PUDUKUDIYYIRIPPU: Tamil Tigers supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran and his top aides were recently missed by a whisker by the security forces, a top Sri Lankan commander said, claiming that the rebel leader had limited options either to give up or commit suicide.
"We got to know that Prabhakaran had moved through the Pudukudiryirippu-Iranmalai road on a day between March 29-31, just about two days before the army fully laid seige to that area," GoC 58 Division Brig Shavendra Silva said.
"Yes I regret we missed him by a whisker or else things could have been over faster," he said, adding Prabhakaran cannot escape through the road.
Silva said things have come to such a head that women had to hide their son in a hole dug in and covered by the kitched fire place to escape the prying LTTE men on the look out for new Tiger fighters near the 'no-fire zone'.
The senior LTTE leader Daya Master also told the army during interrogation that "only sea tiger leader Soosai, the coordinating LTTE army head Pottu Amman and Prabhakaran's son Charles Anthony are going to stay with him".
"The rest of the senior aides will try to escape as I did," Shavendra Silva quoted Daya Master, the former LTTE media coordinator, to say.
"Yes Prabhakaran lived around here not far ago and people suffered here under him," Silva told reporters who visited the war one.
According to another senior military officer, Prabhakaran is facing "reverses after reverses" in his struggle for a separate Eelam state.
Many Tiger cadres have been forced to give their lives "under duress", since Prabhakaran introduced suicide bombers, mostly young women, and targeted major government installations, including military headquarters and international airport in Sri Colombo, he said.
The media were also allowed a brief chat with the famished looking IDPS passing through the Pudukudiyirippu area.
"The LTTE does not have to tell us anything. We dare not to try to escape as they have sophisticated weapons and we had to wait for our time to come to escape," Arumugam, an IDP, said.
No evidence to suggest India backing Pak rebels: Holbrooke
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should focus on militancy within its borders instead of worrying about India's presence in Afghanistan as there is no evidence to suggest that New Delhi is backing the extremists, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke has said.
"Pakistan does not have to worry about India in Afghanistan. They need to worry about the miscreants in western Pakistan," Holbrooke said in an interview with Geo News channel at the US state department in Washington.
"Now if the Indians were supporting those miscreants that would be extraordinarily bad (and) really dangerous. But they're not. There is no evidence at all that the Indians are supporting the miscreants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas or North West Frontier Province or Waziristan. None," he said.
Holbrooke was responding to a question on Pakistan's concerns about India's presence in Afghanistan. He noted that India has been playing a key role in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.
"India has given Afghanistan about USD 1 billion in assistance. They're rebuilding the parliament building, they've built a very useful road in the southwestern part of the country leading down towards Iran. They're training agricultural experts, they're giving scholarships. The Indians have published a pamphlet on what they're doing. I don't think that should be cause of concern for Pakistan."
Taliban stop Pak troops from entering Swat
Islamabad, April 25: Taliban fighters Saturday prevented a convoy of security forces from entering their stronghold in the northwestern Swat valley, a day after the Pakistan Army chief pledged to eliminate militants who challenge the writ of the state.
A convoy of seven army trucks was stopped by armed Taliban militants at Qambar, a small town near Mingora, the main city in Swat valley, witnesses and Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said.
Witnesses said the convoy withdrew from Qambar after the Taliban forced the troops to go back, averting any clash.
There was no official reaction to the Taliban preventing the convoy from entering Swat. Sources said local authorities were consulting Taliban leaders to convince them to allow the convoy to move into the area.
The Taliban action could lead to a worsening in the situation as army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani announced yesterday that his force is "determined to root out the menace of terrorism" and "would not allow the militants to dictate terms to the government or impose their way of life on the civil society".
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters that the deployment of additional troops in Swat is against a peace deal signed in February to introduce Islamic laws in Malakand division, which includes Swat.
121 infiltrators entered India, says Pak terrorist
The Pakistani terrorists, who was arrested during the Gurez (Jammu and Kashmir) encounter in March, revealed in a press conference held by the Army in Srinagar that 121 Pakistani infiltrators have entered India crossing the LoC.
The Army however said that only 31 of them were terrorists, the rest, the army claims were porters and guides who have gone back to Pakistan.
The terrorist, Syed Moinullah, said that he is from Deer district in the North West Frontier Province and had crossed over with a group of terrorists drawn from four organisations, including the LeT and the Jaish.
He also revealed that nine of the terrorists were killed but the rest are roaming free. This confirms the NDTV report earlier this week that more than a hundred terrorists had infiltrated into India in the Gurez sector.
Infiltration by Pakistani terrorists along the LoC and international border has been on the rise in the last couple of months.
In perhaps one of the biggest arms hauls in Jammu and Kashmir in recent times, the Army has recovered a huge quantity of explosives, arms and ammunition from the Shamshabari Range of Gurez Sector.
The haul includes 32 kg of RDX, many AK-47s rifles and grenade launchers among others.
The arrested militant spoke about the operation at the press conference.
"We were sent so commanders here could use us for operations. I was caught when I was trying to return to Pakistan," he said.
He also said that militants who operate in India have nothing to do with Taliban.
Indian Business News
Anil Ambani's firm says rivals tried to kill him
Mumbai: A day after Anil Ambani's helicopter was found to have been tampered with, Reliance Communications on Friday claimed business rivals were planning to kill the billionaire industrialist.
Mud and pebbles were found inside the seven-seater VT-RCL Bell 412 helicopter's gear box on Thursday evening.
The company in its complaint claimed that Anil, who is the Chairman of the Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, and other senior officials were also under threat.
A complaint was filed by senior pilot of Reliance Transport and Travels Private Limited Captain RN Joshi with the Mumbai Police CoMmissioner's office, Maharashtra Chief Minister's office, Maharasthra Home Minister's office, Chief Secretary's office, Joint Commissioner of Police's office and also at the Santa Cruz Police Station.
The complainant claimed that the planned manner in which the pebbles and gravel were put in the filler cap at a height of 10 feet in the gear box clearly showed that some one possibly business rivals were attempting to take the life of Anil Ambani.
The helicopter was standing outside a hangar at the Mumbai Airport, when mud and pebbles were found in the gear box of the helicopter.
Reliance Transports and Travels Private Limited is the owner and operator of helicopter. Airworks India Engineering Private Limited which maintains the Bell 412 helicopter says it has filed a case against one of its own employees for allegedly putting mud and pebbles into the chopper's gear box.
Anil had bought the helicopter for his private use in 2007.
Wipro applies thought, cuts costs but saves jobs
Bangalore: Companies have cut salaries, said no to promotions and are not giving increments to survive in a shrinking economy. All that is too drastic for Wipro Technologies--India’s third largest software exporter is innovating.
Wipro, as part of its efforts to manage rising HR costs, is giving employees the option of either working fewer days or going on a sabbatical. The offers are part of Wipro's skill augmentation and flex employment or SAFE program launched six months ago. The programme has two components called Project Enrich and Project Rejuvenate.
Enrich focuses on employees who have been on the bench for anywhere between three to six months. These employees can choose to work just 10 days in a month, and take a salary cut of 50 percent on their cost to company.
Wipro says employees opting for Enrich will be absorbed into projects as opportunities arise, after a two-week notice. “We do not see any immediate visibility of them being employed. They are good resources and we don't want to lose them but neither do we want to do anything drastic,” says Pratik Kumar, head of human resources at Wipro.
‘Rejuvenate’ is for senior employees and allows them to take a sabbatical and either join an NGO, or pursue a hobby, and draw just 25 percent of their CTC. Wipro says the response has been good.
“We have been able to get a thousand people interested in this programme. I think this speaks very well (of the programme),” says Kumar.
Wipro had offered employees on the bench at its Kolkata centre the option of joining the company’s BPO arm but this was not well received. Cutting HR costs is important for the company, as it is set to take on 7,000 employees who were offered jobs last year, and 8,000 more in FY10.
Indian Sports News
Tennis Australia is 'arrogant, irresponsible': India
New Delhi:All India Tennis Association lashed out at Australia for pulling out of next month's Davis Cup tie against India, saying they have acted in an "arrogant" and "irresponsible" manner "by creating a situation solely out of their mind and not based on facts".
AITA also said it would convey its sentiments to the International Tennis Federation in a letter following Australia withdrawing from the May 8-10 Asia-Oceania Group I tie barely a day after the game's governing body rejected its plea to shift the match from Chennai.
"Despite the ITF security team had given an excellent report that India is safe for the Aussie players, they have pulled out of the tie. This indicates a certain order of arrogance and a highly irresponsible action on the part of Tennis Australia," Khanna told reporters.
In a letter sent to AITA, Tennis Australia President Geoff Pollard had cited "high security risk during Indian election" as the reason for pulling out of the tie.
"We asked for the tie to be moved because we have major security concerns for players, particularly during (Indian) election. The ITF decision has left us with no other option but not to send the team. It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk," Pollard had said in the letter.
But, Khanna was not amused and said TA's decision might have been influenced by the players who do not want to come to India.
"We have got the letter and are extremely disappointed with their decision. The reasons cited for pulling out of the tie reflect their ignorance. They are creating a situation solely out of their mind and not based on facts. We will intimate our sentiments to ITF in writing," he said.
Knight Riders looking to bounce back
CAPE TOWN: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be eager to bounce back from their disappointing Super Over loss against Rajasthan Royals, when they
face runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday.
Knight Riders came close to winning on Thursday but it was the brilliance of Kamran Khan and Yusuf Pathan, who turned the match in the favour of defending champions Rajasthan Royals.
Knight Riders have just one victory in three matches and are lying in the seventh spot in the eight-team league.
Last year's runner-up Super Kings have also one win in three matches and will be desperately looking for two full points against Knight Riders at the Newlands.
Though their batting has looked good, Super Kings' problem has been their bowling, specially at the death. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have to do some work to sort out his team's bowling.
"I thought we bowled badly at the death. This is one area we need to improve and I hope the bowlers will pay attention to this. We conceded at least 20 to 30 runs extra," said Dhoni.
The onus once again will be on batsmen Matthew Hayden and Dhoni to put the runs on the board for Super Kings. The absence of England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff will be a blow for the Chennai team. Flintoff has been ruled out of the IPL and will fly back home for surgery of a knee injury.
For Knight Riders, skipper Brendon McCullum is yet to shine with the bat and the focus will be on him to give a good start along with Chris Gayle, who has been in terrific touch.
Sourav Ganguly, who came close to winning the match against Royals with a defiant knock, will be eager to prove himself again. Ganguly also played a crucial role with the ball against Kings XI Punjab.
Photo Gallery Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers
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