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The ghazal singers never write ghazals. They only select the ghazals from the published works of the poets. For instance the "Waseem Barelvi" ghazal that is included in the article, might get published in a book by Waseem Barelvi. Jagjit Singh might get hold of that book, like the ghazal, and then compose it as per his mood and style. He would then contact Waseem Barelvi for all the necessary copyrights and then proceed to record and release it in his album. Similarly, Ghulam Ali may also read this ghazal, like it and proceed in a similar manner to record it for his album. All the ghazals of the traditional poets (such as Ghalib, Meer, Zauq etc.) have been sung by different singers in their own style. It often raises the question, as to whose version is the best, which in my opinion is not correct, since each artist has his or her own style of singing.
Usually, the ghazal singers compose the music on their own. Though there is no rule on the same. For instance, Begum Akhtar has a lot of ghazals which she did not compose on her own. In Jagjit and Chitra Singh's case, it was Jagjit ji who composed the music for the ghazals which Chitra ji rendered. In fact, many hold the opinion (including Chitra ji) that Jagjit ji is the best composer of written poetry, anyone has heard till date.
"Nazm" is the natural form of poetry, which we know as poems in English literature. They do not have the matla-radif-qafiya rule to be followed, and they are written in stanzas unlike couplets in ghazals. Whereas the couplets of ghazals are not tied to each other in thought or theme, nazms are always on a particular topic. The discipline of 'beher' remains the same for both formats, though. The Urdu Poetry Archive has an excellent article on "nazm."
Gino: My familiarity with classical Indian music is limited to raga, and isn't profound there. I take it that "raag" is your transliteration of "raga." (I don't propose that you change it; I just want to be sure.) Perhaps we can provide a link to a good site on Indian classical music for those readers who'd like more background. Most Westerners, if they know anything about the subject, know about Ravi Shankar who influenced the Beatles and played widely with Western musicians. Perhaps readers like that would like more information.
Niranjan: Yes, as per pronounciaton in Hindi, it is 'Raag'. When romanised, it is transliterated to 'Raaga', the 'a' at the end simply denotes the implicit 'a' sound every consonant has at the end, in these languages.
Indian classical music is divided into 2 distinct forms:
One is the Hindustani classical music, which is prelevant in north India and Pakistan.
The best starting point for it would be the Wikipedia entry.
The other is the Carnatic music, which is prelevant in south India. Hariharan is the only popular artist of the South, who has a distinct touch of Carnatic style of rendering ghazals. The Wikipedia entry for Carnatic music is a good starting point.
Pandit Ravi Shankar, belongs to the Hindustani classical music form.