Sania-Santangelo in Dubai Open pre-quarters

Sania Mirza and her Italian partner Mara Santangelo advanced to the doubles pre-quarterfinals of the $2 million Dubai Tennis Championships after getting a walkover from Poland's Urszula Radwanska and Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in the first round here.

An injury to Radwanska forced the Polish-American pair to give away the match to their opponents.

Sania and Sanatangelo now have a tough job at hand as they face top seeded pair of Zimbabwean Cara Black and American Lizel Huber in the second round.

Sania's singles campaign had ended ON Tuesday after losing her second round match to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
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India ready to help Lankans in evacuation: Pranab

Reacting on the ongoing struggle between Sri Lankan army and the LTTE, India has said that it is ready to help in the evacuation of civilians in the war-torn area of the island nation.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha over the issue, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, "Conditions of civilians in Sri Lanka a serious concern for us and the government is ready to help in the evacuation of civilians in Sri Lanka."

Mukherjee also said that the rebel group LTTE is using civilians as human shields against the army.

"After 23 years of conflict, there is a chance for a political settlement in Lanka and devolution of powers in the country would be a significant step," he said.

He also said that the LTTE has done much damage to Tamil community and it should release all civilians and lay down arms for the interest of the Tamil community.

Lok Sabha was adjourned following uproar after Pranab Mukherjee's statement on the crisis in Sri Lanka.
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Petroleum Ministry asks for extra oil bonds of Rs 13,000 cr to cover revenue loss in Q4

New Delhi, Feb 10: The Petroleum Ministry has sought additional oil bonds worth about Rs 13,000 crore to cover the revenue loss on fuel sale in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal.

The Government has for the first three quarters sanctioned oil bonds worth Rs 60,967 crore to IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum to make the good revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene.

"Of these, so far Rs 50,980 crore worth of bonds have been issued and the rest will be issued after Parliament approves them next week," a Petroleum Ministry official said.
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Satyam's auditors PWC in more trouble over GT Bank a/c

ACCOUNTING FOR MISTAKES: Collapsed bank GTB's audit was handled by Lovelock and Lewes, an associate of PWC.

Already under the scanner in the Satyam scam, more trouble awaits auditors Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC).

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has found two partners of PWC being involved in professional misconduct in yet another case.

The findings of the disciplinary committee is in connection with the Global Trust Bank (GTB) collapse case.

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Al-Qaeda video warns India of more attacks

FACE OF TERROR: The al-Qaeda leader is said to have been involved in a number of terror attacks.

A top al-Qaeda commander, who was reported killed in a US drone strike last year, has appeared in a video warning India of more Mumbai-style terror attacks if it tried to attack Pakistan.

"India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, believed to be al-Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan and ranked behind No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in a 20-minute video in Arabic received by BBC.

Yazid, who the Pakistani military said may have been killed in fighting last August in the Bajaur tribal region, said, "The Mujahideen will sunder your armies into the ground, like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan. They will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground."

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Sania, Mahesh, Yuki return to a grand welcome

Mumbai/ New Delhi: India's Australian Open Grand Slam winners - Sania Mirza, Mahesh Bhupathi and Yuki Bhambri - returned to India on Monday morning.
Sania and Mahesh arrived in Mumbai to a rousing welcome a day after winning the Australian Open Mixed doubles title.
With their trophies in hand, the pair was greeted by a huge crowd at the airport.
Sania and Mahesh beat Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to win the final.
This was their first Grand Slam win together. It's a 11th Grand Slam win for Mahesh and it is also the first time that an Indian duo have won the mixed doubles crown at a Grand Slam event.
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American UN official kidnapped in Pakistan

Islamabad: Gunmen kidnapped an American national working for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees after killing his driver in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta on Monday.
John Solecki, the head of the UNHCR in Balochistan, was on his way to office when the gunmen intercepted his car shortly after he had left his home and opened fire. His driver, Syed Hashim Raza, was hit by bullets and died in hospital, police said.
The gunmen then took Solecki with them, police said. Witnesses said the car rammed into a house after the driver was shot.
Senior officials rushed to the site of the attack as police cordoned off the area and launched a search for the UN official.
A spokesperson for UNHCR said investigations into the incident were underway. Security at the offices of UN organisations and foreign NGOs, which is already very high, was beefed up further after the incident
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