COLOMBO: Two key Tamil Tiger officials surrendered Wednesday as Sri Lankan troops pressed a final offensive against the rebels despite an international outcry over the fate of trapped civilians.
Among the top rebels who turned themselves in was the Tigers' main mouthpiece to the outside world, their chief spokesman Velayudam Dayanidi, better known as Daya Master.
Another official, who was an aide to the late head of the Tigers' political wing, S.P. Thamilselvan, also surrendered.
The government's defence spokesman said more than 80,000 people had fled the shrinking patch of territory still controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), saying troops were "rescuing" and not harming civilians caught up in the war.
"Our operations to rescue civilians is continuing," Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters, describing the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a spent force with just 12 square kilometres (five square miles) of land left.
"The LTTE has lost all its military capabilities. They are fighting a losing battle," he said, adding the government also "strongly believes" that Tamil Tiger leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran, 54, was still in the area.
The defence ministry gave Prabhakaran and his fighters until Tuesday to surrender, but the rebels ignored the deadline and have continued to fight.
The LTTE, who have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1972, has acknowledged losing ground. But the group has accused the government of killing 1,000 civilians in recent days.
The military insists it has aided the escape of 81,420 men, women and children this week. It said those fleeing were fired on by the rebels, who are alleged to have kept villagers to use as human shields.
The rival claims are hard to verify as independent reporters are not allowed near the conflict zone, but aid agencies have painted a grim picture.
"The situation is nothing short of catastrophic," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, operations director for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
"What we are seeing is intense fighting in a very small area overcrowded with civilians who have fled there," he said.
He estimated there could be tens of thousands more people still inside rebel-held territory, while facilities for those who had reached relative safety were overstretched.
The United States and other nations have urged both Sri Lankan troops and Tiger rebels not to fire indiscriminately, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has asked that UN staff be allowed to enter the area for relief operations.
"The casualties are certainly in the thousands and have been fairly consistently high running throughout the last couple of months, as the patch of (LTTE) territory has narrowed and really diminished," said Gordon Weiss, the UN spokesman in Colombo.
The apparent endgame in Sri Lanka has triggered protests around the world, with up to 30,000 Tamil demonstrators clogging the Canadian capital Ottawa to press for mediation.
Similar rallies have been held in London and Paris.
The LTTE were once considered as one of the world's most efficient guerrilla outfits, lording over a third of Sri Lanka's territory and running a de facto mini-state.
A Norwegian-brokered truce between the government and the rebels began falling apart in December 2005, and fighting since then has seen the progressive collapse of the rebel army.
Last month the UN's human rights chief said both sides in the conflict may be guilty of war crimes.
Now, Sanjay says sorry to Maya, calls her sister
Wednesday, Apr 22, 2009 at 1555 hrs IST:In the eye of a storm for his "Jadu ki Jhappi" remarks, Sanjay Dutt apologised on Wednesday for the statement, saying the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister was just like a sister to him.
In the reply sent to the District Magistrate and district election officer Pinki Jowal faxed on Tuesday night, the actor and SP leader apologised for the remarks and said it was a mere dialogue from his Bollywood blockbuster Munnabhai series which were used in the rally to spread a message of love in society.
Saying Mayawati was just like a sister to him, Dutt held that the dialogue was from a brother to a sister to strengthen the bonds.
"Even so, if the dialogue has hurt the sentiments of anyone I apologise for it", Dutt said in his reply.
A show cause notice was served to Dutt for his remarks against the BSP supremo during an April 16 election meeting in Pratapgarh. The district election officer had given him three days time to file his reply.
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Three FIRs have been registered against Dutt for his alleged remarks against Mayawati that he will "give 'jaadu ki jhappi and pappi' (magical hug and kiss) to the people of Pratapgarh, and given a chance he will do the same with the BSP supremo Mayawati".
Maoists strike in Jharkhand, Bihar, WB
Latehar/Patna/Kokata, April 22: Striking on the second phase poll eve, Maoists on Wednesday seized a train carrying nearly 700 passengers in Jharkhand's Latehar district for over four hours and bombed a BDO's office and shot a driver after setting ablaze trucks in Bihar.
The Maoists took control of the Gomo-Mughalsarai BDM train near Hehegarha railway station at about 7:30 AM and released it at 11:39 AM without harming any of the passengers, Senior Divisional Railway Manager, Dhanbad, Neeraj Ambast said. Latehar is about 125 kms from Ranchi.
The train, with nine coaches, was packed to capacity with about 700 passengers on board, Railway PRO in Dhanbad, Amerendra Das said.
A block development office in Bihar's Aurangabad district was blasted by Maoists who set ablaze eight trucks in neighbouring Gaya where they shot dead a driver during a 24-hour bandh called by the ultras in Bihar and Jharkhand to protest killing of their cadres by security forces.
A series of landmine blasts rocked West Bengal's Lalgarh area, about 150 kms from Kolkata, after three CPI-M activists were killed by suspected Maoists in adjoining Salboni region last night in West Midnapore district.
Alarmed by the attacks, Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta reviewed the situation at high-level meeting in New Delhi in naxal-affected areas of Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, where polling will be held on Thursday.
Gupta said to a news agency that helicopters have been station in naxal-hit states to carry out aerial surveillance and provide better logistical support to the security forces and launch prompt measures to counter the Maoists.
"Appropriate security arrangements have been made. The priority is to ensure that the polls are held smoothly and efforts to disrupt the democratic process do not succeed," he said after the meeting.
In widespread violence during the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 16, as many as 19 security force personnel were killed in planned attacks by the Maoists in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar.
Referring to the Latehar train seige, A K Chandra, CPRO, East Central Zone of the Railways, said, "The train had been disable by disconnection of the break pipe." Security forces, including CRPF, had moved from nearby areas of Patratu, Bharwadi, Latehar and Daltonganj to the site immediately after the incident, he said.
Latehar Deputy Commissioner Sarvendu Tathagat said, "The target of the Maoists was the police....The police forces were moving cautiously."
According to police, a group of naxalites had warned the station master against any movement of trains during their bandh.
Business News:
Yahoo Q1 profit dips 78 per cent
New York:Internet giant Yahoo! will reduce global workforce by five per cent and has reported a 78 per cent decline in net income in the first quarter amid slacking advertising revenues.
The company has posted a net income to USD 118 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2009, against USD 537 million in the corresponding year-ago period.
The revenue decreased by 13 per cent to USD 1.58 billion in the quarter from USD 1.81 billion in the year-ago period.
"Yahoo! expects to reduce its number of current employees worldwide by approximately five per cent. The majority of impacted employees are expected to be notified within the next two weeks," the company has said in a statement.
The company has a significant presence in India and has about 1,500 employees in the country. In 2008, Yahoo's global headcount was about 15,000.
The company's marketing services revenues from owned and operated sites were USD 872 million for the first quarter of 2009, a 10 per cent dip from USD 966 million in the same quarter last year.
"The decrease was driven by a three per cent decline in search advertising revenue and a 13 per cent decline in display advertising," it added.
HCL Tech dips 13% amid weak Q3 results
Mumbai:Shares of HCL Technologies, on Wednesday, dipped 13.29 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange in the morning trade after the company reported a dismal performance in the third quarter.
Shares of HCL Technologies slipped 13.29 per cent to touch a low of Rs 120 on the BSE. It was later trading at Rs 130.60, down 5.64 per cent.
Similar movement was seen on the National Stock Exchange, where the stock slipped 8.43 per cent to touch a low of Rs 126.50. It was later quoting at Rs 130.35, down 5.65 per cent.
A total of over 10.96 lakh shares changed hands on both the bourses.
HCL Technologies today reported a 42 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 152.57 crore for the third quarter ended March 31, 2009, while it had a net profit of Rs 263.08 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
The total income of the company also fell to Rs 1,048.90 crore in the quarter under review, against Rs 1,275.58 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.
IPL Cricket News
CSK look to keep winning momentum against Daredevils
DURBAN: After bouncing back from their opening match defeat, last year's runners-up Chennai Super Kings will look to maintain their winning
momentum as they take on Delhi Daredevils
in their Indian Premier League match on Thursday.
Chennai Super Kings had a shaky start when they lost to Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener but Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men bounced back in the next match drubbing the Bangalore Royal Challengers by 92 runs.
With purple cap wearer Australian Matthew Hayden in great touch even after his retirement, CSK have no less a batting firepower than the formidable looking batting line-up of the Daredevils and cracker of a match is on the cards tomorrow.
Hayden, the current leading scorer, smashed the second fastest fifty in IPL en route to his 35-ball 65 and in company with Parthiv Patel plundered 106 runs for the opening wicket against Bangalore.
Chennai have some fine all-rounders in England's Andrew Flintoff and South African Albie Morkel and with left-hander Suresh Raina also finding his form with a valuable 28 against Bangalore, there doesn't seem to be any major chink in their batting resources.
Delhi Daredevils have also some in-form batsmen in their ranks with skipper Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir showing no problems in scoring 58 runs in 4.5 overs to notch up a 10-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab in their rain-truncated first match.
Even though rain Gods played a role in the win, Sehwag had made it clear that they have the firepower to chase down the original score of 104 in 12 overs.
The pundits' favourites, Delhi also boast of some quality players like big hitter David Warner and old warhorse Glenn McGrath, who are still to make an appearance in the second edition of the Twenty20 extravaganza.
Among pacers, the Daredevils will depend on exuberance of Indian youngsters Pradeep Sangwan, Yo Mahesh and Australian Dirk Nannes, while Super Kings will have the task entrusted on Manpreet Gony, Laxmipathi Balaji and all-rounders Flintoff and Morkel.
And with spinners dominating the game so far, tomorrow's match would also be a clash between New Zealander Daniel Vettori and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan, both scalping three wickets in their last matches.
Gilchrist leads Deccan charge
NEW DELHI: Deccan Chargers lost two wickets but captain Adam Gilchrist hit a swashbuckling half-century to take his team to 91/2 in 10 overs in
the eighth match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League against Bangalore Royal Challengers at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Batting first after winning the toss, Gilchrist reached his 50 off 31 deliveries with the help of 3 sixes and 6 fours. He is still at the crease on 58 that has come off 35 balls, studded with 4 sixes and 6 fours.
Jesse Ryder, who was not played in the last match, struck with his first ball when he had VVS Laxman (5) caught by Dale Steyn at long off.
Praveen Kumar took some beating from Gilchrist before he changed ends and trapped Herschelle Gibbs plumb in front of the wicket. Gibbs hit a six and a four in his 13-run knock that came off 7 balls.
Bangalore have replaced R Vinay Kumar and Ross Taylor with Karan Sharma and Jesse Ryder.
Teams:
Deccan Chargers: Adam Gilchrist (Capt.), Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Harmeet Singh, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh, Ravi Teja, Fidel Edwards.
Bangalore Royal Challengers: Kevin Pietersen (Capt.), Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Karan Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn, Rajesh Bishnoi.
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