A man convicted of raping and murdering a teenage girl was hanged at dawn, in India’s first execution in nine years, as dozens of anti-death penalty protesters held a vigil outside the prison.

Manmohan Singh, the Oxford-educated economist who crafted India’s economic liberalisation policies, was sworn in as prime minister today, placing the Congress party back in control of the nation after eight years on the sidelines.

Political uncertainty and financial panic swept India today as the stock market was shut down after it worst-ever plunge and two powerful communist parties refused to join a new government alliance under Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.