Postnoon E-Paper for April 1st 2013 by Scribble Media & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

WEATHER: A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS; 32°C

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32 PAGES

FREE TRIP TO M A L I Unleash the inner idiot In celebration of April Fool’s Day, today’s edition has 16 fake stories. If you can guess which ones they are, you could win an all-expenses-paid trip to Mali, where you can get a ringside seat to the world’s latest civil war. Send in the headlines of the stories you think are fake to feedback@ postnoon.com. We’re all winners, but you could be the one heading to Timbuktu!

HYDERABAD’S FIRST COMPACT AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER

WILL MODI SAVE AP?

Well, that remains to be seen, but the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has taken pity on AP’s power crunch and agreed to mediate with Gujarat and Maharashtra for gas to run its idle capacity. If chairman of CEA, AS Bakshi, proves successful in his attempt, Andhra Pradesh can tide over its power crisis for the time being. “We will hold a meeting with the CMs of Gujarat and Maharashtra shortly,” Bakshi stated, confirming the news.

REPORT ON P6

These water sources guzzle money

SC quashes Novartis case

Beat the sun’s stroke P19 Brazen corruption marks the budget allocation to dead water resources in the City and elsewhere. Projects on paper and rivers long dead continue to consume money while parched throats are crying for a drop.

India's top court has denied a patent request from Swiss drug giant Novartis for its cancer drug Glivec in a landmark decision seen as crucial for India's status as a global source of cheap medicines. The Supreme Court ruled that the compound for which Novartis was seeking a patent "did not satisfy the test of novelty or inventiveness" required by Indian law.

P10

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

city events

HERITAGE AND RESTORATION IN POST WWII GERMANY

This is a lecture by Anuradha Reddy, an expert in restoration and heritage with many years of experience in Germany. She is also the convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture’s Hyderabad chapter. She will give a talk at Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad on April 10, from 6pm.

Weather for Hyderabad

Evening

Overnight

Morning

32°C

23°C

29°C

38°C

Cloudy periods with a chance of showers.

Sunny with cloudy periods.

New Delhi Mumbai Max 34 Max 31 Min 21 Min 22

Afternoon

Partly cloudy.

Chennai Max 34 Min 26

Clear.

Partly cloudy.

Bangalore Max 34 Min 25 Mostly cloudy.

AROUND THE CITY: YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES 1672 SBI bldg Road no 12 Banjara Hills When: Show on till April 13, 11.30am to 7pm Contact: 98499 68797

EXHIBITION Punjab Da Tashan Ambar sariyan murg, Punjabi chicken keemedar, kalimirch machhi, achari paneer and khumb hardhaniya are some of the items on the menu. There is a starter and welcome drink free for ladies above 21 years. Where: Terrace Bay and Sky Bar, Babukhan Mall, 6-3-1111/B 501, 5th Floor , Somajiguda When: Fridays up to April 12, 11am onwards Contact: (040) 2341 8545

MISCELLANEOUS Filmmaking workshops for children Yavanika Films is conducting a unique filmmaking workshops this summer vacation for children in Hyderabad. Each participant will make their own short film as part of the workshop. Even a parent and child can register as one student pair to make a short film together. Where: Begumpet When: From April 24, 2pm to 7pm, daily classes except on weekends Contact: 94901 00404

Saturday sunset BBQ Bring your family and friends for a fun barbecue evening with grilled specialties, a variety of Kebabs and a whole lot of Asian delights. Where: The Square, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre When: Every Saturday, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 6682 4422 WATER WOES: A child carries drinking water to her house at Shivarampally village in Ranga Reddy district. With M ANIL KUMAR water levels in reservoirs dipping, officials have warned of severe water shortage in days to come.

SHOWS Shakespeare's Hamlet play reading The play reading is being organised by Samahaara theatre group. Where: Lamakaan When: April 7, 7.30pm onwards Contact: 96427 31329 Gumma Tapta This is a theatre performance, who,

upon finding that her son is dead one morning, refuses to bury him and insists on putting him in a boat and letting him sail away. Where: NIFT auditorium When: April 3, 7pm onwards Contact: (040) 2335 0443 A two part Improv play By removing the restrictions of a scripted play, this even gives actors a chance to interact spontaneously on stage. Where: Lamakaan When: April 4, 7.30pm onwards Contact: 96427 31329 The Car This is a play by Eric Fergusson,

Commissioner & Spl Officer

Helpline GAS BOOKING IVRS NO HP 9666023456 Indane 9848824365 BSNL Complaints HMWS & SB Complaints

198 155313

POLICE CONTROL ROOM Hyderabad 27852435 Traffic Control Room 27852482 DCP Traffic 23234065, 23243499F Pollution Control Board 23887500 ELECTRICITY General Complaints Breakdown Section

155333 23431178 23431179

MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

23262266 24166666R ENC 23225267 Engineering 23220418 MCH Tankbund 23225397 Emergency MCH Circle I&II 24525842 MCH Circle III 24736912 MCH Circle IV 23326975 MCH Circle V 23326976 MCH Circle VI MCH Complaints 1100 Head Office 23225397 IVRS CUM MANUAL ENQUIRY PHONE NUMBERS (TRAIN & RESERVATION) RAILWAYS Rail Nilayam 27833169, 27824216 Railway Information 131 Reservations 135 Recorded Information 1345 Enquiry (IVRS) 1331, 1332, 1333

which criticises class struggle and it's fallacies in an allegorical manner. Where: Lamakaan, Opposite GVKOne, Road no 1, Banjara Hills When: April 2, 7pm onwards Contact: 96427 31329

ART Group painting exhibition An exhibition of paintings by Pradosh Swain and Suchismita Sahoo. Where: Aalankritha Art Gallery, Kavuri Hills, Jubilee Hills When: Up to April 10 Contact: www.alankritha.in

WATER SUPPLY Complaint Cell Sewerage Complaint Hyd. Water Supply HOSPITAL General Hospital, Sec-bad Niloufer Hospital, Red Hills NIMS, Director, Punjagutta Osmania General Hospital Railway Hospital, Lalaguda Apollo, Jubilee Hills Care Hospital, Banjara Hills Care Hospital, Nampally Care Hospital, Musheerabad Care Hospital, Sec-bad Kamineni Hospital, LB Nagar

155313 23307328 23313163

27505566 23314095 23390933 24600146 27001134 23607777 30418888 30417777 30419000 30416666 39879999

BLOOD BANKS Blood Bank,Narayanguda Chiranjeevi Blood Bank Blood Bank Mediton Goal Red Cross, Vidyanagar ADRM Blood Bank Mythri Charitable Trust NTR Memorial Trust Care Banjara Hills

French artist B2Fays Alliance Française of Hyderabad, Kalakriti Art Gallery and Park Hyatt Hyderabad present French artist B2Fays. It is an exhibition of paintings and multimedia installations. Where: Kalakriti Art Gallery, Plot No: 468, Road no 10, Banjara Hills When: Up to April 9, 11am to 7pm Contact: (040) 6656 4466 Tracing dualities An exhibition of abstract art by artist Suresh Kumar P. Where: Ravindra Bharathi, Saifabad When: ICONART Gallery,

27567892 23559555 23226624 27633087 27035588 27550238 30799999 30418296 30417445

AMBULANCES Apollo 23548888, 23607777 Kamineni 24022222 Medwin 23202902, 23204616 Smile Line Dental Hospital 23747979 Red Cross 27627973 Niloufer Hospital 23314095 Gandhi 23320332 AIRLINES

Vaishali Bisht's theatre workshop Vaishali Bisht is conducting special Summer Holidays theatre workshops for children between the ages of six and 12. The course consists of 20 classes held Monday to Saturday. Using theatre games and exercises, the workshop helps children use their imagination and get creative. Where: Road no 7, Banjara Hills When: From April 15, Monday to Saturday, 4.30pm to 6.30pm Contact: 94904 40986

Airport Director 27903785, 27906001 For Air India Flight Information Toll free (from any network) for IC Flights 18001801407 And for All Flights: 1800227722 Air India has revised its flight timings. For more information call (Toll free) 18001801407, 1800227722 from BSNL/MTNL 04023430334 from other lines and mobile Website; www.airindia.in TOURISM OFFICES AP Tourism, Hyd 23262152/53/54 Sec-bad 27893100 Dept of Tourism 23453110 India Tourism 23261360 AP Tourism information Centre (24x7) 23450444, 23455999 UK VISA OFFICE VFS India Pvt Ltd Building, 8-2-542/A, Sunil Chamber, Road No. 7

Beside Meridian School, Banjara Hills34. Working hours are from 8 AM to 1 PM And 2 PM to 3PM. MUSEUMS Salar Jung Museum AP State Museum Nizams Museum

24523211 232431300/7641 24521029

Readers’ views

We invite you to write to us comments, suggestions, viewpoint or just about anything to feedback@postnoon.com or #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500 033 or even by way of a call on 4067 2222

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

City

YESTERDAY’S QUESTION

IS ADMINISTRATION TAKING HERITAGE MAINTENANCE LIGHTLY? 89% 11%

YES (A) NO (B)

TODAY’S QUESTION

IS ATTEMPT TO PARDON SANJAY DUTT A JUDICIOUS MOVE? A)

YES

To vote visit www.postnoon.com

CRIME

‘IAS officer’ dupes bizman And this one is an educationist! The man against whom a case of fraud is booked runs a school, but his hobby includes going around masquerading as an influential official, say police. Mohd SUBHAN mod.s@postnoon.com

he Begumpet police have, on their hands, the case of a clever man who allegedly posed as a bigwig in the bureaucracy and duped a businessman, who too was driven by avarice before getting fleeced of `15 lakh. Police said that PS Rao was poised to loot businessman Ravi Kumar of `2 crore but stopped at an advance sum of `15 lakh, and in the bargain, Kumar got beaten up for asking for his money back. Kumar, 40, is a resident of Malakpet who has various businesses in the City. He met Rao at the Sheringampally registration office a few months ago. The well-dressed, impressive figure with matching demeanour quickly attracted Kumar. Rao introduced himself an IAS officer in the revenue department. The two formed a friendship that extended to the two families. Ravi Kumar, meanwhile, saw a plot of 44 acres in Gachibowli,

CRIME

which he thought could be swiped if Rao helped. Kumar is reported to have taken Rao to a site-visit and the latter agreed that he would get an NOC for him. But he would have `2 crore for the trouble. Agreeing, Kumar paid him `15 lakh in advance. As months passed and there was no progress in the matter, Kumar started pestering Rao, first gently and then belligerently. It was only then that Kumar got some doubts about Rao. He made enquiries and found that Rao was no IAS officer but runs a school. As the complainant threatened to bring the police into the picture, Rao is said to have issued a cheque which turned out to be of his wife’s account. As a quarrel broke out, Rao invited Kumar to the bank, where three roughnecks greeted him. They began to thrash him. His screams brought people to the spot, and Rao, with his three friends, escaped. Police are said to be investigating the case and no arrest has been made.

CRIME

Adam teasers on the loose Mother, children cremated A group of six women have been making life difficult for men in Banjara Hills. Driving around in a Delhi-registered SUV, these girls have been passing lewd comments on young men there.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

utt pinching, being ogled at and being harassed by nasty comments is something that women are familiar with. However, a group of six women have taken it upon themselves to turn the tables on their male counterparts. Moving around in an SUV, with Delhi registration, these women are said to be loud and uncouth. “I was returning from the gym when this car pulled over and four women jumped out to corner me. They ragged me, pinched me and asked me about my body parts. They said things like ‘your hands are very

A senior police officer said the victim could have avoided the incident if he was accompanied by his gym friends and was not wearing gym shorts. tiny, is everything else at least reasonably sized?’ I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do. I went to the local police station to complain but was laughed at and sent home,” said Pranav Namboodripad. When we asked a senior police officer about the incident, he said: “The complainant has

lodged an FIR and we’re investigating the case. However, I think he could have avoided the incident altogether if he was accompanied by gym friends and maybe, if he had changed out of his gym shorts.” A harassed, helpless and mocked-at Pranav then approached a human rights activist, Sridhar S. “The incident is an eye-opener. How can police officers say things like Pranav should have dressed appropriately? Isn’t he the victim in this case? These incidents should not be taken lightly. It’s a free country and men should be allowed to wear whatever they want to – it doesn’t mean they’re asking for it,” said Sridhar.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

large number of people from around Choudapur Tanda in Mahbubnagar today gathered to bid a tearful farewell to three children who were thrown into a well by their allegedly alcoholic mother yesterday. The mother and the children died. According to police, Devi, alias Sunita, who is said to have been a habitual drinker, had consumed too much alcohol yesterday and had thrown her children — Agni, 6, Shilpa, 4, and Charan, 3 — in a well and jumped in after them.

Though the villagers made a bid to save the children, they did not succeed. The woman’s husband, Siddhu alias Matru Naik, a lorry owner, had gone to TN with a load. Sunita came to the house of her in-laws in Rekula Choudapur Tanda a day after he left. When her in-laws were not at home, the woman, said to have taken more than her usual quota of toddy, shouted at the children in a fit of rage and threw them one by one into a well before jumping in after them. The police said that habituated to taking toddy, Sunita used to lose her balance of mind quite frequently.

city MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

CIVIC

LAST YEAR... HERE

GHMC makes a last lunge, nets `780 crore

Cops face the heat

ast year we had reported how we often fail to look at the traffic police officers who stand in the blazing sun with very little protective gear. Whether it is 42ºC or 18ºC, the traffic police look after the roads and regulate traffic which takes a toll on their health. Doctors said they are prone to eye damage as they stand in the sun for hours.

APRIL 1, 2012

NUMEROLOGY

`727.12 crore has been allocated towards water and sanitation, of the `6,770.96 crore allocated for municipal administration and urban development.

The Godavari project is still on paper... there is circumspection on the costs, feasibility and acceptability ... Yet, HMWSSB has been spending in the name of the project.

No, this is not an April Fool’s Day attempt. The GHMC staff indeed worked on Sunday to help people pay their dues before the financial year (2013-14) ended at midnight. Md NIZAMUDDIN nizamuddin.a@postnoon.com

ome of the higher officials, particularly of the finance wing, stayed till midnight, earning for the corporation. The sum collected as the clock struck 12 was `780 crore (as against last year’s `634 crore). “The commissioner had persuaded various government departments to chip in with their might, and several of them came forward in the last days to make an impressive collection,” said Ashok Reddy, additional commissioner (finance). BSNL, TRANSCO, AG office, APSRTC, and State government are some of the departments which gave a boost to the collection work in the last days. Most of these departments have reconciliation schemes. TRANSCO, DISCOM, APSRTC and railways had struck a deal

with the GHMC on this front. “Railways is yet to take a decision on how much percentage should be paid to the corporation. This decision rests with the top management. We are expecting at least `10 crore,” the

additional commissioner said. The trade licence fee till the last day was `26 crore. Additional commissioner (health) L Vandan Kumar was a satisfied man as the department crossed the set target of `25

crore. “We received `80 lakh on a single day on March 30,” he pointed out. According to him, 48,000 new trades were added, most of which are from peripheral areas. The survey was continuing in the GHMC limits. After completion of the peripheral, core City will be focused upon. The staff in citizen service centers in almost all the circle offices and head offices were busy collecting bills. The building penalisation scheme (BPS) touched `72 crore and land regularisation scheme (LRS) touched `150 crore on the last day. The GHMC made `27.33 crore in the form of advertisement tax. Last year, it was `23.31 crore. “These include not only hoardings, but all kinds of advertisements,” explained Kennadi, additional commissioner (electricity and advertisements).

DILSUKHNAGAR BLASTS

DN Reddy, activist See page 7

THINGS WE 5LEARNT TODAY

Medical teams felicitated

The column that teaches everyone something new about the way the City functions.

Hospital staff who provided emergency services to the bomb blast victims were felicitated and victims were counselled about various loan options available to them.

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

Do not trust strangers with your money. A man posing as an IAS ofﬁcer looted a businessman of lakhs of rupees on the pretext helping him buy a plot of land at Gachibowli, and later beat the latter up for asking for his money.

Officials can work overtime when it comes to money. GHMC officials worked on Sunday, helping people pay their dues before the financial year ended. They collected `780 crore this year.

ashoda, Omni, Care and Osmania General Hospital staff were felicitated on Sunday by the Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA), in association with Roda Mistry College of Social Work, Youth TRAC and CKGPC on Sunday at Malakpet .

Victims and their family members were given a chance to take vocational training at institutes like GMR Varalakshmi Foundation, CII-BYST, TechM Mahindra Foundation and APITCO. The State Bank of Hyderabad gave the victims and their families linkages to bank loans. The function was organised at Noor Mansion Function Hall,

beside Yashoda Hospital at Malakpet. Syed Vicaruddin, chief editor of Rehanuma-eDeccan was the chief guest. Jani Pasha, an RTC employee who responded immediately and organised the shifting of many injured to nearby hospitals, also spoke on the occasion and was felicitated for his timely and life-saving services. Some victims shared their

experience and the impact it had on their lives. They were counselled regarding the different training programmes, student loans, and the options available for them. Karnail Singh Jawandha, general manager, SBH south zone, R Jaya Lakshmi, IPS, DCP east zone, Hyderabad, and directors of Yashoda and Omni Hospitals were the guests of honour.

Water woes likely to continue in City. A major chunk of the budget has been allocated to water projects that have run dry. Rural areas are likely to be worst hit with the focus on Hyderabad alone.

‘Extend deadline for set top boxes’

Vote-on-account comes into force

MLCs under MLA quota sworn in

TV artists on relay hunger strike

City man selected to race in Volkswagen Polo Cup. Naveen Puligilla has been picked as one of the 20 racers at this year’s Polo Cup.

AP looks to Modi for help in power crisis. The Central Electricity Authority has agreed to mediate with Gujarat and Maharashtra.

NEWS BRIEFS hief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has urged the Centre to extend the deadline for set top boxes (STBs) from April 1. In a letter to the Union ministry of information and broadcasting, he pointed out that over 50 lakh households in Hyderabad and Vizag are yet to install set top boxes with their television sets.

he ﬁrst ever vote-on-account budget introduced by the State government will come into force from today. The state legislature gave its approval to spend `40,636 crore as part of the Vote-OnAccount budget. This budget would last till the annual budget of Dtate is approved by the two houses of the State legislature.

he victorious candidates of MLC seats under MLA quota from Congress were administered oath this morning. AP legislative council chairman Dr G Chakrapani administered oath to the newly elected members. The MLCs include K Veerbadhra Swamy, T Santosh Kumar, P Sudhakar Reddy and A Lakshmi Siva Kumari.

he Telugu Parirakshana Samithi began a relay hunger strike demanding a ban on dubbed TV serials. They set the deadline as April 12 (Ugadi) for channels to stop airing dubbed serials. Overall, 62 dubbed serials are being telecast on Telugu channels, affecting the livelihood of 4,500 artistes, technicians and others dependent on Telugu TV industry.

city MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

POLITICS

Reds to re-enact 2002 stir? CPI and CPM believe power situation and tariff hike are perfect reasons to pulverise the government and enlist young cadres. INKESHAF AHMED ahmed.m@postnoon.com

o Left party (CPI and CPM) leaders want to repeat the 2002 historic agitation that led to a bloody clash leaving two dead? That was an agitation against the power tariff hike by the Chandrababu Naidu government at Basheerbagh, which remains an unhealed, nasty wound on the collective psyche of the City. The massive agitation also marked the end of the TDP rule in the State. Subsequently, the 2004 General Elections helped Congress to wrest power from the TDP after a long gap. It also helped the Left parties win a massive number of seats during the same elections. Both the parties together won 15 Assembly seats. The Left parties, which are struggling to keep their existence alive in the State, see a great opportunity to cash in on the public anger created by the present Kiran Kumar Reddy led Congress government. “The

hike in electricity provides a great opportunity for us to get back our past glory. We will not leave this opportunity at any cost,” CPI senior and party floor

recently. Another MLA of CPI, K Sambasiva Rao, who played a crucial role in ensuring the victory of the party in co-operative elections held this year, said that

POLITICS

Botsa denies change of guard

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

exed APCC president Botsa Satyanarayana has denied being asked to vacate his post. Botsa told Postnoon this morning he was not aware of such a development. “I don’t know. I am holding both the organisational responsibility and my ministry,” he said, straight-faced. Asked if he knew Rahul Gandhi’s directive on one-man-one-post, Botsa replied in the negative. “It is all your (media’s) imagination,” he said. It was rumoured that D Srinivas was asked to replace Botsa as APCC chief in view of the forthcoming General Elections. The high command, it is said, is unhappy with Botsa’s perceived machinations and his troubling of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on many issues.

leader in AP Assembly Gunda Mallesh told Postnoon. He pointed out that the Left parties had already organised a massive hunger strike at Indira Park

the agitation, if successfully carried out by the Left parties, would immensely help them in strengthening cadres from the grassroot level. The leaders admit that they have a problem drawing young cadres. "We face some problems attracting youth to our folds," Rao said. CPM floor leader Julakanti Ranga Reddy also expressed similar views. The Left parties formed a front of 10 Leftist organisations for a joint struggle like they did in 2002. The indefinite strike launched by the Left parties prompted rival political parties like TDP, BJP and YSRC to launch similar hunger strikes. Buoyed at the response received by the protest, the Leftist parties are now planning to hold a massive State-wide agitation programme on April 9. The Left parties have already sought the help of other political parties for their agitation programme.

Besides, under his leadership, the party has not done well in all the by-polls held in the past two years. Botsa is said to be keen on retaining the organisational position and will give up the ministerial berth if push comes to shove. But the party high command has other ideas.

Kiran shifts focus

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

guration on the first day.

The development works being launched by the CM on the first day of Indiramma Baata has a clear stamp of the State finance minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, as he is the lone minister from Nellore district. Apart from the Somasila high-level lift irrigation project, the other development projects are primarily aimed at benefiting his Assembly constituency Atmakoor. Interestingly, both the CM and the finance minister were at loggerheads about holding Indiramma Baata in Nellore district for various reasons. The differences among the two leaders led to the postponement of Indiramma Baata for five consecutive times in Nellore district in the past. The prime objective is to supervise the ongoing development activities of the State government, launch and inaugurate new development works and hold review meeting with officials for timely completion of the State government’s holy promises made to the public.

o defuse the wrath he earned of the opposition political parties for effecting an unprecedented hike in power tariff, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy shifted his focus on his pet programme Indiramma Baata in Nellore district today. As part of the programme, the CM is scheduled to lay a foundation stone for Somasila high-level lift irrigation project, which would cost the State exchequer `750 crore. After foundation-laying for this project, Kiran will attend a public meeting and distribute benefits to various beneficiaries. Later, he will lay the foundation stone for development projects pertaining to supply of drinking water to Atmakoor municipality and storm water drain project, apart from launching development works of five R&B department roads. After having lunch with the students of a tribal welfare hostel, the CM will head to Somasila vil-

ANAM MARK

lage to inaugurate the development programmes and lay the foundation stone for a girls’ residential school and comprehensive safe drinking water project. Later, the CM will participate in a revenue conference at Chejerla Mandal, followed by distribution of free cycles and fish nets to tribal people at Kandaleru. He is scheduled to halt at night at a newly constructed integrated hostel for students after its inau-

city MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

POWER

Will Modi save AP?

This remains to be seen, but the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has taken pity on AP’s power crunch and agreed to mediate with Gujarat and Maharashtra for gas to run its idle capacity. POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

f the chairman of Central Electricity Authority (CEA), AS Bakshi, is successful in his attempt, Andhra Pradesh can tide over its power crisis for the time being. “We will hold a meeting with the CMs of Gujarat and Maharashtra shortly,” Bakshi stated, confirming the news. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has reportedly agreed to mediate with Gujarat and Maharashtra for a novel swapping arrangement, wherein AP would get 6.5 MMSCMD of natural gas to run about 1,500MW of idle gas-power capacity. Returning the favour, AP will offer similar quantity of power to these states by purchasing from the surplus states, including the eastern region. AP has come up with this alternative as it cannot draw power directly from the sur-

Returning the favour, AP will offer similar quantity of power to these states by purchasing from the surplus states.

plus regions of the country due to corridor load constraints. Earlier, AP used to swap natural gas with re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to run the idle capacity when the KG-D6 gas was available for power generation. This

option is now closed. This plan is the only fast remedy to improve the sagging supply position in AP. In March, the supply-demand mismatch was about 65 million units per day in AP. About

MEET THE PEOPLE

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy was in Chittoor district today and met farmers and their families. He also will be heading to Nellore district to take a look at the Indiramma Baata scheme.

6,000MW of installed capacity in hydro and gas-based projects was kept largely idle due to low reservoir levels and stoppage of gas from the KG-D6 fields. Gasbased power generation is now limited to capacities tied up with

natural gas supplies from Stateowned oil company ONGC. AP is faced with shortage of not only coal and gas and a bad monsoon, but also by corridor transmission problem. New transmission corridors — with 2,000MW load — connecting the southern region with the rest of India are expected to be ready by January next year, which will ease the situation, CEA sources pointed out. Commissioning of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant expected next month would also ease the situation a bit as Tamil Nadu’s dependence on inter-regional transmission corridor would come down. This, in turn, could be utilised by other states in the region. Also, about 300MW of unallocated power from the Kudankulam project would be recommended for AP, sources said. (With inputs from Rahul Ramakrishna)

city MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

CIVIC

MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN

A major chunk of the budget for water and sanitation has been allotted to dead water resources and projects that are yet to take off in the City. The rest of the State has been left to fend for itself.

mong the many reasons for water resources in the City and the State to vanish, lack of political will is one. The selective basis of budget allocations for water and sanitation in the AP State budget for 2013-14 shows an unnecessary focus on the City’s fast-drying up water resources, which only goes to prove that money is being spent on purposeless endeavours. So what does the State budget have in store for water and sanitation resources? The entire budget allocated for MA&UD (municipal administration and urban development) is `6,770.96 crore, out of which `727.12 crore has been allocated for water and sanitation. According to D Narsimha Reddy, chief mentor of Chetana Society and Joint Action for Water, over 66 per cent of the

to `25 crore.

History of money flow Project Hussain Sagar Restoration Musi River Conservation and Restoration/ Rejuvenation Project

budget allocated for water and sanitation has been reserved for projects in Hyderabad alone. “Which means, the fate of other cities and the rest of the State is to go fend for themselves,” he said. In what can be described as comic, if not tragic, the Hussain Sagar Restoration Project, a dead water resource that seems to have mysteriously gulped in a lot of funds with no effect, got `102.69 crore, whereas the Musi River, another dead water resource that can stand as a representation of the many lost causes of the City, got a paltry `3.98 crore. “It is obvious that the dead Hussain Sagar is a cash cow for

WHAT ENVIRONMENTALISTS HAVE TO SAY

Budget allocation (in ` crore) 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 60.94 114.59 102.69 1.99 3.98 3.98

Hussain Sagar Restoration Project, a dead water resource, was allotted `102.69 crore for 2013-14. the HMDA and its dependent contractors to function ‘efficiently’,” Reddy said.

BUDGET ALLOCATIONS FOR RIVER WATER SUPPLY TO THE CITY Most of the budget allocated for water and sanitation for the City has been termed as loans for the HMWS&SB, in favour of the Krishna and Godavari water supply projects. As Reddy says, “The Godavari

water supply project is still on paper, and for many reasons, there is circumspection on the costs, feasibility and acceptability of the project at various levels. Yet, HMWS&SB has been spending funds in the name of the project.” This year, a whopping `400 crore has been allotted, an good increase from the spending of `187.51 crore in 2011-12. The Krishna water supply project got the exact amount it had received last year, `30 crore. However, in the latter part of 2012-13, the budget was revised and downscaled from `30 crore

“The Hussain Sagar is funded with hundreds of crores of rupees and not an ounce of change is visible anywhere. It is obvious that the funding is meant for wetting the beaks of the agencies in charge of cleaning the lake and the contractors involved,” Mahidher Krishna, of Jala Jeevam says. “The real fraud is not being addressed. Water harvesting is not given priority. Crores of rupees are being spent on projects that have not shown any change. We are heading for grave danger for not being serious about water resources conservation,” environmentalist Jayaprakash Nambaru says. “This budget has no direction and answers only the urban problems of Hyderabad and its surrounding areas. The HMWS&SB and HMDA should become transparent, accountable and participatory organisations and the AP State legislature should examine the performance of these two organisations closely,” Reddy added.

ILLUSTRATION: SRINIVAS SETTY

RAHUL RAMAKRISHNA rahul.r@postnoon.com

city MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

ANALYSIS

Insomnia affects State parties It is a harrowing time for all parties, particularly those out of power, as 2013 is going to be the decisive year which will prepare the ground for building the next Delhi Durbar. Every party that once ruled either the State or the Centre looks longingly back to the time they did well. PK SURENDRAN surendran.pk@postnoon.com

such a tie-up. And yet, it does want to have a local prop-up since it is experiencing erosion in its leadership. But damned if it knows where to look.

he political grab for Andhra Pradesh has already begun. While the Congress, which notched up an impressive tally of 31 of 42, knows well that it cannot do an encore of 2009, wants nevertheless to pull out, by hook or by crook, as many seats to upset its possible loss in its northern belt. The Opposition is in a deeper mess. The parties opposed to the Congress are, in fact, more eager to improve their bargaining power in the 16th Lok Sabha. This is the only State down south where the Hand rules. Only, the situation is much more complicated in 2013-14 than it was in 1999 or even 2009. Now, barring the Congress, all other parties are busy trying to solemnise various marriages of convenience.

BJP

The party, though inconsequential in the State, has a chance in the Delhi Durbar next year. And it desperately wants to repeat its

MIM, YSRC

Carring the Congress, all other parties in the State are busy trying to solemnise various marriages of convenience, with an eye on the 2012 polls. magic of 1999, when it carved out seven Lok Sabha seats from AP. The party’s only hope is the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and its only fertile soil is Telangana. If the party could at least bag five of the 17 Lok Sabha

seats, it would consider itself greatly lucky, their leaders admit in private. Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who led the party to success in 1999, is likely to lead the party this time as well, with the fond hope of re-creating the golden time of ’99. What dampens the party is the TRS ambition to claim as much cake to push for a separate state.

TDP

It is the party which the whole of India looked to in the days of 1998-99, when the Vajpayee government’s fate depended on a word from N Chandrababu

Naidu. Whether from outside or inside, TDP was the oxygen for NDA. With 29 seats, the TDP proved the maker of Delhi Durbar. Today, reduced to six in 2009, the party is nowhere. It could still have pulled out something if the NDA was ruling. But now, the party of Telugu Gaurav wants to seriously consider swinging to the opposite side of the spectrum — the MIM — which has grandiose visions of itself in the next Parliament. But the MIM’s dalliance with the YSRC (which, being a rebel challenge, has few fetters) is dissuading the TDP from forging

Both parties find it mutually advantageous to go together. MIM could help the YSRC in Hyderabad which, in fact, it has already done. The YSRC could reciprocate in Rayalaseema. But the YSRC is unable to help MIM in its stronghold — Telangana — where it is no force. Again, the MIM is not too sure of the YSRC’s future position. The party, born of the Congress, could vanish one day either into whence it came or remain a partner in power. In both instances, the MIM will find itself on the mat. The electoral camaraderie will work locally but not at Parliament level, it is argued. While all are lunging for alliances, none is easy, and therefore, the political acharyas are locked in labs, trying various chemical combinations that could work.

SPORT

Need for speed Hyderabad boy Naveen Puligilla is driven by the love for speed. He is an amateur and does not have many racing accolades under his belt, but his passion has not failed him, for he has been picked as one of the 20 racers at this year’s Volkswagen Polo Cup. RAJESH RAVINDRAN rajesh.r@postnoon.com

he fastest he has driven is 250km per hour. Giving details as to where and when would be setting the cops on his trail. So let that be. Naveen Puligilla is not a professional racer, but he is one of the 20 drivers picked to race in the Volkswagen Polo Cup this year. There are 12 races slated to happen across May and June in Coimbatore, Chennai and the Buddh International Circuit in

Delhi. And Naveen, who till now had to be content with the practice he got from go-karting, is taking part in them. Naveen, 27, bitten and infected by the speed bug when he was 18, says one of the things he was told by his instructor, Raymond Banerjee, was that he needs to lose weight. Naveen, a six-footer, weighs 103 kg. The cars for the qualifiers are single-seaters, 1.6 turbo-charged-diesel enginepowered. But when they saw his laptime on the 2.1km track, they were more than happy.

Given that he was an amateur, he timed 1min 20seconds. “They thought my weight would be an issue. But my coach was impressed with my laptime. He advised me to lose some weight, after which I would be able to shave a second or a half off the current lap time,” he said. “They think I have a good chance.” When the real show starts,

he will be driving a 1.4 turbosupercharged petrol engine with 180 bhp, 20 more than those used for the qualifiers. The only other major race that Naveen participated in was a cross-country race in Punjab. “The idea is to reach your destination through the desert terrain in the least possible time. You have a map, and a navigator to assist you and

that’s it,” he says. “I finished fourth.” Not bad. Naveen, who runs a logistics company, says go-karting helped him a lot to improve his skills. “I go-kart whenever I can spare time. Go-karting helps you figure out the line you need to keep to remain quick. And if you keep to that line, you can be sure to finish well.”

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

focus

REVOLUTIONISING THE ART EXPERIENCE

Carrie McGee, who oversees MoMA’s programs for the disabled, said the blind were first invited to tour sculptures in the 1970s. Then a decision was made to take on the challenge of showing the unique visitors paintings and other objects that couldn’t be touched.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Love of art is blind for sightless museum visitors Most people go to museums to look at exhibits, but for some at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, love of art is literally blind. SEBASTIAN SMITH Agence France-Presse

er eyes see nothing, but when Barbara Appel runs her fingers over the face of a Picasso sculpture in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, she sighs with pleasure. Most people go to museums to look at exhibits, but for some at MoMA, love of art is literally blind. Each month, a small group with various levels of impaired vision accompanies an expert guide to the famed Manhattan museum. For Appel, who is 62 and suddenly lost her sight just over a decade ago, the Art inSight program is a lifeline to a vital part of her world that she feared had vanished. “With this, I really feel I’m connected, I’m connected to something I’ve always loved, something that gave me so much motivation,” she said, recalling the inspiration she drew from museums in her career as a jewelry designer. On this month’s tour, a group of about 20 visited an exhibit called “Inventing Abstraction, 1910-1925.” Most of the works were fragile paintings or drawings, so touching was not allowed. Visitors had to rely instead on their guide — and their imaginations — to visualize the rulebreaking, hard-to-describe works of Wassily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich and other early 20th century iconoclasts. At each piece, the group paused not just for a careful description from the guide, but a conversation about the work’s meaning. Much time was spent at a 1918 sculpture by Marcel Duchamp with the deliberately awkward title, “A Regarder (l’autre cote du verre) d’un oeil, de pres, pendant presque une heure,” or “To be looked at (from the other side of the glass) with one eye, close to, for almost an hour.” “It’s a long rectangle base which is just the base, not the artwork,” the guide, Jennifer Gray, said, pointing at the box under

the actual Duchamp. As she detailed the sculpture, a cracked glass screen filled with geometric shapes, one of the visitors lifted a mini-telescope to her eye. Barbara Appel, who uses a wheelchair, looked vaguely in the right direction as her husband Barry filled in the gaps. “The glass is cracked,” he

For Appel, who is 62 and suddenly lost her sight just over a decade ago, the Art inSight program is a lifeline to a vital part of her world that she feared had vanished.

said. “Really? That’s interesting,” she exclaimed. Then Barry Appel peered through the Duchamp piece. “I’m looking into the future,” he quipped. When it was time to move on to another Duchamp, Gray reorientated the group, saying: “The box behind, behind me, behind my voice.” Carrie McGee, who oversees MoMA’s programs for the disabled, said the blind were first invited to tour sculptures in the 1970s. Then a decision was made to take on the challenge of showing the unique visitors paintings and other objects that couldn’t be touched. “We often brainstorm to make the experience as multisensory as possible,” she said.

For example, when blind visitors were taken to a version on loan to the MoMA of Edvard Munch’s iconic “Scream,” they were invited to reenact the openmouthed, hands-on-face pose at the center of the painting. One of the guides — all outside art experts brought in by the MoMA — said working with the partially sighted had opened her own eyes. “It helps me to see the art better, because I have to describe it in a way that is more discernable,” Deborah Goldberg said. “They’ll discover things that we overlook frequently.” But the direct connection made by touching sculpture is unbeatable. After the regular tour, MoMA

staff agreed to take Appel to the Picasso exhibit, which includes one of the first steps in the development of Cubism, a bronze head of the artist’s lover Fernande Olivier. Appel’s expression, eyes fixed somewhere on the ceiling, was of pure concentration and delight as her left hand navigated the unusual contours. She touched the angular nose and cheeks. “This is her face, here,” she said. “Feel the sharpness of her nose,” her husband suggested. “You touch what’s being described to you and it becomes total reality,” Appel said. “I’m still seeing. I’m still taking in the arts as I did. There’s wonderful sight in the mind of a person.”

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Business

CHINA INDEX HITS NEARLY ONE-YEAR HIGH

Manufacturing activity in China expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month, indicating conditions continued to improve. The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, the highest since April 2012.

PATENT WARS

SC quashes Novartis case

MICROMAX VS SAMSUNG

The landmark case involved an updated version of Novartis’s cancer drug Glivec, for which the company has fought a seven-year legal battle to win patent protection. PENNY MACRAE Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI: The Supereme court denied Monday a patent request by Swiss drug giant Novartis in a landmark ruling that activists say will protect access to cheap generic versions of drugs in developing nations. The Supreme Court ruled that the compound for a new version of its blockbuster cancer drug Glivec, for which Novartis was seeking a patent, "did not satisfy the test of novelty or inventiveness" required by Indian law. The judgement capped a seven-year legal battle by Novartis to win protection for the drug that went to the heart of India's patent law. Lawyer Anand Grover, representing Cancer Patients Aid Association, said he was "ecstatic with the ruling". "This will go a long way in providing affordable medicine for the poor," Grover said outside the courtroom in New Delhi. India’s patent office has so far refused to grant protection, asserting that the amended form of Glivec was not vastly different from the earlier version. The challenge struck at the heart of our patent law, which restricts pharmaceutical companies from seeking fresh patents for making only small modifications to existing drugs — an industry practice known as “evergreening”. The case was the most highprofile of several patent battles being waged here and could have had far-reaching implications in defining the extent of patent protection for multinational drug firms operating in the lucrative market. The Swiss firm had threatened to halt supplies of new medicines to India if the court

NEW DELHI: Micromax has made a $50bn hostile move to take over Samsung’s mobile phone division. The news came after a mammoth 15-hour board meeting in Micromax’s new headquarters in the tax haven of the Canary Islands. A statement from Micromax stated that the reason for the bid was because Micromax believed Samsung phone’s were too good and were making the rest of the industry look bad. “Mediocrity is king,” said the statement, “Perfection only leads to envy, and as we are all about virtues in India, we believe that efﬁciency breeds contempt. We want to end this immediately.”

NUMEROLOGY

`8cr

Is the amount earmarked for imparting free quality education to the poor students in Punjab.

YOUTUBE’S APR 1 JOKE! Glivec — hailed as a ‘silver bullet’ for its breakthrough in treating a deadly form of leukaemia — costs $4,000 a month in its branded form while its generic version is available in India for around $73. does not rule in its favour, London’s Financial Times reported on Sunday. “If the situation stays as now, all improvements on an original compound are not protectable and such drugs would probably not be rolled out in India,” said executive Paul

Herrling, who is leading the company’s handling of the case. “Why would we?” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper. But Leena Menghaney, a lawyer with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), says a legal victory for Novartis could “set a dangerous precedent, severely weakening India’s legal norms against evergreening”. It would “be dire for people in the developing world who depend on generic drugs made in this country. It could seriously curb access”. Generic drug firms in India — long known as the “pharmacy to the developing world” — have been a major supplier of copycat medicines to treat diseases such as cancer, TB and

Aids for those who cannot afford expensive branded versions. The cost difference between generic and branded drugs is crucial for poor people around the world, MSF says. It points out that Glivec — often hailed as a “silver bullet” for its breakthrough in treating a deadly form of leukaemia — costs $4,000 a month in its branded form while its generic version is available in India for around $73. But Novartis and other global drugmakers say India’s generics industry inhibits pharmaceutical innovation and reduces commercial incentives to produce cutting-edge medicines. The verdict was keenly awaited by many global drug firms hoping to sell branded medicines in India.

GOLD `29,800 10g SILVER `53,400 1kg

24C

for

DOLLAR `54.28 POUND `82.25

WASHINGTON: In an April Fool’s prank, YouTube announced it was going dark for a decade, and that the site was merely an eight-year contest to find the best video. “It’s finally time to pick the winner,” YouTube representatives announced in a 3:32 minute video posted on its homepage. The message was simple: the world’s most popular video-sharing website would close at the end of the day to review all the submissions it has received over the years, and would announce the best one in 2023. YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar said that “we started YouTube as a contest with a goal: to find the best video in the world.”

THUS SPAKE We put up no resistance to [the bailout terms] and I think this is unacceptable. We all lived a wild life ARCHBISHOP CHRYSOSTOMOS II, HEAD OF CYPRUS’S POWERFUL ORTHODOX CHURCH

BSE NSE

18,913.28 077.51

5,707.50 24.95

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

nation GUWAHATI Assam terrorist victims forum oppose NDFB leader's bail GUWAHATI: Ahead of the verdict on Bodo outfit leader Ranjan Daimary's bail plea, the families of 2008 Assam serial blasts victims Sunday demanded that it be rejected and he be awarded exemplary punishment for the bombings that left over 100 dead and 500 others injured. The Gauhati High Court heard the bail plea of Daimary, chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Saturday and is expected to give its verdict April 3. Daimary's lawyers moved the petition in 2011 after his arrest, saying it will expedite the proposed peace talks between his NDFB faction and the central government. Forum for Terrorists Victim Family, Assam - an organization floated by family members of all the victims of terrorists attacks in Assam - had however raised strong objections in granting bail to the rebel leader. "It will be a gross injustice to us if the court grants bail to Daimary. We have lost our family members during the serial blasts. Our family members died without any fault of theirs. Ranjan Daimary is responsible for the crime and he must get exemplary punishment," said Indranil Kalita, publicity secretary of the Forum while addressing the media here. IANS

RAM MANDIR IS ABOUT FAITH, NOT POLITICS: UMA Hours after she was made a party vice-president in the new BJP team, Uma Bharti talked Ram temple, saying that the temple in Ayodhya was not about politics, but about faith. "No one can ignore it... it needs to be sorted and the only solution is that the temple should be constructed," she said.

WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION

SINGH ROCKS

From Jallianwala Bagh starts Janatantra Yatra 8 rallies in 5 days

he ‘Janatantra Yatra’ will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies.

The goal

he tour is part of Hazare's efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill as well as electoral reforms among other things.

AMRITSAR: Warning that India was headed to "disaster", anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare on Sunday began his year-long, all-India campaign from Amritsar's historic Jallianwala Bagh ground. The tour is part of Hazare's efforts to press for a strong Lokpal bill as well as electoral reforms among other things. The ‘Janatantra Yatra’ will move through Punjab for five days during which time Hazare will address eight rallies. "The country is headed towards disaster. We want to

The country is headed towards disaster. We want to bring about changes. Anna Hazare bring about changes," the 75year-old told supporters as he embarked on the journey. Hazare and his supporters earlier prayed at the Golden Temple and the Durgiana

Mandir before setting out from the Jallianwala Bagh. Hundreds, including women and children, were massacred at the ground April 13, 1919 by British forces. After Punjab, Hazare will enter Haryana and then Uttarakhand. After a short break, the second leg of the tour will cover Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. The tour comes two years after Hazare went on a hunger strike against corruption in New Delhi in April 2011 followed by a mass protest in August that year that drew hundreds of thousands of people. Another hunger strike took place in Mumbai in December. PTI

NEWS BRIEFS 32 kg of ganja seized in Andaman Islands

No trace of three missing fishermen

Concern over trafficking of girls in Maharashtra

Jawan electrocuted, mother ends life

PORT BLAIR: The Andaman police seized 32 kg of ganja imported from Chennai in a shipping container in one of the biggest drug hauls in the islands. A special team from the Aberdeen police station raided Junglighat area on Saturday and seized the contraband, South Andaman District Superintendent of Police Chinmoy Biswas told PTI.

KOZHIKODE: The Coast Guard today located the cargo laden dhow which sank on Saturday, 26 nautical miles off Ponnani in Malappuram district, but were yet to trace the three persons reported missing. A Coast Guard ship and a Dornier aircraft were pressed into service to locate the dhow, Coast Guard sources said.

PANAJI: As people in drought-hit parts of Maharashtra face livelihood challenges, concerns have been raised over the possibility of girls from these areas being allegedly trafﬁcked to Goa for ﬂesh trade, according to a prominent NGO here. Past experiences have shown girls being pushed into sex trade, during calamities like natural disaster.

CHANDIGARH: A home guard jawan was electrocuted when he was putting the charger of his cell phone in an electric switch in UP’s Khajara Inayat Ganj village. Mahipal (28) was electrocuted while putting the charger of his cell phone. After hearing the news of Mahipal's death, his mother Kallo hanged herself from the roof of her house.

Pick

at the

A new study has found that many people think Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is as good an orator as US President Barack Obama. Though both leaders have their distinct styles, those who participated in the study say that Singh, widely seen as softspoken and a man of little if not no words, can do as well as Obama before a microphone. “It’s a misconception that Manmohan Singh is not good at repartee. He does not speak often, but when he does, he can rattle even the best among political opponents,” said a researcher involved with the study.

POWER AID FOR BIHAR In welcome news for millions of farms in power-starved Bihar, the state government has sanctioned `300 crore for a dedicated feeder line for agriculture, officials said Monday. The state cabinet late Sunday approved the amount, an official in the chief minister's office said. "This is a first-of-itskind dedicated feeder line to provide electricity to farmers in Bihar," he said. According to officials, the state government plans to install 968 new feeders of 11KV each with 55,925 km of distribution line.

In two years, the Vishva Hindu Parishad will have a presence in all 18,000 villages of Gujarat and by 2015, we will declare Gujarat a Hindu state.

airport,

Pravin Togadia VHP working president

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

World

MANDELA CONTINUES TO GET BETTER Nelson Mandela is showing signs of improvement in response to the treatment he is receiving in hospital for a recurrence of pneumonia, the South African presidency said Sunday. “Mandela had a restful day and continues to receive treatment,” President Jacob Zuma’s office said.

KOREAN CONUNDRUM

POPE PRAYS FOR PEACE

NK House to uphold N-rights Today’s session will be closely watched for any sign of the current crisis impacting on the fortunes of members of the ruling elite. VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis prayed for a “political solution” in Syria and for “reconciliation” on the Korean peninsula in his ﬁrst Easter Sunday message in front of a crowd in St Peter’s Square. The pope delivered his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to Rome and the world from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. Speaking in front of some 250,000 people, Francis prayed for “dear Syria, for its people torn by conﬂict and for the many refugees who await help.”

JUNG HA-WON Agence France-Presse SEOUL: North Korea’s rubberstamp parliament was set to meet on Monday at a time of soaring military tensions and a day after ruling party leaders vowed to enshrine Pyongyang’s right to nuclear weapons in law. The annual single-day session of the Supreme People’s Assembly usually scores low on important policy announcements — its role largely limited to unanimously pushing through pre-decided budgets and personnel changes. But with North Korea having declared itself in a “state of war” with the South, Monday’s session will be closely watched for any sign of the current crisis impacting on the fortunes of members of the ruling elite. “The North has played most of its political cards, so I don’t see any fresh, tangible threats to come out after the meeting,” said Cho Han-Bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “It will probably issue some kind of symbolic statement, like urging all North Koreans to stand ready for a possible war,” Cho said. The Korean peninsula has been caught in a cycle of escalating tensions since North Korea’s long-range rocket launch in December which its critics condemned as a ballistic missile test. United Nations sanctions were followed by a nuclear test in February, after which came more sanctions and then a stream of near-daily threats

NUMEROLOGY

$41.2

million

Is the weekend box office collection for GI Joe: Retaliation, making it the number 1 film. The Croods, DreamWorks’s latest family crowd pleaser, dropped to second spot.

A nuclear cover-up?

US F-22s in S Korea

WASHINGTON: North Korea likely took meticulous steps to conceal any residue from its February nuclear weapon test, fueling suspicions that it is using a new bomb design with highly enriched uranium at its core, The Washington Post reported Sunday. Citing unnamed US officials and weapons experts, the newspaper said the effects of the February 12 explosion were remarkably well contained, with few radioactive traces escaping into the atmosphere. The US government anticipated the nuclear test, North Korea’s third, and monitored it closely for clues about the composition of the bomb, the report said.

SEOUL: The US military said Monday it had deployed stealth fighters to South Korea as part of an ongoing joint military exercise that has triggered dire North Korean threats of armed retribution. Two F-22 Raptor fighters arrived in the South on Sunday to participate in the annual “Foal Eagle” exercise that will last until April 30, a spokesman for the US forces in South Korea told AFP. The jets were reportedly flown out of the US air base in Okinawa, Japan. Although it is not the first time F-22s have been used in the annual drill, their presence is sure to further infuriate Pyongyang at a time of sharply escalating military tensions.

from Pyongyang as South Korea and the United States conducted joint military drills. Those threats have run the gamut from limited artillery bombardments to pre-emptive nuclear strikes, and have been met with promises from Seoul and Washington to hit back at any provocation. “I believe that we should make a strong retaliation as early as possible without any political consideration if any provocations are made,” South Korean President Park GeunHye reiterated Monday in a meeting with security officials. The US military said Monday it had deployed F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to South Korea as part of the ongoing “Foal Eagle” military exercise. AFP

NEWS BRIEFS ‘It’s a boy!’ says Kate in latest goof-up

Taliban wants share of Malala’s book pie

Cameron hints at Boris leading the party

Promoter AEG faces US trial over Jackson death

LONDON: In her latest slip of the tongue, the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton said that it’s a boy and not a girl that she is expecting with Prince William. The Duchess had earlier inadvertently told a well-wisher that she would pass on her good wishes to her “daughter”. The latest slip of the tongue happened at a charity event.

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban has announced that Malala Yousafzai, who sealed a deal worth £2million for her story, must share some of the money with them, as she owes it for her shot to fame. “Had we not shot her, she would have remained an outspoken village girl,” said a source. However, the threat that they would hunt her down stays.

LONDON: British PM David Cameron hinted that he may let the mayor of London Boris Johnson lead the party before the next polls. He did not give any reason, but sources said Cameron has had enough of politics and has been saying how he missed smelling the ﬂowers on long country walks which he could not do after becoming PM.

LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson’s mother is seeking billions of dollars from tour promoter AEG Live over her son’s 2009 death, in a trial that will ﬁnally get underway in Los Angeles in April. Jury selection begins Tuesday for the trial, in which Katherine Jackson accuses AEG of negligently hiring doctor Conrad Murray to look after her son.

MURDOCH’S MYANMAR NewsCorp boss Rupert Murdoch has jumped on the Mayanmar media bonanza by announcing the launch of six titles in the country. Murdoch was reported as saying that two of the titles would be called: Great Junta and Democracy Down. Murdoch did foresee teething problems, however, until “a proper phone-hacking network could be built”. He has compared his relationship with the country’s military rulers to the one he shared with former British PM Dame Margaret Thatcher, and stated that the London Times could soon be printed from Yangon.

I believe that we should make a strong retaliation as early as possible without any political consideration if any provocations are made. Park Geun-Hye S Korean President

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

THE PAGE DEDICATED TO WOMEN AND THE ISSUES THEY FACE ACROSS THE GLOBE

VANGUARD OF CHANGE

A one-fifth victory

NSE gets woman chief

fter one of the most high-profile campaigns in Kenyan history, 87 of the 416 seats in the newlyestablished National Assembly and Senate chambers will be held by women. Previously, just 22 women sat in the Parliament, which did not have a Senate. While the ‘two-thirds rule’ requires that another 52 women be nominated before 2015, the next step is to ensure this process is conducted swiftly and fairly.

Perks of being a good dad

ational Stock Exchange is set to have a new chief tomorrow, when Chitra Ramkrishna will take over as MD and CEO and join the select league of women leaders at the helm of affairs of leading stock exchanges of the world. The 49-year old Ramkrishna, who was part of the leadership team that helped set up the NSE in early 90s, would be only the third person to head the bourse in its entire history of about two decades. As MD and CEO of the NSE, Ramkrishna succeeds Ravi Narain who would assume the role of non-executive VC with effect from April 1.

law firm in New Zealand is very serious about redefining gender roles. It is offering perks to its male employees if they can prove that they help out around the house and can take care of their children. The perks include family vacations and scholarships for their children. The company already ensures that female employees are free to take maternity leave without worrying about losing their jobs.

MARIO LAPORTA / AFP

Nobody admits to being against making (game) characters female or nonwhite. But they’re scared because they don’t know how to defend the choice to their bosses.

Forget about having it all, or not having it all, leaning in or leaning out — here’s what you need to know ... Find a husband on campus before you graduate.

Tom Abernathy Narrative writer

Susan Patton Princeton alumnus

WORKING WOMEN

WORKING WOMEN ‘University degree helps women more than men’

new study by think tank Institute for Public Policy Research has indicated that the gap between the pay of unskilled and university educated working women is a whopping 198 per cent. This is compared to the 45 per cent pay gap between the two groups when it comes to men. The study went on to say that “while feminism has delivered for some professional women, other women have been left behind. Many of the advances for women at the top have masked inequality at the bottom”.

A CHANGE IS COMING

SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL

s a world-wide volunteer service organisation for business and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls. The organisation comprises over 95,000 members in more than 125 countries who contribute time and financial support to community-based and international projects.

Fairer sex makes fairer decisions: Study Young penitents relax during a procession for Good Friday in Procida, an island near Naples.

More sex crimes reported in Delhi More women are coming forward to register complaints against molesters and rapists in New Delhi, say police. RUPAM NAIR AFP

elhi police announced Saturday a sharp jump in sex crimes reported in the capital since the fatal gang-rape of a student and attributed the rise to more confidence among victims to report complaints. “More women are shedding their inhibitions and registering complaints with us. After the December 16 gangrape, nobody in Delhi wants to brush crime under the carpet,” Deepak Mishra, law and order commissioner, told AFP. There was a 148 per cent

leap in rape accusations lodged with police to 359 incidents between January 1 and March 24 this year from the same period in 2012 and a 590 per cent rise in molestation reports to 794, police said. "Cases of sex crimes have shot up in 2013 because we are following a strict rule of not ignoring a single incident of crime,” said Mishra, who is responsible for crime prevention in the capital. Before the December gangrape, Mishra said, Delhi police had a policy in many instances of investigating incidents before registering a formal case, leading to complaints by women that authorities were

turning a blind eye to sex crimes. But now “the instruction is clear — every crime should be recorded”, he said. Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women's Association, also attributed the sharp jump in sex cases in New Delhi to more confidence among women to register complaints. “They are more open to using the word ‘rape’ as before it was considered too much a shameful word to utter” for fear of stigma, she said. Krishnan noted that while authorities have announced a string of measures to help women feel safer, “incidents of sex crimes are not decreasing”.

omen make better bosses than men because they are fairer and have more scruples, according to a new study. Companies with female board members are more likely to make decisions that benefit everyone, from investors to staff, and not just themselves, the study added. The study for the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics surveyed 600 board directors about their approach to decision making, and found that the fairer sex makes fairer decisions too.

ON THE FRONTLINES

EMMELINE PANKHURST

“D

eeds, not words”, she said, and that’s how Emmeline Pankhurst lived her life. She courted arrest and staged hunger strikes to get women the right to vote. She has been condemned for her militant activism, but was definitely a game-changer.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Comment Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.

HIGH-FLYING THOUGHTS If the BJP still thinks that the Ram temple poll plank is going to work and will help them to power again after a very long time… well… what can one say… it’s April Fool’s Day, anyway. Good luck to them.

APRIL FOOL SPECIAL

SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION

HARD TALK

PK Surendran

Winston Churchill Former British PM

Killing them softly PARVAIZ BUKHARI Agence France-Presse

asping for breath and confined to her bed, Bilqees Khan winces as she recalls the moment a pepper gas grenade exploded by her home during a curfew in Indian Kashmir's summer capital. "There was all this dark smoke and then I started to choke," says the 56-year-old housewife. "It felt as if my chest was bleeding from the inside." The grenade exploded outside her house in the Urdu Bazaar neighbourhood of Srinagar as local security forces patrolled the streets after nightfall. The smoke from the canister wafted into the family's home, leading Bilqees — who has a history of heart problems — to collapse on the floor of her upstairs bedroom. She was then rushed to hospital in a neighbour's autorickshaw and spent the next few days fighting for her life on a respiratory support machine. Doctors say such stories are increasingly common in Indian-administered Kashmir where government forces use an array of 'non-lethal' weapons to maintain security. Scores if not hundreds of people have been injured by weapons including marbles fired from slingshots, pellet guns and the so-called pepper grenades which are packed with chemicals and a capsaicinoid concentrate. Exact figures are impossible to compile as many victims do not report their injuries for fear of being charged with rioting. Although the weapons are meant to target mainly youthful protestors, doctors say children and the elderly are particularly vulnerable from the effects of the chemicals contained in the pepper grenades. Hospital sources in Srinagar say at least three recent deaths have been due to the effects of the pepper gas.

his is no April Fool stuff. The following news may appear in media (including Postnoon) in 2043, “Hyderabad city, India, plunged into darkness following a shutdown in its Lunar plant that powered the City of 16 million. The Global off-Earth Mining Corporation said a technical snag hitting the supply module between the Earth and the Moon had resulted in the disruption of lunar mineral supplies that feed the City’s power plants.” Scary? Amusing? Atrocious? All of them and much more. The biped’s techno-space race is billed to make Earth-Moon traffic a normal matter and heavy not too a distant future. The current report is that a self-sustaining mechanised colony that mines and exports resources from the Moon could be a reality within a generation. Last month talks were held how big mining technology and space could be harnessed to make use of minerals in Mars and Moon. It is remote controlled mining that is being thought of. Star wars is no sci-fi anymore. Next war would be fought between countries in space (if mankind has not been annihilated by its own folly by then).

Some 100 countries have ratified the outer space treaty. And, the documents give lofty ideals like benefit of the mankind, Forsooth! Don’t I know better? There are attempts to perpetuate human race by space sowing—taking the human seed to other celestial bodies. I suspect this could be true because it is said that Venus and Mars were once flourishing planets. It could be Man who made them barren with his handiwork. Now, he is earnestly making attempts to turn Earth too to another Venus and escape to some other planets to try his perilous schemes there.

AMAZING MAN, AGREED This animal weighing a negligible 60 kg with a1.5 kg grey

matter is indeed a demi-god, for his mastery over machines has been stupendous. Much, much more remains to be done, if he is allowed to do, that is. But his history does not instil confidence in any. We are no engaged in reenacting the Big Bang (the origin of the world). That Big Bang itself is controversial does not deter him. Man has also made his replica and experimented with producing Centaur (animals have already been made in lab). We are on to far reaching consequence on family system itself. We will no more require man or woman to bring out a baby. Lab will do it and professional parents will rear them. You can roam free. This is not to run down the

scientific man. But human history and man’s behaviour do not inspire confidence in any, least of all in fellow humans. He is the busybody of the cosmos and as long as he remains an interfering influence, there is little hope.

TAILEND Every dark cloud has a silver lining, they say. Now in this techman scenario my friend who knew my thoughts once told me to look at the silver line. There won’t be any more case of hubby blaming wife of delivering someone else’s baby. Blame will go to the lab and technology mess up. Well, this would be a true women’s lib when she will finally set herself free from the eternal blame she carries. Well, well, well!

EDITORIALS ‘Power struggle’ and CM

ow issues take up a curious turn is beyond prophecy. Look at the power tariff hike in AP. The issue caught the fancy first of the Leftists, then the BJP and now of all Opposition. But when a public issue gets support from within, it becomes the most important rallying point. This has to happened after the central minister Chiranjeevi criticised the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy for the latest dose of tariff hike ‘without consulting anyone.’ Chiru is anguished that such a crucial decision was taken at the drop of a hat in the election year. It is not fair, he is said to have commented. Now, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana too has criticised the CM for the same. Soon, we will hear a lot more noises from the Congress camp. Power tariff is not just an economic issue but an emotional one too in Indian situation. With the benefits of hindsight, it now seems that Kiran should have gone in for wider consultation and taken leaders into confidence. He should go into a major damage-controlling exercise before it catches fire.

READERS’ VIEWS

Why we love the apex court

he verdict of the Supreme Court denying a patent request by Swiss drug giant Novartis for its cancer drug Glivec is significant in these times when pharma firms are driven by the lure of profits. The court ruled rightly that the compound did not satisfy “the test of novelty or inventiveness" required by Indian law. More than patents and the following profits, if this is a life-saving drug we should not be even thinking on those lines.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

campus

TICKLING YOUR FUNNY BONE

Car, an absurdist light comedy that questions the already existing class structures in an allegorical manner will be staged at Lamakaan on Tuesday from 7 pm.

BARED TO ALL

15 CAUSE IN MIND

Craze for online confessions has taken over the country with students pouring their hearts out on social platforms.

Members of the St Francis College Alumnae association visited Assissi High School & Gerosa convent, Warangal. The alumnae counseled and motivated the students and gifted every student a dictionary (Telugu-English) and necessary stationery.

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEEK

For the love for

CONFESSIONS

AMY ROSE THOMAS amyrose.t@postnoon.com

“D

ear Chinmay, you look like Sunny Leone in jeans and shirt. I love you so much. I hope you are single. You are my sweet Barfi. But change your hair style,”reads a post on a college’s confession page on Facebook. This post was followed by over a hundred comments including the ones where the confessor revealed his identity and those near and dear to the couple voiced their opinions about the first outrageous comment. One such comment said, “I hope you meant Sunny Deol and not Sunny Leone because Chinmay to me appears to be a boy.” The foray of confessions and proposals pages on Facebook has provided students a platform to voice their deepest fears and darkest secrets. From the outset, confessions

page put out by colleges on Facebook has every element that a college student could dream of – a platform where one could open up and proclaim their secrets without having to reveal one’s identity. And for those who prefer being onlookers than to partake in the conversation, it is a daily quota of entertainment. “I follow confession pages of my school, graduate college and post graduate college. I find it very entertaining when I see my former classmates making fools of themselves on a public platform. There is an option to remain anonymous but most of times, they prefer coming into the open about their identity,” media professional Rachel Jacob says. For those who are still in college, this is a forum where they lash out on their fellow students and tell them things that they wouldn’t have been able to do face to face. “This is to kindly inform all

Confessions and proposals pages on Facebook have provided students a platform to voice their deepest fears and darkest secrets.

those who are under the wrong impression that I still like Shubhankar. There was a time when I used to admire him but now it’s done. Neither do I like you as a friend. So please don’t laugh or make weird faces when I pass by. This is a kind request,” said a post on another college confessions page. Students’ harmless bragging about their extra-curricular activities took a turn for the worst in many colleges when they ended up hurting the sentiments of teachers and their fellow students. The post made by Ruia confessions page moderator said, “OK Students of Ruia.

It has come to my attention that because of Ruia Confessions, people are not studying and this has upset certain people, who are threatening to seek legal action and inform respective students parents as well. I do not want it to come to that. I hereby urge Ruia students to please study and do well in their exams. This page was meant to be for entertainment and fun. I did not intend to hurt anybody (as I have said before) and I think I have managed to keep the politics to a minimum. I am obviously a proud student of Ruia College myself, and I am sorry if its come to this. Any suggestions are welcome, as this page is more of a stress buster, than a podium for anonymous insult and slander,” Humour plays an integral part in these confession pages. The more outrageous your comment, the more number of likes you get. Going by the numbers, it looks like this a fad that is here to stay.

Cambridge University or University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, England, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after the University of Oxford), and the third-oldest surviving university in the world. , Cambridge is a collegiate university with a student population in excess of 18,000. Its faculties, departments and 31 colleges occupy different locations in town.

BRAIN POWER

With exams being a major reason for stress in this scorching heat, the world of technology has yet again come to rescue the youth. A new app ‘Memory Stretch’ that helps you extend your memory power has already become popular in many reputed universities of the USA and is becoming a must for all students with smart phones. All you have to do is have friends who have this app and extendible memory space on your phone. As you exchange information on your device, you extend your own memory by virtue of owning a smart phone.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

spotlight

ART EXHIBITION

Aalankritha Art Gallery presents a group exhibition of paintings by Pradosh Swain & Suchismita Sahoo. The art exhibition will be on till April 10.

S BALAKRISHNA

COOL DEAL

KIM KARDASHIAN IN THE CITY!

Number game Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s holi celebrations without fun and games? Taj Krishna Ladies Club recently held a game of Tambola at the Pearl room for its members. 6

It was carnival night recently in the City when members of the Young Girls Club celebrated their launch at a popular club. Spotted at the event was celebrity socialite Kim Kardashian.

Playing it large

Models Sadhna Singh and Poonam Singh celebrated their birthday at the Sky Bar on Sunday. Friends and well wishers dropped in to wish them on the happy occasion.

1 Sunita Gaggar 2 Anchal 3 Manjula 4 Namita

Kanvadia 5 Namita 6 Shalini

and Sadhna Singh

New in the design business

S BALAKRISHNA 2

The students of Hamstech Institute of Fashion Design, Punjagutta held an exhibition at Hamstech recently. On display were accessories and clothes made by the students themselves. 1 Lakshmi Sri

2 Rajesh Kayumm 3 Reetu and Aaliyah

1 Poonam Singh

7 Rummy Azad

2 Indrani, Nikita

3 Arpitha, Deepthi

Aria

SRINIVAS SETTY

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

health

HIV-INFECTED STUDENTS ON RISE IN CHINA China is witnessing a rise in the number of registered HIV infected students, with homosexual transmission emerging as a major cause of new infections, a government official has said. Of the newly reported 1,700 cases, 64.8 percent of the infections are attributable to homosexual contact, sources said.

BEAT THE HEAT

e k o r W t s s ’ n u s e h t k c u D e our r y a r u e. y u e d im c er , yo sid a n n t n m e t up n i g ns ke o h t oo ve si tro s A sh ot e the t s a s el e; n ad he v le a f Re ta l t s a r. a fa o c t n en v e pr

DEEPASHRI V

deepashri.v@postnoon.com

ith temperatures soaring as high as 41 deg Celsius in the City, heatrelated illnesses are a common cause of concern. Heat strokes can be fatal if the symptoms are not recognised on time and immediate medical treatment is not given. “Heat stroke is the extreme and most heinous form of heat-related illnesses. People term everything (minor heat illnesses) as a heat stroke, but that is not correct,” said Dr Aftab Ahmed, general physician and Apollo Hospitals. . The milder and initial stages of heat illness are heat exhaustion, which cause weakness and fatigue, and heat cramps, which may affect calf muscles, he said, adding that if left untreated, these will progress into a heat stroke. According to she-health-living.com, heat cramps, though not dangerous, can cause discomfort, with the muscles creating a series of spasms. It also adds that excess heat and rigorous exercise can result in a loss of body fluids and salts, resulting in heat exhaustion.

READING THE SIGNS “People should be extremely careful when the body temperature rises. The indication of a heat stroke are headache, no sweating (except maybe ini-

tially), skin becomes hot and dry, heart beat becomes rapid and breathing becomes shallow,” Dr Ahmed said, adding that the symptoms include confusion, disorientation, fits, convulsions and unconsciousness. Heat stroke is a medical emergency and the patient should be taken to the nearest hospital immediately. Young children, elderly and people who take certain drugs like anti-depressants and anti-psychotics are more susceptible to heat strokes, said Dr Ahmed, adding that labourers, sportspersons and those who work outdoors should take precautions. He said people should be exposed slowly and gradually to heat, rather than suddenly and for a prolonged period of time.

HEAT STROKE IN VEHICLES kidsandcars.org has a compilation of numerous letter and confessions written by parents about how their child died of a heat stroke within minutes inside a closed vehicle. Since 1998, over 550 cases of hyperthermia or heat stroke in children in closed vehicles has been recorded in the United States, according to ggweather.com. “It can happen in closed vehicles, during long-distance travel, without hydration and without AC,” said Dr Kiran Krishnamurti, paediatrician at Andromeda Centre. “Depending on the symptoms, mainly fever and vomiting, further treatment is given.”

First aid during heat stroke n n n n

ANEWS PP-LYBRIEFS YOURSELF HonestBaby HonestBaby will help parents chart their children’s daily activities and development, track feeding, diaper changes, sleep, growth, and doctor visits, and keep track of special moments. If you’re an Honest member, HonestBaby provides you the added beneﬁt of managing your account, subscriptions, and other orders.

HOUSECALL

Take the patient to a cooler, shady place. Loosen the clothes. Fan him over. Sponge or shower him with cool water.

DID YOU KNOW?

Oppositional defiant disorder

You have a dangerous liquid in you

ODD is one of two potentially serious psychiatric disorders that may be seen in up to 30 to 50 per cent of children with attention deﬁcit disorder (although both are separate problems). Many children have periods when they're negative, hostile or deﬁant. However, when this behaviour persists, the problem may become clearer.

Your stomach cells secrete hydrochloric acid, a corrosive compound used to treat metals in the industrial world. It can pickle steel, but mucous lining the stomach wall keeps this poisonous liquid safely in the digestive system, breaking down your lunch but not your own stomach.

Keep an ice pack, especially on the back, neck, groin and armpits, which will help reduce body temperature. Dr Aftab Ahmed

PIONEERS Avicenna Ibn Sīnā, known by his Latinised name Avicenna, was a Persian polymath, who wrote almost 450 treatises on a wide range of subjects. His most famous works are The Book of Healing, a vast philosophical and scientiﬁc encyclopaedia, and The Canon of Medicine, which was a standard medical text at many medieval universities. The second book provides a complete system of medicine according to the principles of Galen.

health MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

BREAKTHROUGH

STUDY

Rice wine for healthy, glowing skin

New device for bloodcleansing

POSTNOON NEWS feedback@postnoon.com

The device will be used to treat bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in critically ill patients and soldiers injured in combat. WASHINGTON: US scientists are developing a blood-cleansing technology to treat lifethreatening blood infections in critically-injured soldiers and patients. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University announced Saturday that it has been awarded a $9.25 million contract to further advance the blood-cleansing technology developed with the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sup-

growing pains My husband got transferred and we relocated. My daughter, 7, has become very quiet since. Her performance in her new school is not very good either. She seems dazed when we try to teach her at home. How can I help her? A child’s world is made up of the things that they are constantly around; so moving away from these things can make for a very difficult time for them. It is very important to ensure that you prepare your child before you relocate and if

port, reports Science Daily. The DARPA has also asked the institute to help accelerate the technology's translation to humans as a new type of sepsis therapy. The device will be used to treat bloodstream infections that are the leading cause of death in critically ill patients and soldiers injured in combat. To rapidly cleanse the blood of pathogen, the patient's blood is mixed with magnetic nanobeads coated with a geneticallyengineered version of a human

blood "opsonin" protein that binds to a wide variety of bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, and toxins. It is then flowed through micro-channels in the device where magnetic forces pull out the bead-bound pathogen without removing human blood cells, proteins, fluids, or electrolytes — much like a human spleen does. The cleansed blood then flows back to the patient. "In just a few years we have been able to develop a suite of new technologies, and to inte-

grate them to create a powerful new device that could potentially transform the way we treat sepsis," said Wyss founding director and project leader Don Ingber. "The continued support from DARPA enables us to advance our device manufacturing capabilities and to obtain validation in large animal models, which is precisely what is required to enable this technology to be moved towards testing in humans," Ingber added. IANS

TIANJIN: Binge drinkers had it right all along. A recent study by Chinese scientists has revealed that drinking large amounts of rice wine leaves the drinker with clear skin. Dr Xiàohuà, who headed the study, said at a press conference: “There have always been claims that drinking rice wine leads to skin whitening and reduces facial blemishes. We studied the effects of large amounts of rice wine on 200 subjects, all of whom had no prior health problems. After three months, 83 per cent of the participants claimed that they had clearer and better skin than before.” The participants were required to drink at least half a litre of rice wine every night. There were no restrictions placed on their diet; however, apart from water, the only thing they were allowed to drink was the wine. Rice wine has a much higher alcohol content than fermented fruit wines. While traditional European wines, made from grapes, contain 10-20 per cent of alcohol, rice wine contains 18-25 per cent. It is also widely used in traditional Chinese cooking. When asked whether the participants had suffered any health complications due to the study, Dr Xiàohuà quipped that they were all a little tipsier than usual. “So far, there does not seem to be any ill-effects of binge drinking rice wine. However, we cannot come to any conclusions until we get long-term results,” he added. The study has already caught flak from parents’ organisations, which claim that studies like this might encourage teenagers to start drinking heavily to combat the acne and bad skin that accompanies adolescence.

Dr DIANA MONTEIRO

‘ALLOW THEM TO EXPRESS’ enough attention and time is not given to help the child understand and adjust to this big change, then often, you see children withdrawing into themselves in order to cope with the change. A child feels anchored in the things he/she know. Allow them the time to get to know their new surroundings. Starting over is not as easy for a child since their world is made up of the teachers, friends,

neighbours and the community they grow up with. If your child was happy with his/her life, then moving away can feel terrible for them. Allow them to express their sadness and irritability at having been made to move away. Explain gently and clearly why this was necessary. Talk to your child and explain to her that you understand how difficult this has been for her and that you want to do everything you can to

make it better. Surround her with the things she likes and spend lots of time with her. If her behaviour is not changing, then consider getting her help by visiting a child counselor/psychologist who can help her. A decision to help her with professional assistance should be made if you feel that your child has been significantly impacted by the relocation and is unable to make friends, her performance

in school drops and does not improve, she remains withdrawn and isolated in spite attempts to help her socialize and her mood stays low. A child therapist can help your child process her feelings and learn how to cope with the sudden change in her life. The writer is a counselling psychologist at the Hyderabad Academy of Psychology. You can write to her at askdrdiana@gmail.com

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Entertainment CINE BYTES

NH-4 to release this summer

iddharth’s upcoming film NH4 is going to hit the screens later this summer. Lakshmi Ganapathy Films is going to distribute the Telugu version. Manimaaran directed it and Vetrimaaran produced it. The film’s music, scored by GV Prakash, will be launched today. Siddharth and Ashrita Shetty play the lead roles.

Gabbar Singh 2 soon in offing?

abbar Singh 2, a sequel to the 2012 smash hit Gabbar Singh starring Pawan Kalyan and Shruti Haasan, is soon in offing as per the latest buzz in the industry. Interestingly, Pawan Kalyan is planning to produce the film himself under Pawan Kalyan Creative Works banner. More details about the film will be announced soon.

Kaalicharan is based on a real story

fter Gaayam 2, director Praveen Sri is back with a hard-hitting rural drama titled Kaalicharan. The film is said to be based on a real incident which occurred 40 years ago in Palamoor. Chaitanya Krishna, Chandini and Kavita play the lead roles. The film’s shooting has been wrapped up.

ALL SET

WHAT AN IDEA, SIRJEE?

his is going to be a game changer for Telugu film industry, beyond an iota of doubt. Frustrated with the drubbing most of the recent films have got from the audience and critics, along with earning the wrath of the censor board, a group of Telugu filmmakers are working on an ingenious plan to crack the perfect formula of making a successful film. According to a recent scientific report, top analysts came to the conclusion that after watching more than 100 Telugu films over a span of five years, the average human brain loses 20 per cent of its analytical ability. Considering most people don’t watch films made in other languages, this is proving to be a huge hindrance every time filmmakers try to come up with a new concept in their films. “We have accepted the idea that Telugu films need to be mediocre so much that any film which aims for greatness is trashed because it’s beyond the understanding of the common man. This is why so many films fail because people don’t relate to the kind of cinema being made today,” a noted filmmak-

er grumbled. When we asked what has changed so much which is proving to be such a big problem, the filmmaker said, “Look it’s beyond our control to impress everyone who steps into a cinema hall to watch a film. Moreover, even the censor board doesn’t allow us to try something new. Earlier, swearing was common in films and now it’s a big nono. Also, there are severe restrictions on the length of the skimpy clothes, skin show in item numbers. It’s becoming a nightmare to titillate the audience these days.” To counter this problem, a group of filmmakers have proposed an idea which can actually change the way we watch films. “We have received a pro-

Tollywood filmmakers are working on an ingenious plan to escape the wrath of the censor board and meet the expectations of the audience.

posal from a group to introduce a specific type of glasses made in China which will enhance your film viewing experience. It’s really an amazing idea and the best part about the film is that everything happens in real time and the costs involved in ‘making’ a film will be close to nil,” a prominent producer revealed. So what exactly do these glasses do? It replicates a video game scenario where you can choose whatever you want to watch onscreen and the film progresses exactly the way you want it to unfold. The best part about the whole process is that the hero doesn’t die no matter what the obstacle is. The usual complaints from audiences, like ‘the film didn’t meet our expectations’ and censor board’s role in decid-

ing what shouldn’t be allowed, will be a thing of the past, thanks to this latest technology. “All we have to do is choose the cast and set the story in a predefined environment which will be notified in advance to the audience through a publicity blitzkrieg. It’s entirely up to the audience to decide how they want the film to progress. They can even choose the costumes, item numbers, punch dialogues, fights, music, camera angles and so many more things to suit their sensibilities,” another filmmaker, who’s working on the idea, said. It seems way too good to believe, but a scientist who has been doing research on cognitive science says, “The human brain is capable of imagining things at a sub-conscious level much more than what it grasps from real life. When filmmakers leave everything open to the interpretation of the audience, we believe that the audience will have a fulfilling experience because they are the ones who are calling the shots. It’s almost like we are making them step into the shoes of a director and empowering them to watch a film which they really want to.”

Entertainment MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

THE YOUNG HUNK

CINE BYTES

NAUTANKI IN THE CITY S BALAKRISHNA

KANCHAN AGARWAL kanchan.a@postnoon.com

rom his college days of participating in amateur theatre, Ayushmann Khurrana has come a long way to playing a theatre actor in Rohan Sippy’s Nautanki Saala. The duo, who was in the City, had a lot to say about the film and the general ‘nautanki’ of everyday. The movie is a quirky romantic comedy starring Ayushmann Khurrana and Kunaal Roy Kapur. With the backdrop of theatre, there is a lot of ‘nautanki’ to be expected both on and off stage. Ayushmann’s character Ram plays Ravan on stage, but off stage, helps Kunaal’s character Mandar. “He is dependent on Ram. He is like a puppy on the road who I take care of and that changes my life, too. Theatre throughout the film but ‘nautanki’ is more off stage,” says Ayushmann. The making of the movie had its own cues from the world of theatre, which worked

Zombie culture catching up, says Krishna DK

ith approximately a million hits within three days since the release of the trailer of his film Go Goa Gone, touted to be India’s first zombie film, filmmaker Krishna DK says zombie culture is catching up here. "I feel these films cater to two segments — people who know about zombies and those who don't. We are hopeful that it will work in our favour,” Krishna said. IANS

RGV to make Sanju biopic

Having been a stage actor himself, Nautanki Saala was hardly a challenge for Ayushmann. He says this is a plus point for a struggling actor. very well for the team. A workshop for about 25 days before rolling cameras was conducted, by the end of which all actors knew each other’s lines and knew which scene was on which page. Having been a stage actor himself, Nautanki Saala was hardly a challenge for Ayushmann and he agrees, it is selfish, but also a plus point for a struggling actor. “I didn’t have to use any particular reference to do the role. I think you should take roles which are close to you. In Vicky Donor, I am a Punjabi guy, which I am in real life. I have done theatre and I am doing theatre in my second film. And my third film, Hamara Bajaj, is about struggling actors, which I am. I think you should take roles you can relate to. So you can bring your own nuances into the character”. Ayushmann has also been an RJ, a VJ, a TV show host; he acts and sings. He says, “Mine is not an overnight success story. I had a gradual transition from different mediums. I have seen the industry as an outsider. I have worked as a journalist. I

am Gopal Varma, who has a knack for making movies based on real-life incidents, is in talks with Manayata to co-produce a movie based on Sanjay Dutt's case. Sanju, who was initially opposed to the idea, is now looking into the script seriously. RGV recently tweeted that he is trying to rope in John Abraham for the titular role.

Netas should watch Satyakam: Dharmendra

have asked questions and now I am answering questions”. Which would he prefer? “Asking questions is easier. You need to be a lot more intelligent to answer. I am still learning that.” While on the subject of becoming a part of the industry, there is no denying Ayushmann already has a large fan base in spite of being an outsider. “If you are from the industry, there is a huge responsibility on you. People expect more from you.

You are accountable to the legacy you belong to. If you are an outsider, there is no pressure on you. Outsiders can take their own course,” he says. Making it sound like his was a smooth journey, he adds that he didn’t have much to do with the kind of films he has been doing. “I think sometimes the film chooses you. You just make sure you work with a credible director. I think I was at the right place at the right time. We live in the

golden era of Indian cinema. I think this is the best age to be an actor. Every kind of film is working. The line between parallel and commercial cinema is getting blurred. A lot of newcomers are making a mark” the youngster said. After a lighthearted, easygoing press conference, they sign off saying all of us are up to some ‘nautanki’ all the time, before the young hunk got busy signing autographs.

amenting the dearth of good story writers in Bollywood, Dharmendra, best known for his performance in the National Award winner Satyakam, said that every politician should watch the Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic. "I think telling the truth has stopped today. In Satyakam I told the truth and it was a very good story. I think every politician should see the ﬁlm. IANS

Entertainment MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

TOP OF THE CHARTS

R I H A N N A

named most influential pop star

CINE BYTES

R&B

star Rihanna has seen off competition from Beyonce and Katy Perry to be named the most influential pop star. The 25-year-old topped the list compiled by 4Music after an analysis of social media activity, airplay and press coverage, reported Sun Online. Beyonce came in second, while boy band One Direction bagged the third position followed by Perry and Justin Bieber. The Umbrella hitmaker posted pictures of herself on Instagram celebrating her latest win. “I only know how to be number 1!! I could use a challenge... How dat feel down there on ya knees, Huh?!” she wrote. Rihanna is famous for her tracks like Love The Way You Lie, We Found Love, Where Have You Been, Unapologetic and Diamonds. PTI

Lindsay Lohan ducks for cover in Brazil

indsay Lohan, who was out partying in a nightclub recently, sat on the ﬂoor and hid under a table to avoid taking pictures. During an appearance at the club in Sao Palo, Brazil, Lohan was photographed hiding under a table and seemed to be crying, reported Daily Mirror. The 26year-old ﬂew to Brazil to promote a clothing line for which she was reportedly paid $100,000. PTI

Lady Gaga in designer wheelchair

op star Lady Gaga, who was recently seen in a 24-carat gold-plated wheelchair as she recovers from a hip surgery, was spotted in a new custommade Louis Vuitton chair. The designer creation features a seat covered with the French fashion brand’s iconic brown and tan initials print, reported Sun Online. PTI

Taylor Swift has her eye on Prince Harry

inger Taylor Swift is reportedly upbeat about Prince Harry’s US visit in May and wants to meet him. “Taylor’s desperate to get her name added on to the VIP lists of stars being lined up to meet Harry. She loves everything about him, especially his ginger hair and English accent," thesun.co.uk quoted a source as saying. The 23-year-old singer dated Conor Kennedy in the past.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

Chai Time

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. Mother Teresa

KAKURO

QUICK CROSSWORD

SUDOKU How to play kakuro Kakuro is a popular game similar to sudoku in some ways. But is also suitably different. The key question: ‘How do you play kakuro?’, well here are the rules of kakuro. The answer: The kakuro grid, unlike in sudoku, can be of any size. It has rows and columns, and dark cells like in a crossword. And, just like in a crossword, some of the dark cells will contain numbers. Some cells will contain two numbers. However, in a crossword the numbers reference clues. In a kakuro, the numbers are all you get! They denote the total of the digits in the row or column referenced by the number. Within each collection of cells — called a run — any of the numbers 1 to 9 may be used but, like sudoku, each number may only be used once. Let’s have an example to explain this concept more clearly: In the image above, which shows a section of a kakuro puzzle, you will see the numbers ‘26’ and ‘14’ in the top row. Look at the 14. This means that the total of the three cells underneath must sum to 14. Therefore 9, 4, 1 could be the answer, or perhaps 7, 4, 3 and so on... So, how do you work out the actual combination? Well, this is done through elimination and cross-referencing. For instance, as you work out the answers for other kakuro clues, this will naturally limit the valid combinations, and hence the answer for this particular run. Note the second cell in row two — it contains two numbers, 30 and 11. The 30 refers to the vertical run underneath the number 30 and the 11 refers to the two cells to the right, horizontally, of the number 11.

ACROSS

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

SCRIBBLING PAD

1 New socialite, for short 4 Kind of training 9 Leading male in a pack 14 Actress Longoria 15 Rounded molding 16 Called one’s bluff 17 Washington gave a famous one in 1796 20 Model of excellence 21 Tortilla chip dip 22 Sniper’s place 23 Crushing tool 26 TV screen variety 29 Suffix with the most of anything 30 They may be in grocery store aisles 31 Part of the lower leg 32 Roman senate building 33 Most recent 35 “You’ve been a great audience” e.g. 38 Trial locales 39 His goose is cooked 40 ___ out (made, but barely) 41 Gooey sandwiches 42 Santa’s mo. 45 Gumshoe 46 Mono improvement 48 “Arrivederci!” 49 Book that might have a lock 51 Indian social class 52 What autumn brings 57 Where quarters cost dollars? 58 Mars explorer 59 Episodic story line 60 Unifying idea 61 Sudden outpouring 62 Hydroxide solution

DOWN

1 Provide the meaning

2 Gives the slip 3 Most minimal 4 Super event? 5 “Hail!” to Horace 6 “Do re mi fa ___ ...” 7 ___ at ease 8 Doesn’t have to work hard 9 Confuse 10 Swedish form of “Lawrence” 11 One familiar with the Gospel 12 Fathers and sons 13 Pitches between innings? 18 Break fast? 19 ___ segno (musical direction) 23 Plaster of ___ 24 Shamrock home 25 Walk in a crooked line 27 Insurance assessment 28 Powerful explosive 30 Adjective for babies and puppies 31 Dallas Cowboys emblem 32 Gunky stuff 33 Maestro’s “slow” 34 City near Des Moines 35 Small dog breed, briefly 36 Brief story 37 Movie credit information 38 Thoroughly investigate 41 Comedian Seth of “SNL” 42 Hardly encouraging 43 Place to chow down 44 Engage in arm-twisting 46 Weasel look-alike 47 Attempt 48 Shutterbug’s equipment, briefly 50 Bibliography word 51 Put in the smokehouse 52 It’s eight hours later than PST 53 “That’s amazing!” 54 Get a bigger laugh than 55 Future embryos 56 Drop below the horizon

Chai Time MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013 Thiruvaikumar

STAR POWER for 2-4-2013

As per Hindu panchang thiruvaikumar@yahoo. co. in, 040-27177230 / 9177596118

ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

You might face confusions and worries but things will be resolved soon and hence need not worry. Avoid earning in wrong route to complete the needs of your family which will definitely land you in trouble.

STRIP TEASE AGNES

You will change your approach from harsh to politeness which will yield the best results in getting the works done. Those who had ill treated you earlier will give you good respect now and become followers of you. You might change you vehicle.

Your long pending ambitions are to get fulfilled which will make you cheerful. Artists will get good opportunities and they are advised to make use of them fully without fail. You will reconciliate with estranged relatives.

You will have negative thoughts and feel depressed as most of the planets are not placed well. Avoid acting in a wrong direction while executing the works which will speak on your reputation. Avoid sharing personal matters with new friends.

You will take necessary steps to have an improved lifestyle and comforts. Employees will work hard with sincerity and their earning will give them a good satisfaction and also gain rich experience. Son’s health will be a cause for concern.

Unexpected helps from friends and close relatives will arrive though you have not pressurized them much. Religious thought will occupy you mind. You might get your vehicle redesigned to derive more comforts.

Series of good news on the cards which will bring cheer to you and your family. Your creativity skills are likely to improve and you will also implement them perfectly with patience. You will have cordial relationship with neighbor.

The works which seemed to be very hard earlier will now be taken up again but you will complete them with ease and perfectly. Your status is set to improve in the society and a good opinion about you is spread all over.

You will like those who praise you a lot. But at the same time you will find mistake in someone’s free and frank talk as you see a different interpretation to that, but it needs to be avoided. You need to safeguard the feelings of your friends.

TAROT READ

Sumaa Tekur

tarotreadhyd@gmail. com

ARIES:

GEMINI:

Two of Swords A juggling act can save you from being overly stressed out. It will be difficult. A sense of humour will truly help you tide over this time.

LEO:

The Fool - This is a great time to start a new hobby or learn a new skill. It will help balance all the areas of your life really well. Don't give it too much energy.

LIBRA:

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

Devil - You're tempted to do what your heart says. But logic is winning because of your current financial circumstances. Be practical and do what's best for you.

SAGITTARIUS:

Page of Swords - When you are out grocery shopping, watch out for all the items you're putting in the basket. You may want to cut down on the chips.

TAURUS:

Death - Changes are about to turn your world around. The changes will be good so long as you keep an open mind. By being too rigid, you make life difficult.

CANCER:

Five of Wands Not everything is well at the office. You feel like people are ganging up against you and judging you. You feel horrible about being left out.

VIRGO:

King of Swords You are in a position of power and control. However, it puts you in a bit of trouble because you feel cut off from the rest of the group.

SCORPIO:

Justice - Water the plants and tend to the garden. Take care of the pets. Do things that connect you with nature and you feel better about your emotions.

CAPRICORN:

The Lovers - Passions run high and you feel a strong emotional connection to someone you met only recently. Think about what you want to do.

PREVIOUS SOLUTIONS

PISCES:

The Wheel of Fortune - What goes around comes around. Remember that bad times don't last, nor do good times. Take care of yourself.

NUMBER GAME

- Intuition is good. You feel like taking a left turn - then left turn in the right one to take! Listen to your gut feeling and go with your emotions.

SCRABBLE

AQUARIUS: The Magician

POOCH CAFE

You will find it difficult to complete the works undertaken due to circumstances not cooperating you. Do not get frustrated but realize the good things happen to you in the past and march ahead with self confidence.

for 2-4-2013

The High Priest - If it's a bright and sunny day, it's perfect to head out and experience the joy of walking aimlessly without a real destination in mind.

NON SEQUITUR

You will find it difficult and delays are also possible to complete even the minor works due to unfavorable planetary conditions. However need not worry as you will succeed but efforts are to be put in more than the usual.

SUDUKO

You will get the help of friends and close relatives to complete the planned important works in time. You will also get good suggestion and directions from them so that things go smoothly. You need to maintain caution when you talk.

Boggle FOX WOLF COYOTE JACKAL Vol: 2, No 255 RNI No: APENG/2011/39337 Published for the proprietors, Scribble Media and Entertainment Pvt Ltd, by V Harshavardhan Reddy, at #1246, Level 3, Jubilee Casa, Road No 62, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad – 500033 and printed by him at Jagati Publications Ltd, Plot No D-75&E-52, APIE Industrial Estate, Balanagar, Ranga Reddy Dist, Hyderabad – 500037, Editor: Dean Williams – Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the publisher is prohibited. For feedback, please write to: feedback@postnoon. com and for subscription, please call 040-4067 2222, Fax: 040-4067 2211

Entertainment MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

HOTLINE FOR UPSET FANS

CINE BYTES

TAKING A BREAK TO DIRECT:

Ryan Gosling

A million dollars for seven minutes!

on’t worry, Ryan Gosling hasn’t quit Hollywood! The Crazy, Stupid, Love hunk sent his female fans into mourning by announcing an acting break but the actor has apologised for not making himself clear. He is turning director. “I should have been more clear; I’m just taking a break to direct. I’m sorry about that,” Gosling told Vanity Fair at the premiere of his latest movie The Place Beyond the Pines. A hotline was created following Gosling’s sudden announcement of an acting hiatus. The hotline is for fans going through Ryan Gosling withdrawal. They can dial and hear the actor’s voice while he is away from the screens. The 32-year-old Canadian actor looked amused about the hotline. “Uh, sorry about the hotline,” he added, laughing. In The Place Beyond the Pines, Gosling has teamed up with his real-life girlfriend Eva Mendes and his Blue Valentine director Derek Cianfrance. “I have a lot of admiration and respect for him, as a person and as a filmmaker. Having history with somebody, it’s nice to get to go to work and just be able to hit the ground running,” said Gosling. Cianfrance revealed how he struggled to keep Gosling’s army of admirers from ruining the shots where he is seen walking shirtless into a fair. “I had about a dozen AD’s (assistant directors, at the fairground) with Dr Seuss hats to distract people and make sure they did not look in the camera and did not look at Ryan Gosling with his shirt off walking through the fair. I would say that there were many takes ruined by people doing that,” the director said. PTI

kyfall star Daniel Craig was paid a whopping $1 million for a brief appearance at a car show. Craig, 45, who attended the event in New York, angered fans by leaving the venue just after seven minutes, reported Sun online. “He didn’t even give a speech,” one of the guests at the event complained. “I couldn’t even tell if he was actually here!” another guest added. PTI

Angelina cleared of stealing movie plot

ngelina Jolie has been cleared of stealing the plot of her ﬁlm In The Land of Blood and Honey. The actress was sued by Croatian author James Braddock, who said that it was based on his book The Soul Shattering. A judge ruled that although both centred on war romances, the plots in the two works were not similar.

Director JJ Abrams lands in big soup

J Abrams, who has been roped in to direct the next Star Wars film, landed in big soup when George Lucas found out unpardonable errors in the script. “JJ Abrams has just finished directing Star Trek and hasn’t come out of the hangover yet. I was shocked to find references to Vulcans in the new script. This is unacceptable,” Lucas said. The news created a furore among Star Wars geeks, which prompted JJ Abrams to apologise.

sports

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

NBA

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Depleted Heat beat Spurs Chris Bosh made sure Heat didn't miss LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Miami superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade sat out the NBA's marquee match-up against San Antonio on Sunday, but Chris Bosh (right) provided enough star power to lift the Heat to an 88-86 victory. Reigning NBA champions and Eastern Confernce leaders Miami forged a three-game advantage over Western Conference leaders San Antonio for the best record in the league and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They have also swept the season series with the Spurs, earning the head-to-head tiebreaker for home-court. With the Heat trailing 85-86,

against New Orleans, although he sat out the final quarter with the Heat holding a comfortable lead. Wade hurt his right ankle in Wednesday's loss to the Bulls, but played on Friday. "We're a deep team for a reason. We're prepared for this," Spoelstra said via the team's Twitter account as he addressed sitting his biggest stars for the key contest. The move still raised eyebrows, because for a game at Miami early in November Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich sent guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, along with forwards Tim Duncan and Danny Green home prior to the contest. AFP

he drained the go-ahead 3pointer with 1.9 seconds remaining as Miami held on for their second straight victory since having their 27-game winning streak snapped by Chicago on Wednesday. Bosh scored 23 points on 9of-15 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds. Ray Allen added 14 points, Norris Cole scored 13 and Mike Miller chipped in 12 for the Heat, who improved to 58-15. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said shortly before the game that James and Wade would sit out. James had played on after straining his right hamstring in the first half of Friday's win

iGREEN down Kings Hyderabad District boys and girls pose with their pickings of the under-7 tournament held by the Hyderabad Chess Academy on Sunday.

GRAND NATIONAL PREVIEW

Reformed event faces moment of truth

PARIS: It is probably not over stating it to say next Saturday's running of the world's greatest steeplechase the Grand National is the most important renewal in its' often turbulent and eventful history. With four horses having died in the past two runnings,

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: The Louisville Cardinals shook off a shocking injury to reserve guard Kevin Ware to beat Duke University 85-63 on Sunday and claim a coveted spot in US college basketball's Final Four. The Cardinals reached the semi-finals of the national tournament for the second straight year with the win over perennial powerhouse Duke, whose coach Mike Krzyzewski guided the US men's team to Olympic basketball gold in Beijing and London. But the young players and Louisville coach Rick Pitino had to set aside their dismay after Ware suffered a broken leg.

LEAGUE CRICKET

YOUNG BRAINS

PIRATE IRWIN Agence France-Presse

Shaken Louisville gain coveted Final 4 berth

the Aintree authorities have taken measures to ensure that such upsetting scenes for the public — although they are sadly everyday happenings for any horse's connections — do not occur. The deaths of two highlyfancied runners last year — Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Synchronised and the talented According to Pete — brought

out not only the traditional hysteria from those who are against jumps racing in any form but also more reasoned voices. Previous reforms such as limiting the field to 40 runners and raising the bar in terms of eligibility to run after a series of no hopers ended their days victim to one of the 29 imposing fences proved willingness on the authorities part.

‘Team Oxford’ 172-8 (Ravi Prasad K 55 ,Chandrakanth R 4/20) bt ‘Nisum Technologies’ 104-9 (Shyam Sathali 28 ,Akbar Mohmad 3/26) by 68 runs, MoM: Ravi Prasad K ‘UHG’ 154-9 (Yashwin Yaski 45, RajKiran 3-20 ) bt ‘JHT’ 88 (Gopal Krishna 22, Srinivas Rao 3-27) by 66 Runs, MoM: RajKiran ‘MyHome’ 155-8 (Vikas 44, Satyadeep 3-6) bt ‘Corporate Thunder’ 98 (Bishwajit Behera 26, Bhanu Teja 3-22) by 57 Runs, MoM: Satyaki Mahanti ‘E-11’ 168-5 (Sohail Khan 49*, md Imran 2-10) bt ‘Ybrant Digital’ 134-8 (Vivek Polavarapu 60, Benny 2-27) by 34 Runs, MoM: Sohail Khan ‘iGREEN’ 83-5 (Varma Kanumuri 37, Kevin 5-21) bt ‘Cox n Kings’ 82 (Rafif 17, Ram 219) by 5 wickets, MoM: Kevin ‘V-Soft’ 128-10 (Jagdish

Kumar Nanumasa 47, Jagdish Kumar Nanumasa 3-22) bt ‘Victory Hunters’ 110-9 (Ravi Kaletlapally 35, Prashanth 3-19) by 18 Runs, MoM: Jagdish Kumar Nanumasa

PHOENIX BEAT DECCAN STALLIONS

Tigers CC 150-8 (Habeeb Ali 41(28)) beat Richy Strikers 149-7 (Najarjun Sharma 60(49)) Mytrah 107-8 (Shankar Narayan 54) lost to Rebellion Shields 108-7 (Kiran Kumar 36) Zonah 88/10 (bablu 3 over 13/3) lost to Kargeens 92-4 (Vishnu C 31) Shivashakti Group Cricket Stars 173-6 (Govind C J 63) beat Jain Marble House 94 (C Shekar 3 overs 12/3 1 E HLX NMC 111-7 (Jatin Mehta 53) lost to PegaSystems 113-3 (Ankith Sharma 58).

sports

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

MIAMI MASTERS

HOUSTON OPEN

Victory takes Murray back to world No 2

It will mark the first time since November 10, 2003 that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal has been in the top two. MIAMI: Andy Murray’s razorthin victory over David Ferrer for the Miami Masters crown will send the Scot to No 2 in the world rankings for the second time in his career, but he was too tired to celebrate on Sunday. Murray rallied after a slow start in the opening set and survived a Hawk-Eye replay call at match-point down in the final set to subdue Spain’s Ferrer 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) in a punishing match in the heat and humidity of Key Biscayne. Ferrer was stricken by cramps in the final-set tiebreaker, while Murray opted not to receive treatment on a tweaked ankle just to avoid prolonging the endurance test. “We were both in the locker room afterwards,” Murray said. “I wasn’t up celebrating with my team. We were just kind of sitting there, because we’re just incredibly, incredibly tired after a match like that.” The 25-year-old Scot captured his first title in the ATP’s elite Masters series since he beat Ferrer in Shanghai in 2011. Since then, he has gone on to claim the Olympic singles gold in front of adoring British fans in London last year and capture the US Open crown. Sunday’s victory takes him back to No 2 in the world rankings for the first time since 2009. His rise to the second spot behind No 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia will edge Swiss great Roger Federer down, while Ferrer will move back to No 4 in the world. It will mark the first time since November 10, 2003 that neither Federer nor Rafael Nadal has been in the top two. AFP

MELBOURNE: Jamaican for-

mer 100m world record-holder Asafa Powell has withdrawn from Australia’s Stawell Gift with a hamstring injury, race organisers said on Monday. Powell was due to race in Monday’s semi-ﬁnals but informed organisers he was experiencing tightness in his hamstring and would not line up in Australia’s oldest and richest short-distance foot race.

The win gives Points a place in the Masters, as did his only prior PGA Tour triumph at Pebble Beach two years ago. HOUSTON, TEXAS: DA Points stayed steady on Sunday after a lengthy rain delay, firing a sixunder par 66 for a one-stroke victory in the $6.2 million US PGA Tour Houston Open. Points was on the course at 16-under with four holes to finish — one shot in front of clubhouse leader Henrik Stenson — when a thunderstorm halted final round play. The American player came back after a delay of almost three hours and parred his way in, celebrating with a shout and fistpump when his 13-foot par putt dropped at 18 to give him a 16under winning total of 272. “To have a putt to win, you want that starting out every week,” said Points, who has endured a difficult season that included missing seven of nine cuts. The win gives Points a place in the Masters, as did his only prior PGA Tour triumph at Pebble Beach two years ago. “I was in a real good flow before the rain delay, I was kind of firing on all cylinders,” Points said. “I’m real proud of myself that the rain delay didn’t put any hitch in that.” Points had parred three holes after the delay before a wobble at 18, where his shot just missed a bunker right of the green. AFP

McIlroy excited about game, extra Masters tuneup

Andy Murray of Great Britain holds aloft the trophy after his three-set victory over David Ferrer of Spain in the Sony Open at Crandon Park Tennis Centre on Sunday in Key Biscayne, Florida. AFP/ CLIVE BRUNSKILL

SPORTS BRIEFS Injured Powell pulls out

Points holds on for win

Bolt coasts to 150m victory in Rio

Sagan rapped for podium ‘bottom-pinch’

RIO DE JANEIRO: Jamaica’s champion sprinter Usain Bolt cruised to victory in a 150-metres race held on Rio’s Copacabana beach on Sunday, timing 14.42 seconds. The 26-year-old Bolt fell short of improving on his own 150m world record — 14.35 seconds in Manchester, England, in 2009.

Highly-rated Slovakian cyclist Peter Sagan was accused of sexism and harassment on Sunday after he was pictured pinching the bottom of a podium girl after the Tour of Flanders. Sagan, 23, smirked towards the camera as he grabbed the bottom of a blonde hostess, one of two girls giving kisses to winner F Cancellara.

AUDENARDE, BELGIUM:

HOUSTON, Texas: Rory McIlroy (below) failed to recapture the World No 1 ranking from Tiger Woods with a victory at the Houston Open, but he is excited about progress in his shotmaking and one last Masters tuneup event. McIlroy fired a two-under par 70 to finish on fourunder 284 for 72 holes.

sports

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

ROAD TO CHAMPIONS TROPHY

Physios important for fast bowlers: Ishant Ishant Sharma feels that talented pacers should be nurtured with a lot of care and qualified support staff should take good care of them. SRINIVAS SETTY

NEW DELHI: India pacer Ishant Sharma (left) feels that he has got his “rhythm back” in the recently-concluded home Test series against Australia after spending the better part of last year on the sidelines due to ankle surgery. “I think I am slowly getting back into my rhythm. I am pretty happy with my performance against Australia. Although, I couldn’t do much in the first couple of Tests, I did well in the last two matches. Overall, I am satisfied with my performance,” said the lanky fast bowler, who finished with only seven wickets from the four-Test series. He has received a lot of flak having got only 144 wickets from 51 Tests but the 24-year-old is reasonably happy about how his international career has panned out so far. “I think I have done reasonably well in my career so far. I hope to continue to do well. In India, the wickets are not too conducive for pace bowling,” Ishant stated after a session with young trainees at a cricket clinic ‘You vs Ishant’ at the Vasant Kunj Sports Complex. Ishant said he and his pace bowling partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar complemented each other in the team. “I concentrated in getting the reverse swing with the old ball (against Australia). Bhuvneshwar swings the new ball and he has done well. For me, it was more about containment with the new ball and wait for old ball,” he said. Ishant’s tips for young fast bowling

aspirants is simple: try to bowl as fast as you can at the beginning and not worry unduly about the line and length. “According to me, when you are young, you should think of raw pace only. Line and length can be learnt later on in a match situation. If you think of bowling line and length from a young age, you won’t have pace.” Ishant feels that talented pacers should be nurtured with a lot of care and qualified support staff (physios and trainers) should take good care of them. “It is important to have physios and trainers. They play an important part in the career of fast bowlers,” he said. The Delhi lad didn’t play too many ODIs in the last three years but his hopeful of breaking into the India squad for the ICC Champions Trophy in June and a limited overs away series in Zimbabwe. “I am hoping that I can be in the squad for the Champions Trophy and then the Zimbabwe ODI tour. Then there is the Test series in South Africa which would be one but that is some time away and I am not thinking about that,” he said. Ishant will be playing for Hyderabad Sunrisers in the upcoming sixth edition of IPL and is hopeful that the franchise will do well. “We have a good mix of experienced players and youngsters. Most players have been in the team before it was taken over by another owner and named Hyderabad Sunrisers,” he said. PTI

Pakistan drops Younis KARACHI: Pakistan on Sunday omitted out-of-form Younis Khan from a 30-man initial squad for the eight-nation Champions Trophy after the middle order batsman flopped in recent one-day matches. The 35-year-old Younis managed just 116 runs in the series against South Africa earlier this month which Pakistan lost 3-2 and has not managed to score a century since November 2008. Pakistan is in group B of the event to be held in England from June 3-23. The other teams in their group are arch-rivals India, the West Indies and South Africa. Defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England form group A. All teams had April 6 as the cut off date to announce their initial squad to be trimmed to 15 in May. Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said the Pakistani squad was a “mix of youth and experience”. “Younis’s name was not considered after he did not show the form in the last few matches,” he told AFP. Pakistani media reported last week that Younis was contemplating retirement from one-day cricket after giving up Twenty20 following the team’s 2009 World Twenty20 victory in England under his captaincy. Pakistan face the West Indies in their opening match on June 7 before clashing with South Africa (June 10) and archrivals India on June 15. AFP

DAVIS CUP PREVIEW

Will not take Indonesia lightly: Zeeshan BANGALORE: India will start favourites against Indonesia in the upcoming Davis Cup tie but coach Zeeshan Ali (right) said they will not take the visitors lightly in the relegation play-off tie, starting April 5. “Sure, we have an all win (50) record against them, but we will not take them lightly as it is a ‘must win’ tie for us after the defeat against South Korea in February,” Zeeshan told reporters here. Zeeshan regretted that India were unable to field a full strength squad against South Korea. “It was a missed opportunity and we could have won that tie with full team and later at home in October, we could have played

‘Tennis needs amicable solution to all issues’ BANGALORE: Leading the Indian Davis Cup side for one last time, non-playing captain SP Misra today said the players-AITA tussle should end sooner for the betterment of Indian tennis. Somdev Devvarman had led a players revolt, demanding better players conditions, and made themselves unavailable for the Korea tie which India lost 14 in New Delhi. After AITA acceded to some of players demands, the agitation ended for the time being.

Japan on home courts. But I am glad all the boys are back and are keen to put on a good show.” Zeeshan said that the team is yet to finalise the doubles combination. “Either it could be Leander Paes with Yuki Bhambri or Leander and Sanam Singh.” Zeeshan said that Indians would practice every day from April 1 from 3 pm to get used to conditions under lights. Incidentally, the singles matches are scheduled at 3pm on the first and third day of the tie. The two practice players, Ramanathan Ram Kumar and Arjun Khade arrived along with reserve players, Vijayant Malik and Sriram Balaji. Team captain S P Misra also landed in the city in the evening. PTI

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013

sports

RONALDO TO RETURN TO MANCHESTER UNITED

Cristiano Ronaldo has said that he will be returning to Manchester United in the summer after he dreamt that Sir Alex Ferguson was sitting on his pillow. The Real Madrid superstar has also claimed the manager Jose Mourinho will be in charge of relegated QPR next season.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

‘Fascist’ Di Canio is new Sunderland boss

LONDON: Paolo Di Canio was named the new coach of Premier League strugglers Sunderland on Sunday, a move which sparked the resignation from the club board of an exforeign minister outraged by the Italian’s right-wing views. Di Canio replaced Martin O’Neill, who was sacked on Saturday. “Sunderland AFC have confirmed the appointment of Paolo Di Canio as Head Coach

on a two-and-a-half year deal," said a club statement. The 44-year-old Di Canio will take charge of the Black Cats from Monday in succession to O’Neill, who was axed on Saturday following the 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester United. The result left Sunderland just a point above the relegation zone. Di Canio left third-tier Swindon Town in February,

Club’s vicechairman David Miliband resigns in protest citing Di Canio’s support of fascism and his praise for Mussolini.

having guided the club to promotion from League Two. His appointment immediately sent shockwaves through the struggling club with David Miliband, the British foreign minister from 2007-2010, resigning from his role as vicechairman and non-executive director. Miliband said he was quitting in protest at Di Canio’s self-proclaimed support of fascism and his praise for former

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. “I wish Sunderland AFC all success in the future," said Miliband. “However, in the light of the new manager’s past political statements, I think it right to step down." Despite the controversy, Sunderland’s American chairman Ellis Short backed Di Canio to succeed in his principal task of keeping the club in the lucrative Premier League.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PREVIEW

French pretenders take on the Kings PSG can compete with the best because they have had more money than anyone else since the arrival of new owners. ANDY SCOTT Agence France-Presse PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have reached the pinnacle of the European game with very different strategies, and the Catalans will be hoping to show their nouveau riche opponents that their way is still the best way when the clubs meet in the Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday. PSG have been here before, but not for a long time. This is their first Champions League quarter-final since they beat Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate before losing to Milan in the last four 18 years ago. Top of Ligue 1, and on course to win the domestic title for the first time since 1994, these are good times to be a Paris supporter, even if their club appears to epitomise the exact opposite of Barcelona. PSG can compete with the best in the business because they have had more money than anyone else since the arrival of new Qatari owners in 2011. A whole new team has been bought, with Thiago Silva, once a Barcelona target, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who played for the Catalans in 2010-11, the most significant recruits. Just two years ago, average

attendances at the Parc des Princes had fallen drastically. Now the ground is sold out most weeks, and there were one million requests for tickets for this game. Aiming to win the Champions League for the fourth time in eight seasons, Barcelona are one of the richest clubs in the world too, and are also backed by Qatari investment via a shirt sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation. But they lead the way when it comes to producing worldclass players, rather than simply buying them. Seven home-reared talents started Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo, in which Barca con-

ceded a late equaliser after Lionel Messi netted his 43rd La Liga goal this season. That result kept Barcelona 13 points clear at the top, with Real Madrid also drawing, and the mood around the club has improved hugely over the last month since consecutive defeats to Madrid in La Liga and in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey. The rousing comeback from a first-leg defeat to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate in the last 16 has restored confidence, while the squad are relieved to have coach Tito Vilanova back taking training again after two months in New York receiving cancer treatment.

It’s offense versus defense in Munich Bayern Munich’s famed attacking style of play will have to overcome Juventus’s legendary defense. MUNICH: Bayern Munich tackle Juventus in a Champions League culture clash on Tuesday with the Germans pitting their incisive attacking finesse against the Italians’ defensive bloody-mindedness. Bayern, on the verge of a 23rd Bundesliga title, routed Hamburg 9-2 on Saturday to take their goals tally to 78 with just 13 conceded in the Bundesliga while finding the net 18 times in the Champions League. Juventus, enjoying a nine-point lead in Serie A, have conceded only 19 goals in 30 league games this season and just four in the Champions League.

Forty of Bayern’s domestic goals have come from a combination of Franck Ribery, Tony Kroos, Mario Mandzukic and Thomas Mueller while, should he be required, veteran Claudio Pizarro will be waiting in the wings. Attempting to keep the ravenous Bavarians at bay will be Juventus’s defensive spine of Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon conceded the last of his four goals in the third of their six group games — a stretch of 490 minutes. Even that goal came from a direct free-kick, not open play.