.


He claimed India's missile programme was developed with Russia's help. The Pakistani scientist also claimed that there was politics involved in the appointment of Abdul Kalam as President in 2002. Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister and the NDA was in power at the time. "He (Kalam) was made the President because the BJP wanted to garner Muslim votes," Khan said.

Just in: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Machil Sector of Kupwara district, J&K at 11:40 am today.

Srijan Pal Singh, advisor to President A P J Abdul Kalam, who was in the flight bringing the body from Madurai to Rameswaram, tweets this picture saying:  This is how a boat repairer's son's and president's village looks like from above...just about land.


Read Srijan Pal Singh's moving tribute to Dr Kalam.

Dr Kalam's body reaches Rameswaram. 

Former President Pratibha Patil, now settled in Pune, wants an official vehicle to be at her disposal whenever she travels outside the city. But, according to sources, this will be in violation of rules since she is already using a personal vehicle for which she gets a fuel allowance from the government, reports Mail Today.


There has been a trail of communication between Patil's office and MHA regarding her entitlement for a car. "She has been using her personal vehicle for which she gets a fuel allowance as per rules. But she wants an official car when she travels outside Pune. She can either get a car or the fuel allowance, not both," said an official privy to the details.

Rediff.com's Saisuresh Sivaswamy and A Ganesh Nadar reporting from Rameswaram say the town plagued by an unusual problem. It's difficult to find a restaurant open for lunch.


No, there is no shortage of food despite the thousands that have camped in the small seaside town where India's most loved and respected former president APJ Abdul Kalam will be laid to rest tomorrow.


The reason the restaurants are shut is because the owners and the staff want to queue up to pay their final respects to Dr Kalam as his body is set to arrive soon from Madurai. In fact, as we write this, the ministry of defence tweets this picture showing his body in the chopper. It was only at the fourth halt that our hungry correspondents found a restaurant open for lunch. Will dinner be the same?


That for today and Thursday the town will be known for Avul Pakir Jainalubdin Abdul Kalam is a fair assessment.


Pic: Women and children wait it out under the harsh sun for a last glimpse of Dr Kalam

The IAF helicopter that is carrying Dr Kalam's body to Rameswaram.  

Former President APJ Kalam's body taken aboard the helicopter that will shortly reach Rameswaram where the last rites will be held at 11 am tomorrow.

Yakub Memon Case: The Supreme Court bench rises for lunch, matter to resume post lunch at 2 pm.

The status of "developing country" confers some privileges in today's global economic system. For example, it is entitled to subsidized loans, its trading partners are required to remove trade barriers to facilitate the country's exports and it does not have to undertake any serious commitments to reduce emissions to address climate change. Consider where China stands on each of these dimensions.

Read Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian's column in the NYT.

The Supreme Court has hinted that Yakub Memon's verdict will be delivered today itself.


The Mumbai serial blasts convict has filed a fresh mercy petition with the President.

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court has started hearing the plea of Yakub Memon.

Starting his arguments, Yakub's lawyer R Ramachandran has questioned the validity of the SC bench which heard curative petition.


His lawyer also said that Memon's good conduct in jail should be taken into consideration and the fact that he was suffering from schizophrenia.

On Tuesday, after an hour-long argument on Yakub's petition seeking stay of execution, the two judges on the bench - Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph - returned a split verdict. Justice Dave dismissed Yakub's petition while Justice Joseph stayed the execution, leaving Yakub dangling between hope and despair.

The bench then referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for a fresh hearing by an umpire bench. Justice Joseph requested Justice Dave that the bench should stay the execution till further orders by the new bench, but Justice Dave said, "I will not be a party to such an order."

Chief Justice H L Dattu had entrusted the matter to a bench of Justices Dipak Misra, P C Pant and Amitava Roy.

A Londoner is apparently amused to see West Bengal CM walking around London in flip flops. The picture was tweeted by TMC Derek O'Brien.

Banerjee, who is the UK, is expected to meet various British officials to seek investment for Bengal.

Srijan Pal Singh, Dr Kalam's close aide tweets that the body has arrived in Madurai. "Will now fly his mortal remains in chopper to his home place."

SpiceJet Ltd is in talks with Boeing Co and Airbus Group to acquire about 100 new narrow-body jets, its chief financial officer said on Wednesday, in a deal worth about $11 billion at list prices.   

The Delhi High Court today exempted Union HRD minister Smriti Irani from personal appearance in a criminal defamation case filed by Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam. Justice Suresh Kait issued a notice to Nirupam on Irani's plea, who also sough quashing of the summon issued to her by a trial court on June 6, 2014. She has also sought quashing of the complaint filed by Nirupam.

Mortal remains of APJ Abdul Kalam arrive at Madurai from where the casket will be taken to Rameswaram. 

Just in: Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF ) troopers were injured in a powerful grenade explosion in south Kashmir's Anantnag town this afternoon. A senior police officer said militants hurled a grenade at a posse of CRPF jawans on KP Road in Anantnag, which exploded injuring the two jawans. "The injured jawans were evacuated to hospital for treatment.  The area was surrounded by the security forces and a search operation is on," the officer said.

-- Mukhtar Ahmad/Rediff.com

In the passing away of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, India has lost not only a visionary scientist and an institution-builder, but also a staunch nationalist who was an inspirational figure for people across generations. Turning India into a developed country of the first world was his dream, and he set about making this a reality through words and deeds, first as scientist, then as the President, and later, till the very end, as an ordinary citizen.


Read more

Amid continuous disruptions by opposition members, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has convened an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss better functioning of the Lok Sabha, proceedings of which have been virtually washed out in the Monsoon Session so far.


Sources in Parliament insisted that the meeting was not to "break the deadlock" in the House as it is the duty of the government and not that of the presiding officer.The meeting comes close on the heels of Congress members showing placards in the house despite being warned not to do so.

DMK chief Karunanidhi's 'tribute' to Dr Kalam.


Click on the picture for a large image.

The Prime Minister will arrive early in the morning at Rameswaram and attend Dr Kalam's funeral at around 11 am, sources said.


Penning his tribute to the 'missile man' and who was felicitated with the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, Modi in his blog, said "Bharat has lost a Ratna".


"Our scientist-President - and one who was genuinely loved and admired across the masses - never measured success by material possessions," he said. "For him, the counterpoint to poverty was the wealth of knowledge, in both its scientific and spiritual manifestations," the Prime Minister said.


He remembered Kalam as one who took little from the world, and gave all he could to the society. "Kalamji refused to be defeated by circumstances. His character, commitment and inspirational vision shine through his life. He was unencumbered by ego; flattery left him cold," Modi said.


Describing him as a "hero" of India's defence, the Prime Minister said his contributions to "our nuclear and space achievements have given India the muscle to be confident of her place in the region and the world." Modi said his profound idealism was secure because it rested on a foundation of realism. Kalam was "equally at ease before an audience of suave, globe-trotting ministers and a class of young students", Modi said.

As a mark of respect for former President APJ Kalam, Thursday will be a public holiday in Tamil Nadu. Chief Minister Jayalalithaa said following a request from Kalams family, government land had been allotted for burying the mortal remains of the former president.

The district administration of Rameswaram has selected three places for the funeral and would finalise a place after consulting APJM. Maraikayar, elder brother of Dr Kalam and other family members,the Hindu reported. 

Three places a government land at Meyyampuli, near Thangachimadam; a forest land at Natarajapuram near Danushkodi; and a private land of Abil Kabil Dargah have been shortlisted, the sources said.

Pic: A huge poster in Rameswaram paying tribute to Dr Kalam. Ordinary people as well as politicians have strung up tributes to the former president all through the town. Photograph: Saisuresh SivaswamyRediff.com

While Yakub Memon hangs on to life by sheer persistence, the Supreme Court today dismissed the curative petition on its verdict that converted former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's killers' death sentences into life terms. 


The central government last week told the Supreme Court that no mercy could be shown to the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi as it opposed the Tamil Nadu government's move set free seven convicts by granting them remission of sentence.


Opposing the Tamil Nadu government's plea to release the seven convicts, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told the constitution bench of Chief Justice HL Dattu and Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kalifulla, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit that "our former prime minister was killed by these people. There was a conspiracy to kill him in which foreign nationals were also involved. What mercy could be shown to them."


Appearing for the other victims of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Ranjit Kumar stated his stand while opposing the plea by senior counsel Ram Jathmalani appearing for one of the convicts V. Sriharan alias Murugan and Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for the Tamil Nadu government.

The constitution bench was hearing a reference by three judge bench on the question whether after the commutation of death sentence into life imprisonment, could the state government further grant remission of sentence to release the Rajiv Gandhi assassins.

People like Dr Kalam teach us to dream and to chase our dreams. It is their humility that they wore on their sleeves that makes them truly great people. While we weep for a true Ratna that has left us on Monday, let us be happy that we lived in a period when he was alive and with us, says Rediff.com reader M C Sujil Bose. Read

The Supreme Court has dismissed a curative petition of the Central govt and upheld the commutation of death sentence to life of the three convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

Tushar Deshmukh, 1993 blasts victim, goes to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, demands Yakub Memon should be hanged at the earliest.

Yakub Memon files fresh mercy plea with President Pranab Mukherjee.

More on the Magsaysay Award winners: Sanjeev Chaturvedi, former Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS and Anshu Gupta, founder of NGO Goonj are among the people who have been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2014.


Sanjiv Chaturvedi (pictured) is an Indian Forest Service officer and currently the deputy secretary of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He also served as a Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) at AIIMS during 2012-14.


In 2014, Chaturvedi was relieved from the additional charge of CVO, although he continued to retain the Deputy Director post at AIIMS. He had alleged that his removal from the CVO post was a result of campaign by corrupt officials. There were allegations that BJP leader JP Nadda was acting against Chaturvedi on behalf of Vineet Chaudhary, an IAS officer from his own state, Himachal Pradesh. Chaturvedi initiated actions in around 200 corruption cases during his stint as AIIMS CVO; punishment was imposed in 78 cases, chargesheet was issued in 87 cases and more than 20 cases were referred to CBI for criminal investigation.


Anshu Gupta founded Goonj in in 1999 after leaving his a corporate job to start the organisation. Goonj is a non-governmental organisation based in Delhi, which works in 21 states across India in disaster relief, humanitarian aid and community development. It has converted 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods and other urban discards into usable resources for the poor.

AIIMS former chief vigilance officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi and Anshu Gupta, founder of NGO Goonj to be conferred with Ramon Magsaysay Award. The Ramon Magsaysay Award is often considered to be an Asian equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

Yakub Memon case: Three-judge SC panel to begin hearing at 10:35 AM at court room number 4

Image: The street leading to 'House of Kalam' in Rameswaram. 

Who shot Cecil? First it was thought that a mystery Spaniard had the blood of one of Africa's most famous lions on his hands. Then came a fresh twist. The Cecil slayer, Zimbabwean conservations said on Tuesday, was in fact a dentist from Minnesota.

United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday extended his condolences on the death of former president APJ Abdul Kalam, saying he was an inspiration to millions who worked to deepen space cooperation between the two countries.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com, who is en route to Rameswaram has sent another photograph.

According to reports, A major cyclone has hit Kandla in Kutch, Gujarat. Extremely heavy widespread rain has been recorded over most parts of Gujarat.

Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com, who is en route to Rameswaram has sent this photograph.

 According to media reports, a three-storeyed building has collapsed in Thane district in Maharashtra. Many persons are said to be trapped in the rubble.

A court in Libya on Tuesday sentenced a son of former ruler Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Silam to death along with eight others for war crimes that included killings during the revolution in 2011 that ended the rule of his father.