Blackout Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Blackout - Article Example This is the case even during my studies and classes as I find things that I will discuss or funny anecdotes I will send them of events that took place during the lecture or family meetings. The need to connect and be a celebrity is too great what with all the friends being in the same position and the lack of need for solitude. I simply did not relate with solitude. For the first like seven hours, I enjoyed being alone without any distractions and I even caught a lot of sleep which I rarely do because I am either surfing on the net, texting or watching television even in the middle of the night or during my study time. After the seven or so hours, I got bored and I could not think of anything to do. Anxiety started kicking in and this was closely followed by anger for even agreeing to do this. Panic was the next reaction as I started concocting these weird visions of how everything would go wrong in the world and I would be left out and I hate being a social outcast which is the feeling I was experiencing once the panic eased after discussions and long family talks of childhood memories. After that, I could not believe it but I started enjoying the solitude and I have to agree with the author that I could actually think and enjoying the intimacy of the solitude planning my future and thinking of all the goals I would like to achieve as well as things I would like to change in my life. The rest of the 48 hours passed rather too soon and I have to repeat that exercise at some point in future and do it more often as I felt very relaxed for the first time since I discovered the internet. It depends on the news. Serious news about politics, insecurity, violence and hunger create solitude as one tends to recline in this alone space to think about the present and future of oneself and others and the role one can play to

Female Performers in Country Music Essay -- Women Gender Papers

Female Performers in Country Music During the early twentieth century, southern music began to be known by a somewhat more precise and diverse set of classificatory designations such as "country," "blues," and "jazz," Through the phenomenal development of the radio and recording technology, the music of the south rapidly became known throughout the nation. The contributions of early performers such as the great Jimmie Rodgers, Vernon Dalhart, Bob Wills, Milton Browne, the singing cowboys and many others are well documented. But where are the female musicians during the early development of country music, specifically during the 1920s and 1930s? In the "blues" field, the names of the legendary Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith and Ma Rainey are well known along with male performers such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, "Peg Leg Howell," and many others. In the opera, women had long held important places in the music and the same may be said of vaudeville. In earlier country music, female performers were much less prom inent and their roles more muted. Furthermore, until recently, there has been a woeful lack of scholarly attention to the early roles of women in the formation of the music in its modern commercial form. A part of the problem lies in the fact that recorded country music from the pre-1940 period is difficult to find, but it is also likely that women performers were far less numerous during this period. Coltman (1978:161) reports of that of the 377 pieces of recorded country music from the period 1922-1931 he had heard, only 12 (3%) were female soloists or all female groups, only 5% of the records were male groups who would feature a female soloist, and only about 5% were known to feature women as instrumentalists.... ...liche, "You've come a long way, baby." 1Jill McWhorter is a 1990 graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and is currently a reporter and staff writer for the Review Appeal in Franklin, Tennessee. 2There is some evidence that Billie Maxwell, "The Cow Girl Singer," may have been the first to record in this genre. (Cf Coltman, 1978:164). 3In the Summer of 1990, Patsy visited Murfreesboro and appeared as a surprise guest in my Elderhostel class on country music. She delighted us with a rendition of "I Wanna Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and graciously consented to an interview. Some of the material in this section is drawn from that interview. BSA 4Female performers are only beginning to compete in the songwriting arena and lag woefully behind in the music publishing business. They have made great strides, however, in the area of artist management.

Mumbai attacks Essay

INTRODUCTION The day of 26th November, 2008 would have been as usual and pleasant as any other day for Mumbai but the terror attacks by the members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, considered as terrorist organisation by India, who wreaked havoc in the India’s largest city. There were ten gunmen, nine of whom were subsequently shot dead and one captured by security forces. Witnesses reported that they looked to be in their early twenties, wore black t-shirts and jeans, and that they smiled and looked happy as they shot their victims. It was initially reported that some of the attackers were British citizens, but the Indian Government later stated that there was no evidence to confirm this. Similarly, early reports of twelve gunmen were also later shown to be incorrect. On December 9, the ten attackers were identified by Mumbai police, along with their home towns in Pakistan: Ajmal Amir from Faridkot, Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan from Dera Ismail Khan, Hafiz Arshad and Babr Imran from Multan, Javed from Okara, Shoaib from Narowal, Nazih and Nasr fromFaisalabad, Abdul Rahman from Arifwalla, and Fahad Ullah from Dipalpur Taluka. Dera Ismail Khan is in the North-West Frontier Province; the rest of the towns are in Pakistani Punjab. Ajmal Kasab was the only attacker captured alive by police and is currently under arrest. Much of the information about the attackers’ preparation, travel, and movements comes from his confessions to the Mumbai police. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was born on July 13, 1987. He briefly joined his brother in Lahore, who worked as a labourer, and then returned to Faridkot. He left home after a fight with his father in 2005. He had asked for new clothes on Eid, but his father could not provide them, which made him angry. He then became involved in petty crime with his friend Muzaffar Lal Khan, soon moving on to armed robbery. On Dec 21, 2007, Bakr-Eid day, they were in Rawalpindi trying to buy weapons when they encountered members of Jama’at-ud-Da’wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets. After a brief chat, they decide to sign up for training with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, ending up at their base camp, Markaz Taiba. According to Deputy Commissioner of Mumbai Police he spoke rough Hindi and barely any  English. Some sources said his father asked him to join the militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba so that he could use the money they gave him to run the family. When asked ab out this, Ajmal Amir’s father told reporters, â€Å"I don’t sell my sons.† Even David Coleman Headley is charged for scouting the locations for 2008 Mumbai terror attacks by Laskar-e-Taiba. He is alleged by FBI for conspiring to bomb targets in Mumbai, India; providing material support to Lashkar-i-Taiba, a militant Pakistani Islamist group; and aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens. Training Ajmal Amir is alleged to be among a group of 24 men who received training in marine warfare at a remote camp in mountainous Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Part of the training is reported to have taken place on the Mangla Dam reservoir. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, reportedly offered to pay his family Rs.150,000 for his participation in the attacks. Another report said the 21-year old man was recruited from his Punjab, Pakistan home in part based on a pledge by recruiters to pay USD $1,250 US (Rs. 62,412.50) to his family when he became a martyr. Other sources put the reward to USD $4,000. Stages of training This batch of 25 went through the following stages of training: †¢ Psychological: Indoctrination to Islamist propaganda, including compiled footage of ‘Indian atrocities’ in Jammu & Kashmir, and imagery of the atrocities suffered by Muslims in India, Chechnya, Palestine and across the globe. †¢ Basic Combat: Lashkar’s basic combat and terror methodology course,  the Daura Aam. †¢ Advanced Training: Selected to undergo advanced specialised training at a camp near Mansehra, a course the organisation calls the Daura Khaas. This includes advanced weapons and explosives training supervised by retired personnel of the Pakistan Army, along with survival training and further indoctrination. †¢ Finally, an even smaller group selected for specialised marine commando and navigation training given to the fidayeen unit selected to target Mumbai. From the batch of about 25, 10 were handpicked for the Mumbai mission. They also received training in swimming and sailing, besides the use of high-end weapons and explosives under the supervision of LeT commanders. According to a media report citing an unnamed former Defence Department Official of the US, the intelligence agencies of the US had determined that the former officers from Pakistan’s Army and Inter-Services Intelligence agency assisted actively and continuously in training. They were given blueprints of all the four targets – Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Oberoi Trident hotel and Nariman House. The type of training which he got completely washed his brain and it was enough to make him think only of destruction and only destruction. Feeling of hatred incited him against India to that level that he only wanted to kill Indians and to destroy India. Pakistanis give these terrorist institutions the name of militant organisations to hide these from the eyes of the world but these are recognised as terrorist groups in India, USA and UK. These institutions give militant training to those individuals who do not have sufficient money and gradually prepare them as a ‘militant terrorist’ in the name of ‘jihad’. ATTACKS Entry into India According to investigations the attackers traveled by sea from Karachi, Pakistan across the Arabian Sea, hijacked the Indian fishing trawler ‘Kuber’, killing the crew of four, and then forced the captain to sail to Mumbai. After killing the captain, the terrorists entered Mumbai on a rubber dinghy. The captain of ‘Kuber’, Amar Singh Solanki, had earlier been imprisoned for six months in a Pakistani jail for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters. The first events were detailed around 20:00 Indian Standard Time (IST) on 26 November, when 10 Urdu-speaking men in inflatable speedboats came ashore at two locations in Colaba. They reportedly told local Marathi-speaking fishermen who asked them who they were to â€Å"mind their own business† before they split up and headed two different ways. The fishermen’s subsequent report to police received little response. Involvement in Attack He was captured on CCTV during his attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with another terrorist, Ismail Khan. Ajmal Amir reportedly told the police that they wanted to replicate theIslamabad Marriott hotel attack, and reduce the Taj Hotel to rubble, replicating the 9/11 attacks in India. Ajmal Amir and his accomplice Abu Dera Ismail Khan, age 25, attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) railway station. They then moved on to attack a police vehicle (a white Toyota Qualis) at Cama Hospital, in which senior Mumbai police officers (Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, Encounter Specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police Ashok Kamte) were traveling. After killing them in a gun battle and taking two constables’ hostage in the Qualis, Ajmal Amir and Ismail Khan drove towards Metro cinema. Ajmal Amir joked about the bullet proof vests worn by the police and killed one constable when his mobile phone rang. They fired some shots into a crowd gathered at Metro Cinema. They then drove towards Vidhan Bhavan where they fired a few more shots. Their vehicle had a tire puncture, so  they stole a silver Ã…  koda Laura and drove towards Girgaum Chowpatty. Earlier, the D B Marg police had got a message from police control at about 10pm, saying that two heavily armed men were at large after gunning down commuters at CST. 15 policemen from D B Marg were sent to Chowpatty where they set up a double barricade on Marine Drive armed with 2 self-loading rifles (SLRs), two revolvers and lathis (or batons). The Skoda reached Chowpatty and halted 40 to 50 feet from the barricade. It then reversed and tried to make a U-turn. A shootout ensued and Abu Ismail was killed. Ajmal lay motionless playing dead. Assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who was armed only with a lathi(gapp), was killed when the police charged the car. Umbale took five bullets, but held on to Ajmal’s weapon, enabling his colleagues to capture him alive. A mob gathered and attacked the two terrorists. This incident was captured on video. Some reports said that Ajmal Amir was shot and had bullet wounds in his hand or both hands. There are other reports by doctors who treated him that he had no bullet wounds. While it is reported that he told the police that he was trained to â€Å"kill to the last breath†, when he was arrested, he pleaded with the medical staff: â€Å"I do not want to die. Put me on saline†. Later, after interrogation in the hospital by the police, he said: â€Å"Now, I do not want to live†, requesting the interrogators to kill him for the safety of his family in Pakistan who could be killed or tortured for his surrender to Indian police. Fidayeen terrorists are strictly instructed by Lashkar commanders not to be captured and interrogated, use aliases instead of their real names and hide their nationality. He is also quoted as saying â€Å"I have done right, I have no regrets†. Reports also surfaced that the group planned to escape safely after the attack, ruling out this being a suicide mission. It is also reported that he expressed to Indian police his willingness to switch loyalties, saying: â€Å"If you give me regular meals and money I will do the same that I did for them†. Ajmal Amir has told interrogators that right through the fighting, the Lashkar headquarters from Karachi, Pakistan remained in touch with the group, calling their phones through a voice-over-internet service. Investigators have succeeded in reconstructing the group’s journey through the Garmin GPS set that has been seized from him. The mail sent from a bogus group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claiming responsibility has been traced to a Russian proxy which was then traced back to Lahore, Pakistan with the help of the FBI. It was in fact the Lashkar-e-Toiba operating under an alternate name after being banned by U.S. Methodology The attackers had planned the attack several months ahead of time and knew some areas well enough for the attackers to vanish, and reappear after security forces had left. Several sources have quoted Kasab telling the police that the group received help from Mumbai residents. The attackers used at least three SIM cards purchased on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh, pointing to some local collusion. There were also reports of one SIM card purchased in New Jersey, USA. Police had also mentioned that Faheem Ansari, an Indian Lashkar operative who had been arrested in February 2008, had scouted the Mumbai targets for the November attacks. Later, the police arrested two Indian suspects, Mikhtar Ahmad, who is from Srinagar in Kashmir, and Tausif Rehman, a resident of Kolkata. They supplied the SIM cards, one in Calcutta, and the other in New Delhi. Type 86 Grenades made by China’s state-owned Norinco were used in the attacks. Blood tests on the attackers indicate that they had taken cocaine and LSD during the attacks, to sustain their energy and stay awake for 50 hours. Police say that they found syringes on the scenes of the attacks. There were also indications that they had been taking steroids. The gunman who survived said that the attackers had used Google Earth to familiarise themselves with the locations of buildings used in the attacks. DISPUTE ON NATIONALITY Dispute There was a dispute on the matter regarding the issue of nationality of Ajmal Kasab in the court. After the attacks, India asserted that Ajmal was a Pakistani national based on his confession and evidence gathered due to the information provided by him. Several reporters visited the village in Pakistan where Ajmal Amir said his family lived, and verified the facts provided by him. Former Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif confirmed that Ajmal Amir was from Faridkot village in Pakistan, and criticized President Zardari for cordoning off the village and not allowing his parents to meet anyone. Investigative journalist Saeed Shah travelled to Ajmal Amir’s village and produced national identity card numbers of his parents, Mohammed Amir and Noor Elahi soon after they themselves disappeared on the night of December 3, 2008. Also, the Mumbai Police said that much of the information that Ajmal Amir provided had proved to be accurate. He disclosed the location of a fishing trawler, MV Kuber, that the terrorists used to enter Mumbai’s coastal waters. He also told investigators where they would find the ship captain’s body, a satellite phone and a global-positioning device, which they did. Despite mounting evidence, Pakistani officials, including President Asif Ali Zardari, initially denied the assertion that Ajmal Amir was Pakistani. Pakistani government officials attempted to erase evidence that there was a Lashkar-e-Taiba office in Deepalpur, near Kasab’s village. The office was hurriedly closed in the week of December 7. Moreover, at Faridkot many residents and local plainclothes police appeared to be trying to hurriedly cover up Ajmal Amir’s connection with the village. The atmosphere turned hostile, and several reporters who went to Faridkot were roughed up. In early December, dealing a major blow to Pakistan’s claims, Ajmal Amir’s father admitted in an interview that the captured terrorist was his  son. In January 2009, a month after the attacks, Pakistan’s national security advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani admitted to Ajmal Amir being a Pakistani citizen while speaking to the CNN-IBN news channel. The Pakistan Government then hastily acknowledged that Ajmal was a Pakistani, but also announced that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had fired Durrani for â€Å"failing to take Gilani and other stakeholders into confidence† before making this information public, and for â€Å"a lack of coordination on matters of national security.† This is a satire on the administrative system of Pakistan. Kasab’s confession on Nationality The statement made by the Pakistani minister was contradicted by their own official and even Kasab. Kasab even admitted before the court that he is a Pakistani and belong to Faridkot in Pakistan. Kasab accepted before the trial judge that he was a Pakistani national and told the court that he is fine with government-provided lawyer to defend him. Kasab appeared before special judge M L Tahiliyani via video link from the Arthur Road jail where he is presently lodged in a high security cell giving the media the first glimpse of the surviving terrorist who along with his nine accomplices were involved in the carnage. Tahiliyani asked Kasab to identify himself and asked him where he was from. Kasab replied that he was from Faridkot, in Pakistan’s Punjab province. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS Kasab’s confession Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, in his dramatic confession before a special court Monday, said that he was a decorator by profession but since his income was little, he was attracted to ‘jehad’ (holy war). Through some contacts, he came in touch with the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and later underwent training under Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Abu Hamza, Abu Kafa and Abu Jhundal, the masterminds of the Nov 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks, at a place called Battal in Pakistan. Recounting how he joined terrorism, Kasab said he worked with Haji Sultan as a small-time decorator in Jhelum in Punjab province. It was a month before the Bakr-Eid festival, that co-worker Muzaffar and he spoke of how they were not making enough money from the work. Muzaffar suggested that they could indulge in thefts or dacoity to make more money. While on a visit to Rawalpindi, Kasab had approached some LeT activists whom they located in the Raja market. â€Å"I told them that I wanted to become a ‘jehadi.’ One of them enquired about where we stayed and asked us to bring our belongings there. Another accompanied us with a piece of paper on which Markaz Taiba Murqui was written and gave us some money,† he said. There they met more boys and joined them. After 21 days, Kasab was sent to Mansera, and then to Mankheda Aksa. Later, all the boys were taken to a hilly place called Battal where they were trained to operate pistols, guns, AK-47s and other weapons for 21 days. Later, they were sent to Daura Khaas for three months. Kasab said three people trained them – Abu Ansa, Abu Basheer and Abu Abdul Rehman. From Battal, he travelled to â€Å"Azad Kashmir†, the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where he met Sayeed. All the boys were taken to another camp and trained for three months by Abu Maviya, Abu Saiful Rehman, Abu Talaah and Abu Sariya. Here they learnt to operate rocket launchers, grenades and other deadly weapons. Later, Kasab said, he was given a week’s break to go home. Upon return, Sayeed, Abu Hamza and Abu Kafa selected some of the boys to go to Kashmir.  They also learnt swimming from Abu Imran and were for a month taken to Karachi, where they were trained to get acclimatised to the sea. They returned to Muzaffarabad in PoK, were given identity cards and clothes which they wore on the day of the Mumbai terror attacks. Kasab and Abu Ismail were the first to get out after landing at Colaba in south Mumbai that evening. They hailed a cab to go to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), as instructed by Hamza and left one bomb in the taxi and another at CST. After entering the CST, they opened fire as instructed by Hamza; Ismail lobbed grenades inside the station premises and opened fire from his AK-47. The duo continued firing and throwing grenades at regular intervals and continued moving ahead even as the security forces started confronting them and later surrounded them. Seeing little or no retaliation from the stunned police forces that night, the duo decided to take the CST subway, but Ismail beckoned him to go to Platform No. 1 where a train was waiting. They continued moving ahead in the direction of the bridge at the end of the station. They tried to force open some vehicles parked outside in a small lane. They saw a person coming from the opposite direction and Kasab killed him. Ismail started firing ahead and the duo jumped a short wall there and entered one of the wards of Cama Hospital. Ismail asked Kasab to wait at the hospital gate and he went inside, firing and later led him in. As they went inside, Kasab held a person as a shield after the police forces confronted them. They started firing and throwing grenades, outside the main gate they fired at a car and encountered firing from a jeep nearby. They hid behind a bush and later dragged out the limp bodies of three policemen and hijacked the jeep to go towards the Metro cinema junction. It was in Cama Hospital that Kasab and Ismail gunned down Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and his associate Vijay Salaskar. They also killed another senior police official, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, before hijacking the police jeep. However, they kept moving in circles and by then, the jeep had developed a flat tyre. Kasab was also injured on his right elbow and left wrist and pleaded that he could not do anything more. Ismail urged him on and said that even he had sustained a bullet on his knee. Then they saw a Skoda car, they ordered the passengers – a couple, to stop, forcibly took the keys from them and took the vehicle, blindly following another car as they did not know where to proceed. At a point on the road (Girgaum Chowpatty), they saw a police barricade, and when they were ordered to stop, Ismail attempted to take a u-turn on the road, but failed. The police rushed towards them and dragged out Kasab and hammered him with a baton, snatched his gun and attacked him in the tummy with the butt. Kasab claimed that he did not fire at anyone at that juncture and had lost consciousness. When he revived, he found himself at Nair Hospital, under arrest by the Mumbai police. TRIAL Chargesheet Indian investigators filed a formal 11,000 page Chargesheet against Kasab on 25 February 2009. Due to the fact that the chargesheet was written in Marathi and English, Kasab had requested that an Urdu translation of the charge sheet be given to him. Kasab has been charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war against India along with other crimes. His trial was to have started on April 15 but was put off as his lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had been dismissed for a conflict of interest. He has gotten a new lawyer named Abbas Kazmi. On 28 April, he wrote a letter through his lawyer to the magistrate  requesting a perfume bottle, a toothpaste, Urdu Times newspaper and permission to walk in the adjacent varandah alongside his barack. He also requested the court to deposit the amount (given to him by the terrorists) seized from him by police into his jail account. Time line of Proceedings On 26 Nov 2008, Ujjwal Nikam was appointed as Public Prosecutor. In Jan 2009, M L Tahiliyani was appointed as judge to conduct the trial. In Feb 2009, an 11,000-page charge sheet was served on Kasab. In Mar 2009, advocate Anjali Waghmare was appointed as Kasab’s lawyer. Kasab appeared through video-conferencing. In Apr 2009, Waghmare was removed as Kasab’s lawyer. Abbas Kazmi was appointed as defence lawyer in mid-April. Trial began on April 17, 2009. On 20 Apr 2009, the prosecution submitted a list of charges, including the murder of 166 people. On 6 May 2009 Kasab pleaded not guilty to 86 charges. In May 2009, an eye witness identified Kasab in court. Another said he saw Kasab and nine others arrive by boat. Two doctors who treated him, identified him. On 2 June 2009, Kasab told the judge he now also understood Marathi. In June 2009, the special court issued non-bailable warrants against 22 absconding accused including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed and chief of operations of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Zaki-ur-Rehman Laqvi. On 20 July 2009 Kasab retracted his non-guilty plea and pleaded guilty to all  charges, but his trial will continue. Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview with Thai publication The Nation during the ASEAN conference in Phuket in July 2009 that had Kasab been educated, he wouldn’t have been a terrorist. On 18 December 2009, Kasab says he is innocent, he was framed and tortured by Indian Police. In a surprising U-turn he claims to have come to Mumbai 20 days ago and was simply roaming at Juhu beach when police arrested him. Details of proceedings Ajmal Amir has written to the Pakistani High Commission in India requesting help and legal aid. In the letter, he confirmed the nationality of himself and the nine slain terrorists as Pakistani. He also asked the Pakistani High Commission to take custody of the body of fellow terrorist Ismail Khan, who was killed in an encounter in south Mumbai on the night of November 26. Pakistani officials confirmed the receipt of the letter and were reported to be studying its details. However, no further updates were given on the matter by Pakistan. Kasab’s trial was delayed due to legal issues, as many Indian lawyers were unwilling to represent him. A Mumbai Bar Association passed a resolution proclaiming that none of its members would represent Kasab. However, the Chief Justice of India stated that Kasab needed a lawyer for a fair trial. A lawyer for Kasab was eventually found, but was replaced due to a conflict of interest. On February 25, 2009, Indian investigators filed an 11,000-page Chargesheet, formally charging Kasab with murder, conspiracy, and waging war against India among other charges. Kasab’s trial began on 6 May 2009. He initially pleaded not guilty, but later admitted his guilt on 20 July 2009. He initially apologized for the attacks and claimed that he deserved the death penalty for his crimes, but later retracted these claims, saying that he had been tortured by police to force his confession, and that he had been arrested while roaming the beach. The court had accepted his plea, but due to the lack of completeness within his admittance, the judge  had deemed that many of the 86 charges were not addressed and therefore the trial will continue. Kasab could, and will almost certainly, be hanged if given the maximum penalty of death. Indian and Pakistani police have exchanged DNA evidence, photographs and items found with the attackers to piece together a detailed portrait of the Mumbai plot. Police in Pakistan have arrested seven people, including Hammad Amin Sadiq, a homeopathic pharmacist, who arranged bank accounts and secured supplies, and he and six others begin their formal trial on 3 Oct 2009 in Pakistan, though Indian authorities say the prosecution stops well short of top Lashkar leaders. In November 2009, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Pakistan has not done enough to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice. On the eve of the first anniversary of 26/11, a Pakistani anti-terror court has formally charged seven accused, including LeT operations commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi. Ujjawal Nikam, public prosecutor in the matter of Kasab, said there was ample evidence to show Kasab and the two arrested accused, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, were part of the conspiracy hatched in Pakistan to strike terror in the financial capital. He said foreign experts would be examined but their names and addresses should be kept secret. Nikam also said that further investigations in this case were on and supplementary chargesheet would be filed later. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the court that Kasab, the prime accused in the case, would be charged with murder of 166 persons in the attack unleashed by Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT on November 26, 2008 here. Although he was not directly involved in killing all 166 persons, Kasab was an active member of conspiracy hatched in Pakistan to commit terror attacks in India, Nikam said in his brief preliminary address to open the case. Kazmi who had earlier defend to 30 accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast trial, told the court he was willing to defend Kasab. Nikam said 1,820 witnesses had been cited but only potential among them will be examined. Prosecution would place 750 articles and 1350 documents as  evidence. Nikam told the court that Kasab was directly involved in seven different cases of terror attacks. These pertain to murder of five crew of ‘Kuber’ boat, including its navigator Amar Singh Solanki, bomb blast in a taxi at suburban Vile Parle, firing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Cama Hospital firing attack, killing of three police officers near Cama Hospital and theft of Skoda car and attack on police team near Chowpatty, he said. In all these cases, Kasab was involved with co-conspirator Ismail Khan, who was killed in police encounter near Chowpatty, Nikam alleged. He said there are five other cases in which Kasab has been charged with murder conspiracy, although he had not directly participated in them. These are firing in Hotel Taj Mahal, Hotel Oberoi, Restaurant Leopold Cafe, Nariman House and bomb explosion in a taxi at Mazgaon. The court took on record advocate Ejaz Naqvi as defence counsel for Faheem Ansari and Ahmed. Since Naqvi did not appear in morning session and Faheem sought time to appoint another lawyer, the court asked Faheem’s wife to call Naqvi to the court. Later, he came and told the court that he would continue to defend Faheem. Demanded trial by International Court The alleged gunman in the 2008 bloody siege of Mumbai said he should be tried by an international court because he does not expect justice in India. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 21, told a special court that police had falsely implicated him in the case. â€Å"I should be tried in an international court,† he told Judge M.L. Tahiliyani. Earlier Kasab retracted his confession that he sprayed gunfire into a crowd at the railroad station. He also said police tortured him into admitting having a role in the attacks. Kasab also said thathe wanted to call witnesses from Pakistan for his defense, and that he should be allowed to meet Pakistani officials. Witnesses would include a passport officer, he said, without providing other details. The judge asked him to file a petition through his attorney. Kasab could face the death penalty if convicted. Murder and conspiracy to wage war against India are among the charges he faces. Kasab told the judge he came to Mumbai as a tourist and was arrested 20 days before the siege began. On the day the attacks started, Kasab said police took him from his cell because he resembled one of the gunmen. They then shot him to make it look as if he had been involved in the attacks and re-arrested him, Kasab said. ANALYSIS It is mockery of the Indian Judicial System that even the charge is proved on the convict but the trail is going on. In the month of July last year the convict pleaded guilty of all the charges, but the Judge said that the other 86 cases have not been addressed therefore the trial should continue and in the month of September he again told the court that he was forced to plead for guilty by the Indian police. Has anyone think over it that if the verdict would have been given as soon as he pleaded guilty what would happen? Such kinds of questions were raised, and will raise on Indian Judicial System if it will continue to follow such kind of path. The Court should has given its verdict on the basis of the evidences produced by the public, eye witnesses and moreover the acceptance of the charge by the convict. The other matters could have been addressed later on. Even there was news that Kasab giggle over the question asked by the judge and made fun of it. This is a satire on the discipline of the courts. The judge has to order him to  behave in the court. This clearly shows that giving a chance of fair trial to convict made him to perceive as nothing is going to happen to him for the next ten years. People have such kind of mentality towards the Judicial System. If a suit has been filed in a court then the guilty has nothing to do with it for many years. Our Judicial System needs changes. This system has to be discarded and a new system should be introduced. Indian Police is not required to file a charge sheet of 11,000 pages and judges are needed not to give judgements running through thousand of pages. A simple and logical statement is sufficient for the parties involved in it and for the general public as well. In my view this trial of Ajmal Kasab should be finished because there is nothing more to think over it. Otherwise it will lead to expenditure of more and more money of the government on such a heinous criminal, which is of no worth.

Essay about Music throughout Society - 961 Words

Music throughout Society Weve been talking a lot about social rituals. Well, just what exactly is a social ritual? Social rituals are, basically, traditions or customs that a society has followed for many years. For example, in America, most people follow the custom of dating. In Israel, they tend to follow the tradition of arranged marriages. Yet, in some countries, they use courtship. Even though all three of these approaches to finding a mate are different, they all are very similar because they are all Social Mating Rituals. Now, of course, mating isnt the only social ritual. The way our culture responds to and views death is a social ritual in and of itself. So is the way we do warfare. The way we eat and the way we clothe†¦show more content†¦Many artists knew this to be true and took advantage of it. Music rapidly began to influence every aspect of American lives. It was heard in their homes, cars, offices, theaters, movies, elevators and countless other places. Music made its way everywhere. The songs that were sung defined what every American loved and worked for. It gave people hope and joy, as well as bringing out every other emotion possible. Music was around during the bad times as well as the good. When people were down there were songs they could relate to, and when they were happy there were songs they could sing and dance to (Ennis, 1992). In the 1920s the first pop music began with the big bands. They were a popular choice for many listeners, but new forms of it were already starting to branch. Swing and Jazz soon became very popular styles of music. They mainly consisted of several trumpets, saxophones, and even stringed instruments. A deeper bass, piano and percussion then supported them. Jazz got its influence from African-American folk music, such as ragtime, fife and drum bands, string bands and spirituals. Because of the newness of Jazz music, it exploded though out the United States quickly. Jazz had a huge impact on the people of the early 1900s. It lessened racism to some degree, and started opening peoples minds to other forms of dancing, which was considered an indecent act among many societies. African-American people gained a little more acceptance through Jazz musicShow MoreRelatedThe Master I Picked Was Maurice Ravel1038 Words   |  5 Pagesof the performance is Daphnis et Chloà ©, No. 2. I chose thi s performance because the description interested me. The music is described as being a piece from a performance inspired by a Greek love story. I had no idea what to expect before listening to the music, but I was not disappointed in the slightest. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by this orchestral performance. The music was performed by an instrumental-only orchestra. 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